After Becoming a Spare Tire, I Was Targeted by the Villain and the Male Lead at the Same Time

Chapter 52

With a loud bang, Ruan Chenxuan stumbled back a few steps after the impact, and his coat and briefcase fell to the ground. However, no one paid any attention to them. Ruan Chenxuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and after a second of eye contact, both suddenly made their move.

They had accumulated countless grievances between them and had long disliked each other. Now that they had the chance to vent, they naturally wouldn’t let it slip by, striking without mercy.

Ruan Chenxuan swung his fist toward Jing Yicheng’s jaw, but Jing Yicheng caught his wrist and twisted it forcefully. Ruan Chenxuan was forced to twist his body and retaliated by kicking and pushing Jing Yicheng away. He took the opportunity to free his wrist and stepped back, panting.

The two instantly created distance between them, standing at a relatively safe distance, staring at each other with vigilant and fierce gazes.

Ruan Chenxuan tasted the blood in his mouth and instinctively wiped the corner of his mouth, sarcastically saying, “Did President Jing come all this way just to fight with me?”

Jing Yicheng also showed signs of injury, with a fake smile on his face, as he said, “Didn’t President Ruan also come all this way to so discord at the Xu Corporation?”

Ruan Chenxuan was slightly surprised in his heart, unsure if Jing Yicheng was well-informed or if Xu Chenghao had informed him. Keeping a calm demeanor, he replied, “Does President Jing dare to do things but fear the criticism?”

Jing Yicheng spoke coldly, “Even if I’m not afraid of criticism, I don’t need you to tell Xu Chenghao!”

Ruan Chenxuan’s brain, which was usually running at high speed, rarely stumbled. He felt that something was off about this sentence.

Without allowing Ruan Chenxuan to continue analyzing, Jing Yicheng warned directly, “Ruan Chenxuan, let me warn you. It’s fine if you pursue An Rouyu, but if you dare to touch Xu Chenghao, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Ruan Chenxuan was slightly stunned: “What do you mean, Mr. Jing?”

Jing Yicheng: “I mean, it’s better for you to stay away from Xu Chenghao. It would be best if you retract your twisted tracking methods.”

“And, Mr. Ruan, it would be better for you to mind your own business and not interfere in other people’s relationships. How we get along and cooperate is our own matter. It’s not your place, as an outsider or even an enemy, to meddle and give instructions!”

For a moment, Ruan Chenxuan couldn’t figure out whether the other party was trying to protect his relationship with Xu Chenghao or their cooperation. Since their last confrontation until now, in just a short two months, had their relationship undergone such a huge change?

Ruan Chenxuan’s mind was almost in a mess, but to avoid losing ground, he pretended to remain calm and said, “Mr. Jing, you’re joking. The nature of my relationship with Mr. Xu is not something that you can define on behalf of us. At least, things are unpredictable. If you two can become friends, who’s to say we can’t?”

Jing Yicheng sneered, “Things are unpredictable? If you dare to touch Xu Chenghao, I can also make you taste the unpredictability of losing An Rouyu.”

“What do you mean?” Ruan Chenxuan suddenly became angry. “You’re implying that you had something to do with Rouyu’s disappearance!”

Jing Yicheng: “Don’t speak so harshly. She left willingly. Can you blame anyone else for that?”

Ruan Chenxuan questioned, “Where is she now?!”

“How would I know,” Jing Yicheng sarcastically remarked. “Things are unpredictable. Just because I sent her away doesn’t mean she will necessarily listen to my arrangements.”

Ruan Chenxuan naturally didn’t believe it. “Would you let her go?”

Jing Yicheng countered: “Do you think it’s interesting for me to keep someone else’s wife and child?”

Ruan Chenxuan was momentarily taken aback and asked, “Then where did you send her?”

“Do you think I would tell you?” Jing Yicheng couldn’t be bothered to argue further and reiterated, “Remember, as long as you dare to touch Xu Chenghao, I will dare to do something to An Rouyu. If you don’t believe it, let’s see who acts faster!”

After saying that, Jing Yicheng opened the door and left.

By the time Ruan Chenxuan reacted and chased after him, the elevator doors had already closed.

He angrily kicked the door, and just as he was about to explode with rage, his gaze suddenly froze.

The numbers on the elevator were actually increasing instead of decreasing? After Ruan Chenxuan carefully looked and confirmed, Jing Yicheng hadn’t left but had gone upstairs…

He actually lived upstairs from Xu Chenghao?

When did he move in?

He must have moved in after him. When Ruan Chenxuan was negotiating with the assistant to transfer the ownership, if the assistant knew that Jing Yicheng was the homeowner, he couldn’t have kept it from him.

He actually moved here, too… and he moved silently!

Ruan Chenxuan pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned around and went back home. Originally, he planned to move out after realizing it had nothing to do with Xu Chenghao, but now it seemed it was better to continue living here. After all, Jing Yicheng was not like Xu Chenghao. It would be very difficult for him to monitor him. It was better to stay here and wait for an opportunity!

And what exactly was the relationship between Jing Yicheng and Xu Chenghao… Ruan Chenxuan’s steps paused, and he suddenly realized that Jing Yicheng had just compared Xu Chenghao and An Rouyu on the same level, comparing a partner and a lover?

“Sneeze! Sneeze!” Xu Chenghao, who was being discussed, squatted in front of a large flower pot and let out two powerful sneezes. He sniffed and went inside the house to put on a jacket.

The weather has been getting colder recently, and the weather forecast says it will rain tomorrow… It’s probably going to freeze by then.

Xu Chenghao absentmindedly looked at the dimly lit night scene outside, then turned his head to find that the chili peppers in the big flower pot had already yielded fruit. The harvest this time was unexpectedly bountiful. The big flower pot produced three deformed peppers and two intact ones, while the little yellow duck flower pot yielded two peppers, one of which was deformed.

Xu Chenghao sat up straight and opened the lid of the container he had been holding in his arms. As he picked the peppers, he asked with excitement, “What happened this time? Why is it such a pleasant surprise?”

[Ding—Congratulations, host. You have successfully triggered the effects of the Mary Sue halo, such as ‘male lead initially suppressed then rises and is hurt’ and ‘villain’s confrontation slightly deviates from the norm.’]

Xu Chenghao was stunned: “Huh? But I didn’t do anything.”

[Ding—Indeed, there was a perceivable reaction within the scope of the system’s collection. Please verify it yourself, host.]

Xu Chenghao: …Forget it, as long as the peppers are here.

[Ding—As long as you’re happy^_^]

Xu Chenghao neatly arranged the peppers in the container, thinking to himself that there was no way he wouldn’t be happy. With just one more pepper, he could start the 3.0 mode of the Little Pepper mission. He was so excited!

2.0 turned out to be much better than expected! Xu Chenghao hadn’t anticipated completing the mission so quickly.

Just three more days! After harvesting one more pepper in three days, he could start the 3.0 mode of the Little Pepper mission!

Xu Chenghao’s mood was soaring as he replanted the pepper seeds. Unable to contain his happiness, he counted the nine intact peppers over and over again, like a little treasure hunter. Finally, he carefully locked the container in the safe, feeling satisfied.

Surprise always came unexpectedly. While Xu Chenghao was happy, he started to worry about his chili pepper base. Forget the chili pepper base; he hadn’t even found a suitable greenhouse.

Xu Chenghao didn’t feel rushed before, but he didn’t expect version 2.0 to be so efficient. If he didn’t hurry now, he would probably go crazy in a few days.

At the very least, he needed to finalize the location and quickly renovate the greenhouse!

After much thought, coupled with the consequences of excessive excitement, Xu Chenghao decided to practice cultivation!

The next day, he woke up feeling so tired that he couldn’t open his eyes. He splashed cold water on his face to barely stay awake and went out to work.

The rare thing was that he didn’t encounter Jing Yicheng in the elevator today.

If at this moment, Xu Chenghao was only somewhat surprised; when the elevator reached the ground floor, and he saw Ruan Chenxuan with a face full of bruises, Xu Chenghao almost burst out laughing.

The prominent bruises on Ruan Chenxuan’s red and purple face were too striking. Even though he was dressed in a neat suit, it couldn’t bring out his former handsomeness. Instead, it had a somewhat ridiculous sense of pretense.

Xu Chenghao held the little yellow duck flowerpot up to cover his face, struggling to suppress his trembling shoulders.

Ruan Chenxuan walked in expressionlessly, pressed the elevator button, and said indifferently, “Laugh if you want to.”

Xu Chenghao: “Puhahahaha.”

Ruan Chenxuan: “……”

Xu Chenghao laughed until the elevator arrived. As he walked out, he said, “Sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh… I think Mr. Ruan should wear a mask or a hat. Otherwise, it’s really too challenging for others, hahaha.”

Ruan Chenxuan: “……”

That’s also a good idea.

While Ruan Chenxuan was calling his assistant to prepare a mask, Xu Chenghao had already left in his car and arrived at the company. He shared the story of Ruan Chenxuan turning into a pig head with Li Nian and laughed until he almost ran out of breath.

Li Nian looked at him speechlessly and said, “Why is your sense of humor so low?”

Xu Chenghao leaned back in his chair, drinking water, and said, “That’s because you didn’t see what happened at the scene.”

Li Nian placed some documents on his desk and said affectionately, “Laugh a bit more before I tell you the bad news.”

Xu Chenghao’s laughter abruptly stopped. He asked, “What bad news?”

Li Nian: “I just received a notification from Jing Yicheng’s assistant. Their boss suddenly had something come up today and won’t be coming. So… all these tasks will be yours alone!”

Xu Chenghao: “…………”

Damn it!

What does it mean to go from extreme joy to sorrow? This is it.

Xu Chenghao didn’t ask what happened to Jing Yicheng. After all, the other party had a special status, and it was normal for them to have sudden tasks.

It’s just a pity that he couldn’t realize his idea of going to inspect the greenhouse in person.

Xu Chenghao rubbed his temples and sighed, “Fine, I got it.”

Li Nian patted his shoulder comfortingly: “Come on, try to drink less water and avoid going to the restroom too often. You can handle it!”

Xu Chenghao: “….Get lost!”

Initially, Xu Chenghao thought Jing Yicheng would only be absent for today, so he consoled himself, thinking he could hold on and relax the next day.

But to his surprise, not only did he not see Jing Yicheng the next day, but even on the third and fourth days, there was no sign of him. It was always the assistant calling, saying, “Sorry, our boss has something to attend to and will take another day off.”

“Sorry, our boss has something else to do, extending the leave for another day.”

“We apologize, our boss is too busy. He will definitely come back tomorrow!”

Xu Chenghao: “….”

Xu Chenghao could handle the workload, even if it were a bit exhausting. After all, he relied on himself and was accustomed to it.

But the little pepper’s growth plummeted because it didn’t have contact with the characters in the plot. After three days, Xu Chenghao couldn’t accept it anymore when he received only three deformed chili peppers from the big flowerpot and the little yellow duck flower pot.

The big flowerpot had been sitting at home all this time, so it made sense to get only two deformed chili peppers, but how could the benchmark of the chili pepper world, Little Yellow Duck, be defeated?!

He was just one chili pepper away from completing the mission!

Xu Chenghao was almost driven to the point of spitting blood. The more it was 99 percent certain, the more it was vexing! It was so frustrating to be just a bit short.

Xu Chenghao angrily replanted the chili peppers, and the next day, when he learned that Jing Yicheng still hadn’t come, he thought about it and couldn’t hold back from calling him.