I'm Rich - 66
Qi Chengyan felt terrible seeing her in pain. It hadn't even occurred to him that she simply didn't want him to leave. So when she asked, he naturally drew her calf into his lap and began massaging it gently.
Guan Zhiyi leaned against the pillows, watching him without looking away.
"Does that feel a little better?" Qi Chengyan asked, his eyes lowered.
"Mm-hmm. It does."
"Wear a more comfortable pair of shoes tomorrow. Don't wear something just because it looks pretty."
"I know." Guan Zhiyi sat up, picked up a strawberry, and held it to his lips. "Help me eat some. There's no way I can finish all this by myself."
Qi Chengyan bit into it. "Such a tiny appetite."
Guan Zhiyi grinned and leaned against his shoulder. "Mm. President Qi, you've got such good hands. You could open a massage parlor."
Qi Chengyan paused and glanced at her. "One that serves the general public?"
"No, no. The kind that serves just one person. Me."
"That sounds like a business destined to lose money."
"Not at all." Guan Zhiyi said, "You can turn me into a super VIP. The kind who pays a whole lot of money every month."
Qi Chengyan chuckled. "And you'd be willing to do that?"
"Of course I would." Guan Zhiyi rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "If your massage parlor ever goes under, I'll keep acting and support you..."
"Support me?" Qi Chengyan looked at her with a teasing smile.
Guan Zhiyi blinked. "What? Are you hard to support?"
"Mm... Doesn't seem too difficult. As long as I have food to eat and somewhere to live."
"Your standards can be a little higher. You don't have to be shy with me." Guan Zhiyi said, "If I really can't afford to support you, I can always steal money from my brother to keep you fed."
Qi Chengyan couldn't hold back his laughter. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. "Your brother would probably be furious if he found out about this."
Guan Zhiyi abandoned the massage altogether and followed his movement straight into his embrace. "Who cares about him... So, seeing how good I am to you, will you stay a little longer?"
With her soft, warm body nestled in his arms, how could he bear to say no?
"I'm worried you have to get up early tomorrow. If I stay too long, I might interfere with your sleep."
"Then just sleep here with me. That way, you won't be interfering." Guan Zhiyi answered so quickly that it was only after the words left her mouth that she realized how embarrassing the invitation sounded.
Qi Chengyan reached out and pinched her cheek, his voice carrying a hint of laughter. "Oh. So you want to sleep with me."
"No, I mean..." Guan Zhiyi faltered, suddenly at a loss for words. After a long pause, she could only mumble, "It's not like we haven't slept together before."
"All right." Qi Chengyan pushed her gently back onto the bed and lowered his voice. "I'll stay and sleep with you for a while."
What did he mean, for a while?
Guan Zhiyi was a little dazed, but before she could think too much about it, Qi Chengyan had already kissed her.
The lingering touch of his lips swept away every thought in her mind. She clutched his clothes tightly with both hands, letting the warmth of his body pass through every layer between them until it reached her palms.
"Strawberry flavor," he murmured.
Guan Zhiyi breathed softly. "You're the one who tastes like it."
"Looks like I'll have to make you eat whatever flavor I feel like tasting from now on."
He rested his forehead against hers, his voice low and resonant, so pleasing that it tugged at her heart. Guan Zhiyi was practically intoxicated by the sound of him. She hummed softly and murmured, "Anything's fine..."
The sweet, lovely face beneath him was so trusting that it made his heart tighten. The smile on Qi Chengyan's lips gradually faded, and suddenly, he found himself struggling to hold back.
She barely had any defenses against him.
Qi Chengyan let out a quiet sigh, lowered his head, and kissed her again.
This time, he didn't pull away quickly. The lingering tenderness slowly gave way to something more heated, until all that remained between them was the warmth of breath and rising desire.
Guan Zhiyi had never hidden anything from him. She loved him, enough to give him everything she had. And at that moment, all she could feel was that her Chengyan-gege could do whatever he wanted.
So she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.
His lips parted hers, and he kissed her with growing intensity. She responded without hesitation, even as he left her with nowhere to retreat, her breathing growing uneven. She didn't utter a sound.
As they moved around on the bed, Guan Zhiyi's bathrobe naturally became disheveled. When she rolled over, the neckline slipped open, exposing much of her shoulder and chest, while the tie around her waist loosened until it looked as though one tug would make it fall away completely.
Qi Chengyan lay on the bed, looking at the girl straddling him. His eyes were deep and dark, but he didn't dare move another inch.
What he could see was already enough to test the limits of his self-control. If he reached out again, he wasn't sure he'd be able to stop.
"Fix your clothes." He pulled her slipping robe back into place, then turned them both onto their sides and settled her on the bed.
Guan Zhiyi's lips were a little sore from kissing. She reached up to touch them. "Ow..."
"Does it hurt?"
"...No."
Qi Chengyan said, "Then go to sleep early. You need to be careful not to sleep through your alarm tomorrow."
Guan Zhiyi blinked. "You're leaving?"
His body was still wound tight with lingering desire. Qi Chengyan pressed his lips together, and the way she looked at him only made it harder to leave.
"Mm. It's getting late. You need to sleep."
"Oh..."
Qi Chengyan drew in a slow breath, sat up, and pulled the covers over her.
"I'll come pick you up after work tomorrow. All right?"
Guan Zhiyi answered in a muffled voice, "Then you have to be on time."
"Mm. I promise."
\*\*
The next morning, Liu Yun came into the room to wake Guan Zhiyi.
While Guan Zhiyi was washing up in the bathroom, Liu Yun spotted the two large boxes of leftover fruit on the bedside table. She immediately walked to the bathroom door.
"Girl, did you order takeout in the middle of the night?"
Guan Zhiyi looked up, confused. "Huh?"
"The cherries and strawberries."
"Oh... I didn't order those." Guan Zhiyi said, "Our boss came over last night. He brought them. But I didn't eat much, so don't worry."
"What? President Qi came over yesterday? That late at night?"
"Mm."
"Tsk. You two really are different now that you're in the honeymoon phase." Liu Yun looked at her. "So, he left early in the morning before we got here?"
Guan Zhiyi nearly choked on the water in her mouth. "No."
"Then last night... he just left?"
The pause Liu Yun inserted into the middle of that sentence was perfectly timed. Guan Zhiyi's face flushed.
"What are you talking about?"
Liu Yun leaned against the doorway. "What do you think I'm talking about?"
"...Don't get the wrong idea. Nothing happened between us last night."
"You think I'm going to believe that?"
"Why wouldn't you?"
"Your boyfriend comes all the way to the hotel in the middle of the night, then leaves without doing anything." Liu Yun gave her a sly smile. "Tsk. President Qi is so innocent."
"..."
"But don't worry. You two have already made your relationship public. I'm not going to meddle in what couples do." Liu Yun paused. "I just wanted to ask... You're not planning to get married that soon, are you?"
Guan Zhiyi choked. How had they suddenly gotten onto this topic? What did marriage have to do with anything?!
Liu Yun continued, "Well, if you're not planning to get married anytime soon, make sure you're taking proper precautions. Given your current situation, an unexpected pregnancy wouldn't be a good thing..."
"Stop!" Guan Zhiyi's ears were burning. "I, I didn't..."
"All right." Liu Yun gave her a knowing look. "Men are men. When they like someone, that kind of thing is bound to happen. You're both adults. I get it."
Guan Zhiyi answered awkwardly, "But what if there's a man who gets to that point and still doesn't do anything to the girl?"
Liu Yun gave her a strange look. "Either there's something wrong with him, or he's just not that attracted to her."
Guan Zhiyi: "..."
"But neither of those things could possibly apply to you two, right?" Liu Yun said with a smile. "Now hurry up, wash your face, and get dressed. The makeup artist is coming over."
With that, she turned and walked out, leaving Guan Zhiyi alone in the bathroom, completely bewildered.
Something wrong with him?
That couldn't be it, right?
Then maybe he's just not that attracted to me?
Ever since they'd gotten together, Qi Chengyan had always taken her home on time after their dates. They'd been intimate, but he'd always stopped at just the right point...
More importantly, last night, she'd made it so obvious that she didn't want him to leave, and he'd still gone.
Wait.
Guan Zhiyi looked at herself in the mirror. She hadn't put on any makeup yet, her face bare, but she still looked quite pretty. She did look a little young, though, and her figure wasn't exactly... all that striking.
Guan Zhiyi froze. A sudden wave of melancholy washed over her.
Could it be that I'm really not that attractive to him?!
\*\*
As soon as Guan Zhiyi stepped out of the bathroom, Liu Yun grabbed her and took her off to get her makeup done. After that, she barely had time to think about anything else before rushing to the filming location.
Today's shoot was a little easier than yesterday's. There was no running all over the place. Most of the activities involved indoor brainstorming.
The variety show wrapped up at five in the afternoon. Guan Zhiyi headed to the dressing room with the other guests.
"That last question was seriously so convoluted. Zhiyi, you actually got it right. That's seriously impressive," one of the entertainers appearing on the episode with her said.
Guan Zhiyi replied, "I just happened to have seen that question when I was in school. It was a lucky coincidence."
"Even so, remembering it all this time is pretty impressive."
Guan Zhiyi felt a little embarrassed by the praise. She was trying to figure out how to end the conversation when someone beside her suddenly said, "Isn't that President Qi?"
The moment those words left her mouth, everyone turned to look at Guan Zhiyi.
Qi Chengyan had been making quite a name for himself in the entertainment industry lately. Yixing Entertainment had risen to become one of the industry's leading companies. At this point, who didn't know him? And besides, everyone had already been quietly following the gossip about him and Guan Zhiyi online and through people in the know.
Guan Zhiyi followed their gazes and saw Qi Chengyan standing in the corridor not far away. A burst of happiness went through her.
"I'll go over for a second," she quickly told the others.
"Go, go."
Guan Zhiyi jogged over to Qi Chengyan.
"Gege, you're so punctual!"
Qi Chengyan patted her on the head, then lowered his gaze to her legs. "Are your legs still hurting today?"
"They're okay. I didn't have to run around outside like yesterday."
"That's good. Come on, let's go home."
Guan Zhiyi nodded and followed beside him, beaming.
But once she got into the car, she suddenly remembered her conversation with Liu Yun that morning. The more she thought about it, the more she felt she was being ridiculous for even worrying about something like this.
"What's wrong with you today? You're awfully quiet." Qi Chengyan noticed her unusual silence and asked.
"Nothing..."
"Nothing?"
"Really, nothing." Guan Zhiyi turned to look out the window.
Qi Chengyan turned his attention back to the road. He assumed she might simply be tired and didn't feel like talking. Then, all of a sudden, the young woman beside him turned around and asked with utter seriousness:
"Gege, what do you think of my figure?"
—
Author's Note:
Qi Chengyan: First of all, I swear I'm perfectly normal.
---
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