Chapter 45

In the dead of night, the two of them stood silently at the bedroom door, staring at each other.

Tang Ruan’s eyes widened as she instinctively raised her hands to cover her eyes. Acting on impulse, she kicked Ji Jing lightly with her foot and muttered, “Go put some clothes on.”

Ji Jing raised an amused brow, watching her adorable reaction. “So shy?”

He knew Tang Ruan often put on a tough exterior, but he hadn’t expected her to be this easily flustered. Glancing down at himself, Ji Jing noted that he’d only thrown on a towel after his shower. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t entirely unclothed—but the towel hung loosely, as if it might slip off with the slightest tug.

Tang Ruan groaned and peeked at him through her fingers. “Ji Jing!”

Flustered and frustrated, she huffed, “If you don’t change into proper clothes, just go back to bed!”

Ji Jing let out a low chuckle, gently removing Tang Ruan’s fingers from her face, and teased in a husky voice, “Didn’t you say you liked abs? Not interested in taking another look?”

He hadn’t forgotten how, not long ago at Ji Ling’s school sports meet, Tang Ruan and Ji Ling had been happily chatting about men’s abs. Tang Ruan didn’t like overly muscular physiques, nor an excessive number of abs, but she did insist a man should at least have some definition. She’d even said her ideal type was someone lean and well-proportioned—someone whose figure looked slim in clothes but revealed a subtly muscular frame when undressed.

Tall, slender, and clean-cut.

Tang Ruan couldn’t help but reflect on what she had just seen. If she were to be honest with herself, Ji Jing’s body was exactly her type. As she thought about it, she couldn’t resist sneaking another peek through one partially opened eye. Her gaze trailed down from his exposed collarbone to his well-defined torso. Swallowing nervously, she quickly averted her eyes and said, “You should go put on some clothes.”

What if…

What if she couldn’t resist the urge to touch him?

She told herself she had to maintain control. She couldn’t let her thoughts wander in such a… suggestive direction!

Ji Jing studied her expression, one brow raised. “Do you like what you see?”

Tang Ruan froze, then pushed at his chest. “I’m really tired. I need to go to sleep now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Tang Ruan insisted, her cheeks flushing even redder. She mumbled under her breath, “I swear, I just want to sleep. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

Seeing how flustered she was, Ji Jing decided to relent. The timing wasn’t exactly ideal. He gave a soft hum of agreement, leaned in to plant a kiss at the corner of her lips, and murmured, “Goodnight, then. Sleep well.”

“Goodnight.”

With that, she closed the door behind him, exhaling a deep sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, she thought. Crisis averted.

Yet, despite her escape, Tang Ruan barely slept that night. Every time she drifted off, her dreams were filled with thoughts of Ji Jing—and scenes that made her heart race uncontrollably.

…

The next day, Ji Jing didn’t bring up the events of the previous night. Not that he had much time to dwell on it. Early in the morning, he was called away on a business trip.

When Tang Ruan came downstairs, Ji Jing was already gone.

“Where’s Ji Jing?” she asked.

Butler Li, replied respectfully, “There was an issue with the overseas branch. Young Master left for the airport at six this morning. He said he might be away for a few days and asked me to reassure you not to worry.”

Hearing this, Tang Ruan nodded. “Alright.”

The butler hesitated briefly before adding, “Young Master also mentioned he left a message for you on your phone.”

Tang Ruan smiled faintly. “Got it. I’ll go check my phone.”

She wasn’t in the habit of checking her phone as soon as she woke up, believing it was bad for her eyes. Besides, since she was at home, she didn’t expect anything urgent to come up. Her phone usually stayed set aside, only to be picked up when she was bored. Ji Jing must have known this about her, which was probably why he had the butler remind her.

Returning to her room, she unlocked her phone and saw Ji Jing’s message on WeChat, explaining the situation.

Tang Ruan thought for a moment before typing a simple reply: “Stay safe.”

She waited a few minutes, but there was no response. Checking the time, she guessed he was probably on the plane. Deciding not to wait, she put her phone down and moved on with her day.

–

After breakfast, Tang Ruan strolled around the courtyard, soaking up the winter sun. The weather was growing colder, and after just one round, she retreated indoors to warm up. She spent the rest of the morning lounging in her room and only ventured out again around midday.

Her days were leisurely and carefree.

…

Meanwhile, Ji Jing was busy handling the crisis overseas. One of the company’s major projects had encountered a problem: confidential documents had been leaked, causing production conflicts with a rival company. If the project moved forward as planned, it would undoubtedly be accused of plagiarism—a situation the Ji family would never tolerate.

Ji Jing had been alerted to the issue at four in the morning. With no time to waste, he booked the earliest flight and left immediately.

Upon landing, he was greeted by staff waiting to brief him.

“Mr. Ji, welcome. I hope your trip wasn’t too exhausting.”

Ji Jing gave a brief nod, flipping through his phone as he listened. Without looking up, he instructed, “Start by summarizing the current situation.”

“Yes, sir.”

While listening to the updates, he quickly sent a message to Tang Ruan: “Landed safely. Heading to the office now. If anything comes up at home, you can reach out to Gu Tian or the others. I’ll call you later.”

The situation at the company was neither trivial nor catastrophic, but it required careful handling. The leaked documents had caused production plans to overlap with a competitor’s, which could lead to accusations of intellectual property theft.

As the car made its way to the office, Ji Jing offered occasional input and issued precise directives.

“Call a meeting as soon as we arrive,” he instructed.

“Yes, sir.”

The moment they arrived at the branch office, Ji Jing dove into a series of meetings, presenting solutions and assigning tasks to resolve the crisis. Only after several hours did he finally have a few minutes to rest.

Ning Ming, one of his trusted assistants, entered with a freshly brewed cup of coffee. “Mr. Ji, would you like to visit the factory after this?”

Ji Jing rubbed his temples, considering. “Make the arrangements. We’ll assess the situation there before deciding on further actions. When was it first discovered that our plans clashed with the competitor’s?”

“The night before the bidding deadline,” Ning Ming answered.

Ji Jing let out a cold chuckle, his sharp gaze cutting to Ning Ming. “Investigate everyone who had access to this project.”

“Yes, sir.”

–

When Ji Jing finally called Tang Ruan, she was half-asleep, nestled in bed.

“Hello?” she murmured, her voice still groggy from sleep.

Ji Jing listened to her, and the weariness of the day seemed to dissipate. He paused for a moment, and his voice unconsciously softened, “Are you sleeping?”

Tang Ruan replied with a soft “Mm,” “Yes, I’m sleeping. Are you still busy?”

“It’s not as busy now. I took a break to call you.”

Hearing this, Tang Ruan chuckled, “If you’re busy, go ahead and continue. I’m fine here.”

“What did you do today?”

“I stayed home, slept, read, recorded some videos.” Her life was simple, mostly without much excitement, but oddly, Tang Ruan enjoyed this leisurely pace. She didn’t have many friends and had no interest in making new ones. The ones she once had had shown her the darker sides of human nature. Even now, when they sent her messages, she wasn’t eager to reply.

For now, her only close friends were Cheng Mushi and Ji Ling, and with them around, she felt content.

Ji Jing listened to her and asked gently, “Don’t you get bored?”

“Nope.” Tang Ruan laughed, “And who knows, maybe I won’t be so bored soon.”

She thought for a moment, then decided to tell Ji Jing something, “I’m thinking about going to a film set to learn, but I’m not sure yet if they’ll accept me. If I do get the job, you won’t stop me, right?”

In her subconscious, she felt certain that Ji Jing wouldn’t object.

Ji Jing raised an eyebrow, deliberately teasing, “What if I disagree?”

Tang Ruan froze, unsure how to respond. She fell silent for a moment before asking carefully, “You really wouldn’t agree?”

She sighed, then with a playful tone, held up her phone and said in a coquettish voice, “Husband, I know you’re not that kind of man. You’ll agree with whatever I do, won’t you?” Before Ji Jing could answer, she mimicked his voice, “Yes, my wife is always right.”

She finished speaking and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Do I sound like you?”

Ji Jing, speechless, could only stay quiet, taken aback by her antics. Tang Ruan’s mischievous and playful nature always managed to surprise him, and for someone like her, he couldn’t even bring himself to say no.

“I agree, but there’s one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re learning to do makeup for female celebrities, right?”

Tang Ruan blinked, her tone uncertain. “I think so…”

Her confidence faltered at the end of the sentence.

“I’m sure it’s for women,” Tang Ruan added quickly, worried that Ji Jing might change his mind. “If they ask me to do makeup for a male actor, I’ll refuse.”

“How will you refuse?”

Ji Jing seemed slightly amused, curious about her self-directed little performance.

Tang Ruan cleared her throat and said with mock seriousness, “I’ll say my husband is a jealous man who doesn’t allow me to do makeup for other male actors. If I do, it might lead to domestic violence. Will that work?”

Ji Jing, utterly speechless, fell into silence.

“Is that not okay?” Tang Ruan asked softly, almost apologetic.

Ji Jing smiled, his tone warm as he reassured her, “It’s fine. It’s a good idea.”

“Mm-hmm. Now go ahead and get back to work.” Tang Ruan guessed that Ji Jing was probably quite busy, and she didn’t want to keep him too long.

“Alright, sleep early.” Ji Jing paused before adding, “I miss you.”

“Mm-hmm.”

After hanging up, Ji Jing couldn’t help but smile to himself, feeling much more relaxed. Tang Ruan had this inexplicable charm about her, a way of making him want to get closer, to share in her optimism and confidence.

She always had a hundred reasons to convince you, as long as she wanted to.