Sheng Xiali was busy, having only managed to squeeze in a meal with Ying Chan before she had to rush off to catch a high-speed train to Harbor City.
Before leaving, she glanced at Jin Si and whispered to Ying Chan, “Honestly, I’ve seen my fair share of men. If this bodyguard of yours really has feelings for you, then he’d be even more dangerous than Shang Lübai!”
“To the lustful, all things are lustful. We’re just a pure boss-bodyguard relationship.”
Sheng Xiali thought to herself that it might be pure now, but with time and proximity, feelings could grow—that was anyone’s guess.
She smiled mysteriously, said no more, whistled at Jin Si, and left.
Ying Chan brought Jin Si back to Heshan Bay, stopping at the 15th floor first.
Before leaving the house that morning, Ying Chan had arranged for a locksmith to come change the locks, and it was already done by now.
As she keyed in the passcode, she said, “I set the code to 1598. If you want to change it, just let me know after you do. But I won’t come barging in on my own anyway.”
Jin Si let out an “Oh” and said, “Playing the gentleman now, are we? And who was it earlier, plotting to get me drunk and steal my innocence?”
“…”
Ying Chan said to him, feeling wronged, “I have to leave at eight tomorrow morning! I’ve got work. Remember to get up!”
Jin Si suppressed a smile. “Mm.”
Ying Chan turned and stepped into the elevator, but Jin Si followed her in.
“What are you doing?”
“Walking you up, and checking your place while I’m at it—what if someone snuck in while we were away? You going in alone right now would be like a lamb walking into the wolf’s den. You could scream your lungs out and no one would come save you.”
Ying Chan couldn’t help but pinch his lower back. She found his words infuriating… but not really.
Just like his teasing remarks—they weren’t vulgar. You could tell he was just naturally flirtatious, with no dirty intentions behind it.
Jin Si inspected everything thoroughly, even leaning out to check the air conditioning unit outside.
The dim yellow light from the balcony fell across his taut back muscles. Ying Chan watched, and for some reason, was reminded of the dream where she’d held that man, leaving many scratch marks on his back…
Her mouth went dry, and she hastily looked away.
She thought to herself, maybe she should just find a man… Perhaps then she’d finally “let it go.” Otherwise, every now and then, she’d either dream about it or her mind would wander to that kind of thing, like she had some kind of addiction… Damn.
Ying Chan mentally slapped herself.
Jin Si locked the floor-to-ceiling window, pulled the curtains shut tight, and checked the rest of the place. After confirming everything was in order, he wiggled his phone and backed away, saying, “At your beck and call.”
“Oh.”
After showering, Ying Chan lay in bed playing on her phone. Jin Si sent a “Good night.”
Ying Chan casually replied, “Good night.”
But the man was fishing for a reaction, immediately following up with: “Dear, staying up late is bad for your health. I suggest paying to unlock my sleep-aid service.”
Ying Chan was caught between annoyance and amusement: “Seriously, are you that desperate for money?”
“Who’d do this job if they weren’t?”
“This job is perfectly legitimate!”
“But it requires tolerating an unprofessional boss and her friend verbally harassing me. That’s a workplace injury [pitiful] [crying].”
Ying Chan stared at those two little yellow emoji faces, and in an instant, her blood rushed up. A wicked thought stirred within her. She thought, you bastard, don’t test me, or I might actually sleep with you…
Of course, of course, it was just a thought—like how some people shout about wanting to blow up their school or take their company down with them. Pure venting.
Ying Chan let out a breath.
She jabbed at her phone and sent him a red envelope with the note “Mental distress compensation.”
Jin Si opened it. 0.1 yuan. He sighed: “Just as I thought—no boss is a good person.”
·
Ying Chan slept well and woke up just past seven the next morning.
She had a variety show to record today. Sister Wei and her junior assistant arrived early with the makeup artist.
As the makeup artist worked on her face, she sipped an iced Americano to reduce puffiness, grimacing at the bitterness.
Sister Wei said to her, “The online backlash has already shifted onto Cheng Xu alone. We don’t need to worry about it. You’ve already filmed a full season of Come On, Let’s Investigate!, so you’re familiar with everything—the flow, the format, you know it all.”
Ying Chan blinked and looked up. “So what did you come all the way here to tell me?”
Sister Wei said, “You know Laine, right?”
“I do. I ran into her at the company yesterday. She even bought me a coffee and said she’d be on Come On, Let’s Investigate! too.”
“Right, that’s exactly what I wanted to talk about.”
Sister Wei continued, “After she finished that web drama, she’s been getting decent traction. The company wants to push her, so they’d like you to help her out—cue her more often during the show to make it easier for follow-up marketing.”
Ying Chan raised an eyebrow in surprise. “The company’s pushing her that hard?”
In the past, no matter who the company was promoting, they’d never given her a signal to hype things up with them. Why was this time so special?
Sister Wei’s gaze flickered. For some reason, she seemed a bit evasive: “Mm, yes, it’s the higher-ups’ decision… The market is really into her quirky, mischievous type right now.”
Ying Chan looked at her, then gave a casual nod.
Just then, the junior assistant outside let out a “Wow”: “Bodyguard bro, you’re up this early.”
Ying Chan instinctively looked over.
Jin Si walked straight toward her, carrying something in his hand.
“Didn’t I tell you eight o’clock? It’s still early.”
“Didn’t you ask me to be your nanny?”
He set the freshly steamed soup dumplings in front of her.
“Bought you breakfast. Good enough for a nanny?”
Sister Wei recognized them: “Those are the soup dumplings from the old lady at the corner outside the neighborhood, right? Ying Chan loves hers the most, but catching her is a matter of luck.”
Jin Si chuckled. “Then I guess I got lucky.”
Ying Chan ate the dumplings, and for some reason… she felt really good.
·
“Come On, Let’s Deduce!” was a celebrity mystery deduction live-streaming reality show.
Each episode, the guests would take on different roles based on the case, dive deep into the crime scene set up by the production team, search for clues, engage in deduction, and ultimately uncover the real culprit hidden among them.
Similar to an immersive script murder mystery, it was highly entertaining, and combined with the live broadcast, it gave viewers the feeling of watching the celebrities’ unfiltered reactions without a script. As a result, it was incredibly popular and beloved by young audiences, enjoying massive popularity.
Ying Chan was a regular cast member on the show and had already filmed over a dozen episodes. Today was the first episode of Season Two. They had filmed the prequel last week, and this time they were going straight into the main content.
First came the role card draw. Ying Chan drew a script set in the Republican era, playing the top courtesan of a Shanghai cabaret—and on top of that, she was the murderer.
After getting her hair and makeup done, she wore a gold qipao embroidered with peony patterns, styled her hair in finger waves, and adorned herself with pearl jewelry. Combined with her classic beauty face and the small red mole between her brows, she was very convincing as a “top courtesan.”
She lifted her skirt hem and stepped over the threshold. Jin Si had been sitting on a wooden prop crate playing on his phone, but when he happened to look up, he caught sight of the pale, slender calves exposed through the slit of her qipao.
Higher up was the graceful curve of her figure.
He always wore a mask when going out, but even with half his face covered, it couldn’t hide his roguish charm: “You go in there, and come out a completely different person.”
Ying Chan was holding a fan made of bamboo. She opened it, covering the lower half of her face, and deliberately tossed him a flirtatious glance. “Pretty, right?”
Jin Si burst out laughing, then tilted his chin up and said, “Put your skirt down. Be a bit more proper—fit the character. Right now, you look like a kid wearing adult clothes.”
…Who’s a kid!
Ying Chan felt looked down upon by him: “Are you blind? Looking at this figure of mine, how can you say the word ‘kid’?”
“Thanks for your concern. My uncorrected vision is 20/20.”
Ying Chan made a move to kick him, but Jin Si reached out and buttoned up the clasp at the slit of her dress: “Be elegant, Miss Ying.”
His fingers never touched her skin, yet somehow it made Ying Chan’s body tense up.