Chapter 71 Reconciliation "You teach me how to respect myself?"...
Xu Shaoting looked down at his phone screen.
He forgot to take a step, his figure frozen in the middle of the spiral staircase.
The marketing account's accompanying pictures were sometimes clear and sometimes blurry, but he would never mistake that slender figure.
The paparazzi documented almost the entire process.
In the GIF, she gets out of the Porsche, and then a young man gets into the driver's seat.
She was smiling, and had even taken off her mask and hat, showing no restraint whatsoever.
In the next picture, she is walking side by side with a young man, who so naturally takes her arm and pulls her from the side of the traffic to the inside.
The camera angle was tricky, and the two people's posture in the night and under the lamplight showed an inappropriate intimacy.
[@GossipNewsV: Wen Jia personally drove to Zhong Rui's residence to pick him up for a dinner with a top director!]
According to Benwei's exclusive investigation, Wen Jia was recently spotted driving a luxury car alone directly into the residential complex where Zhong Rui lives. Moments later, Wen Jia got out of the driver's seat, and Zhong Rui naturally took over, getting into the driver's seat. The two drove away together, behaving naturally and intimately, and arrived at a restaurant where they dined with renowned director Yu Jianshan.
It's worth noting that Wen Jiagang had previously been reported to be traveling alone in Switzerland and in low spirits, fueling rumors within the industry that she had broken up with her non-celebrity boyfriend. At this sensitive time, it's inevitable that outsiders will interpret their relationship in ways beyond work.
Is it purely a matter of career entanglement, or has the boundary between life and work become blurred? Neither team has responded yet.
The comments section has exploded. Fans' confusion, bystanders' gossip, haters' mockery, and some insiders' revelations have created a picture that he never imagined would be related to her.
What an eye-catching entry! Xu Shaoting read it word for word.
But his face remained expressionless.
There was no roar, no outburst, not even the usual furrowing between his brows. He simply and calmly, even slowly, put away his phone.
However, the fingers gripping the phone were so tight that the knuckles turned bluish-white. Those usually calm eyes seemed to hold a surge of turbulent emotions.
Then, as if he had been pushed hard by something invisible, he suddenly took a step, no longer with the steady gait he had before.
Footsteps echoed in the empty living room, heavy and disordered, devoid of any rhythm, striking the polished marble floor and also striking the edge of his shattered sanity.
"Shao Ting?" Xu Bozheng sensed something was wrong and called out to him.
Xu Shaoting acted as if he hadn't heard anything and walked straight out the door.
The driver had been waiting at the estate, and seeing that he was not in a good mood, he got into the driver's seat of the Bentley Continental before him.
"Young master, let me drive..." the driver tried to dissuade him.
"get off."
Seeing that he was not focused on driving at all, the driver disobeyed his orders for the first time and held the steering wheel without moving.
I said I was getting off.
The driver didn't dare to disobey a second time, so he had to unbuckle his seatbelt and anxiously step aside.
A heavy, muffled 'bang'.
Xu Shaoting got into the driver's seat and closed the car door. The world was shut out.
His fingertips trembled slightly as he tried to start the car; the high-performance sedan engine started three times.
The engine stalled three times.
Finally, on the fourth time, the headlights suddenly turned on.
He didn't immediately step on the gas. Instead, he gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and after a violent rise and fall of his chest, all the emotions that were about to spill out were forcibly suppressed.
When he opened his eyes again, those eyes, which were always deep and restrained, now held only a kind of pure, obsessive calmness.
The next second, he floored the accelerator.
The tires screeched as the black Bentley lurched forward, shattering the tranquility of the night on Fushan Avenue.
This is not him.
In his daily life, Xu Shaoting is meticulous in everything he does, from handling a small item like a cufflink to dealing with multi-million dollar deals. His driving is equally steady and composed, just like how he handles all matters – precise, restrained, and effortless.
But at this moment, the speedometer needle is swinging wildly to the right, pointing to a conscious, rational, self-imposed exile-like loss of control.
The scenery outside the car window rushed past, blurring into a chaotic band of light.
But his hands on the steering wheel were frighteningly steady.
The bulging veins on the back of my hand, caused by exertion, never subsided.
He overtook one car after another with swift and decisive movements, displaying a ruthless disregard for consequences. All the noise was shut out from the enclosed carriage.
"I can't hold you back..."
"I can't just let this go."
The two voices clashed wildly in his mind, forcing him to slam on the gas pedal, and the car's speed surged again, almost reaching its limit. The wind noise outside the window became sharp, and the car felt slightly swaying at high speed.
Only one thought occupied his mind, a thought so clear it was terrifying:
Go see her. Now, immediately, right away.
He knew he shouldn't believe those unfounded rumors, but he was afraid of that one in ten thousand chance.
He was going to get to the bottom of it. New romance, contract, status, a better future, her own path, things that couldn't be delayed… all those things that had once stood between them were now being crushed to dust by this frenzied speed.
-
Wen Jia joined the crew a few days ago without any problems.
To help everyone get back into the swing of things as quickly as possible, Yu Jianshan scheduled this script reading session after everyone joined the production team.
When the relationship was exposed, the crew was in a hotel conference room, having just finished a day of reading together.
She walked out of the meeting room and saw Yu Kaiqing running over from the other side of the corridor, looking strange.
"What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?"
Yu Kaiqing waved her phone in front of her.
The entire page of trending topics featured two instances of the word "hot".
#Wen Jia's suspected relationship exposed#
#Wenjia Zhongrui#
The person trending on social media smiled nonchalantly: "Do you believe it?"
"Of course I don't believe it!"
"Then why are you in such a hurry?" Wen Jia said calmly. "I'm not in Xing Shuo anymore, so no one will say anything."
These words did not dispel Yu Kaiqing's deep worry.
As Wen Jia walked back to her room, she glanced at her expression and asked, "What, are you afraid of what Sister Zhang will say?"
Yu Kaiqing shook her head again, her lips pressed together until they turned white, as if she had something difficult to say.
"Just tell me what's wrong, don't just look at me like that."
"I'm afraid, I'm afraid... Chairman Xu will see this!!!"
The soft carpet was worn into a slight dent by the soles of her shoes, and Wen Jia came to a complete stop.
She blinked, her smile remaining calm: "Send a message to the PR team in the group chat, let's cool things down first."
He then went into the room alone and gently pressed his back against the wall.
She didn't know what she was avoiding.
Objectively speaking, for two people who have already broken up, their life and death are no longer related to each other, let alone a fake relationship.
She tried to convince herself with reason, but her hand involuntarily reached for her phone and opened a chat window.
The news was still from that day in Switzerland.
On the keyboard, a few words were typed and deleted, then typed again.
"The relationship is fake, don't believe it."
"My relationship with Zhong Rui is very simple; I just took him to meet Yu Jianshan."
...
The cursor is on this line.
She didn't delete it, but she also didn't have the courage to send it.
After calming down, I realized that my worries were unnecessary.
He doesn't use Weibo much, so it's questionable whether he can even see it, and even if he does, so what?
Two people who are no longer related.
She gave a self-deprecating laugh and stood up. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Yu Kaiqing's voice came through, "Let's go eat!"
During this period, her eating habits became particularly irregular, which worried Yu Kaiqing, who kept urging her to eat.
"Right away." Wen Jia changed her coat and walked towards the door.
"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, don't let your stomach get upset from hunger."
Wen Jia took out the room card, opened the door, and mumbled to Yu Kaiqing's urging, "I know, I'm not a little..."
The word "child" was stuck in his throat and he swallowed it back down.
The words came to an abrupt halt.
Under the warm yellow light of the corridor, she looked up and saw a figure standing next to Yu Kaiqing that she never expected to be there.
He stood there, still enveloped in a lingering chill. His hair, unlike usual, wasn't perfectly styled; a few strands fell across his deep-set eyes.
Wen Jia froze on the spot, her mind going completely blank.
How did he end up here?
No, she should ask whether he came for the relationship or for something else.
Yu Kaiqing was clearly taken aback by the scene, and stammered, "I...uh...Chairman Xu, he..."
She wanted to explain that she met him in the elevator, but she had no choice but to give him her room number.
But the atmosphere was frozen, and she couldn't utter a single word.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, she cleverly turned around, dusted herself off, and slipped away.
For a moment, there were only a man and a woman in the entire corridor.
His gaze was fixed on her face, his eyes as deep and dark as unyielding ink, churning with emotions that were both familiar and unfamiliar to her.
It was a calm that came after intense suppression. It was so oppressive it made it hard for her to breathe.
So black, so heavy, so hot.
He looked down on her like that. She couldn't understand him.
The next second, Xu Shaoting took a step.
She felt as if she were nailed to the spot, and could only watch helplessly as he approached her step by step, with an undeniable aura.
He attacked silently, and she began to retreat involuntarily.
The leather shoes and ankle boots clicked together with each step.
Until she was completely cornered in the room.
His expression was very strange. Wen Jia felt a pang of panic, looked up at him, swallowed, and then called out to him:
"Xu Shao—"
Before she could finish her name, she was suddenly lifted into the air. The man lifted her up in his arms. His movements were so effortless and swift that by the time she realized what was happening, the suite door was already hooked shut by the tip of his leather shoe.
Her back was pressed against the door.
With a loud bang, amidst this subtle yet powerful sound,
Xu Shaoting's kiss landed, sealing her lips without a word and silencing all the unspoken words.
Wen Jia was almost stunned on the spot, forgetting to even close her eyelids.
But she was so spineless that she actually missed this feeling, and in an instant, her eyes filled with tears.
He kissed her fiercely and forcefully, almost possessively.
His tongue swept across her, breaking through her teeth and probing deep inside, leaving no inch untouched.
"Ugh... Xu Shaoting! You...you put me down...!"
He ignored her, instead pressing her even harder between himself and the door, kissing her more fiercely.
"Ugh... I can't breathe...!"
The kiss was punitive, not romantic. After what seemed like an eternity, her lips were swollen, and he finally let her go, allowing her to touch the ground with her feet.
Their noses touched, and he gazed longingly at the face she had been thinking about day and night.
"Tell me, is the relationship real or fake?"
Wen Jia, still breathless, forced a haughty air: "We have already terminated the contract, Chairman Xu, please have some self-respect."
"Terminate the contract?" The man in the black leather shoes took a step forward. "Try mentioning termination again?"
“Look closely,” he said, almost playfully pecking her lips, “this is our second contract.”
"Hmm..."
"There will be no longer a deadline, this time."
A tear finally slid down Wen Jia's cheek.
He could see the liquid clearly, but instead of comforting her, he curled his lips into a smile and repeated what she had just said, "Self-respect? You teach me how to have self-respect?"
"If I see you have a new relationship and then ignore it, that's called self-respect, right?"
His voice was so hoarse and deep, suppressing countless emotions.
"Or are you saying that you broke up with me because you wanted me to have a better future, but you still let me go? Is that what you call self-respect?"
Wen Jia's body stiffened completely, her breathing became erratic, and a bittersweet warmth welled up from the bottom of her heart, spreading to her limbs and brain, forcing out more tears and making her unsteady on her feet.
"I...you..."
"You didn't want me to give up my identity, so you walked away without looking back. Is that self-respect?" Xu Shaoting nodded, his jawline taut from his clenched teeth. "Then you certainly know how to respect yourself. Wen Jia, you're too good at accommodating people."
"No, I..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xu Shaoting said, "What? You mean you can't be a burden to me, you can't be someone who holds me back, is that right?"
Wen Jia shook her head, then nodded, not daring to look at him at all.
But he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Have you ever considered that by leaving without telling me the truth, you're the one who's truly holding me back?"
He found out. He still found out.
All her pretense was stripped away in an instant, and her grievances had nowhere to hide. Tears streamed down his face.
Xu Shaoting kissed her wet eyelashes, then coldly and beastly commanded her, "Look at me carefully."
Wen Jia felt extremely wronged, shook her head, and refused to look at him.
"If you're so good at self-respect, then tell me, was deliberately avoiding me in Zurich also a form of self-respect?"
The shame of being exposed came unexpectedly, but even more so was the heartache and grievance. It was like spilling a glass of lukewarm water—not hot, but enough to fill one's heart and lungs with a damp, uncomfortable feeling.
"Xu Bozheng clearly came to see you, but you insisted on lying to me and saying you didn't. Is being so sensible a sign of self-respect?"
"no…"
"You didn't tell me the real reason when you broke up with me. Does that make me feel that you're selfish and lack self-respect?"
"No, Chairman Xu..." Tears were already streaming down her face.
Xu Shaoting narrowed his eyes, and the long, slender fingers gripping her chin gradually increased the pressure, but not enough to hurt her:
"Why are you calling me Chairman Xu? Chairman Xu is what outsiders call me. Are you treating me like an outsider?"
That's so unreasonable...
"What should you call me? Call me again."
“…Xu Shaoting”.
He nodded in satisfaction. "Answer me, is this all about self-respect?"
The intense questioning made her nervous and unsure how to answer, so she just kept crying.
But he had no intention of letting her go.
"Then let me ask you a different question. Tell me now, is the relationship real or fake?"
He had the answer in his heart, but it seemed he wouldn't be satisfied until he heard it from her own mouth.
In the darkness, a light answered for her.
Xu Shaoting caught a glimpse of it and took the light source out of her pocket.
She hadn't had time to turn off the screen; it was still showing her chat with him.
The dialog box clearly displays the following words:
"My relationship with Zhong Rui is very simple; I just took him to meet Yu Jianshan."
Xu Shaoting chuckled softly, and in front of her, slowly turned off the screen and tossed the phone back into her pocket.
"You still care about me," he said firmly.
Wen Jia let out a sob.
"If you care about me, how could you bear to leave me so decisively?"
"If you cared about me, why did you say things like 'I'll get married and have children sooner or later' the day we broke up? Are you willing to accept that? Are you really willing to watch me marry another woman, have children, and spend the rest of my life with her? Doesn't it hurt when you said those things?"
It was the first time Wen Jia realized that her eyes could hold so many tears. She could no longer suppress the bittersweet emotions in her heart and cried out like a child.
But she still didn't dare look at him, only burying her face in his chest, shaking her head as she spoke, "It hurts, my heart aches so much... How could I accept this? I'm so unwilling. But it's because I care about you so much, and want you to be happy, that I left you..."
"You're willing to bear everything yourself just to fulfill my wishes? Even if it means seeing me treat other women well?" Xu Shaoting suppressed his breath and continued to press, "And what makes you so sure I'll be happy with other women? You turned around and left so decisively, did you even think about what I would do without you?"
Every word he uttered was deadly, yet there was not a trace of harshness in his tone, only a heavy oppression and a pain that almost crushed her.
Helplessness and bitterness tormented her, tears hanging from her chin. "I...I don't want to see you being nice to other women...but I really can't bear to let you give up...give up the position you've sacrificed everything for since you were a child."
Xu Shaoting gave a dull chuckle.
The truth of everything that happened tonight came too suddenly, causing him to lose control and his mind. It was this sentence that truly pulled him back from the brink of collapse.
The emotions surging in his eyes finally subsided.
He grabbed her arms and made her wrap them around his waist, then hugged her tightly in return.
She tried to stubbornly pull her hand back, but she had missed this moment for so long that she lost all reason and pressed herself even more forcefully into his arms.
Sensing her response, he gently kissed the top of her head again and again.
How could he not miss it? How could he not savor that feeling?
“You want me to be okay,” he said, his voice hoarse as he cupped the back of her head, “but I really am not okay.”
"Mmm..." Wen Jia sobbed in his arms, "Me too, I'm not feeling well at all, because I miss you, I haven't had a full night's sleep."
Xu Shaoting held the woman in his arms tightly and let out a barely audible sigh, but it was not out of helplessness, but rather a sense of relief after surviving a disaster.
"Wen Jia, let's stop torturing each other, okay?"
She cried, her words broken and fragmented, "Um...we'll never torture each other again."
His voice was very nasal, which made his heart soften.
"And your father..."
"He has already agreed to our request."
She hummed in response, but wasn't completely at ease, and asked innocently, "Did you exchange it for something?"
“No,” he said slowly, “even if it were, I would change it no matter what.”
"You're not usually such an impulsive person."
"All my restraint is for the sake of impulsively being with you." Xu Shaoting's tone became extremely gentle.
Wen Jia couldn't bear any gentle words; a surge of grievance welled up within him, and tears soaked his shirt.
"Do you miss me?" he asked.
"I miss you so much, Xu Shaoting, I really, really miss you."
I miss you too.
He patiently comforted her until her crying subsided. He took the room key from her pocket to turn on the light, but she stopped him, saying, "No..."
"Let me see you."
"I cried, and it looked awful."
“It won’t look bad,” he said, turning on the lights and gently kissing her eyelids again. “Look at me.”
Wen Jia was very obedient and no longer stubborn. She looked up at him.
A face that appears in my dreams countless times.
She dared not look any longer, for fear that if she looked any longer, just like in a dream, he would disappear as soon as she reached out her hand.
So he carefully withdrew his outstretched hand.
He wouldn't let her back down, gently took her wrist, pressed her hand against his cheek, and lowered his head to kiss her.
Her tears slid into their intertwined lips and tongues, a salty and bitter taste, and she savored the hard-won sweetness amidst this less-than-ideal flavor.
After a few moments of kissing, before her tears had even dried, the doorbell rang unexpectedly.
It is Lin Zhongyuan.
Since joining the crew, everyone knew she wasn't feeling well. They took turns secretly looking after her.
Lin Zhongyuan was also the on-site producer, holding real power and being in charge of all filming. He took extra care of Wen Jia, the lead actress.
"Eat your food, Teacher Wen. You can't skip meals."
"Okay, I understand."
Her voice sounded very uncomfortable, with a slight sob and nasal tone, which Lin Zhongyuan noticed.
He had no idea what had happened inside, and asked worriedly, "Were you crying?"
Wen Jia didn't answer, but turned and bumped into the man's chest. "What should we do?"
Xu Shaoting's gaze shifted from the door panel back to her, carrying a strange hint of mockery.
He lowered his head and sealed her lips with his, deliberately preventing her from making a sound.
Outside the door, Lin Zhongyuan's voice continued relentlessly, "Don't cry, we're here for you. Come out and tell us what's wrong. I'm worried about you; I don't want a repeat of what happened on Christmas Day..."
Inside the door, Xu Shaoting keenly caught his words, "Christmas? What happened on Christmas Day?"
"No...it's nothing, I'll explain later." She pushed his chest and responded towards the outside, "I'm fine, Mr. Lin, I'm alright, don't worry—"
Before she could finish speaking, the man found her lips again and sealed them with his.
Wen Jia simply couldn't do anything about his untimely mischief.
"Why didn't you tell them I was inside? Did you tell them we broke up?"
Wen Jia lowered her head as if fleeing from an ostrich, her wet eyelashes drooping.
Go tell him that we've made up.
"We only made up for a few minutes."
While she hesitated, Xu Shaoting had already opened the door and walked out slowly.
Outside the door, Lin Zhongyuan didn't see Wen Jia, but instead sensed an extremely imposing figure.
“……………?”
His worried expression vanished, his pupils contracted sharply, and he could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Seeing his surprised expression, Xu Shaoting smiled politely and elegantly: "President Lin, it's been a long time."
What?!
Lin Zhongyuan had lived for over forty years, and this was the first time he had ever witnessed such a bizarre and extreme scene…
"Chairman Xu, what are you doing here?"
After saying those words, Lin Zhongyuan wanted to slap himself twice.
What a stupid question!
But Xu Shaoting seemed to be in a great mood and didn't hold it against him. He led the woman out of the room, turned her face to the side so that outsiders wouldn't see her tearful eyes and her swollen lips from being kissed.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.
"I came to keep my girlfriend company."
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