Chapter 33: The Photo

Yao Qi seemed genuinely interested in Pei Xuan, chatting with him a lot during the meal. Pei Xuan’s personality made him easygoing and pleasant to talk to, so Yao Qi never felt any awkward silences. Jiang Nai was the quietest of the three, smiling faintly as she listened to their conversation, rarely interjecting.

When the meal ended, Yao Qi exchanged WeChat contacts with Pei Xuan.

After work that evening, Jiang Nai returned home. The housekeeper had bought her favorite fruit, washed it, and placed it on the coffee table. Jiang Nai sat down to snack, and saw a message from Liu Nian in the work group chat asking for project documents.

She quickly dried her hands, went to the study, and opened her computer to send over the files.

Li Qingji returned home at that time; the house was brightly lit, and the smell of dinner was already wafting from the kitchen. He glanced around, but Jiang Nai wasn’t in the living room.

“Sir, you’re back,” the housekeeper greeted him as she came out of the kitchen.

Li Qingji nodded slightly. “Where is she?”

The housekeeper replied, “Miss Jiang said she was going to the study to handle some work matters.”

“Alright, carry on.”

The housekeeper nodded and returned to the kitchen. Li Qingji sat down on the sofa. Suddenly, a phone began ringing. But it wasn’t his. He glanced to the side and noticed it was Jiang Nai’s phone left on the sofa. The caller ID showed: Pei Xuan. The phone kept ringing persistently. Li Qingji picked it up and, after a moment, seeing the call wasn’t stopping, he stood up.

Meanwhile, Jiang Nai had just finished her work. Right then, there was a knock at the study door. She looked up and saw Li Qingji standing there, watching her with a calm expression.

She stood up. “What is it?”

Li Qingji lifted her phone. “A call.”

Jiang Nai quickly walked over. “Thanks.”

She glanced at the screen and saw it was Pei Xuan calling. She turned and answered, “Hello?”

Pei Xuan replied, “Hey, Jiang Nai. Sorry to bother you. Are you busy right now?”

Jiang Nai stepped further into the study. “No, I’m at home. What’s up?”

Pei Xuan explained, “So, I seem to have left a pen at your office this afternoon, likely in the meeting room. It’s an important one, a gift from my family. Could I trouble you to check if it’s there tomorrow? If so, maybe you could leave it at your company’s front desk, and I’ll come by to pick it up.”

Jiang Nai responded, “Sure, I’ll check for you tomorrow.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“No problem.”

After a pause, Pei Xuan added, “Oh, there’s one more thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Your colleague, Yao Qi—is she, uh… looking for a boyfriend?”

Pei Xuan’s tone was tactful, but Jiang Nai could guess that after Yao Qi had added him on WeChat, she must have followed up in some way.

Clearing her throat, Jiang Nai replied, “Uh… yeah, she is.”

“So, when we had lunch together today, were you trying to introduce her to me?”

Pei Xuan’s voice held a hint of amusement, but Jiang Nai worried it might make him uncomfortable since she hadn’t mentioned it to him beforehand. “Not exactly. She just thought you seemed nice and wanted to get to know you a bit… as friends, you know.”

Pei Xuan chuckled. “Alright, but I might not be in that frame of mind right now. Work’s been super busy. Could you let her know for me?”

Jiang Nai replied, “… Sure.”

“Alright, then. I’ll hang up now.”

“Okay.”

As Jiang Nai ended the call and stepped out of the study, Li Qingji was no longer standing by the door. She didn’t think much of it and walked through the living room, intending to check how dinner was coming along in the kitchen.

“Is that Huiding’s Pei Xuan, your college club alumnus?” asked Li Qingji suddenly, as he looked up from reading the news on his tablet.

Jiang Nai paused, surprised by the sudden question, then nodded. “Yes.”

“Are you close?”

After a brief hesitation, Jiang Nai replied, “Not really.”

Li Qingji’s expression remained neutral, his gaze still fixed on the news as if it was a casual question. 

But Jiang Nai, recalling what he had said last time when Xu Xiao called her late at night, offered a quick explanation: “He just called to say he left something at our office during a meeting today and asked me to keep an eye out for it, nothing more.”

Li Qingji paused, then looked up at her.

“I know what you’re going to say,” she said. “We’re married; I’m responsible for maintaining the stability of our relationship. Don’t worry, I know my boundaries.”

This was indeed something he had said before. But hearing it now, Li Qingji felt discomfort.

In a cold voice, he replied, “I wasn’t going to say that.”

“Oh… I thought that’s what you meant, so I explained in advance. Never mind then.”

With that, she turned and headed to the kitchen. “I’ll go check if dinner is ready.”

“Auntie, I’m starving!”

“Just a moment! I’ll bring out the last dish soon!”

Jiang Nai’s clear voice echoed from the kitchen. Li Qingji watched her direction for a moment, took a deep breath, and lowered his gaze back to his tablet. But suddenly, he found he couldn’t focus on the news anymore.

—

Li Qingji could sense that Jiang Nai had changed since returning to China, different from how she’d been in the United States.

As for Pei Xuan—

He hadn’t thought much about him until a week later when he met him again during a meeting with Huiding. At this meeting, Huiding’s CEO personally attended, bringing along three subordinates. Besides Pei Xuan, the other two faces were unfamiliar.

After business matters concluded, they all went out for dinner. Huiding’s CEO, Wang Naiwen, was 35 and had managed his inherited business well, expanding Huiding significantly under his leadership. Li Qingji respected his capabilities, which led to his decision to pursue more collaboration with Hui Ding. For Wang Naiwen, winning over Li Qingji was a major success; aligning with Li Qingji meant also aligning with Siningte, and by extension, the large-scale corporation Hengchuan.

So, even though he was older than Li Qingji, he maintained a deferential stance.

“Mr. Li, rest assured, we’ll handle all the technical aspects flawlessly,” Wang Naiwen declared, after a few drinks, his enthusiasm evident.

“I trust you,” Li Qingji replied with a faint smile, glancing at Pei Xuan and the others. “You have capable people under you.”

“Yes, yes,” Wang Naiwen agreed, “Mr. Li, though Pei Xuan and Meng Jie are young, they graduated top of their class from Ming University’s computer science program. Their skills surpass those of many seasoned professionals. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to lead a project.”

Ming University’s computer science program was renowned nationwide, a fact known to everyone present.

“Oh, Ming University. Their students are indeed impressive; our company recruits a few each year,” said Li Qingji.

“Siningte is also an incredible company,” Meng Jie added, with a hint of flattery. “At a recent alumni gathering, everyone was envious of one of our juniors for landing a job there.”

Li Qingji raised an eyebrow, feigning curiosity. “A junior? Which department?”

Meng Jie replied, “In the Marketing and Planning Department.”

“Are you talking about Jiang Nai?”

Both Pei Xuan and Meng Jie paused, caught off guard.

Pei Xuan asked, “You know her, Mr. Li?”

After all, it was rare for the top executive of such a large company to know an individual employee by name.

Li Qingji, unfazed, responded, “I often hear her praised by her superiors—she’s quite capable.”

So that was it.

Meng Jie chuckled. “Yes, Jiang Nai was excellent back in school—she excelled in everything, and many people admired her.”

With his outgoing nature and a bit of alcohol loosening his tongue, Meng Jie spoke more freely than usual. Pei Xuan subtly tugged at him, signaling him not to say too much.

But Li Qingji seemed unbothered. “Really?”

Taking this as encouragement to lighten the mood, Meng Jie continued, “Yes, she was the department beauty of the Economics and Management faculty. When she first entered as a freshman, lots of guys from our major went to check her out. College days, you know—everyone loves a bit of excitement.”

Wang Naiwen laughed, “Exactly! Back in my college days, classmates would vote for department beauties and heartthrobs too. Not that I ever got those titles myself. Hey, Pei Xuan, with your looks, you must’ve been the heartthrob of Ming University, right?”

Pei Xuan, modest as always, replied, “Not at all, you flatter me.”

“Nonsense,” Meng Jie said with a grin. “He was a star at our school—lots of girls liked him. And our junior? With all her admirers, she was only into Pei Xuan.”

At that, the faint smile in Li Qingji’s eyes froze.

The others didn’t notice, as Wang Naiwen laughed, “So, Pei Xuan, why didn’t you end up with her?”

Meng Jie, still speaking freely, said, “Well, right before graduation, her family set her up with someone else. Otherwise, no way would she have turned down Pei Xuan’s confession—”

“Enough, Meng Jie.” Pei Xuan shot him a warning look, silencing him.

Meng Jie stopped awkwardly, the alcohol apparently loosening his tongue a bit too much.

Seeing Meng Jie quiet down, Pei Xuan said, “Alright, Mr. Wang, enough teasing. Let’s just enjoy the drinks.”

Wang Naiwen, already looking a bit tipsy, sighed. “I’m done with drinking. Pour a glass for Mr. Li.”

“Sure.” Pei Xuan picked up the bottle and poured a glass for Li Qingji.

Li Qingji glanced up at him. With his gentle appearance and upright posture, Pei Xuan gave off a comfortable, easygoing vibe. But as Li Qingji watched him, his gaze grew colder, inch by inch. Someone she used to like.

Ah, so that’s how it is.

—

It had been a while since Jiang Nai last visited her grandparents. On Wednesday, her grandmother invited her over for dinner.  Jiang Nai knew it wasn’t just that her grandparents missed her; these family dinners felt more like a ritual. And no ritual was complete without Li Qingji’s presence.

However, she hadn’t seen much of him recently. He seemed extremely busy, often returning home late at night. That afternoon at work, she sent him a message, asking if he’d be available to go to her family’s dinner with her. She fully expected him to be busy and had already prepared a polite excuse for her grandmother.

But, to her surprise, he replied a few minutes later: “I’m at Hengchuan.”

Jiang Nai: “Alright, I’ll drive over to meet you after work.”

After work, she drove straight to Hengchuan’s office, where she handed her car keys to Zhao Siyuan, asking him to drive her car home, while she joined Li Qingji in his car to head to her grandparents’ place. During the drive, Li Qingji remained silent, his eyes fixed on the road, focused on steering.

His calm, somewhat distant demeanor was nothing new to Jiang Nai, so she didn’t think much of it. She simply sat quietly, listening to a song. Soon, they arrived at her grandparents’ home, where dinner was already prepared. Dinner consisted of the usual polite inquiries and small talk. After they finished eating, they went upstairs, and the family’s housekeeper had already tidied Jiang Nai’s room.

“Jiang Nai,” her grandmother called out suddenly.

Jiang Nai responded and turned to Li Qingji. “I’ll go see what she needs. You can go ahead and shower, relax.”

“Alright.”

Li Qingji went upstairs first, while Jiang Nai headed back down to her grandmother’s room. She could already guess what her grandmother wanted to discuss—things she wouldn’t want to bring up in front of Li Qingji. It was probably about her relationship with his family or perhaps even about having children. Jiang Nai, as usual, answered politely but unenthusiastically, letting her responses drift by without much commitment.

After finally wrapping up the conversation, she returned to her room, where Li Qingji had already finished his shower.

“All done? I’ll go in and shower then.”

With his hair still damp, Li Qingji casually toweled it dry. “Go ahead.”

Jiang Nai went into the bathroom, while Li Qingji moved over to the desk, intending to sit down and finish drying his hair before going to bed. But suddenly, his gaze landed on a photo on the desk, and he froze. There were a few photos on the desk, one of which he had picked up and examined on a previous night when he’d stayed over here.

He remembered her telling him then that this was a photo taken with her club members during her college days—the programming club, a club completely unrelated to her major. He’d been surprised at the time and had asked why she’d joined that club. She had simply said it was for fun.

But now…

Li Qingji looked closely at the four people in the photo, his gaze sharpening.

The first time he saw it, his attention had been entirely on the youthful face of Jiang Nai. But now, he noticed that one of the people in the photo was the person she had once liked.

Pei Xuan.

—

Jiang Nai lingered in the bathroom for quite some time. By the time she came out, the bedroom lights were already off, though the two bedside lamps provided enough illumination for her to see Li Qingji sitting on the bed, eyes down, focused on his phone.

She brushed her hair back, buttoned the last button of her pajamas, and lay down, ready to sleep.

“What did your grandmother say to you earlier?”

Jiang Nai felt a chill in his tone, colder than usual. She paused, looking up at him. “Oh, nothing new. Just… about kids and things like that.”

Li Qingji pressed further. “And what did you say?”

“Me? Of course, I told her that now’s not a good time, mainly because *you’re* not interested.”

Passing the blame had become an unspoken agreement between them, something they both accepted without question. Jiang Nai said it with ease.

But this time, she noticed him turn toward her, a strange look in his eyes. “How do you know I don’t want to?”

Jiang Nai blinked, completely taken aback. “What… did you just say?”

“And if I wanted to now?”

Jiang Nai instinctively drew back. “Why would you…”

Li Qingji’s gaze stayed locked on her. Suddenly, he leaned down and gripped her face firmly with one hand. “There’s no ‘why.’”

In the dim light, she saw something dark and intense in his eyes, like a predator fixated on its prey. Sensing danger, Jiang Nai tried to edge back, but in the next instant, the blanket covering her was flung aside, and he pulled her toward him, his lips crashing down onto hers.

It was a kiss after many, many days—unexpected and unrelenting.

This time, there was no hint of alcohol, just his pure, undiluted presence.

“Mmm…”

Jiang Nai froze for a moment, then began to struggle as he pushed past her lips, prying them open. “Li… Li Qingji—”

He seemed utterly unhearing, his hand caressing her cheek while the other restrained her hand as she tried to resist, pinning it firmly against the bed. His tongue moved deftly, intertwining with hers, forcing an intimacy she had no way of evading. Overwhelmed with confusion and alarm, Jiang Nai found herself unable to break free. She felt as though she were sinking deep into the soft bed beneath her, trembling all over with anxiety, her face flushed.

Their lips clashed and tangled, and she couldn’t understand why Li Qingji was suddenly doing this, why he suddenly wanted to kiss her. Had something happened? Were his own family pressuring him about children, leaving him frustrated, so he simply decided to go for it?

But he didn’t seem like someone who would be pushed to the point of losing control.

Jiang Nai was kissed so intensely that she could hardly breathe, much less muster the strength to resist.

“It hurts…”

Li Qingji’s breathing was heavy as he looked intently at her. “Then stop moving!”

“You promised!” Jiang Nai protested. “You promised you wouldn’t force me!”

Li Qingji’s eyes narrowed. “I gave you time to get used to this. It’s been long enough; you should be used to it by now. Haven’t you been able to accept it? Why is it that now, since we’ve come back, you suddenly can’t?”

Is it because of that person’s appearance?

So now it’s no longer okay? And you’ve grown distant?

Desire roiled in Li Qingji’s chest, mingling with anger. After learning of the matter, he had tried to restrain himself for two days, but it was clearly futile. He was surprised at the intensity of his emotions but couldn’t control them.

“I… I can accept being together, but I never said I’d accept it without protection! You’re talking about kids now, but I can’t agree to that! We had an understanding—we’re not ready for that now!”

Li Qingji loosened his grip on her wrist, which he had been holding tightly enough to hurt her, though he still held her firmly enough to keep her from breaking free.

“With protection, it’s fine?”

Jiang Nai replied, “Not now. This isn’t home, I—mmph!”

Before she could finish, he kissed her again. The blanket lay rumpled to the side, and their heated breaths intertwined in an instant. Maybe it was the setting, or perhaps it was because of the suddenness, but Jiang Nai found herself unexpectedly aroused by the intensity of the moment.

She didn’t want this at all, but her body weakened involuntarily, and her face flushed deeply, her neck following suit.

Succumbing to a nearly punitive kiss, her mind began to blank out and submit, only to snap back as she remembered where they were and what they were doing, causing her to struggle again. The back and forth was driving her to the edge.

“Hiss…”

Finally, Jiang Nai found a chance to bite Li Qingji. It wasn’t hard, but enough to make him feel it.

“Jiang Nai.” He enunciated each syllable with a weighty, intimidating tone.

Jiang Nai panted. “I told you, this isn’t home. Stop…”

Li Qingji looked down at her for a few seconds, then rose and pulled her up as well.

Jiang Nai asked, “…What are you doing?”

Li Qingji glanced at her coldly. “Going home.”

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