Accident

Inside the spacious and brightly lit studio, flashes of light were continuous.

In couple photoshoots, intimate poses were inevitable. Rather than wasting time hesitating, they preferred to close their eyes and go for a quick and decisive approach.

Jiang Xiao and Zhou Wenting both understood this principle well. During the shoot, they cooperated seamlessly. No matter how the photographer directed them, they could understand each other’s intentions instantly and make adjustments accordingly to achieve the desired effects.

During a break when the crew was changing equipment, Jiang Xiao couldn’t help but glance in Paul’s direction.

The group was roughly divided into two factions: one led by Paul, presumably internal staff of Omega, and the other by employees of the Zhou Group. Among them, one man looked familiar. She had seen him once at the Zhou Group, Zhou Qishen’s personal assistant—Assistant Chen.

However, no matter how she looked, she didn’t see Zhou Qishen’s figure.

“Looking for Little Uncle?”

Suddenly, a male voice interrupted Jiang Xiao’s thoughts.

Jiang Xiao turned to the voice and saw that Zhou Wenting had appeared beside her at some point, hands in his pockets, looking thoughtfully at the spot she had been looking at earlier.

Zhou Wenting had already begun involving himself in the company’s affairs, so it was normal for him to know about Omega’s collaboration with the Zhou Group. However, Jiang Xiao didn’t like others casually guessing her thoughts, especially someone she didn’t want to talk to.

After a moment, Jiang Xiao withdrew her gaze without expression and replied, “None of your business.”

Perhaps her attitude was too cold. A hint of frustration flashed in Zhou Wenting’s eyes, but it quickly gave way to another emotion. He looked at her, persistent in his attempt to speak, “After the shoot, can we talk? I think there are many misunderstandings between us.”

He had thought it over carefully. Their relationship had started on the wrong foot, leading to many grievances later on, even to the point where Jiang Xiao couldn’t stand the sight of him.

He asked himself, apart from the matter of Qianyu, he had not offended her in any other way. As her lover back then, he might have been a bit distant, but it was not unforgivable.

As long as Jiang Xiao was willing to sit down and talk seriously, clarify what needed to be said, he believed their relationship wouldn’t continue to deteriorate.

Jiang Xiao frowned slightly as she listened to him. The resistance in her expression almost spelled out “not willing” on her face. Talk again? What was there to discuss? Wouldn’t it be better if they just ignored each other?

Bluntly speaking, if reality allowed it, she would have preferred to consider Zhou Wenting “dead,” never to interfere with her life again.

But Zhou Wenting, with his hidden male dominance and the aura of a male protagonist, had an inexplicable obsession with anything or anyone beyond his control. This included Lin Qianyu, the female lead who had once walked away from him, and now herself, who had actively broken up with him.

In summary, it was just one word: cheap.

When he had her, he often ignored her. Now that he lost her, he regretted entangling himself with her. Thinking of this, Jiang Xiao’s face became even more unsightly, but she couldn’t directly tear apart her face with Zhou Wenting, lest it became an unsightly scene in public.

After careful consideration, Jiang Xiao could only patiently say, “After the shoot, I’m having dinner with your uncle. I don’t have time to talk to you.”

In the current situation, it was most appropriate to use Zhou Qishen as a shield. According to her understanding of Zhou Wenting, he still had some respect for Zhou Qishen.

Sure enough, as soon as she said this, Zhou Wenting’s face darkened, and a hint of hostility flashed in his eyes.

The atmosphere stagnated for a moment. Just as Jiang Xiao thought he might end the topic there, unexpectedly, his next words were, “Does Little Uncle know that we were once together?”

Jiang Xiao’s beautiful pupils suddenly contracted. She raised her head abruptly and looked over. In Zhou Wenting’s cold and resolute black eyes, a strong edge was revealed.

However, Jiang Xiao didn’t detect the extremely well-hidden trace of jealousy in his eyes. What flashed through her mind was speculation—was he trying to use this matter to deal with Zhou Qishen?

“Is that important? That’s already in the past.” Jiang Xiao pursed her lips and, by chance, glanced at Lin Qianyu, who was standing not far away in the shadows. She raised an eyebrow unconsciously. “By the way, does Lin Qianyu know about your incident when you came looking for me after drinking?”

Zhou Wenting’s face stiffened. He stared at Jiang Xiao’s gaze, slowly shifting towards Lin Qianyu. She had stood up from her chair and had been staring in their direction, but he didn’t know for how long.

Realizing this, Jiang Xiao understood something and couldn’t help but smile. The curve of her lips carried an unmistakable sarcasm. “Does she know that you can’t forget your ex?”

“No…”

“No, what?” Jiang Xiao narrowed her eyes, interrupting him, continuing to mock, “No lingering feelings? Or haven’t told her?”

Zhou Wenting’s usually calm face showed signs of cracking. He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, not even half a word could escape his lips.

A sense of embarrassment and bitterness surged in his heart, simply because what Jiang Xiao said was true. He couldn’t deny either. Clearly, he didn’t like Jiang Xiao, but for some reason, he couldn’t let go.

Especially after learning that she was with his uncle, he had regretted it more than once. But what did he regret?

Regret not breaking up completely with Jiang Xiao and entangling himself unclearly with Lin Qianyu, leading to gossip? Or regretting breaking up with Jiang Xiao too quickly? Or regretting agreeing to be with Jiang Xiao in the first place?

Zhou Wenting was no longer sure what he was regretting, but faced with reality, Jiang Xiao and he had no possibility of reconciliation.

After an unknown amount of time passed without him speaking, Jiang Xiao grew tired of waiting and made an excuse for the makeup artist to touch up her makeup, using it as an opportunity to create distance from Zhou Wenting.

When the shoot finally ended, Liang Cheng took a phone call, and Jiang Xiao followed the crew back to the dressing room. As she opened the door, she unexpectedly saw someone she hadn’t anticipated.

A tall man was seated where she had been doing her makeup earlier. He leaned against the backrest with a navy blue suit jacket draped over it, looking bored as he stared straight ahead. His fingers tapped the edge of the chair rhythmless, his unfocused gaze slightly scattered, lost in thought.

Upon hearing the door open, the man turned his head slightly, gradually focusing his scattered gaze on Jiang Xiao. Lazily, he said, “Finished?”

Jiang Xiao was somewhat surprised. She lowered her voice and said to the person behind her, “Wait a couple of minutes, I’ll change and come out.”

With that, Jiang Xiao took a few steps forward, semi-closing the open door. Her tone carried a hint of surprise as she asked, “Why didn’t you come earlier?”

Zhou Qishen swiveled in his chair to face her and smiled, “Why would I come to make myself uncomfortable?”

Then, as if realizing something, his smile deepened slightly. “Were you looking forward to my coming?”

Jiang Xiao rolled her eyes at his straightforward tone and grunted, “No way. I just saw Assistant  Chen but not you, and I found it strange… What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you,” Zhou Qishen said simply. But soon, he added, “And also inspecting.”

At these words, Jiang Xiao glanced at the stack of photo albums in his arms. It was the same set of poses the crew had shown her earlier, and the fact that they were open suggested he had already looked through them.

Perhaps noticing her gaze, Zhou Qishen lowered his eyes to the album in his arms but said nothing.

In the silence, a slight awkwardness spread in the air.

Before long, Jiang Xiao parted her red lips and broke the silence, “I need to change clothes.”

“I’ll wait for you, then we’ll go to dinner together,” Zhou Qishen said lightly.

Seeing that he showed no signs of leaving, Jiang Xiao’s eyelids twitched. She hesitated whether to say something to urge him away, but then she realized he had already looked over what needed to be seen. Changing clothes was a trivial matter, and there was no need to guard against him like a thief.

With that in mind, Jiang Xiao let go of her reservations. She walked to the wardrobe where her casual clothes were stored and began changing.

But even though she was busy changing, her peripheral vision still unconsciously glanced in Zhou Qishen’s direction a few times. He turned out to be more honest than she had thought, keeping his gaze straight and not trying to sneak a peek.

Soon, Jiang Xiao had changed into her clothes. Just at that moment, a knock sounded from outside. Jiang Xiao thought it was a crew member coming to hurry her, so without much caution, she opened the door.

However, behind the door was Zhou Wenting’s annoying face.

There was no one else in the corridor besides him; it seemed he had driven away the crew members. Jiang Xiao couldn’t understand why he was so persistent. Her head buzzed with confusion, and she asked impatiently, “What are you up to?”

“Jiang Xiao, I think we still need to…” Zhou Wenting began.

Jiang Xiao was about to say something when, in the next moment—

A sharp gust of wind swept past her eyes, landing squarely on the left side of Zhou Wenting’s face.

Unprepared, Zhou Wenting took the full force of the blow. His body staggered unsteadily, taking two awkward steps back.

Before long, he hadn’t recovered from his shock when someone seized his collar from directly in front and, in a moment of hesitation, put him in a completely disadvantageous position, falling victim to one-sided punches.

The sandbag-sized fists showed no hesitation, striking him with precision on his left cheek. The attacker showed no mercy, hitting him repeatedly, the impact even audible as bones clashed.

The change happened too quickly.

Before Jiang Xiao could react in time, when she regained her senses, she immediately tried to pull apart the two men grappling with each other. “Stop it! Don’t fight!”

But her petite and fragile frame was no match for two adult men. She simply couldn’t find a way to intervene.

Trying to stop two big men from fighting was unlikely. Jiang Xiao could only try to lower her voice as much as possible and attempt to awaken Zhou Qishen’s reason, “Zhou Qishen! Stop it!”

Her reprimand had an effect.

Zhou Qishen loosened his grip as she had requested, took a step back, and then pushed Zhou Wenting away.

A gentle spotlight fell on his profile, his features strong and composed. Aside from his suit being somewhat disheveled due to the vigorous struggle, he seemed perfectly fine, not even out of breath.

In contrast, Zhou Wenting looked heavily defeated, his clothes in disarray, his tie loose, and his face bearing various degrees of injury, especially his left cheek, which was swollen and bruised, with a few disturbing streaks of blood at the corner of his mouth.