Chapter Fourteen: Host, It Seems the Villain Might Be a Bit Fond of You!

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“Come up.”

Qiao Chenye’s voice was gentle. His palm was warm, and his eyes shimmered as he gazed at Wen Yan.

Wen Yan’s whole body stiffened.

—Wasn’t he the powerful villain?!

“System! What is he doing here?” Wen Yan screamed inwardly.

The system was equally bewildered. “I have no idea! He wasn’t mentioned in the plot warning! Host, did you do something behind my back?”

“I only touched his abs last time! That was ages ago. Is he really still holding a grudge?” Wen Yan was close to tears as she sneaked a glance at Qiao Chenye.

She hurriedly said to Assistant Liu, “Please just drop me off at the subway entrance. There’s no need to go any farther.”

She did not dare look at the man sitting beside her and deliberately ignored him. Qiao Chenye, however, made no attempt to restrain himself. His gaze remained fixed on her, as though he meant to see straight through her.

When Qiao Chenye saw her avoiding him, a trace of disappointment passed through his eyes.

He straightened and gave a light cough. “You really are difficult to run into, aren’t you, Sis?”

“!!!” The system bristled. “Host! Why did he call you ‘Sis’? He must be planning to avenge you touching his abs!”

At those words, Wen Yan’s soul nearly fled her body. She immediately turned around, clasped her hands, and begged for mercy.

“Boss! I really didn’t mean to touch your abs! It was an accident that day! Please spare me!”

“I know you like men. I shouldn’t have been rude to you and disgusted you. I’ll pay you whatever you want—just don’t kill me!”

Qiao Chenye’s smile froze. Raising a brow, he seized upon the key point.

“Why would I kill you? And when did I start liking men? Why don’t I know about it myself?”

Wen Yan stared blankly at him. Seeing his open, unguarded expression, she panicked even more and hurriedly corrected herself.

“Ah, I said it wrong! I’m the one who likes men! I like men! Boss, you’re magnanimous—please don’t hold it against me, all right?”

Qiao Chenye laughed at her. Leaning toward her, he reached for her face.

“As it happens, I’m a man. Would you like to try liking me?”

Before his hand could touch her, Wen Yan violently dodged away and let out a shriek like a slaughtered pig.

“Murder! Somebody help me! I’m being abducted! Someone’s kidnapping an innocent young woman! Stop the car!”

Qiao Chenye watched her performance with great interest, his eyes filled with indulgence.

From the driver’s seat, Assistant Liu slowly spoke. “Miss Wen, you’re wasting your breath. This car has excellent soundproofing. Even if you scream yourself hoarse, no one outside will hear you.”

The system’s voice suddenly rang out. “Stop screaming, Host. The way he’s looking at you is rather suspicious.”

Wen Yan stopped and turned to look at Qiao Chenye. At that moment, he was gazing at her with a beaming smile, like a sly little fox.

“What he just said sounded like… How does it feel as if he’s flirting with you?” The system found the idea absurd, but still ventured a guess.

“I know he’s handsome, but you need to delete that online novel app right now!” Wen Yan was on the verge of tears. Deciding she had nothing left to lose, she turned her back to Qiao Chenye and silently repeated to herself, “If I’m going to die, at least let me die with dignity.”

That hand reached toward her again.

Wen Yan squeezed her eyes shut. Yet the pain she expected never came. Instead, she felt the top of her head being gently ruffled.

“See? See? I was right! Host, you’re finished! This pervert seems to like both men and women!” the system cheered from the background.

Only then did Wen Yan realize that he seemed to harbor no hostility toward her. She turned around, trying to read his thoughts through those dark eyes.

“You don’t remember?” His voice dropped lower, carrying a seriousness so faint it was almost imperceptible.

Wen Yan’s eyes flew open as she turned back. “What am I supposed to remember?”

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“Aren’t you supposed to remember?” Qiao Chenye looked deeply at her. “The Rose Club, for instance… Or that one-night stand?”

Wen Yan’s mind exploded. All she could think of was that male model. Could he have been one of Qiao Chenye’s escorts? Her thoughts raced.

“I’m sorry, Boss. I truly didn’t know he was yours. He and I have absolutely nothing to do with each other. I was drunk. I apologize.”

Her solemn expression made Qiao Chenye laugh despite himself.

“Absolutely nothing to do with each other? You don’t remember what he looked like?” Qiao Chenye’s brows drew together, and his voice rose. He could not tell whether the girl genuinely did not remember or was pretending.

But when he saw the fear in Wen Yan’s eyes, he realized that he had frightened her.

In a warm, reassuring voice, he explained, “I’m not going to kill you, and I certainly won’t blame you.”

“Really?” Wen Yan’s face immediately lit up.

“Mm.”

Qiao Chenye answered gently. At least he could tell that the person she was infatuated with seemed to be him.

“Then I’m home now. I’ll get out first!”

Having received his answer, Wen Yan promptly asked to leave the car, lest he change his mind.

Qiao Chenye knew he had acted impulsively, so he leaned back into his seat and made an elegant gesture of invitation.

With a self-mocking smile, he thought that she already had a family. Their relationship had been nothing more than that of casual lovers. Perhaps he had taken her thoughts far too seriously.

Wen Yan scrambled out of the car as though she had just been granted a reprieve and ran toward home.

“Crazy man!” Without looking back, Wen Yan rushed into the residential compound, cursing Qiao Chenye countless times in her heart.

“System, that villain is definitely sick in the head! If he weren’t so handsome, I would have punched him already!”

The system sneered. “Then why didn’t you hit him just now? When all is said and done, you’re the one who slept with someone indiscriminately.”

“I couldn’t beat him! Besides, that escort agreed to it himself. Who would have thought such a con artist would still be taking clients? He’s caused no end of trouble.”

Wen Yan cursed inwardly for several thousand more words, and now she could only pray that the powerful villain would be magnanimous enough not to pursue the matter.

“Something’s wrong. The way the villain looks at you is definitely wrong. Your actions may have affected the plot. The two of you weren’t supposed to cross paths this early.”

The system pondered it again and again, yet still felt that the villain’s gaze was far from pure.

Meanwhile, Qiao Chenye sat in the car, regretting his impulsiveness. He said to Assistant Liu, “You don’t need to keep watch anymore.”

“What about Li Jingyan? Should we continue investigating him?” Assistant Liu asked tentatively.

But Qiao Chenye was staring gloomily out the window, lost in thought, so Assistant Liu said nothing more and drove the car to Doctor Duan’s hospital.

They had finally seemed to be getting a sister-in-law. He could not let things end like this. He had to get the boss to Doctor Duan Mengsheng and let him work some magic.

Wen Yan, however, had no desire to think about Qiao Chenye’s gaze. She only wanted to return to her bedroom and lie down.

She had barely arrived home when the system’s voice rang out again.

“Wang Xiulian has entered the battlefield!”

Sure enough, less than half an hour later, Wang Xiulian came storming over with her elder daughter-in-law.

Given her personality, she could never stand by and watch her grandson grow thinner and thinner. Using the excuse that Liu Yanyan did not know how to care for a child, she insisted on staying.

Liu Yanyan’s desperate plea for help was practically spilling from her eyes, but Li Jingyan pretended not to notice and agreed to Wang Xiulian’s demand.

She had only just seen one terrorist off, and now another living Buddha had arrived. Liu Yanyan was about to explode.

Over the next few days, Wen Yan feasted on delicacies while using the system to observe what was happening on Liu Yanyan’s side.

The moment Wang Xiulian stepped through the door, her triangular eyes swept across the entire room like searchlights before locking onto the baby bottle in Liu Yanyan’s hand.

“What are you trying to do, kill him?”

She snatched the bottle away and pressed the back of her hand against it. Her eyebrows immediately rose into an angry, inverted V.

“You dare give the child ice water like this? You’ll freeze his intestines! And look at this milk—it’s so thin you can see your reflection in it. Are you trying to starve my grandson?”

Liu Yanyan held the baby, who had cried himself hoarse. Her arms had long since gone numb from exhaustion, but she forced down her anger.

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“Mom, the water temperature is set to forty-five degrees on the insulated kettle, and the formula has been prepared according to the exact proportions…”

Liu Yanyan knew she could not afford a conflict with her mother-in-law yet, so she explained as gently as she could.

“Shut up! I raised two children before you were even born!”

Wang Xiulian’s spittle landed directly on her face. Then she spotted the takeout container in the trash and instantly seemed to have found the ultimate evidence against her.

She shrieked, “Good heavens! You dare eat something this spicy and greasy? Poisoned milk! Are you trying to poison the only heir of the Li family? You wicked creature!”

Liu Yanyan stared at the container of spicy hot pot, of which she had eaten only two bites before rinsing it with clean water. Her hands trembled with anger.

“Mom, I’m feeding him formula. He isn’t drinking my breast milk.”

“That’s why you don’t have enough milk! You eat whatever you please, and now, starting today, you’re not allowed to feed him formula. You will breastfeed him properly!”

Liu Yanyan tried her best to reason with Wang Xiulian. “I only ate a few bites. I don’t have enough milk, and formula is more nutritious than mine.”

“A few bites? Not even one bite is allowed!”

Wang Xiulian shoved her aside with her hip, snatched up the baby, and began patting him randomly.

“I think you’re doing this on purpose! You came here just to ruin the Li family’s bloodline!”

The rough handling only made the baby more uncomfortable, and he began to wail with heartbreaking force.

Liu Yanyan reached out to take him back.

“Mom, that’s not how you hold him. You need to support his lower back…”

“Who are you to teach me?”

Wang Xiulian abruptly pulled her hands away, leaving Liu Yanyan grasping at empty air.

“Holding my grandson is only right and proper! Why are you so anxious? Useless thing!”

Liu Yanyan could only swallow her anger and bear everything in silence.

This continued for three days. Wang Xiulian ordered her around until she was dizzy, leaving her unable to sleep through the night or eat a hot meal.

Meanwhile, Wang Xiulian lounged on the sofa like an empress dowager, cracking sunflower seeds with sharp little snaps. Every movement of her lips issued another imperial decree.

“The blanket is too thick!”

“You’re changing the diapers too often!”

“What’s wrong with letting him cry a little? It’ll strengthen his lungs!”

On the evening of the fourth day, the baby developed a mild heat rash. The moment Wang Xiulian saw it, she flew into a rage and pointed at the mosquito net.

“It’s all because this worthless net is suffocating him! Take it down! Hurry up and take it down!”

Liu Yanyan was holding warm water and preparing to wipe the baby down. At those words, the taut string in her mind, stretched to its limit for far too long, snapped.

“Would you be satisfied only after the mosquitoes had eaten his face raw?”

She flung down the towel. Tears mingled with all the grievances she had suppressed over the past few days as she pointed at Wang Xiulian’s nose and shouted.

“Besides nitpicking and running your mouth, what can you do? Have you even touched the baby once? Washed a single diaper? You came here just to drive me to my grave!”

Stunned by this sudden defiance, Wang Xiulian froze for a moment before slapping her thighs and wailing.

“How dare you! Li Jingyan! Look at the wonderful wife you found! She actually dared to curse me! Oh, I can’t go on living…”

Just then, the lock clicked.

Li Jingyan dragged his exhausted body through the door, only to see his mother sitting on the floor, kicking her legs and howling, while Liu Yanyan—the woman who had always been meek and gentle—stood before her with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, like a mother wolf driven into a corner.

Watching the scene unfold, Wen Yan grinned from ear to ear.

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