As Du Jinghuai turned the corner of the hallway, he saw Li Jing’s attending physician walking out of the ward.
The man was unremarkable, but Du Jinghuai felt inexplicably concerned.
Then he saw the blood bag in the man’s hand, and Du Jinghuai’s heart inexplicably quickened.
Was that drawn from Li Jing’s body…?
Du Jinghuai didn’t feel anything wrong with Li Jing donating blood to Ye Yan. Because until this moment, he still firmly believed that Ye Yan was far more important than Li Jing.
But when he entered the ward and saw the girl lying on the bed, a feeling he couldn’t explain welled up inside him.
In the vase by the window were fresh, vibrant white flowers.
And the one on the bed was nearing its end.
Li Jing was well-prepared, her grasp on the male leads was quite clear.
Fu Lingchu was already so infatuated that he was helping her cut leeks outside, the next step was to be madly in love. And Feng Ce hadn’t appeared since Li Jing started donating blood, not because his favorability wasn’t high enough, but because he was so guilty that he didn’t even dare to see Li Jing.
And Du Jinghuai’s favorability was in a state of abnormal development. To make a man of such noble character truly fall in love with her and then regret it for the rest of his life, she had to strike at his core, making him truly respect and cherish her beyond desire.
Li Jing: Come on, my old bro, let the show begin.
“Mr. Du.“carpreads.pages.dev
Li Jing greeted him softly.
Du Jinghuai paused slightly as he walked towards the bed.
She always called him that, but in the past, her voice was cautious and shy. She would call him with the reverence of an ordinary girl towards an acting emperor, stammering.
“Mr., Mr. Du——”
But now, she was very quiet, her eyes lifeless.
Like a beautiful porcelain doll without life.
Du Jinghuai eventually walked to the bedside, lowered his gaze, and saw her hand, bruised and purple from excessive blood draws.
“Does it hurt?” Du Jinghuai asked.
Li Jing closed her eyes, unwilling to remember.
Du Jinghuai thought: She said she wasn’t afraid of pain, but she was lying, wasn’t she?
The memory of pain would make her tremble, tears welling up from her dry eyes, and an unnatural flush appearing on her cheeks.
Du Jinghuai’s fingertips gently landed on her hand, following the lines of her skin, gliding upwards.
Passing over the slightly raised veins on her thin skin and the puncture marks left by the sharp needles.
She was trembling.
A shiver ran down Du Jinghuai’s spine.
He firmly believed that Ye Yan’s life was more important than Li Jing’s… but he had to admit that Li Jing was more beautiful than Ye Yan.
—Du Jinghuai’s favorability +2%
—Du Jinghuai’s favorability +3%
System: “So exciting!!!”
Li Jing: “Du Jinghuai, you’re a pure, twisted, dog pervert.”
When it comes to money and love, you will always be tortured!!
Then, the girl’s trembling voice rang out.
“She hurts too, doesn’t she?”
Du Jinghuai snapped back to reality.
Li Jing’s gaze finally met his, but Du Jinghuai inexplicably felt unable to meet those clear, bottomless eyes.
“At least I can… help her reduce some of the pain.”
—This is the little white flower from the old-fashioned novels!
Life had pushed her to this point, being treated as a blood bag by the upper class, yet she still hadn’t lost her kindness.
Du Jinghuai couldn’t describe his own feelings, only that the strange, dark pleasure seemed to gradually settle, adding a certain… gradually clear guilt and affection.
—Male Lead #2 is 10m……3m……2m away from you.
That distance, Feng Ce was right outside the door.
Li Jing thought: He came at the right time, just right to cut two.
“I can do something now too—”
Li Jing gave a strained smile, and because of her thinness, her porcelain-white face seemed to only have smiling eyes.
“He used my name to set up a foundation. In the future, it can help more… people like Ye Yan.”
Hearing Ye Yan’s name spoken from her lips, both men inside and outside the door were stunned.
She didn’t know, she didn’t know the truth at all—
How could there be such… a soul, so deeply pitiful and so pure?
Du Jinghuai’s usually calm face moved, something spreading in his heart.
Outside the door, Feng Ce lowered his head deeply.
—Du Jinghuai’s favorability +4%
—Feng Ce’s favorability +5%
No. 3 at 72%, and No. 2 at 82%.
Good, tell everyone, let’s charge towards the climax!
Charge towards retirement!
That day, Du Jinghuai directly donated ten million to Li Jing’s foundation.
It was simply because Li Jing’s reason was too perfect—not only helping more people like their beloved White Moonlight, but also comforting the poor substitute who knew nothing.
Which male lead wouldn’t be moved by this?
But Feng Ce did not go into Li Jing’s ward, nor did he leave the hospital.
He could not face Li Jing, and he did not even go to see Ye Yan.
Seeing the lifeless look in Li Jing’s eyes, a fear he had never felt before flowed through his blood.
They had caused all of this.
Li Jing lay in the ward, not waiting for Feng Ce to come, so she decided to take the initiative to go out and brush up on the plot.
There were bodyguards outside, but they had received instructions from President Fu, and as long as they did not encounter the person upstairs, they were not to interfere with Li Jing’s activities.
Just let her… be happy.
So Li Jing did not go upstairs, but strolled down to the lower floors.
The patients in the hospital all wore the same hospital gowns, losing the distinction of clothes and appearance—
Wouldn’t it be easier for her and Ye Yan to be confused?
And Ye Yan, as a goddess in the circle of wealthy families, was visited by many top-tier tycoons.
As Li Jing was walking, she saw a man approaching her excitedly—
“Hey, you can walk around on your own today? How are you feeling?”
His attitude was very familiar.
However, to Li Jing, he was a complete stranger.
Their eyes met.
Li Jing’s heart leaped with joy: Here it comes, here comes the plot point!
The kind and naive substitute who was kept in the dark!
Although the male leads now all had a favorability rating of over 70%, and their love lines had all entered the later stages, before the truth was revealed, their psychological positions were still high—even if they feel heartache, guilt, and fear, it was still the downward compatibility of those in high positions.
And the last 10% of the love line could only be brushed out after Li Jing know she was a substitute, all the intense pain, regret, and longing!
And professionals usually call this kind of love line a crematorium*^_^
TN:lol, 追妻火葬场, chasing wife through a crematorium
The biggest thrill of the crematorium was watching the once high-and-mighty male lead completely fall, becoming the female lead’s lapdog, while the female lead was already dead inside and out.
Li Jing looked at the strange man in front of her and stammered, “I’m fine, but you are…”
The man heard the voice and felt something was wrong, but because the face was exactly Ye Yan’s, and she was wearing the same hospital gown, he subconsciously said, “What? Did you sleep too long? Ye—”
Before he could finish the name, Li Jing’s arm was suddenly grabbed and pulled back.
Feng Ce’s heart was pounding.
He glared fiercely at the man behind him: “What the hell are you doing here? Are you here to visit?”
The other party obviously knew Feng Ce’s temper and didn’t want to argue with him, so he just chuckled and left.
At this point, he also realized that he had heard that the head of the Fu family and this young master Feng were so fond of Ye Yan that they found a substitute who looked very much like her, could it be this…
But Feng Ce had already pulled Li Jing away in big strides.
He walked quickly to a deserted corner of the hospital, turned around, and saw a look of bewilderment on Li Jing’s face.
She was so close, so close to knowing—
Because he was so scared, Feng Ce was even a little exasperated: “Why are you running around!”
The big Young Master glared at the girl in front of him, seeing that her hospital gown was empty. She had become so thin, if she knew the truth, if she knew that she was just a substitute all along…
She… she would collapse, wouldn’t she?
Feng Ce couldn’t even imagine it.
Li Jing’s eyes had been empty, but his shout made her tremble like a leaf in the wind, yet those beautiful eyes were so dry that not a single tear could fall.
Feng Ce instantly regretted it, a strange pain coming from his heart.
He should have been good to her, they all owed her.
He should have been better to her, to make up for the mistakes they had made.
That way, she would never need to know that she was just a pitiful substitute, and that she was currently donating blood for the person she was substituting for.
In that moment, Feng Ce seemed to suddenly grow into a man’s responsibility and sense of duty.
He thought he could be responsible for Li Jing for the rest of his life.
—Feng Ce’s Favorability +3%
But the next second, he heard the girl across from him speak softly.
“My face, is it…”
Feng Ce felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
Li Jing was naive, but she wasn’t stupid.
“Qi Yue said it was because of my face. Qiao Yuxin also said that if it wasn’t for this face…” Li Jing looked up, her eyes fixed on Feng Ce, “And that person just now, was he talking to me?”
Feng Ce opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Li Jing delivered her final line, her voice choked with emotion: “Feng Ce, what’s wrong with my face?”
Feng Ce felt like he was going crazy.
His brain buzzed, and he could only rely on instinct, blurting out: “Your face—it’s very, very beautiful, it’s suitable for being enlarged, suitable for being seen by more people…”
If it had been the other two male leads, one a cunning old fox and the other a sly old dog, either one could have more naturally dodged this plot point, then subtly calmed Li Jing down.
But it was Feng Ce who stumbled upon this plot point.
He could only clumsily lie, trying to divert her attention with other things.
“Y-yes! Isn’t your foundation established in your name, so that more people can see it, you can use your own face as an endorsement!”
Feng Ce was already panicking, and after saying this, he even thought, anyway, his sister had already retired from acting, and anyway, they looked alike.
A-anyway, Li Jing had always enjoyed being surrounded by spotlights and flowers.
He could give her all of that, he could—
Li Jing smiled inside.
That was how it was in the original plot, after the male leads gradually fell in love with the female lead, they didn’t know how to make up for keeping her in the dark, so they bought her luxurious dresses, put her in front of the camera, and let her experience the feeling of being adored as an upper-class person.
However, just as the original owner was adorned in jewels and immersed in the dream the male leads had created—
She learned the truth about being a substitute.
Gotta say, those old-fashioned melodramatic novels were truly cruel to the female lead!!!
So these dog things must pay up and show their filial piety!
Feng Ce was still desperately lying, but perhaps everything he described was too far and too beautiful for Li Jing, a glimmer of light finally appeared in her hollow eyes.
“I-is it like being a star…” Li Jing asked.
Feng Ce saw the hope on her face, a dense ache spread through his chest, and for a moment he felt his nose sour.
He used a low, gentle tone he had never used before in his life, and said to Li Jing: “Yes, I can make you like a star, okay?”
Li Jing’s face, it should have been a big star’s face.
—Feng Ce’s favorability +4%
Holy crap, it’s almost 90%!
Good, the road to the climax is full of leeks!
How can we not harvest them!!
A glimmer of life finally appeared in Li Jing’s dull eyes, her face reflecting a humble and simple longing.
“Then, then can I have an endorsement fee…”
System: _Hahaha—_It knew it!
Feng Ce closed his eyes: “Of course.”
Ten minutes later.
Twenty million yuan was deposited into the Li Jing Foundation’s account.
The same amount Ye Yan had received for endorsing a single commercial back then.
Fu Lingchu received a message from Feng Ce:
[Use this to get Li Jing to endorse.]