Act III: Secret Love

Perhaps it was the effect of the fever-reducing medicine. His thoughts were now unusually clear, and the sentence that had been bothering him all the way now had a more logical explanation - repairing their relationship was actually talking about a cooperative relationship between the two of them.

After everything became clear, Bing Jie himself was so angry that he laughed. He didn't know what he had been struggling with all the way here. He even wondered if she had recovered her memory...

I also confused myself.

Seeing that Qi Jixin was still waiting for his reply, Bing Jie lied without any psychological burden: "I'm afraid that my cold will be passed on to you."

The person on the other side was not a fool, so Qi Jixin naturally wouldn't believe it. However, he didn't directly expose his lie, but just continued along with his words:

"In other words, now that you've recovered from your illness, you won't deliberately distance yourself from me?"

Although he didn't feel as uncomfortable as before, Bing Jie was still a patient after all, so he was naturally not as calm and self-controlled as usual. In addition, he was already angry, and his mood fluctuated rarely. The look in his eyes when he looked at Qi Jixin was a little sharper.

"I think alienation should be the norm. After all, you have your life to live, and I have mine to live, right?"

He had said all he wanted to say, and it could even be said that he was done with it. Bing Jie's chest rose and fell visibly. He couldn't bear it, but he had to look at Qi Jixin. He was afraid of seeing her sad, but he couldn't run away and lose his momentum.

Qi Jixin chuckled as if he had heard a joke, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Oh, did your wife teach you a lesson?"

Bing Jie frowned and stared at her, blinked twice, and then suppressed the urge to tell the truth.

During the recent scandal, the PR strategies of both parties were largely the same: denial. However, Bing Jie only managed to clarify their relationship by negotiating with Hua Shaoshi, using coercion and inducement. However, Qi Jixin's relationship with Yan Jia was genuine, and her PR was clearly a lie.

Now Bing Jie also understood that Qi Jixin was putting himself in other people's shoes and regarded his public relations as a lie, thinking that Hua Shaoshi was really his wife.

"My PR clarified that I have nothing to do with that person." Bing Jie's expression was quite serious. He explained first, then asked knowingly, "If you really want to avoid suspicion, it should be your boyfriend, right?"

This was the first time he directed his conversation directly at Yan Jia, the person he had just met some time ago.

Qi Jixin was a little surprised, and apologized to him very embarrassedly: "So you really are clarifying it! I was judging others by my own standards. I'm sorry." Then she stood up, walked around the bed to the window, and sighed meaningfully:

"If the scandal had come out a day earlier, I could have really clarified it."

The light words hit Bing Jie's heart like a thousand pounds, and he almost shuddered. Over the years, everything that happened to them was always just one step away from perfection. Bing Jie would never believe that there was no mastermind behind it.

But is that a strategy that Hua Shaoshi can pull off alone? Absolutely not.

This person was just a spoiled little princess. If they really had to face off, she would definitely not be Qi Jixin's opponent. But thinking back on the past, all the accusations were directed at Hua Shaoshi. This was unbelievable.

Bing Jie boldly thought, perhaps, the mastermind was someone else. The answer was obvious: besides Hua Shaoshi, the people who disliked Qi Jixin the most were his parents, who had an extremely strong desire for control.

Rather than delving into the complex web of conspiracy theories, Bing Jie was more concerned about the person in front of him. He looked at the man's back and asked, "Why, don't you like him?"

Qi Jixin turned to look at him, her expression complex, and remained silent for a long time. But Bing Jie knew it at a glance—she absolutely disliked that man, and her silence at this moment was just a way of thinking up a decent excuse.

"At twenty-four or twenty-five, it's time to plan for the rest of your life. He's my best choice, so why bother talking about liking him?" As if she couldn't convince herself otherwise, she added, "Besides, feelings can be cultivated."

The fever-reducing medicine was completely effective. Bing Jie's swollen and painful head did not hurt anymore, but the pain did not disappear either. It just moved to his pounding chest. He was so heartbroken that he had to hold his chest and gasp for breath.

Qi Jixin hurried forward and looked at him at a loss. Bing Jie grabbed her arm and pushed it down, and she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Is that emotion that's been cultivated? That's just a compromise." Bing Jie said firmly. Qi Jixin was originally paying attention to his body, but strangely, he took these words to heart.

After all, they were just colleagues, and Qi Jixin shouldn't have stayed in the ward to watch over him. After his assistant came back, she left first.

When we met again the next day, Bing Jie had already recovered his spirits, but he was still different from before. He was less indifferent, but not as familiar as the day before.

Qi Jixin has adapted well to this. After all, completing the shooting task is the most important thing, and she is now anxious to go back.

Bing Jie's words yesterday made her think for half the night, and finally she came up with a perfect solution: then try to be with Yan Jia. After all, she is not going to marry Yan Jia directly. It would be a good thing for anyone to get along with each other for a while.

Today's shoot was divided into three parts, one was at the beach in the morning, one was on the rooftop terrace, and most of the rest was in a suite. Anyway, it was just tossing and turning.

Seeing that the two leading actors were in good spirits, the director heaved a sigh of relief before filming began, "Everyone, take your positions, action!"

The morning glow is not as warm as the evening glow, but it is better with the gentle breeze and the sudden bright sky. It is a different scene, which especially sets off the ambiguous atmosphere of the love that has just been expressed. The two people are walking hand in hand along the long coastline.

Qi Jixin was wearing an oversized, ill-fitting black shirt. It was clearly not hers. The hem of the shirt covered half of her thighs, and the deep black made her legs look exceptionally white. Bing Jie's eyes were practically glued to her, completely oblivious to the rosy clouds in his peripheral vision, his focus solely on the person before him.

The sea breeze ruffled her long hair, and the ends of her hair occasionally brushed against Bing Jie's arms with his sleeves rolled up, making him feel itchy.

"So, what is our relationship now?" Qi Jixin stood still, turned around and asked him seriously, the determination in his eyes was almost obvious.

Bing Jie turned his head to look at the distant place where Tianshui met, his face filled with happy worry, but he was secretly complaining in his heart, was his expression at that time really so annoying?

"What does it matter?" He said the lines without hesitation, then kept his posture upright, looked into the distance, and looked forward to the next step in the script.

Qi Jixin looked him up and down, clasped her hands behind his neck, and tiptoed towards him. It should have been a domineering and irresistible kiss.

Unfortunately, she really couldn't kiss Bing Jie, who stood as strong as a pine tree.

“Crack!”

The director shouted "Cut" and after that, the entire crew, including the director, burst into laughter.

Even Sister Zhuo, who had been on high alert, smiled knowingly. That was great. Rather than watching two people being intimate with each other in perfect harmony, she would rather see this kind of poor coordination.

Qi Jixin still kept her hands crossed behind his neck, helplessly leaning on his chest and complaining with a smile: "No, big brother, at least cooperate with me to feed you."

As soon as the director called "Cut," Bing Jie's back, which had been as straight as a steel plate, relaxed. He lowered his head and looked at the person in his arms, suppressing a smile. "My bad. I was just mesmerized by the scenery."

The apology came so quickly and the reason was so natural. All the clues almost pointed out that Bing Jie did it on purpose.

Fortunately, the previous scenes were done in one take, so the next scene could start with that domineering kiss. Before filming began, Qi Jixin even rehearsed with him, asking him to bend over to cooperate with her.

"Otherwise I have to jump up to kiss you, which is not in line with my identity as a president!" She said so earnestly.

Bing Jie was in a very good mood and was in the mood to joke with her.

"Of course, a real president should kiss like this." He reached out and lifted Qi Jixin's chin, and kissed him without warning. The hand on the back of his neck was raised helplessly. After realizing what was happening, Qi Jixin immediately put his hand on Bing Jie's shoulder.

Bing Jie's hand, which was around her back, also pressed against her back, not letting her leave. Bing Jie looked at her eyes wide with surprise, and kept smiling against her forehead. He felt that everything was worth it when he could relive the past, so he smiled especially happily.

Qi Jixin was confused: "You acted so well, why are you laughing?"

Not to mention Qi Jixin's feeling, the director behind the monitor's thigh was almost swollen from slapping himself, and the staff around him were all holding their breath and keeping silent. This short impromptu performance really shocked everyone.

The assistant director also lowered his voice and sighed to the director: "It's a pity that we are not filming a male CEO, but I think our male lead is very talented in acting in this kind of role!"

The director bit his lips until they were white, and after a long time he could only squeeze out one sentence: Hmm.

Sister Zhuo, who was standing by, spoke without swearing in a hurry, "Damn it..." When people around her looked at her in confusion, she had to explain that she was too excited.

Bing Jie put away his contented smile and explained, "Nothing. I just saw you open your eyes out of fright and suddenly found it funny." He just fooled around and raised his hand to signal the director to be ready, and the two of them got into the mood again.

"What relationship?" Bing Jie continued to pretend not to understand. After saying this, Qi Jixin naturally put her arm around his shoulder, and this time she stood on tiptoe and kissed him smoothly.

"What now?" Qi Jixin, who had the initiative, retreated slightly, looked him in the eye, and asked again. After waiting for no answer, Qi Jixin withdrew his hand, looking furious, and turned to leave.

Bing Jie now took her in his arms, tilted his head to look at her, and kissed her unexpectedly. He hugged her and his voice rang in her ear: "We should be a couple, what do you think?"

After getting a satisfactory answer, Qi Jixin contentedly let him hold her. Bing Jie perfectly controlled the timing and when he left her shoulders, he found that because of the struggle just now, her shirt had slipped off, exposing most of her shoulders.

Driven by selfish motives, he lowered his head and bit the collar of his shirt to straighten his clothes. Noticing Qi Jixin's whole body stiffened, he tactfully distanced himself from her and looked at her calmly.

In order to remind her to say her lines, he raised his eyebrows slightly at her. Qi Jixin seemed to have just woken up from a dream and added the last line: "Well, I think so."