Chapter 59: President Jing Begins to Make His Move

Jing Zhuo took a deep breath, turned off the lights, and walked back to the second bedroom.

His phone lit up, and Cen Jin's call came through.

"Brothers' routine gathering, building bonds, come out for late-night snacks."

"Not eating."

"What's wrong?"

"Afraid of bursting."

Cen Jin sounded puzzled on the other end: "If you're afraid of bursting, just eat a little less, it's not like I'm forcing you to stuff yourself to death."

Jing Zhuo said, "I can't eat a single bite."

He hung up directly.

In the dark, he lay quietly on the empty, desolate bed, looking more forlorn than a stray dog.

...

When Song Xi woke up, she smelled the rich fragrance of roses filling the room.

She walked out to the living room and took a look, finding that the nearly withered roses in the vase were gone, replaced by a fresh batch of red roses.

The tender, vibrant flowers faced the sunlight, thriving.

Did he change these?

The housekeeper, who left late today, had finished cleaning up the fallen stems and green leaves on the floor before speaking to Song Xi.

"Sir said he couldn't sleep and walked off his dinner last night, so he drove to a flower shop 20 kilometers away to buy a bouquet. Early this morning, he learned online how to arrange and revive flowers, and then replaced them for you."

Isn't this housekeeper socially awkward?

Why is she talking so much today?

Song Xi nodded: "I see. Thank you, housekeeper. I've given you extra work."

"It's nothing, just a casual cleanup," the housekeeper said with a smile. "Madam, your husband is really good to you. In all my years as a housekeeper, I've never seen a man from an employer's family patiently fiddle with flowers."

"Only when a man loves you is he willing to please you."

— The socially awkward housekeeper has turned into a chatterbox.

Song Xi smiled politely: "Mm-hmm, he is very good."

"I've made breakfast, I'll be leaving now. Enjoy your meal."

With that, the housekeeper picked up two bags of garbage and left the apartment.

Just then, Jing Zhuo came out after washing up, and the two sat facing each other across the dining table for breakfast.

Clearly, just two days ago, there had been a flutter of ambiguous emotions, their relationship progressing smoothly to the point where they were getting used to sharing a bed, yet now they were acting like a pair of polite roommates.

Jing Zhuo's tone was calm: "Do you like the flowers?"

"Mm, they smell quite nice."

"If they wither in the future, just let me replace them. You just need to enjoy the scent."

"Oh..."

Still as distant as ever, like a block of ice, even colder than when he was at the He residence.

Jing Zhuo pondered for a moment and asked, "Are you free tonight? Want to grab... hot pot together after work?"

Song Xi shook her shake: "I have a photoshoot with a model today, and it's going to be very late. I can't make it."

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow I'm flying to Dali for a business trip, for at least a month."

The air froze for a few seconds.

Jing Zhuo didn't seem to expect this sudden development: "A business trip for a month? That long?"

Song Xi nodded, answering him very earnestly.

"Yes, it's a new assignment assigned by the company. I'll be following a client on a travel photography shoot, so it will take a bit longer."

They had only gotten their marriage certificate a little over a month ago.

And now Song Xi was going on a business trip for a month.

When she returned, would she still acknowledge him as her husband?

Jing Zhuo lowered his gaze and brow, feeling a bit insecure inside.

...

But the words came to his lips, and he didn't dare say anything.

A good man must not hinder a woman's career; he must support her, understand her, and respect her.

"Then... I'll drive you to the airport tomorrow."

"No need, my colleague is picking me up. I can just catch a ride downstairs."

After saying that, Song Xi finished her meal. Pressed for time to get to work, she hastily shouldered her bag and left without looking back.

Usually, she would wait for him and go downstairs together.

Now she was acting like a mouse seeing a cat.

Jing Zhuo stood up to clear the dishes, his heart growing increasingly heavy.

She didn't even know his true identity yet, and she was already hiding from him like this. If she found out he was Zhang Henian, would he even catch a glimpse of Song Xi anymore?

He really didn't want a divorce...

With that thought, he opened his phone and transferred another 500,000 to Zhang Hening.

Zhang Hening replied almost instantly: 「？？？」

Jing Zhuo sent a voice message: "If you don't have enough money to spend, just say so. Stop being so stingy."

Goodness gracious!

Had her older brother been possessed by a cicada sloughing its shell, spitting out gold coins every day?

Zhang Hening sent a kneeling meme.

「Thank you, sugar daddy...」

"You've messed up the seniority. Call me older brother."

Zhang Hening: 「Thank you, sugar daddy brother. I will forever remember your kindness. Bowing to you.jpg」

A bunch of abstract memes.

Jing Zhuo glanced at them, frowned, and put his phone away.

He began to set his plan in motion.

Prejudices in people's hearts are like towering mountains.

The core issue of this prejudice lay with Zhang Hening.

If she stopped thinking her older brother was fierce, wouldn't Song Xi stop thinking he was fierce too?

After a month's interval, Jing Zhuo finally saw the root cause of the ailment—it was this troublemaker, Zhang Hening.

Song Xi wouldn't listen to a single word from her husband.

Yet she firmly believed every single word from her best friend.

His target wasn't Song Xi herself, but her best friend.

...

The time for the business trip arrived, and Song Xi set off with the main team.

This time, it was for an internet-famous couple's wedding and custom travel photography session.

They needed various styles, had to visit multiple cities, and required the photography crew to follow them everywhere during live streams, video recordings, and interactions with fans.

No one in Sanshan was willing to do such exhausting work.

Yet Song Xi eagerly took it on.

During a break, Yezi nudged her and teased:

"With you on this business trip for so long, your husband must be missing you to death."

Song Xi said, "He has his work."

"That's different. No matter how busy you are during the day, you still share a bed at night. Otherwise, your husband being all lonely and guarding an empty room by himself is so pitiful."

Song Xi wanted to say: He isn't pitiful. He's always slept by himself.

And he sleeps soundly, too.

In the distance by Erhai Lake, the internet-famous couple had brought their parents along and were currently holding up their phones for a live stream.

"Family, babies, this is Erhai Lake! Isn't it romantic? Both of our families love this place so much~"

"That's right, my mother-in-law is putting sunscreen on me."

"I married my husband mainly because my mother-in-law is so nice; otherwise, I wouldn't have married him. Smelly men are a dime a dozen, but a good mother-in-law is hard to find~ Look, I flattered my mother-in-law so much she took off her gold necklace and gave it to me."

The internet-famous older sister went on and on, praising her mother-in-law until the older woman was beaming with joy.

Yezi watched with rapt attention, turned her head, and began gossiping with Song Xi.

"Sister Xi, your husband is so outstanding. Is your mother-in-law also exceptionally nice? I've never heard you complain about a mother-in-law."

Song Xi: "..."

That was because she had never even met her mother-in-law.

"Sister Xi, say something. If you and your mother-in-law argue, whose side does your husband take?"

Song Xi patted her shoulder and said sincerely, "Yezi, thank you."

"Huh? What are you thanking me for?"

"For touching a raw nerve."

Returning to the hotel that night, Song Xi was handling work matters when her phone kept buzzing with intermittent notifications.

She tapped it open to find an image sent by Jing Zhuo.

It was the master bedroom; the withered flowers on her bedside table had been replaced with vibrant new ones.

Song Xi turned off her phone screen and continued working.

Five minutes later.

Jing Zhuo: 「I'm doing laundry. Are there any clothes that need washing?」

Song Xi: 「No.」

Twenty minutes later.

Jing Zhuo: 「I've changed your bedsheets to a new set. 'Image'」

Song Xi: 「Thank you.」

Forty minutes later.

Jing Zhuo: 「Are you done with your work? Dog looking up.ipd」

Song Xi took a moment to reply: 「Not yet. Go ahead and sleep first. Goodbye.」

The chat interface showed "The other party is typing...", but in the end, Jing Zhuo only replied with a single 「Okay.」

...

After a while, Song Xi finally finished selecting the sample photos, processed a few finely retouched pictures, and sent them to the internet-famous couple.

They were in a hurry to post them on social media.

Lying on the large bed, Song Xi felt a sense of emptiness in her heart and suddenly felt a bit homesick for Guiguai (her cat).

She initiated a video call with Zhang Hening, who picked up instantly, revealing a sneaky face on the screen.

"What's wrong with you? Did you do something guilty?"

Zhang Hening: "Don't even mention it. My older brother just came back and is downstairs. I don't even dare go down."

"What about Guiguai?" Song Xi only wanted to see the cat.

"In his arms."

"?"

Zhang Hening said, "I don't know which nerve of his got crossed again. He's been downstairs petting your cat for an hour."

"The two of them are practically getting cozy."

Song Xi was immensely shocked.

As she spoke, Zhang Hening sent a photo, which was taken from a covert angle.

In the towering, spacious living room, the man was lazily leaning against the sofa with his long arms and legs stretched out, his head lowered. A cowcat lay sprawled out beside him.

His slender, fair hand stroked the cat's head.

Casual and aloof.

Wait, why did this figure look so familiar...