Chapter 37: Listen
“Then we can only schedule it for another time.”
Shen Ruoxi nodded in understanding, and following Jiang Mi’s action, she also covered her mouth and yawned. Her tone was helpless, “Is this meal of ours star-crossed? I feel like it could be postponed all the way to next year.”
Jiang Mi deeply agreed. She tilted her face up slightly, letting the makeup artist’s brush sweep gently across her cheek.
Earlier, she had even had a fleeting thought—could it be that Yan Wei had done something, but she had immediately dismissed it.
Yan Wei was a little concerned about her, but not to this extent.
The second scene was finished by almost noon. Jiang Mi took the wet wipe handed to her by the temporary assistant and carefully wiped the dust that had been deliberately applied to her face.
“Sister Mi, Sister Zhao just called. She asked you to check your phone,” the assistant reminded her in a low voice.
Jiang Mi’s heart tightened. She guessed that there was probably some news from apple’s side. She took out her phone and walked quickly towards the break room. As she walked, she said to the assistant, “You can go rest. You don’t have to follow me.”
After walking a few steps and confirming that no one was around, she took out her phone and dialed Zhao Jia’s number.
“Is it over?”
Zhao Jia’s voice came through immediately, with a hint of lighthearted relief. “apple is awake.”
The heavy breath in Jiang Mi’s chest was finally slowly released.
“How is she now?”
“She’s still a bit listless and not talking much. She asked about you once and then went silent. I didn’t want to ask too much… but overall, it seems to be nothing serious. I’ll stay here and watch her. You can focus on your work first. No need to rush over.” Zhao Jia’s words were so fast that she barely left any room for Jiang Mi to breathe. The topic immediately changed, “What about you? Is everything going smoothly?”
“It’s alright.” Jiang Mi’s thoughts were clearly still elsewhere. “Has she eaten?”
“She throws up everything I feed her. She just managed to drink a little water.” Afraid of making her more worried, Zhao Jia added, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. I’ll find a way to get her some energy. You should be careful on set too.”
“Mmm.”
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Mi’s fingertips flew across the phone screen, ordering a beef congee to be delivered directly to the hotel room.
She then followed up with a message to Zhao Jia: [I ordered apple’s favorite congee. When it arrives, make her have a few sips to fill her stomach. I’ll try to get there as soon as possible.]
The matter of Chen Qiao was more like a heavy stone pressing on her heart. If this hidden danger wasn’t completely resolved, even if apple recovered this time, she wouldn’t be able to escape Chen Qiao’s future harassment
This meal with Yan Wei, whether from the perspective of her and Yan Wei’s relationship or from the perspective of resolving the matter of Chen Qiao, had become crucial.
As work was about to end in the evening, Jiang Mi sent another message to inquire about the situation. This time, Zhao Jia’s reply came after a long time:
[Her temperature is scarily high. I just called a doctor to come and see her.]
Before long, another message flashed: [I’m afraid you’ll have to be the one to persuade her. Are you sure you can still come over tonight after dinner with Teacher Yan?]
Jiang Mi’s heart stirred. The way this was asked…
Of course she would go.
What else was there to do after dinner…
[Yes.]
After replying, Jiang Mi stared at the phone screen, but her heart was slightly suspended.
Right now, she actually felt that comforting apple was more important.
She focused for a moment, her gaze involuntarily turning to the closed door of Yan Wei’s break room in the distance.
The moment the thought came out, that door was like a thick barrier, as if it had already indicated the danger that breaking the agreement might bring.
Jiang Mi thought it over and over, and finally, after taking a few deep breaths, she made up her mind.
She raised her hand, her fingertips lightly knocking on the break room door.
Surui’s response soon came from inside. The door opened, and a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes when she saw her. She subconsciously glanced back at Yan Wei, who was sitting in front of the mirror. “Miss Jiang?”
Almost at the same time, she keenly sensed Yan Wei’s gaze from the mirror. She then discreetly took a half step to the side, making way for Jiang Mi to enter.
“I’m… going out to make a call.”
Surui casually made an excuse and slipped out. Since she knew the situation, she had to be tactful.
Jiang Mi was silent for a second or two. Only after her gaze met Yan Wei’s in the mirror again did she walk forward steadily. Her voice remained calm, “Teacher Yan, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Yan Wei didn’t turn her head. She stared at her, only moving her pupils. A single syllable came from her lips, “Speak.”
It was as if she had a premonition that what Jiang Mi was about to say was not what she wanted to hear.
“Tonight’s appointment, can we change it to tomorrow?” Jiang Mi’s voice was low.
She was the one who had agreed first, so she didn’t have much confidence.
The moment she finished speaking, an invisible pressure suddenly descended. Jiang Mi could clearly feel that pair of eyes from the mirror, belonging to the Omega, heavy, passing through the air, yet threateningly enveloping her…
Jiang Mi had never intended to hide it, but at this moment, she hesitated again. But in the end, she still chose the truth.
“apple’s condition is not very good. I might have to go see her first. I’m afraid it will be too late by then, so I wanted to discuss with you, how about we change it to tomorrow?” she said, choosing her words carefully.
So it doesn’t matter if you break your appointment with me. Seeing other people is more important.
Yan Wei’s gaze had long since turned cold. “Are you sure?”
Jiang Mi was all too familiar with this kind of pressure.
She was silent for a moment, then said, “Teacher Yan, don’t be angry first…”
She stared at Yan Wei for a few seconds, then slowly walked to Yan Wei’s side and lowered her voice, “I’m not trying to break the agreement. I’m just afraid you’ll wait for a long time. I thought that tomorrow’s time would be more flexible.”
The spiderweb woven from rose and brandy wrapped around her. Yan Wei said, “The bargaining chip for the trade?”
“Hmm?”
Yan Wei: “These words you’re saying now, are they because of the conditions of the exchange, right?”
This seemed to be the result she wanted, but what she thought of was that their relationship had not been very pleasant these past two days. If it weren’t for the matter of apple, would Jiang Mi have spoken to her so humbly? The premise of the exchange was that Jiang Mi was helping apple, not that she really wanted to get close to her.
Now, for the sake of apple, she could break her appointment and stand her up again.
What a subtle emotion.
A dangerous flame flickered in the bottom of Yan Wei’s pupils. She lightly ground her teeth against the tip of her tongue, her gaze sliding over the curve of Jiang Mi’s neck as she swallowed. If Jiang Mi dared to nod in the next second, she wouldn’t care if it was an apple or an orange.
“No.”
Jiang Mi pinched her fingers. “I really am just afraid you’ll wait for a long time.”
The mirror reflected Jiang Mi’s lowered silhouette. Yan Wei’s vision was blocked by the shadow of her hair. She suddenly turned and looked up, her gaze into the depths of the Alpha’s trembling eyelashes.
“Wait for a long time?”
She looked at every subtle expression of the Alpha, one by one, into her eyes.
Jiang Mi paused. This time, she seemed to have heard the subtext in her words—so how long are you planning to stay?
She thought of what Yan Wei had asked her just now. She probably thought that it was because of the “exchange” that they could talk nicely again.
Yan Wei didn’t know that in fact, it was because she had felt Yan Wei’s intention to take a step forward, just like Yan Wei’s meticulous dressing that night, just like the call Yan Wei had made that night, and also just like Yan Wei’s first invitation in the morning.
These were all different from before, like a spring flood testing her defenses.
She didn’t have so many defenses in front of Yan Wei.
So, she was also willing to take a step forward.
As long as Yan Wei had this idea, she could even take many more steps than Yan Wei.
She was also inspired by the matter of apple. Did she know Yan Wei? Did Yan Wei really know her?
It seemed neither of them did.
She was willing to try.
What was the harm in taking a gamble?
Even if the front was a reflection of flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water, scooping up a handful of illusory light was still considered scooping.
Of course, she also didn’t know where the final destination was. How unreachable and dreamlike it was. Maybe in the end, she would just brush past that dream, but at least, she had tried to choose.
With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Mi opened her mouth and said, “We’ve been good friends for many years. Now that she’s in trouble, the President Tan who helped her is your friend. I wonder if you’ve heard anything about the situation? apple has met such a scumbag… her condition is not very good today. Zhao Jia said she just woke up, so I want to go over and see her first. I don’t plan to stay for long, I’m just afraid I won’t have time for dinner with you. That’s it.”
She looked at Yan Wei’s expression. Her mind suddenly flashed with a shooting star. Her eyelashes trembled slightly because of what she was about to do. Then she reached out and grabbed a corner of Yan Wei’s shawl, like a child grabbing an adult’s clothes. She tentatively tugged at it. “Teacher Yan, so tomorrow, is it okay?”
Yan Wei’s eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
Where her gaze fell, that fair hand with distinct knuckles was clutching the tassel of her shawl. She seemed to directly feel the woman’s warm touch.
She stared at this wrist that was about to retreat but not retreating, and suddenly extended her index finger—
The moment her fingertip touched the back of Jiang Mi’s hand, the Alpha’s entire arm suddenly tensed.
Just that one finger.
It hooked onto her few fingers, and then drilled into her palm from the gap.
Like a small snake about to drill into her heart from her palm, Jiang Mi’s fingers loosened from Yan Wei’s shawl, and she pulled back, only to be hooked back by Yan Wei.
“Don’t move.”
The command, wrapped in rose pheromones, crashed into her eardrum. Jiang Mi froze on the spot and really didn’t move.
She let that mischievous finger wander between the lines of her palm. When she lowered her head, she caught sight of the melting curve of Yan Wei’s lips, and a sudden inspiration came to her—
So to soothe Yan Wei, you just had to offer a hand.
No… it was that Yan Wei seemed to be quite easy to coax. She felt that she had discovered some amazing shortcut.
Just as the thought passed, she suddenly heard Yan Wei say faintly, “Say it again.”
Yan Wei’s command was still hanging in the air, and Jiang Mi’s ears were already flushed.
“Say what?”
“Say what you just said again.”
Just as Jiang Mi was about to speak, she saw Yan Wei look up and say again, “But with a different form of address.”
Jiang Mi didn’t quite understand. “What form of address?”
Before she could finish, she met Yan Wei’s meaningful gaze. Her heart skipped a beat, and her words paused slightly. It seemed that something was not right.
She had a bad feeling.
Before Jiang Mi could chew on the deep meaning, Yan Wei suddenly leaned in, and the scent of brandy rolled over her collarbone. “Isn’t it ‘elder’?”
Jiang Mi: “?”
How did Yan Wei know what she had just said?!
It was quite a coincidence.
The new assistant Surui had found would often stand in the shadows, holding a clothes rack. For the past two days, the girl had only dared to hand over clothes and hold up a mirror from three meters away from Yan Wei.
Today on the set, she had also been following behind Yan Wei. After Yan Wei left first, she had been squatting behind, helping the makeup artist tidy up…
It was unclear whether the new assistant was sharp-eyed or if it was a coincidence.
Just now, when she had brought something to Yan Wei in the break room, she had said it so lightly.
“It seems Teacher Jiang is having dinner with an elder tonight. I heard it when she was chatting with Teacher Shen just now. I was right next to them.”
The halo of the chandelier in the break room suddenly became thick.
“Jiang Mi.”
The Alpha’s Adam’s apple rolled. “Hmm…?”
“What kind of…” Yan Wei suddenly used her fingertip to stroke the finger that she had played with until it was red. “Elder am I to you? Hmm?”
Jiang Mi: “I needed to make an excuse at that time—”
The command, wrapped in hot air, crashed against her eardrum. Yan Wei’s fingertip had already gently lifted her chin.
“Say it for me to hear.”
