"Thank you."
Zhu Jinzhao is tongue-tied and doesn't know how to thank Shi Jing for protecting her, so she can only express her feelings with the most ordinary and straightforward three words.
"Shi Jing, thank you so much. Thank you for not looking down on me and for being willing to be my friend. You are the person I am most grateful to in this world besides Jiang Jiang."
"Oh?" Shi Jing raised an eyebrow. "Is my status in your eyes that high?"
Zhu Jinzhao nodded: "Of course! You're my second friend, so your status is definitely high!"
friend……
For some reason, this form of address always made Shi Jing feel uncomfortable. He frowned slightly, and a trace of inexplicable irritation appeared in his eyes.
"Shi Jing, can I ask you for a favor?" Zhu Jinzhao suddenly turned to Shi Jing with expectant eyes, as if something had occurred to her.
Shi Jing hummed in agreement, signaling for her to speak.
Zhu Jinzhao: "When you're protecting me, could you also protect Jiang Jiang? She has a bit of a temper, and I'm always afraid she might accidentally offend someone. If it's convenient for you, could you help me protect her?"
“Sure.” Shi Jing agreed almost immediately without hesitation. “Xiao Jiang is also my friend, and I will definitely protect her. But for me, protecting her is different from protecting you.”
"How is it different?" Zhu Jinzhao asked, puzzled.
"..." Shi Jing frowned and thought for a moment, but couldn't think of the right words to explain this "difference".
"You don't need to worry about that, just remember what I said."
"Oh." Zhu Jinchao obediently ignored it.
The night was deep, and there was a noticeable chill in the air. Shi Jing was afraid that Zhu Jinzhao would catch a cold, so she didn't let her sit there for too long.
On the way back to the villa, Shi Jing thought of Zhu Jinzhao being scolded for being a coward. The program team cut off the live broadcast too quickly, and he didn't get to vent his anger at the time. Now, thinking about it again, that feeling of frustration got stuck in his throat.
"Zhu Jinzhao, you try being a coward again? Do you believe I'll pack my bags and jump off the top of this villa right now?"
Zhu Jinzhao nervously picked at her fingers: "I... I don't want to be a coward, but I just can't muster the courage."
Shi Jing: "If you can't beat them, beat them! If anyone dares to insult you for no reason again, you have to insult them back immediately! And that Su Ying, if she says anything nonsensical in the live stream again, you can just grab a stool and go find her and fight her one-on-one."
"...Huh?" Zhu Jinzhao was a little scared. "This...this is a bit too violent..."
“…Is it violent?” Shi Jing thought for a moment, then replied dismissively, “It does seem quite violent.”
Zhu Jinzhao: "..."
"Forget it." Since this path was blocked, Shi Jing decisively changed course. "You're too timid; it's absolutely unrealistic to expect you to fight. From now on, you'll just have to follow my orders. If I tell you to fight back, then fight back. Don't be timid and afraid of this or that. With me here, you don't have to be afraid of anything, understand?"
Zhu Jinzhao looked at him and smiled, "I understand."
As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the gate of the villa.
Zhu Mingyue had been waiting at the door, and only when she saw Zhu Jinzhao return with a big smile did her heart finally settle down.
"Zhaochao." She ran down the steps and stood in front of Zhu Jinchao, asking with a worried tone, "Are you alright?"
Zhu Jinzhao: "Shi Jing has comforted me, and I'm fine now."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Mingyue glanced up at Shi Jing. Shi Jing looked down at her, his eyes slightly cold.
She pretended not to see it, raised her hand to pat Zhu Jinzhao's shoulder, and smiled slightly, "That's good, go back and rest."
Zhu Jinzhao: "Mm."
All five guests were waiting in the living room on the first floor. When they saw Zhu Jinzhao return, Li Weiwan was the first to walk over from the door.
"Are you alright?" He tilted his head and looked at Zhu Jinzhao, asking with some concern.
Zhu Jinzhao smiled at him and said, "I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Brother Li."
Li Weiwan reached out her hand from behind her back and handed Zhu Jinzhao a bottle of chocolate milk: "I like to drink this when I'm in a bad mood. Do you want to try some?"
"Okay." Zhu Jinzhao took the chocolate milk, her palms warming up as she did so.
"Hot?" she exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise.
Li Weiwan smiled gently: "You've been exposed to the sea breeze for so long, of course you should drink something hot."
"Thank you, Brother Li!" Zhu Jinzhao held the milk in both hands, her expression of gratitude particularly sincere.
"...Tch." Shi Jing secretly rolled her eyes, feeling annoyed again.
"Jinzhao." Ning Shi took small, careful steps to squeeze next to Li Weiwan, and apologized to Zhu Jinzhao with a face full of remorse, "I'm sorry, it's my fault for not managing my fans well, which caused you so much harm. I'm really sorry."
Zhu Jinzhao smiled and shook her head: "It's okay, it's not your fault."
She didn't harbor much resentment towards Ning Shi. Although Ning Shi's fans were somewhat extreme, Ning Shi herself was a good person. At least, her apology was sincere.
“You can blame me today.” Ning Shi pouted, her eyes reddening. “I am their idol. They made a mistake, and I should take responsibility. I... I didn’t expect them to be so extreme. I just spoke to them in the fan group, and they will definitely not do it again.”
"Hmm." Zhu Jinzhao didn't want to dwell on the matter any longer, so she unilaterally ended the conversation.
"Ning Shi, I really don't blame you. You have so many fans, how could they all be rational? There's no need to apologize, I'm not angry with you."
"Thank you." Ning Shi wiped her eyes, quickly cleaning up the slight moisture at the corners. "Thank you, Jinzhao, you're so kind."
Zhu Jinchao just smiled and didn't respond to her.
"Today?" Su Ying had been watching from the side, and only after Ning Shi finished speaking did she tentatively step forward.
"I'm sorry, Jinzhao. I just reflected on myself and realized that I might have misused words when answering fans' questions, which caused the misunderstanding and made you get scolded. If you still have grievances, then scold me back. I won't mind."
When she said this, Su Ying's tone was low and soft, and she sounded quite sincere. However, she was wearing a face mask, and the light pink mask concealed her expression, so Zhu Jinzhao couldn't tell if she was genuinely apologetic or just being perfunctory.
"Tell her a piece of your mind." Shi Jing nudged Zhu Jinzhao's arm and whispered two words in her ear.
"!!!" Zhu Jinzhao grabbed the hem of his clothes, and it took him several seconds to speak.
"If I really scold you, you won't be happy."
“…Huh?” Su Ying was completely taken aback by Zhu Jinzhao’s sarcastic remarks and was instantly stunned.
"..." The people around him were also stunned, because they never thought that Zhu Jinzhao would have a day when he would talk back to people.
“Today…” Su Ying was a little embarrassed, and her small face under the light pink mask began to turn red.
"Hmph..." After she felt awkward and uncomfortable, Zhu Jinzhao squinted and chuckled strangely, "Just kidding, don't take it seriously. After all, you've established such a good persona, how could I bear to scold you?"
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