The conversation had taken a turn.

They were riding in a sightseeing vehicle, with Jingjing and Chen Yi sitting in the back.

They were trying to ignore the awkward conversation between the employer and his spouse about sensitive past topics, wishing they weren’t there.

“Even if others taught me, it still counts.”

The things others had suggested weren’t about her mother coming over and telling her to drug him or something like that…

He actually heard everything! Ning Qiuxiu’s face turned beet red, wishing she could travel back in time and slap a gag order on Wen Ling’s mouth, which had never been good for anything.

At the same time, she regretted ever caring about Zhan Qingyue’s mental and physical health.

The fact once again proved that such a person didn’t need any of it!

After Zhan Qingyue had enough teasing, Ning Qiuxiu lost interest in his rehabilitation.

The whole situation was inherently negative.

When Zhan Qingyue was frustrated, he couldn’t help but feel like giving up.

He didn’t want to do any more rehabilitation; if he couldn’t stand up, so be it.

After all, modern people rarely needed their precious feet.

These thoughts were particularly strong when he was undergoing more challenging rehabilitation exercises.

Sometimes, he couldn’t suppress a nameless anger that flared up out of nowhere and felt the urge to lash out at others.

To prevent this anger from causing harm to others, he sought help from a psychologist to calm and stabilize his mindset.

Negative emotions were like trash—best to get rid of them and not involve Ning Qiuxiu in this negativity, which only made things worse.

…

On the day Ning Qiuxiu was supposed to submit her proposal, it still only had a title.

She even thought about hiring a ghostwriter.

But Zhan Qingyue would likely want to dismiss her first; the difference between something written by a professional and a non-professional was too great for him not to notice.

With no inspiration in front of the computer, she grabbed some paper and a pen, deciding to first jot down a few key points.

Then she would “inject soul” into the paper and flesh out the framework, hoping this approach would be smoother.

Disliking the gloomy atmosphere at home, she took her paper and pen to the yard.

The yard had a grass lawn of several dozen square meters, with tables and chairs under the shade of trees.

The lawn had been ruined by Miaomiao, the hyperactive Husky, who frolicked and dug up the grass every day.

“……” Ning Qiuxui looked at the uneven, pockmarked lawn and thought that the property management would probably charge them for the damage when they moved out.

At that moment, Miaomiao was playing with a rabbit toy, flipping it over and over, tearing it apart, and joyfully fetching it.

Ning Qiuxiu watched and smiled for a while before calling out, “Miaomiao.”

Miaomiao stopped its actions.

Seeing Ning Qiuxui, the stupid dog not only didn’t come running over to her like before but instead bared its teeth and barked aggressively.

Ning Qiuxiu was taken aback by its alertness.

Wasn’t it quite affectionate towards her before? Was it only being friendly because of Zhan Qingyue?

Now that he wasn’t around, it was showing its true nature?

Huskies couldn’t be that smart, could they…

At that moment, a petite figure ran over and stood between Miaomiao and Ning Qiuxiu, scolding, “Miaomiao, you can’t be rude to Miss Ning! Miss Ning, I’m sorry, Miaomiao isn’t familiar with you, so it was a bit aggressive. Please don’t be angry.”

The newcomer was named Xiaoqin, a maid hired to work here.

She was quite efficient and looked delicate and pretty. Miaomiao was under her care.

Ning Qiuxiu waved her hand and said, “It’s fine.”

She couldn’t be bothered to argue with a foolish dog, but Miaomiao, hiding behind Xiaoqin, glared at her with a fierce expression, which annoyed Ning Qiuxiu.

She pretended to raise her notebook as if she were going to hit the dog to scare it away.

Unexpectedly, Miaomiao acted as if it had actually been struck, letting out a howl and running away.

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”

Could she report it for trying to scam her?

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll go get it back,” Xiaoqin said, bowing to her before turning to chase the dog.

Ning Qiuxiu frowned slightly, feeling something was off but couldn’t quite pinpoint what.

Oh well, why bother arguing with a dog?

Ning Qiuxiu decided not to dwell on it. Since Miaomiao had only seen her a couple of times and was naturally cautious around strangers, she went back to working on her proposal.

The method of first outlining and then filling in details seemed effective.

After working all day, she finally completed a proposal she was proud of, with over 1,000 words.

She reviewed it three times and thought it was persuasive and excellent.

She asked the butler to print it out and went to the study to find Zhan Qingyue, who had been inside since dinner.

Just as Ning Qiuxiu was about to knock on the door, it suddenly opened from the inside, startling her.

It was Xiaoqin, who had just delivered some drinks and a fruit plate to Zhan Qingyue.

Zhan Qingyue’s health still required careful management, so he had strict dietary needs.

At night, he needed to eat some fruit and drink milk to replenish his nutrition and gain weight quickly.

Xiaoqin seemed startled to see Ning Qiuxiu, lowering her eyes a bit and saying, “Miss Ning.”

“Is Mr. Zhan busy?” Ning Qiuxiu asked.

“Busy,” Xiaoqin said, as if she remembered something, and quickly added, “Mr. Zhan is especially busy right now. I went to deliver the items and intended to remind him to drink them while they were still warm, but he told me to leave them and not disturb him.”

It was clear he was very busy.

Otherwise, with his usual polite and courteous demeanor, he wouldn’t have treated a servant like this.

He was always polite and well-mannered to strangers.

Only with her did he show a different attitude.

“Great!” Ning Qiuxiu clapped her hands.

She figured she should take advantage of Zhan Qingyue’s busy schedule to approach him.

That way, even if he thought her writing resembled an indescribable mess, he wouldn’t have time to mock her.

Otherwise, if she caught him when he was free, he’d just use her as a diversion from his boredom, making fun of her for his own amusement.

Ning Qiuxiu had seen through him!

“Truly, heaven helps me. I’ll go find him right away.”

Xiao Qin: “……”

“Well, I’ll go get busy. Miss Ning, please make yourself at home.” Xiao Qin said quickly and left.

Ning Qiuxiu knocked on the study door and entered after getting permission.

But once inside, she realized Xiao Qin had tricked her!

Zhan Qingyue wasn’t busy at all! He was lounging comfortably in the study’s plush office chair, leisurely squinting at some materials while eating fruit skewers from a fruit plate.

He even looked like he might prop up his leg in a relaxed pose to fully express his current ease.

“……” Do all of the Zhan family’s servants and caregivers pull such tricks on the mistress?

“Finished writing?” Zhan Qingyue raised an eyebrow when he saw the document in her hand.

Ning Qiuxiu mentally noted to take revenge on Xiao Qin, then walked over slowly to hand him the draft: “It’s not well-written. Please be gentle with your criticism; otherwise, my fragile heart will be severely traumatized.”

“Not bad,” Zhan Qingyue took the draft and said, “Just let Dr. Pan give you some advice too.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”

How has Zhan Qingyue managed to survive this long without getting beaten up?

Changing his sitting position, Zhan Qingyue began to seriously review her proposal.

Ning Qiuxiu had nothing to do and her gaze wandered aimlessly, but she stopped when she noticed a small tray on the desk.

The tray held fruit, milk, and a small dessert.

The dessert was exquisitely made, shaped like a heart, and arranged on a light pink plate, looking warm, inviting, and full of affection.

Combined with Xiao Qin’s nervousness at the study door earlier, Ning Qiuxiu, despite her usual dullness, started to sense something was off.

Oh my gosh, is it really this melodramatic? Just because this is a novel doesn’t mean it has to be so full of clichés!

Even the plot of “The Overbearing CEO Falls in Love with Me” wouldn’t dare to write something like this.

Ning Qiuxiu was overwhelmed by this melodramatic scene.

The servants here were mostly newly hired, aside from the two caregivers.

Although their relationship wasn’t made clear to these people, anyone with eyes could see that she and Zhan Qingyue’s relationship wasn’t simple, considering they were living together.

Could it be that their separate rooms and less intimate relationship gave others the wrong impression that there was an opportunity?

“Feel free to take it if you want,” Zhan Qingyue noticed her intense gaze at the dessert and said generously, “I’m not that protective of my food.”

Protective of your food, my foot! They prepared a loving dessert for you, and you’re still protecting it. I’ll knock you back into a vegetative state with one hit.

“Mr. Zhan, do you always put so much thought into your snacks?” Ning Qiuxiu said with a hint of sarcasm.

“Thoughtful?” Zhan Qingyue looked at the plate of sweets and realized what she meant.

He replied, “Today is the first time.”

Fortunately, no favoritism involved.

She was bold to openly do this kind of thing right under her nose.

Thinking about the fierce dog and this behavior, Ning Qiuxiu felt she needed to assert her authority and clean up her household a bit.

Otherwise, people might think she’s a pushover.

And Jingjing with her bad luck should be made to eat celery for a couple of days—just to get some fresh air!

Zhan Qingyue quickly skimmed through Ning Qiuxiu’s proposal and asked, “Did you write all of this yourself?”

“I searched for a couple of points on Baidu,” Ning Qiuxiu admitted honestly.

She came up with three reasons but felt they were too few, so she added two more from Baidu to make it five.

“The writing is…” Zhan Qingyue stretched out his words and, under Ning Qiuxiu’s hopeful gaze, said, “A waste of a few minutes of my time.”

“…” Although she expected Zhan Qingyue wouldn’t be satisfied, Ning Qiuxiu still felt a bit disappointed and quietly said, “I thought… it was okay.”

“Do you really want to do this?” Zhan Qingyue asked her.

“Yes, I believe we can definitely succeed and become a major player in the entertainment industry soon.” Despite being discouraged multiple times, Ning Qiuxiu remained confident.

She thought she had a knack for spotting rising stars.

By recruiting them now while they were still at a lower level, they could become hugely successful in a few years, boosting her company’s reputation.

Moreover, she knew several promising shows. If their company not only managed artists but also invested in films, they could invest in these shows and make a huge profit.

Just thinking about it filled her with hope.

But she couldn’t write all that in the proposal. It had to be framed as recruiting some promising artists and investing in potential shows… which didn’t sound very convincing.

“But I think it could result in huge losses,” Zhan Qingyue said bluntly, “a complete failure.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “…”

He really didn’t give her any face.

She shouldn’t have thought Zhan Qingyue asked her to make a proposal because he was genuinely interested.

Instead, he might just be teasing her.

After spending two days excitedly working on it, she felt quite let down.

As she looked around for something to hit him with in frustration, Zhan Qingyue continued, “To prevent me from losing alone, Miss Ning, I require you to invest as well.”