Jiang Ran pulled at the hem of his clothes, his voice rising unnaturally as a bashful sound escaped from deep in his throat.
“Fine, is that enough…?”
Gu Ge’s lips parted slightly before slowly curling.
Her eyes hid a flash of excitement as she murmured, “Xiao Ran’s voice was too quiet, I didn’t hear it.”
“What?”
“That’s right. How about Xiao Ran says it one more time? A bit louder, or I really won’t be able to hear you.”
Jiang Ran waved his hand.
“No way. It’s your problem if you didn’t hear it. I don’t care. I already said it. If you keep this up… I’ll ignore you from now on.”
Jiang Ran dodged to the side and left the hospital ward.
Gu Ge licked her lips, watching the direction where Jiang Ran had left.
Her finger lightly touched the corner of her mouth.
‘I really want to hear it one more time…’
***
In a high-end office building, Tao Xixue was organizing the documents in her hand when a girl passed by her.
“Taozi, you haven’t left yet?”
A woman wearing a fashionable off-the-shoulder top brushed her hair back as she walked past the company entrance.
Noticing Tao Xixue tidying her materials, she reached out to say hello.
Tao Xixue looked up, her gaze falling on the woman who was dressed somewhat humorously.
“Sang Xue, did you just finish today’s work?”
Sang Xue rubbed her neck and said lazily, “Yeah. There have been so many clients lately. Wedding photos, corporate party group photos, and business gatherings… I have to run around everywhere. I still envy you guys who take artistic photos. You only need to come to the studio when a client has a request.”
“It’s not that easy. Film has been getting more expensive lately. I’ve already stopped using film to shoot for them.”
Sang Xue pressed her hand on the table and sighed.
“Still talking about film? Only you rich second-generation kids can afford that. If it were me, I’d just send them the source files and call it a day. Retouching costs extra. Today, I had someone who’d had so much plastic surgery you could barely tell what she used to look like asking me to take artistic photos. I went through several versions, and she wasn’t satisfied. I finally finished it for her with great effort.”
“In the end, she said my service was bad and went to the boss to complain. The boss gave me a lecture.”
Sang Xue took out her phone and tapped on the screen.
Judging by her huffing expression, she was likely arguing with a client.
Tao Xixue sighed helplessly, put her packed backpack on her shoulder, and headed downstairs.
“You’ll get used to it. I’m heading back now.”
“Alright. Oh, wait! I managed to get you that studio you wanted to borrow. It took a lot of effort. That’s the most well-equipped studio we have here. I remember some big client ordered commercial posters before, so the company built it for them. It was incredibly expensive.”
Tao Xixue nodded firmly.
“Thanks for the hard work, Sang Xue. If I get the chance, I’ll praise you more in front of the boss.”
Sang Xue clapped her hands.
“Really? That’s great! Hurry home, Xiao Tao.”
Tao Xixue nodded and walked down while looking at her phone.
Seeing that the messages from Jiang Ran hadn’t changed, she tentatively typed a line, but feeling unsatisfied, she deleted it all.
She stared blankly at the screen until the headlights of a car hit her, snapping her back to reality.
A refined female office worker stepped out of an elongated limousine.
She wore a neat black suit with a microphone clipped to her collar and clean flat boots.
“Miss, I’m here to take you home.”
“I don’t want to go back tonight.”
“You’re not going back? Then where do you plan to go, Miss?”
“Somewhere quiet. I expect the house won’t be very peaceful today, and I don’t want my ears ringing.”
“But… but Eldest Miss, Madam is back today. If you don’t return, Madam will definitely come looking for you in a hurry.”
Tao Xixue bit her lip.
Seeing the servant’s almost pleading gaze, she finally sighed.
“Fine, I’ll go back with you.”
Tao Xixue sat inside the limousine.
Outside was the bustle of heavy traffic.
The servant pressed the music button on the car’s display.
The noisy sounds were gradually covered by music.
The servant held the steering wheel, turned, and asked.
“Miss, it’s been a long time since you were home. Madam misses you.”
“Misses me? I find that hard to believe. Didn’t she regret giving birth to me most of all?”
Tao Xixue opened her phone without changing her expression, tapping the screen to clear the red notification dots.
“That must have been Madam speaking in anger. She probably just doesn’t want you to be led astray by others.”
“Led astray?”
Tao Xixue looked at the servant’s reflection in the rearview mirror and spoke coldly.
“Aren’t we the bad ones?”
Tao Xixue took off her outer jacket and put on a black trench coat.
Her entire being gradually merged into the darkness as the car passed through a tunnel.
When she emerged, the pure and cold look on Tao Xixue’s face had vanished.
In its place was a refined, cool-style outfit from head to toe.
Tao Xixue took a hair tie and pushed her hair up, revealing her smooth forehead.
She didn’t look like she was going home; she looked more like she was going to a boxing match.
In fact, when the limousine stopped, the two of them really arrived at a district with flashing neon lights.
Tao Xixue stepped out of the car, her gaze falling on several security guards at the door.
“Eldest Miss?!”
“The Eldest Miss is back!”
“Everyone, attention!”
The security guards stepped forward and stood in two rows.
One of them commanded the others to shout.
“Welcome home, Eldest Miss!”
Before the words could even fade, a woman dressed in flamboyant, eccentric clothing rushed out from the entrance.
“Xue, you’re finally back.”
Tao Xixue pushed the woman away with some annoyance, a look of distress on her face.
“Mom, why are you still dressed like this? Do you know you almost scared my homeroom teacher to death when you went to the parent-teacher conference back then?”
“You don’t understand. This is called fashion. This is how your dad and I dressed back in the day. It’s rare for you to be back, so come on, follow me inside.”
Entering the noisy house, the woman ignored the busy servants and pulled Tao Xixue to Underground Floor 2.
It was filled with smoke, as if everything were shrouded behind a thick haze.
On a high platform in the distance, two boxers were warming up.
Around them were several flamboyantly dressed men.
A woman pushed the chips on the table.
“I bet on the Red Side to win.”
“I bet on the Blue Side.”
“Hurry up, the betting is about to close! Anyone else want to add?”
Voices rose one after another.
Tao Xixue only felt uncomfortable.
She sat on the highest observation deck, watching the people fighting below with boredom.
Just then, her mother walked over with a drink.
“Xue, you haven’t been home for a long time. Come, have some juice?”
“I’m not drinking that. I usually stick to plain water. Mom, what exactly did you call me back for?”
“What else could it be? Isn’t your birthday coming up? I invited a few old friends back to celebrate for you. Look, those two boxers down there were very expensive. Their appearance fee is 100,000 each.”
Tao Xixue glanced sideways.
“What makes you think I would go through all this trouble to come back and watch two men fight?”
“What’s wrong with men? Xue, you’re not young anymore. It’s not bad to participate in more social events. You can’t possibly plan to spend your whole life with women, can you?”
Tao Xixue bit her lip and replied absentmindedly, “Hard to say.”