The Sickly Villainous Cannon Fodder Becomes Everyone's Favorite - Chapter 3

I kept trying to start conversations with Nan Yuan.

Otherwise, if we lived under the same roof and saw each other morning and night, it would be so awkward.

Thinking the opening I had used that day might have been inappropriate, I typed:

【Hello, I’m Jiang Zhining.】

This time he finally replied, though only after a long while:

【Got it.】

【Saved.】

I had no idea how to continue.

I could only force small talk.

【Have you eaten?】

After another wait, he slowly replied:

【Restaurant staff? Get to the point.】

“…”

My heart sank.

He really did not like me.

But I had already started, so I had to keep going and pretend to be foolish.

【Haha, you’re quite the joker.】

【I’m your arranged marriage partner.】

He said coldly:

【Oh.】

With that attitude, I did not dare bother him often.

I just greeted him now and then to make sure he knew I existed.

Whenever my family asked how we were getting along, I answered without changing expression, “Pretty well.”

Pretty well, pretty well.

We had not even met in person, but today he had replied to me three times.

On Thursday afternoon, I was reading at home.

My brother, who should have been at the company at that hour, suddenly returned home.

He was hurrying, apparently busy with something.

While greeting him, I casually asked and learned that a document had to be delivered to the company, but he also needed to rush elsewhere for a meeting.

I thought about it and volunteered, “Would you like me to deliver it?”

As soon as I said it, I realized it might not be appropriate.

He might still be wary of me and worried I would cause trouble. Perhaps I should stay out of confidential business.

I was just about to take it back when my brother Jiang Chen naturally nodded. “All right. Sorry to trouble you.”

So I carried the document and had the family driver take me to the company.

The document was for Jiang Qingran.

After completing the task, I was about to leave when he stopped me. “Have you eaten lunch?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

He paused. “Then wait a few minutes. Would you like to eat together?”

The protagonist was actually showing obvious goodwill toward a wicked cannon-fodder character like me.

Delighted, I hurriedly agreed. “Sure, sure. I’ll wait for you.”

He went off to work, leaving me alone in the lounge.

I had barely sat down when the door was suddenly yanked open.

Someone strode in.

“Jiang Zhining!”

The stern-looking man came right up to me and demanded, “What have you done to Qingran this time?”

I looked up at him blankly, frightened by the anger in his eyes.

When I sat there dumbly without answering, the impatience on Lu Linchuan’s face grew even more obvious. He said coldly, “I told you, don’t force me to hit you.”

Was he threatening to hit me?

I immediately became so nervous that I could not catch my breath. Clutching my chest, I began to cough.

The coughing grew worse and worse, completely beyond my control.

I coughed until I was dry-heaving, as if my heart were about to come up through my throat.

Even Lu Linchuan was startled by the spectacle.

The anger faded from his face before he hurriedly poured me a glass of water.

By the time he handed it over, my coughing had just stopped. I weakly took the glass and drank two sips with trembling hands.

Seeing my rapid breathing and shaking hands, Lu Linchuan hesitated. “No, wait, what is this…?”

My chest hurt terribly from coughing. In a barely audible voice, I said, “I didn’t do anything.”

The lounge door opened again. Jiang Qingran had arrived.

My complexion must have been dreadful. The instant he saw me, he was shocked. “Jiang Zhining, what happened to you?”

Your husband scared me, I wanted to say.

I worked to calm my heartbeat and shook my head.

Lu Linchuan spoke first. “I thought he had bullied you again, so I came in to ask him. I was a little harsh, but I didn’t expect him to start coughing.”

“But I didn’t touch him.”

Jiang Qingran drove an elbow into him. “What’s wrong with you? My bad mood has nothing to do with him.”

Under Jiang Qingran’s stern urging, Lu Linchuan corrected his attitude and apologized to me.

Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, I let out a long breath.

The protagonist really was kind. Feeling guilty over what had happened, he took me out for a lavish meal.

Unfortunately, after picking through the dishes, there was not much I could eat, and my appetite was pitifully small.