Chapter 9 - 1#
When Jin Yan woke up, it was already bright daylight.
His long-alert nerves made him sense someone beside him even when his consciousness was still hazy. He opened his eyes abruptly and sat up, immediately seeing Jiang Qin sitting by the bed, with a look of surprise on his face that he didn’t have time to hide.
“Did I scare you?” Jin Yan rubbed his face: “Sorry, I thought it was someone else…”
“…It’s okay.”
Jiang Qin was wearing a light gray fine-checked shirt of very good quality, with two buttons undone at the collar. Because he had just rinsed his mouth, his lips were slightly shiny and moist red.
Jin Yan’s gaze lingered on the corner of his lips for several seconds until Jiang Qin stood up and said, “I came to tell you breakfast is ready.”
“…Oh, thanks.”
Fortunately, Jiang Qin didn’t stay in the bedroom for long, otherwise Jin Yan would have had to show him his awkward morning erection.
While hiding in the bathroom and solving the problem by hand while imagining Jiang Qin, Jin Yan was actually very annoyed. There are indeed many thirty-year-old men in the world who can remain indifferent when facing a beautiful wife, but Jin Yan is definitely not one of them.
He couldn’t eat what he wanted to eat, and what he didn’t want to eat was throwing themselves at him like crazy bees and butterflies all day long. Jin Yan was holding back so much that he was about to become schizophrenic. Every day after solving the morning erection problem, he would stare at the mirror and grit his teeth, swearing that he would commit marital rape tonight, but when night really came, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything to Jiang Qin’s cold and perfect face.
Breakfast consisted of fried eggs, bacon, fruit, and bread. Jiang Qin was reading a mystery novel with rapt attention, Jin Yan was racing against time to send emails via his mobile phone, and Li Meng ate everything with relish, slurping like a little pig.
The slap he received yesterday was obviously not light. Half of his face was still swollen. Jin Yan looked up in the interval of sending emails and saw it. In a trance, he felt that face looked very much like Jiang Qin’s, and he suddenly felt a little heartache.
This is the reason why little student Li Xiaomeng has never been touched by Jin Yan no matter how mischievous or spoiled he is: last year, he imitated Jin Yan’s signature on a credit card at an illegal auction and bought a fake jade chessboard at a sky-high price. As a result, undoubtedly, the matter was exposed immediately. At that time, Jin Yan was furious. Just as he was about to enforce family discipline, he saw little student Li Xiaomeng’s tears gushing out, sobbing and saying, “Daddy, I was wrong, please don’t tell Mommy.” That look was exactly the same as Jiang Qin’s when he was a child—instantly, Jin Yan was full of guilt and ran to buy an ice cream to comfort his son.
“I’m full,” Li Meng pushed away the plate, wagged his tail and said, “Adults, you play by yourselves, I’m going to school.”
Jin Yan suddenly remembered something, coughed and said, “Your mom and I won’t be back for dinner tonight.”
Jiang Qin looked up from the German novel: “Hmm?”
“Company shareholders’ annual meeting, you promised to attend with me.”
Jiang Qin had obviously forgotten about this matter. After a long while, he softly said “Ah…”.
“I’ll drive to pick you up after work.” Jin Yan said decisively, “It’s settled then.”
An annual meeting held by an entertainment company like Star Entertainment would obviously be a fashion ceremony focusing on stars, media, and celebrities from all walks of life.
As the executive director, Jin Yan insisted on driving to pick up Jiang Qin from work before the opening. When the two arrived, it was already a bit late. The entire lounge was crowded with signed artists, all in long gowns and jewelry, looking dazzling.
Jiang Qin, carrying a laptop and wearing a gray suit for work, walked up the steps in a hurry. Jin Yan opened the door for him half a step ahead. The two naturally crossed the hall and walked into the small door of the dressing room under the gaze of everyone.
Except for the company’s senior managers and a few well-informed people, almost no one recognized Jiang Qin. Watching this scene, they all felt very strange. A popular young actor couldn’t help turning back to ask his agent: “Third Brother, who is that person walking with President Jin? He looks very arrogant.”
The agent immediately made a “shh” gesture and whispered: “Don’t ask, pretend you didn’t see.”
A female star next to them chuckled: “Ah San, you are too careful. What’s there not to say? A company director, of course.”
The agent was very composed. Hearing this, he just smiled and didn’t speak.
The popular young actor couldn’t suppress his curiosity: “Director? How come I haven’t seen this person in the company?”
“Invisible director, do you know? Never speaks, never expresses an opinion, stands on the same line as President Jin. It is said that President Jin can control all the company’s money thanks to him.” The female star leaned over mysteriously: “Do you know what his relationship with President Jin is? I’m afraid it will scare you if I say it.”
“Could it be…”
“Uh-huh,” the female star raised her eyebrows in gossip and said meaningfully: “I don’t know if they had this relationship first and then he became a shareholder, or if he became a shareholder first and then had this relationship. Anyway, he is a powerful character, not as gentle as he looks on the surface. Never provoke him.”
The popular young actor nodded blankly. Seeing him so ignorant, the female star couldn’t help but add kindly:
“—And never provoke President Jin in front of him.”
When Jiang Qin sat in the dressing room, he had changed into a white shirt and a black formal jacket. The light made his eyes look like amber with a faint transparency.
The makeup artist asked carefully: “Your face is too pale. Shall I apply some foundation?”
Jin Yan stood behind him, holding the back of the chair, leaning down to observe Jiang Qin’s face in the mirror.
“No need,” he said to the makeup artist, “He doesn’t like it.”
How could the makeup artist dare to say another word? She quickly packed up her things and retreated awkwardly.
The small room was silent. Jin Yan slowly lowered his head to kiss Jiang Qin’s neck. Jiang Qin suddenly raised his hand, but was grabbed by him, followed by a kiss on the cheek.
“When you see thousands of roses airlifted to the hotel entrance, the huge crystal chandelier occupying half the ceiling in the hall, and so many artists and media, did you ever think there would be such a day when we were seven or eight years old?”
Jiang Qin turned his face sideways and said coldly: “I’d rather stay in that time forever.”
Jin Yan watched him quietly, and after a long while, he laughed deeply.
“That’s impossible, Jiang Qin. Everyone changes with time. Only you remain consistent.”
“I’ll leave you here to rest for a few minutes. See you at the venue at nine.” Jin Yan stood up, took out a pair of thin silver-rimmed glasses from his suit pocket and placed them by Jiang Qin’s hand: “This is made according to the data from your optometry last month. I hope your vision hasn’t changed in this month.”
Jiang Qin asked indifferently: “How did you know I went for optometry last month?”
Jin Yan was opening the door of the dressing room to go out. Hearing this, he turned back and smiled: “You see, actually I also know a lot of things, don’t I?”
The door clicked shut.
Jiang Qin sat motionless for a long time, wondering what he was thinking. It wasn’t until someone banged on the door outside the dressing room that he stood up abruptly, grabbed the glasses and walked out.
As a result, outside the door was a beautiful female star in a golden evening gown. Seeing him, she couldn’t help but be stunned: “Sorry, I thought… Huh? Mr. Jiang?”
Jiang Qin didn’t recognize her at all, nodded coldly, and brushed past her.
The woman turned around in shock, watching him stride through the corridor and quickly disappear into the magnificent venue gate.
“Jiang Qin,” she murmured, “He is actually… still here…”
When Jiang Qin walked to the venue, a whole hall of famous people had already taken their seats. A luxurious table under the stage was specially prepared for the core figures of the board of directors. Jin Yan looked up and saw him, immediately strode down from the podium, and personally led him to that table.
The seating here was also interesting, arranged from top to bottom according to the amount of shareholding and position. On Jin Yan’s right was a founder holding 20% of the shares, and on his left was Jiang Qin.
There was an empty seat next to Jiang Qin, with aperitif and cutlery set, but no one sat there. That was the seat reserved for Li Meng.
Many people present didn’t know Jiang Qin, but they all knew Jin Yan’s precious son Li Xiaomeng. Although he was only fifteen years old, the newspapers already called him the future young owner of the entertainment industry.
Duan Hanzhi, holding a whiskey glass, walked over as if no one else was around, stood and clinked glasses with Jiang Qin: “Long time no see, how have you been recently?”
Jiang Qin took a sip of wine and smiled: “Wei Hong should have told you everything.”
“—Indeed. So what’s the final result?”
Jiang Qin knew he was asking about the divorce. After a long silence, he said: “I think it can no longer be changed.”