Chapter 119 N-Kiss Mark

The wedding arrangements couldn't be finalized anytime soon, and the meeting was about to begin. Without giving it much thought, Chu Beiling had lunch with Xing Yu and then headed to the conference room together.

The storyboard for "Sword Song Beyond the Clouds" is intricate and complex, and every detail must be confirmed and finalized one by one.

As the meeting progressed into its second half, Chu Beiling felt a wave of irritability and nausea. He subconsciously raised his hand, his long, nimble fingers unbuttoning the first button of his shirt, followed by the second.

After calming himself down, he leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, and calmly stated his point of view.

Xing Yu, who was sitting diagonally opposite him, shifted his gaze from the projection screen to him.

Chu Beiling's collarbone was exposed, its bone structure neat and beautiful. As he leaned forward, the lines of his shoulder and spine undulated slightly at the indentation of his collarbone.

The reddish-purple hickeys left that morning were particularly glaring in the cool light of the conference room.

Xing Yu tapped his fingers on the tablet, then took out his phone and sent a message.

"The impact of the third lens needs to be stronger. Add intense motion blur at the moment the sword is drawn, and lock the lens focus on the cold light of the sword tip."

After Chu Beiling finished speaking, the screen lit up, and he picked up his phone to check it.

Xing Yu: [Button up your shirt.]

Chu Beiling was taken aback, then suddenly looked up and met his gaze for a moment before glancing around at him.

A dozen people were taking notes in the meeting room. Zhuang Mingyue from the production department was taking notes and raising potential problems. Everyone's attention was on the meeting.

Only Xing Yu—

Indecent.

Chu Beiling nodded in agreement with Zhuang Mingyue, then quickly tapped on the screen with one hand: 【President Xing isn't focusing on the meeting, but instead bothering with my clothes?】

Xing Yu remained expressionless and replied quickly: [Neck, hickeys—feel free to do as you please if you don't mind the inappropriateness.]

Chu Beiling instinctively pressed her hand against the side of her neck.

He let go of her hand, and then, as if nothing had happened, sneakily flipped through her phone again, examining it with the screen's reflection.

When Chu Beiling saw the obvious and conspicuous hickey on his neck, he almost fainted.

Looking across at the other side, the culprit shrugged with a half-smile, looking utterly innocent.

"..." If it weren't for the fact that a meeting was in progress, Chu Beiling would definitely pounce on Xing Yu and bite him ten or eight times to get revenge.

He slowly sat up straight, raised his hand, and meticulously buttoned his shirt back up one button at a time, carefully concealing the exposed glimpse of his body.

After his attempt to cover up the truth ended, Chu Beiling cleared his throat, preparing to respond to Zhuang Mingyue's words, when his gaze inadvertently swept to the side.

Xing Yu held the white Apple Pencil to his lips, trying to suppress a laugh.

A mix of embarrassment and resentment welled up inside Chu Beiling. Multitasking, she responded to the animation director while simultaneously typing a reply to Xing Yu with one hand (blindly):

[Mr. Xing, why are you in such a hurry to have it covered up? Are you afraid others will notice, or are you afraid it will distract you?]

After sending the message, he met Xing Yu's gaze, a provocative smile curving his lips.

Almost at the same time, Xing Yu's phone, which was on the table, vibrated slightly.

He glanced down at the screen, then sent a message: [It was my fault for covering myself up so tightly; I didn't know my own limitations.]

After sending the message, Xing Yu gave him almost no chance to elaborate. He naturally raised his head, his gaze calmly meeting Zhuang Mingyue's flushed face, and his professional tone seamlessly followed Zhuang Mingyue's previous sentence.

"President Chu, from a production process perspective, this close-up shot in the fourth storyboard requires extremely high standards in terms of character micro-expressions and lighting rendering. This could become a bottleneck in subsequent production and increase production costs. Could you please confirm what the core message this shot is meant to convey, and whether it is necessary to use such an extreme approach?"

"President Chu, Director Zhuang's concerns are very practical. If this shot is presented too directly and is too impactful, it will not only consume a lot of production resources as she said, but it may also make the audience understand it too early, thus losing the room for repeated appreciation and imagination."

Xing Yu paused, his gaze lingering on Chu Beiling's face, and said meaningfully, "Some story scenes are precisely those seemingly unintentional, subtly concealed details that are most thought-provoking and unforgettable. That feeling of wanting to explore yet being unable to see clearly is what makes them so charming."

"It's a waste to spend the money on a shot that could be subtly expressed. It would be more meaningful to use it on a more worthwhile shot, Mr. Chu, what do you think?"

I think you did it on purpose, Chu Beiling thought to herself: You brought up the hickey again under the guise of a storyboard, saying it was my fault, but you weren't embarrassed at all. Instead, you kept emphasizing the need to cover it up and let your imagination run wild. It's just too much.

“Let’s do it your way, more subtle and understated.” Chu Beiling smiled slightly at Xing Yu: “So that the audience can guess and imagine what happened to the protagonist. It’s great to have room for imagination. Not to mention the audience, I’m starting to look forward to it myself.”

Xing Yu chuckled, letting out a very soft hum through his nose, then looked away from his face and continued looking at his iPad.

His smile made Chu Beiling realize that she had not only been tricked again, but was also playing along with him, which made her even angrier.

Chu Beiling lowered her head and furiously slammed over a hundred beating emojis at him.

Zhuang Mingyue, seeing his pale face and the sarcastic tone of his words, felt nervous and worried. She looked at Xing Yu pleadingly and asked for his opinion.

Xing Yu glanced at Chu Beiling and chuckled, "If President Chu has no objections, you can move on to the next storyboard."

Zhuang Mingyue had a moment of doubt, but since her boss had said so, she felt much more at ease. She glanced at Chu Beiling and continued to move forward with the meeting.

This scene is a vision of their teenage years, when they were classmates. The teacher was lecturing, and he and Xing Yu were drawing cartoon characters on small pieces of paper and chatting. The teacher noticed and called on them to answer a question, just like now.

All the secrets were known only to them.

The meeting didn't end until 6 p.m. Aside from a few minor details that needed changing and a recalculation of costs, the general direction had been determined.

That evening, he and Xing Yu had no extra social engagements, so they decided to take the remaining work home to handle.

Chu Beiling left her car with Xing Yu, planning to come and pick it up with him the next morning before heading to the company.

As soon as Xing Yu got into the car, Chu Beiling started discussing the issues they had discussed at the meeting.

He leaned in and bit down hard in the same spot, leaving an even deeper and heavier hickey before stopping.

Xing Yu smiled helplessly: "Chu Beiling, are you a dog?"

Chu Beiling snorted twice, turned her head to look out the car window, and ignored him.

Xing Yu chuckled as he looked at his pouty profile and raised his hand to comfort him, but the man slapped his hand away.

"Ignore me, I don't want to talk to you right now." Chu Beiling turned her head and glared at him before looking out the car window.

"Are you really angry?" Xing Yu asked.

"Yes, you're angry." Chu Beiling said, "Call me husband and I'll forgive you."

Xing Yu unbuckled her seatbelt, leaned closer, and whispered in his ear, "I'll definitely make my husband happy tonight."

"..." Chu Beiling pushed him away: "Xing Yu, you bastard."

Xing Yu smiled and said, "I admit it."

He fastened his seatbelt again, started the car, and drove out of the underground parking garage.

They didn't have much food at home, so they planned to go to the supermarket to buy some before heading home.

Xing Yu pushed the shopping cart, with Chu Beiling beside him, as they weaved through the bright and crowded shelves.

On a weekday evening, the supermarket wasn't crowded. The air was filled with a light coolness from the fresh produce section and the sweet aroma of bread baking in the bakery.

"What do you want to eat tonight?" Xing Yu glanced at the fresh food section.

"If you want fish, you can order the rest." Chu Beiling took out the most eye-catching, beautifully presented Wagyu beef from the freezer. "And this too."

Xing Yu pointed to another box: "This one will taste a little better."

Chu Beiling replaced the one he pointed to with the one in the shopping cart.

The two went to the fresh food section, where Xing Yu selected a blackfish and asked the staff to clean it.

Chu Beiling couldn't bear to watch, so she turned her back to him and said, "By the way, I've already dealt with Zhu Qing'an, so he shouldn't shout anymore."

Xing Yu raised an eyebrow: "Oh, what did you do?"

“If he threatens or yells, pull his hair.”

"that's all?"

"Yes, he cherishes his hair very much."

Xing Yu chuckled: "President Chu is so fierce~"

Chu Beiling rolled up her sleeves and raised her hand to tap him lightly: "Yes, so you better watch out, or I'll kick you out."

Xing Yu's eyebrows twitched slightly. He reached out and gently pinched the hand that was still pointing in the air, pulling it down and holding it in his palm.

“Fine~” he said slowly, “Try scanning one. The moment you scan me out the door, I’ll go sleep on the ground in front of Zhu Qing’an’s house and see if he dares to take me in.”

Chu Beiling frowned and shook his head: "Zhu Qing'an is really pitiful. She's not even here, yet we still treat her as part of the game."

“Yes, I sympathize.” Xing Yu nodded.

Chu Beiling pouted: "Bad luck."

"accidental injury."

"The wronged soul."

"Light the candle."

Chu Beiling sighed with feigned concern and self-reflection: "Aren't we being a little too kind?"

Xing Yu nodded expressionlessly: "Yes, a little, so to make up for it, I've decided..."

"Introduce him to hair growth tonic?" he interjected.

Xing Yu: "No, I've decided that next time we meet, I wish him to go bald soon."

Chu Beiling laughed and scolded, "Xing Yu, you're really shameless."

"Likewise."

While we were chatting, the staff prepared the black carp and handed it over.

The two went to other areas.

After patiently selecting nearly a week's worth of groceries, Xing Yu pushed his fully loaded shopping cart toward the self-service checkout area.

Passing through the household goods section, Chu Beiling unconsciously glanced at the colorful square boxes on the shelves, then quickly moved them away.

Xing Yu said, "If you see something you like, just buy it. We're almost out of stock."

Chu Beiling was speechless, not out of shyness or embarrassment, but because he wondered if Xing Yu knew what he was looking at. He just said it directly, and with such certainty!

“Indeed, we’re almost out.” He took a couple of steps, deliberately stepping over the colorful boxes, and stood in front of the soap shelf, jumping up and down at each one, sniffing them, and choosing his favorite scent.

Xing Yu's expression was as if he had swallowed a mouthful of bitter herbs, suffering in silence.

Chu Beiling suppressed a laugh, picked up two different scented soaps, and shook them: "Brother Yu, do you think jasmine or lavender is better? I'm so torn."

Xing Yu walked over, took the two bars of soap from his hand and put them in the shopping cart, then picked up all the scents from the shelf and threw them into the shopping cart.

Chu Beiling chuckled softly beside him, overjoyed at having successfully teased him.

"You tried to trick me by only saying half of what you wanted to say, and now you've fallen for it!" Chu Beiling thought to himself.

"Let's go." He pulled Xing Yu towards the cashier.

Xing Yu stopped in his tracks. Chu Beiling turned around and heard him say, "If you don't like using it, then don't use it."

"Who said I..." Chu Beiling immediately shut up.

"Yes, that's fine." Xing Yu's gaze fell on his eyes: "How about the strawberry flavor? Or do you have another one you like?"

"Anything is fine." Chu Beiling moved closer to the shelf: "Choose one that's comfortable and of good quality."

The two spent a long time picking and choosing in front of the family planning supplies. Xing Yu carried in quite a few boxes, almost emptying the shelves.

Looking at the different flavors, styles, and identical square boxes, Chu Beiling's eyelids twitched: "We can't be so poor that we have to become middlemen for family planning products, can we?!"

Xing Yu glanced at him and said seriously, "You probably don't want to get pregnant, right?"

Chu Beiling instantly exploded, punching him several times: "You're the one who'll get pregnant, get lost."

Xing Yu chuckled softly, "We're still young, we can have children later."

Chu Beiling: "Don't even think about using it tonight."

"Okay." Xing Yu agreed readily. Chu Beiling was puzzled when she heard him say, "What can you do if you get pregnant? You can only give birth and carry the baby with you!"

"..."

They carried several large bags of things, bickering and fighting in the apartment basement the whole way.

They each carried several bags separately, but Xing Yu didn't let him touch the most conspicuous pile of spoils, insisting that he carry it himself.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Chu Beiling turned around and walked backwards, starting to tease Xing Yu about his overprotective and annoying behavior: "Tsk tsk, Xing Yu, if I don't let you use it, you won't have any use for it either. Are you going to keep it as a family heirloom?!"

Xing Yu's gaze lingered on his thin eyelids: "It's not for you to use."

Chu Beiling was speechless, frantically searching his mind for a retort. Then, a sudden inspiration struck him, and he said with a hint of smugness, "If you can make me happy, I can..."

Before he could finish speaking, he keenly sensed that Xing Yu's aura had changed.

Chu Beiling paused for a moment, then turned around.

At the entrance of Xing Yu's house, a well-dressed figure stood.

Xing Xiaoshu didn't lean against the wall. He casually put one hand in his trouser pocket, raised the other hand, frowned at his watch, and tapped the marble floor impatiently with the tip of his shoe.

He probably saw them too, and looked up at them. His gaze first fell on Chu Beiling's face with a complicated scrutiny, and then he looked at the bulging shopping bags in their hands.

Upon seeing the colorful boxes inside, Xing Xiaoshu frowned, his face revealing undisguised disgust and disapproval.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment as he stepped in.

Xing Yu quickly stepped forward, shielding Chu Beiling completely behind him in an absolutely protective stance.

He stared at Xing Xiaoshu, his eyes filled with icy indifference and warning.

"Please go back." Xing Yu's voice was devoid of warmth; he didn't even bother to ask, "How did you find this place?"

"Look at the state you're in now!!" Xing Xiaoshu began his reprimand with a smug anger born of long-held authority: "For these disgraceful people and matters, you've abandoned your family and responsibilities!"