As a business tycoon in City A whose reputation rivals Fu Chen’s, Gu Xun’s vehicle is exceptionally comfortable.
The moment Shang Wan sat down, the soft touch of the leather seat enveloped her.
The automatically heated seat, the warm air turned on in advance, and the perfectly placed warm water within reach—all of these gradually dispelled the chill that had seeped into her body.
If Gu Xun hadn’t been sitting beside her, Shang Wan thought, she would have been unable to resist falling asleep in the car.
As the vehicle smoothly drove away from the Fu residence, Shang Wan lowered her gaze and subtly shifted a little farther away from Fu Chen.
Namo Amitabha, God bless, may the heavens intervene—please don’t let Gu Xun have an episode in the car!
The rain grew heavier, turning into a downpour. Even the windshield outside the car window blurred their vision momentarily as the rain poured down.
After turning a corner, the driver abruptly braked at the roadside. Shang Wan, propelled by inertia, instinctively lurched forward. Afraid to use her injured hand to steady herself, she watched helplessly as her head was about to collide with the seat in front. In the next moment, Gu Xun’s palm cushioned her forehead.
Gu Xun’s hand was very cold.
That was Shang Wan’s first thought.
Immediately afterward, her fluttering eyelashes brushed against the skin of Gu Xun’s knuckles.
Gu Xun’s hand lingered on Shang Wan’s forehead and eyelids. She could even feel his finger bones slightly curling, as if he couldn’t bear the tickling sensation caused by the movement of her lashes.
Shang Wan: “!!”
Almost instantly, every hair on Shang Wan’s body stood on end.
She straightened up at lightning speed, adjusted her posture, and was about to change the subject to divert Gu Xun’s attention away from her eyes when he suddenly reached out and gently pressed his fingertip against her eyelid once more.
This gesture could only be described as terrifying.
Shang Wan swallowed hard, nearly kneeling before Gu Xun in fright.
The next moment, however, she saw Gu Xun furrow his brow and say, “You have a fever.”
Shang Wan: “…”
Brother, a fever won’t kill me, but you might just scare me to death.
Shang Wan discreetly wiped away the cold sweat of fright from her forehead and said with difficulty, “It’s fine. The doctor said it’s a normal reaction after trauma. As long as the wound doesn’t get infected, it’s okay.”
Shang Wan spoke lightly, but Gu Xun’s brow furrowed once again.
Ignoring her explanation, he turned to instruct the driver, “Take Miss Shang to the hospital first.”
His tone was gentle and considerate, earnest with a hint of barely noticeable concern, as if Shang Wan’s minor low-grade fever were some monumental event to him.
Shang Wan glanced at Gu Xun’s expression, then at the Bond Points in the system that hadn’t budged at all, and couldn’t help but marvel inwardly: Masterful, truly masterful!
If this were the entertainment industry, he’d undoubtedly win Best Actor.
No wonder the female lead, Shen Hui, was so thoroughly captivated by him in the early stages.
In the melodramatic romance novel Star Path, when it came to sweet words and tender affection, no one could rival the antagonist Gu Xun.
The author described him as having cold, detached eyes. In the business world, these eyes would stare icily at others, sending chills down their spines.
But when Gu Xun looked at Shen Hui, his eyes brimmed with love.
Just the right amount of love—neither too much nor too little.
One glance was enough to know how cherished the person he gazed upon was to him.
If Gu Xun wished, he could effortlessly capture someone’s heart.
After all, who wouldn’t be moved by the submission of a powerful person or the rare affection of someone cold-hearted?
Just like now.
Gu Xun calmly instructed the driver to head to the hospital, yet a sliver of his attention remained fixed on Shang Wan, as if constantly concerned about her physical condition.
As for Shang Wan—
Having confirmed that Gu Xun currently only intended to seduce her and was in no hurry to gouge out her eyeballs, Shang Wan met his gaze and pretended not to understand.
She said earnestly, “President Gu, I’ve already seen a doctor. You even met them earlier at the Fu residence—the one in a white coat with two creases at the corners of their eyes. Don’t you remember?”
Gu Xun: “…”
The scheming antagonist President Gu was momentarily speechless at Shang Wan’s feigned ignorance, only to hear the person before him continue:
“Besides, President Gu, I am, after all, a female celebrity with considerable public recognition.
“If I show up at a hospital with a well-known local entrepreneur without informing my manager, and rumors about pregnancy or abortions start spreading, my manager would kill me.”
The well-known local entrepreneur Gu Xun: “…”
Outside the car, rain poured down like a waterfall. Fortunately, through the car window, the driver’s view was no longer obstructed by the storm.
After the earlier round of reasoned arguments, Gu Xun finally changed his mind about taking Shang Wan to the hospital.
The driver stepped on the accelerator, heading toward Shang Wan’s home.
Shang Wan glanced at Gu Xun out of the corner of her eye and inexplicably thought of the female lead, Shen Hui.
Shen Hui, who was moved by Gu Xun’s seemingly genuine affection, fell in love with him in a false dream.
Back then, Shen Hui had no idea that Gu Xun’s kindness toward her was merely a disguise—honey before the harm.
It was poison, meticulously packaged.
Every moment Gu Xun spent by her side, all he thought about was how he would personally pluck out Shen Hui’s loving eyes and turn them into the most beautiful specimen in the world.
Shang Wan’s gaze swept across Gu Xun’s face before she quickly lowered her eyelids.
She gritted her teeth and thought to herself: You damn pervert, not even raising my Bond Points, yet daring to use the same tricks on me that you used on the female lead. Just you wait!
Twenty minutes later, Gu Xun’s car pulled into the underground garage of Shang Wan’s home.
Shang Wan’s manager, Sister Yang, was waiting in the garage with a grim expression. As soon as Shang Wan stepped out of the car, a barrage of deeply ingrained curses from her memory came flying at her:
“Shang Nanzhi, you idiot! Do you even know that Zhao Ming Palace has been filming for twelve days already?! How dare you just run off from the set without a word, not answering calls or replying to messages! The crew has been blowing up my phone for the past two days. To cover for you, I’ve practically had to kneel and apologize to the entire crew. Did I fucking owe you in my past life—”
Sister Yang’s tirade was cut short.
Because Gu Xun had also stepped out of the car—
Gu Xun even took off his suit jacket and draped it over Shang Wan’s shoulders, saying, “Be careful not to catch a cold.”
Then he turned to the horrified Sister Yang and said, “Miss Shang is injured and needs proper rest recently.”
The remaining half of Sister Yang’s sentence—”Did I fucking owe you?”—stuck in her throat, turning into a fit of earth-shattering coughing.
Shang Wan’s toes curled in embarrassment once again.
Perfect, perfect. Star Path truly lived up to its reputation as the pinnacle of annual melodramatic novels, splashing dog blood drama everywhere.
Suppressing her embarrassment, she looked at Gu Xun and said, “Thank you, President Gu. I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”
Gu Xun, as if oblivious to the underlying message of dismissal, chuckled lightly and said, “Alright.”
Shang Wan: “…”
Alright, my foot! Can’t you tell I’m trying to get rid of you?!
She gritted her teeth and continued, “Then I won’t see you off.”
Gu Xun looked at her with a smile in his eyes for several seconds before finally getting back into the car.
Shang Wan let out a long sigh of relief.
After Gu Xun left, Shang Wan immediately turned to Sister Yang, who was coughing uncontrollably, fearing that her agent might choke to death on her own saliva. She quickly stepped forward to pat her back and help her catch her breath, flattering, “Sister Yang, it’s all my fault. I’ll take whatever punishment you give me, but please don’t let anger ruin your health.”
The words slipped out as naturally as muscle memory.
As soon as she finished speaking, Shang Wan thought to herself, “Oops.”
That was an ad-libbed line.
The original Shang Nanzhi had always been arrogant and never bothered to comfort any staff members.
Damn, she was about to break character.
Sure enough, as soon as the words left her mouth, Sister Yang looked at Shang Wan as if she were something filthy.
Her gaze seemed to say: Whatever you are, get out of our Shang Nanzhi’s body.
Shang Wan: “…”
She blinked guiltily several times, trying to figure out how to explain herself, when Sister Yang looked at her suspiciously and asked, “Didn’t you tell me you were going to seduce Fu Chen? Why are you getting so close to the president of the Gu Corporation? Wait, are all rich people this wild…”
Sister Yang’s expression grew increasingly strange, veering toward inappropriate territory. Shang Wan quickly cut her off: “Stop!”
She took off the coat Gu Xun had draped over her, raised her blood-stained sleeve, and looked pitifully at Sister Yang, trying to appeal to her agent’s compassion. “The seduction plan failed, and I even got stabbed by a rich guy.
“President Gu saw me covered in blood and thought it was too scary, so he had his driver bring me back.”
Sister Yang: “…”
This time, her look at Shang Wan changed to: Do you think I’m an idiot?
Sister Yang, Yang Mingyi, had bravely entered the entertainment industry at fifteen, carving out a place for herself through sheer determination and skill. She was a formidable woman with an astoundingly sharp mind.
The only failure in her life was signing Shang Nanzhi, the villainess.
It had to be admitted that Shang Nanzhi’s looks were top-tier, even in an industry filled with beautiful women.
Yang Mingyi had taken a liking to Shang Nanzhi at first sight because of her face, and Shang Nanzhi hadn’t disappointed her, making the most of the vast resources Yang Mingyi poured into her. Though her acting was as terrible as a pile of shit, she still managed to carve out a path for herself in various variety shows and second-tier productions, relying solely on her beauty.
With a face like that, a gift from the heavens, Shang Nanzhi could have thrived in the entertainment industry.
If she hadn’t brought ruin upon herself.
Shang Nanzhi’s attempt to drug the male lead, Fu Chen, and force herself on him didn’t just lead to her own downfall—it also caused the collapse of her agency and Yang Mingyi’s expulsion from the industry.
What a disaster!
Looking at Yang Mingyi’s face, which was filled with resentment as if she were a vengeful ghost who had been dead for three days, Shang Wan sincerely thought to herself.
Yang Mingyi probably didn’t know that if Shang Wan hadn’t transmigrated into the book in time, she would now be facing bankruptcy, unemployment, and complete ruin—a full package of disasters.
Thinking this, Shang Wan couldn’t help but look at Yang Mingyi with a touch of pity.
But the next moment, Yang Mingyi remained unmoved and said, “Stop pretending to be pitiful. Tell me honestly, what were you really up to?”
Shang Wan: “…”
There was no way she was going to explain.
When in doubt, Shang Wan’s first move was to play the victim.
She looked pitifully at Yang Mingyi, tears welling up instantly as she cried, “Sister Yang, my wound hurts so much.”
Yang Mingyi’s barrage of questions was abruptly stifled by the sight of Shang Wan’s blood-soaked sleeve.
Her temples throbbing with frustration, she helped Shang Wan upstairs. The moment the back of her hand touched Shang Wan’s skin, she shrieked again, “Shang Nanzhi, why is your temperature so high? Are you running a fever? What on earth have you been doing?!”
Shang Wan continued feigning weakness, “My head hurts, Sister Yang. Could you speak a little softer?”
Yang Mingyi: “…”
Once they returned home, perhaps due to the lingering muscle memory of the original body, a long-lost sense of security overwhelmed Shang Wan’s senses. The energy she had mustered to keep up her act earlier instantly drained away.
She collapsed onto the sofa, wishing she could sleep for three days and three nights straight.
Seeing Shang Wan in such a half-dead state, Yang Mingyi couldn’t bring herself to unleash the harsh words she had prepared. Resigned, she fetched medicine and water for her, then instructed the live-in housekeeper to wipe her down with warm water and change her clothes.
Compared to her previous life’s agent, who was as exploitative as a slave driver, Shang Wan declared in her heart that Sister Yang was the best sister she had in this world!
Carried away by the moment, Shang Wan couldn’t help but act like an affectionate pet cat, resting her head on Yang Mingyi’s shoulder and nuzzling against her.
Yang Mingyi stiffened, feeling that today’s Shang Nanzhi was acting strangely in every way. But before she could dwell on it, the Shang Nanzhi currently nuzzling against her uttered the most out-of-character sentence ever:
“Sister Yang, I want freshly wrapped wontons. After I eat and wake up, I’ll go back to the film set immediately to apologize. Please don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
Yang Mingyi: “??”
It was true that Shang Nanzhi loved wontons, but wanting to return to the set while sick…
Was this still the same diva artist who threw tantrums the moment filming started?