Wenren Group.

Wen Liang had just finished a meeting and had a moment of free time, so he took out his phone.

These days, Chen Die hadn’t let him pick her up or drop her off in public places, saying she didn’t want to be the subject of constant gossip over such personal matters.

So in the recent photos of airport arrivals and departures, there were only pictures of Chen Die with her manager and assistant, with no appearance of Wen Liang, which caused panic among their CP fans.

No one knew that in the CEO’s office, Wen Liang had a cigarette between his lips, his expression cold yet calm, as he opened the WenDie CP super topic.

WenDie CP, also known as the Painful Love CP.

“Everyone, don’t panic. WenDie hasn’t broken up. They’re probably just too busy lately, or maybe they’re deliberately trying to keep a low profile.”

“Other people’s idols give them sugar every day, but my idols only give me knives _(:з」∠)_”

“I haven’t seen them in the same frame for almost a month, wuwuwuwu.”

“Other people ship CPs at least within the entertainment circle, so even if they break up, they might meet again in the future. But with ours, they might truly never see each other again.”

Beyond this, since the actual people weren’t providing any sweet moments, fans had to produce content themselves. In the super topic’s featured section, there were many photoshopped pictures of the two together, video edits, and short stories.

Oddly enough, quite a few of those short stories had somewhat suggestive content.

Wen Liang was just browsing casually, but after scanning a few lines, he realized something wasn’t right.

“…”

His jaw unconsciously tightened, biting off some tobacco strands. He simply extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray.

Wen Liang couldn’t be bothered to read more of that content. Just as he exited, there was a knock on his office door.

“Come in,” Wen Liang said flatly.

The door opened from the outside. Wen Liang didn’t look up, waiting for the person to report on work matters. Only after waiting a while with no sound did he raise his head.

Wen Liang was startled to see Chen Die standing before him.

“Why did you come here?”

Chen Die smiled and walked over to him. “I just finished lunch with Ye Chiqing and had nothing to do, so I came to see you.”

Chen Die rarely came to Wenren Group before, so the employees hadn’t really seen her in person much. They often saw the future CEO’s wife on TV though. As soon as Chen Die entered the company, she became the center of attention. She walked into the elevator and then into the CEO’s office under everyone’s gaze, yet surprisingly, no one stopped her.

At this moment, the company staff gathered together, discussing animatedly.

“Chen Die is SO! BEAUTIFUL! A hundred times more beautiful than on TV!”

“Her aura is truly amazing!!”

“No wonder our CEO couldn’t get angry even after being slapped. If I had such a beautiful sister standing in front of me, she could trample all over me however she wanted!”

“But why did Chen Die come to Wenren Group? Did they reconcile? I haven’t seen any reports about it?”

“What do you know? This is an underground romance now. We’re all in the same boat. If you dare to leak this information, beware of our CEO’s wife’s wrath.”

…

At this moment, Chen Die was unaware of everyone’s gossip about her being the “CEO’s wife.”

She was experiencing a cramp right now.

Wen Liang had pressed her against the edge of his desk, bending down to kiss her.

Her body was forced to lean back slightly, her hands supporting her from behind. Because Wen Liang’s hand was at the small of her back, her body felt weak. Standing in high heels made her unsteady. Her calves tensed up, and she was almost getting a cramp.

Wen Liang wasn’t idle with his hands while kissing.

One moment he touched her ear, the next her neck, then her collarbone.

Their hot breaths intermingled, and Chen Die’s face and ears turned red.

After a moment, Wen Liang finally released her.

He looked down at her. The young woman in his arms had moist eyes and seemed not to have recovered yet. Wen Liang teased her: “So comfortable.”

Chen Die took three seconds to understand what he said: “…”

Immediately, blood rushed to her head, so hot she felt she might steam.

What did he mean by “so comfortable”!?

Would this dog ever speak human language???

Chen Die pushed him away, but as soon as she moved, she suddenly let out a “hiss” and leaned back against the desk edge. She couldn’t move.

Wen Liang: “What’s wrong?”

“…My leg is cramping.”

Wen Liang paused, then embraced her again, leaning against her and starting to laugh, his shoulders shaking.

“…” Chen Die stretched out her leg, coldly saying, “Wen Liang, do you want to die?”

He was still laughing, though not as smugly as before. He sat down in the chair and asked, “Which leg?”

Chen Die pointed to her right leg.

Wen Liang gripped her calf and lifted it. Chen Die was already feeling numb and uncomfortable like many little insects were crawling on her, and when he moved her leg, it felt like it had been amputated.

“Hey hey hey—!” Chen Die cried out softly, “What are you doing!”

“Massaging your leg, of course.”

Chen Die was half-sitting on the desk. Wen Liang sat opposite her, letting her foot rest on his thigh as he methodically massaged her calf.

His grip was strong, and after a few firm squeezes, the cramp eased considerably and wasn’t painful anymore.

Chen Die didn’t remove her leg, finding his massage quite pleasant, so she allowed him to continue.

“By the way, have you seen that thing about Chen Shuyuan?” Chen Die asked.

Wen Liang: “What?”

“I think it’s still trending right now.”

Wen Liang wasn’t concerned about what Chen Die was referring to, but her mention of trending topics brought his thoughts back to that short story he had glimpsed in the super topic earlier.

He had only taken a glance then, but somehow now it vividly reappeared in his mind.

Especially now that his hands were massaging Chen Die’s leg.

Meanwhile, Chen Die had already taken out her phone and opened the trending topic: “Look.”

Wen Liang was still lost in thought.

Chen Die kicked him lightly: “What are you thinking about?”

Wen Liang’s fingertips brushed against her ankle, then he finally raised his eyes to look at her phone.

Previously, the marketing for “Plum Wine” had been too aggressive, which resulted in more severe backlash now that accusations of plagiarism had emerged. The topic was generating high levels of discussion and heat.

More and more people were criticizing her.

“Ye Chiqing is also one of the competition’s organizers and just asked me how I want to handle this.”

Wen Liang massaged her leg, moving from her ankle up to the back of her knee. Upon hearing her words, he merely chuckled.

He leaned back in his chair, chin slightly raised, his jawline smooth and relaxed, drawling: “Well, princess, how do you want to handle it?”

“…”

Why was he suddenly calling her princess again?

Chen Die was momentarily disoriented by his form of address, mumbling softly: “Don’t call me that.”

It was too embarrassing.

“But I don’t want to get involved in this matter. She’s already dug her own grave, and she plagiarized from Director Feng. Let’s see if Director Feng speaks up first.”

Chen Die had been given the opportunity to play the female lead and rise to fame thanks to Feng Zhi.

If Feng Zhi stated plagiarism, she would repost it in support. However, someone of Feng Zhi’s caliber probably wouldn’t personally make a statement, especially since the internet was already full of condemnation.

Just as she finished speaking, her assistant dialed the internal line: “Mr. Wen, Mr. Jiang from Feng Gong is here.”

“Let him in,” Wen Liang said.

Mr. Jiang?

Jiang Xian?

Chen Die frowned slightly, then met Wen Liang’s gaze. He snickered softly, squeezing her leg hard.

“Ah!” Chen Die was hurt by his squeeze and kicked him in the abdomen, “What’s wrong with you?”

Jiang Xian was about to come in, and Chen Die had no time to argue with him. She quickly got off the desk, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, Jiang Xian pushed open the door.

Wen Liang was very relaxed, supporting her arm and saying casually: “Put your shoes on first.”

???

She would have put on her shoes anyway without him saying so!

Him saying it made it seem like they had been doing something.

At the door, Jiang Xian paused and looked up, only seeing Chen Die’s back as she bent down to put on her shoes.

Chen Die stepped into her high heels and said to Wen Liang: “I’ll go back first then, you can continue with your work.”

“It’s fine, go sit over there for a while. I’ll take you to dinner when we’re done,” Wen Liang squeezed her palm.

Chen Die nodded. When she walked to Jiang Xian, she paused.

What’s with this inexplicable test from her boyfriend???

Jiang Xian was quite at ease, looking at her with a smile: “Xiao Die.”

Chen Die hesitated for a second: “Jiang Xian Ge.”

She didn’t dare call him Jiang Xian Gege anymore.

Jiang Xian didn’t seem to notice any difference between these two forms of address, his expression unchanged.

Indeed, only that petty man behind her would mind someone calling him with an extra “Ge” character.

Chen Die couldn’t understand the content of Wen Liang and Jiang Xian’s conversation. It was full of professional terms that made her drowsy just listening.

So she simply took out her phone and played a game.

She used to play games often with her college classmates but had rarely played since getting busy with work. Her gaming skills weren’t good before, let alone now when she was out of practice.

After playing two rounds and dying both times, Chen Die lost interest.

She exited the game and opened Weibo.

The “Plum Wine” plagiarism incident was fermenting further.

Because the organizers had not responded yet, netizens were increasingly outraged, believing that the organizers were trying to protect the first-place winner. Little did they know that both the organizers and investors were figuring out how to best deal with Chen Shuyuan.

After parting with Chen Die, Ye Chiqing received a call from Chen Shao and the two met in the car.

“Let me tell you, if you’re thinking of protecting Chen Shuyuan, don’t even think about it,” Ye Chiqing pointed at him.

Chen Shao raised an eyebrow: “Which eye of yours saw me planning to protect that idiot Chen Shuyuan?”

Ye Chiqing had recently learned a bit about the Chen family matters. She asked, “Won’t Chen Shuyuan’s mother, what’s her name…”

“Lin Quan,” Chen Shao reminded her.

“Right, won’t she come to ask you to help her stupid daughter?”

“She already has,” Chen Shao waved his phone casually, “Said to make this thing go away, but too bad, I don’t like doing what others tell me to do.”

“…”

It had to be said that Chen Shao’s attitude was childish.

But this was the first time Ye Chiqing and he had reached a consensus, which was truly touching.

“So what do you plan to do?” Ye Chiqing asked.

“Don’t worry about it for now. Let her be criticized for a few hundred rounds first. This idiot is really stupid. I thought she could finally do something decent, but it turned out to be plagiarized,” Chen Shao snorted lightly, “Bringing shame to the Chen family, she should go back to where she came from.”

Ye Chiqing looked at him and after a while smiled: “You seem somewhat human today. We’re rarely on the same side.”

“Chen Die is my sister, so of course I help her. Didn’t you have eyes for Wen Liang before? What now, is it popular to be friends with your love rival?”

“…”

She knew it—a dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory.

Ye Chiqing rolled her eyes, dropped a “I’m leaving,” and got out of the car.

After Jiang Xian and Wen Liang finished discussing work, he didn’t stay long. Before leaving, he greeted Chen Die, who was sitting on the sofa nearby and then left.

Wen Liang didn’t see him out. Instead, he watched as Jiang Xian went over to speak with Chen Die, very casually. Even after Jiang Xian had left, Wen Liang’s gaze remained fixed on Chen Die.

“…”

Chen Die didn’t even want to respond to him anymore. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Wen Liang smiled, reaching for his clothes as he spoke. “Shall we go for dinner?”

Chen Die glanced at her phone: “Is it time to get off work yet?”

“No, leaving early,” Wen Liang said flatly.

“…”

As they went downstairs, everyone was still there, so Chen Die once again experienced being the center of attention from the Wenren employees.

They reached the garage and got into the car.

It wasn’t rush hour yet, so the roads were clear. After a while, Chen Die realized something was wrong.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“The villa in the western suburbs.”

“?” Chen Die turned to look at him. “I’m not going back to live with you.”

“Just going for a meal. Ms. Zhang has asked about you several times.”

Chen Die paused, then leaned back: “Oh.”

It had been a long time since she’d been to the western suburb villa. Not much had changed. The plants outside were still very neatly trimmed, and the interior was the same.

They changed their shoes and entered the house.

Ms. Zhang saw them and smiled as she came over: “Miss Chen is back.”

“Ms. Zhang.”

“Just wait a little longer. Dinner will be ready soon.”

Soon, Ms. Zhang brought out the dishes. Chen Die asked her to sit down and eat with them, but she became restrained, only saying: “I’ve already eaten in the kitchen. I can’t eat any more now. Please, you and the young master eat first.”

After speaking, she went back to the kitchen to clean up.

At the dinner table, Chen Die received a phone call from Fang Ruan.

She said that Ye Chiqing’s mother, Director Huang, had already contacted her about a new movie collaboration, a Republican-era film called “Ah Xiao.”

“Hmm, send me the script,” Chen Die put down her chopsticks. “By the way, has the filming schedule been confirmed yet?”

“The timing is perfect, right after your ‘Three Meals a Day’ concludes. It aligns perfectly,” Fang Ruan asked, “What are you doing now?”

Chen Die looked up at Wen Liang beside her: “Eating.”

“With Mr. Wen?”

“Mm.”

“…” Fang Ruan didn’t care about ordering around the sugar daddy, nodding her head and not disturbing them further. “Then continue. I’ll send the materials to your phone first.”

After dinner, Chen Die felt too embarrassed to let Ms. Zhang clean up alone, so she followed her into the kitchen.

In the end, Ms. Zhang still didn’t let her touch any water.

“I just aired the bedding this morning, so it will be very comfortable to sleep in tonight,” Ms. Zhang said as she put the washed dishes and utensils into the sterilizer.

“Ah?” Chen Die paused, leaning against the doorframe and saying softly, “I’m not staying. I need to go back later.”

Ms. Zhang turned her head: “Are you that busy with work?”

…That wasn’t the reason.

She just wanted to have a proper relationship and didn’t want to jump back to how things were before.

But she didn’t feel like explaining all this to Ms. Zhang, so she just gave a vague response and moved on.

Ms. Zhang: “You’re young and might not have thought about that aspect yet, but the young master is almost 30 now, so he should be considering marriage. When young couples have children, both parents have abundant energy, and the children have better constitutions.”

Chen Die: “…”

She had never thought about that aspect at all.

She wasn’t sure if Ms. Zhang’s theory about children born to younger parents having better constitutions had any scientific basis. However, what she gathered from her words—that Wen Liang was almost 30 and would be too late if he didn’t start planning soon—made Chen Die laugh out loud.

“Right,” Chen Die laughed, bending over. “Already 29, too old.”

Ms. Zhang didn’t catch her schadenfreude and continued: “29 is still okay, but you’re busy with work. If you wait a few more years, I’ve heard that men’s cellular activity also declines, so it’s best to think about this matter sooner rather than later.”

Chen Die continued to laugh and nod, repeatedly agreeing.

However, midway through her laughter, her neck was suddenly gripped.

Wen Liang reached out and pinched the back of her neck, saying calmly to Ms. Zhang: “Once you finish cleaning up here, please go rest early.”

Having said that, he locked his arm around Chen Die’s neck and walked away.

“What are you doing!” Chen Die clutched at his arm as she was forced to follow him.

They went upstairs into the bedroom. Wen Liang kicked the door shut, then released Chen Die, pushing her against the wall and looking down at her: “Feeling rebellious now, daring to talk behind my back?”

Chen Die quickly deflected: “It wasn’t me saying it! Just now it was all Ms. Zhang talking.”

“What were you laughing at?”

“Are you being reasonable? Can’t I even laugh now?”

“Think I’m too old?” Wen Liang narrowed his eyes.

Chen Die looked at him with a smile, very insincerely saying: “Not at all, Mr. Wen is in his prime.”

Wen Liang looked at her like this and found he couldn’t muster any anger: “You might want to consider where you are right now, and rethink how you speak to me.”

“…”

Chen Die came to her senses.

It was her youthful inexperience.

Chen Die tried to push him away, but he still blocked her. After a few back-and-forth attempts, she grew frustrated: “I want to go back.”

Wen Liang lowered his head, leaned in close to her ear, his voice deep, carrying a subtly amused tone: “Didn’t you hear? We should consider that matter. Next year I’ll be 30, can’t be in my prime anymore. You’re holding me back.”

Chen Die:?

She finally realized this dog of a man would say anything to sleep with her.

Holding him back!

Who could hold him back!!

Chen Die was left dazed by his voice stimulating her eardrums: “Wen Liang, do you have no shame?”

Downstairs, Ms. Zhang finished cleaning the kitchen and called up from the bottom of the stairs.

Chen Die felt like a guilty thief, anxiously responding “Okay.”

Wen Liang curved his lips, no longer teasing her. Remembering the phone call she had taken during dinner, he asked: “You have a new drama to film?”

“Hmm?” Chen Die blinked at him.

Once again, she marveled at how quickly Wen Liang could switch gears—one second he was coaxing her with nonsense, and the next he was in work mode.

Her mind hadn’t caught up yet.

“Not confirmed yet, need to go back and look at the script first.”

“Then let’s go, I’ll take you back.”

It had started raining by the time they left. Wen Liang went back inside to get an umbrella for Chen Die.

Once it rained, the roads became very congested. It took a long time to finally reach Li Fan Xin Yuan.

Wen Liang parked the car in a space. The rain was falling harder now, as if buckets of water were being poured down, hitting the windshield with a pattering sound.

“I’m going now. Be careful driving back,” Chen Die said, taking the umbrella and preparing to open the car door. However, just as she touched the handle, the door locked.

She turned back: “Hmm?”

Wen Liang said lazily: “The rain is so heavy. Stay in the car a bit longer before going back.”

Chen Die looked at the rain outside. At this point, even with an umbrella, running the few steps from here to the apartment building would probably leave her soaked.

She put the umbrella back by her feet and opened her phone to look at the script Fang Ruan had sent earlier.

Wen Liang reached out and took her hand.

The two didn’t speak for a moment. The car was quiet, with only the honking of cars on the road outside, a sound unique to rainy days.

The “Ah Xiao” film script was very suitable for Chen Die. With her figure, she could pull off the qipao costume well, and it was a film handled by a production team with real capability.

Chen Die liked it just from reading the beginning and was about to continue reading when Wen Liang tugged at her fingers.

“When you work, you don’t even look at me?” Wen Liang raised an eyebrow, calmly asking her.

“…You didn’t pay attention to me when you were working before either,” Chen Die brought up old accounts.

Wen Liang clicked his tongue: “Then continue.”

He spoke as if he was sulking. Chen Die simply decided to continue reading the script.

However, after just reading two or three lines, Wen Liang released her fingers, and then her waist felt cool. He lifted Chen Die’s clothes and moved his hand upward.

Chen Die froze, almost dropping her phone, immediately grabbing his wrist: “What are you doing?”

Wen Liang chuckled, pried her fingers open, and continued upward, covering her fullness and kneading it methodically, then moving around to her back. He glanced at her: “Now you’re willing to look at me.”

“…”

Chen Die was uncomfortable with his actions and kept trying to retreat backward, but it was useless. He pulled her back, forcing her to endure while Wen Liang remained leisurely.

His hand lingered on her back, then his index finger hooked into the narrow strap.

Chen Die’s breathing involuntarily quickened, her voice muffled and stumbling as she called his name twice.

Wen Liang used his free hand to pull her into his arms, asking softly in her ear: “What exactly are you worried about?”

As his words fell, the hook at her back came undone.

Her body immediately felt cool.

Chen Die let out a light gasp and raised her hand to press against herself, not letting it slide down, and not letting Wen Liang’s hand approach.

“Don’t do this,” she frowned and said softly.

Wen Liang repeated: “What exactly are you worried about?”

If it was the first time, having concerns would be normal, but their relationship had been this way for many years. Wen Liang didn’t understand what she was insisting on, refusing to come home and refusing to let him touch her.

“I want to have a proper relationship with you. How can you be like this?” she complained unhappily, her neck turning red, her voice a bit aggrieved. “I’ve never been in a relationship before.”

Wen Liang’s fingers paused. He sighed, leaned over to kiss her, and silently refastened the hook he had just undone, then pulled up the strap that had slipped to her shoulder, making a very faint sound as it snapped against her shoulder.

But this sound still made Chen Die tremble, and she dodged his kiss.

Wen Liang’s breathing was somewhat tight. He removed his hand and lifted her chin: “Are you angry?”

Chen Die didn’t speak, keeping her head down, her hands tucked into her sleeves, slowly adjusting her slightly crooked bra.

Wen Liang took a deep breath, ruffled her hair, and for once softened his tone to coax her: “Alright, I was wrong. Don’t be angry, okay?”

She still kept her head down, not looking at him, only letting out a barely audible “mm.”

It wasn’t clear if she was responding to his first “Are you angry” or his later “Don’t be angry,” and it was impossible to gauge whether she was still upset.

Wen Liang had lived with her since she was very young, so of course he knew her temperament.

Although later her personality changed and was no longer meek, and she could now be considered passionate and outspoken, a straightforward and free-spirited young woman, every time they did it, she would revert to her initial state, biting her teeth and too embarrassed to make any sound, her entire body tense, unable to relax.

Wen Liang wondered if he had gone too far just now.

Especially Chen Die’s “I’ve never been in a relationship before.” Thinking about it, it was indeed true—what he did before didn’t count as dating Chen Die.

He was just about to properly apologize and sincerely comfort her.

Chen Die finally raised her head. Her eyes were a bit red. She glanced at him and quickly looked down again, pursed her lips, appearing very shy: “I’m not angry.”

Just with that look and those three words, Wen Liang’s rare moment of gentlemanly demeanor shattered instantly, and the emotions he had just calmed down surged up again.

Outside, the rain suddenly fell harder, mixing with Wen Liang’s increasingly rapid heartbeat, truly difficult to endure.

Wen Liang bent down and kissed her lips again.

This time Chen Die didn’t struggle, but instead obediently tilted her head to respond to him.

Wen Liang’s heart went thump, thump, beating fast and hard, and he really couldn’t take it.

So he straightened his back.

The kiss ended so abruptly that Chen Die was still dazed. She looked at him, and blinked, her black lashes trembling again and again, tilting her head with a soft “Hmm?”

She looked a bit adorably silly.

Wen Liang’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He smiled, his voice a bit hoarse: “If you stay this obedient here, I’ll continue.”

Chen Die was startled, grabbed the umbrella, pushed open the door, and quickly ran to the nearby apartment building’s awning.

Then she turned around, waved to him again, and said goodbye.