14 – Mеn’s Раstimе
Тhе mаn’s hand involunt tightеnеd аrоund Сhen Qingzhi’s wrist, forcing hеr tо meet his gаze.
Chеn Qingzhi triеd tо mоvе hеr wrist, attеmрting tо рull free frоm his grip.
Just as she turned hеr hеad, shе mеt his iсу, ruthlеss eуеs.
It wаs an eхрressiоn Lu Jin had never shоwn befоre.
Chen Qingzhi frоze, gеnuinelу а bit frightened.
Тhey starеd аt еаch othеr fоr а lоng while.
Onlу then did shе suddenly frоwn and struggle fоrcefullу:
“You’re insanе!”
Lu Jin nоtiсed hеr rеddened eаrs and didn’t рrеss further. Insteаd, he curlеd his lips mосkinglу.
Letting оut a soft, brеathy “hеh.”
Whеn thеy parted ways, neither оf thеm said another wоrd.
Тhe riverside арartment stood overlooking the water.
It wasn’t the best residential area in the capital, but its advantage lay in its prime location, with a subway station at the doorstep offering convenient access in all directions.
The apartment had been prepared early on. Chen Qingzhi’s parents had assumed their daughter would follow the plan—graduate, secure a master’s degree, pursue a Ph.D., and then smoothly secure a teaching position at the university—which was why they bought the apartment near the riverside campus of Capital University.
Who would have thought she would secretly participate in a talent show and choose to become a celebrity?
Chen Qingzhi was often busy with work commitments and rarely returned home.
Lu Jin came even less frequently—only twice, both times to help Chen Qingzhi put on a front in front of her parents.
He did, however, conscientiously cover the housekeeping fees.
The apartment was regularly cleaned, so dust wasn’t much of an issue.
But due to the lack of human presence, when Chen Qingzhi lay alone on the sofa playing with her phone, the dim daylight filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows made the space feel particularly empty.
The trending topic exploded quickly. Chen Qingzhi had tried hiring a PR team to suppress it, but the cost was simply too high. The meager savings she had needed to be kept for emergencies.
She turned to Su Qian for ideas.
Su Qian entered the apartment and checked every room. There wasn’t a soul in sight—not even a wrinkle on the bedspread in the bedroom.
“Your husband…”
Su Qian’s big eyes scrutinized Chen Qingzhi up and down, searching for any trace of something “different” about her.
“Enough already, we just had a meal at Lu Mansion. He went to meet friends afterward.”
Chen Qingzhi nudged Su Qian and handed her a glass of water.
“Entertainment for men?” Su Qian asked.
Chen Qingzhi thought of what Lu Jin had kept in his coat pocket and replied, “Mhm.”
Then she added, “Probably.”
“Come on, Chen Qingzhi, back when you two were in college, you’d sneak off to hotels every other day. Now that you’re married, you’re suddenly acting all reserved?”
“Would Lu Jin really need to seek entertainment outside when he has a beauty like you at home?”
During their university days, even though Su Qian had never been in a relationship, she knew what it meant when Chen Qingzhi frequently stayed out overnight.
“Maybe now that he’s seen more, he’s just not interested in me anymore.”
Chen Qingzhi retorted weakly, her voice faint and her gaze evasive.
Su Qian was blunt:
“What do you know? Men all have a thing for their first love. You were his first woman!”
Chen Qingzhi frowned and replied stiffly:
“Can you stop thinking about those things all the time?”
Su Qian didn’t feel like continuing the topic.
She immediately took out her phone, opened the trending page, and pointed at the video:
“I think he’s quite interested in you. Otherwise, why would he allow gossip accounts to post this kind of stuff?”
Su Qian pointed to the line in the statement from “Gossip Digger”:
“This video has been approved by the Star Continent Group’s PR department. See the first part? It could only be posted with Lu Jin’s permission.”
“Don’t speculate randomly. This is just him trying to—”
Chen Qingzhi was about to explain to Su Qian that Lu Jin had released this material to cultivate a playboy image within the group and mislead their competitors.
But then she caught herself, realizing she shouldn’t casually disclose such matters, and decided to drop it.She had no choice but to declare to Su Qian with utmost seriousness:
“He doesn’t like me. We just grew up together, it’s just habit.”
Su Qian, being an experienced person, could easily see the self-deception in her words. She reached out her hand and said:
“Give me your phone.”
“What are you going to do?”
Chen Qingzhi was afraid she might call Lu Jin and say something inappropriate, so she turned to look for her phone on the sofa.
Su Qian, quick as lightning, snatched her phone, tapped away on the screen, and then calmly held it up for Chen Qingzhi to see:
“Let’s see how he replies.”
As her vision gradually focused, Chen Qingzhi saw the message content:
“Sexy wildcat, online and ready to flirt. 【Picture】【Picture】”
The attached photos were from the materials of the lingerie advertisement she had shot for the young women’s brand last time.
The advertiser had thoughtfully equipped Chen Qingzhi with cat ears and a cat tail.
Because the content was somewhat risqué, Chen Qingzhi hadn’t allowed the advertiser to release it after shooting. She had kept two photos on her phone for her own appreciation.
A few seconds later.
The message showed “Read.”
“Su Qian!”
Chen Qingzhi frantically ruffled her hair.
Nearly hysterical, she desperately tapped on the message, hoping to retract it.
Su Qian, wearing a look of amusement, smiled and said:
“I really don’t understand what game you two are playing. Married for two years, and you haven’t even added each other on WeChat.”
She didn’t give Chen Qingzhi a chance to retort:
“Let me see what he replied.”
Chen Qingzhi nearly cursed out loud, her face flushed with anger as she gritted her teeth:
“I really thank you. He didn’t reply at all.”
Su Qian wasn’t very familiar with Lu Jin, and for a moment, she couldn’t figure out what he meant by this.
She pouted, beginning to doubt her own intuition.
But afraid that continuing the conversation might push Chen Qingzhi over the edge, she decided to get down to business:
“There’s a live broadcast event tonight. Originally, you were supposed to be filming, so I declined it.”
Su Qian took a few pages of script and an activity schedule out of her bag.
“Today, with your popularity rising, the program team invited you again. Since you’re free, I accepted. It’s a daily live broadcast variety show for female celebrities. Just share some of your daily skincare tips and promote the cosmetics for the advertiser.”
Knowing that Chen Qingzhi had been avoiding variety shows for the past two years, Su Qian added:
“It’s only two hours.”
With the year-end filming not happening and the final payment not being made, the studio was struggling to make ends meet. Variety shows were the best way to earn quick money, though she had been scared off by fans-turned-haters before.
Dating shows were out of the question, but occasionally appearing on other types of variety shows wasn’t impossible.
Chen Qingzhi nodded in agreement.
Lu Jin’s phone had been set to vibrate and left on the conference table.
After rushing back from Australia, the old-timers on the board had seized the opportunity to make a fuss about the matter.
An emergency meeting was called to discuss the planning and development of overseas business.
The stubborn conservatives were already passionately denouncing Lu Jin for his irresponsibility.
Treating twenty billion dollars as child’s play.
The contract had already been successfully signed, but they were using it as an excuse to stir up trouble.
Lu Jin’s expression was grim as he tossed the performance reports of various subsidiaries and the project proposals for development onto the conference table, deducting eighty percent of the year-end bonuses from several executives in a row.
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Afraid that any further misstep might anger the young master Lu and make them the example to warn others.
Just as the atmosphere had chilled to the extreme, Lu Jin’s phone vibrated twice.
Normally during meetings, Lu Jin wouldn’t pay attention to such messages.
Important business matters would be directly handled by his elite team of secretaries via phone calls.After he finished summarizing his statement today, he did not immediately announce the adjournment of the meeting.
Instead, he leaned back casually in his office chair, picked up his phone, and began scrolling through it.
The senior executives of the group beside him were left hanging, not daring to move a muscle.
But Secretary Li noticed that ever since President Lu picked up his phone,
he had been in a state of dazed confusion, as if his soul had been stolen by some enchantress.
His eyes remained fixed on the phone screen, his fingers swiping back and forth.
From time to time, he even used two fingers to zoom in on something.
Unable to resist, Secretary Li lowered his gaze and quickly glanced at his boss’s phone screen.
Good heavens!
Secretary Li struggled to suppress the look of surprise on his face, tightening the corners of his mouth.
So the boss and his wife have such a playful side!