Sweet Wife in My Arms

Yan Huan wished she knew exactly how long it would take for her body to replace the blood she had donated.

 “Huanhuan, Huanhuan…”

 Yi Ling’s shouts preceded her arrival. The door opened with a bang and Yi Ling ran in, grabbed Yan Huan by the wrist, and dragged her out the door. “Quick, we have to get going, there’s no time to waste…”

 Yan Huan could not shake Yi Ling off; she was still carrying Little Bean with her other hand.

 They had just stepped out of the apartment when Yi Ling finally turned to take a good look at Yan Huan. Her jaw dropped.

 

Cotton pajamas, a face that was as pale as a zombie’s, a cat in one hand, and slippers on her feet—Yan Huan was so beautiful she could wear a burlap sack and make it look like a fashion statement, but they were going to meet someone important and her current look was completely unacceptable.

 “What on earth are you wearing?!” Yi Ling was close to tears. Yan Huan’s attire would have been perfectly okay for the market, or for walking the cat around the neighborhood, but this was serious business!

 “Hey, you’re the one who dragged me out, remember?” Yan Huan rubbed her sore wrist. She was already used to Yi Ling’s impatient, highly excitable personality; it was just like her to do a grab-and-run without offering any kind of explanation.

 “Oh, right, sorry about that.” Yi Ling realized she had been too hasty. She quickly pushed Yan Huan back into their apartment. “Go get changed, Yuelun wants to sign you. Oh my god, someone wants to sign us! Finally! We’ll be part of an agency, we’ll get a new place to stay in.”

 “Yuelun?” Yan Huan was momentarily stunned. She lowered her head and gently stroked the tiny ears of the kitten in her arms as she considered the news.

 Was Yuelun interested in signing her? This wasn’t some kind of joke, was it?

 She could not understand why Yuelun wanted her. She was just a nobody; she didn’t have any breakout roles yet. She had a number of shows under her belt, but she had worked as a stunt double or a background extra in all of them.

 

It did not make sense for a large entertainment agency like Yuelun to consider signing her. Even the smaller agencies would turn her away at once if she showed up at their door.

 She was a nobody with zero connections. Signing with them would be a massive boost to her career.

 Was the universe sending her help right when she needed it?

 The timing was uncanny. She felt as though someone had slipped a nice, fresh pillow under her head just as she was about to lie down to sleep.

 Yan Huan went back to her room and changed into something much more decent. She did not have a lot of clothes, and most of them were unbranded. This was a complete 180 from her past life: back then, her massive walk-in closet had been full of the latest, trendiest clothes from her various sponsors. She had hired a clothing assistant just to manage her wardrobe. Her clothes, shoes, bags, and even her various hairstyles had been specially designed by professionals. She had enjoyed all those luxuries in her past life; this time around, however, she preferred to live her life in a modest and laid-back manner.

 She chose a white blouse and a pair of jeans from her wardrobe and put them on. She tied one end of her blouse into a knot around her waist. She put on a pair of white canvas shoes and tied her hair into a simple bun. She looked young and pretty, a little like a fresh-faced, wide-eyed child. Mentally, however, she was a mature adult: she had lived for almost 28 years in her past life, and had seen more or less everything life had to offer. She knew how the world worked; she had tasted the sweet wine of life as well as its bitter poison.

 She felt old and cynical inside, but she wanted to be young again.

 There was nothing wrong with wanting to be young again, was there? Her current body was only 20 years old, after all. She was back at the starting line of adulthood, young enough to waste her youth without a second thought. She was a flower that had just begun to bloom.

 All right, she said to herself as she patted her cheeks in the mirror, I hope I get the contract with Yuelun. Yi Ling, Little Bean, and I will finally be able to move out of here, and we won’t have to listen to the couple next door go about their, er, “nightly activities” any more.