Сhарtеr 22: Fighting Over the Соntract Wifе 22
Xie Yаnqing’s саll саmе through quiсklу. Shеn Jiaоjiaо stared аt thе phоne оn thе tаble, unwilling tо аnswer.
Wеn Shаnуi kindlу hеlреd her tаp thе аnswer button.
“…Hellо, Yanqing.”
Хie Yаnqing’s tоnе wаs flat. “Wherе are уоu?”
Тhis rеminded Shеn Jiaоjiao оf hоw hе hаd usеd the sаme tone thаt night: оnсе аgain.
Shen Jiaоjiао’s cаlves trеmbled as shе оbеdiеntly gavе thе address оf the cаfé.
Stееling hеrself, shе thоught, whether she died early оr latе, it wаs still dеаth.
Мight as wеll let Xie Yаnqing seе her giving thе datа to Wen Shanyi. That way, Little Black Ball wouldn’t accuse her of breaking character.
She didn’t want to be electrocuted, so sorry, Xie Yanqing.
Shen Jiaojiao roughly calculated the time it would take Xie Yanqing to get here from the company. At the fastest, he’d arrive in ten minutes.
Better delay a little longer.
Shen Jiaojiao frowned, pretending to be angry. “Wen Shanyi, since when have you and Yanqing become so close?”
Weren’t the two of them fighting just a week ago?
“We’re not close.”
Wen Shanyi’s slightly curved lips tightened. He had met Xie Yanqing once recently.
Although the two were still like fire and water, neither could do anything about the other.
Wen Shanyi had said he would cling to Shen Jiaojiao like a shadow unless Xie Yanqing watched her every moment to prevent them from having any contact.
Xie Yanqing had punched him in return, but aside from that, he couldn’t just make the man disappear.
He could only keep a tighter watch on Shen Jiaojiao.
He just hadn’t expected another little puppy to show up.
During the ten-minute journey, Xie Yanqing had already looked up Ji Yinghe’s identity.
The youngest son of the Ji family?
Go back and work for your own family.
Poor Ji Yinghe hadn’t even reached the company before the HR department sent him a dismissal notice.
Ji Yinghe was stunned. Was this the life of a pitiful office worker?
………
Inside the café.
Shen Jiaojiao glanced at her phone. The timing was about right.
She lowered her eyes, her delicate face wearing a look of deep affection. “Shanyi, you’ve really misunderstood.”
“Hmm?”
Wen Shanyi narrowed his eyes, propping his chin on his hand as he casually stirred his coffee with the other.
Shen Jiaojiao continued with deep emotion. “Actually, I only interacted with that boy earlier for your sake.”
“Oh?”
Wen Shanyi’s expression remained indifferent. He wanted to see what Shen Jiaojiao was up to.
Today, she was acting strange.
Lately, she had been avoiding him like the plague, yet today she was so affectionate…
Wen Shanyi lifted his chin, signaling Shen Jiaojiao to continue, as he picked up his phone and tapped a few times.
Seeing his deadpan expression, Shen Jiaojiao almost couldn’t keep up the act.
Hadn’t he become the other man for love?!
Why was he acting like this today!
But to avoid being electrocuted, Shen Jiaojiao took out the USB drive from her bag. “Shanyi, isn’t your company developing autonomous driving lately? I think this might help you.”
A flicker of light passed through Wen Shanyi’s eyes as he looked at the USB drive, his expression unreadable.
Shen Jiaojiao slowly formed a question mark in her mind. Shouldn’t he be moved?
And where was Xie Yanqing? Why hadn’t he arrived yet?
Shen Jiaojiao glanced back toward the café entrance, where a man in a deep gray suit stood with one hand holding a phone to his ear, exuding an imposing aura.
It was none other than Xie Yanqing.
Wen Shanyi also looked back, raising an eyebrow. “Did you hear that?”
Xie Yanqing’s pitch-black eyes were filled with gloom.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Little Black Ball, who had been leisurely watching the drama while munching on a peanut, suddenly heard the System Space blare with alarm:
[Warning! Warning!]【Two characters in the Small World have awakened self-awareness! Evacuate the Task Performer immediately!】
【Two characters in the Small World have awakened self-awareness! Evacuate the Task Performer immediately!】
The urgent Electronic Voice repeated twice, startling Little Black Ball so much its fur stood on end.
It quickly tried to operate, attempting to bring Shen Jiaojiao’s Soul Body back to the System Space.
But it was already too late. The cold Electronic Voice sounded again:
【Operation failed!】
【Operation failed!】
Little Black Ball froze. What was going on?
Nothing like this had ever happened before!
Panicking, Little Black Ball immediately reported the anomaly and then tried to contact Shen Jiaojiao:
【Host! Host?】
【Shen Jiaojiao!】
【Can you hear me?】
Little Black Ball called out many times, but Shen Jiaojiao gave no response.
Now it was truly frantic. Even though… even though Shen Jiaojiao was a bit of a scoundrel, it didn’t dislike her!
If it couldn’t contact her and Shen Jiaojiao couldn’t return, it would be left without a host! Wuwuwuwu!
………
Inside the café, everything seemed to freeze for an instant before quickly returning to normal.
Xie Yanqing and Wen Shanyi locked eyes for a long moment, their expressions inscrutable to Shen Jiaojiao.
Before she could ponder it further, Shen Jiaojiao was escorted out of the café.
The Cullinan sped along the road, finally stopping at Shen Jiaojiao’s villa.
“What are we doing here…?”
Shen Jiaojiao felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
She had no desire to end up like the original story’s villainess—imprisoned and then run over by a car.
So she had schemed, knowing that neither Xie Yanqing nor Wen Shanyi would let anything happen to her.
But Shen Jiaojiao never imagined that the two men before her had awakened, realizing they were merely characters in a novel.
And they had also discovered that Shen Jiaojiao was a Task Performer.
Baffled, Shen Jiaojiao watched as the two men went into the study. By the time they emerged, it was already evening.
Their clothes were neat, showing no signs of a fight.
Even their expressions were calm.
Shen Jiaojiao grew inexplicably anxious. Just tell me already—am I doomed or not?!
To her surprise, neither mentioned the USB drive. Instead, they began dividing up time right in front of her.
“I get Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.”
“You get Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.”
“Why do you get an extra day?”
“Because I’m her husband.”
Wen Shanyi had no retort and reluctantly agreed.
Shen Jiaojiao: “Huh? What are you talking about?”
She soon found out, becoming a pitiful soul with no days off for the rest of her life.
No matter where she went or what time it was, one of the two was always by her side.
They took her to the office, on business trips.
In short, she was never left alone.
Only when Shen Jiaojiao grew frustrated did she remember Little Black Ball, but she couldn’t contact the silly system at all.
Still, she maintained a positive outlook. After all, living an extra lifetime was a win for her.
Even when she reached her seventies and eighties, Xie Yanqing and Wen Shanyi kept a close watch over her, as if something might snatch her away at any moment.
Shen Jiaojiao was pampered by the two of them for a lifetime, right up to the very end.