Yu Wanwan frowned tightly, unable to hold back a soft whimper.
She had an extremely low tolerance for pain.
What was meant to be an intimate gesture between lovers felt to her like a painful ordeal.
Xie Tingnan held her silently for a while, feeling that enough time had passed, then released her: “How many days does your period usually last?”
Yu Wanwan replied shyly: “Usually five days. There are two more days… before it… ends.”
Two days… Xie Tingnan smiled faintly, got up, and started to leave.
A sweet, pleading voice sounded from behind: “Xie Tingnan, there’s something I want to ask you.”
The man turned around, looking down at that exquisitely beautiful face.
At that moment, the pair of bright, intelligent eyes on her delicate oval face were fixed on him: “There’s a script that needs to be filmed over the summer break. The assistant director notified me this morning that I should go shoot my scenes in the next few days.”
“What kind of show? What role?” So, the materials she had been holding earlier were scripts.
Yu Wanwan’s face suddenly flushed red. She looked embarrassed, her small mouth pursed lightly:
“Someone like you wouldn’t know about it. It’s a low-budget period drama. I’m just playing a maid with not many scenes. She… dies in less than five episodes.”
Xie Tingnan suddenly felt a wave of displeasure wash over him.
He was torn between laughter and exasperation, feeling that this woman with a stunningly beautiful face was pointlessly wasting her natural advantages, foolishly amusing.
Or perhaps, how desperately did she need money?
“Turn it down. I’ll have Yin Ren get you a card later.” Xie Tingnan sounded somewhat impatient.
“No, Xie Tingnan, that’s not what I meant…”
Yu Wanwan grew a little anxious. The man seemed to have misunderstood her.
Unconsciously, she stepped closer, tilting her face up to look at him. Her large eyes were watery, tinged with a hint of red.
“Are you deliberately embarrassing me? Someone I’m keeping, going out to play a maid who doesn’t survive five episodes?”
Yu Wanwan gave an awkward smile: “If I don’t say anything, and you don’t say anything, aside from baseless rumors no one would believe, who would know I’m someone you… keep?”
Xie Tingnan’s face turned stern. He took out his phone and made a call.
“Someone will come pick you up tomorrow to meet someone. Once you go, you’ll know what role you’ll be playing. As for that maid part, turn it down.”
After saying this, Xie Tingnan walked away without looking back.
Not far away, Yin Ren was waiting for him.
The man got into the car. The Rolls-Royce started and sped out of Yi Garden like the wind, kicking up a cloud of fine dust.
Yu Wanwan stood rooted to the spot in a daze.
In front of him, she always ended up in such an awkward state.
At that moment, she wondered, what had Xie Tingnan intended by coming back for just this short while?
Was it just to hold her?
Of course, he had also done something else—made her turn down the maid role her teacher had recommended to her.
Actually, she had only taken that role to support her mentor’s friend’s directorial dream, performing without pay.
After all, given Yu Wanwan’s looks and temperament, back in high school, talent scouts had persistently followed her, wanting her to play the female lead in youth dramas.
Later, her adoptive father, Yu Guanzhong, personally stepped in to refuse and assigned additional bodyguards to Yu Wanwan.
Her adoptive parents deliberately cultivated her not to become some short-lived celebrity cash cow. Instead, they intended to present her to a truly powerful figure, a “golden mountain” who could provide shelter for the Yu family.
That evening, Yu Wanwan received a call from her close friend Lin Yin. Originally, the two were supposed to go to the film set together.
“I’m not going anymore. Something came up.” Yu Wanwan said softly.
“Did Xie Jinshan not let you go?” Lin Yin on the other end pouted.
“No, he doesn’t care about me. Someone of my status… he probably can’t even be bothered to acknowledge.” Yu Wanwan bit her lip lightly.
“It’s different. Your looks are unbeatable.” Lin Yin thought of Yu Wanwan’s appearance and clicked her tongue softly:
“But a man like him sees stunning beauties every day. He’s probably immune to appearances by now.”
Yu Wanwan knew this was the truth, yet it still made her feel a genuine chill.
Recalling his behavior from last night—completely devoid of any tenderness, just frantically seizing and devouring his delectable prey, as if he wanted to bite her in half and tear her to pieces.
Fortunately, she had no feelings for him, so her emotions remained undisturbed.
Yu Wanwan simply went along with Lin Yin’s words:
“Yes, someone inexperienced and uninteresting like me must be as bland as chewing wax. I hope he discards me soon. Once I’m worthless, I’ll be free.”
As night fell, Yu Wanwan returned to the guest room where she lived.
The air conditioning blew a cool breeze, and her soft, pale body curled into a ball under the thin blanket, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
She was thinking about Xie Tingnan. She had met him twice now.
Tall with long legs, noble and arrogant, handsome with clear features, his eyes distant and cold.
His eyes were particularly unforgettable.
Those slightly narrow phoenix eyes held an indifference that made it seem as if he carried an innate aloofness and distance from everything in this world.
Thus, the occasional tenderness that appeared in those eyes would utterly bewilder and unsettle anyone.
He was the epitome of the elegant, unattainable scion from a prestigious family—not the greasy, balding, potbellied old man she had feared.
His vision and demeanor were impeccable. He carried the profound refinement passed down through generations of high-born families, evident in every subtle gesture.
Perhaps it was only because her status was too lowly that he couldn’t muster any patience, turning him into a wolf who went straight for the kill.
In the deep of night, Yu Wanwan’s soft sigh lingered in the air.
The young girl appeared fragile, but deep down, she had her own strong ideas.
She thought that in this lifetime, her capacity for love was finished.
Abandoned by her parents at birth, she was discovered at night, already a frostbitten, blue-purple orphan. Naturally deprived of familial affection.
That was why, from the beginning, she was called Wanwan, with no surname.
Later, her adoptive parents took her in when she was five, gave her a surname, and provided her with an incredibly privileged life as a wealthy young lady. The only thing they didn’t give her was love.
After raising her for fifteen years, in an instant, they handed her over to Xie Tingnan.
To maintain her skin in the best condition, for the past ten years, Yu Wanwan had been sent weekly to Nancheng’s finest private care center for the most expensive full-body treatments.
Her daily diet strictly followed a nutritionist’s meal plan—no greasy, meaty, grilled, or alcoholic foods whatsoever.
That was why, last night, Xie Tingnan, in a moment of passion, murmured in her ear:
“Wanwan truly deserves to be called the flawless snow-jade, the most delectable feast for the eyes.”
At this point in her life, she was merely a human puppet residing in Yi Garden.
She thought her capacity for love was also ruined.
Tears silently streamed from the young girl’s beautiful, large eyes, soaking the pillow…
Human hearts were the most unreliable. She was like a wild weed, and weeds were the most resilient.
Quietly, she began planning for herself in her heart…
The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Yu Wanwan found a verdant green dress from the wardrobe to wear, which made her skin glow with a radiant whiteness.
Xie Tingnan had said someone would contact her, so she kept her phone nearby, sitting quietly on the viewing terrace as she waited.
When the phone rang, she quickly picked it up, but the name on the screen dimmed the light in her eyes.
Answering the call, a pleasant male voice greeted her: “Wanwan, where have you gone? I heard…”
It was Lu Shixun, the son of Nancheng’s wealthiest family.
Perhaps, in her adoptive parents’ plans, the Lu family had also been one of the prominent families they had hoped to align with.
However, after weighing their options, they ultimately chose the Xie family of the capital—a truly untouchable pinnacle of power and prestige—even if it meant facing certain defeat with a bloodied head.
After all, they had never imagined they would so easily sway Xie Tingnan.
Little did they know, a photo of Nancheng’s “White Moonlight,” Yu Wanwan, had been presented to Xie Tingnan years earlier…