Chapter 118 Day 9 of Transmigrating into a Vintage CEO Novel

Chapter 118: The Ninth Day of Entering the Classic CEO Romance Novel

The winter air grew heavier, and the trees and plants in the garden of the Gu family’s old mansion were tinged with a grayish pall. Only a few winter-hardy wintersweet blooms quietly emerged, their faint, icy fragrance drifting through the crisp air.

Since that awkward parting in the corridor, An Yi had spent most of his time in the annex studio.

He hadn’t finished the painting roughly slathered with black paint, nor destroyed it, but left it leaning against the wall like a silent testament to a moment of uncontrolled emotion.

However, Gu Mingzhi showed no restraint at all after hearing that word “annoyance.”

On the contrary, his appearances in An Yi’s field of view had weirdly increased, accompanied by occasional shows of attentiveness.

These shows of attentiveness were considerate and thoughtful, yet had a condescending tone that allowed no refusal.

It was as if Gu Mingzhi was saying in his own way: I value you, I care about you, regardless of whether you find it “annoying.”

An Yi completely ignored all of this. The palette knife left decisive strokes on the canvas, and he calmly mixed colors on the palette.

Only when Gu Mingzhi’s gaze fell upon him did that gentle mask turn ice-cold and hard.

He would sometimes smile at Gu Mingzhi, his eyes giving nothing away.

Gu Mingzhi seemed in no hurry to get a response.

Like a top-tier predator with endless patience, he enjoyed watching his prey’s subtle reactions under pressure, savoring the unspoken tension that only he could appreciate.

He remained busy, coming and going from the Gu family’s enterprises, handling overseas affairs, but at the old mansion, his eyes always secretly sought out An Yi’s figure.

Comments:

“Aahhh! What is this?!”

“I feel like this guy is even more twisted than the male lead! (So exciting!)”

“But An Yi completely ignores him, haha! The little uncle’s flirting is wasted—he’s throwing it at a wall!”

“An Yi: Back off.”

“That arrogant ‘I’ll treat you well whether you like it or not’ attitude is weirdly sweet!”

“The colder An Yi gets, the harder the little uncle tries—hopeless, hopeless!”

“An Yi cold, Gu Mingzhi hot—what is this, a song of ice and fire?!”

“This tension! This pull! I’m dead!”

“...”

That afternoon, feeling stuffy in the studio, An Yi decided to take a walk to the greenhouse at the back of the garden.

It was full of tropical plants, a rare spot of lush green in this dreary season.

The greenhouse was warm and humid, filled with the scent of earth and plants. An Yi took off his coat, wearing only a thin sweater as he strolled among the dense foliage, his mood lightened a little.

But he hadn’t gone far when he heard soft sobbing.

Rounding a thick clump of monstera leaves, he saw a familiar scene—Meng Nianwei was sitting on a hidden bench, shoulders shaking as she cried softly.

Her eyes were red and swollen; she’d clearly been crying for a while.

Oh, the comments had mentioned: Gu Xinghui had persuaded Old Master Gu and brought Meng Nianwei to the old mansion, where she was then being bullied by Zhao Manyin.

According to the original storyline, An Yi should immediately step forward, ask gently, offer a handkerchief, and become the heroine’s safe harbor in her time of weakness.

Then the male lead would appear, they’d have a big fight, the male lead would win, and as the original An Yi watched sorrowfully, Gu Xinghui would drag Meng Nianwei away.

An Yi hesitated.

He looked at Meng Nianwei, his heart utterly calm, with even a faint hint of weariness.

Same old drama.

Arguments, tears, make-ups—rinse and repeat.

It wasn’t that he lacked sympathy, but having experienced so much, he had little interest in this repetitive, emotionally draining drama.

He was just about to quietly leave when Meng Nianwei seemed to sense his presence and looked up with tear-streaked cheeks.

“Who’s there?” Her voice was choked with tears. When she saw it was An Yi, surprise flickered in her eyes, then she looked at him as if he were a lifeline: “Brother An Yi...”

The old An Yi would’ve already been completely soft-hearted by now.

The current An Yi merely nodded slightly, his tone mild and polite but distinctly distant: “Miss Meng.”

Meng Nianwei was startled by the formal “Miss Meng,” even forgetting to cry.

She stared blankly at An Yi. The man before her still looked gentle and handsome, but his eyes were different.

Before, when he looked at her, his gaze was always warm, always ready to comfort her, wasn’t he?

But now, those beautiful eyes held only calm, and even... a hint of impatience he could barely hide?

“Brother An Yi... what, what’s wrong with you?” Meng Nianwei asked instinctively. “Have I done something wrong?”

“No.” An Yi answered quickly and crisply. “You’re fine. I just think maybe you need some space.”

He paused, then added: “If you feel wronged, either leave, or make yourself strong enough that no one dares to wrong you. Falling into the same situation over and over only drains you and means nothing.”

Thinking of the storms that awaited Meng Nianwei in the original story, An Yi added one more sentence, which was rare for him: “If you want to get out of this situation, I can help you.”

“Don’t worry about Gu Xinghui giving you trouble—he’s not that powerful.”

This speech was so calm it was almost cold, nothing like the always-gentle, always-comforting Brother An Yi would have said.

Meng Nianwei was totally confused, even forgetting her sadness, staring at him in disbelief: “Brother An Yi... you... you seem like a different person...”

Escape the situation? How? Leave Xinghui? She... couldn’t do that.

How could Brother An Yi advise her to leave? Did he also think she wasn’t good enough for Xinghui and should just go away?

Seeing her expression, An Yi understood her thoughts. He gave a noncommittal smile: “People change. Sorry for disturbing you.”

With that, he didn’t linger; he turned and left the greenhouse, leaving Meng Nianwei sitting there stunned and confused, forgetting to even cry.

Brother An Yi... didn’t comfort her. Instead, it felt like he was scolding her?

Comments:

“??? What’s going on with An Yi?”

He's being so cold towards Weiwei (confused)?

Although what he says makes a lot of sense, is this really something a gentle second male lead would say?

The commenter above is an idiot, An Yi is not a gentle second male lead!

Weiwei is dumbfounded hahaha, even her tears were scared away.

An Yi really seems like a different person! He's no longer that second choice who revolves around the female lead.

Is it because of Gu Mingzhi? Because now that he has Uncle, he doesn't need the female lead anymore?

Do you think An Yi would be happy hearing that? I think he likes neither of them!

I went back and checked the earlier chapters, and I kept feeling that An Yi's character is so inconsistent! He suddenly changed into a different person.

Yes yes yes! He just suddenly changed!

......