Chapter 216: Chapter 216: You Don’t Look Like Someone Obsessed with Love
Sang Ning: ???
Could something this lucky actually happen? She wasn’t sure if she should start calling Li Juezhou her personal lucky koi fish. After all, it was him who picked the restaurant.
Sang Ning propped her elbow on the table for balance, rising slightly and leaning toward Li Juezhou on the other side of the table. She cupped her hand around her mouth and whispered, "Big bro, your intel’s pretty solid, huh? Even managed to find out when they opened for business."
It sounded casual enough, but Li Juezhou could clearly feel the skepticism and wariness written all over Sang Ning’s gaze.
"Of course." Li Juezhou stroked his chin and chuckled. "And you ought to consider who my employer is."
Sang Ning’s vigilance finally eased a little. True, Li Juezhou did work as the personal bodyguard to the heiress of a major corporation.
"Though, honestly, I had no clue about the free first-customer deal. I’m innocent on this one." Li Juezhou shrugged, his expression entirely guileless. "I just thought the place had a nice vibe. Didn’t you tell me to pick a restaurant with good ambiance?"
"Alright, alright, let’s focus on ordering." Sang Ning didn’t dwell on it and returned to her seat.
While eating, however, she found the extra people hovering around—including violinists—too distracting, so she waved them away altogether.
Once the surroundings quieted down, Sang Ning slid the menu brought by the server across the table to Li Juezhou. "You’re the guest. You take a look first."
Li Juezhou took the menu, flipped through a few pages absentmindedly, and glanced up at Sang Ning. She was absorbed in scrolling through short videos, seemingly forgetting something.
Sang Ning sensed Li Juezhou’s gaze and looked up. He asked, with a face full of exaggerated grievance, "Am I still a guest right now?"
"Fine, hang on. I’ll just ask my manager right now."
Sang Ning had planned to wait until after the meal to make inquiries, but evidently, Li Juezhou was too impatient to sit tight for even a second.
She huffed in mild exasperation, pursed her lips, and wasted no time dialing her manager directly.
"Sis, what can I do for you?" On the other end of the call, her manager’s voice wavered timidly, sounding noticeably uneasy.
Familiar with her manager’s usual meek disposition, Sang Ning didn’t take it personally and went straight to the point: "The contract I signed with the company—does it prohibit me from dating before twenty-five—"
"No, no, no! Nothing like that, absolutely not!"
Sang Ning was interrupted before she could finish her sentence.
"How do you even know what I was going to ask?" Sang Ning questioned, her tone mildly baffled.
Her manager was momentarily tongue-tied, then stammered an overly defensive reply. "Sis, when you mentioned twenty-five, I naturally assumed you meant the company’s old clause about banning artists from dating. That’s ancient. It’s been scrapped ages ago. All our artists now enjoy complete freedom in their love lives."
"Really?" Sang Ning wasn’t convinced.
"Of course! Our artists are groomed as bona fide thespians. As long as your personal conduct is clean, why shouldn’t you date?!" Her manager inexplicably grew flustered while trying to justify this.
After hanging up, Sang Ning thought the entire exchange was strange. It almost felt like her manager was pressuring her to be in a relationship.
Across the table, Li Juezhou was staring straight at her.
The moment she ended the call, he eagerly blurted, "So? Confirmed? Can I officially be your boyfriend now?"
Sang Ning set her phone down on the table and shook her head. "Let’s forget it. Once this meal is over, let’s part ways amicably."
While it was true she was being developed as a professional actor, she was only twenty years old. She hadn’t even entered the career trajectory that would propel her upward, and dating now would be catastrophic for her career.
Her goal of gaining ten million Weibo followers was still incomplete. Date? At this stage, men were nothing but dead weight.
Li Juezhou was momentarily stunned, completely at a loss. Sang Ning calling him dead weight—sure, he could accept that. She had also brought up contractual concerns; he had resolved those on the spot. Yet still, she was brushing him aside.
"What’s the reason this time?" Li Juezhou clasped his hands together lightly on the table, sitting upright, as if awaiting judgment.
"Dating would hurt my image. I’d lose followers." Sang Ning, deeply attached to her hard-earned Weibo followers, couldn’t bear to lose even one.
"I’m sorry, but we’re just not meant to be. You’d better look for someone else to crush on." Sang Ning apologized sincerely.
"I can wait!" Li Juezhou’s eyes glinted with genuine intent. "No matter how long, I can wait! When you’re ready to date, can I be your first pick? Don’t consider anyone else, alright?"
"Sangsang, I’m begging you—give me a chance, okay?" His tone verged on a plea.
By now, Li Juezhou understood her too well. She was particularly soft-hearted under persistent persuasion. If he didn’t step up, someone more shameless might swoop in and steal his opportunity.
Sang Ning rubbed her nose awkwardly, lowered her eyes, and avoided meeting his gaze.
That look of his packed too much emotional force; it made her feel like she’d committed some monumental wrong against him.
Suddenly, Sang Ning realized she might very well be a terrible person at her core.
After thinking it over seriously, she finally looked up and proposed what felt like a fair compromise.
"How about this—I’ll give you the title of ’intern boyfriend’ first. The internship lasts for one year. After the period ends, I’ll decide whether to promote you. If I promote you, I’ll announce our relationship publicly. If not, we’ll just say goodbye and move on separately."
Her suggestion of a one-year term came with two reasons in mind.
The first was that her deadline for meeting the Weibo follower growth target was also one year.
The second was that Li Juezhou’s feelings for her were hardly sincere. The moment he first laid eyes on her, he’d taken a liking to her.
What did that mean? It meant Li Juezhou’s attraction was purely superficial.
Setting a one-year trial might not even reach the point where she’d decide his status; by then, he’d likely lose interest and pull back voluntarily.
The arrangement benefited everybody without any real downside.
"I can! Absolutely, I can!" Li Juezhou promised earnestly.
Forget one year—he could wait ten years if he had to!
Perhaps it wouldn’t even take a full year before Sang Ning agreed to let him out of the internship phase early.
That thought made the corners of Li Juezhou’s mouth lift in an utterly delighted smile. His heart was brimming with sweetness.
Sang Ning propped her chin on one hand and stared directly at Li Juezhou, her gaze full of scrutiny.
It was likely that he was still riding the high of infatuation with her looks, but his willingness to accept her unreasonable demands seemed boundless.
"Sangsang, what’s wrong? Is there another issue?" Li Juezhou wavered under her stare, suddenly uncertain. Was she about to retract her offer after all?
"There’s no issue. If you don’t mind being the man I keep hidden in the shadows, what’s there for me to complain about?" Sang Ning shook her head with resigned amusement.
Still, she added casually at the end, "Never realized you’re actually a romance junkie."