Chapter 25, unbuttoning and touching is also acceptable.

Night fell, and the office was silent.

Yi Zhiyan walked to the French windows, picked up the watering can from the table, and watered the green plants on the floor whose names she didn't know. Her gaze drifted out the window absentmindedly.

The door behind him clicked shut. He turned around and saw Lu Wen walk in, carrying walnuts in one hand. He impatiently kicked the door shut.

"Stop it right now! Don't kill my plants that I've worked so hard to grow!"

Yi Zhiyan didn't speak. He put down the kettle, sat on the sofa, picked up the tablet on the coffee table, and looked at the improvement suggestions for the R5 project sent by Professor Tian.

Lu Wen poured himself a cup of hot tea and sat down opposite him.

"Qin Yan from the island tour has replied."

"Okay, arrange for him to start work as soon as possible." Yi Zhiyan swiped the screen twice without looking up.

"I haven't even said whether she agreed or refused, and you're already so sure?" Lu Wen put down his teacup, crossed his arms, and looked at him.

"Qin Yan has a very good reputation in the industry. She is tactful and decisive. She will do her best to promote any script she likes. Facts have proven that she has a good eye. The recent hit historical costume drama was signed by her after being rejected by several companies."

Yi Zhiyan pushed the tablet in front of him, rested his elbows on his knees, pointed to the roundabout sign on it, and continued speaking.

"After the signing, there were quite a few complaints within Huandao. There was a commotion at the end of last year, and she almost left with her team. But Huandao is indeed a large publicity platform, and a small platform cannot support her ambition. So when you said you were poaching her last year, I suggested waiting."

Lu Wen took a sip of tea and agreed.

"Yes, we're doing well now. Huandao has shifted its focus to the technology sector and has no plans to invest in arts and humanities projects for the time being. This shift in focus may last for three to five years. Given Qin Yan's ambition and professional abilities, she will leave Huandao sooner or later."

The aroma of tea filled the air. He pulled the teacup closer to his eyes, staring thoughtfully at a thin crack on the cup's surface.

"But this afternoon you called and said you wanted to poach people. I thought you were just saying it, but I didn't expect you to actually do it."

He turned to look at Yi Zhiyan, “I’ve been watching this ever since we included Huandao in our plan. As expected, we were bound to be on the opposite side of Huandao and replace Huandao in establishing a new cooperative relationship with Yizhi, but not now. Now is an opportunity, but not the best time. There will be a better time in the future.”

"You're in a hurry, Yi Zhiyan." The teacup slammed softly on the table. He braced his hands on the edge of the table and looked straight at his calm younger brother across from him, his tone revealing a hint of seriousness.

"Are you worried that the plan won't be completed within the one-year marriage agreement period, thus delaying Yin Xiao's life?"

Yi Zhiyan raised his eyelids slightly, but didn't look at him. He placed his fists on his knees, showing no intention of arguing.

As if he had slapped a cotton ball, Lu Wen deflated and slumped back onto the stool, then tactfully returned to the main topic.

"We just helped Ruan Zheng, and now you're already tearing things apart? Aren't you afraid that the young lady will get angry and turn around to join forces with Yi Zhi, putting us in a passive position again?"

"I know what I'm doing." Yi Zhiyan pushed up his glasses, his tone calm, and resumed his businesslike demeanor.

“Huandao does not focus on scientific research and has a shortage of technical talent. Her recent transformation is essentially a risky move to prove herself to the Ruan family. The project she is currently focusing on has just been launched, and some of the technology is with me. No matter what, she will prioritize protecting the robot assistant project and will not go to Yizhi because of the drama club operation, which would violate her agreement with me.”

“Brother, you’re as thorough as ever.” Lu Wen nodded. “And ruthless.”

"You were the one who first told me that when I took this step into the business world, all I had to remember was that profit comes first." Yi Zhiyan paused for a second, "And Yi Zhi deserved it."

"Fine, you're right no matter what." Lu Wen took out the walnuts again, holding them in his palm and slowly rubbing them.

"Then I'd like to ask you, you told Qin Yan that after she signed with our company, we would invest in Yin Xiao's script, and that she could talk to Yin Xiao without worry. Does Yin Xiao herself know about this?"

"Don't tell her about things that haven't been finalized yet."

"Let me remind you, if Yin Xiao hadn't learned about this from you first, it would be easy for her to see that you actually used her."

Lu Wen, with his sharp eyes, noticed that Yi Zhiyan touched his pocket and guessed that he still hadn't changed his habit of eating mints when he was annoyed. He opened his hand, wanting one too, and tried to persuade him with earnest words.

"You wanted to help her, so you poached her team in advance, which damaged your relationship with Huandao, but you also used her as an excuse to talk to Qin Yan. In our plan, we had to make this move of competing with Huandao sooner or later. It wasn't poaching people, but it was grabbing projects, or even other despicable means, but she shouldn't have been involved in the game."

Yi Zhiyan held the empty candy box in her palm, glanced at the open hand in front of her, and tossed it into Lu Wen's hand.

"I didn't intend to use her, I was just helping her."

Lu Wen tossed the empty box around, not reacting for a long time. He glanced at him as if he had seen a ghost, his expression complicated.

“She won’t accept this kind of help that’s unintentionally tainted with exploitation; you know that better than I do.”

Yi Zhiyan remained silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up, walked to the next rest room, and returned a few seconds later with a bottle of lemonade.

Lu Wen glanced at it. Although it was taken from his refrigerator, the soda bottle had been frozen for who knows how long. The condensation slid down to the bottom of the bottle and condensed into small droplets that dripped onto the floor.

Yi Zhiyan seemed oblivious to the cold, and unscrewed the bottle cap and tilted his head back to drink, the water droplets on the bottle almost forming a curtain of rain.

Lu Wen looked away, and his mother's nagging nature suddenly took over him. This time, he was determined to persuade his obedient younger brother.

"A meticulously planned scheme with genuine feelings is not thorough enough; similarly, a relationship mixed with calculation is not pure enough."

He placed the empty candy box on the table and slowly pushed it back.

"Whether intentional or unintentional, think it through clearly: which side of the scale is more important to you? Explain as soon as you need to, and decide to stop as soon as you need to. Don't be indecisive; that's not like you at all."

Yi Zhiyan downed half a bottle in one gulp, stood up briskly, made a crisp cracking sound as he gripped the bottle, and walked towards the door.

"I'm home."

—

Only one orange-yellow ceiling light was on in the bedroom. Yin Xiao casually tossed her backpack onto the dressing table and went into the bathroom to remove her makeup.

The cold water splashed on my face, and I felt much more awake.

Just as I pulled out a tissue to wipe the water stains, I heard the living room door close.

She stared quietly at the mirror, hastily wiped her face, crumpled up a tissue, and threw it into the trash can.

As I opened the door, I saw Yi Zhiyan had just taken off his coat and was pouring water by the island counter.

Without hesitation, she walked to his side, took an empty glass, and held it in her hand.

"Just now, Sister Qin Yan from Huandao Media contacted me, saying that a company has poached her and that the company is willing to invest. She wants to talk to me about the script again."

She stepped aside, blocking Yi Zhiyan's path. "Aren't you going to explain?"

"You already know, so I have nothing to explain. That's all." Yi Zhiyan skillfully took her cup and poured half a cup of warm water. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away because I wasn't sure if we could reach an agreement. I'll let you know when I've made up my mind."

Yin Xiao's chest heaved slightly as she laughed out loud in exasperation.

"Is that what I meant? Didn't we agree not to interfere in each other's lives? Isn't this interference?"

Yi Zhiyan looked at her, frowned, and clearly disagreed.

"We can no longer completely separate ourselves from each other's lives."

"You know that too." Yin Xiao couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. She rubbed her eyes in disappointment and started bringing up old grievances without thinking.

"I only learned about your successful collaboration with the British professor from other people. Everyone was happy for you and congratulated you, but I didn't know what I was happy about. You kept saying that we shouldn't have any distance between us, but did you actually do that?"

She fluttered her eyelashes and spoke very slowly.

"Even so, you still won't tell me anything? Do you think I can't see that this is actually your plan? Me and Sister Qin are both involved."

Yi Zhiyan's expression deepened with confusion, and his tone became more turbulent, "How could you interpret it that way?"

"Isn't this part of the plan?" Yin Xiao raised her chin, staring intently at Yi Zhiyan's calm and composed face, trying to discern any change in his emotions, but unfortunately, she didn't.

She sighed and lowered her head, "After being together for so long, I know that your purpose in getting married doesn't allow you to make a single wrong move... but I thought that you would at least be more honest before you take advantage of me."

After saying this, she suddenly felt all her strength drain away, her mind agitated. She barely managed to support herself on the cold countertop and turned around. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yi Zhiyan suddenly raise his hand and grasp her wrist, his fingertips turning white. Yin Xiao looked away, pulled her hand back, and went back to her bedroom to close the door.

She rushed to the bedside, dejectedly sat on the bench, stretched out her legs, and lay down at the foot of the bed, staring blankly at the exquisitely carved ceiling.

So annoying, so annoying, so annoying.

Because of that agreement, she didn't even have the right to complain.

After all, the contract stipulated that each party got what they wanted. If he was using her for his own purposes when he got married, then there was no reason to question him.

Honesty? What honesty can you talk about between two interests bound together by a few lines of text from the very beginning?

But for some reason, she just wanted to ask Yi Zhiyan, hoping to hear something from him. She wanted to hear him say that the agreement was null and void, or admit that the script was simply to help her, without any of the ulterior motives he had in the plan.

But that's just wishful thinking. Yi Zhiyan's mouth, as sharp as an icicle, kisses more than it speaks, and the truth is even harder to discern.

Thinking this, Yin Xiao irritably tugged at her hair and threw a series of punches with both arms in the air.

Just as she put her hand down, Dai Lan started a voice group chat in the dormitory group.

Yin Xiao immediately got up, and without even rummaging through her backpack, grabbed a pair of headphones from the shelf, put them on, and connected them via Bluetooth.

"Why do you have to talk on voice? It makes me nervous."

Dai Lan screamed frantically on the other end of the screen, "Ah! Sisters, family! I just got off the subway, and I can't wait to tell you... I got an interview! Oh no, I'm not really going to be a teacher, am I? No way?"

Yin Xiao was amused by her playful tone, "Congratulations to our Teacher Dai!"

Zhao Xiaoxun and Chen Weiqi also praised her, congratulating her dozens of times.

1. Not boring at all.

"Are you all free tomorrow?" Dai Lan asked seriously after her playful banter. "I want to prepare my battle gear first. I'm planning to go to the Golden Eagle shopping mall across the street and buy a suit. Even if I don't pass the exam this time, I can still use it if I listen to my parents and go back to find a job."

"What discouraging talk! You only passed this time, there won't be a next time!" Chen Weiqi shouted. "But I need to go around the island tomorrow to get my internship certificate stamped, I don't know when I'll get it."

“I have to meet with my advisor at 1 p.m., so I can do it in the morning,” Zhao Xiaoxun replied.

Yin Xiao thought for a moment, then took out her phone to cancel her library reservation for tomorrow. "I'm fine with anything."

"Then Xiaoxiao, come with me to take a look. If you have something to do, you don't need to rush. I'll video call you later, and then we'll decide which one to choose." Dai Lan sounded to be in a good mood and didn't hang up the phone right away.

"Although everyone says you should try on suits, I actually looked at a few styles online just now and have a rough idea of ​​what I want to buy. Can you guys help me take a look? Also, I remember I have two inner shirts in the dorm. I'll try them on as soon as I get back. Can you guys help me choose?"

Dai Lan spoke for several seconds straight, her joy overflowing the screen and infecting Yin Xiao, whose lips involuntarily curled up.

A faint knocking sounded suddenly at the door. She couldn't hear it clearly because she was wearing headphones. She looked up at the closed door for a moment, then pulled down her headphones and hung them around her neck.

The noise outside the door hadn't stopped when Yi Zhiyan knocked on her door again.

"Yin Xiao, your aunt just brought over something. She said it was something you had her order..."

Yin Xiao's heart tightened. Without hesitation, she opened the door, quickly snatched the blue velvet gift box, held it in her arms with one hand, and was about to close the door.

The door was halfway closed when Yi Zhiyan suddenly raised his hand and grabbed the door panel with all his might. His hair was disheveled and his neck was wet.

"Let's talk."

Just as Yin Xiao was about to speak, Dai Lan's shouts came through the earphones intermittently.

"Xiao... Xiaoxiao, why aren't you replying to me?"

Yin Xiao quickly put on her headphones. "I had something to do. What's wrong? Are you in the dorm?"

She withdrew her hand from the door frame, ignored the person outside, sat back down at the foot of the bed, stuffed the gift box into the drawer, and listened to Dai Lan complain about the shirt on her phone.

The lamplight flickered twice, and Yi Zhiyan seemed to have walked to her side. She didn't look at him, but instinctively reached for a wheeled chair next to her and pushed it over for him to sit on.

"Showing your midriff? Send me the video." She responded seriously to Dai Lan's complaint, trying to find a solution.

She was still mostly focused on Dai Lan's complaints when, in a moment of distraction, Yi Zhiyan dragged a stool over and sat down next to her, his strong legs almost touching her knees. The soft hem of his clothes brushed against her bare wrists, and his gaze was fixed on her face.

Feeling bewildered by his stare, Yin Xiao deliberately moved to the other side, not forgetting to reply to Dai Lan's video.

"I won't touch it, but I can tell it's actually pretty good."

She moved with difficulty, inch by inch, and accidentally pressed down on her sleeve. She hurriedly pulled her hand back, only to watch helplessly as the button on her sleeve flew into the air.

After rolling a few times on the floor, the button landed with a thud at Yi Zhiyan's feet.

Yi Zhiyan looked down, stared at the button on the ground for a few seconds, then bent down to pick it up and held it in his palm. Yin Xiao reached out to take it, but he didn't move, watching her silently.

The light shone from behind onto his eyebrows and eyes, casting a faint shadow around his eyelashes.

Yin Xiao inexplicably sensed some suppressed, unfamiliar emotions. She clenched her fingers, turned her back, and tightened her grip on the earphone around her neck until Dai Lan gave up and ended the voice call.

Suddenly, her ears felt empty. She reached out, took off her earphones, put them back on the shelf, turned to look at Yi Zhiyan, took two deep breaths, and then spoke.

"What should we talk about?"

Yi Zhiyan released his grip, placed the button on the stool, and quietly took out two cards from his pocket, handing them to her.

“This card contains my monthly payment for acting with me. Although you said you didn’t want it before, but…”

"I want it." Yin Xiao accepted it decisively, then added dryly, "It's written in the agreement, why wouldn't I want it?"

Yi Zhiyan's hand hovered in the air for a few seconds, his indifferent expression trembling slightly with surprise.

Yin Xiao clenched her fingers, letting the rough edges of the card press against her palm, bringing a dull, stimulating pain that brought her clarity.

"If you have nothing to say, then go back. Although this is your house, my bedroom is still my private space. It's inconvenient for me to be here."

As soon as she finished speaking, her phone, which was buried under the covers, buzzed. Dai Lan sent her two videos of herself trying on shirts.

Yin Xiao reached out and pushed the stool off forcefully, urging him, "Hurry up, I need to watch the video, don't disturb me."

She straightened her back and stretched out her arm to reach for the headphones on the shelf, but before her hand could touch the wooden board next to the shelf, she was restrained by a familiar force.

Despite his calm demeanor throughout, Yi Zhiyan seemed to have triggered some key word, causing him to unexpectedly stand up. He walked up to her, bent down, and cupped the back of her neck, his heavy breath falling on her ear as he whispered something in her ear.

"Watch the video?"

Yin Xiao was stunned, thinking he hadn't heard her clearly.

"Yes, my roommate sent it to me."

“Watching videos posted by my roommate again…” He lowered his head and leaned closer, almost kissing her brow bone. His strong arm pressed against her side, their wrists touching, the veins bulging.

"Why won't you look at me? I'll show you."

Yin Xiao was a little dazed, her mind blank, and she didn't understand what he meant for a moment. She had a feeling that he might have misunderstood, but before she could sort out her thoughts, the warmth of his hand slid from the back of her neck to her wrist.

Yi Zhiyan pulled her wrist upwards, gently massaged her fingertips to open her palm, and took the two cards away, placing them on the stool.

He still had one hand pressing down on her, half-encircling her in his arms, while his other hand moved to her collar, slowly and methodically unbuttoning her clothes, little by little, from her collarbone down to her chest, and then to her abdomen…

Yin Xiao was completely stunned. The impact before her eyes was too great, and her brain couldn't send out any signals to react.

Yi Zhiyan unbuttoned a row of buttons with one hand, knelt down, and pulled her hand towards him.

"Touching is fine too."

Her fingertips touched his taut muscles, and the sudden burning sensation stung her. She snapped back to reality, pulled her hand back in shock, and without hesitation, raised her foot and kicked him in the shin.

Yi Zhiyan lost his balance, swayed twice, rested his arm on the stool at the foot of the bed, and leaned against the bed frame.

He sat on the floor without any restraint, arms outstretched, long legs slightly bent, and pulled open a corner of his shirt, exposing more of his bare skin and his smooth, well-defined muscles in front of everyone without any cover.

His deep brown pupils appeared profound in the backlight, further highlighting his elusive temperament. His wrinkled sleeves were pressed under his hands, giving him a somewhat unruly and carefree air, yet he still did not appear disheveled.

Yin Xiao clenched her fists together and placed them on her lap, her voice trembling with shock and her breath catching in her throat, "What are you doing! Are you being a pervert...?"

Yi Zhiyan sat up, knelt on one knee, and began to apologize sincerely.

"I should have apologized to you earlier. I'm sorry, I should have asked you first if you were willing to let Qin Yan continue to be in charge of your script, instead of contacting Qin Yan first."

He paused for a second, picked up his phone, and tapped the screen, seemingly retrieving a document from some account.

"I really won't hide it from you anymore. This is what you said was the reason I got married. Above is a collection of Yizhi's user numbers and feedback over the past few years, along with some loopholes, and..."

"Stop! Uh... I don't want to hear this!" Yin Xiao hurriedly interrupted. She had actually run out of breath long ago. Originally, what she really cared about was not the script. Now, facing Yi Zhiyan, who seemed to have gone crazy, she was at a loss and had no idea how to explain.

She gently pressed her throbbing temples. "Why do you always go to such extremes? I didn't ask you to tell me everything. Please keep this confidential plan a secret..."

Yi Zhiyan suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist again.

Yin Xiao panicked for no reason and pulled back forcefully, "You, you were apologizing... How can you apologize like this! Why did you unbutton halfway?"

"You...you should put your clothes on first!"

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Author's Note: I wrote too much in this chapter, so I'll confess and let you finish it in a later chapter! [cheering emoji]