NWWNL – Chapter 46

Listen to him, were those human words?

–“Hurt you? Don’t try to plaster gold on your face and increase your worth. Your life is not worth me going to jail at all.”

“Husband, don’t get me wrong…”

Yi Yang stared at the scissors in her hand and whispered, “Stay away from me.”

“…” Xu Xinyi took two steps back and hid the scissors behind her back.

Yi Yang got up and turned on the light and held out his hand to Xu Xinyi. “Give them to me.”

The enemy was strong and she was weak. Under such circumstances, Xu Xinyi had the spine to properly size up the situation and did not try to compete with him. She took out the scissors she had hidden behind her back and handed them to him.

Yi Yang looked at that pair of scissors that still had a few broken hairs on the blades. She said she wanted to cut his hair in the middle of the night, did she take him for a fool?

“Say it clearly, why did you cut my hair in the middle of the night?” Yi Yang had been asleep when he half-woke up and vaguely saw a woman who was carrying scissors standing beside the bed and grinning down at him. It almost scared him to death. So his tone was a little harsh.

Xu Xinyi muttered, “No reason.”

–“It’s just a few hairs. Is it really necessary to be so angry?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I just needed a few hairs… wait…” Xu Xinyi spoke too quickly and almost gave it all away. “There was really no reason.”

Yi Yang looked at her silently for a long time, but he did not hear what Xu Xinyi wanted to do by cutting his hair, so he said with forced calm, “Then put the scissors away and go to sleep!”

Xu Xinyi muttered ‘En’ and put the scissors Yi Yang had thrown on the table back in the cloakroom. But while she was there she revealed a few hairs that were in the palm of her hand and wrapped them in a clean paper towel. She tucked them into her jewelry box with a smile.

–“Everything is ready but the east wind!*”

Yi Yang’s eyebrows furrowed and he wondered, what kind of tricks does this woman want to play now?

——

She hadn’t decided to do a paternity test checking if Xu Weiyin’s child was Yi Yang’s just on a whim. Xu Xinyi had actually planned this for a long time. Ever since Xu Weiyin’s return there had been rumors that there was a man behind her. Because of those rumors, countless paparazzi were following her secretly at all times, trying to strike gold by taking a conclusive picture of Xu Weiyin and the mysterious man, which would earn them a lot of money.

Because of that, three days later, Xu Xinyi was able to effortlessly buy some of Xu Weiyin’s son’s hair from a paparazzi.

“Are you sure it’s his?”

Xu Xinyi, who was wearing a big trench coat, sunglasses, and a mask, was standing behind a door in an abandoned utility room in an underground garage.

The paparazzi was dressed the same way, his face was covered with a cotton-padded mask and sunglasses like he was an undercover agent. He stood at the door and took a small sealed plastic bag out of his sleeve that he then mysteriously handed over to Xu Xinyi through the gap in the door.

“I followed Xu Weiyin’s son when the babysitter who takes care of him took him to the barbershop. It can’t be fake.”

Xu Xinyi looked at the hair.

“I know what you are looking to do, so don’t worry, these have hair follicles.”

“Hair follicles?”

The paparazzi said, “The kid went crazy when he entered the barbershop and started pulling out his own hair. I took the opportunity to pick it up after the kid dropped it. I’m sure you can use these for a paternity test.”

“How did you know I wanted this for a paternity test?”

“Who doesn’t want to know who the father of Xu Weiyin’s child is, right now?” The paparazzi lowered his voice and said, “If you find out who the father is, are you interested in cooperating? I have some people on my side. We can make a big splash together.”

Xu Xinyi had no desire to create a big splash and immediately responded perfunctorily, “We’ll see.”

“OK, then I’ll go first.”

With that, the paparazzi looked around one more time and, seeing that there was no one around, he left in a hurry.

Xu Xinyi walked out of the utility room with two transparent plastic bags in her hand and she smiled meaningfully.

It was obviously such a simple thing, how could the original ‘Xu Xinyi’ screw it up?

But now she could do it herself.

Soon, she would be able to solve the biggest riddle in the novel!

Two hours later, Xu Xinyi received a call from the hospital.

The doctor on the phone was familiar with her. He lowered his voice and said, “Miss Xu, this hair sample is no good. I can’t do a paternity test.”

“What? You can’t do it? Why?”

“If you use hair for a paternity test, you need hair that has hair follicles. It is best to have about five or six hair follicles. The sample you gave me is from cut hair.”

Xu Xinyi understood instantly.

If she wanted to do the paternity test, she would need to pull five or six hairs by the roots from Yi Yang’s head.

Xu Xinyi looked out of her office window and saw that, despite the fact that it was nearly night time, Yi Group in the building across the street was still brightly lit.

Literally plucking the tiger’s whiskers would be a bit difficult and dangerous.

However, where there was a will, there was a way. No matter how difficult it was she would get some of Yi Yang’s hair! 

Having made up her mind, Xu Xinyi went downstairs to drive home from the underground garage, but on the elevator, she happened to meet Jiang Nian, who was also about to go home.

“Jiang Nian? You’re going home?”

Jiang Nian seemed to have just finished practice, and his hair was still wet with sweat. “Yes.”

“Why don’t you ride with me? I’ll send you home.”

In the past, Jiang Nian would agree quite simply, but today he refused, “No thanks, I have something to do today.”

Xu Xinyi felt doubtful but she only nodded.

There was a serious traffic jam during rush hour, so it took her more than ten minutes to get from the underground garage to the main entrance of the company.

While thinking about how to pluck the tiger’s whiskers later, Xu Xinyi spotted Jiang Nian walking down the road wearing a mask and a hat.

Xu Xinyi braked and was about to honk her horn when she saw Jiang Nian impassively walk over to a Maybach that was parked by the side of the road.

A man got out of the car and respectfully opened the door for him.

Jiang Nian seemed to have some hesitance, and he said a few words to the people in the car, but eventually, he got on board.

It was so far away that Xu Xinyi could not hear what he was saying or see who was sitting in the car, but seeing this, she wondered to herself, was Jiang Nian the child of a wealthy family?

But if that was the case, how did he end up going to the Film City to work as a porter moving bricks after being blocked by Tianyu? It seemed impossible for him to be from a rich family when she considered that.

But the people who could afford a Maybach, who had drivers and assistants, were not like ordinary people.

And if a child from an ordinary family who was struggling in the entertainment industry, like Jiang Nian, was seen getting into a Maybach, it could easily stir the imagination.

Was there something that Jiang Nian was not telling her?

Although these were Jiang Nian’s private matters and she had no right to interfere, she was still worried because that child was still young and had not experienced any evil in the world. The owner of the Maybach might be a good person, but what if he was a messy person and Jiang Nian was cheated?

Considering that she was Jiang Nian’s boss, Xu Xinyi felt she was justified in giving him a call.

The phone call soon connected.

“Hey, Jiang Nian, where are you now?”

After a moment of pause on the phone, Jiang Nian lowered her voice and said, “Sister Xinyi, I… I just got on the bus and am about to go home. What can I do for you?”

“I just remembered something. Aren’t you going on that variety show in three days? There are some things that need to be paid attention to. Can you come back to the office now? I’ll take you back afterward.”

Jiang Nien was silent for a moment before he said, “Sister Xinyi, I have something to do right now. Can I come into the office early tomorrow?”

He had ‘something to do’.

Since Jiang Nian was unwilling, she could not force him.

After thinking about it, Xu Xinyi replied, “OK, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And hung up.

Maybe she was just being paranoid. He just got into a Maybach. And anyway, they were all adults. There was nothing to worry about.

She could just ask him what was going on tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Jiang Nian, who had just hung up the phone, was looking out of the car windows with a chilly expression. The hand holding his phone unconsciously pressed the power button and the bright screen went dark.

Despite the Maybach’s spacious and comfortable back seat, the atmosphere inside was very heavy. 

The light in the car was dim. A person outside could not see inside at all except when the car occasionally skimmed under the light of a street lamp and a pair of cold and glowing eyes could be vaguely made out.

The driver chuckled, “Take it easy, kid. You’re just going home to have a light meal with your dad.”

Jiang Nian’s hands went still.

“You shouldn’t have fetched me for dinner. He won’t be happy.”

“How could you say that? He has been looking forward to this day for a long time.”

Jiang Nian turned his head to face the other man, and there was a deep gloomy hatred in his eyes. “I’ll make sure he won’t be happy.”

The car turned a final corner and drove slowly into the villa.

———

On the other side, Xu Xinyi eventually made her way through the traffic jam. As soon as she got home, she saw a strange man in a suit coming out of the villa.

When the man saw Xu Xinyi, he stopped and bowed slightly.

She was puzzled and looked at Butler Chen, who seemed to be sending the man out.

Butler Chen smiled and said, “This gentleman came to deliver an invitation to the Old Master.”

“An invitation?”

The man explained, “I came to deliver an invitation to a charity dinner.”

Xu Xinyi suddenly realized something.

This was probably the charity dinner that Yi Yang mentioned last night.

She walked past the man and into the house.

Old Master Yi was talking with Mrs. Yi on the sofa. There was an invitation laying on the table in front of him.

“Grandpa, mom, I’m back.”

“You’re back? Good, I just happened to be talking about you.”

“Me?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Yi showed her the invitation card. “In the past, Yi Yang and I have always attended this City A charity dinner together, but this year dad was specially invited. It will be happening three days from now. However, the weather has been too cold these past few days, and your grandfather has always been in poor health so he doesn’t want to go out. That’s why I think you and Yi Yang should attend.”

“A charity dinner? Will there be any media present?”

“Of course. Why?”

Xu Xinyi tried to gently refuse with an embarrassed look. “I think I have something to do that day. I may not be able to go.”

In three days Jiang Nian would be taking part in his first variety show. That child was the first artist who signed on with her studio so, of course, she had to do her best for him. She had promised to go on the show together with him as a guest. It would not be good to go back on her promise.

Most importantly, if she really attended that sort of occasion with Yi Yang, wouldn’t her relationship with Yi Yang be instantly exposed?

“I see… Then you should discuss it with Yi Yang later when he comes down.”

“Alright, we’ll talk about it later. Are you hungry? Butler Chen, go ask Yi Yang to come down and have dinner.”

Yi Yang, who had not yet changed his clothes, came down from upstairs and sat down at the table.

–“Is Yi Yang so free these days? He came back so early?”

Xu Xinyi sat down and picked up her chopsticks while pondering how to snatch some of Yi Yang’s hair.

“By the way, just now someone from that charity foundation came here to deliver the invitation, it will be happening three days from now, so you should get ready.”

Yi Yang looked over at Xu Xinyi.

Xu Xinyi buried her head in her dinner and shrunk her whole body as if to hide, the words ‘Don’t bother this lady’ seemed to be written all over her body.

Yi Yang sneered, “I know. Xinyi and I will go together.”

Xu Xinyi looked up at him and seemed very embarrassed, “But I have something to do that day, maybe…”

“Put it off.”

“But it’s very important…”

“Put it off!”

“…”

–“It seems he really wants to die, since he wants to force me to announce my relationship with him!”

–“It’s all over! He really wants me to give up the whole forest and hang myself to just his tree!”

–This dog man used to just keep his mouth shut and treat me like air. He would never take me to any banquets and hardly treated me as a person. But now all of a sudden he just keeps wanting to drag me out? What does he mean by that? Does he think that he can just ignore me for years and then give a call and I’ll come running?”

–“I’m so angry!”

Xu Xinyi began to eat her food very aggressively while occasionally glancing at Yi Yang’s head.

–“No, I have to think of something.”

Yi Yang gave her a look.

“By the way,” Old Master Yi reminded, “The Jiang family will send someone there as well, so pay more attention.”

Yi Yang nodded. “I know.”

“The Jiang family?”

“From Jiangshi Electronics,” Mrs. Yi explained, “We had a partnership with them before but that relationship has faded.”

Xu Xinyi suddenly realized.

It was one of the male leads from the novel.

Jiang Huai, like Yi Yang, was one of the people who had been entangled with Xu Weiyin four years ago. In fact, it wasn’t just those two men who had some entanglement with Xu Weiyin, she had also acted on set with Han Xiao, and a few other rich second generation men all had something to do with Xu Weiyin back then.

But she had only focused on those three people. The rest of the men in the novel were just background noise that Xu Weiyin liked to keep around to show off her charm.

In the end, the reason why Jiang Huai won the beauty was that Jiang Huai did not have a wife to fight with Xu Weiyin all over the place.

Yi Yang, by contrast, had Xu Xinyi.

“Husband,” Xu Xinyi graciously put a piece of food into his bowl. She gave her best ‘good wife and mother’ smile and said, “You have worked hard recently, you should eat more.”

Yi Yang, who had a handful of his hair cut off just last night, was now on high alert and very guarded, lest Xu Xinyi try to play more of her strange tricks again.

“Thank you.”

“What need is there to say thanks between husband and wife?” Xu Xinyi spoke incomparably kindly. “Husband, you shouldn’t overwork yourself so much. I always see people in the news who worked too long and then died. You should be careful.”

Yi Yang’s eyebrows furrowed and he really felt like his eyebrows had not smoothed out once ever since he began to hear Xu Xinyi’s thoughts.

He was really looking forward to hearing what Xu Xinyi wanted this time.

What kind of tricks was she playing?

The Old Master asked, “Is there much going on in the company these days?”

“Not much. This phase of work has been dealt with for the time being.”

“That’s good,” Mrs. Yi gave him a piece of ribs. “recently you haven’t been coming back until late at night, you should make it up to Xinyi.”

While the several people ate, only the sound of bowls and chopsticks could be heard at the table.

“Oh my gosh! Honey, what happened? Why do you have some gray hairs?”

Suddenly a cry of ‘surprise’ interrupted the meal.

Xu Xinyi hurriedly put down her chopsticks and directly reached out to rip some hair off of Yi Yang’s head.

But Yi Yang, who had been on guard the whole time, reacted quickly and dodge. He looked at her cautiously and asked, “What are you doing?”

Xu Xinyi stopped moving and put on an innocent look. “I saw you had some white hair, so I wanted to take a closer look.”

“No, you must be mistaken. Just sit down and eat.”

Mrs. Yi looked at Yi Yang and wondered, “Do you really have white hair?”

“No, it was Xinyi who saw wrong.” Yi Yang glared at Xu Xinyi as he spoke.

Xu Xinyi’s face was no less worried than Mrs. Yi’s. “Mom, there must be. I really saw it just now!”

Mrs. Yi looked at Yi Yang anxiously, “Yi Yang, to develop gray hair so young should mostly be due to tiredness. Let Xinyi have a good look to see whether there is any or not.”

“Yes, husband, please show me.”

Yi Yang wanted to get angry but couldn’t find a reason. He looked at Xu Xinyi with an expression that seemed to say ‘Haven’t you had enough’.

But Xu Xinyi, relying on the banner of ‘for your own good’, and with the two elders on her side, she forcefully grabbed his shoulder with one hand and grabbed at his hair with the other, pretending to look for any white hairs on his head.

“Don’t worry, honey. I really saw it just now.” She poked around carefully. Then her voice sounded out again, sounding very surprised. “Husband! You really have a gray hair. I’ll pull it out for you! “

“Xu Xinyi!”

“Don’t move! There really is a gray hair, I see it! I’ll pluck it for you now!”

Xu Xinyi grabbed Yi Yang’s head with lightning speed and yanked a few hairs out.

Pluck– Yi Yang’s face turned green and he gritted his teeth. “Xu Xinyi!”

Xu Xinyi looked at the three black hairs in her hand and seemed stunned. She looked embarrassed, like she had seen wrong. She smiled apologetically at Yi Yang and said, “I’m sorry, husband, I was wrong.”

Yi Yang glared at her. “Didn’t you do it on purpose?”

“How could I have done it on purpose?” While Xu Xinyi was secretly feeling happy, she looked at Yi Yang with an innocent and aggrieved face. “I was just feeling nervous for you, so I must have seen wrong, please don’t be angry.”

“Alright,” Old Master Yi interjected. “It’s a small thing. Xinyi was just worried about you. There’s nothing to be angry about. Eat.”

After Old Master Yi gave the final word, no one else dared to contradict him.

Yi Yang glared at Xu Xinyi, who could not hide the smile tugging at the corners of her lips, and angrily picked his chopsticks up again.

–“Three down! I’ll find a way to pull out three more later!”

Looking at Xu Xinyi, who was coveting his hair, Yi Yang felt speechless.

After pulling out three, she wanted to pull three more?

She was really pushing her luck!

After dinner, Xu Xinyi accompanied Old Master Yi for a conversation for a while before she went upstairs.

But she saw no trace of Yi Yang in the room. She slipped over to the study and saw a figure sitting behind a desk. Xu Xinyi poked her head in quietly.

–“Found him!”

Yi Yang’s eye twitched and he looked up at Xu Xinyi, who was skulking furtively by the door. “Go and bring me a snack.”

“…alright, I’ll go right away. “

The moment Xu Xinyi turned to go downstairs, Yi Yang stood up expressionlessly, then quickly closed the door and locked it.

Did she want to mess with him?

Dream on.

Xu Xinyi, who was carrying a plate of fruit, grabbed the doorknob and was about to open the door, only to find that the door was locked from the inside.

“Husband?” She knocked at the door.

There was no movement.

Xu Xinyi knocked on the door again and said in a louder voice, “Husband, I brought the fruit for you.”

“I don’t want to eat right now. Go back to the room and get some rest.” Yi Yang’s voice came from inside.

–“This dog man is really a Russian nesting doll, right? Just one face after another!”**

–“What random things are you doing in there all the time?”

Xu Xin forked a piece of fruit and stuffed it into her mouth. “Then I’ll go to rest first, but, husband, you should try to rest early too.”

–“I don’t believe you won’t come back to bed tonight!”

Yi Yang silently worked at his keyboard with a heavy frown.

Nine o’clock.

Ten o’clock.

Eleven o’clock.

Xu Xinyi struggled against her increasingly heavy eyelids as she watched the clock on the wall.

Why wasn’t Yi Yang coming back to bed?

She was so sleepy.

What kind of work was so important that he couldn’t rest even though it was so late?

If he kept working like this his hair would turn gray for real, and he would probably die suddenly sooner or later.

12:30 AM.

The door opened quietly.

Xu Xinyi was curled up on the sofa and the corner of the blanket covering her body had slid to the ground. Apparently, while she was waiting she fell asleep.

Yi Yang looked at her helplessly.

“Xu Xinyi, wake up.”

There was no response.

While he watched, a strand of hair slipped down Xu Xinyi’s cheek and it seemed to itch a little. In her half-dreaming state, Xu Xinyi reached out to scratch at it but then frowned tightly, murmured some nonsense under her breath, and let her hand drop.

Her head drooped and she seemed to fall in an even deeper sleep.

Yi Yang chuckled to himself.

She was much cuter sleeping quietly compared to when she was being noisy during the day.

Couldn’t she just be at peace all the time?

Wasn’t she tired after running around all day, stirring up heaven and earth?

Yi Yang heaved a deep sigh, then bent down and scooped Xu Xinyi into his arms.

Xu Xinyi leaned heavily against Yi Yang’s shoulder and her breath was steady. Her warm breath scattered along Yi Yang’s neck, it felt a little itchy and a little hot, and a sweet smell wafted around his nose.

Yi Yang took a deep breath and, careful not to wake her, he gently put Xu Xinyi down on the bed.

As soon as her body touched the bed, Xu Xinyi rolled over. She showed no sign waking up, she just turned her back on Yi Yang stayed heavily asleep.

“So heavy. Like a pig.”

Thankfully Xu Xinyi did not wake up. If she had woke up, she would have to fight to the death with Yi Yang!

————————

When the first rays of sunshine shone on Xu Xinyi’s face in the early morning, Xu Xinyi slowly woke up.

She had a good night’s sleep and now she woke up full of energy.

The other pillow was empty. Yi Yang must have already gone to work.

She didn’t know when he went to bed last night.

Wait, last night?

Xu Xinyi’s thoughts focused, and she suddenly felt stunned. Her face went blank as if she was thinking of something in a trance

Hadn’t she been waiting for Yi Yang to come to bed last night? She remembered that she fell asleep on the sofa. So why did she wake up on the bed?

Xu Xinyi was puzzled and could not remember what had happened at all.

Did Yi Yang put her to bed?

That was impossible!

…that was impossible?

Yi Yang… could he… put people to bed?

Even just imagining the scene, Xu Xinyi’s whole body was covered in goosebumps.

Yi Yang would probably just kick her to wake her up, and then tell her to go to bed with his cold face. 

Would he really carry her to bed so gently and thoughtfully? It seemed impossible.

Sadly, she went to bed too early last night and couldn’t get the hairs. She would have to find a chance to pull out three more of Yi Yang’s hairs today.

But when she lifted her quilt and was getting ready to get up, Xu Xinyi looked down and she seemed to spot some hairs on Yi Yang’s pillow.

There were hairs?

Xu Xinyi lay down on the bed and carefully looked at the several hairs on Yi Yang’s pillow.

There were three. No more. No less. Exactly three.

Xu Xinyi looked at the three hairs thoughtfully, and felt things seemed a bit too coincidental.

She picked up one hair and looked carefully at the roots. There were hair follicles.

Was Yi Yang losing his hair?

Sure enough, people who were always stressed at work tend to go bald.

At the thought of Yi Yang’s bald appearance, Xu Xinyi couldn’t help laughing.

She thought maliciously to herself, just wait, when you, a dog man, is fat-bellied and bald in his middle age – see who wants you!

But whatever the case, the six hairs had been collected.

She picked up the three hairs one by one, wrapped them in paper towels and then put them in plastic baggies.

She did it.

Xu Xinyi sent Yi Yang’s hair to the hospital on the same day and they told her the results should be out in a week or so. Now all she had to do was wait.

Her cell phone rang.

It was Jiang Nian calling.

He probably wanted to talk to her about the variety show the day after tomorrow.

Xu Xinyi hesitated. How could she explain to Jiang Nian that she could not accompany him to the variety show anymore?

She didn’t even have to think about it. Yi Yang wouldn’t let her go. But she felt bad to be breaking her promise.

Xu Xinyi was in a dilemma, caught in the middle of two handsome men.

She finally understood Anya’s troubles for the first time.

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*this is a Chinese idiom (万事俱备, 只欠东风) that means everything is ready except for one thing. It comes from a story in the romance of the three kingdoms when some general was fighting some other general and he devised a plan to burn the other guys camp but at the 11th hour he realized that the wind was blowing against him, so if he lit the fires he would burn his own camp instead, hence ‘everything was ready except the east wind’

**she really calls him ‘like a russian nesting doll’ in the raws. I don’t really get it tbh (like what does it mean in the context of an insult??) but on the other hand the imagery is just so delightful I feel like I have to leave it as is. Just imagine a series of increasingly smaller and surlier Yi Yang’s… hahaha. Here’s the line in Chinese in case anyone has any sort of input on wtf it means ‘狗男人属俄罗斯套娃的吧？一套又一套！’