But whether he’d been drinking or not wasn’t important.

If Ji Qinghe said he needed to sober up, then he was drunk.

The law of the strong applied equally everywhere and at any time.

Shen Qianzhan’s itinerary was rushed. Apart from the eight wheels on her suitcase, she had no other means of transportation at hand.

She figured that an executive director at Ji Qinghe’s level wouldn’t be taking the number 11 bus stuck on the airport expressway, so she sent Su Zan away to fetch the car and returned to the private room alone.

After the dinner dispersed, the private room was cold and desolate, people gone and tea cold.

Ji Qinghe sat alone in a single armchair, eyes closed in rest. The arc light from the ceiling lamp seemed almost tangible, spilling and scattering all over him.

Shen Qianzhan made quite a commotion entering. Whether he was too lazy to acknowledge her or deliberately giving her a show of force, it wasn’t until she sat down that Ji Qinghe opened his eyes and made eye contact with her.

Without the irrelevant people around, Ji Qinghe’s expression wasn’t as casual and indifferent as he’d displayed during the dinner. He removed his glasses and lightly closed his eyes, gently pinching his brow bone.

Those hands that had touched forbidden territories once again inevitably attracted all of Shen Qianzhan’s attention.

No wonder they said women were the most imaginative creatures.

Just looking at his hands, Shen Qianzhan couldn’t help but draw out an entire R-rated picture book in her mind.

To hide her embarrassment, she coughed lightly, trying to appear steady and worldly: “Should I order tea so we can chat while drinking?”

Ji Qinghe’s hand rubbing his brow bone paused. When he opened his eyes again, they were clear and cold.

He lifted his wrist to check his watch, speaking slowly with a cold and rigid tone: “You made me wait thirty minutes.”

The soft approach was clearly useless with Ji Qinghe.

But she hadn’t planned to reconcile anyway.

“Since time is precious, let’s get straight to the point.” Shen Qianzhan pulled out a cigarette pack and lit one.

She didn’t have much of a smoking habit, only smoking a couple during social performances for atmosphere. She held a puff in her mouth, barely letting it roll around her tongue before slowly exhaling: “President Ji appearing here isn’t coincidental, is it?”

Ji Qinghe chuckled softly, his gaze pointing at the ashtray beside her left hand, commanding without room for refusal: “Put it out.”

Shen Qianzhan narrowed her eyes, not giving an inch.

Forget putting out the cigarette – she even deliberately flicked ash in front of him.

Her low-level rebellion like a rebellious teenage girl didn’t cause Ji Qinghe any discomfort at all. He leaned forward and swept both cigarette and lighter into the nearby waste basket: “So disobedient – then that’s your last one.”

Shen Qianzhan stiffened, then felt disbelief: “Are you sick?”

Ji Qinghe looked at her, speaking deliberately: “Reasonable suggestion.” But his gaze clearly carried some oppressive intent.

This man was far from the gentle and refined appearance he presented. Shen Qianzhan knew this deeply.

She pressed her lips together in silence, trying to use silence to express protest.

That cigarette remained between her fingers, a thin wisp of smoke quietly drifting upward, but she ultimately didn’t take another puff.

During the standoff, Shen Qianzhan’s phone rang.

She pulled it from her pocket to look, saw it was Su Zan, casually hung up and tossed it on the coffee table in front of her: “If President Ji has no further instructions, I’ll head back first. The company driver is still waiting to drive me home so he can get off work.”

Ji Qinghe remained noncommittal: “I thought between us, you should be the most impatient one.”

Look at these predatory words.

Shen Qianzhan was almost amused by her anger. “In June, I vacationed in Xi’an to see the timepiece exhibition. Not counting travel time, I stayed a total of three days. The last night I spent with you was at Qinghe Third Lane. After dawn, I returned to the hotel to check out and came back to Beijing. Xi’an and Beijing are so far apart – I never imagined I’d see you again someday.”

The implication was that if he hadn’t appeared in Beijing, in front of her, everything would have already had a happy ending.

On this point, Ji Qinghe agreed.

Once something starts, what follows becomes much smoother.

Shen Qianzhan pondered for several seconds, then began asking back: “Qiandeng has always been conservative and cautious regarding risk-taking. Most investors are from within the media industry circle. I’ve never liked doing business with outsiders. Who initiated Bu Zhong Sui’s cooperation intentions?”

This answer was currently somewhat difficult for Ji Qinghe to provide.

He pinched his brow and indicated: “Ask a different question.”

Shen Qianzhan laughed once and threw out a sharper question: “I have absolutely no connection to Bu Zhong Sui, and I’ve never heard of Bu Zhong Sui investing in the film industry before. President Ji chasing me from Xi’an here – does this mean you want to pay for sex after sleeping together?”

After speaking, the private room became so silent it was as if time itself had stopped, even breathing sounds barely audible.

Ji Qinghe looked up.

His nose bridge bore shallow marks from the glasses frames. Under the flowing light, those marks appeared like shadows making his nose bridge seem even straighter.

Shen Qianzhan saw him smile very faintly – that casual, seemingly uncaring arrogance and dismissiveness that suggested nothing mattered to him came surging overwhelmingly.

In this instant, she was like a gun misfiring with cotton stuffed in the barrel, unable to make another sound.

“Shen Qianzhan, where’s your brain?” His gaze was calm, looking her up and down like viewing a vase: “If we’re really talking about payment for sex, you’d probably go bankrupt on the spot tonight.”

Time suddenly seemed to have measure and weight. Every word in this sentence was like shackles, heavily striking Shen Qianzhan’s gray areas.

A woman’s rebellious unwillingness to admit defeat surged up. She almost blurted out “I’m not cheap either,” but fortunately her sanity hadn’t completely disappeared, and his cold glance completely sobered her.

Only now did Ji Qinghe finally realize that Shen Qianzhan’s thinking patterns differed from his, and their thinking dimensions weren’t even on the same frequency.

Payment for sex?

He chuckled softly, his smile as mocking as could be.

“I did something absurd and felt guilty, wanting to take responsibility.” He stood up, seeming unwilling to say another word to her: “From the current situation, it seems I’ve only caused you trouble instead.”

Before leaving completely, Ji Qinghe’s voice dropped extremely low, as if whispering in her ear: “I have deep feelings for Producer Shen. Payment isn’t necessary. I hope Producer Shen never has occasions where she needs to come begging.”

Shen Qianzhan was struck dumb.

She turned her head, watching helplessly as the bastard walked away leisurely, grabbing a throw pillow and hurling it.

Fuck, I was really blind.

Su Zan waited in the hotel’s underground parking garage for nearly twenty minutes before Shen Qianzhan appeared.

Seeing her come down alone, he couldn’t help peering behind her: “Sister Zhan, didn’t President Ji come down with you?”

Shen Qianzhan glanced at him without responding, secretly pulling out her little notebook to mark another entry for Su Zan’s “bringing up whatever shouldn’t be mentioned.”

She was extremely tired now, having no energy to deal with Su Zan. After getting in the car, she closed her eyes to rest, her silence clearly forbidding conversation.

Seeing her poor complexion, Su Zan didn’t dare provoke her displeasure. He drove her all the way to her residential complex, and just as he was about to carry her luggage to see her all the way up, Shen Qianzhan waved her hand, indicating he should just put things down: “I can take it up in the elevator. You head back early.”

Su Zan was used to Shen Qianzhan’s decisive nature and didn’t insist further: “Then rest early. I’ll delay tomorrow’s morning meeting to the afternoon so you can rest enough before coming to work.”

Shen Qianzhan nodded. As she turned to move her suitcase into the elevator, she remembered something and called out to Su Zan: “How much did you reveal to Ai Yi?”

Su Zan had already guessed Shen Qianzhan would settle accounts later. He’d been on edge all evening, eating without taste.

He was actually quite innocent.

Ai Yi was scheming and good at disguising herself. When fishing for information through indirect questioning, she naturally appeared like genuine concern between old friends.

During Shen Qianzhan’s business trip abroad, Ai Yi had visited the company to discuss exclusive rights for Xiang Qianqian’s new drama.

Shiyue and Qiandeng had cooperated for years, and Ai Yi’s relationship with Shen Qianzhan was well-known. Any television drama produced by Shen Qianzhan always had priority cooperation with Shiyue.

Su Zan had heard Shen Qianzhan mention platform exclusive authorization, knowing Ai Yi had only raised a cooperation concept without going deeper, so he didn’t take much initiative.

Originally, Ai Yi’s personal visit was just a whim, not her main purpose.

With Shen Qianzhan not at the company, only Su Zan had the appropriate position weight to entertain her.

Women naturally had social advantages. Ai Yi felt sentimental, saying she wanted to waste time and steal some leisure, asking him to accompany her. Su Zan thought maintaining VIP customer relations was also part of work content, so with his brain heating up and customer-first mentality, he went with Ai Yi to the coffee shop downstairs for coffee and cake.

Ai Yi’s social skills and conversational artistry were famous in the industry.

How could a rich second-generation heir who only knew how to spend money withstand that? He was dismantled to home base in minutes, completely defeated.

Moreover, he hadn’t originally intended to reveal Shen Qianzhan’s Xi’an trip. It was Ai Yi who somehow heard the news and, under the pretext of inquiring about project progress, quite calculatingly asked him whether his Sister Zhan’s special trip to Xi’an was to scout filming locations for the tribute drama.

The tribute drama was a big piece of cake. The entire film and television industry, from company decision-makers down to artist agents, was watching it.

It wasn’t easy for Shen Qianzhan to secure the producer role. All project preparations were conducted secretly, fearing that being too prominent would attract unwanted attention. One wrong step could lose everything.

Su Zan thought that after cooperating for so long, he should speak truthfully.

Moreover, wasn’t Shen Qianzhan’s dedication to better presenting quality television drama works and accurately portraying the professional standards of timepiece restoration masters worthy of learning from those profit-hungry producers and production companies in the industry?

But who could have predicted that Shen Qianzhan would hit a wall with Old Master Ji…

However, things still had a turning point now, which wasn’t necessarily bad.

Su Zan pondered and felt this matter should be reported sooner rather than later: “Sister Zhan, when I was driving President Jiang back just now, he gossiped with me about the relationship between you and President Ji.”

“He asked me if you two already knew each other…”

Shen Qianzhan’s hand pushing the suitcase paused. She vaguely sensed that Su Zan’s clever expression meant he had some important news, waiting for her enthusiastic praise.

She lifted her eyelids, asking with little interest: “How did you respond?”

“That you didn’t know each other.” Su Zan glanced at the security camera in the elevator area, mysteriously leaning closer and lowering his voice: “He also thought you and President Ji already knew each other when you were in Xi’an.”

Shen Qianzhan’s eyelid twitched as guilt made her speechless.

Su Zan’s mind was as coarse as the Pacific Ocean, completely oblivious to Shen Qianzhan’s abnormality, still smugly continuing: “Then he let something slip.”

“His voice was quite low. If I didn’t have sharp ears and keen eyes, ordinary people really couldn’t have heard it.” He licked his lips, rubbing his thumb and index finger together, frantically hinting for benefits.

Shen Qianzhan glanced at him and delivered a solid chop to the back of his head with her hand: “Does Qiandeng belong to your family? I make money for your family, and you have the nerve to ask me for red envelopes? Spit it out.”

Su Zan had a typical personality that needed beating – after being hit once, he became honest. Rubbing the back of his head, he muttered: “President Jiang thought you met President Ji at Old Master Ji’s house and knew each other from then.”

Shen Qianzhan squinted.

Wait?

Why would she meet Ji Qinghe at Old Master Ji’s house?

Seeing she still didn’t understand, Su Zan sighed deeply and explained: “I already thought it was too coincidental that Old Master Ji and President Ji shared the same surname. Sister Zhan, has your life become so boring that you’ve stopped thinking?”

Shen Qianzhan’s face turned green.

Her mind was full of Ji Qinghe’s parting words: “I have deep feelings for Producer Shen. Payment isn’t necessary. I hope Producer Shen never has occasions where she needs to come begging.”

Damn, that bastard!

Had he planned this all along?