WfDO Chapter 68

Arc 4
The Supporting Female is a Stand-in for the Female Lead (11)

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No one foresaw Xu Chi appearing at this time. 

He was as handsome and cold as always. His whole person gave off a vibe that made people afraid of approaching him, especially when they peeked into his eyes. 

The unexpected appearance of Xu Chi blasted the situation in the cafe. 

Cao Heng was certain Ye Wei would react to Xu Chi’s sudden appearance. Even Xu Chi assumed Ye Wei would at least be nervous because of this. To their dismay, Ye Wei did not react to Xu Chi’s appearance. She just glanced once and never gave him a second glance. She seemed to have only Zhao Qi in her eyes. 

Xu Chi was still for a moment. Ye Wei becoming more indifferent to him only after several days of absence was out of his expectation. 

He couldn’t understand why he felt remorseful about Ye Wei, but at the same time, angry— He was angry when he saw Ye Wei and another man chattering merrily. A fire was burning in his heart. It made him want to drive that man away and grab Ye Wei over.

Those smiles and laughs, those belonged to him only.

He endured and refrained so he didn’t show any of those emotions on his face. He sat down in front of Cao Heng with a cold face.

But Cao Heng was never one to endure splashing others with cold water, “See, this is all thanks to you and your actions!”

Xu Chi: “……”

Outside of their hearing range, the melon-eaters were floored. 

“Why is Xu Chi here?”

“Maybe Xu Chi likes to come here for coffee?”

“Never in my life have I heard of that kind of thing.”

“Doesn’t Xu Chi dislike coming to a public place like here?”

“Duh, use your brain, will you? Can’t you see that Liang Ruowei is here? What else can Xu Chi come here for?”

“Anyway, it’s impossible for him to be here for Ye Wei.”

That’s right. No one believed Xu Chi came here because of Ye Wei. Ye Wei was a substitute. Her value of use was spent the moment Liang Ruowei came back. Could it be that Xu Chi appears here for Ye Wei, a substitute? Of course not, it’s impossible.

Since it’s not because of Ye Wei, then it’s only left Liang Ruowei as the reason.

At this conclusion, people were seething with jealousy. 

Liang Ruowei didn’t like socializing with these people. Ah, no. It should be said that since her birth, she hated to socialize with them. She despised their hypocritical faces and she was too disgusted to deal with snobbish people like them. Therefore, she found a place near the window in the corner, out of those people’s reach.

She came here just because she was upset and there was an appointment with her friends here. 

Since that night, she hadn’t seen Xu Chi again. Xu Chi’s words were so straightforward and cruel that she couldn’t find any excuse to use to find him. Cao Heng also refused to help her again.

He said, “Jie, it’s not like you don’t know A’Chi’s character. If my words matter to him, when you left, I would be able to successfully persuade A’Chi to forget about you and start over. Just like how I couldn’t persuade him at that time, I also can’t persuade him to start over with you now. Even if I create countless opportunities for both of you to meet, as long as A’Chi doesn’t want to start over, what’s the use of meeting you 10,000 times?”

“Are you saying you are unwilling to help me?”

“It’s not that I’m unwilling to help you. The reason why I helped you before was because you said you like A’Chi and I can see that Xu Chi still remembers you. With that in mind… I believe that it’s too unfair for Ye Wei. Therefore, I helped you. I don’t want Ye Wei to stay beside A’Chi as a stand-in for you all the time. In the end, no matter how both of you ended up, the one taking the most damage is Ye Wei. Now, Ye Wei knows the truth. Xu Chi also plainly declares that he doesn’t want to start over with you. I’m merely an outsider. It’s not good for an outsider like me to intervene too much between you and him.”

Liang Ruowei was left disappointed, “You are also on Ye Wei’s side? You think that it’s me who hurt Ye Wei and I should be sorry for her?”

She valued Cao Heng highly in her heart. Cao Heng liked to play with Xu Chi, and Xu Chi liked to follow her. He was also one of her childhood playmates. Their relationship for more than 20 years was not ordinary.

In addition, in her previous life, when the Liang family was on the verge of bankruptcy, it was not only Xu Chi who lent a helping hand, Cao Heng also did. In City B, the Cao Family was only second to the Xu Family. At that time, Cao Heng had just taken over his family business, he was also under pressure from many parties when he decided to help her, but regardless of that, he still helped her. For that, she had always been grateful to him and after the rebirth, she wanted to treat Cao Heng well. She knew the economic development trends in the next few years and could provide him with some favorable “suggestions”.

But, she never imagined that Cao Heng would refuse to help her. She presumed that, with Cao Heng’s affection for her, he wouldn’t refuse her. Even more, he was distressed. Not for her, but for Ye Wei. 

Cao Heng tousled his hair in a bit of annoyance and sighed helplessly, “I’m not standing on Ye Wei’s side. I just think she is a girl who has been hurt by A’Chi and is pitiful. I don’t blame you. This matter is A’Chi’s fault. If it weren’t for him, Ye Wei would not be involved, and there would be no such mess today.”

————·————·————

Liang Ruowei believed, because she was given a chance to make a fresh start, as long as she wanted something, everything would go in a good direction for her. She didn’t expect so many accidents happened in the process.

She sipped her coffee while finding solutions about how to save the current situation and how to get the Liang family through the crisis. No, she not only wanted to get Liang to survive the bankruptcy crisis but also make the Liang Family stronger. She somewhat detested that her major for the past two lifetimes has nothing to do with business. Even if she has the memory of her previous life, it’s extremely challenging for her to think of ideas and how to execute them.

Just as she was thinking about it, she saw a slightly familiar woman coming towards her. She had just seen her. She remembered that this woman was called Zhou Qianyu, and she was a pushy woman.

Zhou Qianyu sat down in front of Liang Ruowei, and Liang Ruowei frowned.

“Ruowei-jie, why are you here alone? Do you mind if I sit with you?”

“I’m not alone. I’m waiting for someone.”

Zhou Qian covered her lips and smiled, “I see. Ruowei-jie must be waiting for Xu-zong. Actually, Xu-zong has been here for quite some time. He is over there, sitting with Cao Heng.”

‘Xu Chi and Cao Heng are also here?’ Liang Ruowei was puzzled, ‘What are they doing here?’ 

If it wasn’t something big, Xu Chi generally didn’t like to come to a public place just for a coffee. Even when they were still dating, she believed that Xu Chi would never sit in a cafe voluntarily and without any resistance to it.

So, the question was, what’s Xu Chi doing here? And, why did he come here?

Liang Ruowei nodded, “Thank you. I know. You can go ahead with your thing.”

Zhou Qianyu sighed meaningfully, “Ruowei-jie, why don’t you go to find Xu-zong? Or is the person you are waiting for not him?”

Liang Ruowei’s smile faded from her face. She lifted her brow and replied coldly, “I believe, whoever I’m waiting for, it’s my private affair and is none of your business. There is no need for me to explain every single thing about me to you, isn’t there?”

Zhou Qianyu quickly explained, “I know. I know. Don’t be angry. I just said it casually. I didn’t mean anything else. It’s just, Ye Wei is here too. I was afraid that vixen Ye Wei would seduce Xu-zong! You probably don’t know, but during your absence, Xu-zong was utterly smitten by her that no one else could get into his eyes! I was just worried about you! What if Ye Wei hooks up with Xu-zong again? Ah, but we all know that Xu-zong has a deep love for you! Just a mere Ye Wei, you don’t have to take her seriously! It’s me who overthinks.”

‘… What?‘

‘Ye Wei is here, too?‘

The words chilled her thoughts. She took another sip of coffee and said, “Thank you for your kindness. You probably still have something to do, so I won’t keep you from doing your things.”

Zhou Qianyu, seeing that her goal had been achieved, soon left.

Liang Ruowei still sat in her place. She became more restless as time passed. At last, she couldn’t resist taking a look and saw Xu Chi’s figure not far away.

He sat with his side facing her. She saw his perfectly contoured side face, sword eyebrows, and captivating eyes. His thin lips were slightly pursed, adding more to his cold temperament. 

He looked so out of place in this cafe. 

She also saw Cao Heng sitting beside him, but she couldn’t guess what he was whispering to Xu Chi.

Xu Chi’s eyes were downcast on his cup as he took a sip of his coffee. With Cao Heng’s whisper, Xu Chi finally glanced at him. The corners of Xu Chi’s lips twitched as Cao Heng’s words flowed from his mouth. It made him look more approachable and less of an iceberg. 

Her eyes moved around and she noticed Ye Wei’s figure. To her surprise, the person sitting with Ye Wei was a strange man. The two people were talking and laughing and the atmosphere was great.

‘What’s happening?‘

————·————·————

Ye Wei going out on a blind date was a shock for Xu Chi. 

Because Ye Wei was angry at him, he planned to wait for a few days until Ye Wei calmed down and he would go to her and get her forgiveness.

However, why did Ye Wei suddenly go out on a blind date?

“She must be angry with you!” Cao Heng hated the iron for not becoming steel^[1], ”How come you are so stupid on this matter? Use your smart brain ah! Think! Why did Ye Wei suddenly go out on a blind date at this time? It must be because she is still angry with you!”

Xu Chi glanced at Cao Heng, then his gaze fell back on the man named Zhao Qi. He skimmed at Zhao Qi and then at Ye Wei.

His gaze, coupled with his strong presence, was staring holes at them and it couldn’t be ignored even if they wanted to. It’s impossible for Ye Wei not to notice him when he looked at them like this. Even Zhao Qi noticed something wrong and his gaze darted at Xu Chi and Cao Heng.

Zhao Qi whispered, “They are your friends, right? It seems like… they have something to say to you?”

When he first noticed Cao Heng, he could see that Cao Heng’s identity is not simple. With the addition of Xu Chi, whether it was his cold temperament or his sharp eyes, he was convinced his guess was not wrong. The identity and status of these two people must be different from theirs, but as far as he knew, although Ye Wei’s family background was quite good, it was far from related to any of the rich families.

Cao Heng pricked up his ears to eavesdrop, and even Xu Chi’s eyes became deeper. They both wanted to know Ye Wei’s answer.

Ye Wei shook her head, “No, you misunderstand. They are not my friends.”

Zhao Qi nodded his head in understanding.

Cao Heng stared at Xu Chi, “Look! Look! Ye Wei doesn’t even regard you as a friend!”

Xu Chi: “……”

Xu Chi: “Oh. In case you forgot, Ye Wei said ‘they^[2]’.”

Cao Heng: “??? Impossible! Ye Wei must only be referring to you!”

Xu Chi: “Heh.”

On the other table, Ye Wei gave Zhao Qi an explanation. “I was friends with them. Before, there was a friendship between us, but something happened. We have made it clear that there is no friendship between us anymore.”

Cao Heng poked Xu Chi again, “Take a good look! Ye Wei is cutting off clean with you! She wants to break all the relationships with you!”

Xu Chi: “…………”

Zhao Qi hesitated, “Then, why are they….” still staring at us since there is nothing else between you and them?

Ye Wei pursed her lips and also wondered about their peculiarity, “I don’t know, but this is a cafe, a public place. They don’t do anything excessive, so I can’t say much…  Otherwise, let’s go first?”

Zhao Qi didn’t want to be stared at for a second more and accepted her suggestion without hesitation. 

The two got up to leave and Cao Heng’s anxiety was rising to the roof. He nudged Xu Chi’s shoulder, “Ye Wei is leaving ah. You want to just watch them leave like this and do nothing?”

The little fire was still burning in Xu Chi’s heart. In a way, he understood that the person Ye Wei really liked was him. She was an affectionate person and wouldn’t forget her feelings so easily. So, Xu Chi knew that there was nothing more between her and that man. 

But, to just watch Ye Wei and Zhao Qi leave without doing anything, he really couldn’t do it. 

“Ye Wei.” He stood up. “Let’s talk.”

Ye Wei was stopped from leaving and everyone’s eyes were glued to her. Ye Wei tilted her head at Xu Chi. The light in her eyes was faint and her words were perplexed, “‘Let’s talk’? Do we have anything to talk about?”

Xu Chi had guessed that Ye Wei would refuse, “Yes, we have. Come with me.”

Xu Chi’s words were like a bomb, shocking all the jealous onlookers around.

“For real?!”

“Xu Chi is here for Ye Wei?”

“What about Liang Ruowei?”

“Liang Ruowei lose to Ye Wei?”

“So the winner is Ye Wei? The substitute?!”

“Tsk. This bitch is not to be underestimated!”

“… Ye Wei is so amazing. She really abducted Xu Chi from Liang Ruowei’s hands under her watch. Send help! I really want her to be my teacher now…”

————·————·————

Xu Chi wanted to pull Ye Wei. He wanted to take her away. Ye Wei stepped back and dodged his hand. She shook her head, “I’m sorry, we really have nothing to say. I’ve made everything I have to say clear.”

Xu Chi frowned. When he saw the way Ye Wei’s clear eyes stared at him, he seemed to really feel that she had nothing to say to him. She really didn’t want to go with him.

This cognition created a feeling similar to a piercing needle. It was painful but not fatal. However, the pain was preserved and kept torturing people intermittently.

Seeing that the situation was deadlocked, Cao Heng hurriedly came forward to make peace, “Alright, alright. Everyone is friends, why don’t we have a meal together?”

He hooked Zhao Qi’s shoulder like a close friend, “Brother, how about a meal?”

Zhao Qi released Cao Heng’s arm from his shoulder, “I listen to Ye Wei.”

Cao Heng grinned, “Ye Wei, let’s go. It’s rare for us to meet. Let’s have a meal together. It’s my treat!”

Ye Wei shook her head again, “No, we are not friends. We don’t need to have a meal together. Besides, I have something else to do with Zhao Qi. We will go first, both of you can continue with your meal.”

‘… What??‘

Cao Heng, who was beaming a smile to be a peacemaker a second ago, “???”

Xu Chi: “……”

Xu Chi glanced at Cao Heng and sneered.

Cao Heng blinked and looked at Ye Wei with a blank expression, “Ah?”

Ye Wei blinked back with utmost innocence and sincerity, looking a little puzzled. She didn’t say anything, but Cao Heng seemed to understand everything. Her look was as if asking him how he could still not understand her words.

Cao Heng sounded, “…Aren’t we friends?”

Ye Wei answered right away, “No, we are not.”

It was Cao Heng’s turn to be puzzled. He peeked at Xu Chi, with a bit of sadness and surprise.

“Why not? I thought we were friends?”

“Before, we used to be friends. Right now, we are no longer friends.” Ye Wei replied.

Cao Heng was dismayed. Used to be? They are no longer friends?

Ye Wei explained patiently, “If we are friends, you, as a friend, will not help other women to rob your friend’s boyfriend. If you help her, it means you do not regard me as a friend. As a friend, you will not hide something that is bad for your friend. Since you helped her, and also concealed things from me, then, it means we are not friends.”

“In conclusion, since you are not my friend and do not regard me as your friend, it’s not strange for you not to help me and hide it from me, right? I can understand it, and so can you. That’s why, don’t take my words to heart.”

Cao Heng seemed to be struck by lightning. So, what he thought was kindness, in Ye Wei’s perspective, was the same as him being an accomplice to those who hurt her?

So, it turned out, besides Xu Chi and Liang Ruowei, he also had his share of making Ye Wei sad and hurt…….

He thought Ye Wei’s polite and gentle reaction to him after that night was because she took him as a friend. But, it turned out, she understood everything in her heart. 

She was too gentle and too rational. She didn’t sneer at him nor did she blame him for what he did. Even, she said that she could understand his actions.

Why did she say she can understand it? Because Ye Wei felt that he did not regard her as his friend. So, no matter how excessive his actions were, how selfish those actions were, it was understandable to her.

Cao Heng regretted it now. If he were given another chance, he would not stand by and watch Ye Wei be deceived and hurt.

Even Xu Chi stared at Ye Wei. He just discovered that Ye Wei seemed to have been very calm all the time. She was not impulsive nor was she emotional. On the contrary, she was more rational than anyone else and knew what was happening in front of her better than anyone else. 

He also finally understood that injuries that were already inflicted were irreversible and left marks that couldn’t be erased or forgotten. 

Although Zhao Qi had no prior knowledge of the situation and only heard tidbits of it from the current situation. He could digest that Xu Chi and Cao Heng should have done something sorry for Ye Wei and wanted to ask for Ye Wei’s forgiveness.

Cao Heng’s shoulder sank, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Ye Wei. “I said I can understand. Don’t take it to heart.”

Cao Heng was even more distressed when he heard Ye Wei’s words. Ye Wei was just too nice. He would rather be beaten and scolded by Ye Wei than receive her fair words.

“I understand what I did wrong. I was wrong in the past, but I will never do it again… Can we still be friends in the future?” There was an inexplicable feeling that he couldn’t come to understand. He just likes Ye Wei. When he got along with Ye Wei, he felt relaxed and at ease. He really wanted to be friends with Ye Wei.

“No, we can’t.” Ye Wei pondered for a while, “I don’t want to be friends with people who have hurt me.”

Cao Heng: “……”

Xu Chi interpreted how firm Ye Wei was and said, “Give me some time, let’s talk about it.”

Ye Wei was not moved, “No, I still have something to do.”

Xu Chi frowned deeper,  “Ye Wei, must you reject me like this?”

Reject?

Ye Wei was quite bewildered, “Why did I reject you? Is it so strange that I do? Why should I put my affairs aside for you, an irrelevant person? Would Xu-zong put his own affairs aside for an irrelevant person’s sake?”

Obviously, he wouldn’t.

Ye Wei: “I can understand you. I hope you can also understand me. Thank you.”

Xu Chi’s face paled, even worse than Cao Heng’s.

Both of them were tall and handsome. At the moment, they shared calm expressions and unapproachable looks. To the eye, they were fellow sufferers who commiserate with each other and they were really… somewhat pitiful.

None of them thought that Ye Wei should be so decisive.

————·————·————

The melon-eaters on the side were brimming with excitement. 

“Damn! Ye Wei is really awesome! She gets Cao Heng to take the initiative to say that he wants to be friends with her!”

Cao Heng is a famous playboy. Changing his girlfriend faster than changing his clothes. He wouldn’t look back at the same person twice. He likes to eat, drink and have fun. The number of friends around him exceeded three figures. Sometimes, when he was up for the fun, he could play all kinds of games with them all day. But. in the same way, there were no women he truly fancied and there were only a few brothers he really appreciated.

The friends surrounding him were mostly friends who liked excitement and fun. His real friends were few and extremely rare. However, once recognized by him as a friend, it would be a lifelong thing.

“She refused! She actually refused?!”

“What?! Ye Wei rejected Cao Heng and Xu Chi??“

“Ye Wei said that Xu Chi is an irrelevant person!”

“Ye Wei leaves!”

“She’s gone! She’s gone! She walked away without looking back and left with that other dog man!”

“Fuck! Recklessly wasting God’s good gift!”

Ye Wei! Do you know what you just walked away from! It’s money ah!

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Footnotes

[1] 恨铁不成钢 – hèn tiě bù chéng gāng. To feel resentful/disappointed towards someone/something for failing to meet  expectations/not fulfilling their potential/being slow in improving (idiom) ↵

[2] What Ye Wei said is, “他们不是我朋友.” or ”They (他们 – tāmen) are not my friend.”

Cao Heng, with his selective hearing, misheard that Ye Wei said, “他不是我朋友.” or ”He (他 – tā) is not my friend.”

Xu Chi, in his original line, reminded him that “叶薇说的是’们” or “Ye Wei said ‘they’/ ‘们’.” and it is not only ‘他’, but ‘他们’ that Ye Wei is referring to.

That is why Cao Heng misheard Ye Wei said “He” and not “They” because ‘他’ and ‘他们’ is only one word away. ↵

Ry’s Corner

Hello, it’s me, again. Yeay?

I mistakenly put an extra line meant to be my Corner to the previous chapter. It has been fixed now.

Learn from Yin Nanzhao from “The Memory Lost in Space”. “He never scolds people.” Chen Sha’s words were very honest. Except, the latter half of his sentence was omitted, “He is the kind that beat people directly to the hospital.”!

Talking is overrated, anyway.

If you like what I do please consider buying me ko-fi! Who needs sleep, anyway. I don’t offer Advanced Chapters like Lyre yet, but you are free to water this thirsty cat!

Words count (excluding title, footnotes, TL’s corner): 3909

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