Inside the room, there was only one beam of flashlight, slanting down behind her, dividing the cold in the room into beams of light that condensed dust and dampness.

The man’s familiar cold fragrance mixed with the chill hit her face.

Shen Qianzhan had just awakened from one dream after another, only to fall back into the newly woven shock and bewilderment before her.

Why was Ji Qinghe here?

And how did he enter her room?

By all logic, even if he wasn’t in Beijing or Xi’an, he shouldn’t appear here.

Her toes, barefoot on the floor, curled slightly from the cold. The down jacket draped over her shoulders provided only a small patch of warm temperature at the shoulder area.

Shen Qianzhan was shivering from cold. She wanted to suspect this was an incredibly realistic dream, but the sound of the blizzard outside pressing down on advertising signs until they creaked under the unbearable weight was all too real.

She could no longer deceive herself, hesitantly tilting her head: “Ji Qinghe?”

Ji Qinghe hummed in response, his arms around her back moving downward to remove the ashtray she was still gripping tightly: “Staying at a hotel without locking the door?”

He casually placed the ashtray back on the table, the flashlight beam circling around from behind her to sweep over Shen Qianzhan from top to bottom, naturally and skillfully as if he’d done it countless times, without the slightest hint of impropriety.

Shen Qianzhan followed his gaze to examine herself.

She didn’t have the habit of wearing thermal underwear—first, she found it too bulky and restrictive, hindering her ability to strike alluring poses in her sleep; second, to maintain her image and preserve her cool, beautiful, handsome, and stunning clothing style, she had to sacrifice thermal underwear; third, Beijing’s indoor heating was too warm, and thermal underwear was like plastic wrap, enough to steam her at any moment.

And as a woman who was exquisite twenty-five hours a day, she naturally had particular standards for sleepwear.

Shen Qianzhan’s suitcase was one-fifth occupied by nightgowns and various stockings alone, from lace to silk to mulberry silk, further categorized into short separates, medium-length sexy leg-revealing styles, and long trailing gowns. Today, unfortunately, she wore an incredibly form-fitting tie-up ice silk style that just reached her thighs.

The down jacket merely draped over her shoulders provided half-coverage, still unable to hide her curvaceous infinite charm.

Originally, the two had already slept together, so being looked at a couple more times wasn’t a big deal, especially since she was still clothed, albeit in an overly sexy and form-fitting nightgown.

But adding the factor of breaking in during the night, this scene rather had the feeling of a criminal prelude.

Whether it was because the weather was too cold and had sealed away her intelligence, or because the scene before her was too contrary to logic, Shen Qianzhan was shocked and her mind couldn’t keep up for a moment. In those few short breaths, she was only considering “protruding nipples, so erotic” and “would crawling back under the covers now be misunderstood as a bed invitation?”

Before she could sort out points one, two, and three, Ji Qinghe’s gaze fell on her bare feet with a slight frown: “Get back on the bed first?”

Without waiting for her refusal, he bent down, pressing against the hem of her nightgown, and lifted her by the waist back onto the bed.

Shen Qianzhan was startled, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck to maintain balance. The soft cry that had reached her lips was swallowed back because it seemed too affected. She steadied her nerves and cleared her throat to ask: “How did you get in?”

Ji Qinghe glanced at her, teasingly: “Which leg are you asking about?”

Shen Qianzhan was about to respond with “You only have two legs, which one do you think I’m asking about?” but when the words reached her lips, she suddenly detected something wrong in his tone. When she realized he was making another sexual innuendo, she struggled to settle onto the bed herself, annoyed.

Originally frightened by seeing a strange man break in during the night, then confirming it was an acquaintance “committing the crime,” Shen Qianzhan’s state of mind had never calmed down. But no matter how great the turmoil, it all disappeared without a trace after the nipple embarrassment and being lifted by the waist.

Ji Qinghe seemed completely unaware of her thrilling and soul-stirring three minutes of roller-coaster emotions. He sat naturally on the bed’s edge, grasping her feet that had already become ice-cold without a trace of warmth: “Scared?”

Hearing this, Shen Qianzhan wanted to laugh coldly: “If you were sleeping peacefully and opened your eyes to see a strange man entering your room, wouldn’t you be afraid?”

“Afraid but still not locking the door?” Ji Qinghe grasped her feet as she tried to pull them back, his slightly warm fingertips pinching her ankle. Without using much force, he just pressed lightly, instantly making the area from her sole to her calf tingle with numbness.

The flashlight stood upright on the nightstand, that beam of light condensing and scattering into a fan shape, illuminating half the ceiling. Though not particularly bright, it clearly reflected Ji Qinghe’s gentle expression as he lowered his eyelids.

Women are creatures prone to divergent thinking and automatic mental elaboration.

This scene, like a movie frame in the dim lighting, immediately made her enumerate the difficulties he must have faced to get here. Her heart softened, and even her voice became much gentler and softer: “The hotel has no water or electricity, and there’s a blizzard outside. I was afraid of sleeping too deeply and having an accident in the middle of the night, so I didn’t lock the door.” Unexpectedly, no accident came, but an unexpected guest arrived first.

Her feet gradually warmed under Ji Qinghe’s touch. He released his hands, letting her withdraw into the covers, his gaze moving from her not-quite-clear face to the empty space beside her: “If you don’t mind, may I rest here for a bit?”

When he spoke, he turned his face slightly, allowing Shen Qianzhan to clearly see his undeniable fatigue.

Shen Qianzhan didn’t agree, but her body moved toward the inside of the bed, leaving space for him.

The covers had already cooled somewhat. Her legs touching the unused bedding made her involuntarily hiss softly.

Ji Qinghe seemed to find it amusing, moving further onto the bed without touching her, legs crossed, mostly suspended over the bed’s side: “Originally I was going to Xi’an…” His voice was slightly low, and he coughed lightly twice before continuing: “Before departure, seeing the non-stop blizzard in Wuxi, I guessed the weather would worsen and temporarily changed my itinerary.”

Shen Qianzhan asked: “When did you arrive?”

“Yesterday.” Ji Qinghe looked at her sideways. “Just got here.”

“I hesitated on the way, afraid coming would be counterproductive.” He formed a loose fist with his fingers, pressing against his forehead: “Later, when your phone wouldn’t connect, I came without thinking about anything.”

His voice was very low, like raindrops rolling from eaves into grass—initially audible, cutting through the air. When they landed, they didn’t hit solid ground but seemed to fall into the lake of her heart, more moving than any previous time.

Outside, the wind howled and snow raged, yet Shen Qianzhan felt the slightly damp quilt over her body suddenly wasn’t so cold anymore.

She remembered Su Zan mentioning at noon about receiving his phone call, and a corner deep in her heart unexpectedly sank.

“Did Su Zan tell you the crew was at this hotel?”

Ji Qinghe’s lips curved in a shallow smile as he turned his head: “Mm, the snow blocked the road. Ming Jue and I followed a supply truck with a snow plow to get in.”

“There were quite a few vehicles wanting to enter the film base. With the highway blocked, half were turned away and half were queuing.”

Shen Qianzhan was somewhat surprised: “Ming Jue came with you?”

Ji Qinghe’s smile deepened. He looked at her meaningfully and said: “Knowing you were facing difficulties here, I couldn’t come empty-handed.” He raised himself slightly, unceremoniously pulling over a pillow to cushion behind his neck: “Brought some instant food and mineral water. Had Su Zan accompany Ming Jue to store them.”

He spoke lightly, as if using Bu Zhong Sui’s senior assistant as manual labor wasn’t worth mentioning. He just lowered his forehead slightly, his eyes drooping with a hint of fatigue: “The hotel rooms are full.”

Ji Qinghe raised his eyes, his tone steady: “The nearest hotel is ten kilometers away.”

Shen Qianzhan understood his implication—he wanted to stay here tonight.

The constructed areas within the film base, aside from studios and filming locations, were just hotels. More prosperous streets and shops were at least three kilometers away.

The hotels in this vicinity varied in quality from guesthouses to four-star establishments. But because they were close to studios and filming areas, most crews would book entire hotels for their use.

At noon today, when Shen Qianzhan and Su Zan went to Xiao Sheng’s room to discuss next steps, they had heard production staff arguing with the producer in his room. They mentioned that the crew had changed hotels once due to insufficient funds, with some crew members unwilling to move and still staying at a hotel three kilometers away, making management inconvenient.

In recent days, as the snow disaster intensified, they finally convinced that small group of crew members to move here together, but surrounding hotels had no vacant rooms.

In other words, the current reality was—if she didn’t take in Ji Qinghe, he would have to sleep on the street.

Suddenly having life-and-death power over Ji Qinghe, Shen Qianzhan: “…” Why wasn’t she happy about this, but rather feeling conflicted?

Hotel underground garage.

Su Zan borrowed two military coats from the production crew, wrapping himself tightly to move supplies.

He had just fallen asleep not long before dawn when he was awakened by knocking. The unit producer, accompanied by a hotel front desk girl, stood at his door informing him someone was looking for him.

Just when he was desperately sleepy, he sourly showed only a crack of the door: “At this hour, looking for me?”

Getting an affirmative nod from the front desk girl, Su Zan twisted one corner of his mouth sarcastically: “Special services? Even blizzards don’t stop business?”

The front desk was somewhat embarrassed. Seeing his attitude of potentially closing the door and leaving any moment, she quickly said: “The person’s surname is Ming, waiting for you downstairs.”

Su Zan had a curse word stuck on his lips. After being stunned for several seconds, he opened the door: “Surname Ming? How many people?”

“Two men, both quite tall…”

Before the front desk could finish, Su Zan hurriedly interrupted: “Wait for me, I’ll go put on some clothes.” He slammed the door shut behind him. When he came out again, he was properly dressed. Just as he was about to go downstairs, seeing the unit producer following, his mind flashed with inspiration and he quickly stopped the person: “You don’t need to go. Just have the hotel open two more rooms.”

The unit producer looked troubled: “There are no rooms…”

“No rooms?” Su Zan’s head buzzed with pain. He impatiently scratched his head a couple times and waved the person away: “Alright, alright, I understand. It’s late, go back and rest quickly.”

After sending the person away, Su Zan, feeling he had been very thoughtful, went to the hotel lobby with full melancholy to welcome the big shots.

Everything that happened next felt like Su Zan was a marionette, until he led Ji Qinghe to stand at Shen Qianzhan’s door, when his conscience finally returned to his body: “President Ji, I don’t think this is very appropriate.”

Ji Qinghe looked sideways, silently inquiring.

Su Zan, made to shiver by that sharp glance, steeled himself: “How about I wake up Sister Zhan first, then you go in?”

Ji Qinghe rarely smiled warmly: “What are you worried about?”

In front of Ming Jue, outnumbered Su Zan stammered, too embarrassed to expose the boss’s conspiracy. But thinking it over, whether Ji Qinghe would do anything to Sister Zhan was unknown, but they should thank heaven if Sister Zhan didn’t do something to President Ji. No matter how he looked at it, his own people wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.

Thinking this, he straightened his back righteously: “Alright, I’ll send you in. After Ming Jue and I finish moving things, I’ll come back to get you and arrange a room for you to rest.”

Ji Qinghe smiled noncommittally.

Su Zan initially didn’t feel anything was wrong. Only after realizing how meaningful Ji Qinghe’s smile was did he stumble, nearly missing a step. When Ming Jue steadied him, he turned to question: “Did your boss scheme against me again?”

Ming Jue ignored the word “again” in his statement, smiling: “No.”

Su Zan’s brow had just relaxed when he heard Ming Jue say: “What he calculated, from beginning to end, was only that one person.” The implication being: you’re not even worth his scheming.