CH 20.1

The night passed in a daze.

Ye An woke up to the bright light from the morning sun. She looked at the ceiling, her head still dizzy.

The space next to her was empty and cold; the bathroom was silent as well.

After laying there in a trance, she sat up and rubbed her temples.

Last night’s memories washed over her. She was only half-drunk, so her memories were still clear.

She remembered laughing at Xie Shuo’s sitting pose on the sofa, playing the guitar and singing to him, and in the end… she was somehow possessed and kissed him–even if it was just his Adam’s apple.

Ye An hit herself on the head.

……

…Alcohol is trouble!

How did Xie Shuo react again?

Ye An recalled that he seemed to pause, let go of her, and went off to take a shower?

At that point, Ye An couldn’t help but hold her head–he wasn’t even fazed by that. This man… was helpless…

She grabbed the remote control on the bedside table to open the curtains before lifting the comforter to get out of bed.

The sunlight poured in behind her and scattered on the ground.

—-

After washing up, Ye An went downstairs to eat breakfast and happened to see Xie Shuo.

He had just finished eating and prepared to go upstairs.

The dining room was brightly lit. He wore casual clothes in the house, and he had a calm expression, appearing gentler than usual.

Thanks to his inability to see, they could face each other without much awkwardness, even after what happened last night.

Ye An was even able to greet him, “Morning.”

Since he wasn’t able to see what she had done when drunk, he could only imagine the scenario, which helped ease her embarrassment. 

Xie Shuo didn’t respond to her and only paused for a bit before silently going upstairs.

Ye An glanced at his lean back, then looked away like usual.

Aunt Zhou warmed a portion of the food for her and put it in front of her.

The fragrance of the red bean porridge entered her nose.

Ye An thanked her, sat down, and picked up the spoon.

Aunt Zhou suddenly asked her, “Is Madam still going out today?”

Ye An looked up. “Are there any other matters to take care of?”

Aunt Zhou answered, “My granddaughter is sick, and I want to take her to the hospital.”

Ye An hurriedly replied, “Go ahead, I won’t be going out in these next few days, so you don’t need to be here.”

Aunt Zhou thanked her. She waited for her to finish breakfast before cleaning up and leaving.

With one less person, the large villa became even quieter. Ye An returned upstairs and pulled out her phone to check the internet. 

Her ostentatious act last night was truly not spent in vain. The original forum post that mentioned her being in an unspeakable relationship was deleted. It had been replaced by a post that claimed that she had married into a rich and powerful family.

[Plot twist!!! So it turns out the Ye An was already married!!! And into a rich family!!]

Because the original poster was afraid of being suspected, the post did not include any photos from last night. They only described her dazzling display of affection last night. The poster also emphasized that she was only a part of the melon-eating masses, and this piece of gossip was from a reliable source in the industry.

The comments soon swarmed in:

1st comment: [WTF! This plot twist!]

2nd comment: [Haha, who was the one who said my goddess had an unspoken relationship? Come out; I’ll beat you up!]

3rd comment: [Is this real? Is it really that easy to marry into the rich and powerful?]

4th comment: [Is Ye An’s visuals enough to marry rich?]

5th comment: [Some people are really ignorant and think that rich people only care about looks. Even if they did, she could only be an outsider to the family. Who knows how old that man is? Besides, if she married so powerful, why is she still behind the scenes at that studio voice acting?]

7th comment: [Is someone musty trying to look down on dubbing? Can she not continue to dub if she married rich? Someone’s jealousy is oozing out of their comment! The Qing dynasty has collapsed for so many years; how come you haven’t caught up with the times yet?]

8th comment: [What a stench! There’s sh*t in your heart, and everywhere you see.]

9th comment: [Godfather, there are no pictures for us?]

……

The comment section was rowdy for the whole day. Although there was a small portion of people that didn’t believe the post, Ye An had achieved her desired effect, so she left the app satisfied.

Soon after, she picked a luxury bag from her closet and sent it to Shi Shuangshuang to thank her for her cooperation last night.

After receiving it, Shi Shuangshuang jumped three feet high and excitedly sent a rainbow fart emoji.

Ye An was particularly amused.

Not long later, Yuan He also called and told her that they had found the person who had made the allegations.

Sure enough, it was Song Ying, who had almost been cut out from the production in the past.

Song Ying claimed that she was deceived by Lu Hong when she thought that Ye An had used improper means to steal the role. She only did these things because she was angry at the time and hoped that Ye An would give her a chance to meet and apologize.

“How does Miss Ye want to handle this?” Yuan He left the decision to Ye An.

Ye An considered it before saying, “Have her clarify this matter and apologize using the account she originally sent the post to. Then put this matter behind us.”

It wasn’t good for her to make the matter larger than necessary. After all, she was now involved with the Xie family. Moreover, the culprit in this matter was Lu Hong, so it was unnecessary to place all the blame on a girl.

Yuan He was surprised since he didn’t expect her to let this matter go so easily. He replied, “Alright.”

Since she couldn’t afford to offend any people, Song Qing acted rather quickly. Within half an hour, she had posted an apology post on the forum with a “news” tag.

Ye An clicked on it and took a glance. She seemed to be sincere in her apology and didn’t hint at anything else.

The comments that followed ridiculed and condemned her, but the apology didn’t become as popular as the “marrying into the rich and powerful” post. Ye An skimmed the rest of the post before exiting the page.

The Lu Hong crisis had come to an end.

After handling everything, Ye An put away her phone, feeling refreshed. She went to the study in a good mood and took care of her daily matters

caring for Eldest Young Master Xie.

She entered to find Xie Shuo peacefully sitting there and not doing anything as if he were waiting for her arrival.

Ye An sat down next to him. She suddenly had an idea and asked, “Aunt Zhou asked for an off day and isn’t here today. Do you want to go out for lunch today?”

Xie Shuo tilted his head.

Ye An’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “We’ve been married for so long, but we still haven’t gone out together.”

Two seconds later, Xie Shuo turned his head away and said indifferently, “Just call someone and have them bring over whatever you want to eat.”

The sparkle in her gaze disappeared, and her mood wasn’t as good anymore.

Ye An was annoyed by his response. “Going out to eat and having someone deliver food to the house is not the same thing, okay? Eating out is about the experience and sentiment!”

Xie Shuo didn’t flinch. “What kind of experience do you want?”

Ye An: “…”

This kind of man doesn’t care about relationships; what was the point of his existence?

Ye An’s chest heaved fiercely, and she was unable to speak.

“How have you lived for the past twenty plus years? Has any woman ever taken care of you?”

Xie Shuo didn’t reply. It was evident from his expression that he didn’t see any point in answering it.

Ye An was about to lose her temper again.

She took a while to calm down. Changing her strategy, she began to threaten him, “I’ll give you two choices. We can go out to eat, or I’ll get in the kitchen and cook for you!”

Because of his personality and dislike of her, she expected that he would never want to eat anything that she made.

However, he unexpectedly said, “No one’s stopping you from doing that.”

Ye An was dumbfounded. Why can’t you act according to the script?

“To be honest, I’m really bad at cooking. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I burn everything I cook. You really want to try it?”

Ye An spared no effort to talk bad about herself for the first time.

Unfortunately, her efforts were to no avail. Xie Shuo was silent, and his expression was calm.

“Are you sure… you don’t want to think about it some more? I’m not lying when I say it’s really bad. Those who try it once never come back a second time.”

Xie Shuo remained unmoved.

Ye An was at her wit’s end. “Why is it so difficult for us to go out for a meal? You would rather endure my terrible cooking than to go out…”

She murmured the phrase while searching for recipes on her phone.

The room returned to silence, so Xie Shuo thought that she was angry again. After waiting for a while and hearing nothing else, he frowned. 

It just so happened that his throat was also itchy, so he covered his mouth and coughed lightly.

Ye An looked up. “What’s wrong; do you have a cold?”

It didn’t sound like she was angry, so Xie Shuo stopped coughing and commented, “I’m fine.”

A moment later, a warm hand covered his forehead.

Ye An moved her hand across his forehead and concluded, “No fever, that’s good.”

However, she was still uneasy. She put down her phone and stood up, saying, “I’ll get you a cup of hot water.”

Staying at home for too long can bring about illness. If Grandfather Xie and Xie Baiyan were to know, her tender and doting wife image would collapse.

Xie Shuo listened to her footsteps as she walked away.

Soon after, Ye An returned with a glass of water and moved his hand so that he was holding it.

“It’s a little hot, so let it cool down for a bit before drinking it.”

Xie Shuo fumbled to hold it and asked, “What time is it?”

Ye An sat down and picked up her phone to check the time. “Ten thirty.”

She suddenly became anxious. “It’s already this late? If I’m cooking, then I need to hurry up and prepare!”

She hurriedly opened the recipe that she had just found and asked while still browsing, “What do you want to eat?”

Xie Shuo: “What do you know how to make?”

“I know…”

Ye An choked as she looked up and saw his skeptical expression. Feeling humiliated, she retorted, “I can make anything!”

Xie Shuo turned away, obviously not believing her.

“……”

If you don’t believe me, then why don’t you go out and eat with me! 

Ye An glared at him, sighed, and lowered her head to study the recipe.

She had to make a meal today that would prove him wrong!

She tapped the screen to zoom in on the picture.

“How about Kung Pao chicken?”

Before Xie Shuo could speak, she ruled it out herself. “No, it’s too much work, and your throat isn’t well. This one isn’t suitable.”

She continued to scroll down.

“Sichan poached fish?”

“That’s not good either; it has to be cut. I hate the smell of fish…”

“Jujube chicken soup?”

“Well… this one seems okay…”

Xie Shuo listened as she rattled off various dish names before rejecting each one of them. His expression gradually cooled, and he didn’t hold any expectations for the upcoming meal.

“Why don’t we go downstairs and see what ingredients we have?” Ye An suddenly asked.

Xie Shuo didn’t respond.

Ye An turned off her phone before reaching out and dragging him out.

Xie Shuo frowned as he was reluctantly pulled downstairs to the kitchen.

Ye An opened the refrigerator while searching for recipes that were relatively easy to make using the ingredients they had. Then, she began to cook.