Harbor
Zhong Yunxi has never been involved in Runhe's management, but recently he made a statement regarding the selection of a new drug research project and promotional video.
However, these were not strategic decisions, and the board of directors and shareholders did not pay much attention to them.
Because he said to put the promotional video aside for now, the corporate communications department had to consult him first if they wanted to move forward with the project.
A week has passed, and he still hasn't given a clear answer.
Over the weekend, he stayed in Xiangcheng. Early in the morning, he accompanied his grandmother to the flower market and brought back rice noodles and bubble tea, which Bai Yi loves, to the villa.
Bai Yi got up when she heard Bubble run into the bedroom and call to her bedside.
When she came downstairs, Zhong Yunxi was working in the living room.
Zhong Yunxi didn't like going to the study much because Bai Yi always preferred to stay in the living room, curled up on the sofa, listening to movies, playing games, reading books and papers, and writing experimental designs. He often worked at the long table near the terrace in the living room, where he could see her.
Around noon, Bai Yi went to the kitchen, brought out a fruit platter, and sat down opposite Zhong Yunxi. "Are you angry?"
Zhong Yunxi hummed in response, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at her.
Bai Yi pursed her lips, walked around the long table and sat on his lap: "Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, and you don't have time to go back to the capital. Are your grandparents upset with you?"
Zhong Yunxi laughed and said, "No."
Bai Yi was relieved: "Oh, then why have you been unhappy these past two days?"
Zhong Yunxi asked, "Is there?"
Bai Yi nodded: "Yes, there is."
Zhong Yunxi hooked her leg and pulled her closer to his chest: "There's something at work that's difficult to handle."
Bai Yi wrapped her arms around his neck: "You can flip a coin or draw lots."
Zhong Yunxi smiled. "So experienced?"
Bai Yi raised an eyebrow slightly: "We also use some mystical methods to enhance our experiments, but I'm lucky and they always succeed. How lucky are you?"
Zhong Yunxi laughed and said, "Not very good."
Bai Yi sighed, took out her phone and sent him a picture: "Change your profile picture to this."
He peeked over to look, "What profile picture?"
"Pomelo leaves are specially used to ward off bad luck," she suggested earnestly.
Zhong Yunxi couldn't stop laughing, and Bai Yi added, "Then I'll go shopping this afternoon and buy you a pomelo leaf pendant."
"Okay, I'll go with you." Bai Yi used this kind of mystical little trick to show her concern, and he didn't want to spoil her mood, so he agreed very seriously.
Bai Yi felt that she had probably cheered Zhong Yunxi up a bit, so she got up and went to curl up on the sofa to play games.
In the afternoon, Bai Yi went to the toy store to buy a pomelo leaf ornament for Zhong Yunxi. While drinking coffee, she fiddled with it for a while and hung it on his phone.
A fluffy keychain, bigger than his phone. Zhong Yunxi felt that this phone would be embarrassing to show to others from now on.
Bai Yi received a call from Pei Xin, who asked where she was and said she wanted to come find her.
Bai Yi asked Zhong Yunxi, "Pei Xin and Director Qi came to visit me."
When Zhong Yunxi heard about Pei Xin, he was actually quite interested in meeting her. He always wanted to meet with the contractor for Runhe's promotional video project alone.
“Okay. Some friends will be looking for you to chat with this weekend, so you won’t be bored.” Zhong Yunxi didn’t seem to have said no to Bai Yi.
Bai Yi smiled and nodded, then talked to Pei Xin on the phone, "Okay, I'm still drinking coffee. I went shopping this afternoon and bought a lot of plush toys. I'll give you one when you come over."
When Pei Xin arrived, she was stunned for a moment when she saw Zhong Yunxi before sitting down on the sofa opposite Qi Zhouxu.
Regarding the Runhe project, every time Qi Zhouxu's assistant communicated with Runhe's PR department this week, the answer was always, "President Zhong hasn't given his approval yet."
Pei Xin first met Bai Yi when Yu Shiyuan took her to Qi Zhouxu's place. Her inspiration came from the hot pot they had eaten in the courtyard that day, and the roses Yu Shiyuan had left in the car.
She first met Zhong Yunxi at this coffee shop. She sensed the intense conflict and tension between Zhong Yunxi and Bai Yi, and also knew that Zhong Yunxi was very bothered by Yu Shiyuan.
But there was no way around it. After working together with Director Qi and Runhe's PR department, her story had already begun before she even knew about Zhong Yunxi and Bai Yi's relationship.
Pei Xin didn't plan to speak first, unsure how to bring it up with this generous benefactor who had actually spent money and wasn't entirely happy about it. However, if Zhong Yunxi also gave her the cold shoulder, she would be in a very passive position. She glanced at Qi Zhouxu, who simply smiled helplessly.
Bai Yi asked Pei Xin to pick out a fluffy pendant, and Pei Xin laughed and said, "You didn't buy enough before the New Year."
"I came here today to buy pomelo leaves for Zhong Yunxi; mine is just a side deal."
Pei Xin asked, "Do you have any more pomelo leaves? Give me one, I've been having a lot of bad luck lately."
Bai Yi casually asked, "What's wrong with you all? It's bad luck right after the New Year."
Pei Xin said meaningfully, "Yes, the investor is untrustworthy and goes back on his word. The project is stuck. If we don't go to get rid of the bad luck, it might fall through."
Bai Yi said there weren't any left, "I only bought one; it won't work if I buy more."
Pei Xin looked at the silly charm on Zhong Yunxi's phone and smiled—a clear, unmistakable laugh. She asked Bai Yi, "Where did you buy it? I'll go buy one myself later."
Zhong Yunxi finally spoke, his tone cool: "Screenwriter Pei, you don't need to go to such lengths to get rid of bad luck. It's more useful to come to me than to buy a pendant?"
Bai Yi: ?
Pei Xin glanced at Bai Yi, sighed, and simply asked, "So, Mr. Zhong, what is your attitude towards the first draft of our promotional video that we provided to your company?"
"At least I haven't rejected it yet."
Pei Xin: ...
“Mr. Zhong, creation requires inspiration. You can’t keep going until you’re exhausted. You’re not a creator, so you don’t understand. You can work on your technique, but if you leave your emotions unresolved for too long, they will lose their fluidity.”
Bai Yi was completely confused and asked Zhong Yunxi, "What project?"
Zhong Yunxi looked at Bai Yi and said with a smile, "Runhe has a promotional video, and the PR department selected Director Qi and screenwriter Pei to handle it."
Bai Yi nodded: "Yes, I know that. We discussed it before. Is there a problem?"
Zhong Yunxi remained silent for a moment, then grasped her hand and asked in a deep voice, "Have you seen the plan?"
Bai Yi shook his head: "No, is it bad? I think Director Qi and Pei Xin should come up with a good solution."
Zhong Yunxi looked at the two people opposite him and smiled with a strange sarcasm: "Do you think this is appropriate?"
Qi Zhouxu spoke up: "President Zhong, art should not be confined to your personal preferences and emotions. Runhe doesn't need this plan. It can be sold just as well to other Chinese medicine companies."
Bai Yi asked Pei Xin, "Let me take a look."
Pei Xin took out a tablet computer from her bag and handed the script over.
Bai Yi took it and examined it carefully, while Zhong Yunxi turned his head to look at Bai Yi.
As she looked at it, she started to frown, and would nervously pick at her nails, then take a sip of her coffee.
It was just a short film of about ten minutes long, with a simple script and shooting locations. Bai Yi watched it in just twenty minutes.
She looked up at Pei Xin, unsure of what to say.
How could you write it like that?
"Xiao Yi, do you think it looks good?" Zhong Yunxi asked.
Bai Yi: ...
Pei Xin was also looking at her.
She felt awkward whether she nodded or shook her head.
Zhong Yunxi suddenly smiled again and looked at Pei Xin, "Why don't you change the male lead's profession to the finance industry?"
Bai Yi: ...
Pei Xin sneered, finding the client's ignorant and foolish guidance to be deliberately difficult and unreasonable.
Pei Xin, with an unyielding attitude, said: "Do you want to listen to what you're saying? If you don't understand, don't give me any advice. It's a promotional video that's over ten minutes long, in the form of a short film, similar to a music video narrative. It's about the theme and the sentiment, and it's about a niche style, being delicate and beautiful. It's not a business war film or an idol drama. We don't need the overused domineering CEO type, okay?"
Bai Yi: ...
Qi Zhouxu: ...
Zhong Yunxi was also taken aback, but quickly composed himself and sneered, "Do you want to hear what you're saying? Do I look like someone who would pay to be bullied?"
After a long speech, Pei Xin calmed down and shrugged, "OK, I think my emotions are based on creation and the project, while President Zhong's emotions are too personal."
Zhong Yunxi did not deny it. However, he had the means to do so.
In the end, Zhong Yunxi still gave the same answer: "Let's put it aside for now and think about it some more."
Pei Xin was speechless. Zhong Yunxi was the most disgusting client she had ever encountered in her career.
Caught between the two people's mutual dislike, Bai Yi found it hard to sit still and wanted to leave before finishing his coffee.
Zhong Yunxi didn't ask about it, and she didn't want to bring it up herself, but she could still sense the faint anger emanating from him.
Zhong Yunxi intentionally let her know the whole story. He didn't want to be like before, anxiously trying to guess her feelings and then making decisions without knowing the consequences. In the end, their hearts diverged, and suspicion grew between them.
He's presenting the problem to her now, wanting to see how she'll sway between the two sides of the scale.
Bai Yi went to the refrigerator, grabbed a tub of ice cream, and secretly took two big bites, trying to calm down, but it was difficult.
She went to the living room and saw Zhong Yunxi had thrown his coat on the sofa. She went over to his desk and grabbed the grapefruit leaf on his phone. "Is this the difficult job you mentioned?"
Zhong Yunxi hummed in agreement.
Bai Yi vaguely felt that Zhong Yunxi was starting to manipulate her again. When her emotions were in turmoil, before she could sort them out herself, he would grab a thread and tighten it almost violently, turning it into a knot that would eventually lead her to control all her thoughts.
She stopped talking, silently shoved his phone back into his hand, and returned to the sofa. Almost half an hour passed, and Zhong Yunxi neither came over to hug her nor spoke to her. An indescribable coldness flowed between them, making her feel heavy and suffocated.
Zhong Yunxi would never act like this. She glanced at him sideways; he always lost games and couldn't concentrate on his studies. She put down her phone, got up, went to the kitchen, ate several more bites of ice cream, and went straight upstairs.
She wanted to take a nap, but she drank coffee in the afternoon and can't sleep now, and she's not in the mood to do anything.
She tried to close the door, but it didn't close properly. Zhong Yunxi blocked it, and he squeezed in.
Bai Yi ignored him and turned to go inside. Before she could take a step out, he grabbed her from behind and pinned her against the wall.
Realizing what he was about to do, Bai Yi pushed him away.
Zhong Yunxi grabbed her hand and pulled her up, while his other hand slipped under her clothes to rub her waist and abdomen, his burning hot hand pressed against hers.
Her voice was cold as she questioned, "Trying to give me the silent treatment again?"
Bai Yi felt itchy all over from his pinching, and when she twisted her body, her buttocks rubbed against him, as if she was trying to please him, but he pressed her forward again.
She turned her head and glared at him: "You were the one who ignored me first."
Zhong Yunxi's fingers suddenly violated the rules, causing her to cry out in alarm, almost trembling with tears: "Zhong Yunxi."
"Then I'll talk to you now." Her words were caring, even weak, but they were actually just a cover for the actions and force that were unbearable for her.
At the doorway alone, Bai Yi was so bullied by him that she could barely stand. When he picked her up, she protested, "You're not allowed to go to bed when you're angry."
She knew how much trouble Zhong Yunxi could cause when he was angry.
She sat on the bed, looking up at him. He knelt on one knee on the edge of the bed, took off his watch, glanced at it, and tossed it to her casually. He bent down and touched her forehead: "It won't delay your dinner."
Bai Yi: ...
"I didn't write that script, why are you getting angry with me? You're not allowed to yell at me..."
Before he could get angry, she would get angry first. Zhong Yunxi was used to this tactic, so he simply kissed her directly.
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