Shen Luojia’s teasing voice rang in her ear.
It made Jiang Li inexplicably recall the image of the two of them tangled together in the darkness last night.
Perfectly fitted, breaths intertwined.
Her face grew warm.
She simply played dead and didn’t respond.
Yang Yi quickly finished her phone call and came back in from the balcony.
She had always been fiercely protective of her own people. After learning what Jiang Li had nearly encountered last night, she was overcome with lingering fear.
If Jiang Li’s vigilance had been even slightly lower, or if she hadn’t run into Shang Chi…
She didn’t dare think further.
Yang Yi instinctively glanced at Jiang Li.
Worried that sleeping with makeup on would harm her skin, she’d already had Xiao Qing help remove Jiang Li’s makeup last night.
The morning sunlight streamed in through the window, and when it fell upon her, it seemed to become especially gentle.
She sat on the bed with a bare face, saying something to Xiao Qing, and with a slight curl of her lips, she suddenly smiled.
Her eyes shimmered with radiance, bright and captivating.
Jiang Li’s features were exceptionally well-formed—not a single line too much, not a single line too little. Every part of her face and figure was perfectly proportioned.
Beautiful women of every kind emerged endlessly in the industry, but someone like her—with a small head, delicate face, and flawless bone structure—was exceedingly rare.
Yang Yi silently sighed to herself.
They’d encountered similar situations before.
She just hadn’t expected that this time, the investor wouldn’t even wait for the banquet to end before making such a move.
She didn’t know what kind of backing he had, but he acted so brazenly, without a shred of restraint.
Jiang Li had been telling Xiao Qing about Shang Chi’s embarrassing moments from high school.
She turned her head and caught Yang Yi’s self-reproachful, guarded expression.
She understood roughly what it was about.
Feigning nonchalance, she raised an eyebrow with a smile. “Sister Yang, don’t worry too much. Didn’t I come out of it completely fine?”
“I’m not some newcomer fresh out of the gate. Even if I hadn’t run into Shang Chi last night, I would have found my own way out.”
That wasn’t just empty comfort for them.
Jiang Li had been quite drunk last night, but she’d still had her wits about her.
After all, she’d still been inside the hotel, where cameras were everywhere. For the person following her to completely avoid the cameras and make a move on her wouldn’t have been so easy.
It just so happened that she’d run into Shang Chi.
Looking back on it afterward, she couldn’t quite figure out what she’d been thinking at the time.
Someone as cautious as her, actually asking a complete stranger for help?
It was utterly baffling.
Jiang Li shook her head and came to a firm conclusion in her mind: she’d definitely been too drunk to think straight.
There were quite a few mid-year business events coming up. Just thinking about running into Shang Chi at some occasion or another, and being subjected to his biting, sarcastic remarks—
Jiang Li felt a headache coming on.
“By the way, you haven’t forgotten about that variety show you’re attending next week, have you?”
Jiang Li had just been worrying about how to avoid running into Shang Chi when Yang Yi suddenly brought this up. Her eyes lit up. “Is it that fifteen-day travel variety show?”
“Yes,” Yang Yi glanced at Jiang Li, who looked eager to give it a try, and said suspiciously, “When I mentioned it to you before, didn’t you look completely uninterested?”
“How could that be?”
Jiang Li narrowed her eyes lazily, her worries completely dissolving.
“A paid vacation—what’s not to want?”
“A variety show?”
Shang Chi barely restrained himself from hanging up the phone, his brows furrowed so deeply that one might think Chen Yan was asking him to attend a blind date rather than a variety show.
“Why the hell would I go on that stupid show?”
The man let out a merciless sneer, dripping with sarcasm.
Chen Yan on the other end of the line choked on his words, his tone resigned. “Grandpa, you’ve been abroad for training for so long, and now that you’re back, you should at least show your face in public, right?”
He let out an exaggerated sigh. “The production team has been talking to me for a while now. Your fans have been waiting day and night for you to come back, but no—you said you were going for training, and then you vanished into thin air. Months went by without a single Weibo post.”
Shang Chi had never had the patience for this kind of talk. The word “decline” was already on the tip of his tongue when he heard Chen Yan sigh again in defeat.
“But that said, it’s not like we absolutely have to do this show,” he paused. “I got word that the production team also reached out to Jiang Li’s side before. Given how hostile you two are toward each other… forget it, my bad for not thinking it through. There are plenty of shows out there, let’s just—”
“Accept it.”
“Got it, I’ll go decline right—huh?”
Before Chen Yan could finish his sentence, he was caught off guard by Shang Chi’s words, his pitch shooting up several octaves.
His jaw nearly dropped. “What did you say?”
He was so shocked his dialect slipped out.
“I said accept it, didn’t you hear?” Shang Chi frowned. “Chen Dongdong, has your hearing problem gotten worse again? When you have free time, go book a specialist appointment. Don’t avoid seeing a doctor out of fear.”
He paused for a second, then added smugly, “I’ll reimburse you.”
Chen Yan took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to beat the man on the other end of the line to a pulp, and gritted his teeth. “But we’re not sure yet whether Jiang Li will participate. The production team is being sneaky—they won’t release the guest list.”
“Don’t worry.” Shang Chi narrowed his eyes, saying deliberately, “Since the production team knows Jiang Li and I don’t get along, how could they possibly have us appear at the same time?”
Chen Yan suddenly understood. “Right, that makes sense. Okay, I feel better now. Otherwise, I’d have to worry about you two arguing on the show every second.”
“Alright then, I’ll get back to the production team now.”
They exchanged a few more words about the work schedule for the coming days before hanging up.
Thinking about the frequent business engagements coming up this month, Shang Chi was certain that Jiang Li would accept the variety show just to avoid running into him.
And besides…
Chen Yan really didn’t have enough experience with variety shows.
If they could help it, how would the production team possibly pass up a guest pairing that came with built-in buzz?
He could already imagine the explosive hype the show would generate once the guest lineup was officially announced.
The man lounged lazily in his seat, his expression visibly brightening with satisfaction.
His eyes lowered, his gaze unconsciously landing on the latest photo Jiang Li had posted on Weibo.
A pine-green gown, hair pinned up in a low bun.
Clearly the look she’d worn to last night’s cocktail party.
At the thought of something, Shang Chi’s narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and he let out a soft chuckle.
“Some debts are due for collection now.”