Even in places like Israel, she had seen advertisements for Hengya Intelligent Machines on the streets.
Even when she occasionally chatted with international journalists, an American journalist once mentioned Hengya to her. Of course, the journalist did not know her identity and only mentioned it very casually.
He acknowledged, with a mixture of extreme respect and a touch of hostility, that Hengya Group, as a private enterprise, was excessively powerful and had seized the market with an exceptionally strong fighting spirit.
However, he also wondered if Hengya Group had human rights issues, given that it sent its employees to such a dangerous place as the Middle East, while other telecommunications companies were choosing to withdraw, Hengya employees were still forging ahead.
Ni Jingxi immediately refuted the other party.
Because the leader of Hengya she saw was someone who worked harder than anyone else. Huo Shenyan came from a higher background than most people, but he was not a spoiled brat; on the contrary, he worked harder than anyone else.
When she was with him, she saw with her own eyes that he hardly had any rest time.
She asked in a low voice, "Are you leaving now? I'm sleepy."
Ni Jingxi was worried that his schedule was too tight, and besides, if he wanted to fly away, he would have to go to Tel Aviv, where the international airport was much bigger.
She then yawned, seemingly indicating that she was still quite sleepy.
Huo Shenyan looked at her and suddenly laughed, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "Okay, I'll watch you until you fall asleep before I leave."
Ni Jingxi was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding what he meant.
Until she changed into her pajamas and lay in bed, Huo Shenyan sat quietly by the bed watching her. Ni Jingxi blinked, and when her long, curled eyelashes trembled slightly, she looked pitiful.
She asked, "Are you really going to watch me sleep?"
"Do you want to sleep with me?" Huo Shenyan asked calmly.
Ni Jingxi was stunned. It wasn't her; she didn't.
Huo Shenyan, however, looked around her room and said in a low voice, "Why is this place so small?"
Ni Jingxi lives alone; her other colleagues at the newspaper all share apartments, but she doesn't want to live with male colleagues because she feels it's a bit inconvenient.
Ni Jingxi said, "It's not small, and the rent isn't cheap."
Huo Shenyan smiled slightly: "It would be a bit small if two people were to live here."
Ni Jingxi's eyes widened in an instant. Although her expression remained unchanged, her dark eyes darted around, revealing a hint of shyness and bewilderment.
Then, a blush gradually spread across her ears.
Her skin was so fair that her ears would automatically give her away at the slightest sound.
Even though she was putting on a calm and collected act, her ears had already turned red.
Before she could move, Huo Shenyan lay down first, right beside her on the bed, with Ni Jingxi covered by a thin blanket while he lay outside. The two were very close, especially since their cheeks were touching.
Ni Jingxi could feel his mouth was very, very close to hers.
She can kiss him with just a slight tilt of her head.
While Ni Jingxi was struggling with the decision of whether or not to kiss him, she suddenly felt a hand on her blanket. Huo Shenyan chuckled and said, "I'll coax you to sleep."
I'll coax you to sleep.
Ni Jingxi was stunned until Huo Shenyan gently patted her left shoulder as she lay on her side, one pat after another.
I'm really trying to lull her to sleep.
Huo Shenyan looked down and saw that she still had her eyes open, and couldn't help but laugh, "Aren't you sleepy yet?"
Ni Jingxi immediately closed her eyes.
But after she closed her eyes, she felt that the surroundings were too quiet. Just as she was about to open her eyes, she suddenly felt something soft on her lips.
Huo Shenyan, who was pressing forward, did not show any strength at the beginning.
Instead, he kissed her lips carefully, with restraint and forbearance, as if afraid of frightening her.
But the next second, Ni Jingxi moved slightly. Her tongue cautiously darted out, tracing the line of their lips that were pressed together. Her soft tongue seemed a little awkward.
It had been far too long since that last kiss.
So long that she forgot that just kissing him used to make her heart race.
It was as if a flame had ignited between the two of them. Perhaps this flame had been buried in their hearts from the beginning, but as the distance between them, which had been separated by time, gradually shortened, it slowly began to burn.
Just as the kiss was about to deepen, Huo Shenyan suddenly pulled back slightly, creating a small distance between himself and her.
"Stars, it's too late," Huo Shenyan said softly.
Ni Jingxi froze, then looked up at him: "Don't you want to?"
Her words, spoken so softly they were almost a whisper, instantly ignited the desire that Huo Shenyan had been suppressing.
Don't you want to hold her? Or don't you want to kiss her?
How could he not miss her? If he didn't miss her, he wouldn't have come to find her so soon after the year was up, when the UK project was about to start negotiations and a multi-billion dollar project was waiting for him.
But he really loved the girl in his arms.
Huo Shenyan closed his eyes almost self-torturingly, then placed his hand on her shoulder and patted her gently again.
It seemed like he was trying to completely suppress the fire in his heart.
After an unknown amount of time, Huo Shenyan opened his eyes and looked at her, saying in a low, hoarse voice, "This time, let's not rush, okay?"
This time they don't need to rush, because they have a lifetime to get to know each other again.
*
When Ni Jingxi opened her eyes, she subconsciously glanced to the side and, sure enough, the person beside her had already left. Last night, when he was lying next to her, Ni Jingxi was wondering how she was going to sleep.
But unexpectedly, this was the most restful sleep she had had since arriving in Israel.
There were no gunshots in my dream, no pale and emaciated faces, and no longing eyes.
After Ni Jingxi got up, she discovered that there was a note on the dining table in the living room, which Huo Shenyan had left for her when he left.
"Star, be happy every day."
His handwriting is truly beautiful. He once told himself about how his grandfather forced him to practice calligraphy when he was a child. He didn't like such a tedious thing back then, standing in the study day after day, while others could play.
But he just can't do it.
Only now do I realize that Grandpa was trying to toughen him up, to make him sit still and steady.
Ni Jingxi looked at the line of text, which, although only a few words long, made her laugh. Especially the happy emoji he drew at the end.
If Ni Jingxi hadn't recognized his handwriting, she would never have guessed that he was the one who drew this.
After thinking it over, she took out her phone and took a picture of the note again, but then she felt it wasn't enough, so she took out her camera and put the note back in its original position.
The dining table was placed by the window, and the morning sunlight shone through the window, casting its rays directly onto the note.
Under the pale golden sunlight, the words seemed to be coated with a layer of glaze.
It was etched into her heart.
She went to the newspaper office in the morning. There were no urgent tasks today, so they could just stay at the newspaper office and process the articles. However, in the afternoon, the team leader, Qiao Muheng, returned from Jordan.
When China decided to provide humanitarian aid to refugee camps in Jordan, Qiao Muheng, a highly influential Chinese journalist in the Middle East, accompanied the team to conduct special reports.
He's been busy with this all week.
After he returned today, he held an emergency meeting: "The foreign correspondent in Lebanon needs to return home for a month due to family matters. They are already short-staffed, so we urgently need to transfer one person from our side."
Ni Jingxi replied without hesitation, "I'll go."
Qiao Muheng glanced at her, thought for a moment, and said, "You're not suitable."
While the Middle East is generally considered unsafe, including Israel, Israel is a military superpower and has seen relatively few terrorist attacks in Jerusalem. However, neighboring countries like Syria and Lebanon are currently in chaos, with rebel groups fighting government forces.
Terrorist attacks occur frequently.
Even newspapers in these countries dare not send large numbers of staff, and there are very few female reporters.
Ni Jingxi immediately retorted, "Besides me, who else would be suitable?"
Qiao Muheng was taken aback by her question.
In the end, Ni Jingxi managed to secure the opportunity to go to Lebanon, a neighboring country of Israel and naturally a country with strained relations with Israel.
After all, Israel was established on Arab soil, and the outbreak of several Middle East wars has pushed them to the opposite side.
Beirut is the capital of Lebanon.
Qiao Muheng had said that a colleague would come to pick her up, but Ni Jingxi still looked surprised when she saw who came to pick her up.
At this moment, Lin Qinglang, who was wearing a blue shirt and trousers, looked at Ni Jingxi, who was in shock, and laughed heartily, saying happily, "I knew I would definitely surprise you."
Ni Jingxi looked at him in surprise: "What are you doing here?"
Lin Qinglang proudly handed her his identification from his pocket: "See? I'm a Xinhua News Agency reporter now."
"We're a newspaper company again now."
However, Lin Qinglang looked her up and down, shook his head and said, "Teacher, you're really not being fair. I told you as soon as I came to the Middle East, but you didn't even tell me you'd been here for a year."
When Lin Qinglang heard that the colleague who was coming this time was named Ni Jingxi, he was really surprised.
He thought that this name wasn't exactly ordinary; it was quite unique and pleasant-sounding. Surely it wasn't just a coincidence of names.
But then he felt something was off.
So he called back to China and asked a friend in Shanghai, since the friend was also in the wealthy circle and should know something about the Huo family.
When my friend said with a surprised look, "You didn't know about this? Apparently, the woman's grandmother passed away, and the wedding was canceled. And there have been a lot of rumors about their divorce in the past year."
Previously, marketing accounts would occasionally leak information about this.
However, Hengya Group immediately sued the person and banned several accounts. After that, no one dared to spread the rumors anymore.
Lin Qinglang was now certain that this Ni Jingxi was the Ni Jingxi he knew.
"I've already arranged a place for you to stay. Since you're only staying for a month, it's best to stay in a hotel. Our company is quite generous to us poor souls who go abroad to work."
Lin Qinglang was also driving a beat-up car, and every part of the car seemed to rattle and groan when it started moving.
Lin Qinglang had driven this car to pick up other people before, but they all looked shocked and scared, and asked him indirectly if anything had happened to him.
Ni Jingxi not only remained calm, but also had the leisure to appreciate the streets of Beirut.
This girl is as cool as ever.
"How about I take you to a Chinese restaurant later for a welcome dinner?" Lin Qinglang suggested.