Green grape jasmine
Chu Yiqi shook his head again.
I'm not as picky as Xi Ai. I don't like any flowers except for that slightly intoxicating drink.
Halfway through her thought, Chu Yiqi suddenly realized she had gone off-topic, and then the crisp sound of ice cubes clinking together made her look at the glass of wine.
Looking at the few jasmine flowers on the glass of wine, Chu Yiqi suddenly felt a pang of sadness, as if her entire heart was soaking in a glass of wine, bitterly clenched, and then swollen up again.
She held the wine, and after her expression changed, she didn't say much, nor did she look up at anything else.
But in that instant, Chu Yiqi suddenly longed to see Xi Ai, longed to see her so much.
But right now doesn't seem like the right time for me to see you...
After a long time, Chu Yiqi closed her eyes and saw herself back then. She reached out in the air, touched the cup, and then silently retorted: "You have seen her now. Wait a little longer, and you can walk over."
Chu Yiqi sighed, the watermelon taste lingering in her mouth, so she simply opened a bottle of milk.
It's chocolate flavored, and Chu Yiqi even heated it up.
The warm, sweet taste fills the void in your mouth, temporarily making up for any emptiness.
Across the entire ocean, Nian Zhaoyi suddenly became concerned about Miss Xi's marriage: "Sister, are you going to Nadia's party?"
"Don't you always bring up the most sensitive topics, like kicking someone when they're already boiling?" Xi Ai replied, feeling a bit heartbroken at her good friend's words.
"So what's the current situation?"
Xi Ai glanced at the things in front of her: "You don't care?"
"Tell me, so that I don't think you have any intention of making up with me now?"
"You have……"
Xi Ai was speaking when she suddenly fell silent because she saw Chu Yiqi leave the room. Xi Ai tried to connect via Bluetooth, but it was too late; Chu Yiqi had already heard Nian Zhaoyi's words: "Don't swear! I'm going to tell Grandpa you swore." "Nonsense! I've only sworn twice in my life. Oh, by the way, Nancy is landing tomorrow. Remind Xi Yuchuan to bring the souvenir I sent."
"Is it so important that you don't handle it yourself?"
Seeing that Chu Yiqi was about to go back, Xi Ai lowered her voice and replied, "I can't leave the country either, it will take too long."
"You just can't bear to part with it..."
Xi Ai suddenly regretted that she had turned on speakerphone for convenience, and that she hadn't even turned on her headphones or lowered the volume.
She hurriedly hung up on Nian Zhaoyi.
If she does something wrong, she can correct it, instead of letting Nian Zhaoyi dig herself a hole.
Chu Yiqi paused subtly for a moment before entering the house, without giving them any chance to make eye contact.
Xi Ai breathed a sigh of relief and slowly connected via Bluetooth.
As Xi Ai looked at the waning moon outside, she suddenly felt that even the faint chirping of cicadas was very noticeable.
And it gradually overlaps with memories.
This was one of only two instances where she failed to control her speech.
*
Xi Ai was taken back for an afternoon high-level meeting. Except for the company's evening rush hour, all the traffic was congested. Just as the city lights were coming on and the streetlights were turning on, Xi Ai saw a series of red dots.
It was a missed call.
The messages were from Nie Chuiying, Su Luojian, and the last few were from Chu Yiqi, but the timestamps were from twenty minutes ago.
Xi Ai's breath hitched, her heart clenched in that instant, then tossed into the air. That moment was stretched into countless instants, slowed down and then looped, making the originally scattered cicada chirping exceptionally noisy and irritating.
As Xi Ai ran towards the garage with her keys in hand, she dialed Chu Yiqi's number back.
After waiting for a long time without anyone answering, Xi Ai called Nie Chuiying again. She didn't have high hopes, since Nie Chuiying was recording a variety show these past two days.
As expected, Nie Chuiying didn't answer. Xi Ai didn't care and dialed Su Luojian's number by voice while shifting gears.
Su Luojian answered quickly and anxiously: "I'm out of town overseeing Yike and Nianxi's activities. Go check on Xiao Chu."
Send me the address.
For some reason, Chu Yiqi didn't even have time to send a message, or perhaps he forgot, or perhaps he didn't have the chance.
But either way, it was an urgent matter, and she couldn't wait, so she drove off first.
Su Luojian only sent one voice message. It was when she asked Chu Yiqi in the morning that Chu Yiqi mentioned that she had something to do at the castle, so Su Luojian told Xi Ai exactly what Chu Yiqi had said.
Xi Ai became extremely nervous upon hearing those two words.
That's not a good place either. It's supposed to be a high-end club, but in Xi Ai's words, it's a smoky and chaotic place.
Rich kids love to go there, but Xi Ai never gets involved—those who seize power too early always have other dinners and social engagements that are relatively cleaner.
Xi Ai ignored the string of people greeting her as she left; she was in a terrible state right now.
Xi Ai dialed Xi Yuchuan's number. It just so happened that Xi Yuchuan was in the area these past two days, so it might be faster for him to get to the castle.
"Hurry up and pack your things, let's make a trip to the castle."
Xi Ai rarely spoke in such a serious tone, so Xi Yuchuan didn't rush to ask why. He quickly said something to the butler and ran off, calling out to Xi Ai, "Judging from your voice, are you driving a sports car?"
Xi Ai finally realized something was amiss, but she couldn't ignore it now: "Let's talk about it later. Are you alright on your end?"
"Don't worry, I'm hanging up now. Grandpa'll complain that I disturbed your driving."
Xi Ai was in a hurry the whole way, but fortunately the traffic lights were unusually cooperative that day, so the originally expected 20-minute drive was shortened.
Xi Ai had a slight controlling stake in the castle, so her comings and goings were exceptionally smooth. She had already cut off the surveillance footage for Xi Yuchuan to check. When Xi Ai arrived, Xi Yuchuan led her to a private room and then stood aside to look at Xi Ai's shoes.
She was wearing high heels, not very high, but it was obvious that Xi Ai had twisted her ankle quite a few times on the way. Yet, it didn't seem to bother her at all.
Xi Yuchuan had never heard Xi Ai mention anything about her and Chu Yiqi before, and he was only half-believing the rumors on the internet, but now he had no doubts at all.
But Xi Ai didn't have time to pay attention to him. Despite twisting her ankle, she pushed open the door with no decrease in her momentum.
As soon as Xi Ai entered the door, she saw several familiar faces.
"Where are they?" Xi Ai asked coldly, her expression unfriendly.
"Miss Xi, who is this person? Making baseless accusations is not a good thing."
Xi Ai spoke softly. She walked over and, without giving anyone else time to react, grabbed a glass of ice wine and splashed it in the face of the person who had spoken.
"Evidence? The evidence is that when your father comes to discuss cooperation, he still has to see if I'll give it to him. Even in an arm-wrestling match, you have to be selective about who you're dealing with."
Xi Ai glanced around and saw the hair clip on the sofa, which she had picked out for Chu Yiqi this morning before leaving home.
It was dirty, so Xi Ai didn't pick it up. Instead, she picked up a bottle of wine next to her. It was red wine. Xi Ai glanced at it, thinking it had no taste, and then blurted out in French, "If you don't want your eyes, just donate them."
After finishing speaking, he let go—"Clang—"
"I'm so sorry, it was a slip of the hand. How about I cover the loss?"
Perhaps Xi Ai's actions were not insignificant, given that she came out aggressively demanding surveillance and people, and those above received word quickly—thanks in no small part to her tacitly understanding younger brother.
So, quite naturally, as Xi Ai was about to leave, someone in the middle received a phone call from home.
In any circle, people always care about saving face and future relationships, so no one wants to ruin things. When the spoiled brat confronts the head of the family, the difference in their abilities becomes immediately apparent.
Xi Ai quickly received Chu Yiqi. As if she had drunk too much, Xi Ai pulled her along and resumed her smiling tiger demeanor: "See you next time."
"Take care." Having his humiliation ruined and his pride shattered, he was still upset and spoke slowly and deliberately.
Xi Ai's tone remained cold: "It's one thing to be blind, but don't act like you're mentally ill and rush to get slapped. If you're not smart enough, then play less. If you can't win and you're not happy about it, then stop showing off your stupidity everywhere."
It's like a spell that prevents you from swearing in your native language. Whenever Xi Ai swears, she switches to French, which sounds less forceful.
Chu Yiqi seemed to find her noisy and unable to understand her, so he spoke very softly to Xi Ai: "You are not allowed to curse at me, and you are too noisy, so let's go."
Xi Ai was almost laughing in anger, but she still coaxed Chu Yiqi: "I wasn't talking about you, darling, we're leaving right away."
Xi Ai didn't want to stay here any longer; the air smelled bad.
Xi Yuchuan had been playing with his folding knife outside since early morning. When he saw Xi Ai holding someone's hand, he quickly took a few steps ahead and said, "Nobody's here. Hurry up and get in my car. I had someone drive your car back."
"Oh." Xi Ai smoothed Chu Yiqi's hair and said, "Don't tell the old man."
"There's nothing we can do about it, some of it will inevitably get out eventually." Xi Yuchuan stopped his car at a red light.
Xi Ai glanced at him, then looked back at Chu Yiqi: "I said that French passage."
"No, I heard you."
Xi Ai didn't want to talk to him.
The next morning, Xi Ai received a video call from the old man, and the first thing he said was: "Wow, that popular female celebrity was really something, speeding around in the evening."
"Thank you." Xi Ai knew about the trending topic and also knew that it would be suppressed soon.
"Your insults are really mean—how is Xiao Chu?"
Xi Ai didn't expect the old man to say that she was being mean by cursing. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "The wine I drank yesterday was strong, so I didn't sober up."
“Alright,” Grandpa Xi came back to the point and began to recall the rule that his children followed: swearing was one thing, but swearing was another.
Coincidentally, what Xi Ai said yesterday falls within this scope.
Xi Ai listened quietly to the lecture, and when she looked up, she saw Chu Yiqi standing at the door of the room looking at her.
It was very quiet, like a little rabbit that had been scratched by another ugly cat. Its eyes were a little red, and it was very well-behaved.
Xi Ai didn't want to ask Chu Yiqi why; she probably already knew.
And this became especially evident in the months that followed.
For the next few months, for reasons unknown, Chu Yiqi suddenly faced a low point.
The negative posts and stalker issues that Xi Ai and the PR team simply couldn't handle... Chu Yiqi hadn't left the house for a long time, and all sorts of invitations she received had been affected.
The uproar has lasted for half a year and is still not completely over.
Of course, it didn't end there. On the third day of the new year, Chu Yiqi broke up with Xi Ai. At that time, Xi Ai was busy filming various endorsement projects, and incidentally, she was also hanging on to someone who suddenly appeared—someone she had seen at the hotel entrance after the initial semi-finals, someone Chu Yiqi couldn't face.
Their relationship ended abruptly, but Chu Yiqi couldn't wait any longer. So she went abroad alone.
Not long after that, despite the pressure of disagreeing with the old man, Xi Ai shorted the stock of one of the people present that day, as a form of retaliation to make an example of them.
It's more like he's venting his anger.
"You can compete with others for partnerships, at least do it with some dignity."
Xi Ai was chatting with the company's legal department when she replied casually, "I know, but I've disliked him for a long time."
"It's been about half a year."
"Don't you already know that?"
"Bear the pressure yourself, don't go too far, a little commotion is enough."
Xi Ai agreed, stood up, and went to the balcony to answer a work call.
...
*
Xi Ai bypassed the yogurt and instead took a sip of wine.
It was getting late, and she didn't want to stay there and feed the mosquitoes, so she picked up her laptop and headed back to her bedroom. After a moment's thought, she decided to take the yogurt with her.
Only one wall lamp was on in the downstairs living room, so the light in one of the rooms was dimly lit.
Xi Ai paused for a moment, then went upstairs on her own.
Chu Yiqi sat cross-legged on the carpet. In the fluffy beige carpet, Chu Yiqi placed a butterfly pillow on her lap. The musical notes on the computer screen seemed to be dancing, so Chu Yiqi closed her eyes and leaned back.
She had some strange dreams for no reason.
It felt so familiar, yet like something from a past life; it had an unreal quality.
The dream was bizarre and fantastical, yet it unfolded in the order of the starting points of all the memories from the daytime.
Chu Yiqi then saw that her four-year-old self glanced at Xi Ai and spoke with unusual calmness, which was quite unlike her usual self.
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