An ordinary weekday dawned. It was Monday. The rays of the sun could barely sneak into a large but simply decorated bedroom in the penthouse due to the flowery curtains. However, since the fabric of the curtains was not that thick, while it covered the floor-to-ceiling gla.s.s wall, light could still pa.s.s through, only a bit suppressed, so the resulted illumination was gentle to the eyes. It added a mysterious vibe to the room that seemed to be owned by a woman despite the minimal decorations.The place belonged to the famous scriptwriter who had recently started to enter her paternal grandfather"s corporation, Selena Tang. It was still very early in the morning so she was still asleep.
Currently though, there was a half-naked guy in her house, rinsing his mouth in the bathroom using a mouthwash before stifling his yawn. The man was even quite daring, checking her drawers, hidden compartments, and dressing room, seemingly looking for clothes he could wear. Yet when he found none, he strangely let out a laugh.
"This body"s giving me the impulse to check if there were really nothing from other guys left in the place. It must be the Original, Zheng Xiang"s trauma from the previous marriage." He shook his head and decided to just throw his own clothes into the was.h.i.+ng machine.
After that, he went back into the room, watching as the girl peacefully sleeping underneath the comforter stirred and half-opened her eyes. When she saw that the intruder was familiar, she then rolled over and went back to sleep.
"Go… away… Don"t disturb me…" In a very sleepy tone, she purred like a kitten.
Jiang Li almost laughed, if not for remembering what she just said. It would be bad manners to rouse one who badly needed sleep, no?
Although the man felt like he would be blamed once she woke up and realized she had a meeting to attend, he still followed her wishes.
"I"m hungry… and she would definitely look for food later."
Since the girl did not want to get up from the bed and there was nothing in her fridge, Jiang Li simply searched for his phone to order some takeout. It was because while he had the option to go out and buy ingredients and then do some rudimentary cooking, he didn"t want some misunderstanding to arise. Such as he left because he was done with her after the night of pa.s.sion.
The simple meat dish she cooked last night with red wine was thrown in the back of his mind. Not. He placed it inside the refrigerator, with no intent to eat it since it would be quite heavy for breakfast.
"What is this?" Knitting his brows, he read one particular message received last night, skipping those from Qin Tai and the others.
Jiang Li finally saw Dong Lan"s divination of Qin Tai"s future.
That young man was so free that upon seeing someone interesting, he automatically tried his "fortune-telling" on him?
Why would his CEO friend be with Mo Zan though? Qin Tai was that hopeless?
A moment later, when something about the author was mentioned, Jiang Li chuckled. Thankfully around that time, he was not in the bedroom, but near the bathroom where he was waiting for his clothes to dry.
"… It"s like a drama written by a sicko author! A villainess turning into a good leaf and a guy with a terminal dead inside disease, the usual and undying combination in novels nowadays!" The tone of the message suggested disbelief and ridicule.
Jiang Li continued laughing as he read this part.
He wondered, how would this Dong Lan react once he learned this world was conceived by the imagination of an author who was really sick in the head? Hey, could someone with a pen name "I"~Hat" be sane?
Although busy mocking the author and the fortune-teller, he still did not forget to forward the message to his CEO friend. After this though, he did not do anything more.
Why would he work more when he wouldn"t gain any points? Now that his mission was essentially completed, he did not want to involve himself with the lives and decisions of others.
Qin Tai was a mature man anyways. If he felt like his life was turning boring and that torturing himself in the future would be fun, he could go ahead and stage a s.a.d.i.s.tic-m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic romance story with Mo Zan. If not, then he could simply flee abroad, find a woman to marry or simply settle with his prized secretary. The decision was his.
Jiang Li got himself dressed. After receiving the delivery, he checked on Selena again and found that she was already up, looking in a daze as she held the quilt up to her shoulders to cover her from the cold blast of the aircon.
Was she perhaps, recalling what happened last night?
He grinned.
She looked at his hands and then seemingly woke up from the trance. He heard her muttered, "Takeout?"
He simply answered, "Yep."
Selena harrumphed and complained, "I must have been bewitched! Why did I get myself a useless guy who can"t even cook for me?"
The useless thirty-four-year-old guy: "…"
Jiang Li was stunned for a while, rendered speechless by her remark. A while later, he shook his head, a smile was on his face. "I"m somebody aware of his real capabilities so instead of blindly trying to impress you with my half-baked cooking, I just plan to impress you with my thoughtfulness. Look, I"m here and I had the head chef from the nearby five-star restaurant especially cooked something light and easy to digest for you."
The man then listed his other reasons for not leaving his G.o.ddess behind, mostly centered on preventing the scene where he woke up without him on sight. "You know in dramas, it always happens."
She stared at him for more than ten seconds before he got a sneer from him.
"I won"t ever write dramas like that. Too recycled."
"Recycled still means usable."
"Those who did that, their dramas ended up in small stations or weekdays afternoon time slots where there will be lesser views."
He laughed. "Not necessarily. If written and directed skillfully, cliches can still be masterpieces liked by many people."
"What do you know?"
Jiang Li stopped her grumbling with a kiss and placed an overbed table before her since she showed reluctance to part with her blanket.
After they had their breakfast, he pulled her outside and brought her to Starlight where he revealed that he was one of its largest shareholders. He also presented a bunch of deeds and doc.u.ments detailing his properties and shares in different large companies. This was something he always forgot to do for the two years until he just decided to make this a future surprise.
As expected Selena was dumbfounded for a long while, finding it hard to believe the artist she was raising and supporting was actually a bigshot himself.
"... Some acquisition dates are older than two years..." She looked at him quietly as he shrugged his shoulders. He looked proud for making her surprised.
After that… came Jiang Li"s regret. When he proposed marriage, she declined, saying, "Sorry, I need time to digest the news. I"m having a hard time believing it. I"m still shocked. Shocked that someone I keep has also been keeping secrets from me."
His mind blanked out for a while, forgetting to argue that he was not being kept by her. His brain was all about her rejection. Yup, he had been rejected... even though their relations.h.i.+p had gone so far... The heck!
Looking at her scoffing face, he had a hunch she was simply giving excuses to torture him more with the wait. Perhaps, her previous incarnation was really getting back at him for his early demise and was subtly influencing Selena. Wait… maybe all her previous incarnations were, since he always died earlier than her in all their past lifetimes. But was that all his fault? Wasn"t this current incarnation of her too petty, using her wits in the wrong matter?
It took him a long while to shake off all the ridiculous thoughts. He laughed and simply changed tactics, employing a bolder method to get her marching on the aisle, working hard every night for a reason up to everyone"s imagination.
Thankfully, he was at least officially the lover. And that he was equally persistent and shameless.
…
Three seasons swiftly pa.s.sed by since then. Sadly, when he reached his self-imposed goal, everyone else, apart from Qin Tai, had long been married. Qin Tai was still single and was living a curious life being chased by two women. Jiang Li hardly paid attention to this guy after a year of being pestered for advice.
Several months later, he just heard that the young CEO secretly got a marriage certificate with Lu Lingxi, the beautiful and virtuous secretary. Mo Zan still had some decency as an elite woman so she finally let go and accepted that they had really no future together.
Like Mo Fang, she would be haunted by regrets forever, blaming herself for being blind.
Yet compared to Mo Fang, her ending was at least many times better. The new male lead went against the plot, so she retained her position and was still the ever beautiful and mighty daughter of the Mo family. Maybe if the author, or rather, the influencer from another world became kind enough to give her another story, she would find somebody which would help her tone down her dominating personality, teach her to love again and appreciate those supporting her.
...