Chapter 19: Agitated Part 1

Ning Ke snapped back a couple of harsh retorts, then slammed the door shut.

Yan Yunzhi said nothing.

Of course, it was possible she did say something, but Ning Ke had not heard it.

Clutching her pajamas, Ning Ke returned to her room. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

In broad daylight, why had Yan Yunzhi been showering at home?

And even if she was showering, she should have used her own room. But no, she had to use the ground-floor bathroom. And most importantly—she had not closed the door!

And told her not to peek?

Was she, Ning Ke, the kind of person who secretly did such shameless things?

They were both women. Yan Yunzhi had everything she had. Why would she peek?

Even setting that aside, if she were going to look, she would not peek. Tying Yan Yunzhi up and stripping her bare for a proper look—that would suit her domineering persona!

“Huff…”

The more she thought, the angrier she got. Holding her pajamas, she paced around the room in circles, then finally stomped into the bathroom.

The moment she entered, she closed the door and locked it, then checked twice to be sure.

She turned on the shower head, and water sprayed out.

The water temperature was not high—even a bit cool.

Ning Ke tilted her head back, letting the slightly cold water fall on her face, dousing some complicated, inexpressible emotion.

After showering, the temperature of her face had dropped a bit.

After blow-drying her hair and applying her skincare, she saw that Yan Yunzhi had called her on voice chat—missed. She had also sent a message: “I’m going back to check on Grandpa. I’ll be home a bit late. Eat well at home alone.”

If she was going home, why tell her?

She would be happy not to see her for days!

Ning Ke scrolled up through their messages. The most recent one was from when Yan Yunzhi had driven to pick her up, and she had sent her a location pin.

She closed the chat window and chose to coldly not reply.

For the whole day, Ning Ke was home alone.

With nothing to do, she curled up on the sofa reading a new script Xu Jian had sent.

The female lead was a refined young lady—elegant, proper, and well-educated. One day, while she was showering in her room, the assassin male lead burst in. Seeing he was pale and bleeding, she hid him. Their fate began from there.

Ning Ke frowned as she read: “And she hides him? What if he’s actually a bad guy? A girl is showering—it’s not like you can’t hear the water or see the lights—and he barges in. All excuses. He’s a pervert!”

After cursing, she was stunned for a moment.

By that logic, she was also a lecher who had violated Yan Yunzhi’s privacy.

Wait… what had Yan Yunzhi’s voice call this morning been about? Was she joking or serious?

She did not really think she had done it on purpose, did she?

No, she needed to explain to Yan Yunzhi.

Ning Ke could not focus on the script anymore.

She went downstairs, paced around the living room a few times, waited a long time, but Yan Yunzhi still did not come home. Her mood worsened.

Dinner time came and Yan Yunzhi still was not there. Sister Lu returned from home to cook and asked what she wanted. Ning Ke had no appetite: “Whatever.”

But even after dinner, Yan Yunzhi had not returned.

Sister Lu noticed her looking toward the door repeatedly and could not help asking: “Waiting for Azhi? Want me to call her?”

Ning Ke: “Who’s waiting for her?”

Leaving that behind, she went straight upstairs to her room and started packing.

Celebrities did not get time off for holidays. The past two years she had gone to New Year’s galas, but this year had been much more relaxed.

Xu Jian was arranging her post-holiday work and called from time to time for her input. Thanks to the buzz from Perfect Partner, two endorsement offers and a magazine cover shoot for March had come in.

Before the new year, Xu Jian had negotiated a new business deal—the mid-to-high-end skincare line endorsement of a top-tier brand.

Ning Ke had used this product line and had a favorable impression of it. But the basic line’s spokesperson was Tang Xi.

After hearing the details, she said directly: “Endorsing the same brand as Tang Xi? Bad luck. I’m not doing it.”

Xu Jian stopped her and repeatedly explained the benefits to her commercial value. Ning Ke relented, but demanded the brand first confirm whether they would renew Tang Xi’s contract.

Afterward, Xu Jian coordinated with the brand several times. The brand’s marketing manager wanted to sign Ning Ke, but there was capital backing Tang Xi. The negotiation ended with an agreement: two live streams, directly PK their sales abilities.

Ning Ke’s stream was scheduled for the seventh day of the new year.

Additionally, there was a video shoot that had not finished its location work, so she needed to go two days early, departing tomorrow morning.

At 10pm, Ning Ke heard the door open downstairs.

Yan Yunzhi must be home.

Having waited so long, Ning Ke now did not want to see her. She packed, absentmindedly listening for sounds in the hallway.

She heard footsteps on the stairs.

They seemed to pass by her room.

Then the door closed.

Ning Ke breathed a sigh of relief and continued packing.

The moment she finished, there was a knock.

Ning Ke went to open the door: “What is it?”

Yan Yunzhi stood at the door in a long pearl-silver robe. The neckline was slightly open, cinched at the waist, hemming at the knee, revealing fair, rounded knees and slender, snow-white calves.

She looked freshly showered, still carrying a faint mist of clean water. She smiled before speaking: “I heard sounds from your side and came to check.”

Ning Ke glanced at her nightgown—she could vaguely see her sculpted collarbone through the neckline. As she leaned in to speak, a faint, elegant fragrance lingered.

Who showered this late and then came to talk to someone?

…It was practically seduction.

Ning Ke took a step back: “What is it?”

Yan Yunzhi said: “Are you packing for a work trip?”

Ning Ke: “Mm. There’s a commercial endorsement in talks, and I need to go on a livestream.”

Yan Yunzhi: “Why not rest at home a few more days?”

Ning Ke shook her head: “We’ll see.”

Yan Yunzhi nodded and changed the subject: “What did you do at home today?”

Ning Ke would rather she had not brought it up.

Yan Yunzhi had said those ridiculous things this morning and had been gone all day, making her waste the entire day without memorizing her script.

Ning Ke snapped back: “I don’t need to report to you.”

Yan Yunzhi, seeing how flustered she was, quietly curved her brows: “Alright. Then get some rest.”

“Hey!” Ning Ke could not help calling out as she was about to leave.

Yan Yunzhi: “Hm?”

Yan Yunzhi seemed to have completely forgotten this morning—and Ning Ke could not bring herself to bring it up either: “Never mind.”

Yan Yunzhi smiled: “Rest well. Little Ning.”

Early the next morning.

“You’re already heading to work?” Sister Lu, back from grocery shopping, saw An Yu coming to pick up Ning Ke, looking a bit regretful. “Why not stay home a few more days?”

The couple had married two years ago and had only recently been spending time together—why not spend more of it?

Ning Ke had not slept well and was in a low mood, so she only hummed in response.

A video shoot had not been finished before the new year, so after landing, she first went to several locations for filming.

On the way, Ning Ke cooperated with the brand and posted a Weibo announcement: “Tonight at 8pm, see you in the livestream.”

The Perfect Partner production team showed their support by reposting the livestream announcement: “Tonight Ning Keke goes live! Repost and follow @Ning Ke to win one of five samples of the same face cream~”

She used the driving time to review the product materials for this commercial livestream and got a general idea.

It was common for a brand to sign several spokespeople for different lines. Tang Xi’s main push was an affordable essence, while Ning Ke’s endorsement was the mid-to-high-end essence and face cream.

Generally, affordable products sold more easily because of price. But in the past two years, consumer demographics and preferences had shifted—the younger generation, especially skincare and beauty enthusiasts, leaned toward mid-to-high-end products. Still, it was all just estimates; predicting final sales was difficult.

Tang Xi had hosted her stream last night and promoted the affordable single-item product. Her fans were already bragging about the numbers on forums:

“Seeing so many passersby ordering! They all said our Xixi was so cute during the stream!”

“Single-link sales passed 80,000! Put ‘Tang Xi is amazing’ on the public screen!”

“Brand daddies, look here! This is before work resumes—these numbers speak for themselves!”

“Xixi has unbeatable public appeal. These numbers can’t be touched by just anyone, hehe.”

Any observant person knew Tang Xi’s fans were taking digs at Ning Ke. Ning Ke’s fans fired back without hesitation, but since the stream was about to start, they headed into the livestream room first.

Besides Ning Ke’s fans, a wave of CP fans were watching too.

But the big fans had already called out in the CP Super Topic: do not post CP-related content on solo streams, to avoid ruining public goodwill. So the CP fans held back and did not post anything inappropriate.

At 8pm, the stream began on time.

Ning Ke wore a dark silver sequined mermaid-cut long dress today. Snow-white skin, jet-black hair, and bold red lips—radiant, striking, and dazzling.

The host beamed and raised her voice: “Welcome today’s guest, Ning Ke! Welcome our Ning Keke!”

Ning Ke greeted the camera: “Hello, everyone.”

“Whoa, sister has reached a new level of beauty today!”

“She’s my girlfriend!!!”

“Don’t you have a girlfriend? How can you call her my wife! Little Ning! Wife!”

Host: “Wow, Keke’s Colas are so enthusiastic!”

Ning Ke: “Are you all enjoying your holiday at home?”

“Of course!”

“I’d be even happier if I could see Episode 2 of Perfect Partner!”

“Wife! I’d be happier if you kissed me!”

Seeing so many bullet comments, the host got excited too and threw out a few topics to get Ning Ke interacting with fans.

Once the atmosphere was lively, the host started introducing the product: “Ladies, this face cream focuses on anti-aging. If you’re over 25, you really need to pay attention to early anti-aging. The regular price is 1,250. Today, livestream buyers get a free sample of the same size, plus…”