Xi Yue looked completely unfazed. “You can glare all you want, but I’m not leaving until you finish eating. Can’t you keep a regular schedule? I knew you’d only get up at ten.”
His self-assured chatter gave Jiang Ning the surreal feeling that they had never been apart these six years.
Just like when they were teenagers, Xi Yue would remind her to turn off the lights and sleep on time at ten on weekends, then barge into her apartment first thing in the morning to check if she was up early.
When they were dating, Jiang Ning never told Xi Yue about her depression. She occasionally went for check-ups or took sick leave when her condition was particularly bad.
Coupled with the various medications she always carried with her, in Xi Yue’s eyes, she was nothing short of a walking medicine cabinet, and he fussed over her health like an old mother hen.
Now, just like six years ago, Xi Yue was bustling about alone in the kitchen.
As if they had never gone through that brutal and humiliating breakup.
Whether it was during the initial breakup or their few encounters since reuniting, Jiang Ning believed she had treated Xi Yue with the worst attitude and most heartless words she could muster in her entire life.
Based on her understanding of Xi Yue, that arrogant and willful young man was full of pride. Every time she faced him after their reunion, her attitude should have been stomping all over his landmines.
If she were a man, Xi Yue would have punched her in the face twice by now.
But that was only an if—Xi Yue wouldn’t date men anyway.
Only after this clear realization popped into her mind did Jiang Ning notice she had inexplicably let her thoughts wander here.
She felt like punching herself twice.
Xi Yue had already quickly reheated breakfast and brought it to the dining table, calling Jiang Ning over to eat.
Jiang Ning continued her eviction notice. “Thanks for the trouble. I’ll transfer you a service fee later. You can leave now.”
Xi Yue: “Transfer it now.”
As he spoke, he pulled out his WeChat friend QR code. “Add me as a friend and transfer it.”
Jiang Ning: “Can’t I just scan your payment code?”
Xi Yue said matter-of-factly, “We’ll have a lot to discuss and coordinate after we start filming the show together. You don’t want me knocking on your door every time, do you?”
Jiang Ning hesitated for a moment, then added him as a friend.
She lowered her head and opened the transfer window, asking without looking up.
“How much?”
Xi Yue: “Fifty thousand.”
Jiang Ning: “?”
She almost thought she had misheard.
She finally looked up, glanced at Xi Yue’s punchable face, then at the ordinary breakfast on the table that would cost less than twenty yuan at any breakfast shop.
Xi Yue said lazily, “When I was your boyfriend, doing it for free was fine. But as a top star in the entertainment industry and the heir to the Xi family, isn’t this meal worth that much?”
Jiang Ning’s feelings at that moment were indescribable. “Why don’t you just rob a bank?”
Xi Yue: “Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”
Jiang Ning: “…”
To get Xi Yue out of there faster, she simply closed her eyes and made the transfer.
Before Jiang Jintao cut off her allowance, fifty thousand yuan was nothing to her.
But after she ran away from Hong Kong, she had no savings at all—only the hundred thousand yuan guest fee the director had kindly advanced.
She had already spent quite a bit on some things recently, and now that damn Xi Yue had swindled another fifty thousand out of her, all her remaining assets, scraped together, probably amounted to only around thirty thousand yuan.
After transferring the money, Jiang Ning said weakly, “You can leave now.”
Xi Yue replied, “I never said I’d leave after taking the money.”
Jiang Ning: “…”
She clenched her fists repeatedly.
Xi Yue truly took shamelessness to the extreme: “Why are you so eager to kick me out? I just want to discuss how to resolve yesterday’s issue with you. Once we’re done talking, I’ll leave.”
Feeling that he couldn’t explain it clearly in just a few words, Xi Yue simply opened his Weibo account and handed his phone to Jiang Ning.
Just as Jiang Ning was about to take it, Xi Yue suddenly said, “Wait,” and swiftly snatched the phone back.
He deleted all visible negative comments about Jiang Ning on the screen, double-checked everything, and then handed the phone back to her.
Jiang Ning paused for a moment before accepting the phone.
The first thing she saw was Xi Yue’s Weibo account. With hundreds of millions of followers and nearly a million interactions on every post, there was no doubt that he lived up to his title as the nation’s top celebrity.
The first two posts were clarifications about the trending scandal.
Xi Yue had taken a straightforward and blunt approach by directly releasing the dashcam footage from the van at the time, though he had muted the audio.
The footage proved that he had asked Song Yushan to let Jiang Ning sit next to him.
It completely debunked the paparazzi’s rumors that Jiang Ning had shamelessly insisted on Xi Yue giving her a ride.
Apart from a few words she exchanged with Xi Yue while sober at the beginning, Jiang Ning spent the rest of the time in a drunken slumber.
Even when Xi Yue tried to steady her due to the bumpy ride at the start, she avoided him and quickly moved to the other side of the vehicle.
This gesture of wanting to keep a galaxy’s distance from Xi Yue successfully saved her from online harassment.
The next post was Xi Yue’s explanation for why he had actively offered to take Jiang Ning home.
It was because Jiang Ning had signed under his agent, Song Yushan, making her his one and only direct junior.
After reading everything, Jiang Ning rubbed her temples in frustration and looked up.
Xi Yue, who had just said, “Once we’re done talking, I’ll leave,” was now openly sitting across from her, calmly eating breakfast with a serene expression.
Jiang Ning: “…”
She couldn’t be bothered to argue about why he still hadn’t left and simply asked, “When did I ever say I wanted to sign under your agent?”
Xi Yue replied matter-of-factly, “Since my debut, I’ve hardly had any photos taken with female artists. I have zero scandals. Since you don’t want to admit we have any other relationship, if I didn’t clarify it this way, do you think my fans would let you off the hook?”
Jiang Ning suddenly felt it was difficult to communicate with Xi Yue.
She struggled to organize her words: “Why do you insist on linking me to you? You could even explain that the photos were AI-generated. With your status, I don’t believe your PR team hasn’t dealt with similar situations over the years.”
“They have,” Xi Yue said calmly, not looking up. He lazily glanced over, his gaze meeting hers. “I usually tell those idiots to get lost and stop trying to ride my coattails. I didn’t treat you that way because I couldn’t bear to.”
The previously normal atmosphere at the dining table suddenly turned ambiguous again with Xi Yue’s words.
It felt as if something indescribable and incredibly subtle was beginning to ferment in the air.
After a long pause, Jiang Ning turned her face away, avoiding Xi Yue’s gaze.
Seeing her retreat into avoidance once again, Xi Yue sneered and returned to his usual demeanor.
“If you think I didn’t handle it well, then go ahead and clarify it yourself on Weibo.”
Jiang Ning pursed her lips and said nothing.
But she really did pull out her phone from her pocket, ready to do just that.
The next second, the sound of a chair sliding came from across the table—the legs scraping against the tiled floor with a sharp, grating noise.
Immediately after, a hand came down directly over Jiang Ning’s hand holding the phone.
Xi Yue’s voice sounded from above Jiang Ning: “Do you really dislike me that much?”
Xi Yue’s expression was as dark as water, the arrogance and casualness from moments ago completely gone, replaced only by suffocating coldness.
Jiang Ning tried to pull her hand free.
But Xi Yue held on tightly.
The burning heat from his palm seemed to seep through her flowing blood, spreading to every limb and bone, scalding her until she felt sore and swollen.
Jiang Ning could only say with difficulty, “You said it yourself—you would stay away from me and not engage in any intimate behavior with me.”
Xi Yue smiled without warmth: “I only said that during the show. I never said the same applied in private.”
Jiang Ning: “If you’re like this, I can’t work with you.”
Xi Yue: “Even if you quit the show, I’ll quit too. Everyone will quickly figure out what our relationship is.”
“I know you love acting, the screen, and experiencing lives different from your own through roles. Your condition has finally stabilized—do you really want to give up your dreams forever just to avoid me?”
“Jiang Ning, it’s not worth it.”
His last sentence seemed to carry a hint of tenderness.
Jiang Ning knew he was telling the truth.
The Xi family had made their fortune in the entertainment industry many years ago, and they still firmly controlled most of the resources in the entertainment world. Xi Yue had now risen to such a high status, thriving even overseas—backed by capital and resources.
The entire entertainment industry could essentially be called his domain.
As long as Jiang Ning wanted to pursue this career, she could never escape him.
Jiang Ning said bitterly, “What do I have to do for you to let me go?”
Something lurking in her heart seemed increasingly difficult to suppress. She was so focused on maintaining her composure in front of Xi Yue that she didn’t even notice what he had just said—how did he know whether her condition was stable or not?
Seeing Jiang Ning’s state was a bit off, Xi Yue grew concerned about her condition, worried that his words had frightened her, and softened his tone slightly.
“If you tell me the truth about why you insisted on breaking up with me back then, I’ll let you go.”
Jiang Ning instinctively moved her wrist again. Xi Yue’s fingertips were now less than a few millimeters away from that scar.
With just a slight movement, he could touch that hideous, terrifying mark.
Xi Yue waited for her answer.
Six years overdue, he had thought that this time, Jiang Ning would give him a satisfactory truth.
But Jiang Ning only murmured, “Because I got tired of it. I didn’t want to pretend to be normal in front of you anymore. It was exhausting.”
Xi Yue’s expression turned icy.
From his angle, the gentle steam rising from the bowl of porridge obscured the look in Jiang Ning’s eyes beneath her lashes, making it hard to see her gaze or guess what she was thinking.
Xi Yue sneered, “Go ahead and deceive me. If I find out there’s another reason, I’ll never let you go for the rest of my life.”
Jiang Ning gave a rare smile, her tone light. “Go ahead and investigate.”
As if she wasn’t worried at all that Xi Yue could actually uncover any so-called other reasons.
Or perhaps she simply didn’t care whether he knew the so-called truth.