The late-night chat had gone well.
But Nan Yin ended up sleeping in, waking at half past nine. Fu Shi had already left for the office. Lying lazily in bed, she rolled over and fished her phone from under the pillow to check the time.
Exactly half past nine.
She unlocked the screen, found Wen Ling’s number, and called back.
Wen Ling was cleaning the studio when Nan Yin’s call came through. The girl was delighted and immediately dropped her broom to answer. “Nan Jie, are you coming over?”
“When are we opening the studio to clients?”
Nan Yin wasn’t in a hurry. Rubbing her messy, bedhead curls, her voice still hoarse, she said, “Are you that eager to start working?”
“We just got back to my hometown. Let’s relax for a month before we begin.”
Hehehe, of course she didn’t want to work.
She was just worried the studio wouldn’t have any clients.
“Jie, I don’t want to work,” Wen Ling answered honestly.
Nan Yin chuckled, pulling back the covers and sitting up. “For now, we’ll just focus on Fu Shi’s company’s project.”
“Other clothing projects can wait.”
Wen Ling understood. “Got it, Jie.”
“Should I send the designs you finished last night to their company?”
Nan Yin massaged her temples as she walked barefoot into the bathroom to freshen up. “Yes, send them under your name.”
“I’m afraid if Fu Shi sees my name, he’ll reject them outright.”
Wen Ling replied, “Okay, I’ll send them right away.”
Nan Yin turned on the faucet with one hand. “Let’s talk later. I’m going to the gym for a workout and will come to the studio in the afternoon.”
“Just keep an eye on their company’s email replies.”
Wen Ling acknowledged, “OK, Jie.”
After hanging up, Nan Yin set her phone aside and washed up.
Once done, she found a tank top and lightweight yoga pants, grabbed her water bottle, and headed downstairs to find a nearby gym.
She had a habit of working out in the capital.
Though she often skipped it for months when busy, now that she was back in her hometown with time to spare, she wanted to exercise—lest her body couldn’t handle Fu Shi’s intensity.
Thinking of that man’s overwhelming aura of raw masculinity, Nan Yin couldn’t help but smile.
The man she had her eye on.
She had to have him.
There were quite a few gyms near the apartment. Nan Yin casually chose the closest one and walked in.
She approached the front desk but had no interest in listening to sales pitches or membership promotions.
She simply swiped her card.
Heading to the treadmill area to run, she froze as soon as she entered.
There, she saw that familiar, powerfully built figure. Nan Yin thought she was seeing things—after all, shouldn’t this man be at the office handling business at this hour?
What was he doing at the gym?
Clutching her water bottle, Nan Yin frowned, staring intently at the handsome man lifting weights across the room. For a few seconds, she was stunned.
The running area was designed with a semi-panoramic view.
To the left, floor-to-ceiling windows let in layers of blazing sunlight, which fell across the man’s impossibly handsome face and sweat-glistened muscles.
It was an explosion of raw magnetism.
Nan Yin pressed her lips together, watching in a daze for a while. The handsome man before her didn’t vanish—he remained there, focused on his workout.
So, it wasn’t her imagination.
Fu Shi was really here working out?
Hmm? What a coincidence.
It seemed the heavens were conspiring to bring them together.
As Nan Yin was gently surveying the surroundings, the man running on the treadmill inside the gym had already cast a lecherous gaze in her direction.
There were many beautiful women who came to the gym to work out.
However, super beauties like Nan Yin, who resembled a major celebrity, were not common. So the moment she entered, all the other men working out in the gym seemed as if they had been injected with adrenaline.
They excitedly began whispering and whistling.
“Wow, look at that beauty! She seems unfamiliar?”
“She is unfamiliar. I’ve been working out at this gym for over a year and have never seen her before. She’s so beautiful!”
“Now that’s what I call a true beauty.”
“Her figure is great too.”
“But the beauty is looking at that handsome man ahead. Do they know each other?”
“Not sure?”
“No way, this beauty is too stunning. I want to go hit on her.” A potbellied boss, itching to make a move, actually came over to flirt: “Beauty, interested in getting to know each other?”
The boss was around 35 years old, not exactly old, but years of socializing had caused his belly to protrude prematurely.
Despite being 35, he looked like he could easily pass for 45.
Especially since his eyes were lecherous, and his words were sleazy and greasy. Nan Yin instinctively took a step back, suppressing the disgust of sexual harassment, and immediately replied, “Sorry, I have a husband.”
Husband??
Married?
No way? She looks so young, like a college girl!
How could she already be married?
“Beauty, you’re not lying to me, are you? Don’t you want to get to know me?” The greasy boss extended his hand, shaking the million-dollar green Rolex Submariner on his wrist to show off: “If you get to know me, I can give you this watch.”
Nan Yin glanced at his Submariner and sneered coldly, “That watch of yours?”
“I wouldn’t even want it if you gave it to me. See this? Mine is twice as expensive as yours.” Nan Yin had also bought a Submariner.
Purely as a hobby for collecting watches.
She never expected it to come in handy today.
The greasy boss looked at the Submariner on her wrist, froze for a moment, and his face instantly turned awkward and stiff. He hadn’t expected his attempt to show off and flaunt his wealth to backfire so embarrassingly.
Humiliating.
“Heh, seems like you’re well-off too,” the boss laughed awkwardly. “Then we should definitely get to know each other?”
The greasy man still wanted to cling on.
Nan Yin truly felt like vomiting. She really despised this kind of arrogant, self-important boss who thought that just because he had some money, all women would want to cozy up to him.
Where did this confidence even come from?
She really wanted to slap him.
“Get lost. I said I have a husband, and my husband is right over there.” Nan Yin pointed at Fu Shi ahead. “If you don’t leave now, be careful—my husband will beat you up.”
“Did you see his physique? He lifts hundreds of pounds and could punch your pig face to a pulp.”
The boss, provoked by her defiant attitude, instantly sneered, “Oh really? Is that so?”
“You’re not just pointing at some random man and calling him your husband, are you?”
Nan Yin scoffed, “Just you wait!”
“My husband will beat you to death in a moment.”
With that, she quickly walked over to Fu Shi, grabbed his arm, and whispered softly, “Fu Shi, help me.”
Fu Shi had been focused on his workout and hadn’t noticed her or the greasy boss.
Only when she suddenly rushed over and grabbed his arm did he frown and look at her in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“Never mind that for now. That sleazy man insulted me.”
“And he tried to get handsy.”
Nan Yin pouted pitifully as she pleaded for help.
What a delicate little white flower, a world apart from the sharp-tongued, lethal queen of flowers she was just moments ago.
“Aren’t you going to save me?” Nan Yin blinked, her body going limp as she took the opportunity to collapse into his arms.
As soon as she fell, the men watching the spectacle around them collectively drew in a sharp breath.
Damn, she really is that handsome guy’s wife?
Look at how clingy she is.
That boss earlier really had poor judgment—flirting with anyone would have been fine, but he had to go after a married woman.
Heh heh, this is going to be interesting.
Amidst the murmurs and whispers of the onlookers, Fu Shi pressed his thin lips together and glanced at the sleazy boss, who was now staring at him wide-eyed. He tossed aside the iron block in his hand and stood up, intending to confront the man. But as soon as he rose to his feet—
His aura instantly intensified.
The boss hadn’t realized he was this tall—nearly 190 cm, right? Damn, that height, those arm muscles…
He was no match for him at all.
And this beautiful woman was clinging tightly to his arm, looking genuinely intimate with him.
Without even waiting for Fu Shi to approach and question him, the boss took off first.
A wise man knows when to retreat.
He couldn’t win this fight.
As the greasy boss fled, Fu Shi clicked his tongue against his teeth in disdain. What a coward.
Truthfully, he hadn’t wanted to meddle in Nan Yin’s affairs, but he found himself unable to refuse just now. It was just a shame the man was such a spineless coward—Fu Shi hadn’t even had the chance to confront him before he ran off.
Fu Shi wasn’t about to chase after him and beat him up. For both practical and moral reasons, there was no need to go that far.
Scaring him off was enough.
“That’s enough, he’s gone.” Fu Shi raised his hand and pulled his arm free from her grasp. Turning his face toward the little woman who now wore a triumphant, fox-like smile, he asked abruptly, “Did you follow me here?”