Chapter 38

Shu Shiran: "Are these all companies interested in working with you?"

Ji Xi gave a soft "mm" and replied, "These have been vetted. I'm still looking into the specifics, but you should be familiar with some of them."

Looking at the list on the memo, Shu Shiran suddenly asked, "You have a dinner engagement tomorrow night?"

Ji Xi raised an eyebrow slightly, as if asking: How did you know?

Shu Shiran’s lashes fluttered. "I heard."

Seeing the Zhao family on the list, she had asked without thinking.

Ji Xi: "Want to come with me if you’re free?"

Shu Shiran: "I’m going to the hospital with Della tomorrow night to visit a friend."

Ji Xi: "Is your friend sick?"

Shu Shiran: "They were in a car accident. Fortunately, it’s not too serious."

Shu Shiran had even been the one to help arrange the hospital for the surgery.

Shu Shiran: "Tomorrow night... will the third child of the Zhao family be there too?"

Ji Xi: "The third child of the Zhao family?"

"Zhao Siling. You’ve met her."

Ji Xi tapped his fingers on the sofa armrest, as if struggling to recall who that was.

The knot in Shu Shiran’s heart didn't loosen; instead, she felt even more dissatisfied. They had clearly met. Last year, before they were even legally married, she had seen him talking to Zhao Siling at a banquet hosted by the Wu family.

She figured he must have too many women in his life to match names to faces.

"She’s about my height, has big wavy hair, and it’s dyed red." As she said this, her tone was unintentionally cold and stiff.

Ji Xi watched her.

Meeting his thoughtful gaze, Shu Shiran paused, shifted her eyes to her phone screen, and continued talking about the Zhao family’s business. Although the Zhaos were only in their third generation with Zhao Siling, their business was doing well, spanning finance, real estate, and artificial intelligence—far better than the Ji family, which, despite its many generations of heritage, was essentially coasting on its past.

Objectively speaking, if a partnership were on the table, it was worth discussing.

After finishing her assessment of the Zhao family, she circled back to Zhao Siling.

"Zhao Siling is interested in you."

Ji Xi lifted his eyelids.

Shu Shiran: "If you want to collaborate, you can get closer to her."

Silence followed.

In that brief moment, the atmosphere seemed to sink. Shu Shiran turned to look at Ji Xi. He was leaning against the sofa, one hand resting on the armrest, his gaze elsewhere, appearing cool and detached.

It was exactly that face that was so attractive to women, leading him to flirt everywhere.

Shu Shiran bit her lip and added, "But not too close. She and I have never gotten along."

As Zheng Tingyan had said, he was, after all, her husband.

After she spoke, Ji Xi still didn't respond; she wasn't sure if he was even listening. This was the first time she had ever interfered in his private affairs, despite their prior agreement not to. She had hesitated for a long time before bringing it up and wasn't sure if he would agree, so she couldn't help but nudge the arm he had resting on the sofa.

Ji Xi curled his lips, looked at her, and finally spoke: "What counts as 'too close'?"

His tone was ambiguous, laced with a hint of mockery: "Like we were last night?"

"..."

Shu Shiran remembered kissing him last night, being trapped in the car with him, their breaths mingling, and her face flushed instantly.

Seeing the lack of warmth in his eyes, the heat on her face vanished, and her palms felt cold. Her request had been overstepping.

Forget it.

Shu Shiran felt a tightness in her chest. Unable to save face, she stood up and said, "I’m a bit tired. I’m going downstairs."

**

The next day, Zheng Tingyan asked via WeChat if Ji Xi would be going that night.

Shu Shiran recalled their unpleasant parting the night before.

-Shu Shiran: I don't know.
-Zheng Tingyan: Huh?
-Zheng Tingyan: You didn't tell him?

Shu Shiran stared at her computer screen for several seconds and told a lie.

-Shu Shiran: No.
-Shu Shiran: We agreed before not to get involved in each other's affairs.
-Shu Shiran: And even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop him.
-Zheng Tingyan: That's true.
-Zheng Tingyan: A man like Ji Xi isn't someone you can control.
-Zheng Tingyan: Actually, Zhao Siling is just spreading rumors herself; they might not have anything going on.
-Zheng Tingyan: But hearing her spread those rumors makes me so angry!

Shu Shiran could already predict that Zhao Siling would go around telling everyone that her relationship with Ji Xi was failing.

**

That evening, Shu Shiran and Dai Jiao went to the hospital to visit a colleague and friend who had been in an accident while driving home from a business trip due to fatigue. The surgery had been successful, and they had been moved to a general ward.

When they first heard the news, Dai Jiao had lamented that one shouldn't push themselves too hard, as safety and health were more important, and they hadn't worked overtime that night. But that was only for that one day; by the next, they were back to their usual grind.

After work, they headed to the hospital together.

"Sharon, what's wrong with you today?" Dai Jiao asked.

Shu Shiran blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Dai Jiao: "Your protégé said you seemed to be in a bad mood today and even asked me about it."

Shu Shiran: "..."

No wonder Wu Tianqi had come to her office several times that afternoon, looking like he wanted to say something but held back.

"Nothing. I probably just didn't sleep well last night, so I look a bit drained."

Dai Jiao: "That's good. I saw you looking like Xiao Yu today and thought you and Ji Xi had fought."

Shu Shiran: "...What's wrong with Xiao Yu?" (Xiao Yu was their receptionist.)

Dai Jiao: "I heard she had a fight with her boyfriend."

That was why she had assumed Shu Shiran and Ji Xi had fought too.

They stopped at a fruit shop near the firm to buy a basket, then grabbed a bouquet from the florist next door.

Dai Jiao suggested, "How about roses? Girls all love roses."

Following the clerk's suggestion, they chose pink roses and added a few lilies. While the flowers were being wrapped, Shu Shiran wandered around the shop and stopped in front of some yellow roses.

She thought of the yellow roses Ji Xi always gave her.

The yellow roses in the shop seemed to come in two varieties, but neither was the kind he gave her. The ones he gave had larger, fuller petals and a more elegant, muted color.

She asked the clerk, "Do you have any other varieties of yellow roses?"

Clerk: "These are the only two for today. You can pre-order other varieties in advance."

Shu Shiran didn't know much about flowers and didn't know what variety he gave her. She pulled up a photo on her phone to show the clerk.

The clerk examined the photo and said, "This looks a bit like a 'Beatrice,' but it’s not quite it."

Dai Jiao came over and asked, "Is this the flower Ji Xi gives you?"

Shu Shiran gave a soft "mm."

The clerk said, "Let me call our boss over; he knows more about this."

The florist owner came over. "It looks a bit like a new variety cultivated in the Netherlands that I saw at an exhibition a couple of years ago. I forget the name. I don't think it's on the market as cut flowers or potted plants."

So, that wasn't it.

Dai Jiao: "Just ask Ji Xi what kind of flower it is."

Shu Shiran said "mm," but she didn't actually intend to ask. It might just be flowers he ordered at random; asking specifically would make it seem like she cared too much.

The flowers were wrapped, and Shu Shiran stopped thinking about it, leaving with Dai Jiao.

Their friend was recovering well and was in good spirits, joking that they finally had time to get some proper rest.

"Sharon, I owe this all to you."

Shu Shiran had only found out about the accident because she saw it on someone’s social media feed.

She smiled: "Just focus on getting well."

After leaving the hospital, Shu Shiran and Dai Jiao grabbed dinner together. She didn't get back to Chuan Song No. 1 until after eight.

As she drove into the underground garage, she noticed the lights on her row flicker. That row was where both her and Ji Xi’s parking spaces were.

As she drove closer, she saw Ji Xi stepping out of his Cullinan.

Ji Xi saw her too and turned to look.

They locked eyes through her windshield, but she didn't stop her car. She drove past him. In the underground garage, it was impossible to drive fast. The light and shadows between them shifted with the sound of the car.

After parking, Shu Shiran got out of the car.

Ji Xi stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking cool and languid. She had to walk past him to reach the elevator lobby.

"Back?" she asked calmly.

Ji Xi answered slowly, "I just dropped Aunt Dou off."

Why was he dropping Aunt Dou off?

Shu Shiran realized he had stepped out of the driver's seat, meaning he hadn't been drinking. How could a dinner engagement like that not involve alcohol?

Thinking of a possible reason, she looked surprised: "You didn't go tonight?"

Ji Xi: "Something came up."

Shu Shiran felt puzzled. Aunt Dou usually came over in the evening to cook, which meant Ji Xi had eaten at home. Did "something came up" just mean eating at home and dropping Aunt Dou off?

Ji Xi raised an eyebrow: "It seems you really wanted me to go."

Shu Shiran opened her mouth, then replied, "No."

Ji Xi chuckled, the contours of his face softening. The gloom that had lingered in Shu Shiran’s heart all day suddenly dissipated, much like a ray of sun breaking through after a day of drizzle.

They walked toward the elevator together, keeping some distance between them, though their shadows on the wall leaned into each other.

Ji Xi: "By the way, Shu Shiran, I have a question for you."

Shu Shiran: "What is it?"

Ji Xi: "Did you promise Aunt Dou you’d eat the food she makes every day?"

Shu Shiran remembered that happening. Aunt Dou had complained that Ji Xi had her come over to cook every day but was rarely home to eat, so she might as well cook for Shu Shiran. Her exact words were: *Shiran, if he’s too busy to eat, I’ll just cook for you.*

Shu Shiran had wanted to make Aunt Dou happy, so she had agreed.

"...It wasn't exactly 'every day'."

Ji Xi lifted his brows. "Her exact words were 'every day.' She’s rarely this happy."

Since Aunt Dou was so happy, she didn't want to be a wet blanket.

Shu Shiran: "Alright, in the future, when Aunt Dou comes to cook for you, if I’m home, I’ll just go up and eat with you."

Ji Xi: "She said she should cook for you even when I’m not here."

Shu Shiran: "..."

Ji Xi: "It’s good for her to have something to do. How about this: if you’re home, have Aunt Dou cook upstairs, and then you just go up and eat?"

Shu Shiran thought about it. "That works."

It would just be going upstairs to eat every day, treating his place like a restaurant. She was tired of eating out all the time anyway.

However, for the next two days, Shu Shiran worked overtime every night and didn't get home until at least ten, so she didn't eat at home.

Fortunately, she didn't have to work overtime on Friday.