Chapter 76

Chapter 76

The entertainment industry was the easiest place to get dragged into trouble. You worked yourself to the bone during the day, and after work, you still had to guard against paparazzi and stalker fans.

Xia Wanzhi had never really understood what a stalker fan was before, but after what happened last night, she had finally experienced just how terrifying those extremists could be.

“Are the benefits at Jiang Baichuan’s company really that bad? One of their own artists gets followed and stalked by a fan, and they don’t even have any measures in place?” Yun Li said casually, picking at her newly done, pale-pink nails.

Hearing her bring up Jiang Baichuan without even realizing it, Xia Wanzhi smiled and went along with her. “You get the treatment your status deserves. That happens everywhere. Besides, Jiang Baichuan is very busy. I heard the majority shareholder of that film and television company is his older sister, not Jiang Baichuan himself.”

“He… has an older sister?” Yun Li lowered her head and drank from her cup, her lashes dipping slightly as she stole a seemingly casual glance at Xia Wanzhi.

Xia Wanzhi couldn’t help laughing. “His cousin. I heard she lost both parents and was raised by the Jiang family since she was little.”

Yun Li nodded repeatedly. “Oh, oh, oh.”

“You’ve met her before,” Xia Wanzhi said, arching a brow.

Yun Li froze, then hurriedly denied it. “How could I have?”

“How couldn’t you?” Xia Wanzhi caught that flash of nervousness in her and smiled. “At the Rong Family birthday banquet last time. They were all there.”

Yun Li didn’t have that good a memory. Besides, back then, the reason she had agreed to attend the birthday banquet with Xia Wanzhi was because she wanted to clear things up with Jiang Baichuan.

In the end, before she could finish saying what she wanted, Liang Jing had called and summoned her away.

“Oh, come on, how did we even get onto this?” Yun Li snapped back to herself and coughed lightly to cover her embarrassment. “Was that stalker fan caught? How is Qi Shi handling it? This whole thing started because of him. He owes you an explanation, at least.”

Xia Wanzhi nodded. “He does owe me an explanation.”

After saying that, she lifted her eyes and stared straight at Yun Li with a smile.

Yun Li felt a chill from the look. “What are you doing…”

“You seem pretty interested. Why don’t you come with me tonight and take a look?” Xia Wanzhi’s gaze clearly said she was plotting some little scheme.

“No.” Yun Li raised a hand in refusal.

“I haven’t even said where we’re going.”

“I don’t care where. I’m not going.” Yun Li was worried she’d get tricked.

Xia Wanzhi tempted her. “President Xie said he’s taking me straight to Xingcan Entertainment to demand an explanation from Qi Shi’s direct superior.”

“Who? Jiang Baichuan’s sister?” Yun Li unconsciously focused on Jiang Baichuan again.

“You’ll know when you go,” Xia Wanzhi said, deliberately keeping her in suspense.

Going there to demand an explanation was bound to turn into a dramatic showdown. Yun Li loved watching drama unfold, and with Xia Wanzhi nudging her again and again, she had already started wavering.

At five-thirty in the evening, Xia Wanzhi wrapped up work on time. Xie Qiyan had arrived ten minutes early to wait for her.

Zhuzi was tidying things up off to the side and couldn’t help glancing at Xie Qiyan, who was gazing affectionately through the glass window at Xia Wanzhi inside the studio.

The boss’s tie was crooked?

One look and you could tell it had been tied by a beginner.

What kind of hands could tie a tie like that?

“Why are you here so early?” Xia Wanzhi came out of the studio, washed her hands, and walked over. “Are we going straight there?”

“I’m here to pick up my girlfriend. This isn’t early.” Xie Qiyan very naturally pulled out a tissue and wiped Xia Wanzhi’s hands for her. “We’ll settle it in half an hour, then I’ll take you to dinner.”

“Where are we eating?” Xia Wanzhi was still thinking about picking up Yun Li along the way to watch the show, and for a moment, she didn’t notice how intimate she and Xie Qiyan looked.

Xie Qiyan squeezed her fingers. “Imperial Kitchen. I want to see just how good it is that you ordered takeout from them for over a week straight.”

The corner of Xia Wanzhi’s mouth twitched. “So that was why you had Qi Shi come over and cook for me?”

Xie Qiyan curved his lips. After finishing wiping her hands, he picked up her bag and slung it over his own shoulder. “I would have liked to cook for you myself, but at the time, you were avoiding me every day.”

Then he added, “But you’re not avoiding me now. From now on, I can cook for you every day.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed his tie was twisted all crooked, and her face heated again.

It had clearly been tied properly this morning.

He must have tugged it crooked while messing with it.

“Your tie is crooked,” Xia Wanzhi said, pointing at it.

He couldn’t go out looking like this, after all.
“It’s fine. It’s the girlfriend look. I like it.” Xie Qiyan’s voice was utterly, perfectly serious.

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Zhuzi stood off to the side, stuffed full of their public display of affection, and thought to herself that these two could practically get married on the spot. Why were they still pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend?

“I’m heading out. Be careful driving back later,” Xia Wanzhi reminded Zhuzi before she left.

Zhuzi waved her off. “Don’t worry. Enjoy your date.”

Xia Wanzhi genuinely hadn’t connected going out to dinner with Xie Qiyan to the idea of a date. Even after getting into the car, she was still a little dazed.

A date…

“What is Teacher Xia thinking about?” Xie Qiyan couldn’t get her attention, so he had no choice but to lean over and buckle her seat belt for her himself.

“Teacher Xia isn’t thinking about anything.” Xia Wanzhi reflexively grabbed the seat belt. Her face warmed, and she quickly turned her head toward the window.

She had just been thinking that, as it turned out, going on a date could make a person a little nervous.

She had been busy all day, and her body smelled of oil paint. She was used to the scent herself, but to other people, it might be a little sharp.

Xia Wanzhi ran her fingers through her hair, then lowered her eyes and discovered a bit of paint still stuck to the ends.

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Just let the world end.

The car drove into the central district and stopped in front of Yun Li’s flower shop. Xia Wanzhi got out to help Yun Li tidy up and close for the night. Five minutes later, the two best friends climbed into the back seat together.

Xie Qiyan in the driver’s seat: “…”

In just a short while, his girlfriend’s heart had already changed.

“How exactly does President Xie plan to settle accounts with people?”

“Doesn’t President Xie have a share of this debt too?”

“All of Wanzi’s family is abroad. As half of Wanzi’s maiden family, don’t I have a reason to settle accounts with you as well?”

Yun Li had always been polite to people, so Xia Wanzhi had no idea why she had suddenly become so combative.

Xie Qiyan drove at a steady speed and answered each question calmly and methodically. “Qi Shi was harassed by a stalker fan, which indirectly dragged Wanzi into it. At the end of the day, Xingcan Entertainment failed to properly fulfill its duty to protect its artist’s safety and handle the situation in time. This is no small matter, and Xingcan Entertainment won’t take it lightly. Miss Yun can rest assured. This will not be let go easily.”

“It was my fault for finding someone to play the role of butler. I have already paid a tragic price for it, and from now on, I will certainly learn from the pain and never repeat the mistake.”

“As for Miss Yun wanting to settle accounts with me, I accept. I absolutely will not resist.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Presumably, the tragic price he was talking about was that inspired kick she had given him this morning.

However, judging from Xie Qiyan’s current attitude, he really did seem to regard Yun Li as half of her maiden family.

Yun Li had only been putting on an act to tease him a little. She hadn’t expected Xie Qiyan to take it so seriously. She blinked, then coughed lightly. “You don’t… have to be… that solemn.”

Xie Qiyan switched on the turn signal and lifted his gaze to look at Xia Wanzhi through the rearview mirror. “It isn’t solemnity. It’s respect.”

Yun Li shivered in the September weather. “…”

What virtue or ability did she possess to receive the respect of the Head of the Xie Corporation?

Then Xie Qiyan slowly added, “Wanzi treats you like an older sister. I am Wanzi’s boyfriend, and in the future, I will be Wanzi’s husband. Logically speaking, you are also my older sister.”

Yun Li, the older sister: “…”

Xia Wanzhi also found Xie Qiyan very unfamiliar at this moment. “…”

Being addressed so respectfully and called an older sister on top of that, Yun Li couldn’t accept it all at once.

How had it already become husband?

Yun Li mechanically turned her head and stared straight into Xia Wanzhi’s eyes.

Xia Wanzhi scratched her cheek and coughed lightly. “Well… whatever you’re thinking, that’s probably what it is.”

Yun Li leaned all the way back against the seat. Once it finally sank in, she let out a laugh. “So you two turned the fake relationship real this quickly?”

Xie Qiyan took it as a question directed at him, and a hint of smugness slipped into his tone. “Mm. Wanzi couldn’t wait.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

“Xie. Qi. Yan!” Xia Wanzhi ground out through clenched teeth. How was she supposed to face anyone after this?

Xie Qiyan said, “Sorry, Sister Yun Li. My Wanzi is shy. You’d better not ask anymore.”

Yun Li: “…………”

Were all domineering CEOs this secretly flirty when they fell in love?

Xia Wanzhi caught the signal in Yun Li’s eyes, and the corner of her mouth twitched stiffly.

Don’t ask her. This was her first time seeing it too.