Chapter 32 Jiang Huaichuan lowered his eyes, he…

Jiang Huaichuan lowered his eyes, gazing at Shen Li's gentle profile. His thick, curled eyelashes obscured his gaze, but his tightly pursed lips and trembling fingertips at his sides betrayed the turmoil in his heart.

"Let's go." In a daze, Jiang Huaichuan heard Shen Li's voice.

Meeting those calm eyes, Jiang Huaichuan suddenly realized that Shen Li had once again silently swallowed the bitterness in her heart.

Jiang Huaichuan felt a dryness in his throat and a sharp pain in his heart.

The plane landed in City A at exactly 8 p.m. Shen Li walked ahead, while Jiang Huaichuan pushed his suitcase with one hand. On his phone screen was the contact information of the designer who had customized the diamond ring, which Song An had pushed over.

It was followed by a message that had been sent just a minute earlier:

[Song An: Boss, you're finished.]

Sure enough, the next second, Shen Wenyuan called. The ringtone was urgent, with a sense of determination to keep calling even if the call wasn't answered.

"Hello?"

Shen Wenyuan's furious voice, crackling with electricity, rang out: "Hey you, you big dummy! Great! Xiao Li has been married to you for so many years! And you don't even have a ring! You..."

The sound of fabric rustling came from the other end of the phone, followed by hurried footsteps, and then a low thud before Jiang Huaichuan's worried voice: "Be careful."

"I didn't notice there were steps here."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Shen Wenyuan paused, frowning, "...Xiao Li is next to you?"

Jiang Huaichuan: "Yeah, just got off the plane."

After speaking, Jiang Huaichuan paused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow leisurely and said, "You can stay by Song An's side, but there's a problem with Shen Li staying by my side?"

Shen Wenyuan choked for a moment. He glanced at Song An sitting opposite him, chewing pearls through a straw, and coughed guiltily, "...We'll talk about it later."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Huaichuan put his arm around Shen Li's waist and narrowed his eyes. When did these two get together?

At two o'clock in the morning, Jiang Huaichuan came out of the study and returned to the bedroom. Shen Li was already fast asleep. His breathing was shallow, and his head was slightly tilted to the left. His soft black hair was scattered messily on the pillow, and the top two holes of his pajamas were unbuttoned, revealing his fair skin.

Shen Li's left hand rested loosely on the blanket, and the unusually white ring around her wrist once again stung Jiang Huaichuan's eyes.

As soon as Jiang Huaichuan's fingertips touched that circle of white skin, Shen Li, who was still asleep, subconsciously flinched, her brows furrowing slightly, revealing a sense of weakness.

Jiang Huaichuan quickly let go, put Shen Li's hand under the covers, and smoothed out the wrinkles between Shen Li's brows.

Four hours ago, after Shen Li fell asleep, Jiang Huaichuan went to the study and called Shen Wenyuan.

Shen Wenyuan answered quickly; he seemed to have been waiting. As soon as the call connected, neither of them spoke.

Jiang Huaichuan sat on the sofa in the study, staring at the wall.

After a long while, Shen Wenyuan's voice rang out.

“Xiao Li was already an adult when he was found. He grew up in an orphanage and was used to being independent. He often kept things to himself and wouldn’t tell us.” Shen Wenyuan’s voice was gentle, as if he were telling a story. “When your aunt came to talk about the marriage, we were all against it. Xiao Li had just come back and was clueless about everything. We wanted him to stay at home, get used to things, and slowly meet the right person, fall in love, and get married.”

But Xiao Li agreed. We were afraid that he was afraid we would ostracize him, so we talked for a long time. He said he had liked you for a long time.

Old Shen smoked all night that day. Your family was going through a huge upheaval, facing many restrictions, so we understood why there wasn't a wedding. But it's ridiculous that we didn't even know you hadn't prepared a wedding ring for Xiao Li.”

Jiang Huaichuan remained silent, his eyes dark and devoid of any light.

He originally thought that Shen Li agreed to the marriage because of pressure from the Shen family, and that Shen Li only fell in love with him after the marriage. But he never expected that all of this was Shen Li's own decision.

Jiang Huaichuan didn't know when Shen Li had fallen in love with him, nor how long he had walked this path before finally seeing the light. He only knew that his heart felt like it had been ripped open, and his flesh ached as if being whipped by the biting cold wind.

Shen Wenyuan continued, "I remember the first year Xiao Li came home, he was wearing a ring on his finger. Mom held it and looked at it for a long time. We thought that even though we didn't have a wedding, you had given him everything he needed. After that incident, Xiao Li stopped wearing it. I asked him about it, and he said it was too big for him, so he left it at home."

I don't know what Xiao Li felt when his mother said the ring was pretty, and I also don't know what he was thinking when I asked him why he wasn't wearing the ring anymore and he suddenly froze.

"Jiang Huaichuan, although we've known each other since childhood and our parents are good friends, if you dare to treat him badly, I can still beat you so badly you won't be able to get up."

After the call ended, Jiang Huaichuan sat in the study for a long time before silently getting up and returning to the bedroom. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Shen Li's gentle sleeping face.

Jiang Huaichuan's eyes instantly reddened, and warm tears streamed down his cheeks. He staggered onto the bed, bent over to the side, and quietly watched Shen Li, tucking his exposed, cool hand under the covers.

Only after carefully pulling Shen Li into his arms, pressing his lips to her brow, and feeling her heartbeat in his palm, did Jiang Huaichuan finally fall asleep.

In the darkness, Shen Li slowly opened her eyes, her gaze clear and bright.

——

On the second day of March, which happened to be a Saturday, filming for the first episode of the show "Life Swap" officially began.

A few days ago, the production team pulled all the guests into a group and filmed a preview episode. But calling it a preview episode is an understatement; it was more like collecting the guests' workplace profiles.

The filming location for Shen Li was the conference room of the Jiang Group's assistant department.

When they received the location, the cameraman Xiaoji and his assistant Xiaohua both thought they had misheard and confirmed with the director two or three times.

Zhao Xian looked up from behind the computer, smiled at the two silly geese in front of her, and said, "You heard me right, this is the place. Tomorrow morning at 9:30, be there on time, or they'll be in a meeting."

Xiao Ji: "Received, we promise to arrive ahead of schedule!"

The next day, Xiao Ji and Xiao Hua walked into the Jiang Group building. They awkwardly stepped on the clean, reflective white tiles. In front of them was an elegantly decorated lobby. Xiao Ji looked at the marble countertop that was about ten meters long and the staff in dark blue coats and uniforms. He and Xiao Hua exchanged a glance.

Xiao Ji: How do we get up there?

Xiaohua shook her head: Phuket!

Just then, the staff behind the stage looked over at them, and the girl asked with a smile, "Are you from the 'Life Swap' program?"

Xiao Ji and Xiao Hua nodded.

The girl gestured, "Shu has already given instructions, please follow me."

The elevator stopped at the top floor.

Xiao Hua's eyes widened: No, which big shot came on their show to amuse themselves?

Xiao Ji and her companion followed the receptionist, passing through the well-organized secretariat, and stopped in a conference room on the right.

The conference room lights had been turned on beforehand, and several bottles of water were placed on the table.

"Please wait a moment, I'll go get Chen Zhu."

Xiao Ji: "Oh, okay."

"Shen Zhu, the staff of the 'Life Swap' program have arrived in the conference room."

Shen Li was reviewing last month's project data when he heard this. He closed the document and stood up, saying, "Okay, thank you."

In the conference room, Shen Li knocked on the door and entered. He introduced himself to the two people who looked up at him, saying, "Hello, I'm Shen Li. Sorry to keep you waiting."

Xiao Hua's eyes widened. Although the director had shown them Shen Li's photo, it was only a one-inch photo to match their faces during the interview.

It was a photo with a blue background, Shen Li's ID photo when he joined the company. At that time, he had just recovered from a serious illness, his cheeks were thin, and although his face was pale, he was still striking.

Upon seeing her in person, Xiaohua almost couldn't resist taking out her phone and snapping a couple of pictures.

That's fucking handsome!

Shen Li wore a sharp black suit with a white shirt peeking out from the collar. The shirt was buttoned up meticulously at the top, revealing her sexy Adam's apple. A red and black diamond-patterned tie was tied just right, neither too flashy nor too dull, making the black suit look too somber.

Xiao Ji was the first to react. He shook Shen Li's hand and said, "Hello, Mr. Shen. I'm Xiao Ji, the cameraman, and this is Xiao Hua, the assistant. We'll be the ones responsible for filming your part in post-production."

Shen Li nodded: "Okay, thank you."

"Let's begin. Mr. Shen, please say hello to everyone watching on screen and introduce yourself." The preview was pre-recorded, so to avoid sounding out of place, Xiaohua imitated the tone of a live broadcast.

Looking at the dark camera lens in front of him, Shen Li leaned forward slightly, placed his hands on the table, and spoke at a moderate pace: "Hello everyone, I'm Shen Li, I'm 25 years old, and I currently work as an assistant... In my spare time, I like to watch movies..."

Just like the impression Shen Li gave them, she was calm and composed yet easygoing, making the entire filming process very comfortable.

"Okay, thank you, Professor Shen. I'm sorry to bother you today. I need to take some photos of you at work. Where would be a convenient place to take them?"

"The workstation, please."

Shen Li led Xiao Ji to the workstation and said, "Please don't take pictures of the documents."

Xiao Ji nodded: "Mr. Shen, rest assured, the director has discussed all the precautions with us."

"Why don't you take a candid photo?" Shen Li sat at his workstation, his movements a little stiff. He raised his eyes and smiled at Xiao Ji, saying that he really wasn't good at posing for photos and that he always ended up looking awkward no matter what he did.

"Okay, okay, you can continue with your work, I'll just take a few pictures."

Shen Li took a breath, turned on the computer screen, and continued to check the previously interrupted data.

Immersed in her work, Shen Li's entire demeanor instantly changed. She was no longer as easygoing and gentle as she was during the interview; instead, she exuded an aura of control and unhurried confidence.

Xiao Ji quickly took several photos from different angles. It was a sunny day with blue skies and white clouds. The light outside the window was bright, and Shen Li seemed to be bathed in warm sunshine, with even her hair radiating a warm yellow glow.

Xiao Ji had just finished taking photos, and it was five minutes to ten o'clock when the elevator doors opened, and a large group of people walked out and went straight to the conference room at the end of the corridor.

The wooden door behind him clicked open, and the familiar scent of a man slowly approached. Shen Li unplugged the laptop next to him, stood up, and asked Xiao Ji somewhat apologetically, "Are you done? I need to go to a meeting first."

"Alright, alright, you're busy. Xiaohua and I will pack our things and then leave."

Jiang Huaichuan stopped beside Shen Li, took a pen from Shen Li's pen holder, and walked with Shen Li towards the conference room.

"The pilot episode is filmed like this?"

"Yes, it's pretty fast. The main camera focuses on the four celebrity guests, while the ordinary people just introduce themselves, answer a few questions, and have a few photos taken while they're working."

"Photos from work?" Jiang Huaichuan stopped abruptly, looking at Shen Li with a surge of jealousy in his eyes. "You're not going to put them on the show, are you?"

Shen Li pondered: "It should be. The staff said they would insert it when editing the pilot episode."

Jiang Huaichuan: …………

-----------------------

Author's Note: I'm so sorry, this is the update from the 12th, I missed it [crying emoji]