Jiang Zhi stared at the house that was slightly better than a bare-bones unit but utterly empty, completely stunned.
This was what the man called “relatively empty”?
This was empty everywhere!
The place was bare as a monk’s cell—there wasn’t even a single stool to sit on.
Jiang Zhi furrowed her brows. Was this man in such a hurry to get the marriage certificate because he needed a maid?
A gust of wind blew through the doorway, stirring up dust that didn’t even exist indoors. Jiang Zhi couldn’t help but shiver, genuinely sensing the bleakness of autumn in the air.
Before leaving, the man had said he didn’t want the couple to live apart and told her to move in tonight.
Was he trying to make her sleep on the floor? Torture her?
Fortunately, before she got out of the car, the two had exchanged contact information.
Jiang Zhi took a photo of the empty house and sent it to the man.
Jiang Zhi: [Photo.JPG]
Jiang Zhi: [President Shang, you’re joking about me moving in today, right?]
The moment she sent the message, she didn’t expect him to reply instantly.
Shang Chi: [Go check the master bedroom.]
Shang Chi: [Don’t touch anything you shouldn’t.]
Jiang Zhi glanced at his reply and walked toward the master bedroom with a dismissive air.
She didn’t really believe that a man worth hundreds of billions would live in such a “bare-bones unit.”
But the moment she pushed open the door, her narrow fox-like eyes widened into perfect circles again!
The living room she’d just seen was as empty as could be—which only made the bedroom seem all the more exquisite by contrast.
There was a bathroom, a walk-in closet, and every amenity fully stocked. The room’s overall aesthetic was a high-end cold black tone, matching the man’s refined taste.
Jiang Zhi was still processing the stark contrast between the two spaces when the man sent her another message.
Shang Chi: [There’s a room of identical specifications next door. You can decorate it however you like.]
Seeing this, Jiang Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly.
Could she interpret this as—that room was for her, and the two of them didn’t have to sleep in the same room?
So his earlier talk about not accepting a marriage of convenience was just to scare her?
Had she been too suspicious of him?
Still, Jiang Zhi wasn’t about to let her guard down just because of one message.
Jiang Zhi: [Got it, President Shang.]
She turned off the screen and walked out of the room. Just as she was about to check out the courtyard outside, her phone rang.
Jiang Zhi pressed the answer button, and her assistant Xiao Ran’s urgent voice came through. “Sister Jiang Zhi, where are you? Sister Qing found out that Movie Emperor Jiang advanced ten million to silence the paparazzi. Sister Qing and Movie Emperor Jiang are at a standoff right now—you need to come over.”
Hearing Jiang Qinian’s name, Jiang Zhi still felt a pang of pain in her heart.
After all, she’d had feelings for him for five years. Even if you raised a pet, you’d grow attached to it—let alone a person.
She just didn’t understand why Jiang Qinian would waste his efforts, spending ten million to shut that paparazzo up.
She didn’t want to dig into what it meant.
Jiang Zhi’s eyelids drooped slightly, her long lashes like raven feathers shielding her thoughts. She answered off-topic. “Xiao Ran, in the past three years, I’ve never taken my annual leave, right?”
Xiao Ran on the other end of the line paused, confused, then nodded in agreement.
Jiang Zhi looked around at the empty house and smiled faintly. “So taking a week off isn’t too much to ask, is it?”
Xiao Ran nodded again. “Of course not.”
Jiang Zhi said with relief, “For the next week, you don’t need to tell me anything about Jiang Qinian.”
Xiao Ran understood. She glanced at Jiang Qinian, who sat nearby looking as elegant and composed as ever, and pressed her lips together. “I understand, Sister Jiang Zhi.”
In the past, as her assistant, Xiao Ran had seen all the good things Jiang Zhi did for Jiang Qinian.
This was the first time she’d seen Sister Jiang Zhi completely distance herself from anything related to Movie Emperor Jiang. In the past, whenever something happened to him, wasn’t Sister Jiang Zhi always the one running around for him?
Often forgetting to eat, or forgetting to sleep.
Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, never taking a single day off—all for Movie Emperor Jiang. And it was thankless work, constantly drawing criticism from his fans.
Now, suddenly wanting to take a break—it must mean Movie Emperor Jiang had truly broken Sister Jiang Zhi’s heart for her to be so resolute.
Xiao Ran hung up the phone, and Jiang Qinian’s warm, confident voice reached her ears. “Is she coming over?”
Xiao Ran shook her head and relayed Jiang Zhi’s words to Jiang Qinian verbatim.
Sister Qing was one of the shareholders of Tianheng Entertainment, primarily responsible for managing the agents under the company.
She was a profit-driven person. Scolding Jiang Qinian was one thing, but his current market value far exceeded that ten million.
After just two reprimands about not acting on impulse in the future, the matter was dropped.
The real reason Xiao Ran had called Jiang Zhi was because Jiang Qinian had asked her to.
Jiang Qinian’s eyes shifted slightly, and he smiled politely at Xiao Ran. “It’s fine. Thank you for your help.”
Xiao Ran nodded. “Then… Movie Emperor Jiang, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head out first.”
Jiang Qinian said, “Alright.”
When Xiao Ran’s figure had completely disappeared through the doorway, Jiang Qinian’s jaw clenched tight. He grabbed the water bottle on the table, unscrewed the cap, and poured it down his throat in one go.
His Adam’s apple bobbed continuously until not a single drop remained. He crushed the bottle in his grip, the plastic letting out a piercing crackle.
With a bang, he slammed the bottle onto the table, braced both hands on the edge, and gasped for air.
Rage flooded his chest, burning so fiercely that it ached.
If this were any other time, upon hearing something had happened to him, she would have already appeared before him, unable to contain her urgency.
Why was it different this time?!
He refused to let her slip from his control!!
He recalled that night—Jiang Zhi had slammed the door and stormed out.
But Wen Nian had clung to him tightly, tears brimming in her eyes, her soft lips pressing clumsily against his as she mumbled incoherently, “Brother Qinian, the one you love is clearly me!”
“You said it yourself—she’s just convenient to have around. She doesn’t love you. Wake up!”
Wen Nian’s words did sober him up considerably.
Wasn’t this exactly the outcome he had wanted? To make Jiang Zhi fall for him, to make her devoted to him, and then discard her, trample her, crush her.
But why couldn’t he feel happy?
Why was she so calm about breaking up with him? The crying and tantrums he had imagined never came!
This feeling of losing control tormented him, and he desperately needed an outlet.
Facing Wen Nian, who bore a three-part resemblance to Jiang Zhi, he kissed her back.
The two tangled together once more.
The latter half of the night was wild; he could barely tell whether the woman in bed was Wen Nian or Jiang Zhi.
But afterward, his mind was entirely consumed by Jiang Zhi’s every smile and frown.
Especially the resolute expression she wore when she left—it was like a knife, stabbing straight into his heart!
He didn’t know what came over him, but he could no longer sit still. He threw off the covers, grabbed a coat, and walked out, ignoring Wen Nian’s cries behind him.
Unease, agitation, worry, panic—all these emotions churned together.
He called her countless times. At first, the calls went through, but after she hung up on the last one, all he got was the cold, mechanical voice of a phone that had been turned off.
Later, Xiao Ran told him about the paparazzi’s threats and extortion.
At that moment, as if possessed, he actually thought: Jiang Zhi wouldn’t like it if he had a scandal with Wen Nian.
And so he did exactly that.
He deliberately advanced a payment of ten million, wanting her to know that he had done it all for her.
That she was in his heart.
But never did he expect—she blocked him on every channel!
How dare she?!
And now she was taking a week off just to avoid him?
How laughable. Did she really think she could escape his grasp like this?
After going through all this, he had finally figured it out—no one could replace her. He had long since fallen in love with the daughter of his enemy.
Jiang Qinian pulled up the only photo the two of them had together, his thumb tracing Jiang Zhi’s delicate, youthful face on the screen. His tone was dark and menacing: “Run all you want. A week from now, you’ll come crawling right back to me.”