"Miss An, how do you do? I'm James."
An Ziqi stirred in Xiao Moli's arms, trying to get on her feet.
Impatiently, Xiao Moli glared daggers at her.
Stopping in her struggle, An Ziqi pursed her lips and resigned herself to staying in Xiao Moli's arms. She extended her hand.
"How do you do, Mr. James?"
Unfazed by the fact that she was not on her feet, James replied eagerly, "Miss An, I like your creativity from earlier. It was inspirational and has given me some new ideas. Would Miss An be interested in a discussion with me?"
Mr. James, thank you so much for your compliment. I am very honored by your validation. However, I wish to inform you that the incident was an accident and not any creative idea that I had thought of. If it were at all possible, I would not have taken such a huge risk."
Smiling cheekily, An Ziqi winked at him but did not seize the opportunity to brag about her capability.
"No, because it was an accident, your ability to stay calm in unexpected crises came into play and you were able to improvise with such daring creativity."
As he spoke, James sounded full of appreciation and affirmation.
An Ziqi's lips curled into a smile as she glanced at Lin Kelan who had been standing some distance away. Lin Kelan looked like she wanted nothing more than to kill her with her eyes. With a faint smile, An Ziqi said, "It looks like I should be grateful that this accident had occurred, giving me the opportunity to be complimented by you."
"Mr. James, I would like to send her to the hospital immediately. Let's talk later," Xiao Moli interrupted their chat, scowling.
Shrugging, James said to An Ziqi with a smile, "No worries. I wish Miss An a speedy recovery and hope that we will have the chance to work together in the near future!"
An Ziqi thanked him with a smile.
Xiao Moli gave the lead designer a look, indicating that he should lead James away.
Then, he carried An Ziqi out the door.
The women remaining backstage went berserk.
"Oh, my! Mr. Xiao is really caring."
"If I had the chance to be carried in my idol's arms, I would gladly break my leg, let alone sprain it."
...
Lin Kelan was imploding with fury.
That darned woman An Ziqi! Did she really lead a charmed life?
Even an incident like this had played in her favor and given her the stage to shine.
She had not only managed to get Mr. Xiao to personally carry her to the hospital, but had also gotten James' attention and compliments.
She was definitely the biggest winner of this launch!
Leaving the Convention Center, Xiao Moli shoved An Ziqi into the car and got into the driver's seat.
During the journey, he did not say a word, his lovely face looking tense.
An Ziqi kept stealing glances at him as they drove along.
Did this guy intend to settle all their disagreements in one fell swoop?
She did a tally of all the offences she had committed in the past two days.
Thinking through it all, she wondered if she should kneel and hold onto his legs to plead for mercy.
Or would rolling over and acting cute be more appropriate?
It was only when the car had stopped and Xiao Moli had carried her through the door that An Ziqi realized that he had taken her straight home.
Looking at her swollen ankle, she tapped Xiao Moli on the shoulder.
"Hey… Didn't you say that you were sending me to the hospital?"
"Nag, nag, nag."
After depositing her on the sofa, Xiao Moli turned around, walked into the bedroom, and emerged with a small, white bottle.
Once opened, the translucent gel in the bottle exuded a fresh, faint fragrance.
Curious, An Ziqi inched closer to look at the gel.
"What is this?"
Still scowling, Xiao Moli ignored her, and, extracting some gel from the bottle, he applied it to the swelling on her ankle.
The cooling effect of the translucent gel soothed away the hot, stinging pain in her ankle.
'So the gel was meant to relieve the swelling in my ankle,' An Ziqi thought with a smile. It smelt very nice. She didn't have the chance to express her pleasure at how comfortable it felt when…
In the next second…
"Oh, my! This is murder."