When words follow words, it’s easy to speak smoothly.

To convince him, Shen Qianzhan’s mind was entirely running on noble sentiments and principles from the moral high ground. The phrase “Compared to my heart harboring seas and dreams, you count as nothing” lingered at her lips for a while, but was forcibly swallowed back because it could very likely be reasonably refuted by Ji Qinghe afterward.

She was a habitual thinker who, every time she made a move, would carefully calculate the chess board’s direction for the next three steps.

She didn’t control the game, only laid out pieces.

Only when encountering Ji Qinghe did she break her rules the first time, lose her composure the second time, and cede territory with reparations the third time—defeated miserably every round.

Shen Qianzhan examined her conscience. Usually eating vegetarian rather than meat, not killing or releasing creatures, except for her verbal karma being too heavy, she shouldn’t have done anything unconscionable.

How did she keep falling into his hands, once, twice, three or four times—would it ever end?

She feared that overly intense and extreme wording would backfire and provoke Ji Qinghe’s rebellious psychology. After thinking, she threw the question back: “That depends on whether you want to be daddy or little brother.”

She gave examples: “Daddy is like now—as long as you have needs, I can serve tea, deliver water, sell my soul to serve you faithfully. Being little brother is like Su Zan—as long as I have needs, he must serve tea, deliver water, sell his soul to serve me faithfully.”

Shen Qianzhan extended her finger, carefully poking at his chest, still unwilling to give up on trying to pull apart their currently overly ambiguous distance: “If you feel you can’t make an immediate choice tonight, you can also go back and consider first. I’ll say it again—cooperation must be willing, with aligned goals.”

She was charging ahead on the front lines with bayonets, helping him earn until his bowl overflowed, yet he was in the rear craving her body—did that make sense?

Ji Qinghe caught signals from some of her emotions and unexpectedly didn’t pursue relentlessly as Shen Qianzhan had guessed. Following the gentle force of her poke, he released her and restrainedly stepped back.

Though still a cold pine with clear, frigid features, in that moment Shen Qianzhan felt an unprecedented distant space between them.

He lowered his head, seemingly casually brushing his palm with his glove: “Shen Qianzhan, I’m not as perverted as you.”

His deep pupils showed somewhat pale in the elevator’s lighting. When he looked up at her, a cluster of light faintly ignited then instantly extinguished, like embers after a bonfire died out, hidden in grass piles, occasionally leaping with the wind.

Shen Qianzhan instinctively felt danger. That coldness shot from her feet to her brow, making her shiver. Just as she was about to say something to remedy the situation, Ji Qinghe pressed the elevator door button. As he turned to step out, he lifted his eyelids and glanced at her quite uncouthly: “Comparatively, I still prefer watching you use alcohol for entertainment.”

That look was so disdainful that Shen Qianzhan was stunned for quite a while before reacting to what he was saying.

She raised her elbow and vigorously sniffed the alcohol smell on herself.

This action inadvertently awakened some memories she was about to forget. Those deeply buried scattered fragments, like puzzle pieces, assembled before her eyes into scenes of erotic adult films.

Finally, successfully freezing on a certain shameful play in front of the wine cabinet.

…

Scumbag.

Being perverted again.

——

The elevator doors opened and closed.

Shen Qianzhan’s expression also darkened and brightened accordingly. After several repetitions, she took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator.

Su Zan was waiting for her by the car.

He was sucking on a cigarette between his fingertips, having just taken a hard drag and not yet exhaled. Then he saw Shen Qianzhan walking out from the elevator area with steady, composed steps. He looked twice, tilted his head to signal Qiao Xin to go help her.

He had followed Shen Qianzhan long enough to know how to distinguish whether she was drunk or not.

Usually, her walking posture was standard, swift as wind—you had to see where her gaze focused. If she consistently stared at the ground, that meant she was putting on a strong front while weak inside, just holding on.

When her consciousness was clear, her eyes would only look straight ahead, walking like wind, her face clearly stating “This lady can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk—come fight if you disagree.”

Su Zan estimated.

Based on Shen Qianzhan’s current runway aura, she probably wasn’t completely drunk, around a moderate level of about fifty percent.

He threw his cigarette to the ground and stamped it out with his foot.

When she came closer, he cleared his throat and informed: “Sister Zhan, CEO Ji left first.”

Shen Qianzhan had originally been quietly arguing with Qiao Xin that she wasn’t drunk and didn’t need support. Hearing this, she turned to look at the back of the car: “He left?”

Su Zan nodded: “He left.”

Qiao Xin picked up: “Just now you asked me to escort CEO Ji down first. After reaching the parking garage, he told me to go ahead and said he’d wait by the elevator for you for a while. Then just now, his assistant came once and said there was urgent business so he left first.”

During dinner, everyone present had heard Ji Qinghe say he would sign the contract after the meal before leaving.

Qiao Xin was afraid she would be blamed by Shen Qianzhan for not keeping him there, feeling so guilty she didn’t even dare raise her head.

As the person involved, Shen Qianzhan wasn’t too surprised.

She had said things to that extent—if Ji Qinghe could still remain composed and stay to work on the contract with her, that would be truly magical.

She turned to look at Su Zan: “Did he leave any other words?”

“He did.” Su Zan stepped back to open the passenger door for her: “CEO Ji said you should go directly to Time Hall’s studio to find him tomorrow—no waiting past the deadline.”

Shen Qianzhan breathed a sigh of relief.

It was good not to have to beg people anymore, otherwise with Ji Qinghe being so capable of causing trouble, she would lose half her life sooner or later.

She waved her hand, feeling the powerless weakness that comes after settling one’s mind and exhausting one’s strength: “Let’s go back first then. I won’t participate in tomorrow’s topic selection meeting.” After thinking, Shen Qianzhan added: “Qiao Xin, you come with me.”

——

After getting in the car, Shen Qianzhan’s head tilted and she entered sleep mode.

Su Zan had originally wanted to share with her the discoveries he had worked hard on all afternoon, but seeing she was extremely tired, he simply closed his mouth and silently looked out the window.

Shen Qianzhan initially was just pretending to sleep.

Tonight’s battle of wits and courage—fighting little bitches and then scumbags—had exhausted her thoroughly. But gradually, her consciousness deepened, and unknowingly she fell asleep.

The car shuttled through traffic, driving not very smoothly.

She seemed to hover above this layer of subconsciousness. Even with closed eyes, she could clearly see Su Zan quietly giving directions to Qiao Xin. His voice was low and deep, carrying the greenness of feigned composure, with laughter in his tone—a completely different type of man from Ji Qinghe.

Shen Qianzhan “watched” for a while and found it somewhat boring.

Memories churned in her mind, returning to the scene from moments ago when Ji Qinghe had trapped her in his arms, asking “Then what about me, what do I count as?”

She knew she was in a dream.

Without any concerns, she lightly hooked his tie with her fingertip and pulled down. When they were close enough for their noses to face each other, within the clearest range of vision, her gaze fell on his sharply defined lip dimple, lingering there.

“What kind of silly question is this?”

“You’re my little darling, of course.”

Shen Qianzhan rubbed his cheek with her fingertip, her gaze lingering on Ji Qinghe’s face that had completely stolen her soul, lovingly and kindly patting: “This quality—at least championship level.”

She pushed herself further into Ji Qinghe’s embrace, getting extremely close to him.

Perhaps because reality and dreams weren’t far apart, his body temperature and presence were incredibly real.

Through his draped coat, her hands fell on the exquisitely textured high-end suit fabric. Her fingertips were smooth against the slightly coarse texture of the clothing.

She reached out, passing through the dark coat, both hands resting on his waist: “Look at this waist…”

She clicked her tongue twice, seemingly unable to find suitable words to describe it. Only when she looked up, her smile was radiant, her eyes and lip corners overflowing with slight brightness, as if remembering something, her fingertips pinching: “Isn’t there a term called something-something waist? Although I haven’t tried others, yours should be called a bull, right?”

She chuckled, perhaps feeling her thoughts had gone too far and were beneath her status as a gold-medal producer.

Those hands reluctantly withdrew. When pushing against his chest to push him away, her gaze unconsciously glanced elsewhere, muttering with both admiration and sighs: “Too bad it’s too precious—who can afford something diamond-studded?”

She remained immersed in her dream, speaking without inhibition.

Little did she know that outside the scene, her sleep talk was chattering incessantly.

The car was so quiet you could hear a pin drop on the carpet.

Qiao Xin was embarrassed to the point of red cheeks, the area behind her ears and neck feeling hot, almost burning her up.

However, Shen Qianzhan was still continuing—

“Look at this waist…”

“Isn’t there a term called dog waist? Although I haven’t tried others, yours should be called a bull, right?”

“Too bad it’s too precious—who can afford something diamond-studded?”

Su Zan, gripping the passenger seat back with a bottle of mineral water in hand, forced himself to stay calm: “Try waking her up?”

Qiao Xin’s ears burned red, speaking incoherently: “I don’t know, don’t ask me, I didn’t hear anything.”

Su Zan also had an indescribable expression.

A high-level executive losing face like this in front of subordinates—Shen Qianzhan was probably the only one at Qiandeng, right?

When she initially started talking in her sleep, Su Zan thought she was thirsty and searched the entire car for water to feed her. He even felt pity, thinking that Sister Zhan, as a woman, working so hard for her career was truly not easy.

But before the bottle mouth even touched her lips, he heard a string of dirty words.

Su Zan tried to do some damage control for Shen Qianzhan. He looked at Qiao Xin and said: “Probably hasn’t had any eye candy from young studs recently, getting thirsty.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Qianzhan kicked toward the dashboard in her dream: “Ji Qinghe, scumbag.”

Su Zan: “…”

Qiao Xin tactfully remained silent.

With a numb expression, he screwed the bottle cap back on and said: “What happens here—heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know, understood?”

Qiao Xin immediately nodded like a pecking chicken: “Understood, understood.” To keep her salary from being deducted, don’t leak the boss’s private affairs!

——

Early the next morning.

Before driving to work, Shen Qianzhan sent a photo to their three-person group: “Who stepped on this?”

The photo’s angle was from the driver’s seat toward the passenger dashboard. The storage compartment below the dashboard had been kicked open, spilling vehicle-related documents everywhere. A gray footprint stretched east to west across the gaping storage compartment, crystal clear.

Qiao Xin kept her eyes on her nose and nose on her heart, staying silent.

She was very busy—busy buying coffee for the boss, preparing breakfast, printing contracts, organizing schedules.

Su Zan looked and replied: “This shoe print looks quite like a high heel. Sister Zhan, don’t you think it looks familiar?”

While waiting at a red light, Shen Qianzhan compared her shoe sole with the footprint.

It really was her own kick…

She had no face to demand accountability and could only humbly ask for guidance: “Was I that drunk last night yet still had such strength?”

Su Zan’s face turned somewhat green.

He thought about it and kindly maintained silence.

Shen Qianzhan waited a moment without getting any reply. Sensing something was wrong, she stopped at the stop line and directly tagged Su Zan: “Want the cheat sheet for solving Xiang Qianqian’s PR crisis?”

The next second.

Su Zan defected to the enemy: “You had a dream last night, the kind of spring dream that people your age commonly have.”

“Do you remember what you said in your dream? Little darling, championship quality, dog waist.”

“If hearing this hasn’t made your lungs explode with anger, and you even want to continue listening, please call: Protect Our Su Zan Little Darling.”

Shen Qianzhan took a deep breath and replied: “Speak!”

Su Zan, having imagined Shen Qianzhan’s current expression, was scared witless: “You also said it’s too bad it’s too precious, who can afford something diamond-studded, then got angry while cursing Ji Qinghe as a scumbag and kicked the dashboard.”

“I’m finished talking. I think forget about the cheat sheet—Sister Zhan, just spare my life.”

Shen Qianzhan almost fainted.

Her vision went black for a moment, her mouth dry.

Every word Su Zan said was unfamiliar to her, but combined together… it was indeed quite familiar.

She opened a bottle of mineral water to calm her shock.

In Beijing’s deep winter, the mineral water that had been chilled in the car compartment for who knows how many days and nights was like an icy spring, the coolness rushing straight to the crown of her head.

She shivered and became completely sober. The sole of the foot that had kicked the dashboard belatedly went numb.

After brief subjective emotions of “How could I do such a stupid thing,” “Damn, how can I face Ji Qinghe today,” and “Would eliminating rich second-generation kids to rob the rich and help the poor be treated leniently,” Shen Qianzhan very calmly replied with three words: “You’re dead.”