"How did you know I've been staying at Ruiyuan recently?" Jiang Li asked as expected.
Xue An's mind went blank. He stammered for a while before coming up with a seemingly reasonable answer. "I used to take you back to Ruiyuan. It's just a habit."
Jiang Li didn't suspect this explanation much and continued to dry her hair.
Xiao Yanzhi silently observed that she didn't seem very concerned about this topic, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
He now fully understood the meaning of the phrase "a guilty conscience".
Jiang Li slowly dried her hair, tied up her damp hair with a hair tie, then turned to Xiao Yanzhi and said, "I agree."
Xiao Yanzhi suddenly looked up at her. "Agree to what?"
"To the hype." Jiang Li tried to sound relaxed. "I've thought about it. The movie not being able to be released in China smoothly was also the result of my impulsiveness at that time. I should take responsibility. And since I'm not going to be an actress anymore, it doesn't matter if I play the victim for the last time. But you guys may need to find a psychologist to issue a medical certificate for my condition. Then I'll prepare the copy with the PR team and discuss whether we need to record a video or something..."
As she spoke briskly, she felt herself falling into an abyss.
"Jiang Li." Xiao Yanzhi's voice was a bit low. "What are you talking about? What playing the victim? What medical certificate? What are you preparing these for?"
Jiang Li was stunned for a couple of seconds and then asked him back, "Didn't you and Ying Chengqi..."
Seeing the genuine surprise on Xiao Yanzhi's face, she finally believed that he really didn't know.
"I misunderstood." Jiang Li lowered her eyes.
At almost the same time, Xiao Yanzhi's face turned cold. His eyes were gloomy and deep. "Xue An, ask Ying Chengqi if we've given him too much publicity fee."
With just this casual sentence from him, Xue An was so scared that the hairs on his back stood up.
Xiao Yanzhi took a deep breath to keep his tone from being too cold. "Jiang Li, I have no intention of asking you to play the victim for marketing, and no one can make you do so."
Jiang Li was stunned for a moment. It was as if her heart had finally been carefully held up. He said softly, "No one will force you to do things you don't like. You can do as you please."
"As long as you're happy."
Jiang Li couldn't make a sound. She hung her head, covered her face with both hands, and her slender shoulders trembled. Sobs came through the strands of hair that covered her face.
Xiao Yanzhi was a bit at a loss. He raised his hand wanting to hug her, but the image of her laughing and chatting at the dinner table flashed through his mind. Slowly, he retracted the hand that was hanging in mid - air.
In the end, he just handed her a tissue.
After they arrived at Ruiyuan, Jiang Li politely asked him if he wanted to come in and sit for a while. Xiao Yanzhi shook his head and softly said it wasn't appropriate.
This was her house, and she had people here with whom she got along happily.
He was no longer suitable to step into this house.
Jiang Li didn't insist. She just stood at the door and waved goodbye to him. She watched the car drive away before turning around and entering the house.
After getting caught in the rain for a while, Jiang Li felt uncomfortable all over and a bit light - headed.
She took off her clothes and took a hot shower in the bathroom. When she came out, the tiredness in her body not only didn't ease but got worse.
She thought she was just too sleepy.
So she dragged her body towards the bedroom, planning to have a good sleep.
But before she could reach the door, she fell straight down.
In the last moment before falling into a coma, there was only one thought in her mind:
It would be nice if she never had to wake up from this moment on.
...
The car was extremely quiet on the way back.
Xue An had already called to warn Ying Chengqi, telling him not to do whatever it takes for the movie and that he shouldn't try to make Jiang Li do anything.
Although Ying Chengqi was a genius director, for Xiao Yanzhi, who was in business, he didn't really need to achieve something in this industry.
If it weren't for Jiang Li, he wouldn't have cared about the lost movie costs at all.
All he wanted was for Jiang Li to be happy.
Xue An knew he had said the wrong thing just now. He carefully said, "Mr. Xiao, Ying Chengqi said he knew his mistake and would go to apologize to Sister Jiang Li later."
Xiao Yanzhi gave a soft "hmm". His voice was still low. "Think before you speak next time. Your bonus for this month is all deducted."
Fortunately, Jiang Li didn't suspect that he had installed surveillance cameras at Ruiyuan to monitor her. Otherwise, it would have been really hard for Xiao Yanzhi to prove his innocence.
Xue An: " ... Okay, Mr. Xiao."
He knew he was in the wrong and silently accepted the punishment.
Xiao Yanzhi took out his phone again and skillfully opened the surveillance software to observe the movements of the person in the picture.
It had only taken a few days for him to go from feeling guilty at first to being natural and calm now. He had even gradually developed a habit.
It was as if he was observing the little person living in his phone at all times, watching her live her daily life in it.
He couldn't help but sigh that it was really easy for a person to go bad.
The moment he opened the surveillance, he happened to see Jiang Li coming out of the bathroom. Her walking movements were very strange, as if she had no strength.
Xiao Yanzhi squinted his eyes slightly.
A few seconds later, he said coldly, "Turn around and go back to Ruiyuan."
"Drive faster!"
...
When he saw Jiang Li fall to the ground on the screen, he could feel his whole body turn cold in an instant. Even his fingers began to tremble uncontrollably.
The car stopped steadily at the door. The rain was still pouring outside. Xiao Yanzhi rushed out directly. Xue An shouted from behind, "Mr. Xiao, the umbrella!"
Xiao Yanzhi's fingers were a bit out of control. His joints were stiff and sore. The rain kept falling on the fingerprint scanner, and it just wouldn't recognize his fingerprint correctly. He impatiently wiped it dry with his sleeve and put his fingerprint on it again.
The moment the door opened, he rushed in quickly and picked up Jiang Li who was lying on the ground.
It turned out that she had just had a fever.
Only then did Xiao Yanzhi breathe a sigh of relief.
His hair was wet, but he just casually pushed aside the stray hairs in front of his eyes. He turned to tell Xue An to go and buy some fever - reducing medicine.
Jiang Li was only in a short - term coma. Xiao Yanzhi fed her some medicine and water in the middle, and her consciousness gradually became a bit clearer. The outline of the face in front of her eyes also became a bit clearer.
" ... Xiao Yanzhi?"
Xiao Yanzhi was sitting beside her bed. Seeing her open her eyes, he said, "It's me."
"I must be delirious from the fever." Jiang Li raised her hand and patted her forehead, then turned over. "I'm going to sleep some more."
Xiao Yanzhi: " ... "
He could tell that her voice was weak. He turned around and went to the kitchen to pour her a glass of hot water. When he came back, she was sound asleep.
Jiang Li would talk nonsense when she had a fever. She mumbled a lot in her sleep, and Xiao Yanzhi listened to it all.
The bad news was that among all the things Jiang Li said, not a single word was calling out for him. The good news was that she didn't mention Sheng Jingxi either.
He felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
Around ten o'clock, Jiang Li's phone that was placed in the living room rang. It was a call from Sheng Jingxi.