Chapter 148: Wait, This Plot?

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Lin Yu deliberately slowed down, waiting for Ji Ya, who was already exhausted, to catch up and land a punch on him. He obediently raised his hands in surrender. So the rich lady’s stamina wasn’t all that impressive after all—she was already completely worn out after only a few laps.

As a gentleman, he ought to let her win once in a while.

Ji Ya grabbed him by the ear and glared at him furiously. “If you make fun of your boss like that again, I really will dock your pay!”

That was what she said aloud, but inwardly she was worried. Thankfully, her reaction earlier probably hadn’t made Ah Yu think she was some kind of frivolous woman, had it? The first thing she had thought of when something like that happened was marriage. At the very least, she was someone responsible—to herself and to others.

The best possible outcome was that nothing had happened between them. Otherwise, her lifelong reputation would be ruined.

She sat face-to-face with Lin Yu and finished breakfast. Watching him carefully peel an egg before taking a cup of soy milk, she guessed that he must work out. That was probably why he did not eat plain porridge and stuck to protein-rich foods. So the porridge must have been cooked especially for her.

If he cared enough to go to such lengths for her, then why, when their conversation had reached that point, had he not been moved at all? She could not help feeling a little disappointed.

Could it be because she was older than him? But wasn’t there a saying that a woman three years older was worth a fortune? Perhaps he was simply different and did not like embracing fortunes. Maybe he preferred earning money through his own efforts. But who in their right mind would turn down money?

A sudden ache throbbed through her head. She denied her own feelings, deciding that the strange thoughts had merely been caused by drinking too much.

Yes, that had to be it. She had drunk too much!

A woman as outstanding as her had been pursued all her life. Something as absurd as being rejected by a man like him could not possibly have happened. It was only a fantasy—all of it was a fantasy!

…

After breakfast, Ji Ya sat moodily in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. She could not figure out the problem, and the more competitive she was, the less willing she became to simply let it go.

Lin Yu was tidying up the kitchen. The sight of him working so seriously from behind was irresistible. Before she knew it, she was thinking again of how he had looked in a suit that day. His handsome figure refused to leave her mind.

Then she imagined him after marrying her, holding a child while doing housework—the ideal stay-at-home husband. For some reason, that image, too, stubbornly refused to disappear.

How strange. She had suddenly become so strange.

Until now, men had always been the ones wanting to be with her, yet she had never accepted anyone’s affection. Someone had even offered to take over the company so that she could stay home, care for her husband, and raise children. But she had always been intensely career-minded and had never considered such things.

Today, for Lin Yu’s sake, she had even planned out whom their children would marry and when their grandchildren would be born!

In that brief span of time, her brilliant mind had already drawn a complete blueprint for their life together. Anyone who stayed with a woman like her would have a bright future and never need to worry for the rest of his life.

Yet Lin Yu had rejected her without hesitation, saying outright that it had all been a joke.

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Faced with her seriousness, he had merely laughed it off…

She had been completely sincere. What a pity… It had all only been a joke. If he had been willing to say yes, Ji Ya had even decided to give him half the company and half her fortune. Wasn’t sharing what people did with the person they loved?

Sigh…

…

Ji Fei Entertainment Agency.

Su Xiaolin had arranged for a private plane to depart that afternoon. She and Lin Yu would return to the film set, where some of his scenes remained unfinished. Once filming was over, he would have to fly back again to attend a modeling show.

Lin Yu’s schedule had been packed lately. He was busy for roughly three days every week, while the remaining time was reserved for writing songs.

Carrying the luggage Su Xiaolin had prepared, Lin Yu went downstairs to wait for the car to the airport. From her office, Ji Ya looked down through the floor-to-ceiling window at his departing figure. From such a distance, he was so small he was almost impossible to see, yet in her heart he seemed tall, dependable, and worthy of trust.

She shook her head, driving away those strange thoughts. When Su Xiaolin entered to gather some documents, Ji Ya called out, “Xiaolin.”

“Yes?”

“I seem to remember that you’ve never been in a relationship, have you?”

Su Xiaolin stared at her. “What?”

Was it just her, or had Ji Ya been acting strange ever since she arrived at work that morning? She had been distracted the entire time, and now she was even asking a question when she already knew the answer!

Oh no! Could it be that after the scandal involving Lin Yu had begun to spread online, the boss had decided to stop pretending and launch another direct attack at her?

Su Xiaolin eyed Ji Ya warily, already prepared to flee at any moment. As long as she ran fast enough, sorrow would never catch her!

But… Ji Ya was still her employer. She could not simply ignore her and turn around and run. Wouldn’t she get beaten for that? Wouldn’t her pay be docked? Wouldn’t she be fired?

When one depended on another for a living, one sometimes had no choice. Suppressing the grief in her heart, Su Xiaolin forced the corners of her mouth upward and explained again.

“Boss, I’m twenty-three, the same age as you. I’ve never dated anyone, and for the next five years after starting work, I won’t consider dating either. My career comes first! So, Boss, you can safely entrust your work to me!”

“I’m just a corporate slave, an ordinary wage earner. My life consists of nothing but work! All I have in my eyes is work!”

Ji Ya let out an awkward sound. Why did those words seem so familiar?

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After thinking for a moment, she remembered. Right—those were the assurances Su Xiaolin had given her when she had first followed Ji Ya to the company as her assistant.

Could they be considered a butler’s oath of loyalty?

At that moment, Su Xiaolin’s expression was filled with misery. As she looked at Ji Ya, a mask of pain gradually settled over her face.

Wonderful. You made me expose my own embarrassing past, and now you’ve gone right back to spacing out. Did you even hear a word I said? Why aren’t you laughing, hey!

Ji Ya had already resumed watching Lin Yu’s back. Perhaps he had been waiting too long. After not seeing Su Xiaolin come down for quite some time, he turned and looked up toward the office. Ji Ya immediately withdrew her gaze and cautiously hid behind a chair, so embarrassed that she wanted to scratch a hole in the floor.

He didn’t see that, did he? He didn’t see it!

He couldn’t possibly have seen her staring at his back like some pathetic lovesick admirer!

If he caught her doing it again, it would truly be mortifying!

Su Xiaolin walked up behind her and patted her shoulder. Ji Ya jumped so violently that her entire body seemed to spring into the air. Su Xiaolin frowned. This time, she was completely certain: the boss was acting strange today!

She asked anxiously, “Boss, are you feeling unwell?”

“It’s not me. It’s Lin Ning!”

Su Xiaolin made a startled sound, her eyes narrowing as she detected the scent of gossip.

What was going on? It was so early in the morning. How did the boss know that Lin Yu was feeling unwell? Could the two of them have spent the night together?

“Help me ask him something.” Ji Ya sneaked another glance at Lin Yu downstairs. “Ask him whether he has a girlfriend.”

Su Xiaolin was utterly stunned. Her eyes widened as she stared incredulously at Ji Ya, then at the tiny figure downstairs.

Wait… seriously? An underground romance?

No, hold on—the artist under her boss’s management was actually going to rise up and become the boss himself!

“Director Ji… he… you…?”