Chapter 53, a nested story
Chapter 52
The sheer white curtains inside the French windows were lifted by the wind, and the warm air mixed with a light woody fragrance wafted over. The flame under the diffuser suddenly swayed from side to side, and a warm halo reflected in Xia Zhiyu's eyes.
Did the cleaning lady forget to close the windows when she was cleaning?
Xia Zhiyu straightened up, slipped on her slippers, and felt a slight chill on her fingertips as she held the phone.
The central air conditioning overhead was blowing out cool air. This is how it is in the north of the city in summer. The heat and humidity make it easy to get sweaty, turn on the air conditioning, and catch a fever or cold.
The top floor is actually hotter than the lower floors. When buying a house, the real estate agent praised the view from the top floor again and again, but there was no need to praise it. Xia Zhiyu lived in a high-rise duplex for four years. People who have seen the view from the top floor will naturally want to stand higher and higher.
The summer night breeze was also quite hot. Xia Zhiyu stood by the window, her long, smooth hair on the side of her face was lifted by the wind and scratched her neck, causing an unknown tingling sensation.
Just like the soft breathing of the man beside my ear, it bothered me.
It seems a bit impolite not to say anything, but what should I say?
Xia Zhiyu hesitated for a while, perhaps because she had drunk some alcohol and her head was still foggy. When the wind blew on her, the alcohol seemed to be like over-fermented malt liquor, bubbling and steaming.
Her cheeks were burning and her eyes were slightly hot. Xia Zhiyu wondered if she had been too cool during her short nap and hadn't covered herself with a blanket, and that the air conditioning had made her throat dry and slightly hoarse.
Her consciousness was hazy, as if she were thinking in a thick fog. Jiang Zhiyan didn't take the initiative to start a conversation, as if he was waiting for her reply on the other end of the phone. In the end, Xia Zhiyu could only respond slowly, trying to muddle through.
A clear male voice rang in her ears. Whether it was because she was under the influence of alcohol or not, Xia Zhiyu felt that Jiang Zhiyan's tone on the phone sounded more familiar and relaxed than when they were in the banquet hall.
A slight tremor ran through her heart. As the candlelight flickered beside her, Xia Zhiyu used tweezers to remove the excess filament and watched the orange light stabilize.
"Songzhu said you want to take full responsibility for Yuuki's planning?"
Mentioning work helped Xia Zhiyu calm down a bit, and she forcefully suppressed the inexplicable romantic thoughts that had arisen because of the words "ex-boyfriend."
"Yes, Assistant Song showed me Yumu's project plan for this period. I happened to have some ideas that seemed to fit Yumu's product line well. I sent him my plan around 8 p.m. this afternoon."
Xia Zhiyu glanced at her watch absentmindedly. It was already ten o'clock. Could it be that Jiang Zhiyan hadn't left work yet?
No wonder Jiang's stock has skyrocketed. With such hard work, if Jiang Zhiyan doesn't make money, who will?
The sound of a mouse clicking came from the other end of the phone, then fell silent after a few clicks. The mouse wheel scrolled, and only Jiang Zhiyan's soft breathing could be heard.
"Snap," a familiar yet unfamiliar soft sound came from the other end of the phone as the metal frame hit the solid wood tabletop.
A surge of anger welled up in my heart.
As the alcohol took effect, Xia Zhiyu suddenly became a little irritable, her tone sounding both sarcastic and complaining.
"Mr. Jiang, are you on a business trip in the United States? It's already 10 o'clock in China."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Xia Zhiyu was the first to keenly realize the hint of resentment in her words.
The signal misled the passage of time; familiar sounds and familiar tones made four years seem like a blink of an eye.
In that instant, it seemed as if even the air itself had frozen.
Xia Zhiyu's eyes reflected the flickering candlelight, like the beat of a heartbeat. She pursed her lips tightly, forcing herself to remain calm, and spoke in a teasing tone, as if joking.
"I was just counting my billions of assets in my dream, and before I even got my hands on the money, you called me."
"This is disturbing my peaceful sleep."
She retorted calmly, not one to tolerate him now.
She doesn't need his company's money, and if she can't take on the project, she can always find another company to do it. She's not begging Jiang Zhiyan for anything right now, so she can say whatever she wants and do whatever she wants.
Xia Zhiyu found that her temper had grown along with her age. In the past, she would always keep things to herself and try to digest them on her own, but now she doesn't tolerate any anger at all. She prefers to speak her mind directly when she's unhappy, rather than make everyone else suffer.
The other end of the phone suddenly fell silent, except for the sound of breathing becoming heavier, as if some suppressed emotions were fermenting.
Xia Zhiyu rolled her eyes, slammed the window shut, and blamed Jiang Zhiyan for her headache caused by drinking and being exposed to the wind.
Yang Yu is always extremely thorough in his work, and the list of attendees for the banquet was naturally finalized well in advance. When Jiang Zhiyan decided at the last minute that he would attend the banquet in person, Yang Yu must have given him the list of attendees.
Since he knew she was going, why did Jiang Zhiyan still join in? Didn't he know that couples who broke up in a mess after five years of dating should never see each other again?
If I hadn't seen Jiang Zhiyan at the banquet, this successful, wealthy businesswoman would never have chosen to drown her sorrows in alcohol. If she didn't drink, she wouldn't feel sleepy; if she wasn't sleepy, she wouldn't be exposed to the wind; and if she wasn't exposed to the wind, she wouldn't have a headache.
It's all Jiang Zhiyan's fault.
"I'm sorry, I was so busy I forgot the time," Jiang Zhiyan explained apologetically. "I've been having intermittent fevers lately, and I'm always very sleepy after taking medicine. I can only handle a little more when I'm not so tired. I didn't mean to disturb your rest. It's my fault."
Xia Zhiyu was stunned for a moment. The usually eloquent person suddenly didn't know how to respond.
Working while sick is just like Jiang Zhiyan, and working overtime late into the night is also just like Jiang Zhiyan. Xia Zhiyu felt a little uncomfortable and picked up the tassels on the sofa cushions, feeling a mix of emotions.
But the way her tone became so soft, even a little ingratiating, was so unlike Jiang Zhiyan. Just after she finished complaining, she thought Jiang Zhiyan was about to slam down the phone on her the next second.
But upon closer reflection, it turns out that Jiang Zhiyan's conversations with her in Chuancheng after their breakup had already hinted at this trend. However, Xia Zhiyu kept her eyes and ears closed at the time, only willing to believe what she thought.
So that getting out of a predicament doesn't seem so difficult.
She plucked off a few strands of the tassel, and Xia Xiaojiang impatiently stepped on her leg and meowed. That tassel was one of Xia Xiaojiang's most beloved toys. The other sofa cushions had long been scratched and torn to shreds by it, leaving only this precious little thing. Normally, it wouldn't let Lele near this cushion.
"It's nothing," Xia Zhiyu glanced at Xia Xiaojiang, who was pacing anxiously, and had no choice but to let go of the tassel. She racked her brains for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out the rest of her sentence.
"It's hot outside and cold at home lately, so it's easy to catch a cold. I just took a nap on the sofa, and I still feel dizzy when I wake up."
To lighten the mood, she added, "You're all in your thirties now, it's time to start taking care of your health. Work is important, but health is the most important thing."
Jiang Zhiyan lightly skipped over the second half of her sentence, "That's true. These days, you have to sweat it out before turning on the air conditioner, because catching a heatstroke isn't pleasant."
After exchanging a few more random words, Xia Zhiyu slowly came to her senses. Who would chat with their ex-boyfriend and future client in the middle of the night? Isn't that just asking for trouble?
Before she could even voice the excuse she had just come up with to escape, Jiang Zhiyan asked gently and calmly:
"Is it okay to book tickets for Venice this Saturday?"
"Sure, you can arrange it. I'm free most of the time."
Xia Zhiyu has finished all the work for Youmu's project. Andy is the first anchor she promoted after switching to behind-the-scenes work. Xia Zhiyu wants to follow him as much as possible throughout the process so that she can become familiar with the procedures.
"Alright, but I might have to go to Paris first, as some of the custom-made items need to be tailored and altered."
Xia Zhiyu readily agreed.
"Since you're both free, we could meet up this Friday to go over our work plans and things like that, just in case something goes wrong. What do you think?"
Are there any jobs that cannot be communicated online?
However, since the Jiang family is the client, they naturally have to do whatever the client says. Xia Zhiyu suppressed her confusion and said, "We can cooperate with anything, such as auditions."
Xia Zhiyu emphasized the word "audience," deliberately stressing that she would only accept work-related appointments.
But Jiang Zhiyan on the other end seemed not to understand her meaning at all. He said in a light tone, "Then I'll pick you up on Friday noon. How about hot pot or Sichuan food? Or would you like Japanese or Italian food? I'll make a reservation in advance."
Having said all that, it would be impolite to refuse now. Xia Zhiyu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided not to offend Jiang Zhiyan.
We both work in the north of the city, and we'll inevitably cross paths in the future, so there's no need to ruin things over a meal.
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Author's note: President Jiang: Is it true that a man is in his prime at thirty?
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