My Virtual Girlfriend-Chapter 274 Yang Nuannuan’s Palace Intrigue...

Yang Nuan Nuan heard Chen Yan calling her and couldn’t help but stop in her tracks.

She turned around, and her pretty eyes were filled with confusion as she looked at Chen Yan and asked, "Chen, cough, President Chen. What’s going on?"

She did seem to have caught a cold. Her voice was buzzing, and she had to cough twice after saying a sentence.

Chen Yan looked at the girl before him.

But in his heart, he was somewhat doubtful.

Because he still remembered the odd personality Yang Nuan Nuan had shown him the few times when Yang Rou was not at home. He also remembered that for the days that followed, Yang Nuan Nuan would always appear before him.

This made Chen Yan feel as if she had some kind of scheme against him...

And moreover... he hadn’t forgotten how these past few days, he’d sensed someone spying on him.

Although Chen Yan didn’t believe that a good girl like Yang Nuan Nuan would spy on him.

But when compared to Yang Rou, who was always deeply engrossed in her career, the odds were much higher for Yang Nuan Nuan, who had shown several abnormalities.

So, Chen Yan had been looking for an opportunity to probe her.

Now, Yang Nuan Nuan was coincidentally sick, and Chen Yan thought... maybe he should take advantage of this opportunity to test her?

After all, although Chen Yan was not interested in Yang Nuan Nuan, her identity was too multifaceted.

She was both the daughter of Chen Yan’s trusted aide and Yu Qiao Qiao’s roommate. Such a character with multiple identities—if there really... was any issue, then Chen Yan really had to pay attention.

Moreover... even if the probing turned up nothing, with her "important" identity being sick now, it was only right for Chen Yan to care for her out of concern and reason.

So, with that thought, Chen Yan no longer hesitated. He looked at Yang Nuan Nuan and said, "You don’t seem to be feeling well. I’ll drive you home."

Hearing Chen Yan’s words, Yang Nuan Nuan quickly waved her hands and said, "No need, no need, President Chen. That would be too much trouble."

She covered her mouth to cough again and said, "I’ll just, cough, take a cab home by myself."

"Once home, I’ll drink some hot water, and then a good sleep will do. No problem."

Saying this, she gave Chen Yan a slight bow and then said, "Thank you, President Chen."

After speaking, she turned around and prepared to leave.

She didn’t seem to be playing hard to get, but genuinely didn’t want to trouble Chen Yan.

Chen Yan watched her with puzzlement: Could it be... he had overthought it? Was she actually not interested in him?

After hesitating again, Chen Yan decided he couldn’t make such a hasty conclusion, so he quickly walked a few steps and came to the elevator door with her.

He spoke succinctly, "I’ll take you home anyway."

"If Sister Rou finds out you got sick and I did nothing, she might just stage another sit-in at my office."

Hearing Chen Yan mention her mother’s form of protest, Yang Nuan Nuan couldn’t help but let out a weak smile.

Because she was wearing a mask, Chen Yan could only see her eyes. As she smiled, her already gentle nature seemed even more fragile.

Looking at her smile, Chen Yan’s doubts dissipated somewhat: Such a lovely smile, she surely... couldn’t harbor any bad intentions...

What he didn’t see was... upon seeing Chen Yan finally joining her in the elevator, the corners of Yang Nuan Nuan’s mouth beneath the mask curled into a smile of "triumph"...

...

Last night.

At a high-end apartment near Fenghua Building.

Yang Rou was sitting at the dining table, furiously typing on her computer.

Yang Nuan Nuan, holding a glass of milk and wearing snugly fitting thermal clothes, approached her.

With glasses on, she was the epitome of an obedient girl. So thoughtfully, she placed the glass of milk next to Yang Rou and gently said, "Mommy, don’t always work so late. You also need some rest."

Yang Rou’s eyes remained fixed on her laptop screen, her voice cold as she responded, "No, these few days are critical for the variety show’s project initiation. I need to go to the provincial city this week for the final discussions with the TV station."

"This proposal must be revised tonight."

Hearing Yang Rou’s words, a spark flickered behind Yang Nuan Nuan’s glasses. She looked at her mother with curiosity and asked, "Has it progressed to that stage already?"

Yang Rou nodded, "Yes. So now it’s very crucial."

With that, she typed a few more words, suddenly stopped, and seemed to remember her daughter. She lifted her head to glance at Yang Nuan Nuan and then asked, "Nuan Nuan... you seem to have been staying at home recently?"

She recalled for a moment, "It seems like... nearly half a month you haven’t stayed in the dormitory, right?"

"Did something happen?"

Yang Nuan Nuan smiled gently, her eyes obscured by her glasses, showing no hint of abnormality, "No."

"It’s just that it’s gotten colder, the dormitory’s heating isn’t sufficient, so I wanted to come home."

"And... I also want to spend more time with mommy."

Yang Rou found Yang Nuan Nuan’s reasons logical and didn’t think much of it, continuing to immerse herself in her work.

She kept typing and instructed, "Then you take care of yourself in the next few days. If any issues arise, remember to ask President Chen for help."

Yang Nuan Nuan obediently nodded, "Ok, Mommy..."

Leaving the glass of milk behind, Yang Nuan Nuan hummed a tune and returned to her room.

Back in her room, however, the expression on Yang Nuan Nuan’s face slowly faded...

She took off her glasses, placing them aside, and let out a deep sigh.

She... wasn’t avoiding the dormitory because it was cold, but rather because... there were two people there she least wanted to face.

Two people who were once her best friends and confidantes. But now... one was a child from a family she hated, and the other... someone she felt guilty towards.

If it had been just one of them, she might have managed to wear a facade, to gradually accustom herself.

But with both present, she truly felt overwhelmed.

So, she simply attended school when there were classes and spent the rest of her time at home or the company.

Such a life felt somewhat empty to her.

But soon after, she found something to fill her life with: observing Chen Yan and writing a new book...

Several encounters with Chen Yan and the emotions that surged within her made Yang Nuan Nuan realize she might have developed feelings for Chen Yan that went beyond friendship.

This was also why she felt somewhat guilty towards Yu Qiao Qiao.

But who was she? She was Yang Nuan Nuan, who had worn a mask for over a decade, rational enough to fake an entire personality.

So, she utilized her feelings and decided to write a new novel.

Because she felt her own life, with its double-sided decade-long disguise, was "legendary," and Chen Yan’s rags-to-riches story was incredibly epic, she decided to use herself and Chen Yan as prototypes for the protagonists, adapting and creating a story...

Soon, with the events that had transpired with Chen Yan previously, Yang Nuan Nuan effortlessly wrote the first tens of thousands of words of the opening Chapters.

Aside from the opening scene where she and Chen Yan, inebriated, locked in passionate embrace—a bit out of her comfort zone as she blushed and her eyes glistened, her legs clamped together while writing—there were no complications.

And now, she was at the part where the hero and heroine start their first clash, coincidentally when her mother was about to go on a business trip.

Yang Nuan Nuan felt... this was simply a gift from heaven!

Sitting on her bed, without glasses, she pondered how she could create an opportunity to be alone with Chen Yan...

After considering for a long time, her eyes lit up as she thought... of getting sick.

So... that night, once Yang Rou had gone to sleep, Yang Nuan Nuan took a cold shower in the middle of the winter.

Returning to bed, she shivered with cold, her complexion even turning a bit pale.

But still, she left the window half open, covering herself only with a thin blanket...

She knew her mother would leave early in the morning, unaware of her illness.

When the time came, she would seek out Chen Yan, and given his character, as well as her identities as the daughter of Yang Rou and roommate of Yu Qiao, Chen Yan wouldn’t be able to ignore her...

Even more so, she delved deeper into her plan.

She knew from her deliberate previous appearances around Chen Yan that he seemed to have sensed something unusual. Therefore, she... must advance by retreating...

...

With Chen Yan’s insistence, Yang Nuan Nuan ultimately got into Chen Yan’s car and returned to the apartment.

Yang Nuan Nuan behaved very quietly and politely throughout the trip, even taking the initiative to sit in the back seat when getting into the car, saying that the front passenger seat was reserved only for Yu Qiao Qiao.

Throughout the ride, Chen Yan occasionally glanced at her through the rearview mirror and found that she seemed groggy and absorbed in playing with her phone, not paying any attention to him.

This greatly reduced Chen Yan’s suspicion that Yang Nuan Nuan was the one spying on him.

He even questioned whether he was overthinking it: the mother and daughter next door—one as steadfast as ice and the other gentle as water—neither seemed like the spying type...

However, he decided. To find out, he would use the "Headphones of the Heart."

No rush, he would see once they got home...

——————————

With Chen Yan’s insistence, Yang Nuan Nuan ultimately got into Chen Yan’s car and returned to the apartment.

Yang Nuan Nuan behaved very quietly and politely throughout the trip, even taking the initiative to sit in the back seat when getting into the car, stating that the front passenger seat was reserved only for Yu Qiao Qiao.

Throughout the ride, Chen Yan occasionally glanced at her through the rearview mirror and found that she seemed groggy, absorbed in playing with her phone and not paying any attention to him.

This greatly reduced Chen Yan’s suspicion that Yang Nuan Nuan was the one spying on him.

He even began to doubt his own concerns: the mother and daughter next door—one as steadfast as ice and the other gentle as water—neither seemed like the spying type...

However, he had made up his mind. To find out, he would use the "Headphones of the Heart."

No rush, he thought, he would see once they got home...