“Not bad at all, the acting is on point too.”
“Yeah, especially the actress playing the young lady, Yan Zhenzhen, she’s so beautiful. Those legs, that waist, simply amazing.”
“The actress seems to be called Xia Yuan, never heard of her before.”
“Hey, this show features all newcomers, but you know what, both the plot and the acting are pretty good. I didn’t expect that failing to get tickets next door and coming here to kill time would turn out to be such a find.”
“I need to post this on my social media to recommend this show.”
“Me too…”
“…”
As the movie ended and the audience hadn’t yet dispersed, Xia Yuan heard the surrounding applause and straightforward compliments about her beauty. A radiant smile spread across her face, her peach blossom eyes carrying a hint of proud delight.
“Let’s wait for them to leave first, to avoid being recognized.”
Meng Xiyue looked up, her gaze falling on the other under the dim light, who was slightly leaning towards her, revealing a slender neck and pale collarbones. Her fair, slender fingers resting on her thigh slightly curved as she uttered a soft “Hmm.”
When most of the crowd had left, Xia Yuan and Meng Xiyue finally moved. Xia Yuan took out her sunglasses and put them on, revealing her fiery red lips, exquisite and beautiful.
She looked even more captivating.
“Xia Yuan.” Xia Yuan turned her head, just in time to see Hua Yingying coming out from the same cinema, wearing a mask, accompanied by Hua Yue.
“So the person you had an appointment with was President Meng.” Hua Yingying greeted Meng Xiyue and naturally moved closer to Xia Yuan.
Today was the movie premiere, and Hua Yingying had asked Xia Yuan out in advance, but she crisply declined, saying she already had plans, her voice filled with excitement.
Hua Yingying thought it was someone Xia Yuan liked, but it turned out to be N.S’s President Meng. In her memory, their relationship didn’t seem that close.
They were networking.
Hua Yue teased, “With N.S making such big moves recently, I thought President Meng would be too busy. I didn’t expect you to have the leisure to enjoy this.”
After finishing, those affectionate eyes glanced at Xia Yuan, implying something.
Meng Xiyue’s eyes remained beautifully indifferent, unaffected by Hua Yue’s teasing, “It’s all about balancing work and leisure.”
Hua Yue, in her high heels, swayed her hips as she walked over to Meng Xiyue, lightly bumping her arm with the hand she was holding, and whispered, “Tsk tsk, since when has our President Meng been so contrary.”
Meng Xiyue glanced at Hua Yue and moved away.
Hua Yue tactfully remained silent, turning to look at Hua Yingying and Xia Yuan, who were still talking. She couldn’t help but say, “Good taste.”
Although she and Xia Yuan were not from the same circle, she had heard about Xia Yuan’s infatuation with Li Ting. However, it seemed that the rumors were not entirely reliable.
Her gaze shifted to Hua Yingying, who looked like a little white rabbit, and she murmured with a light laugh, “My taste is also not bad.”
Being close by, Meng Xiyue naturally heard her.
The implication was clear; Hua Yue and Hua Yingying were together now. Her eyelashes fluttered as she looked at Xia Yuan, who was clearly in a good mood, her lips forming a beautiful straight line.
Two women?
“Meng Xiyue, let’s go.” Xia Yuan was very happy, having heard from Hua Yingying that many in the cinema had praised her. Her voice even carried a hint of sweetness.
In fact, Xia Yuan wanted to go dancing, but Hua Yingying had declined.
Meng Xiyue nodded to Hua Yue and walked over to Xia Yuan, who was still saying, “Are you really not going?”
Hua Yingying smiled shyly, “Mhm.”
Hua Yue came over and said, “We have other plans.” Her words carried a hint of intimacy.
However, Xia Yuan, caught up in her excitement, didn’t notice.
She felt a bit sorry, invited some friends in a group chat, and seeing the constant stream of messages, Xia Yuan knew tonight would be lively.
She waved her phone, showing the chat interface to Meng Xiyue, “Look, so many people are celebrating for me today.”
Seeing the messages flash to 99+, Meng Xiyue lowered her gaze, “Hmm.”
Xia Yuan tossed her phone into her bag, happily wrapping her arm around Meng Xiyue’s, her red lips curving into a beautiful arc, “I’ll take you out to have fun.”
Too close, overly intimate.
Meng Xiyue lowered her gaze, her eyes resting on their touching arms, her lips slightly pale, “Too noisy.”
That was a refusal.
Xia Yuan was displeased, withdrawing her hand and removing her sunglasses, her peach blossom eyes clearly showing her unhappiness: “Hmph, Meng Xiyue, you really won’t attend my celebration party?”
It seemed she had stirred up quite the trouble.
Meng Xiyue pursed her lips: “…I’ll only stay for half an hour.”
*
At the bar.
The restless music, the dim and flickering fluorescent lights.
Meng Xiyue sat on the sofa, sipping sake, her cool and elegant demeanor out of place.
Xia Yuan sat next to Meng Xiyue, surrounded by the flattery of her girlfriends, which cheered her up. She couldn’t help but glance at Meng Xiyue, noticing she had started drinking.
She quickly recommended a few cocktails that she often drank.
In the past, her girlfriends would have been visibly shocked by Xia Yuan’s thoughtfulness, but Meng Xiyue’s presence was too imposing, and they didn’t dare to come closer.
Without Xia Yuan’s mixing, they couldn’t sit still either, their gazes turning to the men and women in the dance floor, energetically moving their bodies, each one releasing their vitality.
Only Wang Yueyue, who got along well with Xia Yuan, sat in a corner of the sofa, drinking spirits, watching the scene unfold.
Xia Yuan glanced at the time, less than twenty minutes left of the half-hour: “Ah, no time left, I need to go dance now. Hey, Meng Xiyue, let me show you what a nightclub queen looks like.”
With that, she took off her coat, revealing her dazzlingly white skin, took out a mirror, and under the dim light, swiftly touched up her makeup.
After applying, she pursed her tinted red lips and shook her slightly curled hair: “Meng Xiyue, keep your eyes on me.”
Enhanced eyeshadow, long curled lashes, her peach blossom eyes now carried a seductive charm, lips red as blazing flames.
She stepped into her high heels, her figure swaying.
Under Meng Xiyue’s gaze, Xia Yuan stepped onto the dance stage.
As soon as she got up there, her girlfriends below started to scream energetically, the lights dimmed.
A powerful, rhythmic music began to play.
The spotlight shone on Xia Yuan at the center of the stage. She screamed, swaying her supple body to the music, her figure fiery and passionate under the lights.
The air was thick with the smell of smoke and alcohol, the music turned up so loud it was almost deafening.
Chaos reigned, with screams echoing everywhere.
Meng Xiyue’s gaze was fixed on Xia Yuan, who was dancing provocatively at the center of the stage, her body slender and supple, enchantingly seductive.
The cheers for her were continuous, like a heatwave.
Their gazes seemed to cut through the crowd, through the lights, and meet.
Under her watchful eyes, Xia Yuan bit her lower lip, her fingers, exceptionally pale under the lights, ran through her thick, curly hair, pulling it back to reveal her stunning face. She winked gently at her, a hint of provocation in her gesture.
Bang.
Beneath the restless music, something seemed to arrive quietly.
Meng Xiyue, with her beautiful, shimmering eyes, took a sip of her drink, concealing her emotions.
Wang Yueyue noticed that flirtatious look too, and after taking a sip of her drink, she smiled, “President Meng, what do you think?”
“In this situation, no one can resist Yuan-er’s charm, don’t you think?”
Meng Xiyue did not respond, and Wang Yueyue didn’t mind, her gaze falling on the other’s blushing ear tips.
She clicked her tongue.
Feeling somewhat intrigued.
This CEO… was perhaps too innocent, too emotional.
Xia Yuan, having danced to her heart’s content and coldly rejecting advances from men and women, slumped next to Meng Xiyue and took a gulp of alcohol, her cheeks still flushed, breathing slightly heavily: “How was my dancing?”
Her exposed skin, flushed from the exercise, her pale neck and delicate collarbones glistened with sweat. The two were close, and she could hear her gentle breathing. Meng Xiyue, not looking at her, took a drink, her actions quicker than her usual reserved and calm demeanor.
“It’s time to go,” she said, then stood up and left.
Xia Yuan was a bit confused, instinctively checking her phone. There were still more than ten minutes left, but seeing the other person walking away, she quickly grabbed her clothes and bag, and even poured herself a drink before leaving.
After dancing, she was terribly thirsty.
She said to Wang Yueyue who was sitting in the area, “I’m leaving first, I’ll cover the bill tonight, just put it on my tab.”
Wang Yueyue raised her glass in a toast, “Then thank you.”
Xia Yuan, in her high heels, dodged through the crowd and finally caught up with Meng Xiyue. “You said half an hour, you lied.”
Her voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
Meng Xiyue replied indifferently, “Too noisy, didn’t like it.”
Xia Yuan pouted, knowing that Meng Xiyue could only tolerate the noise for her sake.
“Alright then.” Although still not fully satisfied, Xia Yuan was content.
Stepping out of the bar, the cold wind was refreshing. Xia Yuan felt so exhilarated that she didn’t want to put on her coat. Waiting for Meng Xiyue to bring the car around, she noticed that he had been standing in the cold wind with bare arms for quite a while.
“Put on your coat.”
As soon as Xia Yuan got into the car, she heard Meng Xiyue telling her to put on her coat. She pouted, “No need, I’m so hot, and the car has heating, I’m not afraid of the cold.”
Meng Xiyue, hand on the steering wheel, turned her head, her profile marked by indifference, “Xia Yuan, I don’t want you to catch a cold tomorrow, especially since you’re spending tonight with me.”
Using her full name?
Xia Yuan obediently put on the coat, “Then turn down the heat, I’m hot.”
Seeing her comply, Meng Xiyue responded, “Hmm.”
After a while, Xia Yuan felt cooler, “Turn the heat back up.”
Meng Xiyue replied, “Hmm.”
However, if Xia Yuan had paid attention, she would have noticed that the temperature in the car had never actually changed from the start.
N.S Building.
The senior management of N.S is in a meeting.
After presenting the performance of the new generation of smartphones, they began discussing the budget for the plot of land in the west of the city.
Meng Xiyue just listened and did not express any opinions; she only needed the final result.
She couldn’t tell them that there was a problem with that plot of land.
As far as she knew, the male protagonist Li Ting had already made private deals with many companies, promising many benefits.
Tianyu was determined to get that piece of land.
Secretary Gao glanced at Meng Xiyue, who appeared calm and composed, and thought to himself.
It seems that the president isn’t very concerned.
Just then, the sound of a vibrating phone interrupted.
The slightly intense conversation stopped, and everyone looked towards the main seat where the phone wouldn’t stop vibrating.
Meng Xiyue glanced at the caller ID.
She paused and said, “Sorry, please hold on a moment.”
She stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window to answer the call.
A nasal voice came through the handset: “Meng Xiyue, I have a cold.”
Meng Xiyue glanced at her watch.
10:23
It seemed the caller had just woken up, so the first call was to her.
Her eyelashes fluttered as she responded coldly, “I’m not a doctor.”
“Meng Xiyue, you’re too much.”
The call was disconnected.
Meng Xiyue stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, her lips slightly pursed.
…
Xia Yuan lay uncomfortably in bed, feeling angry, distressed, and wronged.
“Knock, knock.”
Someone knocked on the door. She should let them in and tell them she was sick, but she just wanted to be willful for a bit longer.
Her mind was full of thoughts.
Meng Xiyue was too much, she didn’t want to deal with her at all.
The door opened, and in came Aunt Lin, who had been a helper in her family for nearly twenty years and had watched Xia Yuan grow up.
“Yuan’er, get up and drink some hot water. The doctor will be here soon.”
Doctor?
A surge of energy seemed to flow into Xia Yuan’s weak body, and she sat up abruptly. Her long curly hair was a bit messy, her complexion pale, but her eyes were bright: “Did Meng Xiyue tell you I was sick?”
Aunt Lin honestly replied, “Yes, she didn’t have this phone number, so she called your brother.”
She handed the water to Xia Yuan, not understanding why the girl she watched grow up was reacting so strongly: “Are you and Miss Meng friends?”
Xia Yuan cooperated and drank the hot water, no longer feeling the misery and discomfort from before, “Yes, Meng Xiyue has been really good to me.”
Now that she had calmed down, she understood that Meng Xiyue was at work and couldn’t take care of her, which was understandable.
But if Meng Xiyue was so nice to her, why was she so cold on the phone?
It made her lose her temper.
She huffed twice and picked up her phone to send a message.
She definitely wouldn’t apologize.
N.S Conference Room.
The voices of discussion halted once again.
Meng Xiyue: “Sorry.”
She unlocked her phone, and a simple message popped up.
“Thank you.”
Carrying the pride of a young lady.
Her thin lips curved into a slight arc, a shimmer seemed to dance in her eyes. Meng Xiyue put down her phone, her voice gentle: “Continue.”
Secretary Gao adjusted his glasses.
The BOSS seems to be in a good mood.
*
Xia Yuan’s cold was fierce. After taking medicine and messaging her agent, she considered it a leave of absence.
She spent the entire day collapsed at home, unable to eat or muster any energy.
During this time, her brother Xia Ke came home once, saw that she was not in serious trouble, gave a few instructions, and returned to the office.
Xia Yuan held her phone, her fingers scrolling through her contacts.
Suddenly, she felt utterly alone, as if there was no one to keep her company.
Xia Yuan sniffled. She wasn’t a child; she didn’t need anyone’s company.
Aunt Lin smiled, “Yuan’er, your friend Miss Meng is here to see you.”
