After Encountering My Deceased Wife, I Became the Male Lead's Love Rival - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Eloquent and Quick-Witted

With her wife on her back, Fang Ziyue took every step with exceptional stability.

The road to the finish line was long. Ling Qiu, in a daze, fell asleep against Fang Ziyue’s back and didn’t wake up until she was placed on a lounge chair and covered with a thin blanket.

When the camera following Ling Qiu captured the house Fang Ziyue had chosen, Ling Qiu’s fans immediately erupted. The tiny bit of goodwill they had developed because Fang Ziyue went back to fetch Ling Qiu vanished instantly upon seeing this dirty, messy, dilapidated house.

The house Fang Ziyue chose wasn’t as large as the other two, nor did it have an environment as pleasant as the others.

The house chosen by Lin Mingcheng and his partner, for example, was not only clean and beautiful but even came with a large garden outside.

Looking at Fang Ziyue’s place, the house was small and the courtyard was dreadfully desolate. Aside from overgrown old flower beds and vegetable plots, there was a long-abandoned chicken coop under a large tree by the wall; a single gust of wind could blow up a floor full of pathetic chicken feathers.

At first glance, this courtyard… could honestly be used to film a horror movie.

What left the fans most speechless was that there was no furniture in the house except for one chair and one pot.

The camera followed Fang Ziyue into the house until she opened a vegetable cellar on the right side of the kitchen; only then did the swearing in the bullet comments subside slightly.

The cellar wasn’t small; it contained wine, vegetables, and even some snacks tucked away by the production team.

Many comments called the production team “shifty,” as such a hidden place would be impossible to find without a thorough search.

So she discovered this cellar early on and chose this place because of it? No way, if “Fang the Third” had that kind of IQ, would she have been used as a stepping stone by Lin Mengyan back then? No way, no way… surely people haven’t forgotten after only four years that Fang is a “Green Tea” idiot who is delicate, affected, and doesn’t know how to lift a finger for housework?

Uh… downstairs, you must be a latecomer? I admit the other stuff, but “weak and delicate” is a stretch. This sister can now devour a truckload of spinach in one sitting; she’s a total “Power Girl.”][Seconded. Popeye is about to lose his job. What? What did I miss?

While the crowd clamored, Fang Ziyue had already put on a mask, rolled up her sleeves, and begun cleaning Ling Qiu’s room.

Opening windows, sweeping the floor, changing the bedsheets the house looked like it hadn’t been lived in for a year or so. By the time Fang Ziyue finished tidying just one room, she was covered in dust.

Her newly changed grey trousers and short-sleeved shirt were smeared with dirt, and her eyebrows and hair had turned ash-white. Even the black bracelet on her left wrist, which she never took off, was a filthy mess. Fortunately, the cleaned room was spotless.

The result was good.

Looking at her handiwork, Fang Ziyue’s habitually indifferent and calm eyes flickered with a hint of a smile. Implicitly, she was slapping the faces of the millions of viewers in the livestream who were waiting for her to make a fool of herself.

In the livestream, the comments that had been insulting Fang Ziyue were, at some point, replaced by a sea of ellipses.

Occasionally, a few curses from disgruntled gamblers would pop up, only to be instantly banned by the room moderators.

Who could have known that the “Little Third” Fang the one who once hated getting her feet dirty, wouldn’t touch mud with her ten fingers, was plagued with “Princess Syndrome,” couldn’t do anything right, and was number one at causing trouble actually knew how to clean?

Earlier, people in the comments were betting that Fang Ziyue would definitely wake up the sick Ling Qiu to do the work, or even shamelessly throw a tantrum to demand the crew provide staff to help her.

Instead, she instantly transformed into a “Home Organization Expert,” giving them a comprehensive eighteen-palm facial massage.

Hiss, their faces hurt.

In the meantime, the production team issued the second task: the guests had to clean their houses, and each group had to finish their first meal before 6:00 PM. The crew would inspect the results and determine a winner based on color, aroma, and taste.

“The winning group will get priority selection in tomorrow’s tool selection phase…” Under Fang Ziyue’s “Death Stare,” the staff member responsible for reading the rules lowered his voice to the absolute minimum, sounding almost like a mosquito’s hum.

There was no helping it; the poor staff member glanced nervously at Film Queen Ling, who was sleeping fitfully on the lounge chair, and felt bitter in his heart.

His voice was already low enough; could this ancestor please stop staring at him as if she wanted to eat him alive?!

Despite hating Fang Ziyue, a massive wave of “Hahaha” and sympathy for the poor staff member flooded the comments.

Of course, there were still many people calling Fang Ziyue low-class, disrespectful, and a “clout-chaser” for shamelessly using Film Queen Ling for views.

Fang Ziyue glanced at the livestream, feeling nothing toward the insults. However, their situation had likely been exposed by viewers jumping between different livestreams.

Aside from being clean and beautiful, Lin Mingcheng’s house was essentially empty.

A clever housewife cannot cook without rice; Lin Mingcheng and his partner would either have to beg the production team for ingredients or take them from here.

Naturally, given the production team’s trickery, getting ingredients from them would likely require paying a heavy price.

Fang Ziyue washed her cleaning rag while calculating when the other side would arrive. Given Lin Mingcheng’s arrogance and vanity, even if Lin Mengyan came alone to ask for food, he would likely stall for an hour.

That hour was enough for Ling Qiu to sleep until she woke up naturally.

Knock, knock… The closed courtyard gate was struck.

Fang Ziyue, who had showered and changed into clean clothes, checked the time. An hour and a half it seemed Lin Mingcheng’s vanity was even more severe than she had realized.

In the courtyard, Ling Qiu, who had just taken medicine, was resting with her eyes closed in a lethargic state. She only quietly opened her eyes for a moment when Fang Ziyue came out, looking at this person who was vastly different from her memory and had changed so much.

Can four years truly change a person completely?

Ling Qiu didn’t believe Fang Ziyue could truly become a better person; she was more inclined to believe that Fang Ziyue’s actions were merely an attempt to “whitewash” her reputation.

But she had indeed helped her. Ling Qiu’s good upbringing forced her, even while hating Fang Ziyue, to say: “Thank you for your hard work.”

After all, it was an indisputable fact that she was sleeping while the other person was working hard.

Ling Qiu’s conflicted expression clearly unwilling in her eyes but forced to give a sincere thank you made the corners of Fang Ziyue’s mouth curl up with amusement.

After many years apart, some of her wife’s personality traits remained unchanged; she was still so cute.

“It’s nothing, just a minor thing.” Fang Ziyue’s answer sounded casual and comfortable.

The annoyance in Ling Qiu’s heart eased slightly; looking at Fang Ziyue now, she didn’t seem as irritating as before.

As the two exchanged these few words, they actually forgot about the person knocking at the door.

Lin Mengyan, seeing the comments saying Ling Qiu and Fang Ziyue were too busy chatting to open the door for her, nearly ground her teeth to pieces. She could barely maintain her composed smile.

She was 100% certain that Fang Ziyue was ignoring her on purpose because she hated her for betraying her back then.

Four years ago, the incident where Fang Ziyue drugged Lin Mingcheng at Ling Qiu’s wedding was actually instigated by Lin Mengyan. At that time, she was still Fang Ziyue’s “best friend,” and it wasn’t until Lin Mengyan reaped the benefits that Fang Ziyue cut her off completely.

Recalling the accusations Fang Ziyue threw at her before going abroad, Lin Mengyan sneered in her heart. Only someone that stupid would take other people’s words as gospel and believe everything they were told.

And at that time, Fang Ziyue even said she was breaking off the friendship. Hah, what was she, some naive elementary schooler? How childish.

Therefore, meeting Fang Ziyue again on this show, even if she had changed a lot, Lin Mengyan still didn’t take her seriously.

The one she needed to guard against, from beginning to end, was Ling Qiu her husband Lin Mingcheng’s ex-fiancée, the person he could never let go of.

They were once a perfect match. If Lin Mengyan hadn’t used tactics to exploit Lin Mingcheng’s vanity and Ling Qiu’s haughty, prideful flaws to “cook the rice” (consummate the relationship) early on, she would never have become the Mistress of the Lin family.

But who could have known that after marrying the man she had admired for years, she would live in constant fear because her husband still loved Ling Qiu. And as a woman, Lin Mengyan was certain that Ling Qiu still had feelings for Lin Mingcheng.

Fortunately, Ling Qiu had high moral standards; she was unwilling to be a “third wheel” and break up a marriage, so she suppressed her emotions and kept her distance from Lin Mingcheng.

But dry wood and a fierce fire just one spark could start a conflagration. Lin Mengyan had to be on guard.

This time, her knocking was much louder, causing even the slow-reacting, flu-ridden Ling Qiu to look toward the gate.

Tsk. A relatively harmonious atmosphere had finally been established, only to be broken. Fang Ziyue walked to open the gate with impatience.

“Ziyue, do you guys need help here?” As soon as the door opened, Lin Mengyan spoke with a beaming smile, looking into the courtyard.

A desolate mess. Heh how pathetic.

Fang Ziyue, of course, did not miss the schadenfreude and calculation in Lin Mengyan’s eyes.

She propped one hand against the door, her tall frame blocking the entrance, clearly intending to keep Lin Mengyan out.

She spoke in a flat tone: “Pity you’re late. We’ve already finished tidying up; we don’t need outsiders’ help.”

Previously, Fang Ziyue thought it was Lin Mingcheng’s vanity that made him take so long to build up the courage to send Lin Mengyan out to ask for things.

But now it seemed Lin Mengyan came so late because she was afraid they hadn’t finished cleaning and would actually need her to do manual labor.

“Is that so?” Hearing this, Lin Mengyan clapped her hands with a look of chagrin and explained: “Because I’m injured, the task of cleaning the rooms had to be left entirely to Brother Cheng.”

Lin Mengyan’s smile was sweet, carrying a hint of casual boasting: “Luckily Brother Cheng was there, otherwise I really don’t know how an injured person like me would have finished the task.”

“But it took Brother Cheng a long time to clean up by himself, which is why I’m late. Ziyue, you won’t blame me, right?” Lin Mengyan looked uneasy. For a senior to speak so condescendingly to a junior made Fang Ziyue look like she was putting on airs and being ungrateful.

Many people in the comments cursed Fang Ziyue for being shameless and having no right to accept Lin Mengyan’s apology. Some even made extreme comments saying Fang Ziyue should immediately kneel and kowtow to apologize to the “Diva” Lin Mengyan.

Fang Ziyue, being cursed into the ground, leaned against the door. After watching Lin Mengyan’s performance for free, she asked indifferently: “I don’t want to hear about irrelevant matters. I’m just curious if you’re too injured to move or help your ‘Dear Brother Cheng’ with work, how could you run all the way to our house to help me clean?”

Fang Ziyue raised an eyebrow and gave an ambiguous smile.

The words “nice act” weren’t spoken out loud, but everyone guessed them.

Lin Mengyan’s long, sharp nails dug into her palms instantly. The tide of the comments in the livestream began to turn.

Lin Mingcheng’s “toxic solo fans” even used Fang Ziyue’s words as a springboard to start attacking Lin Mengyan.

On the lounge chair, Ling Qiu who had been nauseated by Lin Mengyan’s subtle “hat-pinning” tactics (labeling others) suddenly found Fang Ziyue much more pleasing to the eye.

Eloquent and quick-witted. Truly not bad.

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