Upon hearing this, Lin Jianxi’s heart seemed to skip a beat. It took her a long moment to regain her composure before she replied calmly, “Jiang Xu, a marriage without feelings will never last.”
Jiang Xu turned his gaze toward her profile, his eyes gradually darkening. “Why? Aren’t we living well together? Why do you suddenly want a divorce?”
Lin Jianxi smiled self-deprecatingly. “Jiang Xu, our marriage was a mistake. If it weren’t for that accident, we wouldn’t have gotten married.”
Jiang Xu slowly furrowed his brows, staring deeply at her delicate and beautiful profile without saying a word.
Lin Jianxi paused for a few seconds. “You’re so smart—how could you not know what I’m thinking?”
The next moment, she lifted her foot and forcefully kicked him off the bed. Watching the slightly disheveled man on the floor, she froze for two seconds, thinking to herself that she was quite strong.
Jiang Xu fell awkwardly onto the floor, his face filled with disbelief. Gritting his teeth, he exclaimed, “Lin Jianxi!”
A faint smile appeared in Lin Jianxi’s eyes as she looked at the man sitting on the floor, two lovely dimples forming at the corners of her lips. “No need to shout so loudly—I can hear you.”
Jiang Xu’s expression darkened as he got up from the floor, climbed onto the bed, and pinned her beneath him. He gripped her pale, slender wrists, his heavy breaths slowly brushing against her face.
“Jiang Xu!” Lin Jianxi’s breathing grew somewhat erratic. She lifted her feet and kicked him wildly, but the disparity in strength between men and women was too great. The man remained unmoving, letting her kick him.
Lin Jianxi glared at him with shimmering eyes, her chest heaving with anger as she cursed, “Jiang Xu! You bastard, have you lost your mind?”
Hearing this, Jiang Xu frowned slightly, lowered his head, and kissed her chattering lips. He forcefully pried open her teeth, kissing her lips with a fierce and wild intensity.
Lin Jianxi’s breathing grew increasingly rapid. The man’s kiss was rough and clumsy, his teeth bumping against her lips, causing her to wince in pain.
Jiang Xu’s eyes were dark and intense, his heavy breaths spraying against her face as he savagely claimed her sweetness.
Lin Jianxi was almost out of breath. Her lips and tongue felt numb, her head dizzy, the corners of her beautiful eyes slightly reddened, and her gaze misty with unshed tears.
A few seconds later, Jiang Xu released her. The woman in his arms had tears welling in her eyes, and the tip of her small nose was flushed red.
A strange emotion stirred in Jiang Xu’s heart. After a long moment, he reached out and gently wiped away the teardrops at the corners of her eyes, his voice hoarse. “Why are you crying?”
Lin Jianxi turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
“Lin Jianxi?”
The man’s low, husky voice reached her ears. Lin Jianxi’s nose tingled with bitterness, but she suppressed the urge to cry, her delicate and beautiful face cold and expressionless.
Jiang Xu cupped her face, his eyelids slightly lowered as he gazed deeply at her. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Forced to meet his gaze, Lin Jianxi stared at his face so close to hers. Anger swelled in her chest, and she raised her head, biting his shoulder fiercely.
“Hiss…” Jiang Xu gasped in pain.
Lin Jianxi bit down hard. Even through his shirt, she could taste the salty, metallic tang of blood in her mouth. The sound of the man’s heavy breathing filled her ears, and she froze for a moment.
Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Jiang Xu’s voice remained low and hoarse. “Do you feel better now?”
After a long pause, Lin Jianxi spoke. “You’re insane.”
Jiang Xu’s eyes darkened slightly. The woman’s thick, curled lashes were slightly damp, and a lingering blush still colored her cheeks. He paused for a moment before getting off her.
“Sleep,” Jiang Xu said, wrapping his arm tightly around her waist, pulling the covers over her, and slowly closing his eyes.
Lin Jianxi took a deep breath and turned her head to look at the man before her. Her gaze fell on his shoulder, where a vivid red stain was seeping through his snow-white shirt.
Lin Jianxi pressed her red lips together and remained silent for a long time. Her eyes stayed fixed on his shoulder as she suppressed the strange feeling in her heart and pulled open his shirt to examine the wound.
She saw two rows of bloody bite marks on the man’s pale, cold shoulder, deeply embedded into the flesh. Around the wound was a faint ring of bluish-purple bruising.
Jiang Xu opened his eyes, his narrow, deep gaze as dark as if ink had been dripped into them, reflecting her face.
Lin Jianxi’s long, delicate eyelashes trembled slightly, and her throat felt dry and tight. “Does it hurt?”
Jiang Xu turned to face her, his low voice tinged with grievance. “It hurts. It hurts a lot.”
Lin Jianxi instinctively held her breath, her heartbeat gradually speeding up. “You deserve it.”
Jiang Xu tightened his arm around her waist, leaning close to her ear and whispering softly, “Lin Jianxi, I said I won’t divorce.”
“I insist on it,” Lin Jianxi closed her eyes, a barely noticeable curve lifting the corners of her red lips.
Jiang Xu leaned closer, his warm breath brushing against her neck. “I’ve changed my mind. It’s not happening.”
Lin Jianxi’s face and ears were burning. Since their marriage, Jiang Xu had never spoken to her in such a tone, nor had he ever gently nuzzled against her like this.
…
Weibo Hot Search.
#Jiuxi Qipao Shop Owner# Trending at No. 3
The top post on the hot search was a short video posted by a user with the ID ‘A Fish That Blows Bubbles.’
In the video, Lin Jianxi wore a moon-white qipao, her features exquisite and beautiful, her figure swaying gracefully, radiant and captivating. Every movement exuded elegance and poise.
The video had already received 800,000 likes, 270,000 reposts, and 110,000 comments.
【Wuwu, so beautiful! Who understands!】
【This qipao suits her so well. She looks like a gentle, cool qipao beauty who stepped right out of a painting.】
【This qipao is absolutely stunning, it’s killing me! What’s this qipao beauty’s name?】
【Her looks are no less than those of top female celebrities in the entertainment industry (fans of various celebrities, please don’t take this personally).】
【Haven’t talent scouts discovered her yet!!】
The comments section under the hot search was unusually harmonious, mostly filled with praise for Lin Jianxi. Some people went to the ‘Jiuxi Qipao Official Weibo’ to leave comments and even dug up Lin Jianxi’s personal Weibo from the official account’s following list.
Lin Jianxi’s account only had a few posts, with her follower count just surpassing a thousand. All her posts were related to qipao, and she only followed three accounts: Qiao Shu, Jiang Tu, and the official qipao shop Weibo. Netizens speculated about her relationship with Qiao Shu and Jiang Tu—could she be a fan of Jiang Tu and Qiao Shu?
…
The “Dreaming of Mountains and Seas” film crew started work at 2 p.m. The crew members were busy with preparations before filming began, but the male lead, Ye Chen, had not yet arrived on set.
Lin Yujing sat elegantly on a rest chair, holding a script in her hand. Her personal makeup artist was applying her makeup, while her assistant and executive manager sat beside her.
Though Lin Yujing appeared to be reading the script, her attention was entirely focused on Lin Jianxi’s studio. Lin Jianxi had entered the studio in the morning and had not come out even once since then.
Lin Yujing tightened her grip on the script. Lin Jianxi wasn’t a deity—she needed to drink water and eat. The fact that she hadn’t come out even once meant there must be a restroom inside.
Suddenly, a steady set of footsteps echoed nearby. Lin Yujing followed the sound and saw Jiang Xu’s tall, straight figure emerging from the warehouse.
Lin Yujing noticed the wrinkles on Jiang Xu’s white shirt and also spotted a faint dark red stain on his shoulder, which looked very much like dried blood.