YJDNY - 43

Xiang Ge felt his breath on her face, her eyes covered. The sudden darkness brought discomfort, and she raised her hand to grab his wrist, pulling it down.

It didn’t budge.

Looking at him like this made it impossible to endure.

After a long while, he finally lowered his hand.

Xiang Ge raised her eyes.

He turned sideways, the two plates of fruit placed on the edge of the bookshelf looking precarious. Zhou Xingyan reached out, picked them up, walked over, and placed them on the table. He sat back down in the chair behind the table, his fingers propping up his brow bone, raising his eyes to look at her deeply. “Sit.”

Xiang Ge sat down on the small armchair next to him, reached for a strawberry, and the moment she touched the edge of the plate, she remembered what had just happened. Her fingertip lightly touched a strawberry, then she switched to picking up a grape.

Zhou Xingyan watched her small movements and chuckled softly.

Xiang Ge put the grape in her mouth, bit off one end, held the other end, and with a slight force, sucked the flesh into her mouth, leaving the skin in her fingers. She held out the grape skin towards him.

Zhou Xingyan casually took it, leaned over slightly, pulled out two tissues from beside him, placed them by her hand, put the grape skin on them, and then took another tissue to wipe his fingers.

By this time, Xiang Ge had put the second grape in her mouth, and while looking up, she glanced around.

This was her first time in Zhou Xingyan’s study.

It was basically consistent with the overall style of his home, with cold furniture tones and styles. The silk banner hanging on the wall behind his desk looked particularly out of place, clashing with the entire room.

It had a bright red background with golden tassels hanging from the edges. The words on it—”Guanyin Bodhisattva displays her skill, medicine cures illness, joyfully welcoming the newborn”—were particularly prominent.

Xiang Ge “puchi” laughed, tossed the grape skin onto the tissue next to her, turned her head with a smile, and asked, “What’s the story with this patient of yours? How did they end up giving you such a thank-you banner? It’s so insincere.”

Zhou Xingyan leaned back in his chair, looking at her with no expression.

“...”

Xiang Ge fell silent for a moment, then stopped talking.

Zhou Xingyan chuckled softly.

Xiang Ge coughed lightly, looking at him tentatively. “...The one I gave you?”

“Otherwise, did I make it myself?”

Xiang Ge blinked, honestly said “oh,” and then suddenly started laughing.

Zhou Xingyan glanced at her.

The woman leaned back into the sofa again, looking at him with a teasing smile. “Actually, the one I gave you wasn’t wrong either,” she pondered the words on it carefully. “Won’t you give me a son in the future?”

“...”

Zhou Xingyan’s head throbbed, his temples pulsing.

He closed his eyes, a little helpless. “Say less.”

“What’s wrong?” Xiang Ge’s voice was soft and缠绕, leaning her body towards him. “Did I seduce you again?”

Zhou Xingyan: “...”

The next morning, Xiang Ge signed the endorsement contract for Z’s spring/summer collection. Fu Rongsen came to Global in person.

Xiang Ge got up early, washed up, dressed neatly, and came out to eat, full of energy.

She had even put on makeup.

Zhou Xingyan glanced at her with little expression. “So well-behaved today?”

Xiang Ge sat down at the dining table, watched him bring over breakfast, picked up her chopsticks, and bit into her food. “Signing an endorsement today.”

Zhou Xingyan paused. “Which endorsement? The one where that guy confessed to you in front of three hundred million Weibo users?”

Xiang Ge thought for a moment and replied calmly, “Actually, I don’t think the number of active Weibo users is even three hundred million.”

Zhou Xingyan let out a very light and low hum, almost dissipating in the air. “Shall I take you?”

She blinked. “I have a driver. My assistant will come to pick me up.”

Zhou Xingyan nodded. “What time will it end?”

“I don’t know, the morning should be enough.”

After the two finished breakfast, Gong Mo’s call came through. Xiang Ge stood up, picked up her bag, walked to the entrance to put on her shoes, and was stopped.

Zhou Xingyan walked over, took out a key from his pocket, a single one attached to a metal ring with a short leather strap, and handed it to her.

Xiang Ge took it, looking down at it. “Your keychain is so ugly.”

Her fingertip traced over the leather strap, where there was a series of indented textures, like something engraved. She let out an “eh” and looked closely.

A string of numbers, his phone number.

Xiang Ge looked up. “Why did you put your phone number on it?”

“If you lose it, the person who finds it can call me.”

She choked, her eyes widening slightly, looking a little unconvinced. “I won’t lose it.”

She looked a little childish, as if she had suddenly returned to many years ago, the girl kneeling on the sofa, her hands propping herself up, glaring at him and saying, “The eggs I fried weren’t that bad.”

Zhou Xingyan tilted his head and quietly looked at her expression, then suddenly smiled.

He lowered his eyes, leaned down and kissed her forehead, straightened up, and said faintly, “Go on, come back early, and don’t talk to wild men.”

“...”

I’m going to sign a contract with a wild man, how is it possible not to talk to him?

Xiang Ge arrived early. Fu Rongsen hadn’t come yet. Song Zhi called her over and they talked for another half an hour.

Boss Song didn’t speak much. It was mainly her agent—her new agent—who negotiated and discussed with her.

The new agent, Chen Mo, had worked her way up from assistant to the second-in-command of Global’s model department today. Her ability and methods naturally went without saying. Xiang Ge was a little surprised. She had originally thought that Song Zhi would kick her out after she finished filming this movie.

But now this, was it an agreement?

When it ended, Xiang Ge walked slowly behind, paused when she was about to close the door, turned around, and bowed to Boss Song.

The man behind the large desk raised his chin slightly. “Do you know why?”

Xiang Ge looked at him very seriously, still the same answer as a few months ago. “You want to sleep with me?”

Song Zhi chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. “Who would want to sleep with someone as troublesome as you? Hurry up and leave. If you can’t earn back my investment, don’t come back.”

Xiang Ge’s eyes curved slightly, and she went out and closed the door.

So, what was the reason after all?

Although Xiang Ge had recently gotten some better resources, her level was still not high enough. She didn’t have her own rest room and makeup room.

She didn’t really care. While waiting for the client, Fu Rongsen, she simply went to the makeup room to see Qiao Xin.

The little girl had just changed out of her clothes and was resting on the table, her posture very careful to avoid touching her makeup.

The makeup room was noisy and chaotic. Xiang Ge’s gaze swept around, and the volume decreased by half.

A woman next to Xu Yiqi sneered contemptuously, her voice lowered but deliberately clear. “I thought she was so aloof. So arrogant, but isn’t she just relying on men? The female lead? She must have pleased the sugar daddy. Her skills must be good.”

Xu Yiqi’s expression changed slightly, and she looked up.

Noticing the change in her expression, Xiang Ge’s lips curved.

Xu Yiqi had also just taken on the second female lead in a TV series. Hongda Group had invested heavily, and she had no intention of hiding anything, her words vaguely implying that she was “dating” a young master from a certain group.

Like an idiot who thought she could marry into a wealthy family and soar to the top, immersed in love, in the next second.

Xiang Ge didn’t understand. Clearly a quite shrewd girl, why did she think there was true love in the world of the rich when it came to this?

But maybe it really was true love.

She didn’t speak. Qiao Xin woke up behind her.

When she saw her, she let out a soft “yah” and pulled on her hand with a delicate voice. “Sister Xiang Ge! You’re here!”

Completely unaware of the tense atmosphere in front, like a lotus flower, untainted by the mud, pure and sweet.

Xiang Ge turned around and pinched her little cheek.

The little girl frowned and cried out, “Makeup, my makeup will be ruined!”

Xiang Ge’s eyes curved with laughter. She wished she could take her home and raise her, cherishing her like a little princess.

“Anything to do later?”

Qiao Xin shook her head and looked at her watch. “Nothing before ten o’clock.”

Xiang Ge nodded, pulled her up, and walked out, completely ignoring the group of people in the room. “Let’s go, I’ll buy you a coffee.”

Qiao Xin was still a little dazed, not understanding. “Eh, now? Wait, wait a moment, Sister Xiang Ge, my bag!”

She hurriedly picked up her bag and followed behind her. The two of them walked out of the makeup room and all the way down the corridor. At the end of the corridor, a hunched man came out of the restroom.

He held a mop in his hand, wearing yellow rubber gloves and a light blue janitor’s uniform. His back was slightly hunched, and he stood at the door, his face old, with deep lines at the corners of his eyes.

When her gaze swept over, the man just happened to look up. His aged eyelids drooped slightly, but his eyes were long and upturned.

Xiang Ge’s eyes looked very much like Xiang Lin’s.

When she was little, almost everyone said she looked like she was carved from the same mold as her mother, with a straight, slender nose, full lips, and a small face.

Except for those eyes.

Su Jingnian had a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes, but Xiang Ge’s eyes were long and narrow, with slightly upturned corners, carrying a hint of coldness and sharpness.

Exactly the same as Xiang Lin’s.

There weren’t many people in the corridor. The two of them looked at each other for a while across a distance. Xiang Lin suddenly hid the mop behind his back, his hand also going behind him, and smiled at her.

Xiang Ge was stunned.

Because of this man, she had hardly felt any fatherly love in twenty years.

He had shattered her hopes, her fantasies, her vague reverence for love, and her belief in family with such a resolute attitude, even the very definition of “father.”

She had suffered the torment of fear, despair, and pain. A huge wound had been torn open in her heart, like cold waves crashing onto the shore, with cold wind whistling and pouring in.

She should hate him, she thought.

But the man’s shrinking, apologetic smile, instinctively hiding, not wanting her to see the mop in his hand, and the way he smiled at her, suddenly made her eyes sting.

She suddenly remembered that day at her door, he had also looked at her with such a smile, a little awkward, apologetic, careful, and ingratiating.

She couldn’t see clearly then.

She was too scared then, only feeling that his whole being was filled with unkind malice.

She should hate him so much, even hating herself for having half of his blood flowing in her veins.

But she also loved him.

The brand of blood ties was like the mark of a scar, deeply engraved in her bones, the contradictory fusion of two emotions.

Not intense, but very clear.

Xiang Ge let out a long breath and turned her head to look at Qiao Xin beside her. “Wait for me for a few minutes.”

Qiao Xin was a little confused but still nodded.

Xiang Ge turned back and walked towards Xiang Lin.

The man didn’t seem to expect her to take the initiative to talk to him. He was a little taken aback, stunned for a moment, watching her walk over, right up to him.

He seemed to have gotten a little shorter, his back hunched. Xiang Ge, wearing high heels, even looked a little taller than him.

He looked at her and smiled. The mop he had hidden behind his back suddenly fell to the ground, hitting the marble tiles with a crisp sound.

Xiang Lin bent down to pick it up.

Xiang Ge squatted down first, holding the cold handle of the mop, stood up, and handed it back to him.

Her eyelashes drooped slightly as she looked at the clothes he was wearing. “You work here?”

Xiang Lin took the mop handle from her and leaned it against the nearby wall. “I haven’t been doing it for long.”

“Because of me?” Xiang Ge looked at him calmly.

He licked his lips, looked at her, his lips moved, but no sound came out.

“Did you come because of me?” she asked again.