HYAT - 30

He lowered his head slightly, his breath intimately close. A cool, smoky fragrance seemed to permeate her limbs and bones.

Shen Qianzhan instinctively looked up.

Ji Qinghe was not looking at her; his gaze was fixed on the giant display screen, his dark pupils illuminated by the dazzling lights, like a quietly burning guiding flame, perfectly accentuating his pervasive coolness and nobility.

A phrase suddenly popped into her mind—vibrant and captivating.

Was this “dog man” truly a demon sent to ensnare her soul? Otherwise, why did she feel utterly captivated, her waist weak and legs soft, every time she saw him?

Shen Qianzhan was pondering what to say to regain the upper hand. Before she could speak, the lighting effects shifted from bright to dim, gradually turning into flowing light, pulling the exhibition hall into an older era.

On the stage, the emcee fully presented the first charity auction item.

Behind them, hushed conversations gradually began. Some speculated about whose handiwork it was, while others simply discussed the value and origin of the exhibits. The low, murmuring voices intertwined, clearly making it unsuitable for idle chatter.

Shen Qianzhan temporarily put away her idle thoughts and braced herself.

________________________________________

The highlight of the charity gala was the auction items.

Before coming, Shen Qianzhan had received a list of auction items.

Su Lanyi had spent several days picking through the list, her brows furrowed in distress.

The items she was interested in were mostly too expensive to afford, while the ones within budget didn’t appeal to her. Simply donating money for charity without bidding felt incredibly painful.

In this day and age, it was too difficult to save face and preserve dignity at the same time.

Shen Qianzhan did not get involved in the decision-making process.

When Su Zan first raised his paddle, the item was a necklace. He matched the bid twice, then, seeing the other party relentlessly pursue, he lost interest and didn’t continue. The second time he raised his paddle, the item was a cat’s eye green jade bangle of extremely pure color. Su Zan directly called out the highest reserve price he could offer. After the next competitor made a bid, he nonchalantly tucked his number paddle into the back of his neck, withdrawing from the auction.

Shen Qianzhan, seeing his disregard for the occasion, pinched him hard where the cameras couldn’t see: “Put the paddle down, sit properly.”

Su Zan dared not express his anger, hissing and gasping as he rubbed his thigh, which she had pinched hard.

Deeply feeling that Su Zan was quite unreliable, Shen Qianzhan finally couldn’t help but ask, “What did your sister tell you?”

“She gave me two million and told me to bid on whatever I liked, to save up for a wife,” Su Zan complained, wincing in pain from her heavy hand, “I don’t even have a proper woman by my side, and she’s telling me to save up for a wife. Isn’t my sister just worrying unnecessarily?”

Shen Qianzhan didn’t respond, her eyes subtly sweeping towards Ji Qinghe.

The latter naturally received the message. Before the emcee’s gavel fell, he quietly said, “After I became an adult and reached legal marriage age, I kept my household registration book myself.” He didn’t turn around, his gaze remaining on the exhibition stage. To make it easier for her to hear clearly, he leaned slightly, lowering his chin a bit, accommodating her height: “The Ji family has freedom in marriage, and once you’re on the household registration book, you can enjoy a minimum annual salary.”

Shen Qianzhan’s gossip soul was instantly ignited. She glanced at Ji Qinghe and feigned seriousness: “Why are you telling me this?”

Ji Qinghe finally turned, a faint smile playing on his lips, his voice deep and low, like holding a handful of magnetic sand, slightly rippling: “You know why.”

Shen Qianzhan, hit in the knee: “...”

Her ears were tingling, either because Ji Qinghe was too close or a stray strand of hair had fallen loose. Shen Qianzhan casually tucked the strand behind her ear and said, “Mr. Ji’s getting married sounds like he’s recruiting a CEO’s wife.”

Annual salary and minimum living allowance—would having children also be performance-based?

Ji Qinghe didn’t respond.

Some things he considered flirtatious, Shen Qianzhan might not.

This woman was more finicky than a needle; it was easy to offend her.

Fortunately, Shen Qianzhan didn’t delve deeper. Her attention was quickly drawn to the newly presented exhibit on stage.

If Shen Qianzhan had any hobbies, the first was counting money, the second was spending money, and the third was watching others spend money.

She just loved rolling around in piles of money.

________________________________________

The gala ended, and Su Zan bought a jade hairpin, barely fulfilling the difficult task Su Lanyi had given him of spending money.

He was typically the type to get a bargain and still complain. As soon as he got the hairpin, he immediately took a photo and shared his location. The caption even reeked of a privileged slacker who couldn’t be saved—

Attended the charity gala on behalf of my dear sister to show love. Another day of hard work trying to spend all my family’s fortune.

Shen Qianzhan, who had watched Su Zan post on WeChat Moments the whole time, was the first who couldn’t stand it and posted three dog-head emojis in the comment section.

It was time to disperse. The exhibition hall had people scattering in small groups, all trying to establish connections in the last moments. The area around Ji Qinghe, in particular, had formed a moderately crowded hot zone.

Shen Qianzhan had originally planned to borrow Ji Qinghe for ten minutes, without a specific venue in mind.

But in the current situation, let alone ten minutes, even one minute was unrealistic.

Buzhongshui’s most sincere charity contribution tonight was a Qing Dynasty Qianlong era mechanical self-striking clock, a private collection of Old Master Ji Qingzhen for several decades.

The collectible value of this clock was so high that it fetched the highest price tonight.

Shen Qianzhan, having been in this circle for many years, deeply understood the rules.

Ji Qinghe’s move was a merchant seizing an opportunity for profit, using this charitable act to knock on Buzhongshui’s door to enter the Chinese market. It wasn’t to say he wasn’t benevolent; charity was always about real money.

It was just that the initial intention of charity galas was never entirely pure.

She discreetly stood up, ready to quietly leave.

Unexpectedly, just as she stood up, her wrist sank. Ji Qinghe gripped her hand firmly: “Wait a moment.”

He interrupted so abruptly, and this “wait a moment” was unclear who it was directed at.

But it was effective.

The people surrounding him cleared, consciously stepping back two paces.

Ji Qinghe released her hand and asked, “Shall we go together later?”

Such a question was too easily misunderstood, and everyone’s gaze unanimously fell on her.

Shen Qianzhan paused for a moment. Thanks to her extensive experience of speaking appropriately to both humans and ghosts for many years, she almost immediately gave a reasonable response: “No hurry, Mr. Ji is busy. I won’t disturb you now. If Mr. Ji is worried, I’ll have Su Zan report the project progress to you or Assistant Ming at all times.”

The scrutinizing gazes dispersed, becoming softer and benevolent.

Shen Qianzhan could almost hear the thoughts of those women with ulterior motives towards Ji Qinghe: “She’s not here to steal my rice bowl, I’m relieved.”

She smiled faintly. Without waiting for Ji Qinghe to make another move, she picked up her skirt, thanked him with perfect etiquette, and bid farewell.

Su Zan was pulled out of the crowd by her. Before he could recover, he was forced to run like his butt was on fire.

All the way to the parking lot, and once in the car, he finally had time to ask, “Sister Zhan, why did you run for no reason? I was just about to get WeChat contacts, but I didn’t have time to scan them.”

Shen Qianzhan perfunctorily replied: “Next time I’ll bring you a whole carload to scan slowly.”

Su Zan pouted, his eyes full of disbelief.

He carefully put away the jade hairpin, instructed the driver to start the car, and send Shen Qianzhan home first: “Everyone else wishes they could get involved with Mr. Ji, but you, you’re trying to distance yourself as fast as possible.”

The car was a bit cold. Shen Qianzhan leaned over from the back seat to grab her jacket. While putting it on, she retorted, “Do you think it’s a good thing for a pretty woman to be associated with a man in gossip?”

Su Zan replayed her words in his mind and suspected, “I think your emphasis is on ‘pretty woman.’”

“Glad you know,” Shen Qianzhan smiled and patted Su Zan’s “pig head”: “Tomorrow you’ll be moving to my department as my junior. Be good, keep a low profile, and don’t offend your pretty superior for no reason. Women are vipers, especially pretty ones.”

Su Zan said expressionlessly: “You scare me like this every day. If I can’t get it up, will you be responsible?” Having barely escaped the childhood trauma of Su Lanyi, he now faced the midlife crisis of Shen Qianzhan.

The fortune teller said his life was cursed with women, and it truly wasn’t a lie.

________________________________________

However, fate has a funny way of working.

On Su Zan’s very first day back as Shen Qianzhan’s junior, he violated her taboo against gossip.

The cause of the problem was the photo Su Zan posted on his WeChat Moments last night.

Besides the high-definition, uncensored, center-stage photo of the jade hairpin, he also took two candid shots to prove his words were true. The problem lay in the background of those candid photos...

When Su Zan took the photos, he had his back to Shen Qianzhan to get the lighting right, inadvertently capturing her in real-time, speaking in hushed tones with Ji Qinghe.

Even as a background figure, Mr. Ji’s demeanor was still outstanding. He completely overshadowed Su Zan’s sunlit handsomeness with his enlarged features, attracting most of Su Zan’s WeChat friends with his highly blurred, aloof presence.

Initially, some people even asked if the man talking to Shen Qianzhan was a newly signed artist by Qian Deng. After acquaintances arrived, they began to tease Shen Qianzhan for indiscriminately releasing her charm again, wondering which “little brother” had fallen for her this time.

Being in the same circle and industry, Su Zan could sweep across half the entertainment industry during a meal.

This “half of the industry” then linked up, directly opening a discussion forum in Su Zan’s comment section. The result was that everyone happily dug up a romance novel.

Buzhongshui had been making frequent big moves in the industry recently, and with the change of its China regional spokesperson, various companies were redoubling their efforts to secure the top position and the endorsement deal. Naturally, many people recognized the man intimately whispering to Shen Qianzhan as Ji Qinghe, the acting CEO of Buzhongshui’s China region.

Once the identities were established, the story naturally emerged.

First, enthusiastic gossipy netizens mentioned that Ji Qinghe and Qian Deng artist Xiang Qianqian had been on trending topics. This sparked a discussion, and everyone connected it to Xiang Qianqian’s breach of contract and job hopping, secretly theorizing: this was a duel between two women over one man, a battle between Qian Deng’s cash cow and its treasure chest.

This conspiracy theory was initially questioned by strict, older gossip friends for its logic. However, considering Qian Deng and Buzhongshui’s recent collaboration and co-production of a tribute drama, everyone praised Shen Qianzhan for her excellent tactics, successfully eliminating Xiang Qianqian and getting a head start.

Based on the photos unintentionally exposed by the “pig teammate” Su Zan, Shen Qianzhan and Ji Qinghe’s relationship was developing well, and her advancement was just around the corner.

Of course, the above story circulated only within the half of the entertainment industry that did not include Shen Qianzhan and Su Zan. It was only after several days of being enthusiastically discussed that it was completely ignited by rumors fermenting within Qian Deng Company.

When this juicy gossip reached Qian Deng, the various departments, combining it with the recent frequent gifts from Buzhongshui to Shen Qianzhan’s department, finally understood.

As the person involved who only realized what was happening after the rumors had spread rapidly, Shen Qianzhan sat in her office, her face as dark as water, breaking her third lipstick.

Her cold gaze turned to Su Zan, who had shrunk into a ball. She angrily threw the documents in her hand at him: “You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

Su Zan, who had voluntarily come to confess his fault, looked particularly wronged: “How was I supposed to know everyone was so idle? They were practically about to write a steamy novel and propose it as a project.”

Shen Qianzhan continued to throw things at him: “Are they just idle? No, that’s pure malice, aimed at me. For now, keep your mouth shut. If you cause any more trouble, I’ll throw you off the top floor.”

Su Zan shivered: “Then what about this scandal between you and Mr. Ji?”

Shen Qianzhan was going crazy online.

Was she going to have to make another deal with that treacherous old dog?