Chapter 97: Zhu Qingzhi's screensaver revealed; a sweet farewell at the airport late at night. ...
Zhu Qingzhi's eyes sparkled, all traces of their former dazedness gone, replaced by a mischievous smugness and a triumphant air, as if to say, "Didn't expect that, did you?"
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
The surging desire in Wen Qi's eyes receded quickly like a tide, replaced by a helpless indulgence and amusement. He propped himself up, his gaze fixed on her: "Did you do that on purpose?"
Zhu Qingzhi couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing. Her eyes crinkled as she retorted confidently, "I already said 'Don't move,' but you wouldn't listen!"
She leaned lazily against the soft sofa, looking disheveled yet relaxed. Wen Qi pinched her cheek lightly, though in annoyance.
“That’s called all's fair in war.” Zhu Qingzhi raised her chin smugly. “Who told you to go so far before?”
Wen Qi stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly chuckled softly, with a resigned helplessness in his voice. He rested his chin on the top of her head and placed his palm on her lower abdomen: "Is it too much? Actually, there's something even more excessive."
Zhu Qingzhi laughed in his arms, thinking Wen Qi was joking, and drew circles on the back of his hand with her finger: "Even more outrageous?"
She raised her head, determined to oppose him, "Talk is cheap and unconvincing."
What else can we do? Not only can't we do it today, we can't do it for the entire week. Thinking of this, Zhu Qingzhi flashed an even more smug smile.
Wen Qi looked at her, his gaze somewhat somber, and suddenly asked, "Aren't you feeling unwell?"
Only she knows who is suffering the most; it certainly isn't her.
A sense of triumphant joy swept through Zhu Qingzhi's heart, and she affectionately kissed him on the neck: "Are you feeling alright?"
She smiled, one foot already on the carpet, ready to gracefully exit, but just as she used the momentum to stand up, her other ankle was grabbed by his hand.
Zhu Qingzhi: "...?"
What does that mean? Is there something wrong with what she said? Did she mess things up again?
"Where do you think you're going?" He leaned down, his cool lips almost touching her earlobe, his deep voice carrying a hint of exasperated helplessness and an unmistakable threat, "You think you can just run away after lighting a fire?"
His breath was hot, brushing against her sensitive, trembling skin. "There's no such thing as a free lunch."
Zhu Qingzhi's smile vanished; it seemed she had really messed things up. She raised her head and, without batting an eye, immediately changed her tune: "I'm not feeling well, I need to sleep."
"Not feeling well?" Wen Qi looked at her, his gaze slowly moving up her neck until it met her eyes, which held a hint of compromise and helplessness.
Zhu Qingzhi's eyebrows drooped, and she began to act pitiful. But the next second, he exerted a little force in his arm and easily pulled her back into his arms, then picked her up in his arms.
Suddenly her vision rose, her center of gravity shifted, and Zhu Qingzhi instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, falling into his deep, night-like eyes.
"You tricked me!" she exclaimed angrily, kicking her legs out but stopping herself as a surge of heat rose from her lower abdomen. She glared at him, condemning his ingratitude with her eyes and hoping he would suddenly realize his mistake.
"All's fair in war." Ke Wenqi simply smiled and returned her words verbatim.
She stubbornly retorted, "I'm the kind of person who holds grudges."
"Write it down."
Wen Qi carried her towards the bedroom, his voice hoarse with a hint of complete abandonment of restraint. He almost bit her earlobe as he said the second half of the sentence, "What is done is indeed better than what is said."
The night seemed longer than usual. Zhu Qingzhi was exhausted. They say only those who suffer the most know how bad it is, and she was truly suffering, tormented both physically and mentally.
Fortunately, the next few days were peaceful, and Wen Qi's vacation was over in the blink of an eye. He had booked a flight back to Beijing early Monday morning.
After a week of silence, netizens have not found any overlap in Wen Qi and Zhu Qingzhi's schedules, nor have they found any connection between Wen Qi and Chao Xing.
However, many people saw the previous photo of them together at Katrina's event, and because the two were extremely well-matched in terms of looks and temperament, a super topic for "Wenzhi" as a couple was created.
Later, an insider, Lu Yao, revealed at a business event: "My sister's marriage with President Wen is still in the adjustment phase, and I hope everyone will not pay too much attention to it."
Lu Yao's personality is notoriously complicated and difficult to deal with in Beijing's social circles. In terms of being reserved, he is not as reserved as Gu Huaichuan, who is a silent gourd. In terms of being arrogant, he is not as arrogant as Ji Ran, who is a peacock.
He shares some similarities with Wen Qi in personality, but is even more unpredictable, and few can truly understand him. Therefore, since he took over the Lu Group, almost all the photos taken of him have been of him with a sullen expression.
This time, he was able to respond calmly and left room for maneuver in his words. No one thought he was being sincere; instead, they thought he was subtly trying to put pressure on the Wen family.
As a result, Wen Qi's movements have attracted even more attention, but most of the focus has been on the Wen Group in Beijing, with little attention paid to him in the southern part of the city.
That day, after finishing her night performance, Zhu Qingzhi insisted on taking him to the airport. The airport in Nancheng was small, and it was a red-eye flight, so there weren't many people.
As Wen Qi was about to go through security, he received a call from Xiao Ao to discuss adding or removing items from the weekly meeting agenda. Zhu Qingzhi, wearing a baseball cap, stood quietly beside him listening to his call.
Her fingers hooked onto the amulet hanging from Wen Qi's briefcase. The small red amulet was also specially made by her, and the uneven pattern on its surface was the Sanskrit of Wen Qi's name.
The announcements urging security checks came from all directions, and the ticking and jingling of reminders were constant. Zhu Qingzhi suddenly reached out and pressed down her baseball cap.
Wen Qi held her phone to her ear. Although she was checking the project details with Xiao Ao, her eyes were always on Zhu Qingzhi's hand. When she saw Zhu Qingzhi's sudden movement, she put her index finger under her eye.
It's a little damp.
"That's all for now, we can discuss the rest after we get off the plane." He hung up the phone and pulled Zhu Qingzhi close without even looking at her.
He sighed softly, patting her back lightly with his palm. "Why are you crying? I've been bothering you for a week. You should get some peace and quiet."
"Who cried?" Zhu Qingzhi's face was completely hidden by the brim of her hat, but her voice sounded muffled. "I just filmed a crying scene, and my voice is hoarse. It was raining and windy just now, so I caught a cold, which also makes my voice hoarse."
When she's being stubborn, she's more venomous than a woodpecker, her words like a rapid-fire barrage. Wen Qi knew this perfectly well, so he didn't reach out to lift her hat, but instead looked down slightly to examine her eyes.
The redness spread, even the tip of her nose was red, but her skin was fair and pink, and she looked aggrieved.
“I have a project in Nancheng, and I’ll come back in a few days. I’ll bring you some mung bean cakes from Yuefang. Your favorite dessert shop has also launched a new product, a blueberry mint chocolate cake. I’ll bring those to you as well.”
"I'm on a diet lately." Her tone was stiff as she reached out and lifted his face, rubbing her cheek against his chest.
She only raised one point in her argument, and Wen Qi knew she was a little reluctant. Even separating from a pet can be painful, let alone a person. But then he thought, why was he comparing himself to a pet?
Wen Qi was taken aback, then suddenly laughed at his own bizarre and unconventional idea.
The broadcast sounded again. Zhu Qingzhi sniffed, leaned back, and slightly raised her head to kiss his chin. It was a light, fleeting kiss, but Wen Qi caught it.
He forcefully pulled her back, as if determined to get a fair exchange, and pecked her on the lips.
Zhu Qingzhi was unwilling to give up, so she kissed him back. The two of them tugged and pulled at each other for several rounds, and finally couldn't help but laugh.
She looked at the bite mark on Wen Qi's lip, her heart still pounding, but she didn't hold back: "So childish."
Wen Qi straightened her tilted hat and said in a serious tone, "Please bear with me."
Zhu Qingzhi ignored him and pushed him toward the security checkpoint: "Let's go, let's go. If we don't leave, I really won't sleep!"
After seeing Wen Qi off, Zhu Qingzhi returned to the van and sped back to the hotel. Just as she got out of the car, she heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes next to her.
Zhu Qingzhi paused, then saw a kitten dart out of the bushes. The kitten brushed past Zhu Qingzhi's ankle and disappeared in an instant.
Scattered stars dotted the sky, and the leaves were blurred under the streetlights. The bushes were even more indistinct. She waited a while longer to make sure there was no more movement from the bushes before entering the hotel.
After Zhu Qingzhi left, the two people hiding behind the bushes finally let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"My God, why are you being so cautious? Why don't you go make a spy movie?" the paparazzi grumbled, then moved his straw hat up a bit and flipped through the videos on the camera.
He zoomed in on Zhu Qingzhi's phone screen saver on the screen, and could vaguely make out that it was a photo of a man and a woman together. He became even more excited, "The scene that Brother Song and the others just filmed at the airport, plus what we have here, could make the trailer last for three days!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself with your dreams. You need to figure things out before you post it." The paparazzi glanced over, quite satisfied with his masterpiece, and then reached out and turned off the camera.
"Such a big star, who has never been caught having a scandal in all these years of his career, must have someone protecting him behind the scenes. In our line of work, we need to make money, but we can't lose our jobs, you understand?"
The paparazzi reluctantly nodded and immediately packed up and left.
That night, they didn't sleep a wink, waiting for news from their informant. It wasn't until seven in the morning that they received a message:
I asked around, and apart from "Golden Entertainment News" not replying, everyone else said they hadn't heard of it. But just to be safe, wait a bit, I'll try to find out more.
"Golden Entertainment Tabloid" has never broken any major news, usually reporting on the gossip of minor celebrities. But he does take risks and has hit the jackpot with several actors who rose to fame with a single role. Thanks to hush money, he has earned a place in the gossip news world.
The paparazzi hesitated and didn't reply, while Brother Song pretended to be melancholy, keeping a cigarette dangling from his lips.
The paparazzi slapped his forehead and said urgently, "I know! Boss, don't wait any longer. The Golden Entertainment tabloid got into a lawsuit a few months ago, and their boss is busy."
The paparazzi was startled by his loud talk and immediately gave him a sharp rap on the head: "How did you know?"
“A friend of mine works for Golden Entertainment, but he was on leave and couldn’t go on the day of the shoot.”
The paparazzi grimaced in pain, pressing his forehead, but his mouth kept moving. "It's actually about Xiao Tang's affair, but the Zhao family paid enough hush money to keep it quiet, so it wasn't exposed. Later, I don't know how it got out. I reckon they were sued because of this."
The paparazzi was still hesitating, while Brother Song continued to smoke with a bitter and resentful expression.
The paparazzi, seeing an opportunity, pressed his advantage: "Boss, you need to understand that there are a lot of paparazzi in the South City. If we can get this today, others can too. Gossip is all about being first and exclusive. If we drag this out any longer, someone else will beat us to it, and all our work will have been for nothing!"
The paparazzi remained silent, staring at his phone in worry, while Brother Song suddenly stubbed out his cigarette, threw it on the floor, and crushed the cigarette butt with the tip of his shoe: "Damn it, since we didn't get a clear picture of his face, let's make some hush money first!"
"Alright!" The young paparazzi was a man of action. He immediately took out his computer, dragged the prepared text and video to the publishing interface, and pressed the publish button.
"If we're going to do something, let's do something big!" The paparazzi suddenly snatched the laptop and uploaded the airport video as well.
Breaking News! Zhu Qingzhi's phone screen saver has been leaked!!!
[Breaking News! Kiyoshi's sweet farewell at the airport late at night! The young couple were reluctant to part!]
-----------------------
Author's note: Kiyoshi [I'm speechless]: I'm truly impressed.
Wen Qi [shrugs]: Okay.
Lu Yao [angry]: I don't accept your evaluation.
Ah Mei [doge emoji]: Don't panic, everyone upstairs. I'll finish this in 100 chapters.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
