Chapter 81 Unintentionally, out of bounds, a teardrop flies, a teardrop flies...
Yuan Jianxing had no intention of exchanging many words with Que Ling. He simply nodded in greeting and placed the things that Que Ling's assistant had asked him to bring on the table next to him.
Que Ling's eyes lit up when she saw the ginger ale peeking out of the bag.
"Oh? He actually managed to buy it?"
Before he finished speaking, he had already leaped down from the second floor, rolled on the ground to dissipate the force, and then nimbly stood next to Yuan Jianxing and scooped up the ginger ale bottle from the glass.
His movements were fluid and graceful, drawing gasps of admiration from many around him.
"Teacher Que Ling, you have this trick up your sleeve?!"
"It seems the previous film training camp was really worth it!"
Que Ling didn't react much to this, only giving a polite but meaningful smile, and eagerly reaching into the bag.
After fumbling around for a bit, he frowned and said with great disappointment, "Hey, why isn't there a straw!"
Yuan Jianxing wanted to leave, but he couldn't just do that in this situation.
Firstly, it would make me seem very impolite.
Secondly, it may also affect the collective image of executives.
So he gave a perfunctory reply: "Can't I just drink it directly?"
“Of course it’s fine at other times, but I have something on my lips right now.” Que Ling immediately looked up at Yuan Jianxing and slightly parted her lips.
The lips were covered with a delicate glaze, the most popular watery cherry blossom color this spring.
The carefully drawn lip line outlines a full lip shape, and a dot of clear lip gloss is applied to the center of the lips, giving them a moist and glossy shine under the light.
As Que Ling spoke and moved, the pearly light on his lips shifted slightly, each glimmer landing precisely in the positions carefully designed by the makeup artist.
After proving that what she said was true, Que Ling finally returned to normal, looking at the bottle of soda that was damp and cool with great regret. "The makeup artist has been working on it for so long, I can't make them redo it just because of a little food."
Although this viewpoint is correct, Yuan Jianxing chose not to comment.
After nodding slightly to indicate that he had completed the handover, he walked toward the event organizers who were already calling out.
But as soon as Yuan Jianxing turned around, Que Ling quickly followed, trailing behind him at a distance of about half a step.
From an outsider's perspective, this distance is actually quite ambiguous. If Yuan Jianxing were even a step slower, or Que Ling a step faster, the two would collide.
The staff members on site were all seasoned internet veterans, so it was impossible for them not to know that Que Ling was rescued by Yuan Jianxing after being kidnapped.
Hiding from an angle where the two couldn't see them, they exchanged glances and gossiped wildly, eventually reaching a mutually disappointing conclusion:
The falling flowers are affectionate, but the flowing water is indifferent. Even though Que Ling tried her best, Yuan Jianxing was as unmoved as a block of wood.
Or rather, keep them at arm's length.
-
Despite the strained relationship between Yuan Jianxing and Que Ling, the promotional campaign continued unabated.
Of course, this doesn't preclude the fact that, for various reasons, both legitimate and illegitimate, the two were secretly paired together and thrown into the "battlefield" along with several other teams.
The overall process of this event is actually quite simple – whichever team gets the [key] from the villains first and brings it back to the base wins.
During this process, the executives will fully demonstrate their combat capabilities in order to appease the increasingly agitated public sentiment in recent days.
The invited celebrities had recently filmed a war-themed movie where the Adjudication Bureau acted as knowledge advisors, and they needed to find a standout publicity strategy.
The two sides hit it off immediately.
However, compared to the conventional battles against the villains, the most eye-catching and intriguing part of the rules is that different faction teams are allowed to attack each other.
As expected, after the original Starry Sky Sparrow Feather team got the [key] first, the other teams tacitly put aside their past grievances and began to cooperate, launching a barrage of concentrated attacks.
Just kidding. Putting aside the fact that they now have a perfectly legitimate reason to steal the "key," even if they didn't, the temptation to "personally kill" the CEO would be enough to make them take the risk.
Under such fierce attacks, the other executives and stars in the team were "killed" and withdrawn from the battle early on, leaving only Yuan Jianxing and Que Ling to survive.
Despite being besieged, Yuan Jianxing would not sit idly by and wait for his death.
Through precise counterattacks, looting supplies, and ruthless elimination, he single-handedly wiped out the entire team.
To his surprise, although Que Ling looked frail, she was ruthless when it came to fighting.
During the process, they even managed to defeat many opponents who tried to pick on the weak.
In the final moments, only two teams remained on the field.
One team still consists of Que Ling and Yuan Jianxing, while the other team is composed of Que Ling's rumored rival and three other executives who initially decided to "preserve their strength and reap the benefits."
"You two are surrounded." Sparrow Feather's opponent, hiding behind cover, loaded a water gun and said sarcastically, "Your only way out is to give up the futile resistance, hand over the key, and surrender immediately."
"Your ability to trade one for one with me is an extraordinary performance, a truly miraculous feat," Que Ling retorted loudly. "What gave you the courage to pop champagne at halftime?"
"Ha, just because of 'a gun is fast from seven paces away. Within seven paces, the gun is both accurate and fast.'" Que Ling scoffed at Que Ling's provocation. "According to my count, and you're out of bullets."
"It's kind of you to get a simple addition and subtraction problem within 100 right," Que Ling said. "But don't forget, I have teammates too."
Unexpectedly, these words played right into the opponent's hands.
"Ha, you have teammates, but don't I?!" He laughed loudly. "Three fully-resourced guys against one who's out of ammo and supplies, how could we possibly get wiped out?"
"So now, even if you scream your lungs out, your teammates won't come to your rescue!" Setting up his gun behind cover and aiming at Sparrow Feather's hiding place, Sparrow Feather's opponent seemed to be basking in the joy of victory. "In short, the advantage is on my side!"
As if to prove his point, a deafening burst of gunfire erupted instantly in the area behind their cover.
Moreover, it sounds like the opposing team's teammates do indeed have an absolute advantage.
Just as Que Ling's opponents were about to press their advantage, his teammates suddenly stopped firing.
What happened?
He instinctively turned his head to look, and was horrified to find that crimson smoke was rising behind his teammates.
etc?
Behind?!
But their rear positions were completely exposed, and there was no sign of Yuan Jianxing at all!
Where is this person hiding? And when did they arrive?!
Suddenly realizing that he had been distracted at such a crucial moment, Que Ling immediately focused his mind on fighting Que Ling.
However, it was too late.
A dagger was already pressed against his throat.
Even though she knew it was an unsharpened tool, Que Ling still broke out in a cold sweat when she felt the chill on her neck.
"The gunshot was a bit loud, I didn't hear it." The voice of the woman named Que Ling sounded very gentle and focused, as if she were genuinely asking a serious question. "You just said... who has the advantage?"
Clearly, this question doesn't need any reply, and Que Ling isn't the kind of villain who dies from talking too much.
Even before the questioning began, he lowered the dagger and deftly pierced the sealed bag in his opponent's chest.
In the smoke that symbolized elimination, Que Ling's gleaming turquoise eyes shone as brightly as kingfisher feathers.
"Indeed, accurate and fast." With a slight smile, Que Ling sheathed his sword.
Choked by the billowing smoke, Que Ling involuntarily looked up at the sky.
Then he watched as Hara Misaki, wearing a pure black turtleneck tactical bulletproof inner layer, emerged from the scattered branches hidden on the third floor.
What got riddled with bullets by his own teammates was just the jacket that he had taken off beforehand and draped over there.
Seemingly sensing something, Que Ling's team immediately raised one hand and shouted at the referee, "I'm reporting Que Ling's team for cheating!"
Faced with such a despicable act of exposure, Que Ling scoffed and anticipated the other party's prediction, "Heh, I already scouted it this morning, the third floor is within the competition area."
"How is that possible!" Que Ling's opponent stood up. "The stairs to the third floor are over there! You definitely sneaked out of bounds!"
Yuan Jianxing upstairs was about to explain when Que Ling responded first.
"This height? Take the stairs?" Que Ling tossed her hair dismissively. "Wow, who do you think you are?"
Before he finished speaking, he untied his weight and climbed up in a few quick movements.
Its climbing landing route was almost identical to the one previously chosen by Yuan Jianxing.
The only difference is the last part.
Because Yuan Jianxing was more than half a head taller than Que Ling, his hands and feet were naturally much longer as well.
Therefore, places he can reach, Que Ling may not be able to reach.
At least the last point of contact on his ascent route was not good.
Yuan Jianxing had already anticipated this, but Que Ling seemed to only discover the problem after climbing to the corresponding position.
Now we're in a dilemma, caught between a rock and a hard place.
However, Que Ling did not back down despite the difficulties. Instead, she went against the grain and chose a more aggressive route, reaching out her hand to Yuan Jianxing at the last moment.
It's obvious they want Yuan Jianxing to lend a hand.
Recalling the tearful plea from the propaganda department of the adjudication bureau, Yuan Jianxing had no choice but to lend them a hand.
Once Que Ling's center of gravity crossed the center line, Yuan Jianxing immediately let go, not touching her for even a second longer.
Que Ling didn't seem to care about Yuan Jianxing's indifference. Before she could even get her footing, she turned around and started showing off to her opponents below.
His arrogant demeanor was so overbearing that for a moment people might even mistake him for the villain who stole the "key" in the story.
The staff on site naturally wouldn't miss such a dramatic scene, and immediately began creating behind-the-scenes clips that would be easy to share on vertical short videos.
Although the main character of the video is Que Ling, Yuan Jianxing, who is standing behind him in the same frame, was naturally included in the edit.
In the video, Yuan Jianxing rarely showed a genuine smile.
He wasn't laughing because of this small victory or because of Que Ling's support and protection, but simply because he felt that if Fu Ze were in a similar situation, he would likely do the same thing as Que Ling.
-
After a day of activities, Yuan Jianxing believed that he had made his attitude very clear.
Someone like Que Ling, who can thrive in the entertainment industry, surely wouldn't be unaware of her own aloof attitude.
If you bother them any further, it would be impolite of them.
In addition, as Mu Wangzhuo said, his thinking did indeed become much more active after all the activities.
So Hara Kensei thought he should take this opportunity to go back to the office and look at the documents again, hoping to make some new discoveries.
So when Que Ling finished wrapping up the show, he couldn't find Yuan Jianxing anymore.
Whether for work or personal reasons, one should always say goodbye before leaving.
With her charming face, Que Ling quickly found out Yuan Jianxing's whereabouts and overheard a conversation about Yuan Jianxing on her way there.
“No, Director Xu said that we can’t give the chief any work assignments recently.” An executive with a ponytail looked troubled.
"Are you stupid? Is Director Xu our direct supervisor, or is the Chief our supervisor?" Another executive poked the other's forehead with one hand, his face full of disappointment. "Even if they really blame us, we can just insist that the Chief insisted we deliver it. Can they punish us?"
The ponytail executive thought about it and realized... that did make sense.
"Hurry up, finish dropping off the workers, or we'll be stuck in traffic." The executive weighed the document in his hand and urged, "These celebrities' fans are crazy."
These words seemed to resonate with the executive with the ponytail, so she followed closely behind without hesitation.
As the target of the criticism, Que Ling made no attempt to avoid it, and even stepped directly in front of the two women, asking, "Ladies, are you going to deliver documents to Yuan Jianxing?"
In theory, the two executives could question why Sparrow Feather was there.
However, they knew that Que Ling had been invited to the Adjudication Bureau by the Publicity Department, and the two of them had just spoken ill of Que Ling a moment ago, so they were naturally in the wrong.
However, Que Ling came for this very reason.
"I'll deliver it. I also need to go see Yuan Jianxing anyway." He spread his hands out in front of him. "You two can also get ready to leave work now."
The executives with their hair up and ponytails exchanged a glance.
First of all, these documents are not confidential, so it doesn't matter who delivers them to.
Secondly, the prospect of leaving get off work as soon as possible is indeed very appealing.
After handing the documents to Que Ling, the ponytail-wearing executive belatedly remembered something important: "Do you know where the CEO's office is?"
“Of course.” Despite holding documents that were almost at eye level, Que Ling nodded with elegance.
-
When Que Ling arrived at the door of Yuan Jianxing's office with the documents, this was the scene she saw:
Yuan Jianxing leaned back in the large office chair, her head slightly turned to one side, her breathing shallow and regular.
The setting sun cast its light on his lowered eyelashes and slightly disheveled hair, casting a shadowy silhouette in the reflection of the glass.
However, these warm yellow halos did not add any warmth to Yuan Jianxing; instead, they made him appear even more lonely and even gave him an inappropriate sense of fragility.
Hearing the faint footsteps of Que Ling as she entered, Yuan Jianxing frowned slightly, then seemed to relax and unconsciously pulled the thin blanket covering his shoulders up a little to cover his mouth and nose.
It seems that this way, all external disturbances can be isolated.
It seemed that this way, he could continue to immerse himself in a dream so gentle that one would not want to wake up.
As the thin blanket slid, several papers that Harami Hoshi had placed on her lap slipped off and were blown away by the wind entering through the open door, scattering haphazardly in various corners of the office like a flock of startled pigeons.
One of them, quite by chance, drifted to the side of Que Ling, who had just placed the document on his desk, and he saw it clearly.
That was a personal file retrieved from the system.
The name "Богдан" printed in the file's name field had been heavily crossed out and replaced with two characters written in Hara Mihoshi's handwriting.
Fu Ze.
Upon seeing this name, Que Ling, who was about to tidy up the other person's documents, immediately stopped and remained motionless for a long time.
The silence in the room was finally broken by a teardrop.
Without warning, it burst forth and landed directly on the file in Que Ling's hand.
It exploded.
It is absorbed by the paper.
A dampness slowly seeped into the edges of the two handwritten characters, silently spreading out a small patch of ink.
Just as the sun sank below the horizon, the city's neon lights, illuminating the scene from near and far, reflected on Que Lingmi's hazy eyes, creating dazzling spots of light.
Perhaps moved by the scene, Que Ling couldn't help but hum a tune.
"The dark sky hung low..."
That voice, which captivated countless fans and was considered by numerous experts to be a gift from God, trembled at this moment due to the tears.
"Followed by bright stars..."
He spoke very softly, as if careful not to disturb the other person sleeping soundly in the room.
"The insects fly, the insects fly..."
But he continued humming, as if deep down he earnestly hoped the other person could hear him.
Who are you missing?
It seemed like he hadn't seen his own name for a very, very long time.
No, it's not "this name of one's own," but "one's own name."
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Author's Note: Welcome Fu Ze back to the palace! [cheering emojis]
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