Living Together? A Little Too Much Fun

The little wet dog that had been left out in the rain was finally taken home by its owner and even got a nice, soothing hot shower.

Li Xingqing was wearing Xi Zhen’s pajamas and lying on Xi Zhen’s bed, one hand resting on Xi Zhen’s waist.

The mood was so good right now that all the unhappiness seemed to have been swept away by the steam rising from the bathroom earlier. Li Xingqing suddenly became curious about one question: how many girlfriends had Xi Zhen actually dated?

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Xi Zhen; it was just a reflexive kind of curiosity.

People in love always unconsciously become possessive, and then they end up having these childish thoughts for no reason at all: this person can only belong to me.

Li Xingqing had originally thought that living under Yin Yi’s terrifying control would make her rein herself in a little. Little did she know, she simply hadn’t met the right person yet.

Xi Zhen didn’t notice the little calculations in Li Xingqing’s head. Her attention was entirely on work, her fingers tapping rapidly on her phone. Li Xingqing didn’t disturb her; every so often, she would stroke Xi Zhen’s hair, and every so often, she would touch her cheek.

The long waves over Xi Zhen’s shoulders were still faintly damp even after being blow-dried, and they carried a light fragrance.

Feeling this person’s warmth, Li Xingqing finally couldn’t stand being ignored any longer. She wrapped her arms around Xi Zhen and said, “It’s already so late, and Sister is still working. That’s exhausting.”

Since she was basically done anyway, Xi Zhen put down her phone and turned her attention to Li Xingqing, who had long since started making her dissatisfaction obvious.

“How am I mistreating you now?”

“I’m not being mistreated, but can Sister answer me one question?” Li Xingqing rubbed her forehead against the top of Xi Zhen’s head, pretending to act spoiled.

“What do you want to ask? Go ahead.” Xi Zhen didn’t resist her movements.

“How many relationships has Sister had?”

“Hm?” Xi Zhen seemed not to have expected such a question, or maybe she really had been stumped by it; she didn’t answer right away.

Li Xingqing sensed that something was off and was just about to change the subject when Xi Zhen said, “Two, but those were things that happened a long time ago.”

“Then which one was Song Xunqing?” For some reason, Li Xingqing had remembered this person incredibly clearly. It was clearly their first time meeting today, but her phone’s search history had already exposed how far from calm she really was.

“The first one.” Xi Zhen answered quickly, without the slightest hesitation.

“And the second?”

“We broke up three years ago. All right, aren’t you sleepy?” Xi Zhen wriggled out of Li Xingqing’s arms and reached over to switch off the bedside lamp.

“I’m sleepy, I’m sleepy. Then can Sister hold me while I sleep? I’m very well-behaved, and I’ve never dated anyone.” Li Xingqing realized that Xi Zhen didn’t seem willing to go into detail, so she could only keep pretending not to understand.

“So our little one is this innocent? You’ve really never dated even once? I’m not like someone else; I wouldn’t get jealous.” So that feeling was called jealousy. Li Xingqing rolled the sensation around in her mind, the faint sourness in her chest.

“Really, Sister, believe me.”

“Fine, fine, I believe you. I believe you the most. After all, our good girl is only twenty this year.” Xi Zhen switched off the light, straightened the blanket, and took Li Xingqing’s restless hand in hers. “Go to sleep properly. I’ll take you back to school tomorrow.”

Li Xingqing, who did not want to go back to school at all: ......

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Xi Zhen never brought up the matter of asking Li Xingqing to move back, and Li Xingqing tactfully pretended not to know. After all, living alone really was rather dull.

Xi Zhen was even happier about Li Xingqing staying with her. Setting everything else aside, Li Xingqing could actually cook; that alone had already opened Xi Zhen’s eyes.

Don’t let the fact that Xi Zhen was already in her thirties fool you; in day-to-day life, her ability to take care of herself might not even be as good as Li Xingqing’s. Especially when it came to the most ordinary thing of all—eating—if she could get by, she would.

If work got busy, going a whole day without eating was nothing unusual.

Li Xingqing would not let Xi Zhen treat her own body like that. Coincidentally, she didn’t have much going on at school during this period, and she also didn’t want to go to her father’s company, so she simply stayed at Xi Zhen’s house.

Only then did Xi Zhen finally understand what it felt like to be taken care of.

After all, in her previous two failed relationships, Xi Zhen had never really had a chance to experience this. Song Xunqing, despite seeming gentle and considerate, turned out in private to have a thoroughly spoiled young-lady temper. In their relationship, it was always Xi Zhen who coaxed the other person.

As for the second relationship, Xi Zhen thought it was better not to mention it at all.

In short, after two days of living a wife-and-kids-at-home kind of life, Xi Zhen even felt more energetic at work. Even the assistant around her said Xi Zhen’s complexion had improved during this time.

The day they had agreed to go out arrived under a clear blue sky. Just before leaving, Xi Zhen was about to go get the car key when Li Xingqing, quicker on the draw, took it first.

“What are you doing? If we’re not driving, are we walking there?” Xi Zhen had no intention of snatching the key back; she figured Li Xingqing wasn’t the kind of person who would make trouble without reason.

“Of course we can’t walk there. But Sister, I have a driver’s license too.” Li Xingqing had looked up the address before; although it wasn’t exactly far, with more than a hundred kilometers to cover and city traffic on top of that, it would still take at least two hours. So this kind of hard labor was more suitable for her.

Hearing this answer, Xi Zhen raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

The two of them made their way to the parking lot. Li Xingqing quickly opened the passenger door for Xi Zhen and even made a “please” gesture.

Since there was a free driver, there was naturally no reason not to use one. Xi Zhen’s years of life experience had already taught her not to fuss too much over cause and effect; as long as the ending was good, that was enough.

She stepped into the passenger seat, and Li Xingqing’s smile only grew wider.

Having someone accompany you made even a two-hour drive feel sweet. Li Xingqing and Xi Zhen chatted idly, and somehow the conversation turned to *Seal the Heart*.

Li Xingqing said that thanks to this job, the two of them had been able to meet, and only then had everything that followed happened.

Hearing that, Xi Zhen said with certainty that they really did have to thank this drama, and she hoped everything would go smoothly after this.

“What kind of smoothly?”

“Smooth editing, smooth broadcast, and ideally it can even become a modest hit.”

“I feel like it will.”

“So confident?”

“This isn’t confidence; it’s a statement of known facts.” The youthful energy around Li Xingqing came through fully in this brief exchange.

Xi Zhen didn’t reply. In truth, she was far more confident than Li Xingqing was.

They arrived at their destination very soon, and because the weather was nice, the outdoor temperature was just right.

Knowing that Xi Zhen was coming, Jiang Shang had deliberately come out to greet her, wanting to see who exactly was sitting in the passenger seat and had managed to win Xi Zhen over so quickly. Unexpectedly, the one he saw was Xi Zhen herself.

After parking, Xi Zhen got out of the passenger seat first and greeted Jiang Shang.

“Mr. Jiang, long time no see.”

“Long time no see. Why so formal? Oh right, aren’t you going to introduce me?” Jiang Shang hugged Xi Zhen, then turned to look at Li Xingqing beside her.

Huh? This seems kind of familiar. No, wait, look again; yes, it really is familiar.

“This is Li Xingqing, my girlfriend.”

“Jiang Shang, the owner of this resort.”

Xi Zhen gave a simple introduction, which immediately drew Jiang Shang’s dissatisfaction. “Xi Zhen, is that really how you introduce me?” After complaining, Jiang Shang turned to Li Xingqing and said, “Nice to meet you. My name is Jiang Shang, and I’m a man of the arts. This young lady looks somewhat familiar; could she be a newcomer planning to enter the entertainment industry? What a coincidence—I’ve been thinking about investing in a few lately.”

The jump in the conversation was a little too abrupt, and Li Xingqing didn’t know how to respond for a moment, so she simply turned to Xi Zhen beside her.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense.” Xi Zhen walked over to Li Xingqing, took her hand, and looked up at Jiang Shang. “Enough. She’s still a student and isn’t going into the entertainment industry, so don’t even think about it. The room is ready, right?”

“If she isn’t going into the entertainment industry, then that really is their loss. Xi Zhen, how do you always manage to find such beautiful people? Is it because like attracts like? Fine, of course it’s ready. Also, want to have lunch together later? We’ve got king crab that just arrived by air today.”

“You’re treating? If you’re treating, then of course I’m going.” Xi Zhen shot back.

“Tch, treat, treat, treat; how could I let you come all this way for nothing?” Jiang Shang bantered with Xi Zhen, but he didn’t neglect the Li Xingqing standing beside them either. “This beautiful lady, it’s my honor to dine with you. If the experience is good, remember to recommend us to your friends more often.”

Jiang Shang was far too familiar, and at last Li Xingqing remembered who he was: the Jiang family’s rebellious younger son.

In the Jiang family’s generation, there were only two children, and Jiang Shang had an older sister above him. Compared with that sister, Jiang Shang could be described as outrageous. When he was in school, today he’d have one bizarre idea, tomorrow another.

Later, there were rumors that he had gone abroad to study, but after only two years he returned to the country and plunged headfirst into the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, everything he invested in lost money, to the point that many directors, even knowing he was the type with money to burn, still didn’t want his funding.

As for his sister, she was completely different. Since childhood, she had been the kind of child other parents bragged about; that was true in school, and even more so when she later took over the company. With such an accomplished heir in the Jiang family, they naturally only kept one eye open and the other closed when it came to this younger son.

The reason Li Xingqing had any impression of this person at all was entirely because she had once heard Li Fu mention him. Only, in Li Fu’s version of things, he was always looking down on the Jiang family for letting an outsider run the household and for raising their younger son into such a waste.

Li Xingqing had hated Li Fu’s way of thinking since she was young, so when she heard it, she even developed a different kind of goodwill toward the Jiang family. She just hadn’t expected that the useless younger son would be Jiang Shang, Xi Zhen’s friend.

Half thinking that the world really was small, and half quietly sighing in relief, she and Jiang Shang had crossed paths a few times before, but the other man probably didn’t remember her at all. After all, if it hadn’t been for the Jiang family’s affairs causing Li Xingqing to feel a rare bit of resonance, she probably wouldn’t have remembered either.

After putting the things prepared for these two days into the room they would be staying in, Li Xingqing was about to leave with Xi Zhen when she suddenly felt an arm around her waist.

Li Xingqing was sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling Xi Zhen into her arms, and she buried her head lightly against Xi Zhen.

“What are you doing? Acting spoiled again?” Xi Zhen stroked her slightly long hair and smoothed down the ends for her.

“Were Sister’s exes all very pretty?”

Hm? Why was she asking that all of a sudden? Xi Zhen thought it over, then realized that Jiang Shang’s words earlier had caused an unnecessary misunderstanding.

Still, no matter what, children had to be coaxed. Xi Zhen smiled, not paying any mind to Li Xingqing’s little sour mood, and instead answered another question.

“My good girl is the prettiest. Besides, Sister works in this circle, so the people I meet are mostly glamorous and bright-looking. But I think none of them are as pretty as my good girl; she’s beautiful and kind, and she’s thoughtful and capable. Even though she likes to get jealous over nothing, she’s very cute.” Xi Zhen lifted Li Xingqing’s face. “So, Sister likes you the most.”