Chapter 2

Chapter 2

He Wei suddenly woke up.

Her hands were still tightly clutching the bedsheet beneath her, her breathing rapid, her heartbeat chaotic, unable to calm down no matter what.

When she opened her eyes, what greeted her was a bright expanse of white.

Outside, the daylight was already brilliant.

He Wei lay on the bed, not daring to move.

Her eyes widened, staring at the ceiling for several seconds. After her vision gradually became clear, she distinguished the shape of the lamp above her head.

Simple and elegant, pure white—not the cold blue tone from last night.

This was the lamp in her bedroom.

He Wei finally let out a breath of relief, and the hand gripping the bedsheet loosened slightly as well.

The system’s slightly excited mechanical voice sounded in her mind right at this moment: “Congratulations, host, on successfully loading the file for the eleventh time.”

He Wei’s whole body relaxed, and she closed her eyes, preparing to sleep a little longer.

System: “Host, it’s time to get up.”

He Wei ignored it.

System: “Host, you died on the male lead’s older brother’s bed last night.”

He Wei suddenly opened her eyes. “Shut up.”

The system obediently shut up.

But He Wei could no longer fall asleep.

She had originally been on the verge of selectively forgetting what happened last night, but after that reminder, those scenes surged back one after another like an overwhelming tide.

When Yan Huai wanted her, He Wei’s consciousness had already begun to blur, yet her bodily sensations were unexpectedly clear—clear enough to remember the slight redness in the man’s eyes, the movements as he undressed, and the strength with which he gripped her wrist.

Everything felt as if it had just happened.

The heartbeat that He Wei had only just managed to calm suddenly grew violent again. She subconsciously moved her leg; there was no longer that person’s scorching palm pressing there, so her right leg bent easily.

He Wei raised a hand to cover her face.

The tips of her ears burned hot. She forced herself to shift her attention and casually asked, “What date is it now?”

The system’s voice automatically lowered: “March seventh.”

March seventh—four months before Yan Chen cheated.

According to the original plot, Yan Huai was still working at a branch company in another city at this time and wouldn’t return in the short term.

The breath that had been stuck in He Wei’s throat finally released completely. Her mood cleared. She lifted the blanket and climbed out of bed, took a hair tie, simply tied up her hair, and then went into the bathroom.

She spent five minutes washing up. When she came out, the system began stammering again: “H-host, there’s something I… I don’t know whether I should say.”

He Wei sat down in front of the dressing mirror, took some toner and lotion into her palm. “Say it.”

“C-congratulations, host, for achieving the hundred-days slash achievement.”

“……”

He Wei didn’t understand and froze for a few seconds before asking, “What?”

“Hun… dred… days… slash.”

Although the system’s mechanical voice didn’t fluctuate much, He Wei could still hear that it emphasized that “day” character.

He Wei: “……”

She didn’t know whether the system’s “day” was the same “day” she had in mind.

The next second, the system had already explained on its own: “Because the host was the first one to be… to death, so…”

“...Stop.”

He Wei’s face grew even hotter. She closed her eyes, and only after several seconds did she open them again to look at herself in the mirror.

To be precise, the original female lead of The Ex-Wife Above.

Although the author had given the original host a pitiful background that made people want to pound the ground in sympathy, she had also given her a beautiful and graceful face.

The woman in the mirror had fair, delicate skin. Her face was a standard oval, with a slightly pointed chin, a small and lovely mouth, a gently raised nose bridge, willow-leaf eyebrows, peach-blossom eyes, and beneath her left eye was a light brown tear mole.

This was a face most attractive to men.

Pure, yet carrying an unselfconscious charm.

But what did beauty matter? She had still lived her life in complete shambles.

He Wei sighed, screwed the cap back onto the toner, and carefully applied a light makeup to herself in front of the mirror.

A quarter of an hour later, He Wei picked up her phone and glanced at the time.

8:45 a.m.

For a moment she couldn’t recall the timeline. Knowing she wouldn’t get anything useful by asking this silly, naïve system, He Wei opened WeChat and flipped through the chat records.

The very top message was from Yan Chen.

The time was March sixth at ten in the evening. He had sent a “Good night.”

She hadn’t replied.

So He Wei tapped into Yan Chen’s Moments to scout the enemy.

The novel The Ex-Wife Above told the story of a prodigal returning, and the male lead Yan Chen was set up as a suave, romantic playboy. Opening his Moments, she saw that in one month he had posted only four updates.

Three of them were photos with other women.

The fourth was a candid photo he had secretly taken of He Wei in the library, with a caption attached: 【Little cutie.】 The date was the end of February.

He Wei finally remembered—this should be not long after the original female lead had just agreed to the male lead.

Sure enough, right after exiting Yan Chen’s Moments, she received a WeChat message.

Cheng Nuo: 【You little heartless one, you forgot me after getting a boyfriend!】 Cheng Nuo was the original female lead’s college friend. In the book, her relationship with the female lead was average, but after He Wei transmigrated, she unexpectedly got along well with Cheng Nuo, and after some back and forth, they became good friends.

In the book, wolves surrounded the female lead, and Cheng Nuo was probably one of the few who genuinely treated her well.

He Wei nearly burst into tears of joy. Especially after even the scumbag male lead had betrayed her in her previous life, she quickly typed a few words back: 【I didn’t forget.】 【If you didn’t forget, why didn’t you go on the blind date for me!】

【What blind date?】

They were both still in their fourth year of university and hadn’t graduated yet. Talking about blind dates now was far too early.

Cheng Nuo: 【Alright, I’m not teasing you anymore… I’m looking for you today because the fourth female role in the drama my brother is directing hasn’t been decided yet. Weiwei, why don’t you go try out?】 He Wei pressed her temple.

This plot seemed a bit different from the previous life.

He Wei had been repeatedly loading files recently, so she didn’t rule out the possibility of memory confusion. To confirm, she asked the system, “Last time, did Nuo Nuo ask me to audition for her brother’s drama?”

The system answered very firmly: “No.”

He Wei scratched her hair.

The face in the mirror changed along with her expression. Even when she frowned, she didn’t look aggressive at all—soft and gentle. No wonder Yan Chen had been so surprised when she mentioned breaking up.

With this face, combined with the original female lead’s equally soft personality in the book, she indeed didn’t seem like someone who would bring up a breakup.

Seeing no response from her, Cheng Nuo sent over the audition time and address again: 【Weiwei, remember to go. I already mentioned you to my brother. If tomorrow when I ask him he says he didn’t see you, just you wait!】 He Wei sent several emojis in a row, but the other side had already gone completely silent.

Half a minute later, the system said weakly, “Host, I just asked my superior. The superior said that to reward you for having a sex life, they’re giving you a drama.”

He Wei: “……”

“The superior also said that in the future, the host can check the male lead’s older brother’s reaction after you load a file, but since my level isn’t high enough right now, I can’t let the host see it…”

He Wei: “……”

She didn’t want to look.

A woman dying beneath him—moreover at that kind of moment—any normal man would probably be scared into going limp.

Thinking this way, He Wei finally felt a little better. The corners of her lips lifted, and as her eyelashes lowered, she happened to glance at the newly popped-up message on her phone screen—

【Hehe, let’s have lunch together?】

From Yan Chen.

It felt like a thorn was stuck in He Wei’s throat, making her choke.

She turned off the phone screen. “Can I break up with the male lead?”

“Y-yes…” The system paused, trying to remind her as tactfully as possible, “But host, you’ve only just gotten together with the male lead. If you b-break up now, the favorability will drop to zero…”

If the male lead’s favorability dropped to zero, it meant she would have to reload and start over again.

He Wei’s expression faded. She thought of Yan Chen’s message just now, then pulled out a tissue to wipe her mouth clean, picked up a bright red lipstick, and carefully applied it in front of the mirror.

Yan Chen disliked the taste of cosmetics the most. This way, he probably wouldn’t be able to bring himself to kiss her.

He Wei looked at her lips in the mirror, red as if about to drip blood, and her eyes curved in satisfaction.

When Yan Chen called, He Wei was sitting in the living room watching a movie.

It was nearly eleven o’clock, and the movie was only halfway through.

After answering the call urging her to come downstairs, He Wei paused the movie, reapplied her lipstick, put on her coat, and went downstairs.

He Wei was twenty-one this year, with a few months left before graduating from university. She usually earned some money as a print model and rented a small two-bedroom apartment in the city.

Most people in the residential complex were like her—without much money—so the flashy red Ferrari parked downstairs at her building attracted a crowd of curious glances.

He Wei felt like a young model being kept.

Her skin was thin; she couldn’t stand those strange looks. She lowered her head slightly, pulled her scarf up over her nose to cover most of her face, and jogged in small steps to get into the car.

His girlfriend was beautiful, and just looking at her made Yan Chen happy. The corners of his lips unconsciously curved upward. “Did you sleep well last night?”

He Wei’s gaze flickered, and she answered with a particularly insincere “Mm.”

Yan Chen reached out and patted her head. “I’ll take you to eat.”

He Wei didn’t make a sound, lowering her head even more.

She felt resistant toward Yan Chen, yet she couldn’t avoid his touch.

“Why do you look unhappy?”

It would be strange if she could be happy facing him.

He Wei muttered a lie, “The movie I just watched didn’t have a very good ending.”

Yan Chen smiled and didn’t say anything else, starting the car and focusing on driving.

He Wei had only agreed to date him a few days ago. He simply took her reaction as shyness upon seeing the person she liked. Thinking this way, Yan Chen found the girl even more lovable.

The corners of his lips lifted, and his eyes brightened considerably.

He Wei had no idea what he was thinking.

She didn’t want to sit too close to Yan Chen, so she kept shrinking toward the car door the whole way.

Ten minutes later, when Yan Chen stopped the car, He Wei was almost pressed flat against the door.

Yan Chen reached out and pinched her straight, upturned nose. “Let’s go.”

He got out of the car first.

He Wei took two deep breaths inside the car. As soon as she opened the door, the cool wind outside rushed in, and she subconsciously shrank her neck.

After adjusting to the early spring temperature and lifting her eyes again, she unconsciously widened them.

Yan Chen had brought her to the Yan residence in advance.

He Wei hadn’t yet recovered from her surprise when the person in front suddenly turned around. With a long arm, he pressed her against the car door. Yan Chen’s face drew close, his warm breath falling beside her ear. “Hehe, you smell so good…”

He Wei turned her face aside, barely avoiding his kiss.

At the same time, a car horn sounded by her ear—short and piercing.

He Wei was startled. She had just turned her head to glance, not yet seeing the car clearly, when her face was turned back by Yan Chen. “Ignore him… let’s continue.”

His fingers were cold, like a snake slowly moving along her chin. He Wei’s face turned pale. Just as she was about to raise her hand to push him away, the sound of a car door opening rang out, followed immediately by the click of a lighter.

He Wei had already shrunk her face almost into her scarf. “Th-there’s… someone.”

Yan Chen was clearly unhappy about being interrupted. He frowned, turned his head, and was just about to flare up. But the moment he saw that person, he froze. After several seconds, he said in surprise, “B-bro… why are you back?”

…Bro?

He Wei reacted belatedly and suddenly turned her head.

Beside the black Bentley, the man stood with his head slightly lowered, his features deep and cold. He had just moved the lighter away from the cigarette between his lips. He lifted his eyes, his voice extremely cool: “Go on.”