30
Zhang Xinjie doesn't actually believe in the misunderstandings and plots in idol dramas; he thinks that as long as people have mouths, there's nothing that can't be explained.
But now, it seems he really can't clear his name even if he jumps into the Yellow River.
A man spent the night at a woman's house. The woman was exhausted from the night's activities and fell asleep. Early the next morning, the man took a shower and came out, where he was seen by the woman's father.
Question: In this situation, what would a father think?
What puzzled him even more was that Shen Zhongxing didn't ask him a single question about him spending the night at Shen Ning's house, and his explanation was just a nod and an "um".
He asked mostly work-related questions, such as team planning, his views on the future development of the e-sports industry, his opinions on some social hot topics, and even business management, international relations, analysis of the international economic situation, and futures trends.
The questions became increasingly broad, more professional, and touched on his blind spots, to the point that he couldn't answer many of them at all. He could only admit that he didn't know, and all he got in return was a curt "hmm".
Even after Shen Zhongxing left, Zhang Xinjie still didn't know why Shen Zhongxing had come today. It wasn't to look for his daughter or to catch him in the act of adultery; it seemed as if Shen Zhongxing had come for an interview.
Ah, what an absurd morning.
Shen Ning slept until she woke up naturally around nine o'clock. When she woke up and saw that no one was next to her, she got up and left the bedroom. She saw Zhang Xinjie sitting upright in the living room, looking at a book, which seemed to be "Introduction to International Relations" on the shelf.
The sunlight after the snow shone through the glass window and fell on Zhang Xinjie's side. The moment he looked up at her, she seemed like an angel bathed in holy light.
Seeing the handsome young man first thing in the morning filled me with immense satisfaction. I sat down next to him, reached out to touch his forehead, and asked with a smile, "Has your fever gone down?"
“I’ve cancelled it.” Zhang Xinjie didn’t dodge her hand and went straight to the point, “Your dad just arrived.”
"My dad?" Shen Ning suddenly realized, exclaimed "Oh dear!" and immediately went back to her room to check her phone.
She noticed two missed calls and several messages. She had silenced her phone last night and turned off her alarm for 7:30 a.m.
Zhang Xinjie put down his book and followed him into the bedroom, where he heard Shen Ning sitting on the bed sighing, "I forgot, we were supposed to go to an exhibition together today."
Is it too late?
"Forget it, it's too late, I won't go." Shen Ning leaned back and lay back on the bed, still a bit grumpy from waking up, feeling lazy. "Just stay home and rest today. Have you eaten?"
"I ordered breakfast, I've already eaten, yours is in the microwave." Seeing that Shen Ning was about to fall asleep again with her eyes closed, Zhang Xinjie, who was so carefree as to completely ignore the fact that he and her father had already met, finally asked after a moment's thought, "Aren't you going to ask me what I talked about with your dad?"
Shen Ning seemed genuinely unconcerned. With her eyes closed, she rolled over to make herself more comfortable, but asked another question: "How long have you been talking?"
"Half an hour."
Shen Ning then opened her eyes, a hint of surprise in her expression: "Oh? Then my dad is very satisfied with you."
"How did you figure that out...?"
“My dad never wastes a second on meaningless things. If you can talk to him for half an hour, even if he has other commitments to attend to, it means he has a good impression of you.”
Zhang Xinjie didn't know whether to be happy or to make fun of himself: "You mean the first impression I give when I'm wearing my pajamas and have just come out of the shower?"
"Oh, you took a shower? That's really unfortunate." Shen Ning laughed gleefully. "I can already imagine what my dad is thinking."
"Could you explain it again?"
"Okay, I'll explain later." Shen Ning propped her head up on one arm on the bed, looked at Zhang Xinjie standing in the doorway, and teased him, thinking about how she had helped him wipe his body yesterday. "You said I touched and saw you last night, what are you being coy about?"
As he suspected, Shen Ning had indeed helped him lower his fever with physical methods that night.
However, the wording is quite inappropriate.
"...Use a normal word instead."
"Oh, I carefully observed and gently touched your chest and abdominal muscles, and they felt wonderful."
Zhang Xinjie, a serious person, had never heard such lewd words before, and his ears burned: "...Stop messing around."
Shen Ning dismissed it: "What's wrong with that? We're a normal couple, not some kind of shady relationship."
"I'm not running a fever anymore, and I have more energy than you."
"Yes, I know."
Zhang Xinjie moved away from the door frame he had been leaning against and took two steps inside: "Aren't you afraid I might really do something to you?"
"What's there to be afraid of? It was consensual." Shen Ning pointed to the bedside table and said casually, "There are condoms inside, new and unused."
Shen Ning was beautiful. She was lying on the bed, exuding a seductive charm and speaking sweet nothings. This provoked Zhang Xinjie to walk to the bedside, kneel down on one knee beside Shen Ning, and lean over her, supporting himself on top of her.
Shen Ning beneath him showed no sign of panic, still smiling alluringly. Zhang Xinjie's Adam's apple bobbed, and he slipped a hand under the hem of Shen Ning's pajamas, placing it on her waist. His voice seemed to be restrained as he said, "Have you thought this through? I'm not a saint."
Shen Ning felt the warmth of the hand around her waist, looked straight at him, and said lightly, "Yes, I'm willing."
Zhang Xinjie took off his glasses with one hand and threw them on the bed, then leaned down and kissed them.
From lips to neck, the two rubbed against each other, their breaths ragged, but neither of them took off their clothes or touched any more sensitive areas.
The two seemed to be only superficially aroused. Eventually, Zhang Xinjie slowly stopped, turned over and sat back on the edge of the bed, and put his glasses back on.
The room was a bit warm. After both of them calmed their breathing, Zhang Xinjie spoke first after a long while: "You're certain that I won't continue."
“Yes…you won’t.” Shen Ning’s body was still a little weak from the intimacy just now, and her voice was also soft. “With your personality, unless it’s to the point of discussing marriage, you won’t take it any further.”
Zhang Xinjie was silent for a moment, then sighed softly: "Yes."
Zhang Xinjie knew that he and Shen Ning were the same kind of people.
In their view, dating and marriage are two completely different things.
Dating is about emotional, spiritual, and spiritual values, while marriage is a legal contract that requires the equal fulfillment of rights and obligations, consideration of many realities, and a weighing of the distribution of benefits.
Zhang Xinjie hadn't thought about it in that direction before, but after meeting Shen Zhongxing today, he felt he needed to think about it carefully.
He got up and pulled the curtains open, letting the gentle sunlight fill the bedroom. He subconsciously shielded his eyes with his hand and then sat up.
"I'm sorry, I teased you a little on purpose just now," Zhang Xinjie said.
Shen Ning smiled gently: "You're great in every way, except you're a bit too serious."
Zhang Xinjie remained noncommittal, went outside to heat up the breakfast and brought it out. After Chen Ning changed her clothes and washed up, she began to eat breakfast in the living room.
Zhang Xinjie noticed the notes next to the notebook on the living room table and asked, "Have you been looking at financial reports a lot lately?"
"Yes, I've been looking at the task Zhao Yixing assigned me for a while now."
Zhao Yixing... Zhang Xinjie recalled Shen Ning's previous evaluation of him: talented, capable, and promising young, he was unmatched.
He didn't reveal anything and continued calmly, "Besides key data like profits, liabilities, and business layout, are there any other detailed points?"
"Yes, for example, cash flow, non-recurring gains and losses, owners' equity, etc. There is a lot of data, and like a medical examination report, it may be necessary to make a comprehensive judgment based on many indicators, rather than judging the company's condition based on whether a certain indicator is abnormal or normal."
"You learned that in investment banking?"
“I also studied it in school, mainly in investment banking. Recently, Zhao Yixing has given me a lot of advice from a management perspective. He annotates every financial statement analysis I write.” Shen Ning took a sip of soy milk, watching Zhang Xinjie flip through her messy notes, seemingly very interested. “You want to learn?”
Zhang Xinjie looked up at her: "I am interested. Is it convenient for you?"
"That's convenient. It's not a secret; financial reports are public and anyone can see them. Besides, if we study it together, I might learn something from your approach. What are your plans for later?"
"I need to go home at noon, so I don't have any plans for the morning. Yesterday, my initial thought was to focus on getting back to health."
"I'll explain some of the less common concepts to you in a bit. I'll send you the companies I've looked at before and Zhao Yixing's annotations. You can take your time to look at them and ask me anytime if you don't understand anything."
Zhang Xinjie closed her notebook: "Thank you."
Shen Ning raised her eyes and stared at him for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.
The two spent the entire morning studying financial reports and figures.
She carefully compared her analysis of the company with Zhang Xinjie's, and shared the data analysis logic she had learned without reservation.
Zhang Xinjie already had a certain understanding of financial statements, and he was quick to learn new things by analogy. He quickly grasped the ideas and methods involved, and occasionally he could even exchange his thoughts with Shen Ning.
Zhang Xinjie managed to understand most of the dazzling text and numbers in just two hours, and couldn't help but exclaim, "You're really smart."
"I'm still far from it." Zhang Xinjie had a clear understanding of himself and showed no signs of complacency.
"If you don't mind, how about we do our homework together? I can send it to Zhao Yixing too."
The pen that Zhang Xinjie was twirling in his hand suddenly fell onto the table, and the air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Shen Ning paused for a moment, and seeing that Zhang Xinjie did not respond, she continued, "I just thought that since you are also interested in financial reports, we can look at them together and learn from each other's ideas. I will mark the differences between our views and put them together in one document, so as not to add too much burden to Zhao Yixing."
After a pause, Shen Ning added, "If you mind, that's fine too. You don't have to force yourself."
Zhang Xinjie picked up the pen again, clenched it, and said without any extra emotion, "I don't mind, but I feel it's a bit of a hassle for President Zhao. It would be better if he could take a look."
“Okay, it’s settled then.” Shen Ning had just finished analyzing a company yesterday and was about to start a new one. “How about Shengchong Group? Aren’t we going to cooperate with them?”
"Okay. How often do you analyze one?"
"It'll be more than half a month, and I still need to focus on work."
Zhang Xinjie nodded to indicate that he understood. His energy was limited, so the pace was not fast and was roughly in line with his current plan.
He glanced at his watch; it was past 11 o'clock, and it was time to leave. "It's getting late, so I'll head back now."
"Okay, drive carefully, and get some rest when you get back. Don't let your fever spike again tonight."
"Um."
Zhang Xinjie arrived with nothing but his computer. After quickly packing up, he said goodbye to Shen Ning.
Just as he reached for the doorknob to open it, a calm and somewhat urgent voice came from behind him: "Zhang Xinjie!"
"What's wrong?"
Shen Ning walked up to him, a strange emotion in her eyes, and asked, "Can I hug you?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Zhang Xinjie's eyes, but he did not hesitate. He put down his computer and reached out to hug Shen Ning.
He felt Shen Ning wrap her arms around him and whispered, "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
Since they started dating, they've always had an unspoken understanding; they'd hug and kiss at the right time without ever asking or inquiring like this.
Shen Ning stroked his back, resting her chin on his shoulder: "I'm afraid you'll overthink if I don't ask."
She heard Zhang Xinjie's soft laughter beside her: "I'm fine."
"Did my dad make things difficult for you?"
"No, I just asked a few technical questions."
She knew it would be like this, otherwise why would Zhang Xinjie look at the highest book on her shelf, the book on international relations, ask her so many questions about financial reports, and have such an unusual reaction to Zhao Yixing?
Seeing that Shen Ning didn't speak, Zhang Xinjie gently stroked her hair and slowly asked, "So you're comforting me?"
"No, I just said I was afraid you'd overthink it, so why would I overthink it?"
The two slowly separated, and Zhang Xinjie, looking at his deep and thoughtful expression, said, "It's really hard not to overthink things when you're like this."
Do you need comforting?
"unnecessary."
“That settles it.” Shen Ning placed her hands on Zhang Xinjie’s neck, her pupils reflecting only his image. “Hugging is just to let you know that I like you very much, and that you are very important to me.”
"Is he even more powerful than President Zhao?"
Are you jealous?
"No, it's just that I'm aware of the gap in my abilities."
“You two are different. You are the only person I have ever met who practices self-discipline as a form of self-cultivation. You are truly remarkable. As long as you want to, I believe you can succeed in anything.” At this point, Chen Ning changed the subject, “However, Zhang Xinjie, you are now a professional e-sports player.”
Shen Ning spoke those last words with great seriousness, and Zhang Xinjie naturally understood what she meant.
"Don't worry, I know what's most important right now, and I've never wavered. I won't do anything I'll regret."
Zhang Xinjie spoke with unwavering conviction, showing no hesitation. Only then did Chen Ning regain her smile: "My taste in men is indeed excellent."
"Yes, it's not bad."
Shen Ning gave him a gentle push: "You're not modest at all."
"You always say I'm a hypocrite," Zhang Xinjie said, picking up his laptop. "Do you think it's nice to be a little unserious once in a while?"
"Can't you just really be serious?"
"Okay, then I'll tell you the truth, but don't get angry."
"you say."
"You seem to have gained a little weight, but it's quite comfortable to hug you."
Shen Ning wished she could just throw him out: "Get out of here, don't get in my way."
Zhang Xinjie pushed up his glasses: "I was too thin and anemic before, but I'm fine now."
Shen Ning, exasperated, said, "Shut up..."
Seeing Chen Ning's flustered expression, Zhang Xinjie laughed with a hint of schadenfreude. He freed one hand to hug her again, but she dodged him in disgust.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Chen Ning yanked open the door and pushed the annoying guy out.
After decisively closing the door, Chen Ning rushed to the body fat scale, only to find that her weight had not increased at all!
She was furious and cursed inwardly, "What a hypocritical scoundrel!"
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