Chapter 23 The Third Way
Jian Zhen stared intently at her phone, hesitated for a few seconds, then pulled the covers off and slipped off the bed.
Xu Weisheng glanced at the address she sent and said he would be there in fifteen minutes, which meant Jian Zhen only had fifteen minutes to pack. The situation was urgent!
She opened the wardrobe and pointed at each item one by one, taking out everything she thought was acceptable and laying it out for further selection. After finishing her selection, she turned around and, faced with a dazzling array of clothing options, couldn't help but tap her head in frustration.
The outdoor temperature was minus thirteen degrees Celsius. A trench coat was definitely not enough to keep her warm. A down jacket was very warm, but wearing it would make her look like a silkworm, which was not good. The Chanel-style suit was pretty, but wearing stockings in the middle of the night seemed a bit too formal. If someone misunderstood her because of this, she would have no way to prove her innocence.
Finally, Jian Zhen went out wearing a dark gray knitted long dress with a pure white wool coat over it. She didn't have time to comb her hair, so she just casually put it up, took a hairpin and put it in place. Then she picked up the silver-rimmed mirror she used for reading on the table, tiptoed downstairs, and after confirming that no one in the house had noticed her, she pressed the doorknob and slipped out.
When Xu Weisheng's headlights shone on her, Jian Zhen was standing on tiptoe, looking back at a leaf stuck to her heel. The headlights flashed alternately, and she shielded her eyes from the light as she looked back. She saw a black Mercedes with a Beijing license plate parked under the tree. Snowflakes were falling all over the world, but only in the tunnel of light illuminated by the headlights could one see their falling forms.
Afraid he would honk the horn, Jian Zhen quickly put down her heels and walked over, her footsteps light and crisp as she stepped on the fresh snow. She stood by the car and reached out to pull the passenger door—it wouldn't budge. She tilted her head and stared at Xu Weisheng through the car window, her eyes wide with shock, as if to say: What's going on?
Xu Weisheng laughed so hard his shoulders shook, and he personally reached out to open the car door for her: "Sorry, I forgot the car door was locked."
"Don't you have a brain? It's so cold outside, do you want me to freeze to death?" Jian Zhen slammed the car door shut as soon as she got in, and accused him.
"Wear more clothes!" Xu Weisheng had only thought that her clothes were more for looks than practicality when he saw her from afar. But now that he was closer and looked her up and down, he realized that it was a sin to make her stand in the snow for even a second longer.
"What business is it of yours what I wear?" Jian Zhen retorted, though her words didn't reflect her true feelings.
"Alright, alright, I don't care." Xu Weisheng smiled and turned up the car's interior temperature, teasingly saying, "I'm just worried that if you, my precious daughter, get too cold, some powerful figure might come looking for me to settle scores later."
The car had already started and was slowly driving away from that quiet street. Jian Zhen looked at the gatekeeper's post that was gradually shrinking in the rearview mirror and was speechless for a moment. After a while, she muttered softly, "Don't worry, I'm in good health and I don't catch a cold that easily."
Hearing her speak, Xu Weisheng breathed a sigh of relief and joked, "Don't worry, I have plenty of insurance, I can afford to pay any debts."
"Tch—" Jian Zhen rolled her eyes, then remembered the main point: "Where are we going?"
"You only think of asking now? Aren't you afraid I'll sell you off?" Xu Weisheng flashed his headlights and then smoothly overtook the taxi in front.
"Try me if I dare you." Miss Jian revealed her usual arrogance, leaned back, and interrogated, "By the way, I was just about to ask, today is the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, why aren't you at home celebrating the New Year, what are you doing in Beijing?"
"Spending the New Year at home?" Xu Weisheng chuckled. "With whom? My dad is in the intensive care unit, and I'm leaving behind a mother and son who are constantly making a fuss about dividing the property—no one in our family wants to come over except for lawyers and the media."
"Ah," Jian Zhen said insincerely, "I'm sorry."
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It just means my good days are coming soon.” Xu Weisheng’s lips curled slightly as he turned the steering wheel to the right and said, “I’m here to take advantage of the fact that our partners are on holiday to go on a business trip and wrap up this year’s work. Is that explanation satisfactory?”
Jian Zhen touched the tip of her nose, remaining calm and composed, and said, "Satisfied."
Xu Weisheng chuckled, finding it increasingly amusing: "Want to go for a drink?"
"You were driving and drinking?" Jian Zhen's family was lively, but she was extremely serious about such matters of principle.
"Of course not, I'm flying back first thing tomorrow morning. I'll return the car to my friend, and he'll naturally find someone to drive it away."
Jian Zhen was initially hesitant. Sneaking out of the house was one thing, but going out drinking in the middle of the night was another. If her parents found out, they would definitely scold her. But when she heard that the man's flight was at eight o'clock the next morning, what else could she say?
“Go! What would you like to drink?” Jian Zhen said decisively.
“You’ll see when you get there.” Xu Weisheng turned into a small alley with ease. Jian Zhen peeked out at the street sign. She had passed by this place many times before, but she never knew there was a bar here.
"North of Beidao Island, it only opens after 9 PM, from Wednesday to Sunday." Xu Weisheng parked the car and gestured for Jian Zhen to get out first.
"Why didn't you get off over there?" Jian Zhen complained.
Xu Weisheng pulled out the car keys, took two steps across the passenger side, jumped out of the car, and slammed the door shut, saying, "It's almost against the wall over there, I can't open the door."
The two walked into the courtyard house one after the other. Jian Zhen kept nagging, "Who told you to park here? It's so narrow, you've blocked everyone else's way. What are the other people going to do later?"
"Let them call me and move the car," Xu Weisheng said nonchalantly.
"Huh?" Jian Zhen pouted and said, "You didn't leave a phone number in your car, how would anyone know it's your car?"
“Everyone knows that I’m the only one who uses this parking space.” Jian Zhen was about to continue arguing when Xu Weisheng sensed something was wrong. He turned around first, raised his hand to cover her mouth, and said softly, “Alright, Miss Jian, the traffic messenger and the embodiment of justice, I’m leaving tomorrow, so let’s not worry about the parking space for now, okay?”
Jian Zhen subconsciously pursed her lips, her glasses sliding down a little with her movement. She pushed up the temple of her glasses with one hand and pushed Xu Weisheng's sleeve with the other, turning him into the bar: "Go in."
The two squeezed into the bar together. Jian Zhen first heard voices greeting Xu Weisheng from all directions before noticing the interior decoration.
The space was larger than she had imagined, but there were fewer seats than she had expected. There was a standing microphone in the innermost corner, but no one was using it that night. Only a few young couples occupied a table and quietly drank and chatted.
"The usual?" the bartender asked Xu Weisheng.
"Hmm." Xu Weisheng glanced around and didn't see Hao Jiaren. He owned the bar and was the best bartender in the shop. Since he wasn't there, Jian Zhen would have to suffer from the inconvenience of tasting someone else's cooking.
"Where's this beautiful lady?" the bartender thoughtfully reminded Jian Zhen, "The bar is nice and warm; you can take off your coat and hang it up if you feel hot!"
"Oh, where should I hang it?" Jian Zhen readily took off her coat and pointed at Xu Weisheng, saying, "Hang it on him?"
"Hahahaha!" The bartender was laughing so hard she was doubled over. Xu Weisheng gave a helpless smile, took the coat from Jian Zhen's hand, and helped her hang it in Hao Jiaren's private lounge.
"Actually, there are coat hangers here, why hang them inside?" When he returned, Jian Zhen was already nestled in the sofa chair with a wine glass in hand, enjoying herself with her eyes half-closed, and pointed to the coat hangers full of coats by the door and asked.
"It might leave you smelling of smoke."
"Oh? Okay." The reason was so convincing that Jian Zhen took a sip of her drink through the straw, stared blankly at a speck of dust dancing in the air, and grinned foolishly.
"What are you laughing at?" Xu Weisheng sat down, picked up the wine glass on the table, tilted his head back and took a big gulp. The wine was cold, but his body felt warm after drinking it.
"It's nothing." Jian Zhen continued to smile at him, truly a rare man with exceptionally meticulous attention to detail.
"Now tell me, what amazing news is it?" Xu Weisheng stretched out his legs. The table was not wide enough, so the two people below crossed their legs. He happened to touch Jian Zhen's soft skirt and subconsciously glanced down. He saw a section of her smooth, white calf under her long skirt, and a strange personality in his mind jumped out and "taunted" him.
He raised his eyes without making a sound, took another sip of his drink, and looked at Jian Zhen.
"Do you know 'Billiard Boy'?" Jian Zhen leaned forward and asked in a low, mysterious voice.
Xu Weisheng swallowed hard, but otherwise he managed to hide his nervousness quite well: "I know, it's so-and-so's famous work. I've heard you mention it many times."
"Hehe." Jian Zhen chuckled to himself while holding his wine glass for a while: "Back then, Ma Qiyue made an animated version of 'Billiard Boys,' but it was a terrible adaptation. The final broadcast was also very poor, which directly led to the complete halt of all subsequent derivative works."
One, two, three... Jian Zhen counted on her fingers, but couldn't count them all. Finally, she clenched her fist and laughed, "After all these years, there's finally some news about its adaptation rights."
Xu Weisheng stared at her intently. Although he had signed the contract himself, wasn't the news spreading a little too fast?
"How did you know?" he asked with a smile, trying to coax Jian Zhen into telling the truth.
Jian Zhen swirled her empty glass, her head bobbing back and forth in sync: "My aunt told me this, you can't tell anyone else!"
The hairpin at the back of her head had been knocked off at some point, and her long hair fell down, cascading over her chest and shoulders. Xu Weisheng stared at her intently. Strangely enough, he had seen many models and created many types of female characters, but he had never been sure of his favorite type.
But at this moment, his inescapable gaze and the heavy pounding of his heart clearly told him that the person before him was the one from his dream, and no one else could unlock this lock in a more precise way.
"What else did your aunt say to you? Did she mention where the noise came from?" Xu Weisheng gently snatched the empty cup from her hand, lowered his head to smell it, frowned, and thought to himself that she really didn't know her place.
“No.” Jian Zhen waved her hand: “Why would she tell me this! But, even a fool would know that Lin Sheng is coming back, and no one else will touch this piece of trash except him.”
Xu Weisheng was both amused and exasperated: "You said it's a bad pie, so why do you think it's necessarily good news?"
Jian Zhen glared at him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and let out a long sigh. “It’s good news for me, Xu Weisheng. I think I’ll leave Qili soon after ‘Mystery Valley’ is finished. My whole family is hoping that I can go home and find a job that’s less stressful and closer to home, but I don’t want to make that decision yet.”
"so?"
“He came back, and my third path appeared.”
I hate it when it's easy to look like a penguin in winter.
Using penguins is already a very kind metaphor.
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