Gu Shizhou won that round.
Xie Chengyan was the player before him, and had deliberately fed him several good cards.
The next round went the same way.
Gu Shizhou suddenly felt a chill run down his back. “What’s going on? Have you lost your mind?”
Xie Chengyan tapped the tabletop with his long, slender fingers. His voice was clear and cool. “I’m in a good mood.”
After a few more rounds, he said, “I’m done. I’m tired.”
“Come on, let’s play some more. I finally won a few rounds!” Gu Shizhou protested.
“Let’s go.”
Xie Chengyan picked up the coat beside him and strode out.
The car was already waiting outside the club. Once inside, he asked Assistant Liang, “What happened with the apartment I asked you to find?”
Assistant Liang replied, “I found one in Songjing Bay, a residential complex developed by Xie Group. It has two bedrooms and a living room, suitable for living alone. There are two units per floor, and the one opposite is vacant. It’s quiet and safe.”
“The rent is thirty thousand a month. I had the agent quote Miss Qiao three thousand. She seemed quite satisfied, and they’ll sign the lease tomorrow.”
“Mm.” Xie Chengyan nodded and lounged back against the seat. “Get the one opposite ready, too.”
…
After looking at apartments for two days, Qiao Yitang finally found one she liked.
She hadn’t expected the rent at Songjing Bay to be so cheap. The agent told her the landlord had bought several units there all at once and was eager to rent them out.
Qiao Yitang didn’t have much luggage, and after she and Song Zhi spent some time sorting things out that afternoon, most of it was done.
Before leaving, Song Zhi reminded her over and over that she absolutely must not go looking for He Jingchuan. Only after getting Qiao Yitang to promise several times did she finally leave.
Afterward, Qiao Yitang tidied up some more and thoroughly cleaned the apartment.
She’d taken a week off, and still had another day before she was due back. But that afternoon, her boss called and urged her to come in tomorrow.
Qiao Yitang worked as a designer at Jianchuang, a niche jewelry studio.
Recently, an actress had worn a Jianchuang necklace on the red carpet. Since the jewelry brand wasn’t well known, fans of the actress’s rival had swarmed her with insults, calling it cheap.
The actress’s fans weren’t about to back down, either. They said that although the rival actress’s jewelry was from a luxury brand, wearing it had lowered the brand’s prestige.
The two sides’ fans traded insults until they made the trending topics. Neither actress came out of it looking good, but all the attention had brought Jianchuang, a small niche brand, into the spotlight.
For all the insults, plenty of people thought Jianchuang’s jewelry looked good and was great value for money.
As a result, Jianchuang’s sales had recently skyrocketed, bringing it into the top three best-selling jewelry brands in the country.
While the studio was ramping up production, it was also eager to launch new designs. The designers had all been working overtime to finish their drafts.
The necklace the actress had worn on the red carpet was Qiao Yitang’s design, which was why the boss kept urging her to return and submit new designs as soon as possible.
Once she’d finished tidying up, Qiao Yitang hurried to bed.
Maybe it was because the surroundings were new, but she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
After half an hour of trying, Qiao Yitang’s stomach began to growl.
She sat up with an irritated sigh and smacked the blanket.
If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well go downstairs for a late-night snack. Maybe she’d be able to sleep after eating her fill.
Yitang took the trash she’d sorted out that day downstairs with her.
As soon as she opened the door, she heard the elevator chime outside.
The doors opened, and a man stepped out.
His exquisitely tailored suit made him look exceptionally tall and slender. His collar was buttoned neatly, giving him an unmistakably chaste, restrained air.
Qiao Yitang’s mouth fell open slightly. “Yannis?”
Xie Chengyan looked surprised, too. “Miss Qiao?”
His gaze fell on the trash bag in Qiao Yitang’s hand, then on her casual pajamas and fluffy white slippers.
“You live here, too?”
Yitang said, Qiao Yitang said, “I just moved in today. What a coincidence—you live here, too?”
Xie Chengyan replied without changing expression, “Yes. I’ve been here almost a month.”
“What a coincidence.” Qiao Yitang smiled.
When she’d heard the elevator earlier, she’d worried that she might not get along with the neighbor across the hall. She hadn’t expected it to be someone she knew, and that made her feel much more at ease.
She stole a few glances at Yannis and thought Song Zhi’s earlier guess at Blue Dream Club might have been right.
He’d come home this late, and there was a faint smell of alcohol on him.
Yannis was probably one of the male models at Blue Dream Club.
Before, Qiao Yitang had thought Yannis’s temperament and personality were worlds apart from those male models. He seemed much more like a rich man.
She’d even wondered whether he was the boss of some company.
But what kind of boss would rent an apartment for three thousand a month?
For a moment, neither of them said anything. Qiao Yitang suddenly felt a little sorry for Yannis.
Coming home after work this late meant he hadn’t been hired by a rich woman for the night.
And he was reserved and steady, sometimes even seeming cold. He was probably a few years older than she was, too. It must be hard for him to charm rich women.
Qiao Yitang sighed to herself, nodded to Yannis, and stepped into the elevator.
As they passed each other, Yitang caught a stronger whiff of alcohol from him.
Qiao Yitang didn’t know much about liquor, but even she could tell that what Yannis had been drinking was probably high-end.
It smelled wonderful, with the faintest trace of sandalwood mixed in.
As they passed, she glanced at Yannis again.
They were very close. His strikingly handsome face was only about thirty centimeters from Yitang’s eyes.
His face seemed to fill her vision, making Qiao Yitang think Yannis was even more ridiculously handsome.
The elevator doors closed. Qiao Yitang thought to herself: With a face that handsome and a figure that good, working somewhere like Blue Dream was such a waste.
Maybe Yannis would do better as a male model at a more upscale place.
After going downstairs, Qiao Yitang threw out the trash, then stopped by the night market near the residential complex.
She bought a pile of barbecue to take home. Just as she was about to leave the night market, she thought of Yannis.
She’d just moved in, so she ought to get along with her neighbor.
She could bring Yannis something to eat as a way of introducing herself to her new neighbor.
Thinking of Yannis’s line of work, Qiao Yitang figured he must need to keep in shape. So instead of greasy barbecue, she got a takeout portion of small wontons.
She stepped out of the elevator with a light stride and stopped in front of Yannis’s door.
She’d only been downstairs for a little over ten minutes, so Yannis surely wouldn’t be asleep yet.
A little nervously, Qiao Yitang knocked. After a moment, she heard footsteps inside.
The door opened, and Xie Chengyan came out, toweling his hair.
He’d just showered. His neatly styled bangs were loose now, falling over half his eyes and brows.
He looked several years younger.
His hair was still dripping. A droplet slid down a strand to his neck, then ran down his throat to his chest and farther down.
Xie Chengyan was wearing nothing but a bath towel. His upper body was bare.
Perhaps he’d hurried out of the bathroom, because he hadn’t dried himself properly. Water ran along his waist and disappeared beneath the towel.
Though Qiao Yitang did her best not to look where she shouldn’t, Yannis’s exposed chest and abs were hard to ignore.
In his suit, he’d looked tall and slender. She hadn’t expected him to be so well-built underneath.
No wonder he was a male model. What a great physique!