What should a good child do?
Jiang Songhe remotely ordered breakfast and lunch delivery for her family at the front desk, then went to the bathroom to wash her face and peeled off the damp scabs on her lips bit by bit in front of the mirror.
Fortunately, the wound on my lips healed quickly. After the scab was peeled off, only a slight red mark remained, which looked almost identical to lip lines if you didn't look closely.
At 9:30, Lin Duole arrived at the company right on time, carrying his laptop bag.
Jiang Songhe called out to stop him. Lin Duole turned around slowly at the sound of his voice, and his eyes lit up like searchlights when he saw his boss. Before the boss could finish saying, "Go directly to the big meeting and wait for me," he rushed to the bathroom and blocked the door.
"Mr. Jiang, I stayed up all night editing something, could you take a look?!" He said, opening his laptop bag and pulling out his laptop. "If you approve it, I think we can play this at the meeting later."
Who gives a work report in the restroom?
Jiang Songhe raised an eyebrow, his gaze spreading outward from the bright "light" to the symmetrical, undeniable eye boogers on the center line of the disheveled face. He closed his eyes, threw the tissue he had used to wipe his hands into the trash can, and picked up the laptop that had been switched to full-screen mode.
"Is this it?" Jiang Songhe rested the laptop on one forearm, freeing one hand to point at his face, but then made a half-circle motion and tapped the sink. "Okay, tsk, you tidy up and come find me in the main conference room when you're done."
With less than half an hour until the screening, Jiang Songhe left his bewildered subordinates behind, pressed the space bar, and watched the film as he walked.
"Ouch—" A wail came from the bathroom.
Jiang Songhe shielded himself from the reverberating noise and entered the large conference room.
Fifteen minutes later, Lin Duole entered, looking respectable and meek. He sat down at the corner to Jiang Songhe's right, near the door, occasionally glancing back and forth between the boss and the computer.
Jiang Songhe watched for a few more minutes, then paused the video, glanced at the time in the upper right corner of the screen, then at the video progress bar, and closed the computer: "Did you copy this from the intranet and make it at home?"
Lin Duole panicked instantly upon hearing this, sitting up stiffly and explaining, "Oh yes, but I didn't! I went straight home. I originally wanted to stay at the company to do it before I copied it, but Siyu and the others left, and I was scared to be alone, so... so..."
"Since I've already copied it, it's a waste of time to give me a dressing down now." Jiang Songhe couldn't stand his subordinate's incoherent rambling before an important meeting, so he waved his hand to interrupt: "Be more careful next time. If you can't finish reading, just briefly summarize the content."
"Okay." Lin Duole took a deep breath and sat forward. "The video is an hour long. I extracted the key plot and highlights. The background music is the OST I just got from Teacher Yuan. I put it on the corresponding famous scenes. However, the ending theme song should have been sung by Janus, but since we haven't had time to record it in the studio yet, we used the version Teacher Yuan provided."
Seeing the boss thoughtfully tapping the laptop lid with his index finger, Lin Duole continued, "I was just thinking that several teachers on the platform said they only gave us two hours, and it's too troublesome to search for it segment by segment on TV... If you don't think it's okay, it's fine if I don't edit this version."
Jiang Songhe tapped the keyboard one last time with his index finger, then handed it to Lin Duole: "Okay. Play this after the PPT presentation."
"Then I'll upload it to the intranet as soon as I get back, and put it together with Janus's reaction." Lin Duole's spotlight lit up again. After saying that, he glanced at the food delivery app on his phone, got up, and jogged out of the conference room.
"I'll go downstairs to get some fruit and be right back!"
Jiang Songhe also stood up, tightened his tie, straightened the creases of his suit jacket and trousers, and strolled to the window to look at the direction of the cars coming downstairs. He was preparing to get a sense of the initial state of the platform's investors in order to adjust his tone and rhetoric at the meeting.
The first to arrive at Yunhe was Tao De Film Studio, and it wasn't Tao Lifeng who came, but Tao Nian.
Jiang Songhe saw a smartly dressed figure upstairs and frowned slightly in confusion. When he opened the door to greet him, a polite and businesslike smile appeared on his face. He made small talk by asking, "Was it easy to find?"
In contrast, Tao Nian seemed more casual and at ease. As she took off her trench coat and draped it over her arm, she followed Jiang Songhe's lead and replied with a smile, "It's easy to find, but parking is a bit difficult."
The two last met in Hodov, where Jonathan was also present.
Jonathan invited her to attend the WANTON WU fashion show, but she declined, citing her parents' pearl wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day as the reason, implying that she would return to Country A after the event.
Ten days have passed, and Tao Nian is still at Jingting. Parking in the park means she drove herself there. Does this mean she's not planning to leave? What does Tao Nian's staying have to do with attending the project meeting in place of Tao Lifeng?
"Brother Songhe, what are you thinking about?"
Jiang Songhe's nerves tightened when she heard the sudden intimate address at the company, and she looked over with an expression she didn't know how to make.
"Are you wondering why Lao Tao doesn't do it himself?" Tao Nian frowned deeply, clearly imitating Jiang Songhe's absent-mindedness. Seeing Jiang Songhe silently relax his brows and reveal the smile he remembered from his younger days.
"Old Tao was dragged to Lucheng for a vacation, it's his pearl wedding anniversary honeymoon, so I had to come instead."
Tao Nian's explanation was reasonable and frank, but she herself was tense, suspicious and overthinking. In the end, she still felt that when they met last time, she had revealed her true orientation in order to put an end to the other person's thoughts.
Within the porcelain industry, celebrities on stage are extremely secretive about such matters, but those behind the scenes are not immune to them to some extent.
Moreover, just ten days ago, Tao Lifeng, a doting father, had pressured Jiang Songhe to marry him. At this critical juncture, there cannot be any potential threats that could disrupt the cash flow.
"Thank you for your hard work." Thinking too much was pointless. Jiang Songhe resumed his polite, businesslike smile, trying his best to treat Tao Nian with the demeanor of a professional producer, and subtly hinted to Tao Nian to change his form of address with a gesture that clearly defined boundaries. "President Tao, please."
"No." Tao Nian's smile remained, but the familiar feeling from her earlier impressions had faded, and her capable demeanor had returned. "I'm really looking forward to watching Song Yun's first leading role. By the way, I heard from Lao Tao that the collaboration with Janus has been finalized. Will we have a chance to get a sneak peek later?"
Jiang Songhe subtly uttered words during the pause, leading Tao Nian to a seat in the large conference room, and then replied, "The theme song will be recorded in the studio soon, and Janus's 'Yan Ge Xing' reaction teaser will be shown later."
"Then I'll wait and see."
-
Jiang Family Villa.
Jonathan woke up from under the covers, looking around. He found himself alone on the empty bed. Fragments of memories flashed through his mind, leaving him somewhat disoriented and unsure whether Jiang Songhe had actually returned.
His head was still heavy. He slowly sat up and sniffed the air. He didn't smell the cold wind or tobacco, only a faint woody scent from the shower gel. He couldn't tell if it was from his own body or from somewhere else.
He looked down at the necklace on his chest; the bedroom was dimly lit, and he could only vaguely see a faint ring of silver light. He vaguely remembered that he hadn't drawn the curtains before going to sleep. A thought crossed his mind, and he suddenly rolled out of bed.
The sudden, large movement caused a moment of dizziness. Jonathan stood there for a while to catch his breath, then groped his way out in the dark and opened the door at the far end.
Although Jiang Songhe's room didn't face the floor-to-ceiling windows directly, the morning light streaming in from the second floor of the villa still made Jonathan squint. As he adjusted to the light, he walked to the stairwell, where a waist-high railing had appeared between the handrail and the wall.
With its light blue soft edges and milky white uprights, judging from the color scheme, style, and the markings indicating its height, it should be designed specifically for young children.
Jonathan pushed it; it was quite sturdy. He suddenly found it a little funny; the railing, the overall style of the villa, and even someone's personal style were completely mismatched.
He studied the structure for a while, squatted down and opened all three locks on one side, then got up and went downstairs.
The first floor wasn't as warm as the second floor, but the temperature difference wasn't significant either, so you didn't feel cold even when barefoot.
Jonathan wandered around looking for Vasin, wanting to ask if he knew what time Jiang Songhe had returned and left. Finally, he saw Vasin wearing a short-sleeved shirt practicing boxing in the open space outside through the living room window.
Seeing this, he tightened the collar of his bathrobe, looked away, abandoned the option of going out to ask someone, and went to the kitchen, a place where Jiang Songhe often frequented, intending to find out the details himself.
A sticky note was on the dining table, with a mobile phone number written in bold, elegant handwriting, prefixed with the country's area code. Although it was unsigned, the handwriting clearly identified who wrote it.
Jonathan tore off the note, stared at it for a long time, and a warm feeling gradually washed over him.
More than two months ago, Jiang Songhe also left himself a similar handwriting, the main point of which was to demand that "both sides settle their differences."
At that time, Jiang Songhe only had a disliked expression towards him, as if he were a stranger and should stay away. Every time they met, he would treat him as if he were facing a mortal enemy.
Two months ago, Jonathan received all of his expectations from Jiang Songhe, including her homely and gentle nature, her patient demeanor, and even many unexpected and delightful surprises.
Having already gained so much, what am I still overthinking? I guess I was just too impatient...
Jonathan suppressed the urge to immediately go upstairs and call to bother her. He carefully folded the note side by side, put it in the pocket of his bathrobe, and inexplicably began to recall the few times Jiang Songhe had told him to be "good."
The word "obedient" was often on Jonathan's lips. Unlike his own description of it as deliberate seduction, Jiang Songhe spoke it awkwardly and seriously, with different tone of voice or urgency depending on the context.
Jonathan's serious expression, as if she "can't do anything about herself," made her feel sexy, and also... happy.
Moreover, Jiang Songhe had previously expressed similar meanings, saying either "be obedient" or "listen a little." Isn't there a psychological argument that "if you like someone, you'll unconsciously imitate them"?
Found it.
It seems that being treated like a child by Jiang Songhe has always been quite nice.
It doesn't seem so difficult to willingly pretend to be well-behaved all the time.
"So what should a good boy do now?" Jonathan's words flowed into an impromptu melody as he opened the refrigerator door and saw two sets of exquisitely designed food containers of different styles. He cheerfully took them out and arranged them on the dining table. "Only when you're full can you have the energy to be a reliable boyfriend."
Just as they were about to start eating, Wasin, covered in sweat, received a phone call and rushed to the restaurant.
"Fan, phone call." Vasin handed over the phone, and Jonah's cheerful mood vanished instantly upon seeing his expression.
"Fan, are you looking for me?" Jonathan put down the pastry he was eating, took the phone and listened for a while, his appetite completely gone.
Five minutes later, the call was disconnected.
Jonathan's mechanical smile disappeared along with the black screen. After sitting quietly for a long time, he raised his narrow eyes and said coldly to Vasin, the big-mouthed man, "You're not getting any today. Go eat your compressed biscuits."
Vasin bent down to take the phone, and said "Oh, whatever you say."
Once the big guy had completely disappeared from the restaurant, Jonathan grabbed all the food boxes on the table and brought them close, then grabbed a whole piece of bright red fruit cake and shoved it violently into his mouth.
The sweet and sour aroma is inhaled through the nose, but the taste in the mouth is like chewing wax.
Jonathan switched from one hand to both, eating with both hands simultaneously, his eating speed becoming increasingly rapid, but his swallowing movements becoming more and more difficult...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com