After work, Xiao Tongyu received a WeChat message from Zhuang Shufei.
“How did it go, Tongtong? Did you manage to resign?”
“No. I’ll try to think of another way.”
Zhuang Shufei: “Damn it! I knew it! How could Ji Yunze let you go that easily?!”
Xiao Tongyu put down her phone and slumped over her desk, head lowered.
For some reason, she felt so tired, so much like crying.
She missed her mom and dad so much.
Maybe she should visit their graves this weekend.
Xiao Tongyu had also been in the car during that accident years ago. If her mother hadn’t held her tightly, she would have gone with them.
Even now, she remembered clearly the suffocating feeling of being held tightly in her mother’s arms at eleven years old.
Her mother had died on the spot, and her father, after several days in the hospital, had ultimately followed her mother.
That was why she never liked buttoning her collar all the way up—it made her think of that accident, of her mom and dad, and it made her feel like she was suffocating.
If only she had gone with them back then. Then she wouldn’t have had to live under someone else’s roof, enduring contempt, wouldn’t have been bullied at school, and certainly wouldn’t now be treated by Ji Yunze as an object for his desires.
Her life would have been spared so much pain, leaving only the happiness of childhood.
Just then, she heard the sound of fingers tapping lightly on the desk.
“Secretary Xiao.”
Xiao Tongyu looked up. Ji Yunze was standing in front of her desk.
Seeing Xiao Tongyu’s reddened eyes, her delicate little face covered in tears, Ji Yunze froze.
He felt his heart being twisted hard.
Xiao Tongyu… why was she crying?
Because it hurt? Because she didn’t want to sleep with him? Or because he wouldn’t let her resign?
“President Ji.” Xiao Tongyu wiped her face carelessly.
“Where’s the business trip itinerary?”
Ji Yunze stared fixedly at her face. Every second he looked at her, he felt his heart skip a beat.
“I’m sorry, President Ji. The hotel reservation information changed, so I just redid it and sent it to you.” Xiao Tongyu picked up the folder on her desk. “I also printed out a copy for you.”
“Mm.” Ji Yunze took the folder.
“If there’s nothing else, President Ji, I’ll head home.” Xiao Tongyu gave him a slight bow.
Just as she was about to turn away, Ji Yunze asked a question he had never once said to a woman in his twenty-nine years of life:
“Have dinner with me?”
The moment the words left his mouth, even he himself was shocked.
He, Ji Yunze, had subconsciously invited a woman to dinner?!
Xiao Tongyu frowned in confusion. She wondered if she was hearing things.
“I’m sorry, President Ji. Could you say that again?”
“Nothing.”
Ji Yunze took the folder and walked into his office.
…
Ji Yunze sat in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce as Wu Yan drove him to the Ji Residence.
The whole way, Ji Yunze said nothing. With his legs crossed, he tapped his fingers rhythmically against the partition armrest, his expression as cold as ever.
For the first time ever, he didn’t review documents in the car, but instead looked out the window.
Something was churning in his heart, an indescribable discomfort.
Could it be that after spending two nights with Xiao Tongyu, he was addicted?
The black Rolls-Royce drove into a private villa halfway up the mountain.
The villa was built against the mountainside. It took a full ten minutes to drive from the gilded, carved gates to the villa’s main entrance. Along the way stretched emerald lawns, towering poplar trees, and all manner of flowers vying to outshine one another in beauty.
Just maintaining these gardens required considerable manpower and resources.
In the Imperial Capital, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, there wasn’t another villa like it.
Ji Yunze usually lived in the villa district in the heart of the Imperial Capital, while his grandfather and parents lived at the Ji Residence. He was usually swamped with work and only returned home once in a long while.
He got out of the car, pushed open the doors of the villa’s grand hall, and strode in on his long legs.
His mother, Qian Xu, was sitting on the rosewood sofa in the living room, sipping tea. She wore a black silk dress, her hair swept up in an elegant bun, giving her an air of grace and dignity.
She gently blew on her cup of English breakfast tea, not even glancing at Ji Yunze.
“So you deign to come home?” she said, her tone betraying nothing.
Qian Xu had a delicate face and fair skin—a natural-born beauty. Ji Yunze’s features bore a striking resemblance to hers.
“Mom.” Ji Yunze greeted her casually, then sat down on the sofa and crossed his legs.
Qian Xu shot him a glance. With just that one look, she could tell her son was in a bad mood today.
“Put your legs down,” she ordered quietly.
Qian Xu had been the famous eldest daughter of the Qian Family of Jiangcheng, marrying into the Ji Family with a substantial dowry. She carried herself with the poise of a well-bred lady and had raised Ji Yunze with a strict hand.
If there was one woman in this world who could make Ji Yunze behave, it was probably Qian Xu.
He reluctantly put his legs down and looked around. “Where’s Dad?”
“He went to D City for a golf tournament.”
“And Grandpa?”
“He’s off finding you a blind date.”
Ji Yunze’s face darkened.
Ever since Old Master Ji had stepped down as president of Ji Corporation over a decade ago, he had no particular hobbies—aside from practicing calligraphy, tending flowers, playing with his birds, and hunting for a granddaughter-in-law.
He never seemed to tire of it.
Just then, the door opened, and Butler Sun ushered Old Master Ji in.
Old Master Ji had white hair and a youthful face, still hale and vigorous. Seeing Ji Yunze home, he immediately beamed with delight, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepening further.
Ji Yunze stood up. “Grandpa.”
“Back home, Yunze? How was the girl from the Qin Family I introduced to you last time?”
At the mention of Qin Mengyan, Xiao Tongyu’s small face, slapped bright red, instantly flashed through Ji Yunze’s mind.
His heart skipped a beat again.
Damn it. What was wrong with him?
Ji Yunze’s expression turned serious at once. “Grandpa, was it you who sent her to find me at the company?”
“That’s right.”
No wonder. Ji Yunze had been wondering at the time who had given her the audacity to barge straight into his office like that.
“I threw her out. She hit my secretary, so I bought a trending topic to teach her a lesson.”
Old Master Ji nearly lost his grip on his cane.
Qian Xu gave a light laugh. “Dad, don’t stir up more trouble. This boy has no intention of finding a girlfriend at all.”
Anger rose on Old Master Ji’s face, and his voice couldn’t help rising. “No intention of finding a girlfriend? A corporation as big as ours, and the Ji line ends with him?!”
Qian Xu, however, wasn’t worried in the slightest. “He’s not interested in women. You could hold a knife to his throat and it wouldn’t make a difference.”
Not interested in women? Ji Yunze thought. That didn’t seem quite right, actually.
Old Master Ji was so angry his head ached. He turned and went upstairs: “Call me when dinner’s ready.”
After Old Master Ji left, Ji Yunze sat back down on the sofa and irritably picked up an orange from the table and began peeling it. His long, well-defined fingers glided over the orange peel, petal by petal, as if he were crafting a work of art.
Qian Xu stared at her son in wide-eyed disbelief. He, who had always been such a germaphobe, was actually peeling an orange with his bare hands.
Clearly, his mood wasn’t just a little bit terrible.
The orange juice stained Ji Yunze’s clean nails yellow. With a look of disgust, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.
Thud.
With a soft sound, something fell out of his pocket along with the handkerchief.
Qian Xu bent down to pick it up, then shot Ji Yunze a meaningful look.
“Did that thing of yours get injured?”
Ji Yunze turned his head. In Qian Xu’s hand was Xiao Tongyu’s ointment.
When he’d left the hotel suite that morning, he had casually stuffed it into his pocket and then completely forgotten about it.
The four large red characters on the ointment—”For Gynecological Use”—were glaringly conspicuous, painfully eye-catching.
Ji Yunze held out his hand toward Qian Xu: “Mom, give it back.”
Qian Xu placed the ointment in his hand: “So not only did that thing of yours get injured, you also got a sex change?”
Ji Yunze ignored her and stuffed the ointment back into his pocket.
Just then, Butler Sun came over: “Madam, Young Master, dinner is ready.”
Qian Xu stood up and turned back to say one last thing to Ji Yunze: “Don’t get in over your head.”
“I know.”