Transmigrating As The Scummy Ex-Wife Of The Cold And Aloof Tycoon - Chapter 33

“I heard she fell down the hotel stairs… Like me, my aunt had congenital heart disease, the kind that can’t be operated on. She fell, had a heart attack, and they couldn’t save her.” Lin Weilan sighed softly.

“Oh, right. Apparently, they had an appointment with someone that day for something important? Xiao Ning wasn’t very willing and intentionally arrived a bit late. Coincidentally, the other party was also late, so no one was there when it happened.”

On the way back to Huawan, Ye Yichi carefully mulled over Lin Weilan’s words.

Xin Ning said the video was filmed before her mother died. Lin Weilan said they had an appointment with someone and the accident happened at a hotel. The background of the video did indeed look like a hotel…

That day, the people they were meeting were likely Ye Shijin and the original host of this body.

According to the situation in the video, Ye Shijin and the original host weren’t late, they had actually arrived early. Their conversation was secretly filmed by Liang Yan, who was standing outside the door.

And then? They were discovered? In the chaos, she fell down the stairs? A heart attack? Ye Shijin and the original host left, leaving Xin Ning’s mother to die alone… Ye Yichi’s brow furrowed slowly.

None of this was in the original novel; at most, it served as the “melodramatic backstory” for a web of hate and love.

Now that the original truth was being deduced piece by piece… wasn’t this backstory a bit too cliché?

The director had set the start date for filming in three days. Most of the things Ye Yichi had moved to the apartment were still in her suitcases, so she could just grab her bags and go.

Returning to Huawan, she didn’t rush to pack. First, she told Su Fanxing and Grandma Su about taking the role.

“Wow, our big star is about to create new glory!” Su Fanxing hurriedly pulled out her phone, snapping photos of Ye Yichi from every angle. “I have to hoard as many photos as possible before you join the crew. My ‘photo card’ business can’t stop.”

“Little Chestnut found a job, that’s wonderful.” Grandma Su rubbed her hands together with a smile. “Wait here, Grandma’s going to stir-fry a few more dishes to celebrate.”

“No need, there’s already enough food.” Ye Yichi called out a few times but couldn’t stop her.

Fine. Might as well deliver the portion for next door first.

She was used to seeing the cold, hardened, and capable President Xin. Facing a soft, kitten-like Xin Ning was, honestly, inexplicably nerve wracking especially when Xin Ning stared at her intently with rippling eyes, making subtle inquiries about her and ‘Xiaoxiao.’

She had been single for 21 years in her past life, and as soon as she crossed over, she was hit with an arranged marriage. Where was she supposed to find romantic stories to make up?

What a disaster, she sighed inwardly, pressing the code for the electronic lock.

Xin Ning was in the living room on a phone call. Seeing her enter, she hung up quickly and offered a faint smile. “You’re here.”

“How was your afternoon? No more fever?” Ye Yichi set the food down, avoiding Xin Ning’s eyes. “Grandma made this. Eat up. Just leave the dishes there when you’re done; I’ll come collect them later.”

“Delivering food and even cleaning up the dishes… were you this good to her too?” Xin Ning asked.

See? Exactly what she was afraid of.

Ye Yichi rubbed the tip of her nose, pretending not to hear.

“Oh, right. You said she never got sick.” Xin Ning’s cool voice still carried a hint of hoarseness. “So you never took care of her, never stayed up through the night for her, never delivered food or cleaned up after her. This kindness you’ve shown me these past two days… she never experienced it, right?”

Is this ever going to end?

“Since when did you become so talkative? Your throat is hoarse from being sick, yet you won’t stop talking?” Ye Yichi shot a glance at Xin Ning. “Aren’t you afraid of losing your voice completely?”

“Are you worried about me? Independent of the ‘substitute’ identity, just worried about me as a person?” Xin Ning’s eyes curved, the depths shimmering with fragments of light. “Does this mean that maybe one day, you’ll set aside the substitute identity and like me for who I am?”

Did it count as fleeing in a panic? Not quite.

But it was true she left without answering. Watching today’s update on the projection screen, Ye Yichi couldn’t help but recall Xin Ning’s words.

After one episode ended, she sighed silently.

“Sis, change your posture. Yes, raise your hand a bit, make your expression more vacant.” Su Fanxing circled Ye Yichi during the commercial break. “You’ll be gone for two months. What are Grandma and I going to do without you? Why don’t you just ‘commute’?”

“Commute how?” Ye Yichi asked casually.

“Like a day student! Go to work and come home after. The food and housing at home are definitely better than the film set, and you can see Grandma and me every day.”

“Can’t do it.” Ye Yichi shook her head.

The rehearsal space was a thirty-minute drive from Huawan. Buying a used car and coming back every day wasn’t impossible, but she decided against it. She had taken this role specifically to avoid Xin Ning; if she commuted back and forth every day, wouldn’t all that effort be for nothing?

After the second episode finished, Ye Yichi sent Su Fanxing next door to get the dishes.

“She’s your ex-wife, why are you making me go? She’ll give me the cold shoulder when she sees me.” Su Fanxing grumbled as she headed out. A moment later, she returned clutching the bowls and chopsticks. “Sis, I have to say, your ex-wife is quite proper. Even though she hasn’t fully recovered, she didn’t forget to wash the dishes. Look, sparkling clean.”

“She has a dishwasher there, it’s just a matter of putting them in.”

“Then why did you make me go get them? I could have just grabbed them when I delivered breakfast tomorrow morning.” Su Fanxing curled her lip.

“Someone still has to put them into the dishwasher, don’t they?” Ye Yichi glanced at Su Fanxing. “Alright, go do your homework. Didn’t you say you had a physics worksheet to finish before watching TV?”

“Ah, physics! Cursed physics!” Su Fanxing wailed and ran off.

Ye Yichi looked down at the dishes for a moment, let out a yawn, and slowly headed upstairs.

The next day, she managed to sleep until she woke up naturally. There was a message from Xin Ning on her phone, saying she had bought breakfast and inviting Ye Yichi over to eat.

Not eating.

Ye Yichi replied briefly. While she was getting up to wash her face, a second message arrived.

I’m going into the city this afternoon to handle some business. Do you want to come along?

She had no business to handle, so why go? Ye Yichi flicked the water off her fingertips and replied with a ‘No.’

The other side went quiet.

She spent a quiet afternoon soaking up the sun. After 2:00 PM, she received a third message from Xin Ning.

I picked up desserts from your favorite shop. I’ll be there in half an hour. Come over for afternoon tea?

Ye Yichi glanced at it, put her phone down, and continued sunbathing.

She drifted off into a daze for an unknown amount of time until the tip of her nose was lightly tapped. She snapped her eyes open to find a pair of dark eyes deep like a pool, yet not cold. Beneath the slightly rippling surface of the water lay a shimmering light.

Ye Yichi touched the tip of her nose.

A beat later, she noticed the faint scent of roses.

“You refused to go next door, so I had to bring the afternoon tea to you.” Xin Ning curled her lips into a smile, carefully placing a cake box on the stone table. “It’s a new item; I waited in line for a long time. Get up and try it.”

The warm sunlight filtered through the tangled, bare branches, cutting out layers of sharp angles. A plump chicken stepped through the patches of light on the ground, cooing and stretching its feathers.

“What are you doing?” Ye Yichi narrowed her eyes.

“Treating you to afternoon tea.” Xin Ning opened the cake box.

Inside was a small, square cake in a red and green Christmas color scheme. In the center of the cake stood a fondant Christmas tree, every branch meticulously crafted. The ends of the green leaves were dotted with colorful sugar pearls, and the pale yellow star at the very top bore the shop’s logo.

Ye Yichi used to visit this shop often. Its location was quite remote, at least an hour’s drive from Huawan.

Round trip meant two hours. Factoring in parking and queuing, if one left after lunch, they’d get back right around this time… Ye Yichi realized: “You said you were going into the city for business was it just to buy this?”

“I originally wanted to invite you to eat at the shop,” Xin Ning said. “Since you wouldn’t go, I could only bring it back for you.”

“Did you invite me?” Ye Yichi looked at Xin Ning, then at the cake, wondering if she was still dreaming.

Come over for breakfast. I’m going into the city to handle things; want to come along?

If she remembered correctly, Xin Ning had only sent those two sentences all morning. Which part of that was an invitation to eat cake? Oh, please!

“I did, but it wasn’t direct enough.” Xin Ning looked away. “I’ve reflected on it. From now on, I will try my best to invite you in a way you can understand.”

What did she mean, a way she could “understand”?

No matter who you asked, nobody would be able to link those two sentences to eating cake, right?

Ye Yichi stared at Xin Ning silently.

A tightly closed clam had finally learned human speech, it was excusable if its application was a bit clumsy. But why couldn’t this clam stay quietly in the water? Why did it have to swim right in front of her?

“Let’s set the invitations aside for a moment. What exactly are you trying to do with all this trouble today?”

“Pursue you.” Xin Ning’s cold voice fluctuated slightly, rising for a moment before dropping back to its original tone. “I’ve thought about it carefully these past two days. Since you chose me as a substitute, it means Xiaoxiao and I are the same type.”

“Since you like this type, it’s possible for you to fall for me too.” Xin Ning paused. “Not as a substitute, but truly falling for the real me.”

This was madness.

The “substitute trope” was usually the most heart wrenching, agonizing part of these melodramatic stories. How did it turn into this when it reached the hands of the protagonist?

Ye Yichi still couldn’t wrap her head around it, even after finishing the entire cake.

But it didn’t matter.

“The cake was delicious. Thanks. Don’t send any more in the future.” Ye Yichi tossed the cake box away and escorted Xin Ning out. “As for ‘pursuing’ me, there’s no need. We’re both divorced now. Three years of marriage and over a thousand days of suffering, haven’t you had enough?”

“I haven’t had enough.” The tips of Xin Ning’s ears turned red, and a blush slowly spread across her icy cheeks. “If you’re unwilling to accept me because we’re divorced, actually…”

“It’s not about the divorce,” Ye Yichi interrupted her.

What stood between them was a melodramatic backstory. By admitting to the “substitute” role, Xin Ning could face her, but she couldn’t face Xin Ning. If she denied the substitute role, she could face Xin Ning, but Xin Ning wouldn’t believe that she loved her.

It was an inextricable, unsolvable Mobius strip.

“Forget it, I can’t explain it. Just don’t come over anymore. I’m joining the film crew the day after tomorrow.” Ye Yichi decisively shut the courtyard gate.

That evening, Su Fanxing returned quite a bit later than usual. Before washing her hands, she carefully sized up Ye Yichi.

Did she get into trouble? Ye Yichi glanced at her.

The girl had a naturally impulsive personality. After Su Haoyue passed away, Grandma Su had suffered a shock and couldn’t look after her, leaving this teenager to prop up the family. It was inevitable that she’d be reckless at times and you couldn’t entirely blame her. If she wasn’t a bit aggressive and tough, she and Grandma would have been bullied.

“Speak up. I’ll back you up no matter what happened.” Ye Yichi beckoned Su Fanxing over.

“I’m fine… Sis, have you seen the trending searches yet?” Su Fanxing approached tentatively and showed Ye Yichi her phone.

The trending list was filled with “Explosive” tags.

#Shock! Actress Ye Yichi Hidden Marriage for 3 Years, Wife Suspected to be Wealthy Tycoon

#Ye Yichi’s Persona Collapses? Late Night Tryst in Sports Car

#Top Star Appears at Hospital, Insider Claims She ‘Plays Too Hard’

#Secret Video Leaked: Ye Yichi and Investor Seen in Intimate, Transgressive Behavior

Ye Yichi clicked through them one by one.

The first one used a photo from the Xin Corporation press conference. The angle was very tricky; it only captured her and her hand resting on Xin Ning’s waist.

The second one looked like a parking lot. It was taken from a distance and showed her face clearly, while the person with an arm around her neck was seen from the back half-tied hair, oatmeal colored coat.

The third was a sneak shot from the hospital. She was standing outside the ER. To be fair, the facial expression was captured perfectly, she looked very worried.

The fourth… before she could click it, her phone rang.

Ye Yichi pulled out her phone. It was a voice call request from Xin Ning. She answered it.

“Have you seen the trending searches?” Xin Ning’s voice sounded dark and stern through the screen. “Someone is clearly targeting you. Have you touched anyone’s ‘cake’ lately?”

Cake?

She had only eaten the Christmas tree cake recently. If we’re talking about “touching”? She did throw a piece of undercooked, almost spoiled cake into the trash once.

Ye Yichi burst out laughing.

“Don’t laugh, I’m serious. Think back carefully.” Xin Ning’s speaking speed increased. “Wait for me at Huawan. We’ll talk in person.”