Cheng Yi's expression remained indifferent, as if the matter had nothing to do with him. He suddenly stood up, his voice very subdued, "You guys have fun, I'm leaving first."
The female companion sitting next to him hadn't grasped the situation yet. Just as she thought to follow him, she was held back by Tan Bo.
She stared fixedly at the retreating figure with great reluctance. After all, she didn't always get such a good opportunity to get close to Cheng Yi.
It was well-known that the Cheng Family had only one young master. If she could cling to Cheng Yi, her next life would be worry-free, but she hadn't seized this opportunity well. Cheng Yi hadn't even touched her hand all evening.
Cheng Yi walked out of the bar, took out his car keys, and directly got into the driver's seat. The car sped along the streets of Jing City, the windows down, allowing the piercing cold wind to blow against him.
He didn't know how long he had been driving when Cheng Yi slowed down, realizing he had driven to Jiangwan City.
He parked the car in front of a villa, didn't hurry to get out, and instead lit a cigarette in the car, slowly inhaling.
"Ding-dong, ding-dong," the doorbell sounded.
Xinan had just finished bathing, her hair not yet dry. Who would come to find her so late?
Xinan opened the door, and the first thing she saw was Cheng Yi's handsome face. Before she could speak, Cheng Yi stepped in, stretching one hand back to gently push the door with a "bang" it shut tightly.
"You're here—"
Xinan's words were cut off halfway as Cheng Yi's lips sealed hers. His kiss was tempestuous, catching her off guard like a storm.
He bit her lip forcefully, and Xinan, feeling uncomfortable, tried to push him away but he grabbed her hands, then quickly pried her mouth open.
His breathing was heavy, the kiss filled with a strong scent of cigarettes mixed with a faint note of tobacco. Was he drunk?
Xinan's whole body went numb from his kisses, her head spinning. She struggled but couldn't break free, leaving him to do as he pleased.
Suddenly, her top was slightly pulled open.
Xinan startled, raised her hands to his chest, and forcefully pushed against him.
He released Xinan's lips, looked down at her, and in his deep eyes, emotions churned like the sea, "Spend the night with me, and I'll marry you."
Xinan's mind felt as if it had been struck by lightning, her eyes incredulously fixing on the man before her, "What... what did you say?"
Cheng Yi's enticing lips parted, but the words that came out were so blunt, "Don't you want me to marry you? I'm giving you that chance now. Just sleep with me tonight, and I'll be able to revive Tianyi Group tomorrow."
He wasn't exaggerating; he truly had the power to do so.
The words of Zhou Rong and Xi Kanglei suddenly echoed in her ears, and it took Xinan a while to find her voice again. She sighed deeply and said, "Okay."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she closed her eyes, allowing the man in front of her to cover her lips once more, until a chill touched her body, and Xinan suddenly dodged his lips.
"Go… to the bedroom." Her eyes were somewhat hazy, her voice slightly hoarse.
Cheng Yi picked her up with one arm, fumbling towards the bedroom.
—
The next morning.
Xinan was awakened by Ding Lan's phone call; the man's presence was long gone from beside her, not even his warmth remained. He must have left some time ago.
The phone still rang crazily. She reached from the headboard to grab it, and as soon as she answered, Ding Lan's loud voice transmitted from the receiver.
"What happened last night? I called you several times, and you didn't answer."
Xinan took a deep breath. She had heard the phone last night, but it rang only once or twice before Cheng Yi turned it off.
She cleared her throat and said, "I was sleeping deeply last night, didn't hear the ringtone. What's up?"
"I just wanted to remind you that the magazine shoot for this afternoon is canceled, rescheduled to next Monday."
"Okay."
"By the way, have you read the script for 'Mist'?"
"I have."
Xinan had read the script as soon as she received it. The story was indeed good—centering on the love story of a police officer and a mysterious female assassin, primarily focusing on suspense with romance secondary. The script was excellent, clearly aimed at winning awards.
"How do you feel about it?"
Xinan spoke honestly, "Not bad."
Ding Lan laughed, "I knew you would like it as soon as I saw the script. The audition is set for this Friday, so you spend these next few days at home getting into the script."
"Got it."
After hanging up, Xinan touched her forehead. Her body ached tremendously as if it had been run over by a truck.
She slowly sat up, feeling sticky all over; by the end of last night, both of them were exhausted and had fallen asleep in a daze.
She looked at the bright red smear on the sheets, feeling irritable inside.
Despite her physical exhaustion, Xinan dragged herself to the bathroom to take a shower.
The next day, the doorbell at her home rang.
When she opened the door, it was a man she had never seen before, probably in his thirties, dressed neatly, with a smile on his face that made him seem very gentle.
"Hello, my name is Ye Rui, I'm Mr. Cheng's assistant. He sent me to pick you up."
"Pick me up? Did he say what for?"
"To register our marriage." Ye Rui answered crisply.
"Register our marriage?" Xinan was slightly shocked.
"Yes."
Ye Rui stepped aside and made a welcoming gesture, "Come on, Miss Xi."
"But my household registration book is still at the Xi family's house." Xinan couldn't believe that Cheng Yi was acting so quickly.
Ye Rui gave a slight smile, "Miss Xi, you don't need to worry about that."
Cheng Yi's car was a Rolls-Royce Phantom. When Xinan got in, he was sitting in the back, looking at his phone.
Having lived through the events of last night, Xinan felt uncomfortable all over whenever she saw Cheng Yi.
Xinan deliberately kept a distance of about one yard from him.
Cheng Yi glanced at Xinan, his expression growing colder, "Do I have thorns on my body?"
"Huh?" Xinan didn't understand what he meant.
"Come closer." His tone was commanding.
"Oh." Xinan shifted, moving slightly closer to Cheng Yi.
When they came out of the civil affairs bureau, Xinan was in a daze; she had actually gotten married, and to Cheng Yi no less.
Looking at the red marriage book in her hand, Xinan couldn't tell if she felt more happiness or helplessness.
Was she more happy or helpless?
Actually, Xinan had always had a secret—she liked Cheng Yi, and had liked him for many years, from the age of 16 to 26, a whole ten years. Her heart had always held him alone.
In high school, Xinan had fallen for this boy who stayed by her side.
Back then, Cheng Yi was unrestrained and arrogant, truly a favored child of heaven. Everyone revolved around him, and countless schoolgirls secretly adored and liked him, including Xinan.
Xinan wasn't as bold as the other girls; she didn't write him love letters or send him heart-shaped cakes, but she silently paid attention to his every move, bringing him a bottle of water when he played basketball, and cheering for him during sports meets.
But even so, Cheng Yi didn't like her.
She had thought their relationship would always continue like this, even if they couldn't be lovers, they could at least be friends.
But during college, because of that incident, their relationship completely fell apart.
Just about to graduate in their senior year, Xinan called some of Cheng Yi's good friends to organize a birthday party for him, also hoping to use the occasion to confess her feelings of so many years.
She had prepared alone for the birthday party for a long time.
She had even taken over a month to carefully select a birthday gift for Cheng Yi.
Cheng Yi's birthday was on Qixi Festival, a romantic and special holiday.
Tan Bo had said that Cheng Yi's favorite color was blue, so on that day Xinan specifically wore a blue floral dress and had even curled her long black hair.
"Brother Tan Bo, has Brother Yi arrived yet?" Despite the long preparations, she still couldn't help but feel nervous when the day actually came.
Tan Bo looked outside from the doorway, "Don't worry, I'll call you when Ah Yi arrives."
"Okay."
Tan Bo had practically watched Xinan grow up, so he was especially indulgent towards her.
"He's here, he's here." Tan Bo said, reaching to turn off the light nearby.
The entire private room plunged into darkness, everyone held their breath, and in that moment, Xinan felt as if she could hear her own heart beating.
One beat, two beats, three beats—thump, thump, thump.