Gently bite the jasmine

The kitchen staff spent half an hour bringing over two ounces of thin noodles and three side dishes.

The dish of braised winter bamboo shoots in soy sauce, stuffed mushrooms, and crab roe with shrimp balls is for two people.

Lin Xi respectfully accepted the chopsticks Duan Yiheng handed her, and ate without speaking a word.

After eating two meals that night, Lin Xi returned to her room feeling quite full and walked back and forth barefoot on the floor.

Suddenly remembering Duan Yiheng's words, she picked up her phone and called Liang Yutong.

The phone rang four or five times before I answered: "I thought you'd forgotten about me since you're always at work."

Lin Xi chuckled: "No, I was just thinking of asking you out this weekend."

“I’m not free this weekend,” Liang Yutong snorted. “When Zheng Jianian comes back, I have to keep him company.”

Lin Xi was taken aback. She had called to ask Zheng Jianian, but Liang Yutong had brought it up on her own initiative.

She said, "You and he have been engaged for almost a year now, right? When are you planning to get married?"

Liang Yutong: "I'm not sure. He was abroad for the whole of last year, so I don't know what will happen next year."

Lin Xi: "Tongtong, I remember his parents seemed to be very satisfied with you."

Liang Yutong: "They're not his parents, they're his uncles. It's quite a coincidence, actually, Anian's uncle works at Yinfan."

When the Zheng family went bankrupt, the Liang family didn't turn against them, mainly because Liang Yutong insisted on fulfilling her marriage contract with Zheng Jianian.

Deeply moved, Zheng Jianian rallied his spirits and started his business again, and now his company is doing quite well.

His uncle, Zheng Jizhong, lowered his proud head, joined the Silver Sail, and gained Duan Zheng's appreciation.

But perhaps due to his experience with bankruptcy, Zheng Jizhong's personality has changed a lot.

Lin Xi had not experienced his suffering, so he could not comment on his unscrupulous methods.

"Then I won't disturb you two any longer," Lin Xi said. "Enjoy your time alone."

"Wait a minute," Liang Yutong said, afraid that she would hang up the phone. "I heard some gossip from Yu Lang about you and Duan Yiheng."

Lin Xi: "...You said it's gossip, can it be reliable?"

“How is it unreliable? I have video evidence.” Liang Yutong chuckled ambiguously. “I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I feel like the way he looks at you is really strange.”

"What video?" Lin Xi asked, puzzled.

Liang Yutong: "I'll send it to you later. I need to ask you now, did you really sleep in the same room as Duan Yiheng?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Lin Xi's face was burning. "Why did you emphasize the word 'sleep'? We were forced to make do for one night because of the weather. I didn't even touch his sleeve."

Liang Yutong chuckled and said, "Why does it sound a little regretful? You didn't even touch a sleeve on the bed?"

Lin Xi choked, recalling Duan Yiheng's dark and damp eyes at that time.

They bumped into each other, and the warmth of his chest still lingered in her palm; just thinking about it made her feel hot.

Lin Xi raised her hand and fanned herself, deciding not to chat with Liang Yutong anymore, and said, "I have to go to work tomorrow, so I'm not talking to you anymore."

Ren Liangyutong called out several times, but Lin Xi didn't respond, so she decisively hung up the phone.

A message immediately came through on WeChat. Lin Xi glanced down at it and saw that it was a video sent by Liang Yutong.

Lin Xi clicked on it and read it once, then paused, and read it a second and a third time...

She roughly knew who took the picture of the scene from the hotel to the airport.

It must have been that blogger Xiaoqi who unintentionally included herself and Duan Yiheng in the photos.

However, she was bumped into, and Duan Yiheng helped her up.

It was a perfectly normal thing. I don't know how she filmed the video, but when the two of them looked at each other, there was an indescribable ambiguity.

Seeing that she was alright, Duan Yiheng lifted his eyelids and gave a cold glance at the passerby who bumped into her.

The man was startled and repeatedly said "I'm sorry" to himself.

The more Lin Xi watched, the more panicked she became, so she turned off the video.

But after taking a shower and returning to bed, she couldn't resist clicking on it again.

Lin Xi felt something was off, so she turned off the video to cover it up and went to her WeChat Moments.

The first post is Chen Li's latest update; she and Lu Tong have arrived in Hong Kong.

She noticed that Mu Zhao had already liked the post.

It turns out they knew each other.

Lin Xi gave the thumbs up, then turned off her phone and tried to fall asleep.

—

The next day after starting work, Lin Xi began using her spare time to choose a restaurant for Duan Yiheng and Tan Qi's meeting.

I also received a call from the old man in the afternoon.

Upon learning that Duan Yiheng and Tan Qi were meeting on Friday, the old man couldn't stop smiling on the phone.

Lin Xi stood blankly in the tea room, her mind filled with the look in Duan Yiheng's eyes during the video.

With a gentle smile, pure and unadulterated.

Boiling hot water dripped all over the ceramic cup. Lin Xi, lost in thought, reached out her fingertip to touch the cup's handle.

When Duan Yiheng came in, he saw her in a daze. He frowned, raised his voice, and called out to her, "Lin Xi."

Lin Xi was startled, and her actions were faster than her thoughts; she reached out and pinched the handle of the cup.

"Ah—" she cried out briefly, instinctively letting go of her hand.

The ceramic cup shattered with a crisp sound, breaking into four pieces.

Lin Xi squatted down to pick it up, but Duan Yiheng grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the pool.

"What are you daydreaming about? The water's so hot." Duan Yiheng's tone was stern, but his movements were gentle.

He turned on the tap, grabbed her to prevent her from moving, and scolded her while rinsing her: "What time is it? Why are you still picking up those pieces?"

Lin Xi looked at their hands, which were intertwined and two shades different in color, and argued softly, "The cup was broken, so of course I should clean it up."

Duan Yiheng said calmly, "There is a cleaning service."

Lin Xi said "Oh," and then added, "I'll do it myself."

Duan Yiheng didn't let up. He rinsed her for about five minutes and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that her fingers were alright.

"Does it hurt?" Duan Yiheng asked, pinching her fingertips.

Lin Xi withdrew her hand and shook her head: "It doesn't hurt."

Duan Yiheng said helplessly, "If you stand around in the break room again, I'll dock your pay."

Lin Xi suddenly looked up: "Deduct my salary? You're going too far—"

"Hmm?" Duan Yiheng looked at her. "Too what?"

Lin Xi wrinkled her nose: "They're so considerate of their employees."

Duan Yiheng chuckled: "Good to know."

Lin Xi: "..."

She decided to ignore him for the time being and called the cleaning staff to restore the tea room to its original state.

Before leaving get off work, Lin Xi made a restaurant reservation and asked Duan Yiheng to confirm. He didn't even look up and said, "Whatever, you decide."

Lin Xi had no choice but to confirm a relatively well-known Western restaurant.

Tan Qi naturally received the invitation, but she didn't go to the restaurant; instead, she went directly to Yin Fan.

Lin Xi was taken aback when she received the call from the front desk, and quickly reported the matter to Duan Yiheng.

Duan Yiheng frowned, clearly displeased with Tan Qi's behavior.

But since everyone's here, it wouldn't be appropriate not to meet.

Since we're going to meet anyway, and she's already at the company, there's no need to go to dinner.

He nodded to Lin Xi, who was separated by glass.

Lin Xi immediately got up and went downstairs to greet Tan Qi.

Tan Qi has a strong love for red; from her car to her clothes, everything she wears is bright and eye-catching.

Within ten minutes, the rumor that she had come to see Duan Yiheng had spread throughout the entire office building.

Lin Xi led the person into the president's office and returned to his workstation.

She couldn't help herself; her peripheral vision darted to the right, and the glass suddenly became blurry and white, completely blocking Lin Xi's view.