Teddy Bear Cake
Qin Mingzhu slowly swallowed the last sip of milk. “Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”
“I heard that you were once interested in acting,” Gu Jingchen said calmly, as if they were just making casual conversation. “Menglong is short on actors recently. If you’re interested, you could give it a try.”
“Not interested!” Qin Mingzhu immediately rejected the idea.
The office fell into an awkward silence.
Qin Mingzhu instantly regretted it. She should have at least thought for a few seconds before responding. Her reaction made it seem like she looked down on Menglong.
“Sorry, that’s not what I meant,” she said awkwardly, trying to backtrack.
Gu Jingchen lowered his gaze and slowly rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. “It’s fine. I was just asking casually.”
He gathered the documents lying on the edge of the desk and strode toward the door, his silhouette reflected in the frosted glass along with a few employees.
“Eat when the food arrives. I’m going to a meeting first.”
His fine black hair partially covered his eyes, and Qin Mingzhu couldn’t read the emotions hidden beneath. She anxiously asked, “Aren’t you going to eat the cake?”
“No time,” Gu Jingchen replied casually, glancing at his watch. “You can eat it yourself.”
The door closed lightly. Qin Mingzhu lowered her head in despair, swallowing the words she had wanted to say.
Her gastritis was still under observation; she couldn’t eat cake.
Did Gu Jingchen not know, or did he forget because he was eager to get rid of her?
Her mind was in chaos, and she spent the entire afternoon absent-minded.
By the time night fell, Xu Yan peeked in, surprised. “Madam, why aren’t you turning on the lights? Sitting here alone…”
Qin Mingzhu suddenly realized she had been holding the same position for so long!
She grimaced as she moved her body. “Ugh… my bones… are falling apart…”
The cracking sounds of her joints startled Xu Yan, who turned pale and ran out. “Madam, wait! I’ll call a doctor immediately!”
“No, no, no!” Qin Mingzhu steadied her waist and stood up. “I’m fine. I just haven’t moved in a while.”
If she had called a doctor for this, it would have been better to just bump her head into tofu and be done with it!
Voices carried faintly from outside, occasionally interspersed with low, magnetic tones that were immediately recognizable.
Xu Yan exhaled in relief. “Madam, Mr. Gu is back, you…”
She froze as Qin Mingzhu swiftly brushed past her.
“Well, I’ll just go ahead then” Qin Mingzhu called over her shoulder with a forced smile.
To avoid running into Gu Jingchen, she even took the fire escape.
Xu Yan’s heart sank bit by bit.
“Why are you standing by the door?”
Gu Jingchen loosened a button on his collar, exhaustion faintly showing in his brows and eyes.
Xu Yan looked up at his distant, indifferent expression and then at the untouched cake on the desk, and inexplicably felt a flare of anger.
For once, she spoke up: “Mr. Gu, did you eat the cake?”
Gu Jingchen looked surprised, not understanding why Xu Yan mentioned it. “No.”
“Why not?” Xu Yan couldn’t control her tone. “Madam made it in a rush because she worried you wouldn’t have lunch, and you’re not even willing to take a bite?”
Her words shocked not only Gu Jingchen but herself.
“Sorry, Mr. Gu. I was meddling. I won’t make the same mistake again,” she lowered her gaze to apologize.
“…Mm.” Gu Jingchen rubbed his brow and strode toward the cake on the desk.
He opened the box to reveal a rather ugly little bear-shaped cake.
A corner of his mouth twitched into a small smile as he murmured unconsciously, “I can tell it was rushed.”
The bear looked more like a little dog, with “bear” written in cream beside it so he would recognize it.
He raised his brow. “When did she leave?”
Xu Yan, still shocked at how ugly the cake was, didn’t respond immediately. “Who?”
Gu Jingchen answered slowly and firmly, “My wife.”
“Oh! Just now!” Xu Yan’s mind clicked. She embellished a little, “Madam waited in your office the whole afternoon. I think she didn’t change position once. When I came, I heard her bones cracking.”
“You notice details well,” Gu Jingchen said, lifting his eyelids to glance at her.
Xu Yan, usually silent and reserved, had rarely spoken so much in one breath.
She pressed her lips together and whispered, “I just think Madam is wonderful.”
“Is it purely because you think she’s good, or is there another reason?” Gu Jingchen half-smiled.
For a moment, Xu Yan even wondered if he had seen through her.
Impossible, she thought.
She avoided Gu Jingchen’s sharp gaze and said lightly, “I just don’t want Madam’s effort to go to waste.”
Gu Jingchen waved her off casually.
The office was left with only him, bathed in soft yellow light, like an immortal set apart from the world.
Yet this “immortal” was eating cake.
He savored the not-too-sweet cream roll, squinting slightly, his thoughts inevitably turning to Qin Mingzhu.
Usually bold and carefree, her bright smile occasionally gave way to sensitive, quiet sobs.
His gaze softened gradually. After finishing the cake, he instructed his assistant to wash and put away the fork and plate.
The assistant was confused: didn’t the CEO hate sweets?
Oh well.
A CEO’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea guessing won’t get you a raise anyway.
After handling the last company matters, Gu Jingchen drove home alone.
Aunt Li hadn’t returned yet; the villa was quiet.
He first checked the entertainment floor on the third level but found no one, then went back to the second floor.
Qin Mingzhu, unusually, was asleep in her bedroom.
It was only eight o’clock there was no way she had actually fallen asleep.
Gu Jingchen leaned over to lift the damp hair from her pillow. His hoarse voice said, “You slept without drying your hair aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?”
The person curled up on the bed twitched her eyelashes, but her eyelids pretended to be asleep.
She was extremely beautiful; her long hair, like strands of seaweed, spread across the pillow, making her fair skin look porcelain-smooth.
Gu Jingchen’s eyes darkened as his thumb brushed over her soft, rosy lips with enough pressure to feel like he could squeeze juice from them.
“Mm…”
Qin Mingzhu could no longer play asleep. She suddenly opened her eyes and bit his hand hard.
Her cheeks were flushed red under the blanket, and her eyes sparkled like a little animal.
Gu Jingchen lowered himself and patiently coaxed her. “If you don’t want to enter the industry, that’s fine. I won’t force you.”
Qin Mingzhu thought for a moment and said, “I thought you were worried I’d get too comfortable at home and wanted me to go out and earn money.”
Gu Jingchen laughed wryly. “I don’t need your money.”
“I was joking,” she said awkwardly.
She felt that Gu Jingchen treated her so well, and she might be a little ungrateful.
Thinking this through, she carefully said, “I’m under Huanying now, so I can’t just join Menglong.”
Huanying was Qin’s family company. Gu Jingchen didn’t overthink it and said, “Do what you want.”
His earlier question had just been a sudden thought, assuming Qin Mingzhu liked acting.
With Lin Zhi signing with Qisheng, Menglong naturally needed a capable newcomer.
If Qin Mingzhu signed with Menglong, her resources would naturally rival Lin Zhi’s.
Scripts piling up, countless fashion magazines, awards earned through effort…
Within seconds, Qin Mingzhu’s mind flashed through all the possibilities.
But all of it stopped as soon as she thought of Qin Hai.