He raised an eyebrow noncommittally.
In the empty living room, only Yan Jingting's very faint chuckle could be heard.
He put away his phone and stopped looking.
...
Chu Zhiyi was unaware that someone had set their sights on her social circle. After she had sorted out the groupings, she returned to the Chu family's home.
Tomorrow, the Chu family was to host a birthday party for Chu Zhiyi, and as the star of the event, Madam Chu spared no expense to let her shine above all, spending a significant sum for Zhiyi to attend the top spa in Jiang City.
Father Chu looked at Zhiyi and asked, "Today, did you mention your relationship with Chu's company in front of President Yan?"
Chu Zhiyi paused for a moment, nonchalantly placing her bag aside and said, "Dad, I encountered something at CE today."
Father Chu was impatient with her changing the subject, but still restrained himself and asked, "What happened?"
"President Yan fired three people who angered him in front of everyone today." Chu Zhiyi silently apologized to Yan Jingting in her heart and continued, "Dad, seeing that kind of scene, how could I possibly speak out?"
Just upsetting Yan Jingting was enough for him to fire employees without a second thought.
If Chu Zhiyi, in her role as a journalist, brought up her status as the daughter of Chu's chieftain and provoked Yan Jingting, wouldn't that spell disaster for the Chu family?
Father Chu furrowed his brow but didn't press the matter any further.
"Prepare well for tomorrow's birthday party; you are the daughter of the Chu family, the future daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, and you absolutely cannot make any mistakes, understand?"
Chu Zhiyi nodded obediently, "Dad, I understand."
Father Chu nodded in satisfaction and stood up to leave.
After the spa treatment, Chu Zhiyi returned to her room to rest.
It was decorated luxuriously, but she hadn't been back in a long time.
All the precious belongings in this bedroom were not hers.
The clock kept ticking.
Quietly approaching 11:59 p.m.
Until the wee hours.
Chu Zhiyi's phone buzzed with birthday wishes from friends.
She lay in bed, smiling at the messages and replied to each.
Zhou Hen, far away in another city, got out of bed to drink some water.
On the other side of the bed, a woman, clad in a silk nightgown, was sound asleep.
Zhou Hen glanced at the time casually, his tired thoughts regaining some focus, and picked up the phone on the nightstand.
His assistant had reminded him that today was Chu Zhiyi's birthday.
Zhou Hen, pulling on his robe, sat on the sofa and carelessly dialed Chu Zhiyi's number.
There was a slight delay before the other side picked up.
"Ah Hen?"
"Asleep?" Zhou Hen bluntly asked.
"Not yet, why are you calling me at this time?"
Laughter spilled from Zhou Hen's throat, "Who reminded me of your birthday a few days ago?"
"So… you're calling just for that?"
"What else?"
The woman on the bed was awakened by the noise; she looked towards Zhou Hen not far away.
His eyes and brows wore a casual smile, seemingly in good spirits.
"Happy Birthday, Zhizhi."
The woman heard a tenderness in his voice unintentionally revealed.
A nameless jealousy ignited within her.
The woman got out of bed and tiptoed behind Zhou Hen, wrapping her arms around his neck. As the person on the other end said a word of thanks, she said in a coquettish voice, "Ah Hen, who are you talking to?"
Zhou Hen heard the woman's voice, glanced at her, but did not hang up the call.
On the other end, Chu Zhiyi had already come up with an excuse for him, "Are you still socializing? Remember to rest well later. I'll be very busy tomorrow, so I'll hang up now."
After she spoke, the call was abruptly ended.
The carefree expression on Zhou Hen's face dissipated.
"Ah Hen, who is she?"
"Who? My fiancée."
Zhou Hen callously drew her in, expressionless, "'Ah Hen' is what you call me?"
The woman hadn't caught on for a moment, "Then what should I call you?"
Zhou Hen pinched her face, examining her for a while.
He was good-looking, delicate but not sullen, and those affectionate phoenix eyes made people want to drown in them.
The woman in his arms now was one of those who had succumbed.
Zhou Hen carried her back to the bed, voice rising suggestively, "Call me 'brother.'"
Interest entirely disrupted by Zhou Hen's call within five minutes of her birthday, Chu Zhiyi felt utterly disgusted, not even wanting to look at the celebratory messages. She tossed her phone aside and remembered the photo she needed to send to her assistant, got up from bed, transferred the photo from the camera to her computer, and made some quick edits.
Yan Jingting was handsome, and no angle seemed to be a bad one.
Chu Zhiyi enlarged the image considerably and was about to touch up the details when she suddenly noticed something and sharply focused.
There was a tiny red mole on Yan Jingting's Adam's apple, quite unnoticeable.
If it weren't for his Adam's apple pushing it up, Chu Zhiyi wouldn't have found it at all.
The mole, blood-red in color, due to its special location, caught Chu Zhiyi's attention for quite some time.
Thinking about its subtle appearance when Yan Jingting's Adam's apple moved, she realized her improper thoughts and felt a bit uncomfortable.
She immediately edited the mole out – out of sight, out of mind!
After making the edits, Chu Zhiyi checked it for a long while, then sent the photo to her assistant.
At one in the morning, Yan Jingting's phone chimed.
He wasn't sleeping anyway, still looking over documents in his study.
Yan Jingting opened the page, only to realize it was a message from Chu Zhiyi.
The content was the photo she had taken.
Z: Sorry for sending the photo so late.
Z: Do you see anything that needs to be changed?
Yan Jingting raised an eyebrow; Chu Zhiyi certainly didn't know she was conversing with him.
He slowly typed a reply.
CE: Aren't you sleeping yet?
Z: I'm about to rest. Mr. Assistant, do you see anything that needs changing in the photo?
CE: It's fine as it is, no need for changes.
Chu Zhiyi immediately sent a gif of a little duck swimming in circles non-stop.
She got merry upon being praised.
Yan Jingting's lips curved slightly.
CE: It's late, you should rest now.
CE: Happy Birthday.
Chu Zhiyi had just crawled back into bed and saw the blessing from the other side, still somewhat surprised.
Does the assistant even need to know these details?
But she was happy to receive the well-wishes.
Chu Zhiyi expressed her thanks, adding a goodnight.
Sweet dreams.
The next morning, after breakfast, Chu Zhiyi began to get ready. The Zhou family arrived not long after, and Mother Zhou personally prepared a set of pink diamond jewelry for her, complementing her white off-shoulder gown quite strikingly.
"You're here, and even brought a gift for Zhizhi," Mother Chu said with a smile that couldn't be concealed.
Mother Zhou looked at Chu Zhiyi with satisfaction and said, "Zhizhi will be our daughter-in-law of the Zhou family. Today is her birthday, so naturally, we couldn't come empty-handed."
Chu Zhiyi was like the sweet girl next door, breaking into a sweet smile, "Thank you, Auntie."
"Soon, you'll have to change how you address us."
Chu Zhiyi showed a timely bashfulness, and Mother Zhou, seeing her obedient look, felt even more certain that Chu Zhiyi was the perfect choice for daughter-in-law of the Zhou family.
Obey her words, obey Zhou Hen's words, be a perfect daughter-in-law for the Zhou family.