Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Xie Qiyan appeared at the company at exactly eight-thirty every morning. Today, however, he was half an hour late.

Everyone on the entire President’s Office floor exchanged bewildered looks.

“Is President Xie’s tie crooked today?”

“Did President Xie put on cologne today?”

“Is President Xie…”

“What are you all making such a fuss about? President Xie is just peacocking a little. Why are you acting like you’ve never seen anything before?” With one sentence, Yu Fei dispersed the crowd. Once he returned to his desk, he pushed off in his rolling chair and glided right up to Huo Yang. “One night and it’s done! Done! Sure enough, adversity reveals true feelings. Old Huo, we have a CEO’s Wife / Madam President now!”

Huo Yang spared a moment to roll his eyes at him. “Why are you acting like you’ve never seen anything before?”

Yu Fei smugly rolled back to his own station, inwardly waving a victory flag for his boss.

Inside his office, Xie Qiyan rubbed his lower back, which was still aching.

This was the price of sleeping beside her last night.

The kick Xia Wanzhi had given him this morning had almost sent him to meet the old patriarch.

Still, taking a loving kick had brought some unexpected benefits.

For example, Xia Wanzhi had personally tied his tie this morning.

She had also buttoned his suit jacket for him.

His girlfriend had done it.

Xie Qiyan looked rather pleased.

His phone vibrated twice. Xia Wanzhi’s messages came in one after another.

Xia Wanzhi: [Does it still hurt?]

-[I bought medicine. When you come back tonight, let’s put some on.]

[Sowwy-duck.jpg]

Xie Qiyan stared at those two lines for a long while. “…”

Did it hurt?

Put medicine on him?

What kind of obscene wording was that?

Even more outrageous was that these words were being used on him.

Fragile-skinned Xie Qiyan felt insulted.

Xie Qiyan: [You’ll put it on for me?]

Xia Wanzhi did not hesitate: [If you need me to.]

Xie Qiyan was secretly delighted: [I do.]

Physical contact helped feelings heat up. Xie Qiyan would rather die than let such an opportunity slip by.

So if he had to be insulted, then so be it.

After sending the messages, Xia Wanzhi dawdled at home for ages before finally heading out. When she passed by a pharmacy, she spent a long time picking out medicine, then packed up every bottle and jar that seemed suitable and took them with her.

Lanting Bieyuan was only a ten-minute walk from Xingyao Building. She had gotten up late today, and the moment she opened her eyes, Xie Qiyan had launched an ultimate attack right in her face. Out of reflex, she had kicked him off the bed. Afterward, she had felt guilty and gone out of her way to coax him. Just like that, time had quietly slipped away.

Zhuzi had been guarding the Studio alone. Seeing Xia Wanzhi arrive so late, she was just about to ask whether she had gone out robbing people last night when she caught sight of the bags of medicine, big and small, in her hand. Zhuzi’s heart nearly trembled out of her chest. “Sister Xia, do you have some terminal illness?”

Xia Wanzhi shot her a glare and said coldly, “Do you hear yourself?”

Panicking, Zhuzi quickly took the bags from her and checked the names of the medicines. “Why is all of this for reducing swelling, relieving pain, improving circulation, and clearing bruises? Sister Xia, where did you get hurt?”

At that question, Xia Wanzhi immediately remembered the solid kick Xie Qiyan had taken that morning, and her guilt surged again. Scratching her cheek, she brushed it off in one sentence. “It’s not me. Xie Qiyan hurt his lower back.”

Zhuzi took half a minute to digest that sentence. “Huh?”

Xia Wanzhi smiled, put down her bag, gulped down some water, and headed straight into the art room to draw.

After Zhuzi’s brain crashed and rebooted, she wanted to get to the bottom of it, but Xia Wanzhi had already gone into the art room.

Idle people were not allowed in the art room, especially when Xia Wanzhi was drawing. She could not tolerate even the slightest disturbance from others, and not even Zhuzi was an exception. But Zhuzi really could not suppress her curiosity, so she had no choice but to seek outside help.

Zhuzi: [Xie Qiyan hurt his waist. Why is Sister Xia the one buying medicine for him? Master, please explain.]

Yun Li, the one addressed as Master, had just returned from the hospital to her flower shop. When she saw the message, she raised an eyebrow slightly.

Yun Li: [Isn’t that simple? President Xie’s waist injury must have something to do with your Sister Xia.]
After sending her reply, Yun Li belatedly processed what she’d said and froze.

Zhuzi: [Under what circumstances would Sister Xia injure President Xie’s waist?]

The listless look in Yun Li’s eyes instantly blazed with a terrifying light.

The moment Zhuzi finished asking, her mind went straight into the gutter.

Yun Li: [AAAAAA.jpg]

Zhuzi: [creepy nosebleed.jpg]

“Zhuzi, bring me two tubes of white paint,” Xia Wanzhi called from the studio.

Zhuzi, who had just finished screaming internally, took a second to calm down, grabbed two tubes of white paint, and brought them into the studio.

Xia Wanzhi glanced at them but didn’t take them. Instead, she teased, “Where’s our tacit understanding? This is water-soluble paint.”

Feeling guilty, Zhuzi went, “Oh, oh, oh,” then ran back out and brought over the oil-based paint. “My bad. Tiny mistake.”

Xia Wanzhi noticed the strange way she was looking at her and couldn’t help laughing. “What’s with you?”

Zhuzi rubbed her nose and laughed awkwardly. “Sister, you’re really dedicated. Honestly, it would’ve been fine if you slept in a little. It would’ve been fine if you didn’t come to work today, too.”

A long string of question marks slowly appeared over Xia Wanzhi’s head.

Zhuzi’s face was practically glowing with dirty thoughts. Then she turned and ran.

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

During her lunch break, Xia Wanzhi picked up her phone and only then discovered that Yun Li had sent her several messages. After reading them, she finally understood why Zhuzi had been wearing that gossip-fed expression all morning.

Caught between laughter and tears, Xia Wanzhi called Zhuzi over on the spot to clarify things. “What on earth is going on in that head of yours? Xie Qiyan and I didn’t do anything. From now on, you’re not allowed to pass fake news to Yun Li.”

Zhuzi let out a disappointed “Huh?” “But Yun Li said you two…”

“Yun Li is evil,” Xia Wanzhi huffed. “Be on guard. She’s very good at corrupting people, especially innocent little delinquents like you.”

“Hey, hey, hey! I walk in and the first thing I hear is you bad-mouthing me!” Yun Li burst through the door with a bouquet of moth orchids in her arms.

Xia Wanzhi hadn’t seen her in several days. She stood, took the flowers, and pulled her into a hug at the same time. “What are you doing here?”

Yun Li beamed, rocking her head from side to side. “You didn’t reply to my messages for ages. I couldn’t hold it in anymore, so I came to take a look.”

The corner of Xia Wanzhi’s mouth twitched. She handed the flowers to Zhuzi and asked her to put them in a vase. “Take a look at me, or take a look at the drama?”

As Zhuzi took the flowers out and arranged them in the vase, she sighed and relayed, “They haven’t gotten any yet.”

She sounded pretty disappointed, too.

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

She must have learned that line from Yun Li.

After being fiercely glared at, Yun Li shrugged innocently. “What a shame.”

Xia Wanzhi covered her face in despair. “Help…”

Gossip from the sisterhood was truly the deadliest kind.

“So how did you injure his lower back?” Yun Li’s thirst for knowledge was overflowing.

Xia Wanzhi coughed lightly. Although the truth wasn’t as exaggerated as what they were imagining, something had indeed happened between her and Xie Qiyan last night. Blushing, she said, “Wasn’t I scared? He came to keep me company, and somehow, while he was keeping me company, we accidentally ended up sharing the same bed. When I woke up, I got too startled and kicked him off.”

“That’s what I thought. President Xie looks plenty capable. How could one night possibly be enough to injure his waist?” Yun Li nodded in sudden understanding.

Xia Wanzhi’s face went completely yellow with embarrassment. “…”

“Wait. What were you scared of?” Yun Li immediately caught the main point.

Xia Wanzhi’s expression darkened, and she recounted what had happened the night before.

Yun Li and Zhuzi both went still. The joking atmosphere from moments ago vanished, replaced by a cold, heavy silence.

“This Qi Shi… I think he’s an artist signed under one of Jiang Baichuan’s film and television companies,” Yun Li said icily.