Chapter 36: Jet Lag

Vast experience…

No matter how much she knew, Jiang Nai had never seen a video where the “male lead” could break the protection one after another.

Ding ding— 

At that moment, Jiang Nai’s phone suddenly rang.

Jiang Nai immediately tried to move, wanting to get off, but Li Qingji stopped her with one hand and took her phone from her pocket with the other, handing it to her. “Answer it.”

Jiang Nai: “Let me get down.”

Li Qingji’s eyes were shallow, a hint of laziness in his tone: “I won’t speak.”

The phone kept ringing. It was a call from Yao Qi, and Jiang Nai, afraid it was something urgent, had no choice but to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Jiang Nai, has Xu Yan left?”

Although Yao Qi couldn’t see what Jiang Nai looked like at the moment, she was still very nervous inside.

“Yes, she left, she went downstairs a while ago.”

“Oh, I was busy packing, I don’t know where their team went, so it looks like they’ve left,” Yao Qi said. “Hey, just now, she went upstairs to talk to the boss alone, what were they doing?”

Jiang Nai was sitting on Li Qingji’s lap, almost in his embrace, so even though the phone was against her ear, he could still hear a bit. She instinctively looked over. Li Qingji’s expression remained calm, even the same as when he was in meetings, showing no self-awareness about holding her on his lap.

Jiang Nai gritted her teeth, “I don’t know, I just brought her in and left.”

“Ah, could they be doing something in there? Is Xu Yan with our boss…”

“Let’s talk about this later!” Jiang Nai interrupted quickly, “I have something to do right now.”

Yao Qi: “Oh… okay, I’ll be up soon.”

Jiang Nai responded with an “en” and immediately hung up the phone.

“Why didn’t you let her continue?” As soon as the phone was put down, Li Qingji’s cold voice came from beside her ear.

Jiang Nai’s back stiffened.

“Don’t you know what Xu Yan and I were doing in there just now? Why didn’t you tell her?”

Jiang Nai: “How would I know what you two were doing in there? I wasn’t inside.”

“Didn’t I call you in just a few minutes ago?”

Jiang Nai muttered, “A few minutes, that’s enough to do something…”

“Do what?” Li Qingji looked at her, a smile in his eyes, yet somehow his gaze made her uneasy. “Jiang Nai, tell me, what can be done in a few minutes?”

For some reason, upon hearing this, Jiang Nai’s mind immediately flashed back to the long, awkward night when she couldn’t fall asleep in the early hours of the morning.

A difficult and endless night.

Her throat tightened, and her body reflexively responded with lingering pain. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” Jiang Nai interrupted the chaotic images in her mind. “I have to go, my colleague is coming back!”

Li Qingji smiled for a moment and finally released her. Once free, Jiang Nai quickly jumped off his lap and ran to the office door, standing behind it for a moment to calm herself before planning to open it. Just as she was about to open the door and leave, Jiang Nai looked back one last time.

Li Qingji was still sitting in his place, his figure silhouetted against the light from the floor-to-ceiling windows, his outline sharp and defined, his gaze fixed on her…

For some reason, her chest felt as if it had been pricked by something. A tingling sensation spread quickly, followed by a faint ache. She didn’t linger any longer and immediately opened the door and walked out.

—

The first experience was not exactly what Jiang Nai had imagined.

It was indeed as she had thought—wild, thrilling, direct—but it also surpassed her expectations, being forceful, prolonged, and painful.

She was even a bit afraid of the next time.

But fortunately, by coincidence, Li Qingji suddenly had to go on a business trip. He quickly flew to New York, expecting to be there for a week. After he left, they rarely contacted each other. Jiang Nai knew the situation in New York wasn’t simple. When Li Qingji got busy, he wouldn’t remember other things.

So she didn’t disturb him. She just focused on her own life, happily sleeping in bed, going to work, and coming home after. In China, it was deep night, while in New York, the day was bright with sunlight.

Li Qingji had just left a meeting with a group of foreigners. The project originally belonged to Li Zhixun, and the people there were all Li Zhixun’s subordinates. Now that the project was in Li Qingji’s hands, many of them were being uncooperative.

As Li Qingji got into the car, his expression turned cold.

Zhao Siyuan signaled the driver to start the car and then turned to him. “Boss, what should we do about the current situation?”

Li Qingji leaned back in his seat, a mix of fatigue and coldness in his eyes. “These people… none of them can stay.”

“But they’re the backbone of the company. They were personally promoted by the old man in the early years. It might not be possible to remove all of them at once.”

“Then we’ll do it one by one. Start with the weakest.”

Zhao Siyuan: “What about the old man…?”

Li Qingji closed his eyes, his tone indifferent. “He’s old, he can’t control everything anymore.”

Zhao Siyuan: “…Understood.”

—

The car went to a restaurant, where Zhao Siyuan and Li Qingji had a meal together.

Halfway through the meal, Zhao Siyuan’s phone rang. He glanced at it and said, “Boss, may I take a video call?”

Li Qingji: “Mhm.”

Zhao Siyuan quickly stood up, walking to the side as he answered the call, speaking softly, “Baby, why aren’t you asleep yet?”

The distance was not too far, and Li Qingji paused, silent.

“Zhao Siyuan! Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you send me a message either?”

“I, I was really busy today, really, I was too busy. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

“Sorry is useless! If you keep this up, I’ll break up with you!”

“Don’t, I didn’t mean it, baby, I bought you a gift…”

His voice faded as he walked further away. Li Qingji paused with his fork and knife for a moment before cutting the beef again.

More than ten minutes later, Zhao Siyuan jogged back in. “Sorry, boss, something came up at home.”

Li Qingji: “Your girlfriend?”

Zhao Siyuan froze for a moment. “Yes.”

Li Qingji: “What happened?”

Normally, Li Qingji wouldn’t pry into his personal matters.

Zhao Siyuan was a bit flustered. “It’s… nothing really. She’s upset because I didn’t send her any messages or call her.”

“You didn’t tell her what you were doing?”

“I did. She knows I was working.”

Li Qingji: “Then why is she upset?”

Zhao Siyuan hesitated, as the question seemed to have returned to square one. “Because… I didn’t message her.”

Seeing Li Qingji’s puzzled expression, Zhao Siyuan added, “It’s my fault. I was too busy and forgot… But, well, my girlfriend is a bit clingy. She wants me to message her and share my daily life.”

“Share your daily life?”

“Yeah, you and Miss Jiang probably also message each other frequently, right?”

Li Qingji stared at him, silent. Zhao Siyuan instantly realized he might have said something wrong. Given his boss’s personality, there was no way he would be the clingy type after being apart from someone.

“Uh… of course, some couples aren’t like that.”

Li Qingji said, “So, you think most couples are like that?”

Zhao Siyuan: “I haven’t been in that many relationships… but probably. If I don’t message my girlfriend for too long, or if I don’t respond quickly to something she shares with me, she’d think I don’t care about her and get upset.”

Li Qingji furrowed his brow and then said, “Not messaging frequently doesn’t mean not caring. Time zones, distance, work… all kinds of factors. Isn’t it better to say things face to face when you meet?”

“True… but in most cases, some women think that means not caring. Because if you don’t contact her every day, it feels like you didn’t think about her that day, and if you didn’t think about her, doesn’t that mean you don’t care? And if a woman stops messaging, it probably means she doesn’t care about the guy much either.” Zhao Siyuan explained his girlfriend’s logic. But as soon as he finished, he felt like he might be hinting at his boss.

He quickly added, “But Miss Jiang and you are exactly not like that, so this theory doesn’t apply to you.”

Li Qingji: “…”

Zhao Siyuan wasn’t wrong in his understanding of Li Qingji.

Li Qingji was not someone with a lot of “emotional clinginess”; he had been this way since he was young.

He cared about Jiang Nai, and he liked her, but he didn’t think a few words exchanged through messages every day could change much. He’d rather use that time to finish his work and go back sooner. He preferred to be by her side, to have her in a more tangible way. However, he didn’t know how Jiang Nai felt about this matter.

Was she clingy, or was she not?

“If a girl doesn’t message, it means she doesn’t care about the guy.”

When he returned to the hotel after dinner and was going through a pile of documents, these words suddenly popped into his mind again…

Jiang Nai received a message from Li Qingji the next afternoon.

It wasn’t a notice that he was coming back, but three words: “Have you eaten?”

Jiang Nai, who was just sitting down in the restaurant, stared at her phone in confusion for a moment and replied, “I’m eating, what’s up?”

“What are you eating?”

Even more confused, Jiang Nai replied, “The company’s cafeteria food.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Nai stared at the single word Li Qingji had sent, frowning slightly. At that moment, her phone rang. It wasn’t Li Qingji—it was a call from Xue Lin.

“Hello?”

“Nai Nai, what are you up to?” 

“Just having a meal.”

“Oh, I was calling to tell you, I’ve decided where to go for my birthday the day after tomorrow. I’ve booked Wanli!”

“Wanli? That’s quite a splurge.”

Xue Lin laughed, “Hehe, I got a bonus last month, so I want to treat myself. Plus, it’s rare for me to have a birthday.”

“Alright, I got it. It’s rare, I understand.”

“Oh, by the way, do you want to… bring your husband?”

Jiang Nai hesitated for a moment. “He’s on a business trip.”

“A business trip, got it.” Xue Lin continued, “Honestly, I was just asking casually. If he does come, I wouldn’t even know how to entertain him.”

Jiang Nai smiled lightly.

“Alright then, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow night.”

“Mm.”

After hanging up with Xue Lin, Jiang Nai noticed Li Qingji had sent another message.

“Returning on the 26th. Let’s go out for dinner that night.”

The 26th?

That was the day after tomorrow. Li Qingji suddenly mentioned having dinner together that evening… he must have something that required her presence, some social event. But Xue Lin’s birthday was on the same day, and Jiang Nai simply couldn’t skip it.

She replied, “Is it possible not to go? I have plans for the day after tomorrow. It’s my friend’s birthday.”

A few minutes later, Li Qingji replied, “Okay, got it.”

Jiang Nai breathed a sigh of relief, put her phone down, and continued eating.

—

Xue Lin’s birthday fell on a Friday.

Jiang Nai finished work ten minutes early and hurried to the Wanli club. When she arrived and parked her car, she walked into the lobby and ran into Pei Xuan. It looked like he had just gotten off work too, as he was holding a gift bag in his hand.

Seeing Pei Xuan, Jiang Nai was reminded of what Li Qingji had said to her last time. She still didn’t know how Li Qingji found out that she used to have a crush on Pei Xuan. Of course, she hadn’t asked Pei Xuan either, because college was in the past, and she didn’t want to bring it up with him again.

“Jiang Nai.”

“Senior.” Jiang Nai knew that Xue Lin had called some people from the club, so it wasn’t surprising that Pei Xuan was there too.

She walked over. “Just arrived?”

“Yeah,” Pei Xuan replied, “I was just about to call Xue Lin to ask which room.”

“I know; it’s in Room 826. Come with me.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Nai started walking ahead, with Pei Xuan following two steps behind, taking a glance at her. Today, she wore a white blouse and light, slim-fit jeans, with her hair casually pinned up. Her makeup was light, with a touch of lipstick applied on her way out to add some color.

She looked like a busy professional, yet he felt an illusion that she hadn’t changed much from her college days. The elevator arrived, and they both stepped in. Jiang Nai still had a bit of unfinished work and was sending voice messages along the way.

“Have you been very busy lately?” Pei Xuan asked when she finally put down her phone.

“Pretty busy, yeah,” Jiang Nai nodded. “We’re pushing forward the project with your company, and there’s other stuff too—a lot going on.”

Pei Xuan nodded in understanding.

The elevator rose slowly, and neither spoke further; they didn’t quite know what to say. Soon, they reached the floor, and the door opened. A staff member approached them, and Jiang Nai mentioned the room number. The staff led them down the hall. 

For her birthday, Xue Lin had invited quite a few people. Besides some friends from their college club who had dined together last time, she had also invited some close coworkers. When the two of them opened the door to the private room, Xue Lin put down the microphone and rushed over.

“Nai Nai, you’re finally here. Oh, senior, you made it too!”

Pei Xuan smiled, “Sorry I’m late.”

“No worries at all, we haven’t even started yet.”

Pei Xuan handed her a gift. “Happy birthday.”

“Aww, thank you! I’m so touched,” Xue Lin said. “Go ahead and grab a seat—you guys must be hungry after work. I ordered a lot of delicious food.”

Pei Xuan: “Sounds good.”

Jiang Nai: “I’m starving… got any noodles?”

Xue Lin burst out laughing. “If we don’t, I’ll order some for you right now! The priciest noodles for you!”

Jiang Nai, unbothered, replied, “Go for it.”

Once everyone had arrived, the food was served. They sat and ate for a while, then began singing and chatting. Around 8 PM, a server wheeled in a birthday cake, and everyone sang a song to celebrate Xue Lin’s birthday. Afterward, there was drinking and games.

Jiang Nai, naturally reserved, was pulled into the games by Xue Lin and Lin Yuanyuan, who were worried she’d be bored sitting alone. The games were simple—dice rolling, guessing the numbers. Losers had to drink or choose a dare. After playing the King’s Game on the cruise with Lu Feng and the others, Jiang Nai was wary of such games, so even when she lost, she would skip the dare and go straight for a drink.

One round of the game had a bet of five beers, and when Jiang Nai guessed wrong, she still chose to drink.

“Five beers! Not even that can make you back down?” one of Xue Lin’s colleagues laughed.

Jiang Nai smiled slightly. “Hmm… I think I can handle it.”

“That’s a lot. Let me help you,” Pei Xuan couldn’t help but offer, given how excessive the number was this time.

Xue Lin’s colleagues chuckled, “Handsome guy rescuing the lady, huh?”

Meng Jie chimed in, “Pei Xuan, you’re just like you were in college, always looking out for Jiang Nai! But when I had so many to drink earlier, you didn’t help me at all!”

Meng Jie, already a bit drunk, said this without much filter.

Pei Xuan paused, his thoughts momentarily drifting to the past. But realizing this topic was inappropriate for Jiang Nai, who was now married, he replied, “You’re a guy, and it was only three beers earlier. Isn’t it normal that I didn’t help? Besides, if any other girl here had more than three, I’d also help.”

Xue Lin and Lin Yuanyuan exchanged glances and quickly said, “Exactly, exactly! Meng Jie, don’t take it too seriously.”

Meng Jie laughed, “Hey, how’d I become the one not playing fair? Fine, fine, my bad. I won’t say any more, alright?”

“It’s okay, I can handle it. No need for help.” Jiang Nai’s tolerance for alcohol was good enough that five more beers weren’t a problem for her—at least it wasn’t wine or something stronger.

Still, Pei Xuan took a beer and drank it himself. Jiang Nai paused, surprised.

Sensing a slight tension, Xue Lin quickly said, “Nai Nai, I’ll down a beer with you too!”

Lin Yuanyuan chimed in, “Count me in!”

With more people joining in, the slight awkwardness faded away.

Jiang Nai drank two herself, then said, “Thanks, everyone. I’m actually feeling a bit full now.”

…

After that game, it was time to switch to another.

While everyone was deciding on the next game, Jiang Nai took the opportunity to excuse herself, saying she needed to go to the restroom. There was a restroom in the private room, but she wanted some fresh air, so she quietly slipped out. As she stepped out, she hadn’t expected to run into Li Qingji here.

The corridor’s lighting was a soft, dim blue, and he was walking towards her from the other end, like a figure out of a painting, the most vivid stroke on the canvas. Walking alongside him was someone else, wearing a mask and hat, but Jiang Nai recognized them instantly.

It was their company’s spokesperson, Xu Yan.

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