Chapter 17

Page 1 of 3

Late Sunday night, Cen Meng finally came forward to address the scandal that had set the internet ablaze.

She posted a video in which she appeared without makeup, her eyes red and dark circles clearly visible beneath them.

Through tears, she described how she had been unwittingly cast as the other woman, and announced that she had already broken up with the man involved.

At the very end of the video, Cen Meng even apologized to Ning Yuxuan.

Most netizens were unmoved by the apology.

[Who would believe that you didn’t know? Why else did you keep targeting Ning Yuxuan on the show?]

[Now that you’re being condemned, you know how to cry? Too late!]

[You only apologized because the truth was exposed. What if Ning Yuxuan had remained falsely accused? You’d probably be hiding somewhere, secretly enjoying yourself.]

[If you really wanted to apologize, you should say sorry to Ning Yuxuan in person. What’s the point of posting it online?]

However, Cen Meng had not made the video for those people.

There were still some netizens who had liked her from the beginning and accepted her explanation.

Her company also found the right direction for its public-relations campaign. Together with her fans and paid online supporters, it worked hard to portray Cen Meng as a girl who could let go decisively—soft on the outside, yet strong within.

[Our Mengmeng is amazing! The moment she realized he was a scumbag, she broke up with him without hesitation. How many girls could actually do that?]

[Actually, neither Cen Meng nor Ning Yuxuan is at fault. The man is the one to blame!]

[Everyone should learn from Cen Meng. Once you see a scumbag’s true colors, cut your losses in time!]

…

Ning Yuxuan had heard about the online uproar, but she could not be bothered to respond to the rumors, much less engage in a public feud with Cen Meng.

She had more important things to do.

On Monday, Ning Yuxuan spent the entire day discussing the hotel business with Ning Fei.

As Ning Fei grew older, her energy was no longer what it had once been, and Huayuan Hotel had undergone no major changes in recent years.

Now that Ning Yuxuan intended to open four new branches at once, Ning Fei seemed to recover a little of the drive she had possessed in her youth.

Ning Yuxuan planned to renovate two of the branches on their existing foundations, while turning the other two into themed hotels. Ning Fei was very much in favor of the idea.

They spent a long time discussing the specific design direction of the themed hotels and worked out several preliminary plans.

Ning Yuxuan recorded them all in a document, intending to go over the details with the designers when they met.

In fact, quite a few design firms and suppliers had already approached Ning Fei over the past two days, expressing their willingness to work with her.

There were no secrets in the world. People had already learned that Xie Zhiyan had invested in Huayuan Hotel.

Still, this was Ning Yuxuan’s first time participating in hotel management, and the investment had been brought in by her daughter.

Ning Fei did not want to dampen her daughter’s enthusiasm, so she left the final decisions to Ning Yuxuan and simply acted as her adviser.

—

The next morning, Ning Yuxuan got up early, put on light makeup, and went out.

Xie Zhiyan’s car was waiting outside the villa.

It was the same Bentley as last time, but he was driving it himself rather than using a chauffeur.

Ning Yuxuan took the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt.

“Did you bring everything?” Xie Zhiyan asked.

Ning Yuxuan gave a quiet hum of assent.

There was not much to bring—only her identification card and household registration booklet. Ning Fei kept the family booklet in a cabinet in the study, and Ning Yuxuan had retrieved it without difficulty.

Hearing Xie Zhiyan ask, Ning Yuxuan took the booklet out of her bag and glanced at it again. For an instant, an almost imperceptible melancholy passed through her.

It was not because of the marriage itself, but because…

For something so important, she was actually keeping it from her mother.

Page 2 of 3

Although circumstances had left her no choice, Ning Yuxuan still felt a trace of regret.

As the car slowly left the villa compound, the man’s cool, clear voice sounded beside her.

“Having second thoughts?”

His tone was even, with only the slightest lift at the end, making his feelings impossible to read.

Ning Yuxuan came to herself at once and glanced at Xie Zhiyan.

“Of course not!”

Marriage was not a momentary impulse. It was a decision she had reached only after careful consideration. How could she possibly regret it now, at the last moment?

Xie Zhiyan’s voice was low.

“That’s good.”

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Xie Zhiyan had said he would arrange everything, and at first Ning Yuxuan had not thought much of it.

Only when they arrived and she saw dedicated staff waiting for them did she realize that a man like Xie Zhiyan would probably arrange even the procedures for obtaining a marriage license in advance.

Within a dozen minutes, they had completed every formality and officially become husband and wife.

Back in the car, Ning Yuxuan opened the marriage certificate and admired the photograph they had just taken in one smooth sitting.

In terms of appearance alone, she had to admit that she and Xie Zhiyan looked exceptionally well matched.

She had known since childhood that she was beautiful. Whenever Ning Fei took her out, grandparents, uncles, and aunts would often gather around to admire her.

After she began school, admirers had never been in short supply, and she had received more love letters than she could remember.

Yet she had never felt anything for any of them. It was not until she met Gu Yunhao that her heart suddenly awakened, and once it did, there was no stopping it. From then on, her life’s goal became “becoming Gu Yunhao’s bride.”

Looking back now, Ning Yuxuan felt that such an intense case of love at first sight could only be explained by the force of the plot.

Otherwise, Gu Yunhao was merely ordinary-looking. He was handsome, certainly, but not handsome enough to drive her mad.

Now that she examined the matter carefully, which of the men around her—not Ning Shiyue, nor Xie Zhiyan—wasn’t better-looking than Gu Yunhao?

Lost in thought, Ning Yuxuan unconsciously ran her fingertip over the wedding photograph.

“Is it that good-looking?” Xie Zhiyan suddenly asked as the car stopped at an intersection to wait for the light.

Ning Yuxuan withdrew her hand instinctively.

“What?”

He stated the obvious without the slightest change in expression.

“You’ve been staring at it for quite a while.”

Ning Yuxuan blinked.

“It is good-looking!”

She raised the marriage certificate, holding the photograph toward herself.

“As expected of me. Born beautiful. Even a casual snapshot taken by a staff member makes me look like a major celebrity.”

Perhaps her self-congratulatory tone was too exaggerated, because Xie Zhiyan let out a laugh.

Ning Yuxuan glanced at him and added, “You’re not bad either.”

Xie Zhiyan looked at her and replied slowly, “As long as you’re satisfied.”

His voice was gentler than usual, and Ning Yuxuan could not help feeling that he was implying something else.

Did he mean that she was satisfied with the photograph, or with this marriage arrangement?

Before she could figure it out, the man spoke again.

“You haven’t had breakfast, have you?”

Ning Yuxuan looked at him in surprise.

“How did you know?”

She had loved sleeping in since childhood and had never cared much for getting up to eat breakfast.

When she was young, Ning Fei, worried about her health, would have one of the household staff pack steamed buns or bread for her, insisting that she eat it on the way to school.

Later, once she entered university and no one was there to supervise her, Ning Yuxuan began indulging herself and stopped eating breakfast altogether.

After graduation, she spent a long time unemployed at home, sleeping until nearly noon every day. Ning Fei could do nothing about it and eventually resigned herself to letting her daughter eat breakfast and lunch together.

Xie Zhiyan did not answer her question. He merely said, “There’s a place nearby that tastes good. I’ll take you there.”

Ning Yuxuan was curious.

“Don’t you have to go back to the company?”

“I cleared my schedule for today,” Xie Zhiyan replied evenly.

Ning Yuxuan gave a small “Oh.”

“All right, then.”

Page 3 of 3

After passing through several traffic lights, the car slowly pulled to a stop in front of a small breakfast shop.

Once inside, Ning Yuxuan picked up the menu and glanced at it. The lettering and decorative patterns around the edges looked strangely familiar.

She looked up and realized that even the name of the shop was the same as the one in her memory.

There had been a snack street outside the south gate of A University, where Ning Yuxuan and several roommates used to eat.

One steamed-bun shop in particular suited her taste perfectly. She had fallen in love with it after her first bite and had taken all kinds of friends there afterward.

Unfortunately, the shop had suddenly closed at the end of her freshman year. The proprietress had left in such a hurry that no one knew where she had moved.

When Ning Yuxuan found out, she had been devastated, lamenting the loss to everyone she met.

After confirming that this really was the same shop, Ning Yuxuan looked at Xie Zhiyan in unconcealed astonishment.

“This place…”

Before she could finish asking, the proprietress came over.

“Are you… Yuxuan?”

Ning Yuxuan looked up in delight.

“Aunt Fang, is this really your shop?”

The proprietress was equally astonished.

“Yes. I couldn’t be sure at first, but it really is you, Yuxuan.”

Many students had eaten at her shop back then, but Ning Yuxuan had come more frequently than anyone else, and her striking appearance made her especially memorable.

Over time, the proprietress had remembered her name.

Later, her mother-in-law had fallen gravely ill, and her husband could not manage everything alone. She had been forced to hurriedly transfer the shop to someone else.

As it happened, that period coincided with the students’ final examinations. Ning Yuxuan did not come by for several days in a row, so the proprietress never had the chance to say goodbye.

Her mother-in-law’s illness lingered for several years, but in the end she did not survive. After arranging the funeral and finally finding herself with some free time, the proprietress opened another shop in a new location.

After a few brief exchanges, Ning Yuxuan understood what the proprietress had been through over the years.

The woman remained cheerful. Apart from a few more fine lines on her face, her smile was as warm and familiar as ever.

“What would you like this time?”

Ning Yuxuan’s eyes curved into crescents.

“Do you really have to ask? The usual!”

The proprietress laughed heartily.

“All right, all right! And what about this gentleman…?”

The man beside Ning Yuxuan looked so imposing and refined that the proprietress rarely received customers of his stature, and she became a little more cautious.

Xie Zhiyan ordered two of the shop’s signature breakfast dishes from the menu.

The proprietress acknowledged the order and went back to work.

Ning Yuxuan asked Xie Zhiyan, “Did you choose this place on purpose?”

His tone was mild.

“I happened to notice the name and thought it looked familiar.”

Ning Yuxuan gave a thoughtful little hum.

She did not remember ever mentioning the shop to Xie Zhiyan. But during the holiday when she had gone to the Xie family’s house for meals, the shop had closed only a short while earlier.

Perhaps she had complained about it to Ning Fei every day back then, and Xie Zhiyan had happened to overhear her.

There were not many customers in the shop, so the proprietress soon brought out everything they had ordered.

Ning Yuxuan took a bite of a steamed bun and narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.

It tasted exactly as she remembered.

She recalled what Xie Zhiyan had said in the car.

“You said you didn’t have anything else planned today?”

“What is it?” Xie Zhiyan asked.

Ning Yuxuan smiled brightly.

“Since I don’t either, why don’t I pay for this meal? And I’ll treat you to something good for lunch too, to celebrate our marriage registration!”

Xie Zhiyan glanced at her.

“Do you need my help with something?”

Even though he had hit the nail on the head, Ning Yuxuan did not panic. She simply replied with effortless sincerity, “My mother and I discussed several hotel design proposals yesterday. You might as well take a look and give me your opinion.”

They were married now, and Xie Zhiyan had invested in the hotel. She would be foolish not to make use of a ready-made consultant.