measure
The immature Zhou Ji'an, not yet eighteen, looked at Yu Xi with his chin slightly raised and full of confidence.
Yu Xi smiled dismissively, her scorching gaze fixed on Deng Yi. "Everyone makes mistakes in judgment."
After that, Yu Xi never came to Deng Yi's studio again, and Zhou Ji'an thought he would never see her again in his life.
But less than ten days later, they met again.
That day, Lu Jianni was shopping with Zhou Ji'an.
While Lu Jianni went into the fitting room to try on clothes, Zhou Ji'an waited outside. He was so shocked by the price of a white down jacket that he lost all interest in even trying it on.
Someone asked, "Aren't you going to buy it?"
"I'm just looking." Zhou Ji'an thought she was a shop assistant and replied with an awkward laugh, but when he turned his head, he saw Yu Xi.
Yu Xi was carrying two shopping bags, so she must have already bought what she wanted.
"Didn't you notice that all of Deng Yi's down jackets are from this brand?"
Upon hearing the word "brand," Zhou Ji'an consciously checked the label on the down jacket, but because he rarely paid attention to the brand of Deng Yi's clothes, he couldn't determine whether Yu Xi's words were correct.
Zhou Ji'an replied, "I didn't notice."
“So you two are not the same kind of people.” Yu Xi’s elbow twitched, and the bag hanging on her elbow made a clear sound as it rubbed against her elbow. “Don’t mistake his kindness and thoughtfulness for special treatment for you. He’s like that to everyone.”
Zhou Ji'an's lips moved, as if she wanted to say something for herself, to claim that she was special to Deng Yi.
But she lacked confidence, after all, she had only known Deng Yi for less than four months, while Yu Xi and Deng Yi had known each other for more than two years.
Yu Xi definitely knows Deng Yi better than she does.
"You're still young. Don't get carried away with just a little bit of success and start thinking about opening a business." Yu Xi, with a mature makeup on her face, gave this advice. "Be careful not to squander all that potential."
Zhou Ji'an wasn't sure if she had squandered that last bit of charm she had today, but she was certain that when she had threatened to break up with Deng Yi, hoping to hurt him and make him cling to her, that last bit of charm had vanished.
The post-production meeting for the film ended close to 5 p.m.
Deng Yi glanced at his phone and went into the editing room.
The editor is Luo Suizhou, a friend and collaborator of Deng Yi since he entered the industry.
Luo Suizhou leaned back in his swivel chair and teased, "You've already made it to the trending topics with your public displays of affection, how could you bear to come and supervise the construction today?"
Deng Yi pulled up a chair and sat down, staring at the main monitor screen. "Life is life, and work is work."
"Tch." Luo Suizhou spun his chair around and looked back at the screen. "Now you're not afraid your wife will run away, are you? You kept me waiting outside the dressing room for so long on our wedding day, and you still haven't repaid me for that favor."
"What do you want?" Deng Yi asked casually, still feeling a bit dazed as he recalled the simple wedding a few months ago, as if the person had actually run away from the wedding that day.
Luo Suizhou: "One-tenth of your wealth."
Deng Yi: "If you can accurately calculate how much one-tenth of my assets is, I will give it to you today."
"If you can't even calculate it yourself, how could I possibly calculate it?" Luo Suizhou said angrily, elbowing Deng Yi.
After a while, he said seriously, "Don't you plan to let your wife get to know us?"
Deng Yi touched the small pendant in his coat pocket, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably, and replied, "I have no such plans."
She still harbors resentment and wariness towards him, so how could she possibly be willing to associate with his friends?
"There are quite a few people who say she got pregnant out of wedlock and used the child to blackmail you into marriage." Luo Suizhou glanced at his friend's expression and casually let slip some other gossip, "Some people at the company also say that your marriage with your wife is fake."
Deng Yi frowned, but couldn't help recall how that person used to frown. He glanced at his phone again, but there was still no call or message from her.
"I don't plan to have children."
"Really? Then you can consider adopting me." Luo Suizhou said seriously, and stopped everything he was doing.
A short knock sounded, and the door to the editing room was pushed open.
Yu Xi carried some desserts and drinks into the editing room. "Would you like to rest for a while and have something to eat?"
"I couldn't ask for more." Luo Suizhou sprang up from his chair and ran toward Yu Xi, his hand already outstretched.
Deng Yi sat down in Luo Suizhou's seat.
“There are many other things outside,” Yu Xi said.
Luo Suizhou chewed on a cupcake covered in thick cream, savoring Yu Xi's intriguing gaze and words, and smiled, "Is that so? Then I have to go out."
Yu Xi sat down in the chair Deng Yi had just been sitting in, feeling uneasy, and asked directly, "Aren't you tired of having to act anytime, anywhere now?"
He clearly hates gossip and scandals the most, yet yesterday he kissed Zhou Ji'an in public. Just thinking about those photos and videos makes Yu Xi feel exhausted for him.
She couldn't help but ask again, "Does she have some kind of leverage over you?"
Deng Yi's brow tightened, and he replied coldly, "Our relationship isn't good enough for you to make assumptions about her in front of me."
Yu Xi snorted, "You mean you and she are really married? The photos and videos of you two yesterday, were they all genuine expressions of your feelings?"
Deng Yi moved the mouse, briefly recalling everything that had happened yesterday, and said, "Yes."
Yu Xi burst out laughing.
Deng Yi was somewhat taken aback and turned his head to investigate.
“Although I don’t know the specifics of the agreement between the two of you, I’m sure that one of you in the video and photos wasn’t genuinely expressing your feelings.” Yu Xi picked up a piece of golden papaya and slowly put it in her mouth.
Deng Yi glanced at the time in the lower left corner of the computer screen, pushed back his chair and stood up, without responding to Yu Xi's words.
His cold and hard demeanor angered Yu Xi. She stood up abruptly and said to his indifferent back, "On your wedding day, she said in the dressing room that she wouldn't sleep with you. If that can't prove that your marriage was fake, what can?"
Deng Yi's shoulders stiffened.
Yu Xi took two steps and said, "If you don't believe me, you can ask her makeup artist."
“Although she was so sleepy at the time that she was almost asleep, and may have said it unconsciously, it is precisely because it was unconscious that it is more believable, don’t you think?” Yu Xi walked in front of Deng Yi and opened the door that Luo Suizhou had just closed.
The sky quickly darkened, and lights came on everywhere.
Zhou Ji'an, sitting in his study, glanced at the scenery outside the French windows, then looked back at the study and felt a strange, eerie atmosphere.
I really don't understand why some people like living in big houses!
Zhou Ji'an turned off his computer, grabbed his phone, and went to the living room, hoping to run into the two aunties.
"Would you like to have dinner?"
The aunt's voice came before she did, startling Zhou Ji'an so much that she almost screamed. She clutched her chest and said, "No need, no need, I'll just eat some bread to tide me over."
Deng Yi left before lunch. Before making lunch, the two aunts came to the study to ask Zhou Ji'an if he wanted to eat lunch and what he wanted to eat.
Zhou Ji'an was completely unable to adapt and directly told her that she didn't need to cook for her anymore. He didn't expect them to ask such questions again now.
Zhou Ji'an thought this should be something they had to do in their employment contract, so he said, "Deng Yi hired you, so you only need to take care of his daily life. I'm used to taking care of myself, so pretend I don't exist."
Aunt Zhu seemed to give Aunt Yang a look, and then said, "Okay, call us if you need anything."
The kitchen cabinets and refrigerator are filled with all kinds of ingredients.
Zhou Ji'an was dazzled by the choices, but in the end he took a slice of bread, spread some blueberry jam on it, and took a bite.
She still felt unfamiliar with the house and, not knowing what else to do after dinner, sat on the sofa in the living room, holding her phone and replying to Xu Zhiyan's messages from that morning.
Xu Zhiyan: In that case, let's find some time to get together.
Zhou Ji'an: I just switched to a new company and am still adjusting. I'll come visit you guys when I have time later.
Soon after, Xu Zhiyan sent a message: If I had told you everything, would I have waited for you to come to me?
Xu Zhiyan's message left Zhou Ji'an at a loss. She could only pretend she hadn't seen it and toss her phone to the other side of the sofa.
Then, Zhou Ji'an seemed to remember something, so he leaned over and took the phone out of his hand.
The dial tone rang for quite a while before the person on the other end finally answered.
"When are you coming back?" Zhou Ji'an asked cautiously, trying his best to maintain a proper balance and avoid overacting, which might make him feel restricted.
Deng Yi remained silent for a long time before replying amidst the noisy background of clinking glasses: "There's a dinner party, I don't know when I'll be back."
"Oh, I was just asking. You said yesterday that I didn't visit the set when you were filming, which aroused suspicion, so I..."
Deng Yi's chest tightened, and he interrupted, "Hang up."
Before Zhou Ji'an could react, the call was disconnected.
She gripped her phone tightly, unable to look away from the screen.
She didn't seem to have grasped the right balance.
She doubted that she could possibly grasp the right balance.
Because she always inadvertently reveals her thoughts, it easily makes Deng Yi feel constrained.
Feng Licheng spontaneously organized a dinner party, and quite a few people attended. The barbecue restaurant was almost entirely filled with company employees and friends he had made through business dealings.
"Does this mean we can't come to your house for meals as often as we used to?" Feng Licheng asked after returning from his visit.
The air around them was noisy, and Deng Yi, finding it disruptive, frowned and said, "When have I ever frequently invited you to my house for meals?"
"Hey, are you saying we insisted on coming to your house?" Feng Chengli said, dissatisfied, but knowing he was in the wrong. "If we hadn't insisted on coming to your house, wouldn't you have been spending all your time in your study reading those books? You should thank us, otherwise you would have become a bookworm."
Deng Yi felt flustered and drank to calm himself down, ignoring Feng Chengli's words.
A little while later, someone came over and asked, "Director Deng, is getting married meaningful?"
As soon as he said this, more people gathered around, and Deng Yi felt a tightness in his chest.
Some people joked, "He made it to the trending topics yesterday by showing off his love, so he must think marriage is interesting."
Sitting about two meters away from Deng Yi, Yu Xi, after confirming that Deng Yi and Zhou Ji'an's marriage was a sham based on Deng Yi's reaction, felt as if her heart was being lifted by a thick cloud. The psychological and mental torment she had suffered over the past few months seemed to have left no trace.
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