A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

Ye Wenxi glanced at her with a smile, her eyebrows slightly raised, her words carrying a teasing tone.

"How far have you two gotten?"

Ding Jiahe's face felt a little hot, and she raised her hand to touch her earlobe.

She couldn't explain it.

Wang Hao was indeed more interesting than many of the officers and soldiers she had met. He was witty and easy to get along with.

After a while, she stopped refusing his invitations.

But it feels like something's missing.

"What step?" Ding Jiahe looked away. "No step at all."

Ye Wenxi wouldn't let her off the hook, and asked with a smile:

"So what do you think of Wang Hao?"

Ding Jiahe picked up her cup and took a sip of water, her voice muffled:

"It's... alright, I guess."

She paused, then added quietly:

"Anyway, he's better than your Lu Weidong!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Wenxi burst out laughing.

If Wang Hao knew this assessment, he'd probably be laughing in his sleep.

"Haven't you considered taking it further?"

Ding Jiahe glared at her.

"Why are you advising me on this? I thought you were different from those other wives, that you were focused entirely on your career."

"Alright, alright, I won't try to persuade you anymore." Ye Wenxi smiled and raised her hands in surrender.

"I have something important to tell you." She straightened her expression.

"I'm planning to take some promotional photos. When are you free these days? Let's take some."

"A promotional photo?" Ding Jiahe's eyes widened. "You...you're going to put me in the newspaper?"

"Yes. Maybe it can even be used in the advertising displays of department stores."

"What?!"

Ding Jiahe's voice rose a notch, and she felt a surge of heat rush from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

It's one thing to say you're a model trying on clothes, but it's quite another to actually print out your image and hang it outside for people to see.

Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

"No, no, no, I can't." She waved her hands hurriedly, her face turning red with anxiety.

"Wearing this here is fine, but if it actually makes my headlines and I'm out, I can't take it."

"You're unwilling to help me with this?" Ye Wenxi asked deliberately.

"Oh no!" Ding Jiahe stamped her foot in frustration.

"How could I possibly be worthy of... how could I possibly be worthy of being on that stage?"

She has never been very confident in her appearance, always feeling that her features are too harsh and not delicate enough.

The women in the magazines were either long-haired and gentle or bright and elegant.

With her short hair, stiff posture, and inability to pose, wouldn't she just become a laughing stock?

Ye Wenxi gently tapped her forehead with his finger.

"Comrade Ding Jiahe, you have a serious misconception about yourself."

"Do you trust my judgment, or your unfounded worries?"

"If I say you can do it, you definitely can!"

Ding Jiahe looked distressed, feeling that being in the newspaper was even more daunting than being asked to go to the front lines.

Seeing that she didn't believe him, Ye Wenxi began to analyze the situation for her.

"You have good body proportions and well-defined facial features. You're not the delicate, demure type; you have a dignified and graceful beauty."

"This kind of temperament is perfect for showcasing clothes. No matter the style, you can pull it off without looking cheap."

Simply put, you're a natural clothes hanger.

Ding Jiahe's face burned with embarrassment, turning as red as if she were about to burst into flames.

No one has ever praised her so frankly and confidently before.

For a moment, I felt dizzy and my ears were ringing.

"Oh my god..." She covered her face, "If you keep praising me like this, I'll get roasted. I need to go outside for some fresh air."

As she spoke, she stood up and walked towards the balcony, slightly unsteady on her feet.

Ding Jiahe stood on the balcony, the cold wind hitting her face, but it couldn't dispel the heat.

But she couldn't help it; the corners of her mouth kept turning up in a subtle, persistent smile.

Ye Wenxi watched her shy yet excited back from inside the room and smiled along with her.

She felt a mix of emotions.

I never imagined that I would get along with the "original female lead" like this.

There was none of the melodramatic tearing apart that is common in novels, nor any chaotic scenes caused by emotional entanglements.

Ding Jiahe is a straightforward, honest, and upright person.

Given her personality and her relationship with Lu Weidong, it's highly unlikely that the things described in the book will actually happen.

I shouldn't let myself be confined by the mere story content in the original work.

Holding onto those things will only hurt both her and yourself.

Ye Wenxi walked to the balcony and called out to her, "Don't catch a cold, come in quickly!"

Ding Jiahe rubbed her hands as she returned to the house, her face still slightly flushed.

"Then... shall I give it a try?"

"Yes! It'll definitely be fine!"

"By the way, since you're a female model, could you talk to Wang Hao for me and ask him to become a male model too?"

Ding Jiahe raised an eyebrow: "Why didn't you call your Battalion Commander Lu to go?"

"Hmph..." Ye Wenxi waved his hand.

"Come on, the way he stands there scares half the place away, like some kind of guardian deity. Am I selling clothes or trying to ward off evil spirits?"

"Hahahaha—" Ding Jiahe laughed so hard she slapped her thigh.

"So what do you like about him? Just his good looks? I didn't realize you were so good with looks."

Ye Wenxi was speechless for a moment when asked the question, and the words lingered in her mouth for a long time.

To be honest, I'm afraid Ding Jiahe will laugh at me to death if I say it out loud.

She wanted to say, "Our Weidong is great in every way!"

Ding Jiahe was off today and spent her time helping Ye Wenxi with various tasks at home. She quickly and efficiently assisted with taking measurements, fetching clothes, registering orders, and distributing materials.

"Let's have dinner together tonight?" Ye Wenxi asked her to stay.

"No, you can eat with your Battalion Commander Lu. I have to go to the clinic for my shift tonight."

"You're at the clinic now?" Ye Wenxi asked, somewhat surprised.

"Aren't you part of the field medic unit?"

Under normal circumstances, military doctors like Ding Jiahe who accompany special operations teams would not be scheduled to work at fixed clinics.

But she had only seen her on duty once before, so Ye Wenxi was a little suspicious that she was going again this time.

"Just helping out temporarily," Ding Jiahe explained.

"A doctor at the health center had a sick mother, so I filled in for her for a few days."

"It'll only be a matter of a few days. Once I go on a mission, I won't be able to take care of things here."

"Her mother lives alone, so I'll try my best to help her."

She paused, then added, "By the way, I'll probably have to leave after the ball. If you want to take photos, let's do it in the next couple of days."

Ye Wenxi nodded.

"Okay, we should have two more versions ready by tomorrow, so let's schedule the shoot for the day after tomorrow."

"When are you coming back from this mission?"

Ye Wenxi cracked sunflower seeds and chatted with her casually.

Mentioning this made Ding Jiahe a little annoyed. She hated missions the most; they always meant enduring wind and rain, sleeping in the open, and not eating or sleeping well.

"Ugh... I don't know yet." She spat out a sunflower seed shell.

"This time the place is far away." She paused, a slight smile on her face.

"However... this time I applied for it myself."

Ye Wenxi stopped eating sunflower seeds in surprise: "You can volunteer? Don't you hate the hassle of missions?"

"That's different." Ding Jiahe's eyes brightened.

"When we're on a mission here, the tents are freezing cold in winter, like iceboxes. The water we use to wash our hands can easily freeze them off."

She spoke with a hint of longing: "I heard that flowers bloom there even in winter. It's like spring all year round."

Ye Wenxi was stunned: "Where are you going?"

"Yunnan, on the border, next to Vietnam."

"It seems there's a real shortage of field medics. They're recruiting volunteers nationwide, and I'm the only one from our military region who signed up."

"despair"--!

The peanut that Ye Wenxi was holding fell gently onto the table with a "tap".

She froze, her whole body cold, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head, even her fingertips were cold.

"What did you say?"