After running through ten different scenarios of whether she should pack her bags and flee the country, Qiao Qiao finally tidied herself up and sat obediently waiting.
This magazine photoshoot featured both her and Yu Huai. Without a doubt, it was definitely a spot Sister Zou had managed to secure through sheer effort, leveraging her recent surge in popularity. Yet Qiao Qiao had a lingering feeling that she was forgetting some crucial detail, some conversation she just couldn’t recall.
Ah, damn memory lapses, damn alcohol.
Her phone rang again.
Xiao Duo’s message came in first through private chat: Sister Qiao, President Ni is here to pick you up!
Xiao Duo: President Ni’s suit today is giving off the ultimate boss lady vibe, so gorgeous!
There was another message.
Ni Zijing’s: Arrived. Come downstairs.
That concise, punchy phrasing paired with a final period somehow managed to give Qiao Qiao the eerie impression that someone was about to settle scores with her. Resigned to her fate, Qiao Qiao stuffed that shrunken, washed-out sweater into a paper bag, shouldered her backpack, and headed out the door.
Every step she took sent a sharp twinge of pain straight up her inner thighs, serving as a vivid reminder of exactly what had transpired last night.
For the very first time, Qiao Qiao felt that simply stepping out of the house to catch a ride came with this much psychological pressure.
Xiao Duo was standing right by the car door waiting for her. The moment she saw Qiao Qiao, she immediately yanked open the front passenger door and flashed a cheerful grin: “Sister Qiao, Sister Qiao! Right here.”
Qiao Qiao had actually intended to sit in the back. How awkward would it be to sit right up front? But her well-meaning, airheaded assistant gave her a firm shove straight into the passenger seat.
Deludedly thinking she had just done something monumental, Xiao Duo happily hopped into the back.
The first thing that caught Qiao Qiao’s eye was the pair of slender, distinctively jointed hands resting on the steering wheel, followed by the realization that Ni Zijing had changed into another casual suit set. Beneath it, she wore a relaxed, V-neck silk shirt that left her collarbones faintly visible. The moment she climbed into the car, Qiao Qiao caught a whiff of Ni Zijing’s cool, understated fragrance, which inexplicably reminded her of a snowy day.
Catching sight of her, Ni Zijing curved the corners of her lips into a faint, subtle arc.
Qiao Qiao averted her gaze. Why am I suddenly paying this much attention to her?
Noticing Qiao Qiao’s discomfort, Ni Zijing paused for a moment before speaking up: “Did you drink your water?”
Here it comes. As expected, it had arrived. In Qiao Qiao’s ears, those words didn’t sound like “Did you drink your water?” at all; they translated to “Did you read the note I left behind? Are you ready to take responsibility? Hmm?”
Qiao Qiao felt thoroughly unready.
“I drank it.” Qiao Qiao’s tone remained remarkably steady, considering she was, after all, an actress with solid professional skills.
Ni Zijing gave a simple acknowledgment: “Mm.”
That’s it?
Qiao Qiao had already mentally steeled herself for whatever lecture Ni Zijing was about to deliver, but instead, the woman simply turned her head back to focus intently on the road. Still clutching the paper bag containing Ni Zijing’s sweater to her chest, she momentarily lost her footing and banged her newly healed ankle against the car door frame.
“Hiss.” That sharp intake of cold air instantly made Qiao Qiao acutely aware of the dual pain radiating from both her ankle and her inner thighs.
With a slight frown, Ni Zijing glanced sideways at her and eased up slightly on the gas pedal: “Be careful, just like last night. You don’t have much tolerance for alcohol, yet you still drank so much. Did you really expect not to have a headache today?”
Keeping her expression impassive, Qiao Qiao smiled. “I’m fine.”
Hearing this, Xiao Duo let out an “ah” from the back, leaning forward to ask: “Alcohol? What alcohol? Sister Qiao, you didn’t go and drink a bunch of that bayberry wine I left for you, did you?”
Slowly, Qiao Qiao nodded. “Mm.”
Xiao Duo let out an exaggerated gasp as she patted her own head: “Oh god, Sister Qiao, that wine has a really high ABV! Were you blackout drunk yesterday? Did drinking make you lose your mind?”
“I was drunk.” And liquid courage had made her act wildly reckless toward the quiet person sitting right beside her.
Qiao Qiao’s voice grew softer and softer, hardly daring to catch Ni Zijing’s expression.
She tried shooting Xiao Duo a sharp look, silently begging her to stop talking.
Unfortunately, Xiao Duo continued blithely, entirely full of enthusiasm: “I knew it! No wonder Sister Zou said you were talking about breaking your contract earlier today. I kept telling myself, President Ni treats you so well, how could you possibly want to terminate your contract? Sister Qiao, why did you drink so much last night anyway? Who even took care of you?”
Qiao Qiao wanted to throw herself out of the moving vehicle!
Clutching the paper bag tightly, she found herself completely at a loss for words, feeling as though the temperature inside the car had dropped by several degrees.
Tentatively lifting her gaze to steal a glance at Ni Zijing, she saw an impassive face staring straight ahead, though her lips were pressed into a thin, straight line.
Sensing that the other woman was displeased, Qiao Qiao lowered her head to study her own hands. She splayed her fingers out, examining them one by one.
What is wrong with me? I’ve got zero backbone right now. What am I even afraid of?
Just as she was about to speak, she heard Ni Zijing say: “I took care of her last night.”
“Oh right, President Ni has already moved in right next door to Sister Qiao.” Xiao Duo remained blissfully unaware of anything amiss.
From that moment all the way until they reached the photography studio, Ni Zijing didn’t utter another single word.
To Qiao Qiao, a car ride that normally took barely ten minutes felt agonizingly dragged out into a full hour.
When they finally pulled up to the destination and Qiao Qiao’s hand reached for the door handle,
“Qiao Qiao, wait a moment.” Ni Zijing turned her head to look right at her. “I have something to tell you.”
Xiao Duo nodded with extraordinary understanding, a suggestive tone coloring her voice: “No problem at all, I’ll head on up first, Sister Qiao. Take your time chatting, the shoot doesn’t start for another twenty minutes.”
Qiao Qiao genuinely wished she could throw the car door open and make a breezy, carefree exit, but the moment Ni Zijing spoke, her feet felt as though they had been filled with lead, stubbornly glued to the floorboards.
Squeezing out an immaculate smile, Qiao Qiao asked: “Is something the matter, President Ni?”
In a very flat voice, Ni Zijing replied: “Breaking your contract? That wasn’t what you were saying last night. Planning to welsh on your word now, are you?”
Qiao Qiao opened her mouth, intending to laugh it off and claim she hadn’t meant it that way, but the smile froze halfway and vanished instantly.
Right, that was precisely what she meant.
She felt that things couldn’t go on like this. Previously, whenever she dealt with Ni Zijing, she could ignore her whenever she pleased and just act however she wanted, how carefree that had been! Ever since last night’s incident, however, Qiao Qiao felt like she had completely lost her footing whenever she faced Ni Zijing. She wanted to run, she wanted to hide, shrinking back in cowardice.
Qiao Qiao, it was just one night! What’s the big deal?
Right! I need to grow a spine.
Suddenly, Ni Zijing leaned in close and reached out to grab her hand.
Qiao Qiao’s hand was slightly smaller than Ni Zijing’s. She watched as Ni Zijing first pressed their palms flat against one another before hooking her middle and ring fingers around Qiao Qiao’s.
Then, curling her fingers inward, she completely looped around them.
Qiao Qiao instantly stammered, entirely forgetting what she had been about to say: “P-P-President Ni, don’t.” Don’t do this! Isn’t this way too suggestive?
To make matters worse, Ni Zijing was gently tracing circles against her middle finger. What on earth was she implying?
“Forgot what you promised me last night?” Ni Zijing lifted her eyes.
Confusion swirled in Qiao Qiao’s mind as she frantically searched her memory. It seemed that something like that had happened, and she had mumbled a vague “okay”.
Her gaze dropped to the fingers of hers currently intertwined with Ni Zijing’s, struggling to parse the underlying meaning of those words.
After a moment, Qiao Qiao spoke with forced resolve: “Are we doing it again? No, President Ni, last night really was just an accident, you mustn’t misunderstand.”
Then, quickly yanking her hand back, she whispered in a voice so low it was almost inaudible: “Is my technique really that good?”
Ni Zijing had caught every word clearly, freezing for a fraction of a second. Connecting the dots with Qiao Qiao’s odd behavior all morning, she finally realized that this little vixen had completely and utterly misunderstood the situation.
A stifled chuckle bubbled up, and Ni Zijing suddenly had the overwhelming urge to double over with laughter. How can this little vixen be so utterly adorable? First, she mistook me for a member of a criminal syndicate, and now she thinks we actually hooked up.
Should I just let her keep believing this misunderstanding?
Embarrassment crept over Qiao Qiao under Ni Zijing’s gaze: “What are you laughing at? I’m getting out of the car.”
Ni Zijing quickly stopped her: “You’re not allowed to leave.” With a low, amused laugh, she added: “You were the one who invited me into your home last night.”
“What do you take me for!” Qiao Qiao glared at her. “I was drunk! We’re both consenting adults here, don’t tell me you expect me to take responsibility.”
Stifling her laughter, Ni Zijing asked: “Don’t I?”
“Of course not!” Qiao Qiao adamantly denied it, utterly unsure whether she had just subjected Ni Zijing to unwritten rules or if she had been the victim of them.
She shoved the paper bag straight into Ni Zijing’s arms. “Your sweater, returning it to you.” Even though it had shrunk, it still had to be restored to its rightful owner.
Casually tossing the garment into the back seat, Ni Zijing raised an eyebrow: “There’s a variety show interested in casting you, which you personally agreed to last night. Xiao Duo will give you the details later. Let me know when the magazine shoot wraps up, and I’ll come pick you up.”
Qiao Qiao paid no heed to this mention of a variety show. Her entire focus remained locked onto Ni Zijing’s closing remarks. Hesitantly, she said, “There’s really no need to go to all that trouble.”
“It’s no trouble.” Glancing down once more at Qiao Qiao’s ring finger, where those fair, glossy fingers were nervously twisting her clothes, Ni Zijing let out a soft laugh and drawled leisurely: “It’s on the way anyway, we can go ring shopping together. Or, if you don’t like off-the-rack designs, we could find a designer to custom-make them ourselves.”
Qiao Qiao failed to follow what Ni Zijing was driving at.
Curving her lips in front of her, Ni Zijing let her warm breath brush lightly against Qiao Qiao’s ear: “Forgot? Last night I asked if you wanted to marry me, and you said, I do.”
It’s impossible.
That was Qiao Qiao’s first thought.
Let’s terminate the contract! Time to make a run for it.
That was Qiao Qiao’s second thought.
Once again, her hand was captured by Ni Zijing as that calm, effortless voice rang out: “Your ring size should be pretty close to mine, but it’s always best to try them on in person, don’t you think?”
Seeing Qiao Qiao’s expression stiffen into total rigidity, Ni Zijing finally drew back by a safe margin.
Long after Qiao Qiao had shoved the car door open with a resounding bang and fled with a flushed, blazing face, the sentence Ni Zijing had murmured with a light laugh continued to echo endlessly in her mind:
“As for whether your technique is actually any good or not. Mind if I consult you about it another day?”
It was her first time discovering that Ni Zijing could be this wickedly teasing. When she said those words, her eyes and brows had been overflowing with flirtatious charm, yet paired with that face and that outfit, it had made Qiao Qiao’s heart hammer out of control, leaving her completely speechless and forced to make a panicked escape.
Any ordinary girl would probably have had her knees turn to jelly on the spot.
But was she, Qiao Qiao, an ordinary girl?
As she rode the elevator upward, Qiao Qiao pressed a hand against her chest, where her heart rate had yet to return to normal. Wait, so I didn’t actually sleep with President Ni?
The strangest part was.
What is this lingering sense of disappointment?
Stepping out of the elevator, Qiao Qiao gave an indignant little stamp of her high heel, the clack clack echoing sharply.
Coward. Absolute coward.
For a fleeting second, a reckless thought even flashed through her mind: I refuse to lose. I need to prove to this smug President Ni that my technique is, in fact, exceptionally good.