NWWNL – Chapter 49

Xu Xinyi sat in her seat and the sapphire necklace around her neck shone brilliantly.

Such a beautiful sapphire necklace was really the envy of all women.

But what was even more enviable was a man like Yi Yang.

In order to fight for the beauty’s smile, he tossed out 90 million yuan to buy a necklace.

The people at the scene couldn’t help but look back and forth between Xu Xinyi and Yi Yang.

There were not too many people who know about their marriage. If Mrs. Yi hadn’t smiled and introduced Xu Xinyi before the auction began as her daughter-in-law, they would have thought that Xu Xinyi was just a lover brought along by Yi Yang.

Over the years, Yi Yang had attended many cocktail parties, dances, and dinners, but he had never brought a female companion, so many people in the circle thought of Yi Yang as an excellent candidate for marriage.

No one would expect that he had actually already been married for two years.

This couple really hid deep and covered everything so tightly that there was no news at all.

And he would spend 90 million yuan on his wife, so the relationship between the two of them should not be too bad.

Feeling the curious and inquisitive eyes from all directions, Xu Xinyi quietly pulled Yi Yang’s sleeve, lowered her voice and said, “Husband, don’t you think this necklace is a little too expensive?”

There had been times when she spent a lot of money before.

For example, the time she spent a million of Yi Yang’s money in one day. 

Or, for example, when she would go to Paris and sweep up all goods she fancied without blinking an eye.

For example, the diamond ring on her jewelry table in her closet was worth a few millions.

But those all seemed like small little brothers in front of the necklace she currently had around her neck.

“I don’t think so.” Yi Yang looked at her and said, “I know you don’t like this necklace much but just wear it for now. I’ll buy something else that you like for you later.”

Xu Xinyi reluctantly accepted the first gift given to her by Yi Yang, “Alright. Thank you.”

–“You did good today.”

–“I’ll stop calling you a dog man in the future.”

Yi Yang raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

With the sale of the last item, the whole charity dinner was reaching its conclusion.

Mrs. Song and Mr. Song, the organizers of the charity banquet, came over with wine glasses.

“Mrs. Yi, I really envy you for having such a handsome and promising son and a beautiful and sensible daughter-in-law.”

The Yi’s all stood up to greet them in return.

When Mrs. Yi smiled, her eyes were full of pride.

Mrs. Song focused her eyes on the necklace around Xu Xinyi’s neck. “Mrs. Yi, this necklace has finally found its true owner. It suits you very well.”

“I’ll have to thank you for giving it up to me.”

“It’s all for charity, not to mention that this necklace really suits you. Mrs. Yi has a good husband.”

Xu Xinyi maintained her standardized ‘polite smile’ she used when saying pleasantries.

Yi Yang spoke from the side slowly, neither humble nor arrogant: “You’re overpraising me.”

“I don’t know how that’s overpraising. I really admire you, considering how you expanded Yi Group to its current size at your young age. By the way, my husband has a project on hand and is looking for a partner. If Mr. Yi doesn’t mind, would you like to sit down and talk to him about it some other time? “

Mr. Song, who was beside Mrs. Song, smiled. “A tiger father would not have a dog son. I am very optimistic about Mr. Yi and the future development of Yi Group. We should take the opportunity to sit down and have a good chat.”

Xu Xinyi’s brows furrowed slightly.

Wasn’t it supposed to be Jiang Huai who Mr. Song cooperated with in the novel?

Why was it now Yi Yang?

Did this necklace secretly come with cooperation between companies?

Yi Yang said with a calm smile, “It would be my honor to cooperate with Mr. Song.”

The conversation ended shortly afterward after everyone said a bit more small talk.

“Send my greetings to Old Master Yi for me.”

“Definitely.”

With that, the two walked toward Jiang Huai’s table to say more pleasantries.

Xu Xinyi watched the departing Mr. and Mrs. Song with a thoughtful expression.

The charity dinner ended at ten. While Xu Xinyi was leaving the hotel holding Yi Yang’s arm, she met Jiang Huai and Xu Weiyin, who seemed to be waiting for them at the door.

“Mr. Yi spent a lot of money tonight.”

Business competitors would always talk and compete with each other in strange ways.

“It’s only 90 million. I was just bidding casually.”

“Yes, Mr. Yi is from a big family, so he naturally has no reason to pay any mind to 90 million. Besides, that necklace really matches Mrs. Yi.” Jiang Huai turned to Xu Xinyi. “I heard that Mrs. Yi opened a studio?”

Xu Xinyi smiled, “That’s right.”

“That studio…” Jiang Huai seemed to contemplate for a moment, “Although the entertainment industry puts value on personal potential, Mrs. Yi’s studio should really consider all the necessary angles when signing on artists.”

“What do you mean?”

“Does Mrs. Yi think that a boy under the age of 20 should put his studies first or be a star?”

After hearing those words, the first person that came to Xu Xinyi’s mind was Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian? Jiang Huai?

Both surnamed Jiang?

What was the relationship?

Brothers?

Didn’t Jiang Huai’s brother die early in the novel? In the novel, he was a character who did not even have a name as far as Xu Xinyi could remember. Besides, Jiang Nian was not the right age.

But apart from them having some sort of familial relation to her artist, she really couldn’t figure out why Jiang Huai would say something like that to her.

“Mr. Jiang, the choice’s artists make are their own. I have no right to interfere with what kind of person they want to be. All I can do is respect their choices.”

“However, some children are inexperienced and immature. They need guidance from their parents.”

“That’s a matter for the parents. The parents aren’t doing their duty but Mr. Jiang seems to want to blame me instead?”

Jiang Huai’s smile disappeared and his whole face sank slightly. He narrowed his eyes clenched his teeth, it was easy to see that he was trying to endure anger.

Xu Weiyin said with a smile, “Mrs. Yi is right, but parents are not the only ones responsible for the guidance of young adults. If Mrs. Yi signs such a person to her studio, isn’t she also responsible?”

“I have never signed a contract with anyone under the age of 20.”

“Mrs. Yi might want to go back and check that out.” Jiang Huai said in a cold voice, “We’ll leave first.”

With that, he turned around and left.

At the door, Jiang Huai’s driver opened the door of the Maybach and the two got on without saying a word.

Xu Weiyin was very good at judging a person’s face. She knew that he was not in a good mood so she tried to coax Jiang Huai first thing.

“Jiang Huai, what did you mean by what you said just now?”

Jiang Huai turned and looked absently out of the window and in an indecipherable tone he said, “I was just casually saying.”

Even if she didn’t know why, Xu Weiyin could guess that he was dissatisfied with Xu Xinyi.

“Xu Xinyi seems to have a prejudice against me.”

“A prejudice?”

Xu Weiyin frowned slightly, as if she were racking her brains to think about what she wanted to say, but after a while, she shook her head and smiled, “Forget it, it’s probably just my imagination.”

“It’s not your imagination, she was really targeting you.”

Xu Weiyin looked at Jiang Huai and was slightly surprised.

“When you returned to the entertainment industry, the first thing you did was steal Xu Xinyi’s endorsement and her scripts, then after that there were rumors of an affair between you and Yi Yang. Do you think Xu Xinyi could not target you after all that?” Jiang Huai flicked his sleeves. “At least all she did was cost you a few million.”

Xu Weiyin was still smiling softly, but the look in her eyes was not gentle.

“Are you defending her?”

“No, I’m just stating the facts.” Jiang Huai looked at her for a moment and then, taking no pity on the jade-like woman, he raised his hand and pinched her delicate chin. “I just want to tell you that I know what kind of woman you are. I can satisfy you. And you can satisfy me. There is no need to pretend to be ignorant in front of me. I don’t like simple and ignorant women, they can only drag me down.”

After saying that he released her chin and Xu Weiyin painfully rubbed her jaw.

Xu Weiyin looked at Jiang Huai warily.

Ever since she had returned to China, she had always thought that she had all of her men in the palm of her hand. She thought she had always managed her relationships just right, never going too far or drawing back too soon. She had always thought that Jiang Huai had old feelings for her, why else would he have helped her return to the entertainment industry after so long and act as the backer behind her?

But what Jiang Huai said just now made her understand that this man was just playing games with her from beginning to end.

But she was not sad or disappointed.

The sincerity you gave was often the sincerity you received.

And what she gave was not sincere in the first place. So even if Jiang Huai had seemed sincere to her, she had not earned it. And anyway, she had nothing to lose from playing games, not to mention that she had never really expected Jiang Huai’s sincerity in the first place. She would just have to adjust her mindset.

Xu Weiyin smiled gently. “I understand.”

“Also, that Xu Xinyi, don’t mess with her in the future.”

“Why?”

Jiang Huai sighed and said in a helpless tone, “There is an ancestor at home who will not allow me to touch her.”

Xu Weiyin was stunned but without waiting for her to ask anything else Jiang Huai closed his eyes and said nothing more, ending the conversation.

Xu Weiyin did not disturb him but made a note of it in her heart. She just silently looked out the window and watched the city lights flashing by.

——

The next day, there was buzz online about the auction of a certain necklace at a charity dinner for the high price of 90 million yuan.

In the internet age, everyone would know when there was a stir in the wind.

90 million was not really that high when considering the history of jewelry sold at auctions, there had been pieces sold for tens or even hundreds of millions before, but the key difference this time was that the person who paid the 90 million was Yi Yang.

The president of Yi Group, and the owner of the Lanting complex, that Yi Yang.

There was also a rumor that Yi Yang only spent so much money for the sake of his wife.

This rumor also proved the authenticity of the previous rumors that stated that Yi Yang was secretly married.

The source also said that Yi Yang’s wife was indeed an actress from the entertainment industry, that the two were probably truly in love, and that Yi Yang was the one who had been secretly protecting the mysterious actress for so many years.

After so many words about the strength of their marriage and their love, many fans were wondering ‘Who exactly is the wife Yi Yang had been protecting?’

However, no matter how many times he was privately messaged, the whistleblower kept quiet about the identity of Yi Yang’s wife.

It seemed he was afraid of something.

But just as things were heating up, Xu Weiyin posted a photo on her Weibo of her attending the charity dinner.

She was an actress who appeared at the right time and the right place, so the suspicions of the netizens were directed at her.

“Yi Yang’s wife is an actress in the entertainment industry and Xu Weiyin happened to be at the scene last night. With so many coincidences, I will irresponsibly infer that they are in love with each other. That’s my feeling?”

“Smash her! Xu Weiyin is abusing us!”

“Isn’t that making things public? It was just reported that Yi Yang spent 90 million while attending the charity dinner, and now Xu Weiyin posted this Weibo. Isn’t this just a secret-public show of love?”

“Oh my God! With a 90 million necklace, Weiyin must be so happy! “

“I have some doubts. Didn’t Xu Weiyin just return to China? She also has a son. Wasn’t Yi Yang secretly married for years before this? Did Xu Weiyin quit the entertainment industry four years ago because of Yi Yang? Was she secretly protected by Yi Yang for all those years abroad?”

“I’ve seen the truth: it’s a real life story of the CEO’s runaway wife!”

After Xu Weiyin left the Weibo up for a while, she deleted it just around the time the fans began to crazily speculate that she and Yi Yang were husband and wife.

She just quietly took it down without giving any explanation or clarification. Her attitude was very intriguing.

If she was not really Yi Yang’s wife then now while the netizens were in full swing would be the best time for her to say some words of clarification, but she did not, instead, she just deleted the post and went quiet.

It gave people a feeling like she was saying ‘I can’t believe you found out, but I don’t really want to get rid of the evidence’.

“Can you see this? That Xu Weiyin is really a bitch, making a move like this. And these fans, are they crazy? They actually think that Xu Weiyin is Yi Yang’s wife?”

Xu Xinyi didn’t feel angry at all but she still said some platitudes. “Don’t be angry with a small villain like her,” Xu Xinyi said. “No matter how she tries to blur reality, she can’t suddenly become Yi Yang’s wife.”

“You know that’s not what I meant. When are you and Yi Yang going to make your relationship public?”

Xu Xinyi paused her fingers that were scrolling through Weibo and thought carefully. “Let’s talk about that later, there’s no hurry.”

“Alright, if you say it’s not urgent, then it’s not urgent. But I’m curious, did Yi Yang really spend 90 million yuan on a necklace for you last night?”

Remembering the beautiful necklace at home that she had been really reluctant to put down, Xu Xinyi cleared her throat awkwardly. “Well, Yi Yang did buy it. But he was just casually bidding. As you know, apart from the ring prepared by Old Master Yi at the time of our marriage, he has never given me a gift. This is just… making amends. “

“Next time you have a chance, show me what your 90 million necklace looks like.”

“OK, no problem. But before that, I have something important I want you to check for me.”

“Something important?”

“Go and check out Jiang Nian.”

Anya tapped the table, “Jiang Nian, I’m glad you mentioned this, I almost forgot. He had a good performance during the variety show last night and I feel that this episode of the variety show will definitely win him a lot of fans. Since he has not studied acting, I think it will be best for him to keep doing variety shows for the time being. But that said, what do you want me to find out about him?”

“Check his age, his family, his past.”

Anya hesitated when she heard the seriousness of Xu Xinyi’s tone. “What’s the matter? What happened?”

“I just feel like there’s something he’s not telling us. Check it for me first and find out.”

Anya nodded. “By the way, there’s one more thing. ‘Bei Bei’s Promotion’ will be broadcast during prime time on Mango Satellite TV tomorrow night. Do you remember?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s cooperate with the publicity team.”

“Understood.”

After Anya left, Xu Xinyi looked out the window thoughtfully.

From the very beginning, it seemed like Jiang Nian wanted to get close to her. That could be understandable if she just thought that he wanted to stand out in the entertainment industry, but if this Jiang Nian really had something to do with Jiang Huai, could he have had some other reason to get close to her?

And as the saying went: speak of the devil and the devil will arrive.

Jiang Nian knocked on Xu Xinyi’s door but then, without waiting for a response, he pushed it open and came in. Panting and sweating, he walked straight over to her and asked her, “Sister Xinyi, the rumored wife of Yi Yang that the internet is buzzing about, is that you?”

Jiang Nian, of course, did not believe the rumors on the internet. Because although Xu Weiyin did attend the charity dinner, he knew that she attended with Jiang Huai.

So he thought the more likely person was Xu Xinyi.

Xu Xinyi looked at him in silence.

“Are you married?”

“Are you… very shocked?” Xu Xinyi got up and walked around her desk to stand in front of Jiang Nian. “Yi Yang and I haven’t decided when to make this public, but all along…”

Jiang Nian looked at her in disbelief and asked, “It’s true? You’re really married!?”

After his questioning, Xu Xinyi nodded.

Before he had come to ask her, Jiang Nian had thought things through many times and really hoped that he had just guessed wrong. There were other female stars present at the charity dinner last night. Yi Yang’s wife could still have been someone else, not Xu Xinyi.

But Xu Xinyi nodded, breaking all his fantasies and hopes that it was all just a coincidence.

Jiang Nian’s eyes darkened, his muscles gradually tightened, and a chill rose from the soles of his feet until his whole person was emitting an aura of frost. His eyes seemed to be overflowing with something extremely sour that he desperately tried to hold back.

He knew in his heart that he did not have the position or the qualifications to question the person in front of him about her private life, let alone have any reason to be angry. This was Xu Xinyi’s private matter. Meanwhile, he and Xu Xinyi only had an employment relationship, so he had no right to ask.

But when he heard this news, he still couldn’t help being full of anger.

But maybe it was more hatred for himself than anything.

“I can’t believe that you’re married.”

“Jiang Nian, this is my private matter. I don’t think I need to make any explanations. Please keep it a secret.” Xu Xinyi thought there was nothing to talk about regarding her marriage, so she changed the subject. “I heard Anya said that you did a good job in the variety show last night. We agreed that you could go into variety shows first for now. Do you think…”

“So, you stood me up last night to accompany your husband to dinner?”

“…I’m sorry about that. I…”

“When did you get married?”

Xu Xinyi was stunned but she responded anyway, “Two years ago.”

“Do you love him?”

“I love him.”

Jiang Nian hung his head and his long bangs cast a shadow over his eyes and he muttered, “That’s not what you said two years ago.”

Xu Xinyi did not hear him clearly, “What?”

But Jiang Nian was silent.

“It’s nothing. I’ll leave first.”

With that, he turned around and left.

Xu Xinyi looked at Jiang Nian’s gloomy and dreary retreating figure, which seemed to have lost all of its sunshine and vitality.

It was really not how a person his age should look.

——–

Jiang Nian’s appearance on the variety show, as Anya expected, attracted a lot of fans.

He had a good face and he had a ‘handsome and sunny’ aura when he was not depressed. Whenever he was not brooding silently he seemed very lively. He could act low-key when he wanted to but he also had a good sense of presence, and he could interact well with his fans. As soon as the program was broadcast, his fans immediately crowned him with titles like: ‘Nation’s brother’ or ‘Nation’s boyfriend’. And because of the fans of the variety show the number of his fans increased by one million overnight.

Many variety shows had already begun to throw olive branches out to Jiang Nian, considering his exploding popularity.

At the same time, the workplace drama “Bei Bei’s Promotion” starring Xu Xinyi began broadcasting, but many fans said that because it starred Xu Xinyi they did not want to watch it.

But after the broadcast, it rapidly gained popularity.

“Credit where credit is due. Although Xu Xinyi is always playing tricks, there is really no dispute about her acting skills.”

“Xu Xinyi is so handsome in this drama! She’s my idol!”

“No dog blood, no dragging things out to waste screentime, the performance of the actors is remarkable. This really might be the most well made drama of the year!”

“There are only two episodes a day, it’s so hard for me to wait!”

“To tell you the truth, although Xu Xinyi always gets bad press, her TV series’ are not bad. She had acting skills. I am convinced.”

“After watching the latest episode yesterday, I swear, I will never smear you again Xu Xinyi.”

There were rave reviews.

And as a result, Xu Xinyi suddenly entered the perception of many directors and investors.

——–

Xu Xinyi’s studio.

Anya put several resumes in front of Xu Xinyi.

“What are these?”

“Resumes.”

“Resumes?”

“Miss Xu, do you realize how many people from the new generation of star actors and actresses have all thrown olive branches at our studio ever since your drama started airing and Jiang Nian became popular?”

“What, really?” Xu Xinyi was shocked. “Jiang Nian has only been on one show, and my drama has been popular for less than a week.”

Anya analyzed for her, “First of all, from the moment you could peacefully break off your contract with Tianyu, you were no longer just you, and second, you have worked so hard for so many years and received so many good scripts, do you think others can’t see it? They think you must have backing!”

“I see.”

“Do you really see?” Anya tapped on the folder, “Is there anybody suitable?”

Xu Xinyi casually flipped through the file, most of them were young and energetic boys who graduated from major art colleges. They all had high face value and there were one or two stars who had already been in the entertainment industry for many years without getting ahead.

After casually flipping through the whole file, Xu Xinyi looked up and smiled at Anya. “I’ll take my time to look.”

“Also there was a bit of trouble regarding your request for me to look into Jiang Nian.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“I can’t find anything.”

“Can’t find anything?”

“It’s really impossible to find anything. Jiang Nian seems obsessed with hiding his past. One thing I can say is that the age on his ID card has been changed.”

“His age? Didn’t he say he was 22?”

“No!” Anya lowered her voice and said, “It turns out he just became an adult.”

“He’s eighteen? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure!” Anya said, “I was shocked, too. It turns out he entered Tianyu when he was 16 two years ago.”

He was eighteen years old. Xu Xinyi calculated things in her mind.

That was right. Eighteen years old. It was the same age as Jiang Huai’s brother who had died early in the novel.

A scion of the Jiang family who did not rely on the mountain behind him, but instead went to the entertainment industry alone to work hard?

“What does he want to do?”

“That’s the thing! I just don’t understand what he wants at all!”

“Forget it. If you can’t find it, you can’t find it.”

Since Jiang Nian was probably Jiang Huai’s younger brother, Jiang Huai would certainly not let anyone find out about Jiang Nian’s past.

Xu Xinyi was a little confused to find that she had met an unexpected character from the novel for the first time. It took her a while before she decided to set it aside and said, “Let’s focus on the resumes for now.”

“OK, take your time to read their files and give me a list of names when you decide. I’ll go ahead first.”

Xu Xinyi nodded.

After she went out, Xu Xinyi couldn’t wait to ask Xiao A, “Wasn’t Jiang Nian supposed to be dead a long time ago? Why isn’t he dead?”

Xiao A replied. I don’t know. I didn’t create this world, this is my first time here.

“…alright. “

Although Jiang Nian’s presence was quite strange, Xu Xinyi did not feel any malice while interacting with him during these past months. She assumed that there must be some hidden story here.

She would have to have a good talk with Jiang Nian sometime.

But looking at the resumes of these future actors and actresses in front of her, Xu Xinyi smiled. She had thought about expanding the studio before, but she didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

With the resolution to not let any talent be buried, Xu Xinyi carefully looked through the materials relating to these actors. She did not finish reading them by evening so she took them home to continue to read.

Therefore, when Yi Yang came home and saw the pile of open documents on the table in the room, his eye twitched.

He sat down, then picked some of them up and leafed through them.

It was all information about young actors.

Because they were weighed down by many photos, the documents were fairly hefty.

The trash can at his feet was empty.

Yi Yang’s eyes narrowed slightly.

But when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, Yi Yang casually put the document down and stood up.

“Honey, you’re back?”

“Mhm.”

Xu Xinyi picked up her pen and continued to pick up through the documents about the countless actors and actresses. She looked through it thoroughly and carefully, jotting down notes from time to time.

Yi Yang changed his clothes and then walked out of his closet slowly. When he saw that she was still sitting in the same position he asked her in a seemingly casual way, “What are you looking at?”

“The resumes of some job seekers.”

“Do you need to personally look over the resumes of job-hunting employees?”

“Of course.” Xu Xinyi did not raise her head. She just devoted herself to the work.

–“This one is 22-years-old, just graduated, is good-looking. He looks a bit like Daniel Wu, but he seems kind of shifty. Let’s meet him in person.”

–“This one is 24-years-old, he can dance and sing and even won an award. Also his abs are really good. To be determined…”

–“This one is 23 years old, but he is so tall? And his figure is so perfect. His legs must be at least a meter long, right? I’ll have to take a look.”

–“This one is 25 years old, been working for four years in the entertainment industry already? How strange. With these acting skills and good-looks, why is he still not famous? Is his company blind? Someone with so much potential, I must sign him.”

— “Why are there so many young and handsome guys in the entertainment industry that haven’t been discovered?”

Yi Yang walked slowly into his closet, stood in front of the full-body mirror, then lifted his shirt, and looked at his abs and legs. Then he leaned closer to the mirror to take a closer look at his facial features and his skin.

Someone who was not even thirty years old, they should still be considered young, right?

Xu Xinyi’s vision was getting worse and worse every day!

Previous TOC Next

tl note: Thanks to all the commenters who jumped in to help me with that one line yesterday. On reflection it was probably something I could have properly figured out on my own just using inference but I was really tunneling in on that one line for some reason. Translation is like that for me sometimes. I end up getting really bogged down trying to perfectly suss out one line means and getting frustrated… meh. Anywho, I’m rambling, I hope everyone enjoyed today’s chapter as well~