Chapter 118: The Destined Female Lead

In the office, Sun Xiaojing wore a blue-and-white shirt dress, the brown belt accentuating her graceful figure. Her hair was arranged in a half-updo, lending her an air of neat efficiency that felt distinctly un-feminine.

She idly flipped through the office newspaper, glancing at her watch from time to time.

Though her eyes scanned the pages, she had absorbed none of the news. Her entire being was consumed by thoughts of that one person.

It was not easy to hear the key turn in the lock at the door. Sun Xiaojing smiled, set the newspaper aside, rose, and walked toward the entrance.

“Tingshen, you’re here…”

The words died on her lips.

The figure that stepped inside was not Song Tingshen, but Director Cao.

Sun Xiaojing’s smile froze for an instant, then quickly smoothed itself back into place.

“Director Cao, has Tingshen been detained by something?”

Director Cao had seen the flicker of disappointment in Sun Xiaojing’s eyes; his own expression grew awkward. He cleared his throat and said, “Well, Xiaojing, ah, Tingshen… he may not be very convenient for you to meet alone right now.”

Sun Xiaojing blinked, confused.

She had not understood a word of it and asked again.

“What do you mean… not convenient?”

Director Cao took a deliberate sip of water, forcing a chuckle. “This isn’t… oh, you came back at just the right moment. We’re lucky to be able to join the banquet today. The lunch today, we can go together after a moment.”

Sun Xiaojing was thoroughly bewildered by Director Cao’s non-sequitur.

“What banquet? What meal? How is this connected to Tingshen being inconvenient to see me?”

Director Cao found himself cornered and simply stated, “Tingshen’s banquet—he got married today and has just received his marriage certificate.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Sun Xiaojing’s face drained of color.

Her expression nearly shattered. She seemed to be smiling, yet had completely frozen in place.

She thought she must have misheard.

Song Tingshen? Married?

To whom?

This development had not existed in the slightest in the plot.

Song Tingshen had hardly any women around him worth speaking to, so inexplicably, who was he marrying?

Sun Xiaojing managed a stiff, dry laugh.

“Hehe… Director Cao, are you joking? Tingshen… who could he possibly marry?”

Director Cao replied, “How could I possibly joke about something like this? This concerns the other party’s reputation.”

Sun Xiaojing knew the weight of that statement.

In an age when reputation loomed larger than heaven and earth, no one could casually spread rumors about a military comrade’s marriage.

Yet who could Song Tingshen possibly marry?

Sun Xiaojing recalled one name and asked, incredulously, “Tingshen married whom? Is it not Hou Manling?”

Director Cao’s face blanched in alarm. “Comrade Sun Xiaojing, you must not speak of such things lightly. Tingshen and Manling share a revolutionary friendship. Tingshen is marrying his own fiancée.”

Sun Xiaojing was left even more stunned.

Song Tingshen’s fiancée?

What kind of fiancée had Song Tingshen ever had?! He had clearly…

Suddenly, a memory flashed through Sun Xiaojing’s mind.

When she had first encountered that book, she had indeed glimpsed the three words “fiancée” in the introduction.

But it appeared only briefly, describing a minor character in a single sentence: “The fiancée did not look down on the male lead, refused to suffer hardships on the island of Taizhou, remained in Yue City to be harmed by the scumbag and his stepfather’s family, and met her end unjustly.”

With nothing more than that fleeting line, Sun Xiaojing knew nothing of the woman’s surname, her given name, or even her appearance.

What she could confirm was that this supposed fiancée had never set foot on Taizhou Island at all.

How, then, could she possibly marry Song Tingshen?

Clearly, she—the one destined to stand beside him—was the true female lead.