NWWNL – Chapter 17

Chapter 17.

The Yi family driver had arrived at a bad time.

Not just for Xu Xinyi and Yi Yang but also for Qin Yan.

When Qin Yan had heard her friends say that Yi Yang was waiting for her in a room on the second floor, she had thought it was just her friends making a joke. But, to her surprise, it seemed they had spiked Yi Yang’s drink.

“Yan Yan, you shouldn’t hesitate. Which of us doesn’t know that Xu Xinyi is the third party who intervened in your relationship with Yi Yang? Xu Xinyi is just a third party and even if she wasn’t, Yi Yang doesn’t like her at all. “

“They will end up divorced sooner or later, so if you’re willing to wait a few more years – you can. But if you don’t want to wait just go up to the second floor now. You don’t even have to do anything with him. Just stay in your room with him for a while and we’ll take care of the rest.”

But even though Qin Yan was tempted, Yi Yang’s driver suddenly appeared and asked the hotel staff to take him straight to the second floor.

The people plotting panicked a bit when they saw that.

“What’s going on?”

The hotel staff member explained, “Miss Qin, this gentleman said he was Mr. Yi’s driver. Mr. Yi called him over to fetch him.”

Qin Yan deduced that Yi Yang had already woken up and she felt a brief pang of regret.

They opened the door.

The room was dimly lit and it was hard to see exactly what was going on, but the situation at the bedside seemed clear enough.

Yi Yang lay there on the bed, drenched, and Xu Xinyi stood over him with a belt.

The scene was a bit explosive.

The driver thought quickly and slammed the door shut.

“Sorry to disturb you.” 

The people who had gathered outside the door all looked at each other in shock.

The driver coughed and said in a low voice. “Mr. and Mrs. Yi are still very much in love.”

A subtle expression flashed across the faces of the gathered people.

Qin Yan was only shocked for a second before her brain began to move in high gear. According to the situation she just saw inside it seemed apparent that things had already been exposed. She had to quickly come up with countermeasures to convince Yi Yang she was not involved.

A few minutes later, Xu Xinyi came out of the room and said mockingly. “Miss Qin, you are still so young and pretty, why would you do such a shameless thing at your birthday party?”

“Xu Xinyi, you should speak politely.” Qin Yan’s white knights all jostled to defend her.

“This is me being polite. But you all had better think about how you’re going to explain things later.”

Xu Xinyi regretted, she had really thought highly of Qin Yan, imagining that she had some skills, but in the end, she turned out to be just so-so. She had hoped she could let Qin Yan take care of Yi Yang but now it looked like she would have to handle him herself.

With the situation as it was now, it would be strange if Yi Yang could fall in love with Qin Yan.

“Xiao Zhang,”* Xu Xinyi spoke to the driver, “Go and some new clothes. Also, bring some bandages.”

“Yes, Mrs. Yi.”

Qin Yan asked nervously, “What happened to Yi Yang? Is he alright?”

“He’s fine. He just ate something he shouldn’t have.” Xu Xinyi sent a pointed glance to some of those gathered people, particularly Qin Yan’s friends who had drugged Yi Yang, before she turned and disappeared back into the room.

The room was a mess. The bed was soaked and dripping water that gathered into several small puddles that were spreading around.

Having calmed down, Yi Yang sat down on the sofa with his head hung low.

Xu Xinyi sketched a look around the room and found the heater, which she turned on, before she went into the bathroom and found him a towel.

“Go to the bathroom and take off your clothes first. There’s a bathrobe in there. Remember to dry off your hair so you don’t catch a cold.”

Yi Yang just sat silently like a sculpture and didn’t answer for a long time. Xu Xinyi really wanted to just throw the towel on his head.

But considering that Yi Yang was the victim tonight, and considering she had poured three basins of water on him, she gave up the idea.

Forget it, he was so pitiful. It wasn’t worth arguing with him.

So Xu Xinyi went over and wiped his wet hair with the towel.

Yi Yang’s body was slightly quivering. He slowly looked up and into Xu Xinyi’s eyes for a moment. In the dark, the soft light of the lamp was reflected in his eyes and it looked like a cluster of tiny fires were burning there.

Xu Xinyi blinked and looked back down at him.

Yi Yang’s hair was wet and disheveled, which stripped away a lot of the domineering and arrogant impression he gave off and left him with a little more of a pitiful feeling.

“…”

Xu Xinyi could not stand seeing him like this. She had always been a person weak to handsome men, not to mention this fresh appearance of a slightly bedraggled Yi Yang. With his pitiful look, she felt the anger that had been hidden in her heart vanishing.

Ah, Yi Yang, this dog man, unexpectedly ensnared her with his beauty trap!

“Are you cold? Just wait a minute. I turned on the heat and it should get warm in a minute.” Xu Xinyi mumbled while she wiped his hair: “Look at you. What kind of people are your friends, to actually spike your drink? Can you just eat that sort of thing casually? What if something goes wrong? You need to go to the hospital later and get checked out in case there is a problem. Finding it as soon as possible is important. And really, even if you haven’t seen your friends in years, you can’t be so careless.”

Seeing that Yi Yang’s hair finally stopped dripping, she said, “Now go to the bathroom and take off all your clothes and change into the bathrobe first or you really will catch a cold later. I already asked the driver to bring you new clothes. You can change later.”

“How did you know?” Yi Yang, who had been silent this whole time, finally opened his mouth.

“It was the waiter who spilled the wine on you earlier. He told me he saw someone spike some wine and then send it to you. Then you drank it, so I knew about it. Are you alright?”

There was another long silence.

Yi Yang bowed his head and pressed his fingers between his eyebrows wearily. Then he got up. “I’m alright. I’ll go and change my clothes first.”

As soon as he went into the bathroom, the driver arrived and delivered a new suit and some bandages as ordered by Xu Xinyi.

The temperature in the room slowly warmed up. When Yi Yang put on the new suit and came out of the bathroom, the warm air enveloped him, and began dispelling the cold that had pierced down to his bones. With the room warmed and the new clothes Yi Yang no longer felt a trace of chill.

“Just now Qin Yan told me that Old Master Qin wants to see you. What do you want to do?”

“What else can I do?” Yi Yang finished buttoning up his shirt. His expression was grim and cloudy. “Let’s go.”

“Wait!” Xu Xinyi walked up to him with a smile and then stood on tiptoe and put a large band-aid on him, covering the angry welt that ran from his neck up to his chin.

Xu Xinyi looked at it with satisfaction. “Alright. Now let’s go.”

A show was starting!

Qin Yan’s birthday banquet was grand but it ended in a hurry. After Old Master Qin saw a few of the prominent guests off, he disappeared and left behind some of his younger generation to handle the front door.

The hotel had quickly pulled up the surveillance cameras and found the waiter who gave Yi Yang the spiked wine. With just a little prodding the waiter folded and said everything, he pointed at Qin Yan’s four friends and said, “They told me to do it.”

Qin Yan’s friends did not want to admit it at first but a quick search revealed more drugs on one of them and they could no longer say a word in their own defense.

“Yi Yang, you’re here?” Old Master Qin looked at Xu Xinyi and Yi Yang who walked in side by side and looked quite worried. “Are you all right?”

Yi Yang walked up to Old Master Qin without flinching or shying at all and said, “It was no big deal. How are you Old Master Qin?”

“Good, very good,” Old Master Qin smiled and said, “I’m glad you’re alright. I just received word of this matter, it’s unbelievable that they would dare.”

He glared at the group of friends. “You guys, explain this matter to Yi Yang.”

Qin Yan’s friends exchanged looks and unanimously played the friend card.

“Yi Yang, don’t be stingy, we were just kidding with you.”

“Yeah, we haven’t seen each other for so many years, so there’s no need to kick up a storm about a trifle like this.”

“Shall we apologize to you?”

Qin Yan also chimed in: “Yi Yang, this was really just a joke. They didn’t expect things to get so big. Since today is my 25th birthday, could you just forget it? For my sake?”

Xu Xinyi felt a bit of cold sweat. It seemed Yi Yang, this dog man, was being asked to let things go to give Old Master Qin face.

–This old fox leading a group of little foxes. None of them want to apologize and lose face, so they all rely on this old man to suppress Yi Yang with seniority and ‘ask’ him to forget about it.”

Old Master Qin sighed and said, “Yi Yang, I know I’m wronging you with this but today is Yan Yan’s birthday. No one will look good if this gets too big. So just let them apologize to you and forget it, okay?”

–“I knew it.”

–“A bunch of bastards, all joining hands to bully my husband? Bah!”

Xu Xinyi was not as unflappable as Yi Yang so she spoke up. “Sir, you are an elder and I understand you want to protect your granddaughter and her friends but with some things, you have to be more reasonable. How can you just let it go without any clear investigation?”

“They’ve already admitted and apologized, is there anything else that needs to be investigated?”

“Of course there is,” said Xu Xinyi. “Everyone knows that your granddaughter likes Yi Yang. Who can say if her friends drugged Yi Yang to set them up together?”

“What nonsense are you saying? We admitted that we did drug Yi Yang but there was no other meaning. It was just a joke. Not to mention that Yi Yang is already married to you, so how could we try to set Yan Yan up with Yi Yang?” One of the friends blabbered.

Xu Xinyi retorted, “Why not? Just a little while ago Qin Yan told me that she was obsessed with Yi Yang and asked me to divorce Yi Yang so that she could get back together with him.”

Qin Yan’s face suddenly turned ugly. “You’re talking nonsense! I didn’t say that! “

Xu Xinyi casually pulled out her cell phone and clicked on a recording.

“…Yi Yang and I have known each other since childhood, and I have been playing with him since we were very young… He said he would marry me when he grew up… This bracelet was given to me by Yi Yang on my 18th birthday and I have been wearing it all these years. I can feel the difference in the way he treats me, I believe he loves me.”

The recording was of what Qin Yan said to Xu Xinyi on the garden terrace.

Qin Yan’s face changed dramatically. She looked at Xu Xinyi incredulously and her expression became extremely flustered. “You …”.

Xu Xinyi gave her an innocent look. “I accidentally touched the record button while you were talking and, oops, I recorded it.”

–“Are you angry? Are you shocked? I recorded it!”

–“Fortunately, I’m a smart woman with foresight. If I’m going to be chatting with my love rival, of course, I need some insurance!”

–“When I didn’t take it out back then it was just to give you face. But that was before you tried to make me wear a green hat. See now if I won’t hammer you to death!”

Xu Xinyi, relying on having the high ground, raised her voice. If not for how inappropriate it would be to the scene, she really wanted to take a loudspeaker to continue so the whole world could hear.

“You see, Mr. Qin, there is both motive and evidence and I have sufficient reason to believe that this was not a joke at all. This gang of people were all in it together and they deliberately spiked Yi Yang’s wine just to give me a green hat! All so that they can take advantage of the opportunity to force Yi Yang and I to divorce!”

Speaking to this point, Xu Xinyi sighed and clung to Yi Yang’s arm. “It is said that a person should rather tear down ten temples than destroy a marriage. But old man, even before I’m dead, your granddaughter is here plotting for the position of Mrs. Yi. Do you think this is appropriate behavior for your granddaughter?”

Old Master Qin was also frightened by the recording.

He looked at Qin Yan, and then looked at Xu Xinyi, and his whole body trembled and he didn’t say a word.

Qin Yan burst into tears. She felt like all the eyes around her, no matter whose eyes they were, were all jabbing straight into her chest like sharp blades.

She had never dreamed that those words she said would be recorded by Xu Xinyi. Or that Xu Xinyi would dare to play them back on this occasion, regardless of everything, and just ruthlessly tear down her face.

Feeling ashamed, Qin Yan held her dress, and started to leave while crying.

“Sir, as you can see your granddaughter did not deny it. It seems that this was indeed her plan.”

Old Master Qin was enraged by Xu Xinyi’s sharp tongue and he pointed at her while shouting, “Y-You… This is not the place for you to speak!”

Xu Xinyi smiled. “Not a place for me to speak? Do I have to invite my grandfather here? Is he worthy enough to talk to you? “

Old Master Qin took a deep breath and no longer entangled with Xu Xinyi but instead asked Yi Yang, “Yi Yang, this matter must be a misunderstanding, Qin Yan, that child, you’ve known her for years. She is kind-hearted and she has no other meaning toward you.”

Xu Xinyi muttered under her breath, “It’s obvious she just wants to be Mrs. Yi…”

“You…!” Mr. Qin’s face changed dramatically and he pointed at her while stumbling as if he were about to fall and clutching his chest.

–“Pretend, just pretend! Clearly, he’s much younger than grandpa. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with him, but he can’t win with words so he pretends to have a heart attack.”

Qin Yan’s four friends hurriedly came forward to help Old Master Qin.

“Are you alright, Old Master Qin? Why don’t you just sit down and have a rest.”

“Xu Xinyi, Grandpa Qin is not in good health. Could you stop saying so much?”

“Drugging Yi Yang is our fault, we admit it, but it had nothing to do with Grandpa Qin, so stop talking so much nonsense!”

Mr. Qin took a sip of water and his situation seemed to turn for the better. He looked at Yi Yang with tired eyes, “Yi Yang, you have the final say to just say the word. Today’s matter, can you forget it?”

Yi Yang, who had been spectating for a long time, looked over at his childhood playmates and was silent for a long time.

It could be said that Yi Yang spent his childhood with these people in front of him.

He had a happy childhood, his parents had loved each other, and Old Master Yi was hale and hearty. Under the protection of his parents and relatives, he grew up able to do whatever he wanted to do and learned whatever he wanted to learn, without being overly pressured like other children his age.

Back then, Yi Group had not yet been fully handed over to Yi Yang’s father. Old Master Yi and Yi Yang’s father both joined hands to lay the foundations of Yi Group.

But later, Yi Yang’s father was killed in an accident. Old Master Yi, who lost his son in his old age, had his health deteriorate day by day.

Suddenly his father died and his grandfather was ill, Yi Yang, the only heir to the Yi family, lost the right to be playful.

All through primary school, junior high school, high school, and university, in addition to the standard curriculum, there had been heavy learning tasks and immense pressure.

Old Master Yi stood alone leading Yi Group for more than a decade until finally, Yi Yang was old enough to take over the company.

Now Yi Yang was a young elite that had surpassed his peers, a man who held Yi Group in his hands, which was the reason why Old Master Qin was being so careful.

–“If he dares to say he’ll let it go – smacking me in the face! – then I will risk my life today to pull this dog man down!”

Yi Yang lowered his eyes and concealed his smile. When he raised his face again, his eyes were cold and sharp. “Old Master Qin, you are my elder and I should give you face here. But I didn’t expect that Qin Yan would say such a thing to my wife. It’s difficult for me to just accept it and let it go so easily.”

Old Master Qin replied in a quiet voice, “Can’t you just let it go? If you are so adamant, the cooperation between the Qin family and Yi family…”

“I think the cooperation between the Yi Group and your Qin family may need to be renegotiated. Also,” Yi Yang took Xu Xinyi’s hand and sneered in a cold tone, “Xinyi and I have an excellent relationship. We will not divorce now and we will never divorce in this lifetime.”

“Let’s call it a day here. The lawyers and police will follow up on this matter. We’ll leave first.”

Xu Xinyi sucked in a breath. Of all things, he just had to deny their divorce!

–“…Yi Yang, this son of a bitch, unexpectedly he bites the hand that feeds him!”

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*“小张” – it’s that annoying naming convention where the author doesn’t want to come up with a name so they just throw in a 小(xiao/little) character and call it a day. I dunno if it’s best to just leave him as “Xiao Zhang” or maybe change it to “Mr. Zhang” or somesuch? “Little Zhang” sounds kind of nonsensical in English so…

haha I bet you guys didn’t expect that! Xu Xinyi recorded the conversation and Yi Yang called the cops! This chapter was a lot of fun, probably my favorite one to translate so far.