Spellbound Hearts - Chapter 33 - Serves Him Right

Hearing Wu Shu’s voice, Xiao Jin stayed silent on the other end of the phone for a moment.

After a deep breath, he finally said, “Wu Shu, give the phone to Ji Xuan. I need to talk to her.”

Wu Shu glanced toward the kitchen, noticing Ji Xuan hadn’t turned around. She walked a little farther away with the phone and said, “If you’ve got something to say, you can tell me. Xuan Xuan doesn’t have time to take your call.”

Xiao Jin’s voice turned anxious. “What’s she doing?”

Wu Shu didn’t even blink before lying, “On a date with her new boyfriend, of course!”

Before Xiao Jin could respond, Wu Shu continued, “Xiao Jin, don’t tell me you actually think Xuan Xuan would give up an entire forest just because she left your crooked little tree?”

Xiao Jin sighed, his tone strained. “Wu Shu, I know you don’t like me, but this is really urgent. Can you just hand the phone to Ji Xuan for now?”

Wu Shu replied flatly, “Nope. If you’ve got something to say, say it to me. If not, I’m hanging up.”

Having dated Ji Xuan for years, Xiao Jin knew Wu Shu’s personality all too well. Hearing her response, he gritted his teeth and said, “Wu Shu, can you ask Ji Xuan if she has time to help me with something? It’s really urgent.”

Wu Shu raised an eyebrow. “What kind of help?”

Xiao Jin’s frustration was palpable. “The hotel-Shunwei Hotel. I’m cornered by our President Wang.”

The words had barely left his mouth when Wu Shu froze for a few seconds. Then, she burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. “Serves you right!”

With that, she hung up without hesitation.

When Ji Xuan came out of the kitchen carrying the reheated dishes, Wu Shu’s face was still lit up with laughter she hadn’t yet managed to suppress.

Ji Xuan raised an eyebrow, curious. “What’s so funny?”

Wu Shu was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. “Xiao Jin-Xiao Jin got cornered by their President Wang at a hotel!”

Ji Xuan looked puzzled. “How do you know that?”

Wu Shu waved the phone in her hand. “He just called you for help. I answered.”

Still chuckling, Wu Shu wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and added, “Honestly, he’s got some nerve. It’s like he’s made of Teflon-shameless and indestructible. I can’t even wrap my head around how he managed to say that out loud.”

Ji Xuan smirked faintly. “You can’t use normal logic to figure out someone like him.”

People like that had no bottom line, no limits.

What you might think of as the ultimate act of shamelessness could very well be their starting point.

Wu Shu nodded in agreement. “Exactly.”

The dishes Mother Ji had prepared were some of her best, and Wu Shu couldn’t stop raving about how good they were as she ate.

After a few bites, Ji Xuan suddenly thought of something and asked curiously, “How did he end up getting caught by President Wang?”

Wu Shu shrugged. “No idea. I didn’t ask. I’m not interested in his disgusting antics. But honestly, with someone like him, it’s only a matter of time before he trips up. You can’t walk along the riverbank forever without getting your feet wet.”

Ji Xuan nodded. “True.”

After all, last time, they couldn’t even keep it together during a simple company dinner. Who knows what they’re like the rest of the time?

After dinner, Wu Shu didn’t linger long since she had a photoshoot the next day.

After seeing Wu Shu off, Ji Xuan returned to the dining room to clean up the dishes.

Once the dining room and kitchen were spotless, she walked over to the sofa and picked up her phone, only to find several messages from Xiao Jin.

The first few were pleas for help.

They were filled with complaints and sob stories about how hard his life had been, peppered with nostalgic recollections of the past.

Apparently, when Ji Xuan didn’t respond, his tone shifted faster than flipping a page in a book. The last message was outright insults and threats.

[Ji Xuan, so you’re really not going to help me this time? Let me tell you, if you don’t make my life easier, I’ll make damn sure yours isn’t either. Just wait and see!]

Staring at Xiao Jin’s final message, Ji Xuan pressed her lips together.

What did he mean by saying she wasn’t making his life easier?

Was he really blaming her for the mess he was in now?

She let out a soft scoff and promptly blocked Xiao Jin on all platforms.

The bridges were already burned. With him still cornered by President Wang at the hotel, their paths-whether personal or professional-were unlikely to cross again. She had no reason to hold back.

The relentless workload of recent weeks, coupled with the tangled mess of her personal life, had left Ji Xuan without a decent night’s sleep for far too long.

So that evening, she took a long bath, watched a few episodes of a drama on her phone, and went to bed early.

The next morning.

As usual, Ji Xuan drove to the office. The moment she arrived at the Project Department, she overheard a group of young employees gossiping.

“Shunwei doesn’t even need to advertise anymore. Everyone in Qing City knows about them now.”

“Ten years of ads couldn’t make them famous, but two affairs in one night did the trick.”

“This is hilarious. Yesterday, a bunch of paparazzi went to catch Song Zhaoli with two young models, but instead, they ended up snapping photos of President Wang’s wife with their company’s Vice President, Xiao Jin.”

When Xiao Jin’s name came up, the group lowered their voices. “Wasn’t Xiao Jin dating Manager Ji?”

Someone shushed them. “Shh, stop talking.”

“Good morning, Manager Ji!” one of them suddenly greeted, their tone overly cheerful.

“Morning,” Ji Xuan replied calmly.

The gossipers froze in place.

Ji Xuan glanced at them, her expression indifferent. “It’s fine. We’ve broken up. Carry on.”

With that, she walked into her office.

As the door clicked shut behind her, a senior employee whispered to the group, “See? That’s what you get for gossiping when the person you’re talking about is right there.”

Inside her office, Ji Xuan set down her handbag, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

So Song Zhaoli and Xiao Jin were caught at the same hotel?

How poetic.

Meanwhile, the man at the center of one of those scandals, Song Zhaoli, had just stumbled out of the Song Family’s old mansion. His steps were unsteady, and his white shirt was stained with blood.

Qiu Lin, seeing his condition, stepped forward to assist him, taking off his suit jacket to offer as cover.

Song Zhaoli waved him off, his expression cold and unyielding. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placed it between his lips, and asked, “Has Ji Xuan returned yet?”