Chapter 26 You really kept the breach of contract a secret.
Dai Lan's call came just in time.
The encroaching, lingering aura vanished silently, and the surroundings returned to calm.
Yin Xiao glanced at Yi Zhiyan, then turned away to answer the phone. On the other end of the line, Dai Lan was aggressive, her constant complaining pounding against her eardrums.
She habitually offered a few words of comfort, and at Dai Lan's urging, quickly opened the video to offer her advice, "Oh yeah, it really does look weird showing your midriff. Don't wear this anymore. When you buy a suit tomorrow, I'll help you find a new shirt to match..."
After chatting for a few minutes, Dai Lan hung up the phone, satisfied. Yin Xiao tossed her phone onto the bed, crossed her arms behind her neck, and weakly pressed the buttons.
"Your roommate posted his own video?" Yi Zhiyan suddenly asked, pressing for details about the video.
Yin Xiao's gaze faltered for a moment, then she slowly turned around and asked calmly, "Otherwise, what did you think?"
"I thought it was one of those... videos you used to like watching." Yi Zhiyan straightened up, calmly buttoned up his shirt, and smoothed out the wrinkles he had made.
His voice was slightly hoarse, and his tone carried a deeper meaning.
The words went through her mind, and Yin Xiao's gaze swept over the shirt buttons before she suddenly realized what was going on.
He misunderstood and thought she wanted to see... abs?
Yin Xiao took a deep breath and spoke clearly and distinctly.
"I'm really tired of talking, but I still want to clarify again: I don't click on every video just to see abs. I watch some serious videos too! No... I only watch serious videos!"
Yi Zhiyan stared at her quietly, nodding slightly, showing no sign of taking it seriously.
She touched her chest, took a breath, pouted, and glared at him.
"Aren't you leaving yet?"
Yi Zhiyan's gaze suddenly shifted to the bed, and he bent down to pick up the button that had just flown out.
"Want more?"
The topic suddenly shifted, and Yin Xiao's imposing manner caught in her throat. She raised her arm, stared at the tear in the sleeve for a few seconds, then carefully rubbed the loose thread, and said dejectedly.
"No, I don't want it."
"Then I'll take it." He flicked the button into his palm with his finger.
"Oh." Yin Xiao guessed he might be useful, and replied indifferently.
Yi Zhiyan walked to the door, put his wrist on the handle, and suddenly turned his head, "Yin Xiao."
"Um?"
"I'm sorry." He spoke with focused expression and earnest tone, each word landing firmly on the ground. "I had no intention of taking advantage of you whatsoever."
“Yes, I’ve thought it through,” Yin Xiao replied honestly, her fingers disappearing into her sleeve. “But, I applied to several media companies and independent theater companies a couple of days ago. If I don’t end up choosing…”
"It's alright." Yi Zhiyan smiled. "The choice has always been in your hands."
—
A torrential downpour was raging outside the Golden Eagle Shopping Mall. Water spray washed over the glass dome and cascaded down onto the clean curtain wall, the sound of the rushing water drowned out by the surrounding noise.
It's raining, I'm coming to pick you up.
With her back to the transparent curtain wall, Yin Xiao sat on an empty row of benches, staring hesitantly at the message Yi Zhiyan had just sent.
[No need, I'll eat at Golden Eagle first...]
Before she finished typing, a black paper bag suddenly hit her knee, catching her attention.
A quick glance revealed a beige woolen hat inside the bag, with two embroidered pandas hugging each other on the brim.
Yin Xiao looked up in confusion, tilting her head at Dai Lan standing in front of her, "You said you had something to do and told me to sit here and wait for you, so you went to buy this?"
"Hmm, doesn't it look good?" Dai Lan pulled the hat out and held it up in the air to show it off. "It suits you quite well..."
Yin Xiao was a little surprised, "For me?"
“Yes, you love pandas the most, right? They’re so cute.” Dai Lan pinched the two brims of the hat, put it on her head, and gave her a thumbs up with satisfaction.
Yin Xiao reached out and took the hat off, gently rubbing the soft ball of yarn on the top of the hat. "Why did you suddenly give me this when it's neither a holiday nor my birthday?"
"I just wanted to give it to you." Dai Lan put her hands on her hips, deliberately striking an unreasonable pose.
Yin Xiao didn't take it seriously at all, stretched out his arm, and scratched her chin, "So domineering? What's wrong with you?"
Dai Lan's eyelids drooped, and she suddenly felt a little sad. She sat down next to her and sighed.
"When I was putting on a suit for the interview just now, I suddenly felt the reality of graduation. Thinking that we'll be in different cities in the future and it will be hard to see each other, I thought I'd buy you lots and lots of gifts now, so that every time you put on this hat, you'll think of me!"
Yin Xiao was also a little downcast by what she said, but she forced a smile and comforted her, "It's not like we're worlds apart. If you miss me, I'll fly to Sanya to be with you right away."
"Easier said than done, plane tickets are expensive."
"Then I'll work hard to earn enough for the plane ticket." Yin Xiao widened her eyes exaggeratedly, "Wow, thinking about it this way, I'll earn money in the future to see you, that's pretty romantic."
"Give me a break..." Dai Lan pouted, her eyes reddening, and still pushed her away without any mercy, looking like she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. "You have a terrible memory. You couldn't even remember your crush before."
Yin Xiao's lips stiffened slightly. He lifted the hat and put it on her head, rubbing it through the thick wool. "Who said that? I just have a little bit of face blindness. My memory is incredibly good."
Dai Lan raised her chin defiantly, but Yin Xiao grabbed her arm before she could finish her sentence.
"I'm so hungry, I'm so hungry. Let's find a place to eat... Oh right, I saw in the group chat that Chengzi said she got her internship certificate sorted out and is coming to have dinner with us."
"Great, I'll call her and see where she is." Talking about food, Dai Lan's mood visibly calmed down, and she took the initiative to pull her forward.
After circling from the second floor to the fifth floor, they finally chose a barbecue buffet restaurant, took a number, and leaned on the railing of the connecting corridor, eagerly waiting.
Five minutes later, Chen Weiqi ran over in high heels, her makeup impeccable, clearly having just escaped from a formal office setting.
The two men couldn't wait to pull Chen Weiqi to sit down at the round table by the door and listen to her complaints.
"If I have barbecue for lunch, I'll have to run an extra five kilometers in the evening."
"Never mind tonight, eating well now is the most important thing!" Dai Lan patted her shoulder seriously.
"Agreed," Yin Xiao echoed loudly.
Chen Weiqi gave in and, propping her head up, waited with them for their number to be called.
"Did your stamping go smoothly today? You got it all done this morning?" Dai Lan asked casually, unwrapping a soda candy from the table.
"Well, I heard from the HR lady that the company is busy with its transformation and doesn't want to cause trouble, so they just shut me down. They're afraid that if I say bad things about the company online, it will affect our reputation at a crucial time..." She leaned closer, covering her mouth with her hand. "Moreover, a lot of people have left the company, mostly from the copy editors and brand promotion departments. The entire scriptwriting team left."
"What? You mean Huandao Media?" Dai Lan pressed.
"yes."
Dai Lan turned to look at Yin Xiao, pondered for a few seconds, touched her ear as if suddenly realizing something, "No wonder they didn't sign your script before, it turns out it was an internal problem. Now you don't have to fight amongst yourselves."
Yin Xiao pursed her lips, nodded as if she wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Chen Weiqi.
"I heard some gossip today," Chen Weiqi said, raising an eyebrow at the two of them.
"Our company's CEO, Mr. Ruan, was rumored to be engaged to Yi Zhi's son, but it was obviously fake. Sure enough, his family had already arranged another marriage for him, and it was with someone from our school..."
"Um..." Yin Xiao felt increasingly uneasy as she listened, a faint sense of awkwardness rising within her, along with the guilt of keeping it from her friends. These conflicting emotions made her increasingly anxious, and she finally couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out, "I want to have something serious to tell you all first..."
"A16." The loud machine call in her ear interrupted her.
Dai Lan's eyes lit up, and she grabbed one of them and rushed towards the door. Yin Xiao jogged a few steps to catch up, swallowing the words she was about to say.
As Yin Xiao approached the barbecue restaurant, wisps of sweltering heat billowed from within. She glanced to the side and caught a glimpse of a little girl rushing toward her.
Before she could even access her limited facial information and find the exact name, she heard the little girl's clear voice.
"Auntie."
My thighs were held tightly, and a familiar feeling flooded my mind. The little girl with braids in front of me finally matched the name "Xiao Jiu".
“Little girl, you can’t call her that, you have to call her sister.” Dai Lan seemed unable to move her, and noticed the little girl who had suddenly appeared. She turned around and squatted down in front of her to coax the child.
"Hello, sister," Xiao Jiu obediently looked at Dai Lan, her grip still firm, and then looked up at Yin Xiao, "Auntie, I want to play with you."
Dai Lan was clearly not quite there yet, her blank gaze shifting between her and Xiao Jiu.
"Don't squat there, get up." Chen Weiqi, who was on the other side, couldn't stand it anymore and reached out to pull Dai Lan, whispering, "The little girl must have mistaken Xiaoxiao for someone else. Should we stay here with her and wait for her parents, or should we take her to the management center downstairs?"
Yin Xiao decisively said, "You guys go in first. I'll stay here with her. She should be here soon."
She quietly took out her phone, preparing to send a message to Lu Wen.
"Sister, you're wrong!" Xiao Jiu hugged her and rubbed against her, then suddenly waved her left hand, her little fist waving in front of Chen Weiqi. "I didn't mistake you for someone else, you are my aunt."
"Okay, okay, I didn't make a mistake..." Dai Lan was amused and happily took Xiao Jiu's hand.
"You don't believe me!" Xiao Jiu kicked her legs anxiously, shaking her head back and forth, then turned and pointed to the opposite side, "My uncle is over there!"
Yin Xiao subconsciously looked up and saw Lu Wen. She breathed a sigh of relief, put her phone back in her pocket, and gently pushed Xiao Jiu's arm towards the other side.
Lu Wen rushed over anxiously, scooped Xiao Jiu into his arms, frowned, but said nothing.
Yi Zhiyan lagged two steps behind Lu Wen, wearing a casual denim jacket and holding a brown bear plush toy that was over a meter tall. He looked more energetic than usual.
"Hello, senior." Chen Weiqi recognized Yi Zhiyan first and took the initiative to speak.
Yin Xiao took a breath and waved to Dai Lan without changing her expression.
Lu Wen moved a few steps to the side, blatantly looking at Yi Zhiyan, and said sarcastically, "What a coincidence that you're all family."
Yi Zhiyan skillfully flipped the bear over and handed it to Xiao Jiu to tease her, without saying a word.
This nonsensical statement failed to elicit any response, but the surrounding gazes were clearly eager.
Yin Xiao glanced to the other side with a conflicted expression, tugged at the stray hairs on her shoulder, and vaguely felt that the marriage could no longer be kept a secret, but now was really not a good time.
Just as she was lost in thought, Xiao Jiu suddenly turned her head, reached out her hand to her, and stared at her with her round eyes. Lu Wen grabbed the waving hand in time and stopped her in a low voice.
“I…” Yin Xiao observed Xiao Jiu’s aggrieved expression, turned around, and stammered an explanation, “You guys go in first, I’ll… wait outside for a while.”
Dai Lan let out an "Ah," and was pulled away by Chen Weiqi. Yin Xiao clenched her clothes tightly in melancholy, then let go.
She composed herself, but when she turned around, she only saw Yi Zhiyan still standing there. He was still holding the bear in one arm, nodding at her with his chin.
He casually uttered a few words.
"You kept it a secret very well."
Yin Xiao was taken aback, and vaguely sensed the dissatisfaction in his words.
She couldn't be bothered to delve deeper. Now that Xiao Jiu had been taken away, all she needed to do was focus on confessing to her roommate. She gave a perfunctory "hmm" and turned to leave.
"Yin Xiao." Yi Zhiyan suddenly called out to her, his tone solemn, each word especially clear.
"I want to breach the contract."
Yin Xiao stopped in her tracks, involuntarily trembling. "What?"
The voice behind me remained calm, blending into the hustle and bustle of the crowd, making it difficult to discern its true emotion. But the moment the voice rang out, the surrounding sounds were invisibly shut out.
Only his voice, sometimes near, sometimes far, remained.
"I like you."
-----------------------
Author's note: The agreement will be torn up in the next chapter.
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