A beautiful summer night

After the cruise ship dinner, Xia Wanzhi flew to England that same day.

They said they were going to celebrate Mrs. Becker, the esteemed Mrs. George, the dearest grandmother's birthday.

He was absolutely unwilling to go to the UK before, but now, several days before his birthday, he's already on a plane.

Even a dog could tell that Xia Wanzhi was intentionally avoiding Xie Qiyan.

Xie Qiyan really couldn't understand it.

"If you ask me, it's because you went too far with your hooliganism that the girl is deliberately avoiding you." Jiang Baichuan, acting as a strategist, visited the Lanting Villa and took the opportunity to express his nameless sorrow.

Xie Qiyan glanced at him, then carried Changsheng back into the house, leaving Jiang Baichuan alone in the living room, secretly grieving.

Jiang Baichuan twisted his neck and turned around: "Hey, I haven't told you why I came to see you yet."

"boom--"

This was Xie Qiyan's response.

Xia Wanzhi was gone for a week or so, and didn't return until after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The studio had a ton of orders, and Xia Wanzhi threw herself into work as soon as she got back, working herself to the bone every day. She didn't even go to Xie Qiyan's house for meals, and she didn't even bother to pet her beloved cat.

Xie Qiyan, dressed in his pajamas, squatted in front of Xia Changsheng's cat bed and berated him: "Have you gotten old and lost your charm? Xia Changsheng, you've been abandoned by your benefactor."

Changsheng frowned for a long time before glancing at him.

Then he yawned, curled up, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

The old cat hardly moved around, and Xie Qiyan knew he was being neglected, so he sighed softly and wisely went to sit in the living room.

Xia Wanzhi, who was in Xie Qiyan's WeChat contact list, had changed her profile picture to a cartoon glutinous rice ball. When Xie Qiyan clicked into her Moments, he saw a horizontal bar.

I didn't know whether to feel resentful or relieved.

He was blocked, but it wasn't him.

Xie Qiyan flipped through his phone a few times, sent a message to Yu Fei asking him to prepare a Mid-Autumn Festival gift package for tomorrow, and then switched to Qi Shi's interface to ask him to come over and play a minor role tomorrow.

Xia Wanzhi has recently been leaving get off work promptly at 6 PM, and as soon as she gets home at 6:30 PM, she receives a message from her housekeeper.

Xie Qiyan: [Your Mid-Autumn Festival gift package will be delivered in ten minutes.]

Xia Wanzhi: [Hasn't the Mid-Autumn Festival already passed?]

Xie Qiyan: [Reissued.]

Xia Wanzhi thought to herself that the other person was truly the best housekeeper in the world.

Ten minutes later, Butler Qi, wearing a mask, and a dozen or so boxes stood neatly in front of Xia Wanzhi's house.

Xia Wanzhi's pupils dilated in shock: "This... is too much."

Qi Shi was slightly out of breath, his voice muffled from inside his mask: "Let me help you... move it in."

The person above instructed that we must go in and observe carefully.

Especially observe the kitchen.

You must find out what she's been eating lately.

Xia Wanzhi's expression froze for ten seconds before she reacted, stammering out, "You...you...you're not mute, are you?"

Qi Shi froze, then reverted to his previous mute state.

Xia Wanzhi's lips twitched slightly: "..."

After completing his task, Qi Shi continued to send Xie Qiyan long messages, this time adding his own subjective opinion: "[The kitchen seems to have been unused for a long time; there are takeout meals from 'Royal Kitchen' on the table. Miss Xia probably eats takeout every day.]"

Xie Qiyan asked: "Can you cook?"

Qi Shi, who knew how to fix plumbing, remained silent for a long time before replying: "Yes."

Xie Qiyan continued to issue orders: "From now on, bring fresh ingredients to cook every day at six o'clock."

Qi Shi, an obscure actor who can fix plumbing and cook: [Okay.]

The next morning, Qi Shi received another notice, and once again prepared to join the production team with his own investment.

His agent asked him, "Tell me the truth, are you being kept by some big shot?"

She just finished filming her scenes as the ideal woman in a movie a couple of days ago, and just a week before that, she finished recording an episode of a food variety show. Now she's getting another great script. It's obvious someone is forcing resources on her.

Qi Shi: "..."

Qi Shi, who was suspected of being kept by a powerful figure, went to cook for the powerful figure's young wife the next night.

Although he didn't understand what this new kind of fun was, he respected it.

Xia Wanzhi walked over, washed a tomato, and strolled around while eating it. She vaguely felt that the way the housekeeper cooked looked a bit like a celebrity she had seen on TV last night.

The variety show playing on TV wasn't very popular, but it was a program from Xigua TV, so it aired on time and Xia Wanzhi didn't switch to another channel.

Qi Shi finished cooking and left. Xia Wanzhi looked at the table full of food and didn't know where to start. After hesitating for a long time, she finally knocked on Xie Qiyan's door.

"Want to eat? It's on me." As soon as the door opened, Xia Wanzhi extended a warm invitation, feigning composure.

"Okay." Xie Qiyan was betting that Xia Wanzhi had no conscience, so he deliberately didn't work overtime today.

As it turns out, they still have a conscience.

They hadn't spent much time alone together for over half a month. When they met, they would only exchange a few casual greetings. Xie Qiyan had been either on business trips or busy with new projects lately, so he didn't have time to visit her at her studio. If Xia Wanzhi didn't take the initiative to invite him over for dinner tonight, he should have taken the initiative to come to her.

"Are you avoiding me?" Xie Qiyan asked, striking at the heart of the matter.

"Cough—" Xia Wanzhi coughed, feeling guilty, "No."

"Just two weeks ago, the Becker family's little princess boldly declared her ownership, saying, 'I am your man,' and then she ran away. What, is the little princess planning to start something and then abandon it?" Xie Qiyan thought for a long time but still couldn't figure out why Xia Wanzhi was avoiding him.

Jiang Baichuan subtly hinted every day that he was being too provocative.

Xie Qiyan denied it to the death, but apart from this reason, he really had no other reason to scare people away.

Xia Wanzhi looked up abruptly after hearing this, and then almost knocked her head into the bowl under Xie Qiyan's blunt gaze.

Her cheeks were noticeably tinged with a light pink.

After that meal, Xia Wanzhi didn't even greet him when she saw him for the next two days.

Xie Qiyan: "..."

Xia Wanzhi changed her off-get off work time and sent a message to the housekeeper, reminding him that he no longer needed to come over to cook.

Seeing her looking so listless, Zhu Zi couldn't help but ask, "Sister, which demon sucked your life force?"

Xia Wanzhi glared at him sharply: "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine."

"Goodness gracious. To use Sister Yunli's words, you're in the same state as someone who's in the throes of first love," Zhu Zi teased her.

Xia Wanzhi was about to retort, but her lips moved, and the words that came out were: "What does it feel like to be in love?"

Bamboo thought for a moment: "Distracted, spacing out, my mind is always uncontrollably thinking about one person."

Xia Wanzhi was completely wrong: "..."

Bamboo summed it up: "Just like you."

"Alright, that's enough, you can leave now," Xia Wanzhi quickly stopped her.

At the same time, inside Xie's CEO office, Yu Fei showed Xie Qiyan several trending videos: "Qishi has recently received your... special treatment. He suddenly became popular after appearing on a food variety show a few days ago. Many casual viewers are captivated by his looks, and he's now appearing in many trending short videos. I'm worried about Miss Xia..."

Xie Qiyan frowned: "Get to the point."

"Ahem, if Butler Qi shows his face in front of Miss Xia again, he'll be exposed," Yu Fei gently reminded her.

Even if she doesn't show herself, as long as Xia Wanzhi sees Qi Shi in her videos, she will suddenly realize that she has been tricked.

Yu Fei sighed softly.

My boss is about to lose his head.

Xie Qiyan frowned even more: "Then ban them."

Yu Fei: "!?"

Where is your conscience?

Fortunately, this was just said in anger. The next day, Yu Fei took the termination contract to Qi Shi and gave him the full amount of compensation.

Qi Shi accepted it readily.

Because of the popularity of a variety show, better opportunities await him. For him, Xie Qiyan is his benefactor.

"Mr. Yu, please rest assured, I will keep my mouth shut. If Mrs. Xie comes to me and asks, I will say that Qi Ayan is my twin brother."

Yu Fei: "..."

You can shut up now.

Mrs. Xie... oh, no, Miss Xia isn't stupid.