Clingy

Before Jiang Xiao could react, he was already impatiently pressing up against her.

The faint fragrance of toothpaste spread wantonly. Jiang Xiao pushed his shoulder with a clear mind and hurriedly said, “Stop… Stop kissing me. I just finished brushing my teeth.”

But just as she managed to break free for a few seconds, Zhou Qishen leaned in again. His eyes glanced at her sneakily as he nonchalantly responded, “Hmm, already kissed you, tasted like mint.”

Jiang Xiao’s face immediately turned red. She could only watch helplessly as the figure in front of her, immovable like a wall, approached closer and closer. Soon, his large hand wrapped around her waist, deepening the kiss.

After a moment of intimacy, Jiang Xiao looked up at his smiling eyes, where various emotions seemed to flow like different undercurrents. She bit her lip and used her index finger to push his almost-touching lips away, trying to prevent him from coming closer again, pretending calmly, “I have to go to the crew.”

Zhou Qishen’s nose pressed against hers, the ambiguous breath still mingling between them. He didn’t want to let her leave like that, so he raised an eyebrow casually and said, “Not urgent, there’s still time, let’s kiss again.”

As he spoke, he tried to kiss her again, but her fingers stopped him. For a moment, he couldn’t succeed.

“I really have to go.” Jiang Xiao warned in a low voice, sounding a bit impatient, but still able to hear the gnashing of her teeth.

However, Zhou Qishen seemed not to notice the hidden anger inside her, unrestrained and even intensified the force, hugging her tighter.

Verbal warnings were ineffective, Jiang Xiao narrowed her eyes angrily, using her other hand to pry open the man’s fingers, trying to separate the tightly fitting parts, but even the joints around her were red from her effort, and she didn’t see any loosening from him.

Jiang Xiao’s brute force didn’t work, so she had to use her nails to scratch and pry, like a kitten. She did it again and again, which amused Zhou Qishen at an inappropriate moment. Sensing her relenting, he withdrew his offending hand at the right moment.

“Go change your clothes first, then come out for breakfast,” Zhou Qishen instructed.

Jiang Xiao gained her freedom and hummed irritably, pushing Zhou Qishen forcefully away from the room’s door, then slammed it without hesitation, making a loud noise that showed she was a bit angry.

Because she was delayed, Jiang Xiao hurriedly changed her clothes, packed a few things, and walked out with her bag, passing by Zhou Qishen waiting at the door and heading towards the dining table.

Zhou Qishen felt he had caused trouble and followed silently behind her, standing behind her with a slightly curved corner of his eye. For the first time, he smiled very pleasingly and asked, “Are you angry?”

Jiang Xiao was still in a bad mood, with her lips pouted high, and she agreed by not responding.

Going against her wishes, it was only right for her to be angry, and Zhou Qishen’s brow showed a hint of helplessness. He coaxed softly, “I went too far, I promise there won’t be a next time.”

Jiang Xiao’s eyes flickered, finally willing to speak up, “Next time? I won’t let you kiss me next time.”

“Hmm?” Zhou Qishen nodded lazily.

The next moment, Jiang Xiao was pinched on her chin by someone, forced to tilt her head up in surprise as he kissed her lips. She could feel his teeth lightly nibbling on her lower lip, almost punishingly, not releasing it for a long time.

Jiang Xiao struggled to tilt her head back, even with him supporting her chin, still pulling on her neck, the pain and pleasure intertwined, causing her waist to twist a few times before slowly straightening her body to meet his firmness.

Her forced compliance inadvertently aroused Zhou Qishen’s excitement. He thought she didn’t dislike his closeness. Unable to help himself, he chuckled lightly, tightened his hand around her back, and pulled them closer.

But this time, he didn’t deepen the kiss, just stayed on the surface, pecking lightly like a chick pecking at grains.

“I have three video conferences today, so I won’t accompany you to the set. I’ll wait for you in the room when you come back,” Zhou Qishen said, finishing his schedule briefing, then bent down to kiss her forehead.

He then patted her cheek, released her hand, and walked to the other side of the dining table.

Jiang Xiao stood there dumbfounded, clutching the slice of bread in her hand, pursing her lips and muttering, “Oh.”

After she finished breakfast, Xiao Zhang, who came to the hotel to pick her up to go to the crew, happened to appear at the door. After greeting Zhou Qishen, they left together.

Since that boundary-breaking incident, Zhou Qishen seemed to have opened up like unblocking his own acupuncture points. Whenever their eyes met, he would lean in for a kiss—sometimes on the cheek, sometimes on the forehead, but more often than not, on the lips, alternating between light pecks and deep kisses.

In the past half month, Jiang Xiao had had enough of his torment. Finally, on this day, she received the news of his impending departure back to Beijing.

“Then you can go back to Beijing first.” Jiang Xiao curled up on the single sofa reading the script without raising her head, but the upward curve of her lips revealed her mood at the moment.

Zhou Qishen sat on the edge of the sofa, one arm draped over the back casually. He raised an eyebrow at her words. “I’m leaving, and you’re this happy?”

Sensing his displeasure, Jiang Xiao’s survival instinct kicked in. She shook her head pitifully, wearing a look of extreme sadness. “No, I’m actually quite upset.”

Zhou Qishen seemed momentarily taken aback, but quickly broke into laughter, shoulders shaking slightly, chest rising and falling with amusement. His eyes curved into crescents. “Then I won’t go, so you won’t be sad.”

Jiang Xiao paused in turning the pages of the script, glanced at him, rolled her eyes, and advised, “How can that be? You’ve stayed with me for so long, delaying a lot of things, right? You need to go back to work.”

“If you accompany me back, I will go back.” Zhou Qishen rarely acted like a rogue.

Jiang Xiao puffed up her cheeks in frustration, attempting to reason with him. “How can I go back? I haven’t even finished filming yet.”

Zhou Qishen frowned slightly, twirling a strand of hair between his fingers, implying deeply, “Don’t you need to be present in person for negotiations with Omega?”

“What?” Jiang Xiao’s breath hitched, eyes widening in disbelief.

Zhou Qishen remained composed, playing with his hair, not directly answering, but instead counter-questioning, “What, haven’t you received the news?”

“I haven’t? How did you know Omega would…” Before she could finish, Jiang Xiao remembered the encounter with Omega’s representative at the banquet that day. Now that Zhou Qishen mentioned it, she couldn’t help but suspect his involvement.

Jiang Xiao’s thoughts became complicated and obscure. Before she could sort them out, her phone, nestled in the sofa’s crevice, rang. She picked it up and saw it was from Liang Cheng.

Giving Zhou Qishen a warning look, she answered the call. Immediately, Liang Cheng’s excited voice came through, “Xiaoxiao, we’ve received news from Omega. They’re interested in inviting you as the spokesperson for their China region!”

“Director Zheng has agreed to give you two days off. You’ll leave for Beijing tonight and start discussing the cooperation tomorrow. Got it? I’ve already asked Xiao Zhang to buy your plane tickets.”

Liang Cheng rushed through the instructions without giving Jiang Xiao a chance to catch her breath or ask questions, then abruptly hung up.

Jiang Xiao was dumbfounded. Her slightly furrowed brows tightened further. She looked at Zhou Qishen, who was idling beside her, and asked, “Did you arrange this for me?”

Zhou Qishen’s voice was calm and measured as he leaned towards her, his cheek resting on his fingertips lazily. “It’s not exactly my arrangement. Paul already quite likes you.”

Jiang Xiao wasn’t foolish. She knew Zhou Qishen must have played a crucial role in this. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have secured the spokesperson role, even with her recent luck. Given her experience and works over the past few years, she would at most land an ambassadorship.

Having figured it out, Jiang Xiao sincerely said, “Thank you.”

“Is that all?” Zhou Qishen raised an eyebrow slightly, leaning closer to her cheek.

Jiang Xiao muttered silently about him taking liberties, but still did as he said, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “Is this enough?”

With that said, without waiting for his response, she quickly closed the script and headed towards her room. Halfway there, she turned around, facing him as she retreated a few steps, blushing. “I’ll quickly pack my luggage. Let’s go back to Beijing together tonight.”

*

At eight o’clock that night, the plane landed in Beijing.

Since it was a private trip, Jiang Xiao didn’t need to avoid paparazzi and followed Zhou Qishen into his car.

Once inside, Jiang Xiao removed her mask, taking in deep breaths of the cool air.

Zhou Qishen naturally took the mask and hat she removed, placed them on his knee, and calmly said, “After you finish the negotiations tomorrow, the day after is for me.”

Jiang Xiao knew there was more to come, so she followed up with a question, “What is it?”

Zhou Qishen didn’t beat around the bush, directly stating, “Accompany me to a family gathering.”

Since Jiang Xiao’s mother passed away, she rarely attended formal family gatherings. Occasionally, she was forced to attend one or two, only to leave early due to the disgusting behaviors of her stepmother and younger stepbrother.

The Jiang family wasn’t large, with all close relatives gathered together, totaling around thirty people. However, a century-old prestigious family like the Zhou’s was another matter entirely—there might be over a hundred people?

Just thinking about that scene made Jiang Xiao involuntarily hesitate, tentatively asking, “What kind of family gathering? Is it crowded?”

If it was crowded, she’d rather not go.

Although she enjoyed gathering with friends, she never blended well at elder gatherings.

Zhou Qishen lightly tapped the edge of the duckbill hat with his fingertips, calmly explaining, “The day after tomorrow is my elder brother’s birthday banquet. He wants to formally introduce Zhou Wenting to other members of the Zhou family.”

Jiang Xiao’s complexion subtly changed. She had originally thought it would be a simple family gathering, but never expected it would involve one of the book’s famous scenes—male protagonist Zhou Wenting’s return to the family.

Afterward, Zhou Wenting officially occupied a seat in the Zhou family.

Under the arrangement of Old Master Zhou, Zhou Wenting began to intervene in the Zhou Group’s business, marking the beginning of overt and covert competition with Zhou Qishen in the business world.

However, under normal circumstances, Zhou Wenting’s career trajectory had little to do with her, Jiang Xiao. As long as she didn’t go crazy and provoke him actively, his male lead halo posed no threat to her.

After all, now she could lean on a big tree for shade. Anyway, Zhou Wenting couldn’t hold a candle to Zhou Qishen.

But what troubled her was that although Zhou Qishen hadn’t explicitly said it, his intentions to cause trouble were already quite obvious.

It was someone else’s birthday plus a son recognition party—wouldn’t bringing his new wife along be stealing the spotlight? Wasn’t it just him being malicious?

Jiang Xiao twitched her eyes, and if she went, it would mean causing trouble at the male protagonist’s return party. But if she didn’t go, it would mean challenging the villainous boss’s power…

For a moment, Jiang Xiao felt overwhelmed. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and organized her thoughts. She decided to downplay the issue and asked, “So, will I have to meet your parents that day?”

Zhou Qishen responded with a faint “Hmm.”

This answer gave Jiang Xiao an opening. Seizing the opportunity, she wrinkled her small face and pretended to be distressed, “It’s not that I don’t want to go. It’s just that this news is so sudden. I haven’t even prepared a gift for the first meeting. I’m afraid it won’t be appropriate. How about I just… not go?”

This reason for refusal was reasonable. After all, they had just gotten their marriage certificate, and she was a young girl. It was natural for her to feel scared and nervous about meeting her future in-laws.

But before she could finish the last three words, Zhou Qishen casually blocked her off, “It’s okay, I’ve already prepared the gift in advance.”

Jiang Xiao was momentarily speechless, but she wasn’t about to give up easily. “Can what you’ve prepared be the same as what I would prepare? This is my first time meeting your parents, so I want to personally prepare a gift to show my sincerity.”

Frowning slightly, Zhou Qishen seemed to be contemplating. After a moment of silence, he said, “Then should we go buy it now?”

Seeing that he wasn’t going to give in easily, Jiang Xiao vigorously shook her head. “It’ll take a while to pick a good gift at this hour.”

Zhou Qishen remained silent, carefully observing her for a few moments. Soon enough, he saw through her intentions. “Are you perhaps reluctant to go to the gathering?”

Her smile froze for a moment after being bluntly exposed by him, but she didn’t dare to admit it, stuttering, “Of… of course I want to go. I’m just worried that I’ll be too nervous and make a mistake. What if your parents don’t like me because of that?”

After hearing her explanation, Zhou Qishen raised an eyebrow. He had thought Jiang Xiao, with her personality, would straightforwardly admit she didn’t want to go. He hadn’t expected her to persist stubbornly to the end.

Leaning back slightly, Zhou Qishen’s lips curved into a mysterious smile. “Oh? You don’t need to worry too much. My mom is very particular about appearances; she’ll definitely like you. As for my dad, his opinion doesn’t matter much.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xiao hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help but raise the corners of her mouth. Did Zhou Qishen indirectly compliment her on being very beautiful?

Regardless of whether he was trying to comfort her with these words, Jiang Xiao was genuinely touched. For a moment, she felt elated, and even her reluctance to attend the gathering waned a bit.

During the distraction, Zhou Qishen had already instructed the driver and they were heading towards Jiang Xiao’s home.

Taking advantage of the traffic delay, Zhou Qishen glanced at her pitiful little face and concealed his amused smile. He said leisurely, “Actually, if you say you don’t want to go, I won’t force you.”

Jiang Xiao’s eyes lit up, eager to turn her head and look at him, raising her voice a bit, “Really? Can I say it now?”

“It’s too late,” Zhou Qishen hooked his lips, the mole at the corner of his eye also swaying with a light smile, “At two o’clock the day after tomorrow, I’ll come to pick you up on time.”

Realizing she had been played, Jiang Xiao’s smiling face immediately fell down, and she glared at him angrily.

But no matter how angry she was, she couldn’t show a strong attitude in front of Zhou Qishen. After all, one of Zhou Qishen’s purposes in marrying her was to deal with his family. If she directly expressed that she didn’t want to attend the gathering, why did Zhou Qishen propose to marry her in the first place?

Sooner or later, she would have to face Zhou’s family; she had realized this.

It’s just that the purpose of this gathering was impure, and it also involved Zhou Wenting. Who knew if there would be some unexpected stories beyond the plot?