Chapter 23 "Have you missed me?"
Wen Jia sat up from the sofa, walked to the window and looked down. "Come to my house? Now?"
The man inside the Maybach held his phone to his ear, gave a casual "hmm," and then said, "I'll take you to sign the contract."
"Too fast..."
"It's been two days, haven't you made a decision yet?"
Wen Jia felt heavy-hearted, unsure how to answer. She seemed to have made up her mind long ago, the very night he spoke of it, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to say it now.
Perhaps they were afraid that if they spoke out, the two of them would only be able to maintain their relationship through a contract.
She found it absurd.
Xu Shaoting waited for a while without getting an answer, so he changed the subject, "What have you been doing these past few days?"
Since he left the villa that day, the two of them have not been in contact. It has only been a few dozen hours, but she inexplicably feels a strange and unsettling estrangement.
"I didn't do anything," she said listlessly.
Why didn't you contact me?
"Does Young Master Xu always wait for girls to take the initiative to contact him?"
Hearing the unfamiliar address she used, Xu Shaoting narrowed his eyes. "What did you call me?"
"Young Master Xu," she repeated solemnly.
Xu Shaoting lowered his eyes, smiled, and a light sneer reached her ears through the receiver, sounding very flippant.
"What's wrong? Are you angry?"
"What's there for me to be angry about? I could earn a hundred million by dating you for a year, I'd be overjoyed."
Xu Shaoting ignored her aggressive questioning and simply said, "I've arrived."
Wen Jia didn't speak, but reached out to pull back the half-transparent curtain, and saw the black Maybach slowly drive into her view.
"My mom is at my house now."
Xu Shaoting reacted calmly as she expected, but in a rather irreverent way, "Perfect timing, shall I go see your aunt?"
"..."
Wen Jia gasped, “…Never mind, wait for me a moment.”
She took off her sportswear, changed into a beige wool long coat, and without even putting on makeup, she hurriedly went downstairs with her bag, saying to the living room, "I'm going out for a bit."
He Lingyi turned around and looked at her hurried steps, "Where are you going?"
Wen Jia stammered, "Go see...the director!"
He Lingyi snorted coldly and turned to look at Yu Kaiqing beside her, "Going to see the director without even bringing an assistant, who are you trying to fool?"
Yu Kaiqing grinned, tiptoed, and glanced through the window at the Maybach. She cleverly changed the subject, deliberately diverting He Lingyi's attention.
"Is your aunt planning to never let her date for the rest of her life?"
He Lingyi clicked her tongue softly. “That’s not how it works. Of course I want her to be happy and have her own family,” she shook her head helplessly. “If she weren’t in this industry, I might be very supportive of her dating.”
Yu Kaiqing held back from saying the word 'contract,' and only said, "Her preference is the most important thing, isn't it? I think the two of them are a perfect match."
What about her?
Yu Kaiqing replied awkwardly, "Of course it's good."
A hundred million a year, isn't that great?
The conversation between the two did not reach Wen Jia's ears through the door. Outside the door, she walked to the car. Lin Youzhe, unusually, did not get out to open the door for her, because one of the back doors of the car had already been opened. A pair of slender and large hands reached out from inside the car, one hand grasping Wen Jia's delicate wrist, the other arm around her waist, supporting all her weight, and carrying her into the car.
In her panic, she fell into the arms of a man and knelt down on Xu Shaoting's lap.
Wen Jia dared not breathe or make a sound. She glanced at the row in front of her and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the partition screen had already been raised.
Xu Shaoting followed her gaze, saw through her thoughts, and chuckled softly, "So afraid of being seen?"
Wen Jia pressed her hands firmly against her chest, struggling, "Put me down."
"Just sit here." Xu Shaoting remained unmoved, not loosening his grip but instead holding her even tighter.
Wen Jia bent her knees and stared down at his collar. She was completely in his arms, his shoulders so broad that they could practically envelop her entirely.
He wore a dark, peak-lapel suit coat, the hem of which was casually draped over the chair. His shirt, tie, and vest were all so neatly arranged, conforming to his figure, as if no one could truly touch his body.
But it felt very awkward. She was held captive in his arms, their skin pressed tightly together through just a few layers of fabric.
The autumn scenery outside the car is delightful, while the spring scenery inside is enchanting.
She shifted uncomfortably, and Xu Shaoting, thinking she was trying to escape, gently gripped both of her wrists with a large hand, forcing her to look him in the eye.
What have you been doing at home these past few days?
"I contacted Yu Jianshan and then had an online meeting."
She answered in a very deliberate and methodical manner.
“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”
"Then what are you asking?" Wen Jia feigned ignorance.
"Did you miss me?"
"Is missing you part of the contract?"
Seeing that she couldn't escape his embrace, Wen Jia simply let go of his chest and climbed up to his neck to hug him.
The distance between them closed with her movement, nose to nose. She saw Xu Shaoting blink slightly, his emotions unreadable.
"If so, I want to calculate it by the second, one million per second."
Xu Shaoting moved closer to her, "Five million a second, did you miss me?"
Wen Jia avoided the main point and deliberately didn't give him the answer he wanted to hear. "Okay, then five million it is."
Xu Shaoting's gaze slowly moved downwards, fixing on her lips. "And what about a kiss?"
Before Wen Jia could even name a price, Xu Shaoting's hand, which was wrapped around her waist, suddenly moved upwards, grabbing the back of her head and forcing her closer to him.
This was a distance that required no effort to reach each other. Their lips touched again, but this time Xu Shaoting's advances were not fierce. He simply let their lips remain quietly pressed together.
Wen Jia felt a surge of anger rising within her. She bit Xu Shaoting's lower lip hard, then turned away and opened her eyes to look at him.
He felt her pressure, but his face showed no sign of pain. Instead, he smiled and asked, "Tell me, why are you angry?"
She wanted to ask him if he had been approaching her all along just to hand her a contract; if his seemingly casual approach was actually a calculated maneuver; and if he was creating a facade.
But she didn't ask; perhaps she didn't need the answer. She had already figured it out: at least she could still have a hundred million yuan. How many movies would she have to make to earn a hundred million yuan? How many such opportunities does one get in a lifetime?
Just seize this opportunity.
Something hardened within her, and she averted her eyes from looking at the man in front of her. Xu Shaoting could tell she was angry, and he could vaguely guess what she was angry about, but he wasn't entirely sure, and asking directly would be too abrupt.
For the first time, he experienced the feeling of being unable to see through others; it was a numb feeling. It was like looking at her through an impenetrable fog.
He gently lifted her chin with two fingers, turned her head, and rested his elbow on the center console. He didn't realize that he had touched one of the round buttons, nor did he notice that the partition screen descended with the button.
The partition screen completely disappeared, and Lin Youzhe subconsciously glanced at the rearview mirror, his brow suddenly twitching. From his perspective, he couldn't see Xu Shaoting's face, only Wen Jia sitting on his lap, his large palm stroking her back.
This was an absurd scene, one that had never happened on this car before. Before Wen Jia appeared, the partition screen on this car was rarely raised.
Lin Youzhe never knew that someone who always worked in his car would let someone straddle his lap like this.
He glanced at it and then dared not look again, silently pressing the linkage button to raise the partition screen again.
Wen Jia noticed a slight movement, turned her head away from the man's embrace, and her cheeks and ears instantly turned red. Under his gentle gaze, she scolded him playfully.
The drive took an hour and a half. For the first half, she was held tightly in Xu Shaoting's arms, and he made sure she had no time to think about anything else. It wasn't until the second half that Wen Jia managed to break free from his embrace. Looking out the car window, she realized that the road ahead was unfamiliar.
"Aren't we going to sign a contract?" Wen Jia asked, turning her head.
Xu Shaoting nodded. "We're going to sign the contract."
"Why haven't we arrived at the company yet after driving for so long?"
“Don’t sign at the company,” he said, looking at her with a half-smile. “Sign at my house.”
Wen Jia looked out the window again. It was an uphill road, very wide, and apart from the Maybach, there were no other vehicles on the road. Although the vegetation on both sides of the road showed some signs of withering in late autumn, it was still more lush than the streets of the city. The sky here was clearer than in the city; it could truly be described as sky blue. The white clouds were very low, seemingly hanging down from people's heads.
After another ten minutes of driving, they arrived halfway up the mountain, where a light-colored villa came into view.
After passing the welcoming pavilion, the car braked lightly. Only after getting out of the car did she realize that describing the house as a 'villa' seemed a bit cramped, because Xu Shaoting's residence was more like a manor in terms of layout.
The car stopped in front of a vast artificial lawn, which was neatly trimmed, lush and green, and bathed in strong sunlight.
The roofs and walls are a light white, not the kind of glaring white. Several houses are naturally connected to the courtyard by a corridor, and a rectangular light blue swimming pool is embedded in the lawn in front.
This is a manor that stretches as far as the eye can see.
Wen Jia turned around and looked around, but before she could take in the overall layout, Xu Shaoting grabbed one of her wrists.
"Let's go sign the contract first, and then I'll show you around." He took her hand and led her into the main hall, then around to the spiral staircase and up to the second floor.
The floor was neatly laid out with several rooms. Xu Shaoting opened one of the tightly closed doors.
It was his study.
The room, designed with high ceilings, is very spacious. In the middle right corner, there is a solid wood desk with two documents neatly arranged on it. One of the documents has already been signed with the name 'Xu Shaoting', which means it was prepared in advance.
He led her by the hand to the table. "Take a look at the contract. If there are no problems, sign it."
"You're talking to me like you're doing business."
Xu Shaoting's gaze shifted from the contract to her. "If you want, it can be more than just business."
Upon hearing this, she gently shook her head under his gaze, unsure whether she didn't want to or didn't know how to answer.
Her gaze was light, as if it were floating in mid-air without any focus.
Xu Shaoting blinked slowly, averting his gaze. There was a knock on the study door. Lin Youzhe stood at the door and only stepped into the study after receiving the man's approval from inside.
He nodded to Wen Jia, “Ms. Wen, all the points to note in the contract have been noted in the contract. You can check it first. If there is nothing to add, just sign it. Because it involves significant assets, we will have it notarized after you sign it to make it legally effective.”
Wen Jia glanced at it twice, her mind filled with images of "Party A" and "Party B," and then calmly looked up and said, "Okay."
"If you don't want to, I won't force you. You can refuse to sign now."
Wen Jia smiled and said, "How can Chairman Xu be more indecisive than me? I'm willing. I'm very willing to get this 100 million so easily."
Xu Shaoting looked at her without saying anything more.
Wen Jia read through each clause word by word, then picked up her pen and signed her name in the signature area without hesitation, pressed her fingerprint, and put one of the contracts into her bag.
"Because of your special status, any news related to your relationship that occurs during the contract period will be handled according to your wishes; you can choose to make it public or not."
Wen Jia smiled and said, "Then I'll keep you hidden away."
He pursed his lips. "Either way is fine. The decision is yours."
Lin Youzhe stood aside and looked up to observe him. His tone was clearly businesslike, but his expression seemed to show a hint of hesitation.
The study remained silent for a while, the lights were off, only the autumn sunlight illuminated a corner of the room. Wen Jia was standing in this light, half of his body was in shadow, and he slowly stepped closer to her, sharing the same light with her.
“I take back what I just said,” he said calmly. “I want this relationship to be… presentable.”
I always felt that a man who always kept his word shouldn't utter such hopeful words. Wen Jia looked back at him calmly, but remained noncommittal.
He wasn't in a hurry for an answer; he simply took Wen Jia's hand and led her out of the study, saying, "Let me show you the room."
"A room?" Wen Jia asked in surprise. "Is it really necessary to go to this extent?"
Xu Shaoting gave her a meaningful look, "Just in case you need to meet my parents."
He pinned her against the wall and said casually, "Of course, if you want to go that far, I can do it."
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