Chapter 12 Plan B: Should we get some more lipstick?
Yin Xiao's eyelids twitched, and she avoided the sticky smell, turning her gaze to the orange streetlights ahead.
"I'm not going."
She pursed her lips and explained in a softer tone, "It's still more convenient for me to stay in the dormitory."
Yi Zhiyan didn't ask any further questions, withdrew her hand, sat up straight, and showed no surprise.
"May I interject..." A sincere voice of doubt came from behind, "Are you two married?"
Yi Zhiyan frowned, staring straight ahead as he asked a couple of questions, sounding utterly speechless, "Otherwise what? Should I call her my wife?"
Lu Wen chuckled awkwardly, not daring to admit his rambling thoughts, and immediately turned to the right, greeting everyone enthusiastically.
"Hello, sister-in-law! My name is Lu Wen, the founder of the Yixiang brand. Yi Zhiyan and I grew up together."
Infected by his emotions, Yin Xiao smiled and said, "Hello, Brother Lu, I'm Yin Xiao."
Lu Wen stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly tugged at his hair and said strangely, "I remember now... Sister-in-law, didn't you say it was a misunderstanding and that you weren't going to get married? My brother almost switched to Plan B, but then he agreed... Oh dear, what are you doing!"
"Quiet down." Yi Zhiyan ruthlessly shoved him back into the back seat, glancing at Yin Xiao without a word. "Seatbelt."
"oh."
Yin Xiao fastened her seatbelt, her fingers unconsciously slipping into her coat pocket, constantly rubbing her cool fingertips, her mind replaying Lu Wen's interrupted words over and over again.
Plan B? Does it mean that since she's unwilling to cooperate, he'll find another woman to enter into a fake marriage with him?
That makes sense, actually. Judging from the terms written in their agreement, only he could meet her conditions, but he wasn't indispensable to her.
Yin Xiao fluttered her eyelashes and looked out the window, idly counting the billboards that flashed by, while habitually taking out two chocolates from her bag.
She peeled one open and put it in her mouth, then held another purple one and reached towards the back row.
"Brother Lu, would you like some chocolate?"
Lu Wen stretched out his legs and sat up straight, accepting the gift without ceremony. "Thank you, sister-in-law. I was just a little hungry."
Yin Xiao chuckled, but before she could look away, a familiar hand suddenly appeared before her eyes. The hand was large with distinct fingers, and it was spread out and resting on the armrest.
"Me too." Yi Zhiyan's voice was deep and his tone was natural.
Yin Xiao pressed down on her backpack with one hand, her tone unconvincing, "There are only two."
The car stopped at the intersection. Yi Zhiyan glanced at her deflated canvas bag, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
"Brother...you can have it if you want, but I suddenly remembered that I'm on a sugar control diet lately, so I can't eat it." Lu Wen reached out his hand apologetically and smiled at Yin Xiao.
Yin Xiao glanced down at his palm. The chocolate wasn't torn open, but a corner of the wrapper was curled up. She reached out first, took it decisively, and stuffed it back into her bag.
"You just don't want to give it to me?"
Yi Zhiyan's gaze was fixed on her face, unwavering. Unexpectedly, there was no doubt in his tone, but rather a hint of feigned grievance.
“You never liked it anyway, so eat less.” She zipped up her backpack, her tone flat. “No need to change.”
The countdown ended, the green light across the street came on, and horns blared in our ears.
Yi Zhiyan didn't ask any more questions. His expression was calm as he turned around, gripped the steering wheel, and turned onto the main road.
The journey was silent, save for the intermittent, rhythmic sound of Lu Wenpan walnuts behind us.
Several tens of minutes later, we drove into the underground parking lot, and the sky suddenly darkened.
As soon as the car came to a stop, Lu Wen eagerly opened the door and rushed out. His expression was urgent, and he blocked Ling Yubai's way with a powerful gesture, leaving Yin Xiao and Yi Zhiyan standing there.
After locking the car, Yi Zhiyan walked to her side and asked softly.
Are you in a bad mood?
"No." Yin Xiao shook her head mechanically, her hands in her down jacket pockets.
"Does that mean you have a problem with me?" Yi Zhiyan pressed, turning to stare at her, determined to get to the bottom of it.
“A little.” Yin Xiao sighed almost inaudibly.
Yi Zhiyan quickened his pace, stood in front of her, and stared intently at her.
"What? You can just say it."
The light in front of him was instantly blocked, and the shadow fell on his face, outlining his features in a dull yet sharp way, revealing a subtle probing.
Yin Xiao clenched her fist, her fingertips digging into her palm, then released it.
"Okay, answer one question for me."
"Go ahead and ask."
"What did Brother Lu mean by 'plan B' in the car? What will you do if I don't agree to your cooperation?"
Yi Zhiyan frowned, raised his hand to rub his temples, as if he didn't understand what she meant.
"I'm not going to do anything, I'm just not getting married."
"How can you achieve your goals without getting married?"
“Naturally, it’s achieved by not getting married.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “So it’s Plan B…”
Before Yi Zhiyan could finish speaking, his eyes suddenly darkened. He stretched out his arm, half-embracing her shoulder, and turned slightly to the side.
Yin Xiao was startled and looked back. A little boy holding a cotton candy ran past her, almost brushing against her sleeve.
The surroundings seemed to freeze for a few seconds. Her right cheek was pressed tightly against his chest, and the sweet scent of strawberries from the cotton candy filled her nostrils, along with the pleasant woody fragrance emanating from him.
The fragrance was subtle yet incredibly penetrating, gradually creeping around the tips of her ears.
"Because in Plan A, there is only one person you can marry."
—
When they arrived at the private room, everyone else was already seated. Lu Wen sat in front of a landscape painting and waved anxiously towards the door.
Yin Xiao reluctantly moved aside, stepping aside to sit next to him and shifting towards Ling Yubai. Suddenly, Yi Zhiyan grabbed her wrist and pushed her toward Lu Wen.
"Why are you taking so long?" Lu Wen poured her tea, leaned closer and asked in a low voice, his gaze inexplicably wandering over her face, as if searching for something.
Yin Xiao sat down, took off her down jacket, and started rambling on.
"We had an argument."
"Huh?" Lu Wen stared in disbelief, stopping in his tracks as he picked up the teapot.
"Don't worry, Brother Lu, we're done arguing."
Lu Wen sighed, put down the teapot, and said, "Oh, alright then..."
Yin Xiao propped his head up and glanced at Yi Zhiyan, who was standing silently beside him. He had taken off his windbreaker, revealing a navy blue crew neck sweatshirt underneath, with a low collar that exposed a large expanse of his neck.
He leaned back in his chair, gripped his phone to process messages, picked up a cup to drink water, and his Adam's apple bobbed slowly.
He put down his teacup, glanced over abruptly, lowered his chin lazily, and propped his head up with his elbow, mimicking her posture.
Yin Xiao didn't avoid eye contact and calmly whispered, "Brother Lu asked us why it took us so long, and I told him we were just arguing."
"He believed it?"
Yin Xiao covered her mouth and laughed, "I believe you."
Yi Zhiyan's gaze unexpectedly drifted to her lips, which were half-covered. "Oh... do you want to touch up your lipstick?"
Yin Xiao frowned and subconsciously pursed her lips.
Yi Zhiyan tapped his phone screen a few times, his eyes inscrutable, but his tone was friendly as he offered his reminder.
"He messaged me first, thinking we had kissed."
Yin Xiao's eyes widened, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand again, exclaiming, "How could this be!"
She quietly turned her back and took out a mirror from her bag to check herself from all angles.
Her lips were a pale color, with only a hint of pink at the edges, as if she had indeed pursed off a lot of them.
She immediately reached into the interlayer to touch the lipstick, but her fingers suddenly stopped.
Doesn't applying lipstick now just make it seem like you're trying to cover it up even more...?
Lu Wen, who was sitting next to her, happened to glance at her. Feeling inexplicably guilty, she let go of his hand, sat up straighter, and picked up her teacup to drink water.
Whatever, let them think what they want. Anyway, we're legally partners, so there's nothing to be afraid of. I really don't think there's anything wrong with kissing.
There shouldn't be anything wrong, right?
"Senior, this dry-pot potato smells so good, you should try it."
Ling Yubai sat one seat away from her, then suddenly scooped up a spoonful of potato slices and put them into her bowl.
Yin Xiao snapped out of her daze, noticed the onion hidden among the potato slices, wrinkled her nose, and waved her hand to refuse.
But his spoon was already hovering above her bowl, and with a slight twist of his wrist, the potato slices and onions fell off together.
"Let me try it first, I like it."
Yi Zhiyan unexpectedly stepped in and caught the plate steadily.
Ling Yubai's expression clearly froze.
“Oh, senior likes it? Then I’ll put some more on your plate.” Yin Xiao quickly realized what was going on and added another bite to his plate. She looked up at Ling Yubai and explained, “I don’t really like this dish.”
Ling Yubai's expression softened, and she sat back down, seemingly dejected. Yi Zhiyan leaned forward against the table, deliberately turning slightly to block her view.
Yin Xiao looked down at the mountain of potatoes piled up on his plate, chuckled to herself, hid her phone under the table, and sent him a message.
[Thank you, husband, for your help!]
[Heart emoji]
The phone screen flashed, and the caller ID showed [Qin Yan from Huandao Media].
Yin Xiao immediately covered the note, stood up, gripped her phone tightly, and left the private room with a cup of tea.
She took a sip of tea to moisten her throat and walked to the corner to answer the call.
"Sister Qin, what's wrong?"
"Xiao Yin, I just talked to the manager about your situation. He's very interested in this script. Historical detective comedies are a genre that many investors are looking for right now, so I was wondering when would be a convenient time for you to come to the company to discuss the script?"
"Is next week okay? I'll go over the outline again this week."
"Okay, tentatively next Wednesday?"
"Okay, Sister Qin."
After hanging up the phone, Yin Xiao let out a sigh of relief, pressed the phone to her chest, and grinned.
"Senior, what's making you so happy?" A sarcastic voice suddenly came from behind.
Yin Xiao turned around, gripped her teacup tightly, and gave Zhao Yan a fake smile, "Junior, you really have too much free time."
He had one hand in his pocket and a cigarette lit in the other. He took two steps closer and gave a muffled smile.
"Does the president know you're this kind of person? You're a traitor, you talk a good game but you're ruthless when it comes to betraying others."
Yin Xiao glared at him: "Are you out of your mind? Who did I betray?"
“Hasn’t the whole theater troupe betrayed us? The troupe leader was excited yesterday, saying that your ancient script is finished and our troupe will stage it for the next performance. Now you’ve turned around and sold it.”
Yin Xiao suppressed her anger and explained through gritted teeth, "I never agreed to give this script to the drama club. On the contrary, I said last semester that 'Sun Shower' is the last script for the drama club."
He sneered, "I don't believe that. You might hear it from the president, since you've got him completely under your thumb. He acts exactly as the scripted, and he won't even change a single line you wrote..."
He moved closer and bent down, looking her up and down with great interest. "Hey, how did you do that? And those two investors today, they were also fooled by you. I must say, senior, you really have the skills and the talent to manipulate people..."
He raised his hand, a cigarette between his fingers, and moved closer to her. The pungent smoke hit her face, inescapable.
A rush of air surged into his brain, and without thinking, Yin Xiao instinctively twisted her wrist, pouring all the water from the teacup onto him.
He veered off course, and half a cup of water spilled onto his lit cigarette, extinguishing the crimson flame instantly.
He paused for a moment, then suddenly burst into a tirade, “You fucking lunatic! How dare you dunk me! What, did I hit a nerve? You're just shameless…”
Yin Xiao straightened her back and looked directly at him, calmly raising her phone. "It's being recorded. There's also a surveillance camera above your head... If you say anything more, the lawyer's fees might have to be higher."
Zhao Yan immediately stopped talking, staring suspiciously at her phone. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, Yin Xiao nimbly turned around.
She looked up and unexpectedly met Yi Zhiyan's deep gaze. The veins on his arms were bulging, and there was a hint of suppressed anger in his eyes.
He strode over, glancing at her hurriedly, his hem barely brushing against the back of her hand.
He walked past her and pressed a fist down on Zhao Yan's neck. (Author's note:)
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Although this chapter features a misunderstanding kiss, there will definitely be a real kiss within three chapters! I'm frantically scrolling through the chapters! [Go for it!]
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