Hearing this, Jiang Li paused for a moment, and her throat tightened involuntarily.
"Come back to Ruiyuan tonight. I have something to tell you." After thinking for a few seconds, Jiang Li didn't continue to entangle with him on this topic.
Watching Sister Chen walking over with the anti - inflammatory and pain - relieving medicine, she stood up. However, her foot still couldn't bear weight, so she could only lean half against the wall to maintain her balance.
"Good evening, Mr. Xiao," Sister Chen said, sweating profusely. Seeing Xiao Yanzhi appear here, she was both surprised and felt it was reasonable.
This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. She instinctively thought he had come specifically to take care of Jiang Li. Hurriedly, she supported Jiang Li's arm. "Lili, don't just stand there. Hurry up and let Mr. Xiao carry you to the car."
"No need. Isn't your car just outside?" Xiao Yanzhi's voice was deep. "Just let her walk out the same way she walked in just now."
After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.
Just as he took a step, he seemed to remember something. He turned his head and added, "I'm going to have dinner with Yaoyao tonight. I won't be going back."
It seemed that he didn't intend to listen to what she had to say.
He didn't want to listen, nor was he curious.
Jiang Li was silent for a moment, then immediately said, "It's about teaching Qin Yaoyao to dance."
Sure enough, the man stopped in his tracks. Then his voice came over casually, "I'll try, but I can't be sure if I'll be able to go back."
Watching the man's back walking away coldly, Sister Chen obviously looked stunned for a moment.
"Lili, did you quarrel with Mr. Xiao?"
"No." Jiang Li lowered her eyelashes, hiding the emotions in her eyes.
Sister Chen looked extremely puzzled and frowned. "I feel like Mr. Xiao's attitude has become much colder. Is it because he's been too busy with work recently?"
Jiang Li's voice was very calm, no different from usual. Only the hand hanging in her sleeve tightened slightly. "Jiangyu has signed a new artist. She's quite lively."
Hearing this, Sister Chen completely understood. She nodded helplessly. "Got it. I'll take you back right away."
Sister Chen didn't think too much about it. After all, Jiang Li had been with Xiao Yanzhi for four years. There had been so many such things that she was already used to them.
Even if there were new artists from time to time, no one had ever shaken Jiang Li's position in his heart.
In other words, no matter how many women were around Xiao Yanzhi, they were just a passing fancy.
In the eyes of outsiders, only Jiang Li was the one who was firmly going to stay by his side.
---
Ruiyuan.
Just as Xiao Yanzhi had said in advance, he really made Jiang Li wait for him very late.
So late that she thought he wouldn't show up.
Sitting on the sofa, she couldn't hold back her sleepiness and fell asleep against the sofa cushion.
It wasn't until the sound of the engine outside the window woke her up that Jiang Li sat up straight, moved her stiff arms, and looked at the time.
It was three o'clock in the morning.
Soon, Xiao Yanzhi parked the car steadily. When he opened the door and came in, seeing Jiang Li in her pajamas sitting on the sofa, there was a dark and unclear emotion flickering in his pupils. "Why aren't you sleeping yet?"
The temperature was very low on this winter night. The cold air on his body followed him into the house.
"Waiting for you." After saying these two words, Jiang Li also stood up from the sofa and stared fixedly at him.
Xiao Yanzhi paused, and the expression between his eyebrows and eyes softened slightly.
Only a small lamp was on in the living room. The whole room was dim, and it was hard to see the other person clearly.
Remembering Director Zhang's request during the day, Jiang Li gently raised her eyebrows and said calmly, "Director Zhang asked me to plead with you. His script can't be changed."
"Moreover, Qin Yaoyao is a newbie who just entered the industry. It's easy for her to be jealous of if she takes on the lead female role right away. It's not good for her future career development."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Yanzhi's originally softened face sank again. "You waited for me so long just to say this?"
"There's one more thing." Jiang Li shook her head and said lightly, "Dancing is a professional course. It needs a professional dance teacher to teach. I'm not suitable to teach Qin Yaoyao."
Xiao Yanzhi glanced at her, his eyes full of meaning. "Jiang Li, are you rejecting me?"
"I'm not rejecting you. It's just that Mr. Xiao thinks too highly of me. I don't have this ability."
She seemed to have prepared this answer in advance, and her expression was very calm. "Since Mr. Xiao intends to cultivate her well, he should give her professional and systematic guidance. My mediocre skills are unpresentable."
Hearing this, Xiao Yanzhi stared at her with his dark and gloomy eyes. After a few seconds, he sneered.
"You also know you're unpresentable. How dare you use your little influence to plead for Director Zhang?"
Jiang Li remained silent. She was already used to such humiliating words.
"Do you think the three million I gave your younger brother was charity?"
His voice turned cold, and there was mockery in his tone. "Jiang Li, I'm informing you, not asking for your opinion."
Saying that, he sat on the sofa where Jiang Li had been lying just now, stretching out his long legs. He looked casual. "Since you promised to take good care of this new artist back then, you can't disappoint me."
The pajamas Jiang Li was wearing were already thin. At this moment, she inexplicably felt even colder. She swallowed back all her grievances and helplessness, which finally turned into a single sentence. "Got it."
Although he got her submissive answer, Xiao Yanzhi didn't seem satisfied. Instead, he squinted his eyes dangerously. "You don't like Qin Yaoyao."
"I don't dislike her. You're overthinking." After saying that, Jiang Li paused. Her eyes looked very calm. "I'm very sleepy. I'll go to rest first. Mr. Xiao, feel free."
Xiao Yanzhi's intention to promote Qin Yaoyao was already very obvious. She didn't want to be the spoilsport.
Watching her turn around to leave, his eyes fell on the open collar of her pajamas. There was a hint of meaning brewing in his calm eyes.
His voice was a bit deep and hoarse. "I'm going to take a shower."
They had been intimate for several years. The hidden meaning in this sentence was self - evident.
Jiang Li was silent for a few seconds, lowering her eyes. "I sprained my foot."
Xiao Yanzhi didn't care and pretended not to understand the rejection in her words. "I'll be careful."
After saying that, he loosened his tie and walked into the bathroom familiarly.
The sound of the shower in the bathroom came out quickly. Jiang Li had no choice but to sit on the sofa in a daze.
Just then, the phone that Xiao Yanzhi had placed on the tea table began to vibrate. The sound was noisy and urgent.
Jiang Li was silent for a moment.
No one ever dared to call Xiao Yanzhi this late at night.
Even that time when she fainted from a stomachache in the middle of the night and was sent to the hospital by Sister Zhang, she didn't dare to dial this number.
As if by some strange impulse, she walked over and answered the phone.
"Mr. Xiao, are you home?"
Qin Yaoyao's soft and waxy voice came from the receiver. It sounded very innocent, as cute as a child.
The end of her voice was even tinged with a coquettish tone. No wonder Xiao Yanzhi doted on her so much.
"I just can't fall asleep after you left. Will you tell me a story, okay?"