Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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By the time Ming Yao looked up to observe Qi Xu’s expression after sending the message, the man had already disappeared into the dim light on the second floor.
“Only back my girlfriend? Dream on.”
Ming Yao muttered to herself and put away her phone. She initially thought that Qi Xu was taking advantage of her with those words, but then she realized that wasn’t right.
Is this man implying something deeper?
He only made decisions for his girlfriend.
Is this telling Ming Yao, “Don’t even think about it, you’re just a substitute, you don’t deserve it”?
Ming Yao didn’t know, and was too lazy to analyze it.
If you don’t want to help, then forget it.
The cake was then cut on stage, and the birthday song began to play.
Ming Yao’s mood improved with the cheerful and lively atmosphere. She was clapping along with the music when Jian Ning suddenly nudged her and gestured, “Look over there.”
Ming Yao, confused, looked in the direction indicated and saw several people in security guard uniforms surrounding Chen Rong.
Chen Rong looked unwell, arguing agitatedly.
Jian Ning urged Ming Yao and Guan Xingdi, “Let’s go take a look.”
“I’m not going.” Ming Yao had no interest in her.
“Then the two of us will go.”
After Jian Ning finished speaking, she dragged Guan Xingdi over excitedly, while Ming Yao continued watching Ji Muyang cut the cake on the stage.
The two returned in less than two minutes.
They had big smiles on their faces.
Jian Ning, with her little mouth, whispered the news: “You still say you and Senior Brother Ji are not having an affair! He’s so protective of you. When he saw Chen Rong push you, he immediately turned on her and told her to get lost.”
Ming Yao:?
Guan Xingdi nodded: “I can testify that I personally heard the security guard tell Chen Rong to leave immediately. There were a lot of people watching, and Chen Rong’s face turned white with anger.”
Ming Yao was stunned for a while. When she looked over again, she only saw Chen Rong’s angry figure disappearing through the door.
Jian Ning pinched Ming Yao, her expression meaningful: “Not bad, sister.”
Guan Xingdi also gave a thumbs up: “That’s right, the sweetest CP in the film academy has to be you two. Ning Ning and I will lead the way in shipping you.”
Ignoring her friends’ teasing, Ming Yao quickly grabbed Jian Ning and asked, “Did the security guards say who asked her to leave?”
Jian Ning thought for a moment, “No, but who else but Senior Brother Ji would do that?”
Ming Yao pursed her lips, her eyes secretly glancing towards the second floor.
Qi Xu was not there.
Ming Yao fell into deep thought.
So… was this Lei Feng[1] Ji Muyang or Qi Xu?
Ji Muyang’s chances were higher, right?
After all, he was just a tool who would only make decisions for his girlfriend.
The cake on the table had already been cut, but there weren’t enough to go around because there were too many people, so Ji Muyang’s assistant gave each guest a box of chocolate mousse.
The birthday party was drawing to a close, but Ming Yao’s task was not yet completed. Just as she was thinking about how to deliver the cake to Qi Xu, who had only been partially coaxed, her phone rang.
Ming Yao glanced at the caller ID and abruptly slammed the phone down.
She was afraid that her two silly best friends would see this and jump up and dig three feet into the ground to strip her naked.
Ming Yao calmly put on her earphones and walked to a quiet place to answer the call: “Hello.”
“Downstairs, I’ll take you back to school.”
Just as Ming Yao was about to speak, Ji Muyang suddenly appeared in front of her: “Ming Yao, are you going back to school later? I’m going that way, can I give you a ride?”
Ming Yao opened her mouth, “Huh?”
She was caught off guard.
One person on the phone was offering to give her a ride, and another person standing in front of her was also offering to give her a ride.
One was the actor playing Gu Yuan, and the other was someone who was experiencing the story as Gu Yuan.
Which Gu Yuan should she choose?
Qi Xu, of course, also heard Ji Muyang’s words. Seeing that she was still hesitating, his voice already showed some displeasure: “You want me to come find you?”
Ming Yao blurted out, “No!”
Ji Muyang: “No?”
Ming Yao secretly hung up on Qi Xu, “I meant I’m going with my friend, so I won’t trouble you, senior brother. Oh, by the way—”
She finally found an opportunity to ask, “Just now, Chen Rong…”
Ming Yao didn’t finish her sentence; she was just testing the waters.
Ji Muyang was clearly unaware of the situation. “What happened to Chen Rong?”
“…”
Ming Yao understood.
She smiled and said, “It’s nothing. I’ll be going now. Happy birthday, senior brother.”
Ming Yao told Jian Ning and Guan Xingdi what was going on, and then headed straight for the parking lot.
She easily found Qi Xu’s car, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then got in.
Qi Xu glanced at her: “Didn’t you leave with Ji Muyang?”
Ming Yao had a look on her face that said, “How could you think of me like that?”: “Of course I’ll go with you, we’re good friends.”
Qi Xu knew she was being coy, and chuckled inwardly, but replied calmly, “Who said we’re good friends?”
I only want to be your boyfriend.
However, Qi Xu didn’t say the last sentence.
Ming Yao misunderstood, interpreting it as Qi Xu still being angry.
She thought that he was already over her anger because he was willing to help her get rid of Chen Rong.
“I’m tired of saying sorry,” Ming Yao said, handing him the cake she had hidden in her bag. “Don’t be angry. Here, take this cake. Thank you for helping me get rid of that idiot who was bothering me.”
Qi Xu suppressed the slight upturn of his lips, glanced at the cake, and said, “I don’t eat sweets.”
“…”
Oh dear, he’s getting all haughty.
If you don’t want to eat it, fine.
Isn’t it delicious for me to eat it myself?
The car drove towards the film academy, and neither of them spoke again.
Ming Yao quietly ate her cake, occasionally glancing at Qi Xu.
In the deep darkness of the night, fleeting light and shadow occasionally brushed across his face.
Qi Xu was truly handsome, with a high nose and a touch of indifference and sharpness in his eyes and brows. Although not gentle, it suited his aura perfectly.
He was not the gentle type like Ji Muyang.
But Ming Yao had to admit that she was attracted to his type; otherwise, she wouldn’t have given him a perfect score on their first meeting.
If it weren’t for Jin Tang…
If.
Ming Yao suddenly snapped out of her daze, patted her face, and wondered why she had come up with such a hypothesis.
Qi Xu noticed her unusual expression. “What are you thinking about?”
Ming Yao sat up straight. “Nothing.”
After a few seconds of silence, and for some unknown reason, she suddenly asked, “Didn’t you say you only make decisions for your girlfriend?”
Ming Yao regretted it as soon as she said it.
Damn, what embarrassing question is she asking?
She hurriedly explained, “What I mean is—”
Qi Xu casually interrupted, “My future girlfriend can also enjoy this treatment in advance.”
“…”
Ming Yao understood his words, paused for a few seconds, and felt like something was churning inside her.
She opened her mouth, “Actually, we’ve only known each other for a short time. Are you sure… your feelings for me are real?”
Ming Yao practically asked him directly, “Are you sure the person you like is me?”
The car pulled up to the side of the road near the film academy. Qi Xu parked the car, paused, and turned to look at Ming Yao: “After I drop you off, I still have to go back to the company to work overtime. There’s still a lot of follow-up work to be done regarding the trending topics.”
As he spoke, he seemed to have seen something, and pulled a piece of tissue from the storage box, casually wiping away a bit of chocolate from Ming Yao’s lips.
He looked at her, and after a moment, sighed softly, “Ming Yao, I’m not as free as you think.”
Ming Yao: “…”
Qi Xu didn’t say anything more and came over to help Ming Yao unbuckle her seatbelt.
His perfume smelled wonderful; it was a light, ethereal scent that evoked a sense of dreamy gentleness.
The moment she turned to the side, Ming Yao felt the warm breath he exhaled.
Ming Yao was instantly overwhelmed by the heat.
She felt a little awkward, staring down at the cake, her voice slightly unsteady: “Then I’ll go back first.”
Qi Xu hummed in agreement.
Perhaps it was the brief skin-to-skin contact when he suddenly reached out to wipe her lips, or perhaps it was the faint masculine scent emanating from him— whatever the reason, at this moment— Ming Yao was somewhat confused.
She quickly opened the door and got out of the car.
On the way back, she kept thinking about Qi Xu’s reply.
Indeed, with the company trending on social media and facing negative public opinion, it seems unnecessary for him to go to such lengths to waste time on a stand-in.
Ming Yao found herself wavering.
Although Qi Xu was too direct from the beginning, and the clues were highly suspicious, the coincidences could not be explained entirely by a single word.
But, it was indeed just her own conclusion.
Ming Yao touched her slightly burning lips and thought— Is there any possibility that Qi Xu truly likes me, without all those melodramatic stories?
Could he be… different from Gu Yuan?
….
After dropping Ming Yao off, Qi Xu was about to return to the company to assess the current situation online when he received an overseas call halfway through his journey.
Qi Xu glanced at the number, didn’t press it at first, and only pressed the answer button after it rang for a long time, “Hello.”
The voice was thin and cold, lacking any warmth.
On the other end of the phone, a young man called out to him: “Elder brother.”
“I just woke up and saw the news in China. How are things on your end?”
Qi Xu: “It’s nothing.”
Qi Yan could sense his distance and remained silent for a while before saying, “Then I won’t bother you anymore. You should get some rest.”
The call ended abruptly.
Like a pebble thrown into still water at night, but without making a splash.
It was almost 10 p.m. when Qi Xu returned to the company.
As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, his assistant He Zheng greeted him, “The chairman is here. He’s in his office. I was just about to inform you.”
Qi Xu nodded and walked straight into the office. “Understood.”
Pushing open the door, he saw Qi Hengyuan sitting on the sofa drinking tea, eho then slightly raised his eyelids when he saw Qi Xu come in.
Qi Xu remained calm as he sat down in his seat. “What brings you here so late?”
Qi Hengyuan was used to this distance between him and his son. He took a sip of tea and said, “I was having dinner with some friends nearby. I knew you must be working overtime, so I came to check on you.”
Silence.
Silence was another form of resistance, and Qi Hengyuan knew his eldest son’s personality very well.
He paused for a moment, then said, “Things were handled well today.”
Qi Xu had already flipped through a pile of documents without even looking up: “You didn’t come here specifically to praise me, did you?”
Qi Hengyuan did come over for business, but he didn’t want to be too formal and immediately start discussing official matters with his son.
But clearly, Qi Xu didn’t want to chat with him.
Every word he uttered was respectful and proper, yet also filled with alienation.
Qi Hengyuan sighed softly and had no choice but to get to the point, “Xiao Tang is injured, did you know?”
….
Because Ming Yao had stood Qi Xu up once before, she made sure to clear all the details and free up time for the second concert they had arranged.
She was afraid Qi Xu would forget, so she sent him a message in advance.
[Tickets bought! I’ll be waiting for you at the theater entrance tonight at 6:30.]
Qi Xu didn’t reply immediately, but Ming Yao didn’t take it to heart. After all, he was a CEO, and he wasn’t as free as she was, always carrying his phone with him.
At 6:30, Ming Yao arrived at the theater entrance on time.
She had washed her hair specially, making it smell nice, put on beautiful makeup, and worn the refreshing and casual clothes that Qi Xu “liked”.
This showed that Ming Yao took this date quite seriously today.
She messaged Qi Xu: [I’ve arrived, how about you?]
No reply.
It was 6:40, twenty minutes before the concert was scheduled to begin.
Ming Yao called Qi Xu, but no one answered.
By 6:50, almost all the audience members had entered the venue.
The concert began at seven o’clock.
Ming Yao stood alone outside the theater as the streetlights came on, and people came and went around her.
The phone finally rang.
[Sorry, I had some urgent business in France yesterday, so we’ll have to reschedule for another day.]
Ming Yao: “…”
???
Haha, are you a sore loser?
I stood you up the day before yesterday, and you’re doing the same to me today, right?
Are you really that stingy and miserly?
Ming Yao quickly typed out a long message on her phone and then deleted it all.
She comforted herself, telling herself to let it go and consider it even.
Why did he suddenly go abroad?
Ming Yao muttered as she went to the roadside to hail a taxi back to school. While waiting for the taxi, a guess suddenly flashed through her mind.
Gone abroad?
She paused for a moment, then immediately pulled up Jin Tang’s Weibo account.
When Ming Yao saw the first post on Jin Tang’s Weibo, her heart skipped a beat.
She seemed to have encountered some kind of accident and posted a message on Weibo to let everyone know she’s safe.
@Jin Tang: [It’s nothing serious, just a minor scratch. Sorry for worrying everyone.]
Ming Yao’s heart suddenly started racing, and she felt a vague, elusive sense of panic.
All the clues suddenly connected.
Jin Tang posted on Weibo yesterday, and Qi Xu left yesterday.
Jin Tang was in Paris, and Qi Xu had gone to France.
Ming Yao: “…”
The cake that night must have been too sweet to have captivated her.
How could he be different from Gu Yuan?
They were the same.
The author has something to say:
Xiao Ming’s Observation Diary for Today—
Calm down. Don’t get angry. Forget it. Amitabha. Murder is against the law. (▼皿▼#)
And the younger brother showed up today! Originally, I was going to start with the story of the younger brother, Qi Yan, and the fairy Hu Jiao, but I got more into the older brother’s story, so I started with the elder brother’s first. The younger brother is also quite a rascal; anyway, both brothers are rascals.
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[1] Lei Feng was a Chinese soldier and iconic propaganda figure celebrated for his selflessness, frugality, and dedication to the Communist Party.
