“No, my husband just fell asleep.”
Mountain Mist Villa.
Ruan Wan bit her lip tightly, nervously watching her sleeping husband on the bed as she refused the man before her.
Jiang Song’s lips curved into a smirk, his intense eyes in the dark night filled with aggression:
“Ruan Wan, stop pretending.”
“I know you want it, don’t you?”
Moonlight shone on Ruan Wan.
Her plain, porcelain-white face was bright and beautiful, her moist eyes flickering with a moment of conflict before she nodded.
“Alright, but only once, the last time.”
Jiang Song narrowed his eyes, “Fine, let’s go outside.”
“Mm.”
…
Mountain Mist Villa occupied the highest terrain in Jiangcheng, overlooking the city’s myriad lights and lush, verdant forests, offering a natural sense of seclusion.
An hour later.
Jiang Song held a cigarette between his lips, his slender fingers casually pulling out a tissue to wipe his fingertips.
“Hey, Ruan Wan, why don’t you get a divorce and come with me?”
Ruan Wan ignored the man’s teasing banter, her expression focused.
Under the cold moonlight, she was captivating even without a trace of emotion.
Jiang Song’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
His throat felt inexplicably itchy.
He took out a lighter to light his cigarette.
Ruan Wan stopped him, “Don’t smoke.”
Jiang Song leaned in, smirking, “Mrs. Li, I’m not your husband. You’re overstepping a bit, aren’t you?”
Ruan Wan didn’t look up, her gaze still fixed on the motorcycle before her.
Since getting married, she hadn’t come across such a fine motorcycle in a long time.
She organized her toolbox, took off her protective gloves, and said seriously, “Motor oil can explode if it comes into contact with an open flame.”
“…”
“Damn!”
Jiang Song threw the lighter away.
A gentle breeze blew past, and Jiang Song, noticing the intertwined shadows on the ground, teased, “Ruan Wan, don’t you think we look like we’re having an affair?”
Ruan Wan remained focused, “No, if we were lovers, I’d have to modify your racing car for free. That wouldn’t be appropriate. Besides, this is the last time I’ll help you fix your car.”
“What? Afraid Li Minglan will find out you’ve been hanging out with his good buddy behind his back?”
“No, even if he knew, he wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course he wouldn’t mind.” Jiang Song’s smile turned malicious. “You know Shen Zhizhi, right? Minglan’s first love. She’s back in the country. Li Minglan invested in her lab, and rumors about them are spreading in the circle.”
“Mm, I know.”
Ruan Wan had always known her husband had a white moonlight.
“But as long as I can see him every day, I’m content.” As she spoke, her eyes softened, and a gentle smile graced her lips, making her look pure and charming even without makeup.
As if she loved her husband deeply.
“…”
The smile on Jiang Song’s lips stiffened slightly.
The cigarette between his lips fell onto the muddy grass, the butt covered in bite marks, clearly bitten hard.
After a moment, he muttered, “Ruan Wan, you’re something else.”
Ruan Wan remained calm, closing her toolbox and standing up. “This motorcycle issue was minor. Combined with the last time, it’s 500,000. Remember to note [Motorcycle Repair Fee] when you transfer the money.”
Jiang Song: “…”
In silence, he transferred the money.
At that moment, the church at the foot of the mountain struck twelve o’clock.
The sound of the bells echoed melodiously through the night, interrupting Ruan Wan’s steps as she prepared to leave.
Jiang Song, with a smile on his lips, took out a light blue box and tossed it into her arms:
“Happy birthday, Ruan Wan.”
The next second, fireworks burst into the sky, grand and lively.
The brilliant fireworks bloomed behind Jiang Song, illuminating his handsome features, deep and bright, more dazzling than the flames.
Ruan Wan was momentarily stunned.
Her birthday was easy to remember.
July 7th.
But few remembered it.
If Jiang Song hadn’t been trying to seduce her for Shen Zhizhi’s sake, luring her into an affair, this scene might have been considered romantic.
“Open it and see,” a man’s low voice sounded from above her head.
Ruan Wan opened the gift.
It was a dazzling sapphire necklace.
Everyone in Jiangcheng knew that the eldest son of the Jiang family had recently spent eight figures at a Paris auction to acquire an antique sapphire necklace.
After admiring it for a moment, Ruan Wan closed the box and handed it back to Jiang Song. “Thank you, but this gift is too valuable. Please take it back.”
Instantly, Jiang Song’s expression changed:
“If you don’t like it, just throw it away.”
“What I give away never comes back.”
Ruan Wan didn’t mention returning it again and said calmly, “It’s getting late. I should head back.”
Jiang Song curled his lips. “Alright, goodnight.”
The young man leaned lazily against his motorcycle, hands in his pockets, carefree and arrogant, watching Ruan Wan’s retreating figure with a confident smile on his lips.
But the next second, his smile froze on his face.
Because he saw with his own eyes—
Ruan Wan threw the necklace away.
Fireworks burst in the sky, clearly illuminating the three words on the trash bin: Wet Waste.
Jiang Song: “…”
Having disposed of the hot potato, Ruan Wan returned to the villa.
It was a set of fake jewelry, worthless.
The real antique necklace would appear at the wedding in the book’s finale, placed around the neck of the female lead, Shen Zhizhi, by Jiang Song himself, congratulating her and Li Minglan on their happy marriage.
Li Minglan, Ruan Wan’s husband, was also the male lead of this book.
A week ago, Ruan Wan awakened.
She was the cannon-fodder ex-wife of the male lead in the book Love as a Branch.
The novel told the story of a “poor little white flower who accidentally enters an elite school and, because of her uniqueness, deeply captivates the affections of the wealthy young masters.”
The female lead, Shen Zhizhi, disdained wealth and power, choosing instead to study abroad.
When she returned to the country and participated in a variety show, she became an overnight sensation in the entertainment industry under the title “Research Goddess.”
Everyone loved Shen Zhizhi.
Shen Zhizhi’s greatest love was the male lead, Li Minglan.
But Li Minglan, angered by her sudden departure, married a woman he didn’t love out of spite.
That woman was Ruan Wan.
In the book, three months after Ruan Wan’s marriage, inexplicably, her romantic prospects multiplied. Wealthy young masters confessed their love to her, a scheming younger man became the third party for love, and a top-tier actor publicly declared his affection.
But when she actually divorced, these men disappeared.
Later, she encountered those “suitors” again. They tore off their masks of affection and sneered:
“Ruan Wan, you didn’t really think we liked you, did you?”
“If it weren’t for the sake of helping Zhizhi, even looking at you would make me sick!”
“We were just playing with you. You’re not even worthy of being compared to Zhizhi!”
“…”
When Ruan Wan awakened, the plot was already halfway through.
The female lead, Shen Zhizhi, had returned to the country to pursue love, and the wealthy male supporting characters, led by Jiang Song, began their feigned pursuit of Ruan Wan.
Ruan Wan accepted it all.
For no other reason than that she needed money—a lot of it.
However, she never accepted expensive gifts. Instead, she established proper, legal employment relationships with the male supporting characters.
Not only that, but every time she met with them, she brought a voice recorder.
In the recordings, she came across as a dull and slow-witted woman.
While they, every sentence filled with hints and flirtation.
The night was still long.
Tonight, her husband was dead drunk because of his white moonlight’s confession.
Therefore, Jiang Song would not be the only one trying to lure her into “cheating.”
Sure enough, her phone vibrated.
A contact labeled 【Asshole No. 2】 sent a voice message:
“Sis, my stomach hurts so much, can you come to my place?”