Chapter 43: Why Does the Female Lead Seem Like a White Lotus?

The rain had stopped by midnight, leaving the streets lush and damp by six in the morning. Normally, at this time, Qin Mohuai would go for a run for over half an hour, return to the bedroom to cuddle a groggy Xia Yuan for a bit, then get dressed, have breakfast, and leave for work by eight.

However, the environment in the Golden Autumn District wasn’t ideal. The ground was muddy, covered with fallen branches and leaves, so Qin Mohuai dismissed the idea of a morning run. He planted a kiss on his sleeping beauty wife. “Honey, can I borrow your hand for a bit… You’re not saying anything, so that’s a yes.”

Half an hour later, Qin Mohuai left the bedroom feeling refreshed and spotted Xia Yuan’s parents busy in the kitchen.

Xia Yuan had always been frail, so her father, Xia Yi, had woken up early to make pork tripe soup to help nourish his daughter.

“Good morning, Uncle, Auntie,” Qin Mohuai greeted, his appearance dignified, and his refined and elegant aura quite impressive.

Xia Yuan’s parents couldn’t help but be more polite to him, unlike the disdain they had shown him the night before.

After greeting them, Qin Mohuai went out for a bit and returned with a large food box in his hand.

The box had an antique design, made from huanghuali wood, looking like a piece of art.

Liang Min asked, “What’s that?”

Qin Mohuai replied, “Takeout.”

It had been personally delivered by the manager of Yashi Pavilion. Although they didn’t offer takeout, Qin Mohuai was a major shareholder.

Liang Min was surprised but then sighed in admiration—life among the wealthy was truly extravagant!

“When I get rich, I’ll make sure our family lives it up too!” she mused.

Qin Mohuai opened the food box and started setting the table.

Each layer contained a serving of snow pear and golden bird’s nest soup. The price of bird’s nest could run into thousands per pound, but even more impressive was the chef’s skill. If undercooked, it would taste bland; overdone, it would be sickeningly sweet.

After serving four bowls of bird’s nest soup, Qin Mohuai brought out two plates of shrimp dumplings because Xia Yuan loved them.

Xia Yi, feeling overshadowed, stiffly returned to the kitchen. Even his specialty soup couldn’t compete.

Liang Min patted her husband’s back and softly reassured him, “Why are you comparing yourself to professionals? If I compared myself to a Michelin chef, I’d want to jump off a building. Our daughter’s been drinking your soups since she was a child—there’s no way she’d dislike them. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Xia Yi felt a bit better, leaning gently toward her. “As long as you don’t look down on me, I still have hope in life.”

Liang Min gave him a strange look. “When have I ever looked down on you? You’re in your forties now, stop saying these negative things like you did when you were young—it’s not very mature.”

“If I acted mature around my dear Min-jie, you wouldn’t take care of me or spoil me. I don’t want to be mature. If I were perfect, no one would care about my feelings. I want my dear Min-jie to always care about me,” Xia Yi said, ladling out the pork tripe soup.

Qin Mohuai, with his sharp ears, overheard their conversation from the kitchen.

He wondered if there was any West Lake Dragon Well tea at home; Uncle Xia was quite skilled at brewing green tea.

When Xia Yuan woke up, Qin Mohuai was no longer beside her. He was as indulgent in bed as he was disciplined at work, so it wasn’t uncommon for her to wake up to an empty bed. While she’d never admit it, it did make her feel a little sad, though she never told Qin Mohuai.

It wasn’t that Qin Mohuai didn’t love her—he did—but he was also a deeply self-centered person, proven by how he always prioritized his own satisfaction in bed.

If she shared her feelings with him, he’d probably cradle her face, teasing her with a smirk, “Can’t bear to be without me?” At best, he’d take her to work with him, but he wouldn’t change his schedule for her.

She didn’t expect Qin Mohuai to abandon his work for her; she just felt like he treated her as a toy—something he could use however he pleased in bed, without tenderness or care. And when she was broken, he could easily find another obedient one.

The System spoke up: “Host, your mission is to win over the crazy male lead, not to lose your heart, so guard it well!”

Qin Mohuai walked into the bedroom and saw Xia Yuan staring blankly, having just woken up. He helped her get dressed, put on her shoes, squeezed some toothpaste for her, and then held her hand as they went to have breakfast.

Xia Yuan took a bite of the snow pear and bird’s nest soup. Ever since she started dating Qin Mohuai, she’d lost count of how much bird’s nest and fish maw she had eaten. Her palate had become quite refined.

“Yashi restaurant bird’s nest is still the best. Other restaurants make it sticky and gooey—it’s nutritious, but it doesn’t taste good,” she remarked.

Qin Mohuai responded, “It’s been a while since you had it. I figured you must be craving for that, so I had them deliver some today.”

Xia Yuan set down the bowl. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the branches swayed as rain began to fall again. But this time, she wasn’t in a leaky old apartment building; she was in a cozy, bright home.

She asked the system in her mind, Will I have to go back once I complete my mission? Across from her were the loving parents she adored, and beside her was this scheming yet loyal wolfdog of a man. She was on the verge of falling in love with this novel world.

Sensing her unstable mindset, the system’s mechanical voice was uncharacteristically firm: “Yes, once the mission is over, you will return to your original world. If you force yourself to stay here, you, your parents, and your friends will witness a ‘Xia Yuan’ whose body is slowly rotting.”

The thought made Xia Yuan lose her appetite.

After the rain stopped, Qin Mohuai took Xia Yuan with him and heading straight to Qin Group.

“Baby, I know you don’t like working, but given your history of running off, if you don’t want to be chained up in the bedroom, come stay with me at the office, okay?”

Though his tone was seemingly negotiating, he left her no real choice. Any woman with a spine would be driven mad by his behavior.

Xia Yuan, however, lacked that kind of resolve—she just wanted to survive.

“Okay, I’ll go with you.”

“Good girl.”

Qin Mohuai held her hand as they took the elevator straight to the CEO’s office, where they encountered an unexpected guest.

Ouyang Jing.

Before Xia Yuan could ask, Qin Mohuai’s face darkened, and he scolded, “This is my office, not a marketplace! How can just anyone walk in and out?”

Secretary Cao, under pressure, explained, “The old master gave Miss Ouyang very high clearance, including access to your office.”

Qin Mohuai was extremely territorial. His sharp, displeased gaze swept over Ouyang Jing as he ordered, “Revoke all her clearances.” He paused before adding, “And revoke my grandfather’s access to my office as well.”

Revoke even the old master’s access? Secretary Cao hesitated but couldn’t change Qin Mohuai’s mind.

Qin Mohuai patted the seat beside him, gesturing for Xia Yuan to sit, then asked, “Didn’t I tell you to resign in three days?”

Ouyang Jing’s face turned pale. She was, after all, his fiancée in name, yet he didn’t show her even a shred of respect.

However, she quickly regained her composure and said calmly, “I’m not here to flatter you like some people, Qin. My parents wanted to invite you to dinner, but they couldn’t get in touch with you.”

Flatter?

Xia Yuan felt like she had just been subtly insulted.

In the original novel, the female lead was depicted as a resilient “little white flower” whose strength of character attracted the male lead and other powerful characters.

But to Xia Yuan, the female lead seemed more like a manipulative “white lotus,” very different from how the book described her.