BDB Chapter 18

After hanging up the phone and finishing her nap that day, Jiang Rao indeed found many text messages from Madam Bai on her phone.

In those messages, Madam Bai reiterated the importance of getting along well with the male lead.

Jiang Rao had no objections to this.

The ancient castle halfway up the mountain was surprisingly large. Even with the male lead moving back in, aside from mealtimes, the two of them likely wouldn’t see each other much.

Moreover, since she had managed to deceive him with her makeup remover wipes, maintaining a peaceful coexistence with him should not be difficult.

She was confident she could manage it.

However, although the furniture had been moved in early, she hadn’t seen the male lead’s presence for a while. Jiang Rao had thought he might have reconsidered and abandoned the idea. After all, no matter how luxurious and grand the ancient castle was, it was still on a mountain. It couldn’t compare to the comfort of a thousand-square-meter apartment in the city center with a view of the CBD’s nightscape.

She hadn’t expected the male lead to suddenly return, and at such an inopportune time, just as she was about to encounter him.

Staring at the knife that was almost within her grasp, Jiang Rao wasn’t sure whether she should hold onto it.

She had applied light makeup before going to bed, and upon waking, her intense thirst had driven her downstairs in search of water without checking if her makeup had come off.

If her makeup had come off and the male lead saw her true appearance, it would have been an indescribable danger for someone as powerless and still ill as her!

After thinking for a moment, she concluded that if the situation was indeed as she feared, then regardless of whether she died sooner or later, she would have to face it.

Resolving not to dwell on it any longer, she turned around and put down the knife.

The kitchen was dimly lit, while the crystal chandelier inside cast its bright light.

Having just finished work, the male lead was still wearing the gold-rimmed glasses from their previous encounter at the celebration banquet.

As the light hit their heads, Jiang Rao was momentarily blinded by the glare from the metal frame.

Thus, she didn’t notice that his dark pupils suddenly contracted when he saw her.

Her makeup wasn’t as sharp as usual, nor was it as disheveled as it had been before he helped remove it.

It looked slightly dull, as if she was trying to blur her features.

However, compared to Jiang Tang’s bare face, this appearance seemed more like herself and more to Li Jueyan’s liking.

He chuckled softly, “So, you’re planning to interact with me while holding a knife? Hm?”

During her illness, Jiang Rao had been plagued by nightmares and was frequently awakened by them. Honestly, she was a bit reluctant to put down the knife.

However, hearing his nasal, uplifted voice and seeing no sign of suspicion on his face, she decided to set the knife down and speak.

As she was putting the knife away, she noticed the fruit and vegetable peels in the trash bin by her feet, and she quickly came up with an excuse for her odd behavior, “No, I’m a bit hungry and was planning to make some late-night snacks.”

After saying this, she was about to urge the male lead to find a comfortable spot to rest. But he smirked and said, “I’m a bit hungry too.”

If it were in Jiang Tang’s usual character, Jiang Rao would have confronted him boldly at this moment. But remembering the pain she had endured after his warning about the fate of the last person who questioned him, she decided it was better to avoid conflict. So, after forcing a smile, she said, “Then I’ll have the chef prepare something for you.”

Li Jueyan replied, “No need. Just make a portion of what you’re making for yourself and give me that.”

The corners of Jiang Rao’s mouth twitched.

She had originally come up with a casual excuse just to placate him, but before she could even extend the pole out, he had climbed up on his own.

How utterly pure and unpretentious!

But—“I’m planning to make instant noodles. Will you eat it?”

Li Jueyan replied, “Eat.”

At this point, Jiang Rao really was a bit hungry.

Although instant noodles were simple, cooking an extra serving was still quite straightforward.

She busied herself at the stove while he stood behind her, watching.

Jiang Rao felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze but noticed that his eyes didn’t wander too much.

As the noodles were about to be done, she went to the fridge to get two eggs but was surprised to find several cooking sauces on the top shelf. Two of the sauces particularly caught her eye.

Though she had come to terms with her current identity and knew that the nightmares of being tormented both physically and emotionally could not be stopped, she still felt a little too aggrieved.

So, after swallowing, she nonchalantly grabbed the two bottles of sauce along with the eggs and returned to the stove.

Then—she added a few spoonfuls of Old Godmother¹ sauce to one pot and a few spoonfuls of ghost pepper² sauce to the other.

After finishing, she noticed that Li Jueyan was approaching and quickly put the sauce bottles back in the fridge.

When she returned to the stove, she saw that he had turned off the gas. The pot on the left was for herself, and the pot on the right was for the male lead.

She picked up the pot on the left and said, “It’s getting late. I’ll go upstairs to eat. See you tomorrow.”

She hurriedly grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the utensil holder and ran upstairs.

Unbeknownst to her, the man behind her was staring and smiled inexplicably at her retreating figure.

Li Jueyan picked up the pot of noodles with red oil on top and took a sip of the soup.

Although the taste was mostly from MSG and artificial flavors, the added fermented black bean chili helped balance out the unnatural richness.

It was delicious.

He recalled her mischievousness after she thought her prank had succeeded.

A gleam of light appeared in his clear eyes.

It was so damn attractive.

Simply deadly!

…

The next day, Jiang Rao woke up in anger.

She knew that as the child of luck in a novel world, no matter how powerful the supporting characters or villain bosses were, they could not compete with the male lead.

But she didn’t expect that even as the female lead, she would be this affected.

The ghost pepper sauce truly lived up to its name.

Fortunately, the color of the hot sauce was quite intense, and she didn’t dare to use too much to match the color of Old Godmother sauce.

Otherwise, if she had eaten a mouthful of noodles yesterday, with the female lead’s delicate constitution, she might have been finished!

The two pots were definitely switched by the male lead, but she had no intention of retaliating.

She then recalled the domineering male leads she used to read about as an avid reader.

In real life, if someone were to be in a vegetative state after a car accident, it was often rare for them to wake up among hundreds of patients.

Yet the domineering male lead would always wake up when the plot required him to, even if he was in a vegetative state.

This proved that male leads were generally hard to kill.

In real life, if someone encountered a business war that hadn’t been seen in decades, they would likely become cannon fodder.

Yet the domineering male lead would reap the benefits in the business war and expand the company’s scale.

This proved that male leads were generally hard to go bankrupt.

…

The male lead was toxic; she couldn’t handle him, so it was better for her to stay away from him.

With this in mind, although she had already done her makeup early, when the servant called to inform her that breakfast was about to be served, she was struck by the idea of asking them for a favor for the first time. “Please bring it up to me. Thank you.”

The breakfast notification didn’t mean that breakfast was already prepared.

There was still a process involved.

Jiang Rao had applied sunscreen and other products before her foundation, so she wasn’t afraid of the sunlight. After hanging up the internal phone call, she got up to let the sunlight in through the curtain.

It was then that the phone call from Madam Bai came in. The moment she spoke, she sounded high and mighty, a perfect example of a villain. “What on earth did you do with Tangtang’s identity? Do you know that the entire internet is now spreading rumors that Tangtang used her connections to get ahead, applied heavy makeup for an audition for a serious film about human trafficking, and is now set to be the female lead?”

“I don’t care what methods you used; you need to resolve and clarify this matter properly. Otherwise…”

Of course, Jiang Rao intended to clarify things.

She did wear heavy makeup, but she hadn’t become the female lead. The director wasn’t interested in her at all.

However, she found Madam Bai’s threat somewhat ridiculous. She waited in silence for the “otherwise” part of the threat, but Madam Bai seemed stuck, fumbling for words for a long time.

Bai Yurou didn’t want to be this way.

However, she really felt that the girl on the other end of the phone had nothing to be threatened with.

The other party seemed indifferent and didn’t seem to care about her gambling-addicted mother as much as before, even refusing to let her help pay off the debt, as if she wanted to watch her mother fall into despair.

Just as she was hesitating, a man’s voice came through the earpiece. “Who are you on the phone with?”

Bai Yurou’s face suddenly turned red.

Young Master Li was with Jiang Rao? What were they doing together? Since when did they start being together?

——
TL/N:

1. Lao Gan Ma [ 老干妈 ] or Old Godmother is a brand of chili sauces made in China. The product is sold in China and over 30 other countries. Lao Gan Ma is credited with popularizing Chinese chili oil and chili crisp toppings in the Western world, and has inspired many Chinese-American chili-based toppings. ↩︎
2. The ghost pepper is an interspecific hybrid chili pepper cultivated in Northeast India. In 2007, Guinness World Records certified that the ghost pepper was the world’s hottest chili pepper, 170 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. ↩︎