Xiang Yang got up to make breakfast and saw the message from his sister, realizing she had already left for work.
He lazily walked out of his room and was surprised to see Lu Mingzhe sleeping on the sofa.
Had he not returned home last night, or what happened? Why was he sleeping on the sofa? And without a blanket.
He didn't wake him up, thinking he had been working hard lately. He gently covered him with a blanket, and Xiang Yang left for school.
When Lu Mingzhe finally woke up, it was already two in the afternoon.
He looked around the house; no one was there, and the sunlight was bright and glaring.
He grabbed his phone and saw many unread messages on WeChat.
Most of them were from his assistant.
He had slept for so long that his morning appointments were already late.
He sat on the sofa to clear his head and decided to take the day off and postpone all appointments to tomorrow.
Then he messaged Xiang Wan, asking what she had for lunch, if she was full, and if she wanted him to bring her some snacks.
He had been busy lately, and they hadn't exchanged such affectionate messages in a long time.
After her feelings changed, seeing him again no longer brought Xiang Wan surprise or感动 (gǎndòng - moved/touched).
Instead, she found it a bit ridiculous.
Lu Mingzhe must have done something wrong yesterday, and today he was trying to compensate by being nice to her, right?
Had every previous instance also been for this reason?
People say the biggest taboo in relationships is to overthink and self-motivate.
It seemed she had been overthinking too much in the past.
Lu Mingzhe had done nothing, and she had conjured a grand love story entirely from her imagination.
Xiang Wan pretended to be busy and didn't reply to his messages.
Lu Mingzhe waited for a while, understanding she was busy with work. He washed up, tidied himself, and went out.
He directly bought a cake and drove to the studio.
Upon seeing Lu Mingzhe, everyone greeted him and then reminded Xiang Wan that Lu Ge had arrived.
Seeing him tidied up and looking refreshed.
How to put it, Xiang Wan only felt that the words "hypocritical gentleman" were the most fitting description for him.
Golden on the outside, rotten on the inside.
She had been too focused on appearance in the past, thinking that if the shell was beautiful, the heart must also be beautiful.
However, it wasn't suitable to fall out with him yet; her escape route wasn't ready, and she couldn't afford any accidents.
Xiang Wan walked over with a smile.
"Why did you come over? Aren't you busy today?"
Lu Mingzhe held her hand. "Just woke up."
"Anyway, many things have been missed today, so I'll deal with them tomorrow."
"I came back too late yesterday, and my phone ran out of battery, so I couldn't explain in advance. You're not upset, are you?"
Xiang Wan pulled her hand out of his and glanced at the cake.
"A little bit, I guess."
Then she didn't eat it and called out to everyone.
"Come, come, everyone stop what you're doing for a moment. Lu Ge brought you something to eat. Take a break."
No wonder Xiang Wan usually didn't let him bring snacks up. The studio was crowded, and with one piece for each person, Xiang Wan didn't get any, and they were all gone.
Lu Mingzhe felt a bit apologetic.
"Did your studio hire more people? I bought too little. You didn't get any, and I came here for nothing."
"It's okay, you've won people over for me. I ate a lot at noon, so I'm not hungry."
"What did you eat at noon? I'm still hungry."
As usual, the moment Lu Mingzhe saw her, he wanted to act spoiled, to nuzzle her face, and be close to her.
Xiang Wan subtly dodged him.
"So many people are watching."
"What are you afraid of? We haven't known each other for just a day or two. Who doesn't know us?"
"Don't be like this." She still refused.
Lu Mingzhe had to stand up straight.
"Are you busy? If not, would you accompany me for a walk?"
"The weather isn't too hot right now. It's rare to have free time. Let's go out for a stroll, and I'll treat you to a movie."
Xiang Wan was extremely busy.
She was contacting the two modeling agencies that had approached her before, discussing selling her account, and had no mood for a movie.
"I'm busy. I just finished processing this batch of orders, and there's a lot of after-sales service to do. The livestreaming room is still stocking products..."
"Didn't you say you wanted to earn milk money for Guo Guo? Stop playing around and go to work. Do whatever you can."
Lu Mingzhe was energized by her words.
His wife was pregnant, and even though she was a woman, she was working so hard. He felt it was indeed wrong to always be thinking about holidays.
"Alright then. I'm leaving."
He reluctantly reached out to touch her belly.
"Is Guo Guo behaving today? Did she bother you?"
"She's quite well-behaved. She didn't bother me."
"My daughter is amazing. Thank you for your hard work, wife. I'm leaving."
As she watched her leave, the studio was filled with envy and jealousy.
Everyone praised Lu Mingzhe for becoming more handsome, saying he and Xiang Wan looked perfect together.
"And how are you two so affectionate? Every time I see you, Lu Ge's gaze is so tender..."
"Sister Wan, when are you getting married? When the time comes, we can livestream your proposal and wedding. It will definitely generate a lot of traffic."
Xiang Wan found it amusing.
In a few days, she wouldn't be their boss anymore, and they wouldn't see this hypocritical facade.
She hoped they wouldn't curse her behind her back and laugh at her then.
The modeling agency immediately sent people to arrange a meeting with Xiang Wan. Fearing unfavorable contract terms, Xiang Wan asked Tang Haichao for help again.
Tang Haichao, along with his legal advisor, accompanied her to the coffee shop.
There were many ways to approach short video accounts.
Generally, other types of accounts, even with a million followers, if their sales conversion wasn't high, weren't worth much.
But Xiang Wan's fashion and beauty account was different.
80% of her consumers were women, aged between 18 and 45, who were the mainstream consumer group in the short video sales sector.
Xiang Wan's videos had several viral hits with over ten million views. Although she only had a little over a million followers, her account had immense potential.
After three hours, Xiang Wan signed a lifetime transfer agreement, selling the account for 4 million.
Today was the day everyone bought groceries and cooked together. Xiang Yang had already messaged Xiang Wan to ask if she could make it on time.
She didn't have time to treat Tang Haichao to a meal. "I'll thank you all together after I finish all my business. I have to go now."
The three of them went to the wet market together.
Xiang Yang and Lu Mingzhe were overjoyed. Just like last time, they pointed at various vegetables and chattered excitedly.
Xiang Wan followed behind them, playing on her phone, messaging the agent about listing the apartment that had caught fire.
As long as she didn't lose money, she wanted to sell it quickly.
The two men picked several vegetables and noticed she hadn't said a word. Lu Mingzhe went back to ask her.
"What are you doing? So busy?"
Xiang Wan locked her phone discreetly and smiled at him.
"It's almost Double Eleven, you know. The studio is busy."
"Let them handle the busy work. Your pregnancy is progressing, you can't always be worrying like this. Come on, pick a few dishes you'd like to eat."
Xiang Wan casually picked a few.
When they returned home, the two men went to cook, while she sat on the sofa, eating fruit and playing on her phone.
And calculating her financial accounts.