Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Both of them had drunk alcohol last night, and with it being so late, they were a bit tired—it was basically impossible to drive back.

Luckily, that hotel had their regular suite, so after the banquet ended, Cheng Yan and Yan Huai didn’t bother going back and forth and simply stayed at the hotel for the night.

Yan Huai had been sent to the hotel by a driver yesterday and hadn’t kept a car with him, so today, Cheng Yan—who had a car—acted as the driver and dropped him off at the company on the way.

Cheng Yan had turned on message notifications on WeChat. Since he rarely used the “People Nearby” feature, and had only just opened it this once, in less than half an hour a young girl had already sent him a message.

And it was such a blunt and direct sentence.

Cheng Yan’s self-esteem was greatly satisfied. He tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel and hummed a cheerful tune.

Yan Huai glanced at the content above but didn’t pay much attention.

Cheng Yan was still humming. “I wonder if this little sister is pretty.”

Yan Huai couldn’t be bothered to respond to him.

Just as he was about to return the phone to him, another WeChat message popped up.

Cheng Yan tilted his head slightly and asked, “Still her?”

“Cheng Nuo.”

“What did she say?”

Men didn’t have that many twists and turns to begin with, and besides, Cheng Yan and Yan Huai had known each other for more than just a day or two. Looking at each other’s messages was a common thing.

Yan Huai opened it and took a look.

A contact card, followed by a sentence—

【Ge, I’m going out of town with my senior sister for a few days. Help me look after Weiwei. I’ll send you her WeChat—add her first, so if Weiwei needs anything later, it’ll be more convenient to contact you.】

Let Cheng Yan take care of He Wei?

Yan Huai curled his lips slightly, his gaze withdrawing. When he tapped open that contact card, he noticed something strange.

The profile picture and nickname displayed were exactly the same as the “People Nearby” person who had asked Cheng Yan about online dating a few minutes ago.

Yan Huai frowned slightly, then opened that nearby person’s message again—

【Handsome guy, want to have an online relationship? I’m super sweet!】

So when Cheng Yan opened “People Nearby,” he just happened to run into He Wei by sheer coincidence.

What kind of luck was that.

Right now, Yan Huai wanted to kick Cheng Yan—who had just been showing off—out of the car.

In the driver’s seat, Cheng Yan had no awareness whatsoever of the danger he was in. Seeing Yan Huai not speaking, he quickly glanced at him again. “What did Nuonuo say?”

“Nothing.”

Yan Huai lowered his eyes, the corner of his lips curling slightly without showing it. Then his long fingers tapped lightly, and using Cheng Yan’s phone, he replied to He Wei—who was still a stranger: 【How sweet?】—

He Wei only saw this message after she finished washing up.

She hadn’t had much hope for this guy she had casually tapped on, and had even at one point thought of casting a wide net and picking the best option. But as soon as she came out of the bathroom, she saw this message.

There’s a chance.

He Wei lay on the bed and replied: 【I can wake you up every morning, say good night to you every evening, and even remind you to rest in the middle of the night.】 Most importantly—【I’m not clingy.】

She didn’t know if the person on the other end thought she was too slow. After those two messages were sent, there was no further response.

He Wei tapped open his profile picture and took a look—it was just a very simple white background, plus some kind of indistinct symbol.

It was precisely because of this simple and clean avatar that this person stood out among the many losers in “People Nearby.” He Wei had taken a liking to him at a glance earlier and decisively sent him a message.

After waiting a few minutes, the person finally replied with one word: 【Okay.】He Wei almost jumped up from the bed.

She hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly at all. After taking several deep breaths, she asked the system again, “Is this really okay?”

“Y-yes… it’s fine…”

The system was clearly also stunned by her speed. It paused for a few seconds before continuing, “Host, look at the back of his nickname—his favorability is already being displayed.”

He Wei lowered her head and only then carefully looked at that person’s nickname.

A capital Y.

Behind it were two red numbers, which should be the favorability the system mentioned.

He Wei focused her gaze—and it was actually 78.

“……”

What’s going on?

…She clearly hadn’t done anything yet.

Could it be that this handsome guy fell in love with her at first sight?

He Wei went over her own profile back and forth—the avatar was an anime-style cartoon character, the nickname was “He Kou,” age twenty-one, location the same city.

So what exactly made him fall in love at first sight?

He Wei was dazed for a full minute. After that minute, she was pulled back to her senses by the system’s voice: “Wow, Host, you’re amazing! You only said two sentences and his favorability toward you has already reached 78. If it increases by two more points, Yan Chen’s favorability won’t decrease anymore. Host, please keep it up!”

“……”

He Wei was so excited that her hands were trembling slightly. After quite a while, she finally sent the friend request.

Very quickly, the person accepted it.

He Wei: 【Handsome guy, how old are you?】

After sending it, she felt it might be ambiguous, so she quickly added another sentence: 【I mean your age.】 A few seconds later, the other side replied: 【27.】

27, seems to be the same age as Yan Huai.

He Wei didn’t think much of it. She had just sent an emoji back when the person sent another message: 【In a meeting, talk later.】 She didn’t reply again.

At the same time, Cheng Yan—who had been deprived of his WeChat account—parked the car, utterly in disbelief: “Ah Huai, are you serious?”

Cheng Yan: “Are you that desperate for a woman? If you can’t get He Wei, you’re settling for second best and going to have an online relationship with another woman?”

Yan Huai didn’t speak. He raised his hand and adjusted his tie.

Cheng Yan: “Don’t lose your mind, brother. Whatever kind of woman you want, I’ve got them all—big chest, long legs, great in bed—”

“Cut the crap.”

Yan Huai opened the car door. “Lend it to me for a few days.”

Cheng Yan: “……”

Forget it—when it came to Yan Huai, he had no other choice but to lend it.

He Wei stayed at home for the whole morning.

At noon, she called the general manager of Fei Li Jewelry.

After all, only one night had passed, and the man wasn’t forgetful enough to have forgotten her. As soon as he heard her voice, he immediately recalled what happened last night. “What should I call you, young lady?”

“You can just call me He Wei.”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare…”

Hearing that her surname was different from Yan Huai’s, the man feared she might be a hidden lover kept by Yan Huai in a “golden house,” and hurriedly said, “Miss He, please come directly to the company next Wednesday. Since the ring is a new model that hasn’t been released yet, we’ll need to customize one according to your finger size. We can also discuss the contract at the same time.”

After a few seconds, he added, “Does that work for you?”

He Wei: “……”

Thanks to Yan Huai, she actually had the illusion that she had become a rich young lady from a powerful family.

He Wei agreed. After confirming the exact time, both sides ended the call.

She tossed her phone aside. As she lifted her eyes, she saw that pure black high-end tailored suit.

It was the one she had worn back yesterday.

Yan Huai’s.

He Wei looked at it for a couple of seconds, then remembered she didn’t even have Yan Huai’s contact information. She could only temporarily give up the idea of returning it, got up, picked up the suit, checked how to clean it, and decided to wash it first and keep it at home until she had a chance to return it.

The next few days passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was the third day of the online relationship, and also the day He Wei had arranged to discuss the contract with Fei Li.

At exactly 9:30, He Wei arrived at the general manager’s office of Fei Li Jewelry on time.

The office was spacious and bright. Three men and two women were already seated inside. There was a manager specifically responsible for signing contracts, a man around forty years old.

There were also two women—one was the company’s designer, and the other was the designer’s assistant.

As for the other two men, He Wei had seen them both. Besides the boss from last time, Xu Tianli, there was also an acquaintance.

He Wei nodded toward Su Mu. “Hello, senior.”

Su Mu curved his lips into a smile. “Looks like the two of us will be working together again this time.”

He Wei smiled, not knowing how to respond.

Only after the contract was brought over and she read through the clauses one by one did she realize—this time, the jewelry launched by Fei Li focused on couple-themed items, including rings, necklaces, and even small items like brooches.

And the male celebrity collaborating this time, coincidentally, was Su Mu.

He Wei spent nearly half an hour finishing reading the contract. Thinking that because of Yan Huai’s involvement they probably wouldn’t cheat her, she confirmed there were no issues and signed her name.

The contract was quickly taken away to be stamped.

During the few minutes she waited in the office for it to be returned, the designer’s assistant came over to measure her finger and wrist sizes.

It was a delicate task and took a full fifteen minutes.

By the time the contract was brought back, the assistant had just finished recording the measurements down to the millimeter. Then she took out a measuring tape from her bag. “Miss He, we also need to measure your three sizes.”

Afraid He Wei wouldn’t understand, she took the initiative to explain: “Because the main theme is wedding and romance styles, we also need to get a few sets of wedding dresses and gowns for you.”

He Wei nodded, stood up, and let the young girl measure her all over.

Su Mu was also standing nearby. Perhaps because of their different status, He Wei was handled by the assistant, while Su Mu was directly attended to by the designer herself.

He Wei sighed, then when she thought of the hundreds of thousands in compensation written in the contract, she instantly felt full of motivation again.

While the assistant was measuring her three sizes, she was bored and sent a message to her online relationship partner: 【Have you had lunch?】 The message was sent at 11:45.

At 12:15, when He Wei was leaving with the contract, that person replied: 【Just finished a meeting.】 He Wei glanced at the favorability behind the “Y”—79.

She had been showing concern for him morning, noon, and night for several days, yet the favorability had only increased by one point.

He Wei sighed, feeling a bit at a loss.

Since it was an online relationship partner, the methods she had used before on Yan Chen—like making longevity noodles for him or wearing low-cut outfits to increase favorability—were all useless now.

He Wei thought for a few seconds, then caught sight of a woman on the street dressed extremely alluring and sexy. An idea struck her, and she casually searched online for a photo of a beautiful woman showing half her chest without revealing her face, and sent it over.

One minute passed—no response.

Two minutes passed—He Wei had already gotten into a taxi, and WeChat was still completely silent.

…

Five minutes passed. Finally, a message came through.

Y: 【?】

He Wei: 【Does it look good?】

After pausing for a few seconds, she remembered a form of address Yan Chen had always wanted her to use when they were together. Gritting her teeth, fingers trembling, she typed two more words.

So the chat interface became like this—

Does it look good?

Husband.

Even He Wei felt impressed with herself—for the sake of increasing favorability, she was using every possible method.

She thought it should be somewhat effective. After all, her interactions with this online partner over the past few days had been quite pleasant.

But after waiting a few minutes, there was no response again.

Only when the taxi stopped at her doorstep, and He Wei had almost given up hope, did that person send a message—

【Be good, call me that again.】