She wondered if he would buy her a roasted sweet potato if the shop was open. He probably would. Because he would never give her a gift that cost more than twenty yuan.
A stingy man.
Clearly, she should like a domineering yet generous CEO.
That night, they walked for more than three hours without him saying anything. She was freezing, and the date ended.
She suspected that he was trying to discourage her and make her give up the idea of marrying him.
Wu Yang declined to comment, saying, "I haven't contacted you because I might have a surprise for you."
Xi Jia smiled and said, "What kind of surprise could he possibly give? A roasted sweet potato?"
Wu Yang's smile faded slightly. He used to frequent that roasted sweet potato shop. Occasionally, when he passed by, he would buy one for Yu An and then pick her up from get off work.
Yu Aneng was happy all night.
Xi Jia mentioned the roasted sweet potato shop, saying, "You haven't bought us any roasted sweet potatoes this winter."
The first time she ate roasted sweet potatoes from that shop was when Wu Yang bought some and brought them to the club. Everyone ate them, and she ate one too. They were sweet and tasted good.
"I'll buy it next time," Wu Yang said dismissively.
When they arrived at the parking lot, Wu Yang offered to ride in his car.
Xi Jia didn't want to drive anyway, so she needed to polish the script on the way back to the city.
Ye Qiu said that this afternoon, she recorded a program with the main creators of the drama "The Rest of My Life". Zhou Mingqian also went over, and this was his first time on a variety show.
Just to promote "The Rest of My Life".
She had completed the first draft of the script and even revised it once, and wanted to give it to Zhou Mingqian for guidance.
Wu Yang turned on the music, but turned the volume down.
Xi Jia stopped typing, turned her head, and asked, "What song is this?" She felt the melody was familiar, and the song title was on the tip of her tongue, but she had a momentary amnesia and couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Wu Yang: "A Fool's Worry"
Xi Jia nodded. She felt like she had heard it somewhere before, but she couldn't quite place it.
Yu An used to play this song on set. Later, Xi Jia became completely deaf and left the crew early, so Yu An played it for Zhou Mingqian instead.
Xi Jia was embellishing the sweet moments between the male and female leads, but the song had a sad melody. She said, "I feel like my sweetness has turned salty."
Wu Yang: "Listen to more of these stories; they'll give you inspiration for writing about scumbags in the future."
Xi Jia half-jokingly asked, "Are you implying something about yourself?"
Wu Yang smiled faintly and did not reply.
There was only music playing in the car.
Later, the music was drowned out by Xi Jia's phone ringing. Wu Yang turned the sound off.
Xi Jia answered the phone; it was Ji Qingshi.
Ji Qingshi received a call from Mo Yushen at noon. Mo Yushen asked him for Xi Jia's old notebooks. Those notebooks were in Xi Jia's current apartment.
He put it in a safe.
The safe was too heavy, so Xi Jia packed up his things and went back to the villa that day without moving the safe.
Ji Qingshi asked Xi Jia, "What time will you be home? I need to go get a document from the safe."
Xi Jia: "It's early, go get it yourself."
Now that Ye Qiu and Ji Qingshi have broken up, she promised Ye Qiu that she would never mention Ji Qingshi again.
"Oh, right, grab this and leave quickly."
She lied, "I have a date with Mo Yushen tonight, to celebrate the New Year. The living room lights are bright enough, we don't need any light bulbs."
Ji Qingshi: "..." He's been driven crazy by Mo Yushen and Xi Jia these past few days. He doesn't know if it's because of the cold weather or if he's caught a chill, but his stomach is aching slightly.
Ji Qingshi wasn't busy today, so he drove to the apartment.
His ambiguous rumors with Ye Qiu and Chu Shan have temporarily fooled netizens, but they are spreading like wildfire in the industry. For Ye Qiu's sake, Ji Qingshi has completely severed his ties with Chu Shan.
Now, most of Ji Qingshi's friends have severed ties with Chu Shan, and those who haven't are probably being sidelined.
In the period drama produced by Chu Shan, because Ye Qiu played the second female lead, Ji Qingshi didn't go too far.
Ye Qiu kicked Ji Qingshi and turned to Huo Teng's arms because of Chu Shan's intervention.
I also heard that back then, Ye Qiu was the one who interfered in Chu Shan and Ji Qingshi's relationship, and Chu Shan has always held a grudge against him.
Anyway, this melodramatic love quadrangle is getting more and more intense in the entertainment circle.
These are all rumors, and even entertainment reporters aren't entirely sure. But where there's smoke, there's fire. These past few days, many entertainment media outlets have been staking out for a major juicy story.
Let's make a big scoop on the first day of the new year.
They split into several groups to film Ye Qiu, Ji Qingshi, Chu Shan, and Huo Teng.
The reporters following Ji Qingshi went all the way from Jiashi Group to the apartment gate. The complex was heavily guarded, preventing outside vehicles from entering, so they had to wait at the gate.
A dozen minutes later, Ji Qingshi's car came out. Ji Qingshi didn't go back to the company; instead, he went to another apartment.
They wondered why Ji Qingshi, as the vice president of Jiashi Group, would have time to run back and forth between apartments at the end of the year, when it should be his busiest time.
Something unusual must be going on.
They guessed that he was probably spending New Year's Eve with someone and then going home to prepare a surprise.
Unbeknownst to the reporters, Ji Qingshi had been experiencing stomach discomfort for the past few days and had gone home to take medication.
——
Once they arrived in the city, Xi Jia asked Wu Yang to find a printing shop so she could print out the script.
Wu Yang: "Why don't you just send the electronic version to Zhou Mingqian?"
Xi Jia: "He doesn't have time to check his email. Besides, who knows how many screenwriters send him scripts, he might not even open them."
Let him have a physical copy of the script; maybe he'll have some free time someday and can flip through a few pages.
Wu Yang took two detours but didn't see a copy shop. He didn't usually pay attention to where the copy shops were.
After thinking for a moment, he suggested, "The Mo's Building is just ahead. Why don't you go to Mo Yushen's place to print it out and have it bound? Or, you can drive further ahead to my house."
He has a printer in his study.
There's no need for Xi Jia to go to Wu Yang's house; Ji Qingshi's apartment is nearby. It's still early; there are three hours left before Ye Qiu's show ends.
She finally decided to go find Mo Yushen.
Xi Jia: [Are you busy?]
Mo Yushen: [Yes. You've finished training?]
Xi Jia: [No training this afternoon, I'm in the city. I just passed by the Mo's Building and thought I'd send you a message.]
Mo Yushen: [Why are you back so early today?]
Xi Jia: [I'm here to greet Ye Qiu for the New Year's Eve show. I heard that director Zhou Mingqian is also participating in the recording. I've written quite a few scripts, so I thought I'd try my luck. I left the printed scripts at the club, and I'm looking for a print shop. I've looked on two different roads, but haven't seen one. I just saw one, but there's no parking.]
Mo Yushen: [I'm at the company. Come to my place to print it.]
Xi Jia's lips curled up, feigning innocence despite having gotten the better deal: "Will this disturb your work?"
Mo Yushen: [It's nothing.]
Xi Jia: 【Then I shall respectfully accept your offer.】
Mo Yushen was in a meeting, the Mo Group's year-end report and summary meeting. It had been going on for two days.
Mo Yushen put down his phone and quietly instructed Secretary Ding to go downstairs to pick up Xi Jia.
Fifteen minutes later, Secretary Ding received a message from Xi Jia, who then sent a message to Mo Yushen: "Mr. Mo, we'll take the elevator upstairs immediately."
Mo Yushen closed his laptop and told the attendees to take a short break. This suited them perfectly. They had been working on it for two and a half hours, and their craving for a cigarette was kicking in.
Mo Yushen hurried back upstairs. Xi Jia had just arrived at his office and was sitting at his desk waiting for him. Secretary Ding had someone prepare juice for her.
Mo Yushen closed the door. Xi Jia turned her head to the side. They would keep in touch by phone these past few days, but they hadn't seen each other since that night when they crossed the street.
Seeing it again brings back a flood of memories.
Xi Jia kept staring at him, a strange sense of grievance welling up inside her. She was surprised; why was she being so dramatic? "If I had known you were so busy, I wouldn't have bothered you."
Mo Yushen: "It's alright. There are a lot of meetings at the end of the year." He turned on his computer. "Send it to my email, and I'll print it for you." He gave her his email address.
Xi Jia sent him the document, glancing at him every now and then.
Mo Yushen started printing and then took a file folder from the bookshelf.
Xi Jia's gaze followed his movement, and she saw a box of apples she had given him before on the left shelf of the bookshelf, which looked out of place with the style of the bookshelf.
"You haven't eaten the peace apple yet?"
Mo Yushen: "Eaten it. Empty box."
Xi Jia nodded. Her resentment towards him lessened considerably. For the sake of the box, she wouldn't hold it against him for not making plans with her or contacting her these past few days.
The script is over two hundred pages long and is still being printed.
Mo Yushen took the first fifty-two sheets and said, "I'll divide them into four books and bind them together for your convenience."
Xi Jia: "Whatever."
Mo Yushen found a kraft paper cover, cut it to A4 size, and carefully bound the first book.
Throughout, Xi Jia's gaze remained fixed on him and his long, slender hands. His focused expression held her captive.
Mo Yushen bound the remaining three books in the same way as the first one.
Mo Yushen took out a marker and handwritten the script title and Xi Jia's pen name on the cover of each book. He then used a pencil to mark the serial number in the upper right corner of each book. After that, he carefully put the four books into a file bag.
In that instant, Xi Jia decided to forgive his pettiness. Later, she reflected that this was probably when she went from liking him to falling in love with him.
Chapter 83
Xi Jia accepted the document bag and expressed her gratitude.