Leap Forward Comics: Watch How I Become a Villainess

Chapter 22: Adding Fuel to the Fire

Duanmu Cong looked at the message on his phone. This time, when Wen Shiyu asked him to meet, he didn't feel disgusted as usual. Instead, he felt a little curious and suddenly became interested in getting to know this woman.

So he readily agreed and even dressed up specially, wearing a suit and tie, perfume, and hair, all of which were perfectly done.

Before leaving, Lu He had instructed Justin to prepare lunch for Xia Lan and then wake her up. When she returned last night, she saw that Xia Lan looked worried and didn't know what had happened. She wouldn't say anything when asked, so Lu He didn't press her further and spent a long time coaxing her to sleep soundly.

The location is a hotel restaurant owned by Duanmu Group, which is considered very high-end in the city.

Duanmu Cong very gentlemanly pulled out a chair for Lu He, and then waited for her to sit down before taking his own seat.

The waiter stood in front of the table with the menu, and Duanmu Cong gracefully gestured for the lady to order.

Lu He coldly pushed the menu away: "Mr. Duanmu, please make your recommendations. I'm fine with anything." She cleverly deflected the fact that she didn't understand the ordering process of high society. She didn't want to give herself away, after all, she was just an ordinary white-collar worker, not the real high society heiress Wen Shiyu.

Duanmu Cong smiled wickedly, feeling that Lu He's unusual behavior was all meant to pique his interest. After making a series of elegant orders, he even ordered a violin.

"No need, I don't want the violin." Lu He decisively refused.

“Xiaoyu, this is about style, you…” Duanmu Cong still spoke in that aristocratic, superior tone.

"I have something to talk to you about, it's not convenient for me to listen to music..." Lu He's lips almost twitched. How could she not know that Duanmu Cong was trying to create a romantic atmosphere? His intentions were obvious to everyone.

"Eat your food first, then we can talk about other things!" His tone was forceful, with a hint of command. Duanmu Cong guessed that Wen Shiyu needed his help, probably because of Xia Lan. He wondered when the two of them had become friends; it was truly unpleasant.

Lu He couldn't help but sneer: "That's true, I'm afraid you won't be able to eat this meal after you hear it."

Duanmu Cong frowned, his hand holding the wine glass pausing for a moment: "What do you mean?"

"Wen Yiming didn't tell you, did he?" Lu He didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"What did you say? What happened to him?" Duanmu Cong immediately had a bad feeling. Judging from Wen Shiyu's tone, could something have happened to Wen Yiming?

"After you transferred the deposit, did you only communicate with Wen Yiming through a single line?" Lu He asked quietly.

"Uh, didn't Wen Yiming already invest in this factory?" Indeed, apart from the time he contacted Erikson for the deposit, he had been contacting his good friend Wen Yiming all the time afterward.

“Mr. Cong, be careful! You’ve been scammed by them!” Lu He said calmly, “Erickson has already transferred all the money to banks abroad. That factory is essentially an old factory. It looks big, but it’s all broken old machinery, just scrap metal…”

"No, impossible! I went to see it, the machines are all new!" Duanmu Cong's eyes widened in disbelief. He had indeed visited the factory before paying the deposit, and the workers had shown him the machines; they were indeed the latest models. But for some reason, he felt his heart pounding.

"They only spent less than 10,000 yuan to give all those old machines a new shell. They just gave them a nice shell, you understand?" Lu He sneered. Duanmu Cong had indeed overlooked something. Because of the tight schedule, he hadn't carefully checked each machine. He had also calculated this loophole, which was why Erikson appeared at the last minute, becoming the straw that Duanmu Cong grasped at desperately.

When people see hope in despair, they become less cautious and only want to desperately grasp at it.

Seeing the incredulous look on Duanmu Cong's face, Lu He continued calmly, "They did buy several new machines, specifically for your inspection..." She subtly guided the conversation, "Plus, your good friend Wen Yiming was also there, making you even more relaxed..."

"Shut up! Stop talking!" Duanmu Cong suddenly lost his composure and stood up from his chair, knocking over the red wine, which spilled onto the table and onto the floor.

"Why would Wen Yiming want to harm me? He has no reason!" Duanmu Cong questioned Lu He, and also questioned himself. He couldn't understand why his good brother would want to harm him.

"He is, after all, one of the Wen family's people, and..." Lu He finally pulled out her trump card: a surveillance video she had obtained from the cat cafe owner. She held the video on her phone up to Duanmu Cong's eyes: "He likes Xia Lan!"

In the surveillance footage, Wen Yiming's gaze followed Xia Lan as they hugged the kitten together, their physical contact subtle yet intimate, and his face beamed with a smile as if he were in love.

Duanmu Cong felt a chill run down his spine and a splitting headache; he had been betrayed by both his friend and lover. His chest felt like it was being torn apart, and he struggled to breathe.

So Xia Lan suggested leaving him...

So Wen Yiming and Erikson framed him together...

Seeing Duanmu Cong's dejected expression, Lu He felt a surge of joy, just one last push away: "My brother told me to tell you that from today onwards, you two will compete fairly for Xia Lan. He is the one who can give Xia Lan a better future. Do you understand?"

Duanmu Cong, leaning on the table, dialed Wen Yiming's number with trembling hands. His voice was a little hoarse: "Hello, Yiming, how's everything at the factory?"

"...It went...quite smoothly, what's wrong?" The person on the other end stammered.

"I'll go over there this afternoon to check on your progress..." He took a deep breath and continued to probe.

"No, no need. You're so busy, you wouldn't feel at ease with me here... Don't come over, the factory is doing fine, nothing's wrong..." The tone on the other end became noticeably panicked.

At that moment, he knew that what Lu He said was almost certainly true. "Heh..." He laughed self-deprecatingly.

Seeing his erratic state, Lu He got up and left, saying, "I'm not eating this meal. I've said what I needed to say." To make her actions seem more plausible, she even made up a lie: "I told you about my brother lying to you because I love you, and I couldn't bear to keep you in the dark... But secretly, I also hoped my brother would compete with you, so that Xia Lan could be with him, and you could belong to me." After saying that, she deliberately sighed with feigned difficulty, turned around, and, afraid of being seen with the barely suppressed joy on her lips, quickly left the hotel restaurant.