I'm Rich - 67
The traffic light ahead turned red, and Qi Chengyan slammed on the brakes. When he turned to look at her, unmistakable surprise flashed across his eyes.
Guan Zhiyi hurriedly waved her hands. "I was just asking. Making conversation, that's all."
Qi Chengyan said, "Hmm... Making conversation. That's an interesting topic."
"Right?" Guan Zhiyi smiled faintly, testing the waters. "So I don't really look that much like a kid, do I?"
Having a baby face could be both a blessing and a curse for an actress. The upside was that it made her look young. Who didn't love a face full of youthful collagen? The downside was that it limited the roles she could take. Certain more extreme characters simply wouldn't suit her appearance.
Until now, the only thing Guan Zhiyi had been dissatisfied with about her looks, as far as her career was concerned, was that. But somehow, romance had now entered the equation too. She felt that she wasn't alluring enough, wasn't feminine or seductive enough...
How could Qi Chengyan possibly know what was going through her head? Hearing her say that, he joked, "If you went without makeup, put on a school uniform, and stood outside a high school, I bet the teachers would let you walk right in."
Guan Zhiyi frowned. "I'm not joking."
Qi Chengyan replied casually, "Neither am I."
Guan Zhiyi was left speechless. She turned toward the window, cheeks puffed up in irritation.
The light changed, and Qi Chengyan stepped on the gas.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Guan Zhiyi snapped, annoyed. "I'm childish, okay? That's what you think!"
The corner of Qi Chengyan's mouth lifted. He reached over and ruffled her hair. "Why are you getting upset? What's wrong with looking the way you do?"
"Everything. It's all bad."
"What exactly is bad?"
Guan Zhiyi mumbled for a moment before saying, "Well... maybe there are some roles people wouldn't cast me in. Like, you know, snake spirits? Fox spirits?"
Qi Chengyan gave her a puzzled look. "You want to play those kinds of characters?"
"So what if I do..."
Seeing how genuinely unhappy she looked, Qi Chengyan thought for a moment before saying, "There are cute snake spirits and fox spirits too. With your acting skills, you'd definitely pull it off."
Guan Zhiyi shot him a sideways look. "Then do you like cute snake spirits and fox spirits?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you?"
Qi Chengyan couldn't help but laugh a little. He coaxed her gently, "If it's a character you play, of course I'll like her."
But Guan Zhiyi wasn't convinced. "Still, it's the seductive, bewitching kind of fox spirit that's actually alluring."
"How would that be the case?"
"It just is..." Guan Zhiyi didn't want to say anything more. She turned to the window and fell silent.
So what if he said she could go straight back to school in a uniform? So what if he said there were cute fox spirits? Wasn't he just finding different ways to tell her that she looked childish and had an ordinary figure?
Guan Zhiyi sulked the entire drive. Even after they arrived at Xinghe Bay, she was still looking thoroughly dejected.
When Qi Chengyan saw her curl up alone on the sofa after getting home, refusing to say a word, he began to worry. So he picked up his phone and called Liu Yun.
"Have any production teams rejected Xiao Wu recently?"
Liu Yun was completely bewildered. "No. We're still choosing scripts. Where would you get the idea that a production team rejected us?"
Qi Chengyan frowned. "Then are there any scripts with characters who are snake spirits or fox spirits?"
"Those either. Why?" Liu Yun asked.
"Nothing. Xiao Wu seems interested in playing that kind of role."
"Really? She's never mentioned it to me."
Qi Chengyan glanced at Guan Zhiyi from across the room. "All right. I'll let you go for now."
"Oh, okay."
After hanging up, Qi Chengyan walked over and sat down beside Guan Zhiyi, drawing her into his arms.
"What movie is this?"
Guan Zhiyi kept her eyes on the television screen and answered coldly, "Green Snake."
Qi Chengyan raised an eyebrow. "You really like it that much?"
Guan Zhiyi gave a quiet huff.
"Yixing happens to be developing a few projects right now," Qi Chengyan said. "If you like it, we could make one."
"I'd star in it?"
"It would be made for you. Of course you'd star in it."
"I'm completely unsuitable for it, all right?" Guan Zhiyi shot him a glance. "A movie you make like that would definitely lose money."
"Not necessarily."
"I'm not doing it."
Qi Chengyan looked puzzled. "Didn't you say you liked it?"
"...I was just talking nonsense."
Unable to make sense of her, Qi Chengyan didn't say anything more. He simply stayed beside her and watched the movie. By the time it ended, it was already nine in the evening.
"It's getting late. I'll take you home."
Guan Zhiyi sat bolt upright on the sofa. "Take me home?"
"You've had a tiring couple of days. It's still early enough that getting home now won't affect your sleep."
All evening, Guan Zhiyi had been trapped in a miserable spiral, convinced that she simply wasn't attractive enough to him. Now, hearing that he wanted to send her home again, her heart sank. The words burst out before she could stop them.
"Isn't a boyfriend supposed to do everything he can to keep his girlfriend at his place?"
Qi Chengyan had been about to stand. At that, he paused and turned toward her. "What?"
Guan Zhiyi stared at him and decided she might as well go all the way. "You're really in such a hurry to get rid of me? You don't even want to spend the night with me?"
Qi Chengyan froze where he stood, staring at her in stunned silence.
Guan Zhiyi's face burned. Embarrassed and angry, she blurted out, "Fine, fine, I do look childish. I don't have some curvy, perfect figure. But that doesn't mean... that doesn't mean someone wouldn't want to spend the night with me at all."
If Qi Chengyan had still been uncertain after her first remark, her next few words made everything perfectly clear. As he looked at the young woman sitting before him, her face flushed bright red, the pieces finally fell into place.
So she'd been testing him ever since they met that day?
Her figure, her face, snake spirits and fox spirits. All of it had been her way of testing him.
And yet... what exactly had he said in response?
Guan Zhiyi sprang to her feet. "I'll go home myself. I don't need you to take me."
But she'd barely taken a step when the man behind her caught her and pulled her back. He wrapped an arm around her waist from behind and settled her onto his lap.
"What are you doing? I'm going home now!"
Qi Chengyan lowered his voice. "Tell me, are you always this silly?"
"What did you say?"
Qi Chengyan sounded helpless. "I'm in a hurry to get rid of you? I don't want to spend the night with you?"
Guan Zhiyi went still. Hearing the words repeated in his voice was far more embarrassing than saying them herself.
"So tell me," Qi Chengyan continued, "why do you think I'm sending you home? Why do you think I don't want to spend the night with you?"
Guan Zhiyi muttered, "...How am I supposed to know?"
"You're the one who's been making all sorts of assumptions." He leaned closer, speaking beside her ear. "You look like a kid. You don't have some perfect figure. You're not a fox spirit or a snake spirit?"
"......"
"So you just assumed that meant I wasn't interested in you?"
Guan Zhiyi felt irritated all over again. "Wasn't that the case?"
Qi Chengyan drew a slow breath. Her answer had caught him off guard, and it had affected him in ways she clearly didn't understand. Without another word, he rose with her, took her hand, and led her upstairs.
Guan Zhiyi jumped. "What are you doing?"
Qi Chengyan didn't answer. He simply kept walking, pulling her along. She couldn't overpower him and could only follow, looking pitifully aggrieved.
When they reached the bedroom, Qi Chengyan pushed the door open, guided her inside, and brought her to the bedside table.
"Open it."
Guan Zhiyi had no idea what he was up to. She stood there without moving. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Qi Chengyan had her sit on the edge of the bed. Then he bent down, opened a drawer, and took out a box, placing it in her hands.
At first, Guan Zhiyi was merely confused. Then she lowered her head and saw the writing on the box.
Her entire body went rigid.
Durex.
Qi Chengyan looked down at her, a meaningful smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "There's more inside. Want me to take it all out and show you?"
Guan Zhiyi flung the box away as though she'd been handed something scorching. The large, square package spun once across the bedding before coming to a steady stop.
"Why would you even have that in your room...?"
Qi Chengyan answered, "Because I was afraid that one day I might lose control. At least this way, I wouldn't end up hurting you."
Guan Zhiyi froze. The moment she understood what he meant, she felt as though she might die of embarrassment. She shot to her feet. "I'm leaving."
"Where are you going?" Qi Chengyan wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Xiao Wu, do you have any idea how innocent you are?"
"..."
His gaze darkened. "There is one thing you got right. Boyfriends really do try everything they can to keep their girlfriends at home."
He'd simply been holding himself back all this time, refusing to let things spiral out of control so quickly. She was the girl he'd cherished in the palm of his hand since she was little. Even when things had come close to crossing a line before, he'd held himself back. Partly because he couldn't bear to rush her, and partly because he hadn't dared.
He'd thought he'd handled things well. He'd never imagined that, in the end, he'd be accused of having no interest in his own girlfriend.
What an injustice.
"Looks like holding myself back was my mistake. I've made you this upset."
Guan Zhiyi shook her head repeatedly. "No! That's not why I'm upset. I'm upset because you said I'm childish! You said I look like an elementary school student!"
"Hmm?" Qi Chengyan paused to recall his words. "Didn't I say a high school student?"
"What's the difference?!"
Qi Chengyan bent down and pressed a brief kiss to her lips. "There's actually a huge difference."
His voice had dropped, carrying a faint, inexplicable rasp.
Guan Zhiyi lifted her eyes to him. They'd come upstairs in such a hurry that they hadn't even turned on the bedroom light. Only the light from the hallway spilled into the room. His eyes caught the glow, his pupils dark and unfathomable.
Something fluttered in Guan Zhiyi's chest. Suddenly, she felt as though she'd made a complete fool of herself tonight. Now that everything was out in the open, it almost sounded as if she'd been inviting him to stay.
She turned, intending to leave, but he caught her and drew her back with ease. He guided her onto the bed and leaned over her.
"I was going to take you home tonight," he murmured beside her ear, "but now I'm not so sure I want to."
His warm breath brushed past her ear and down along her neck, making her suddenly aware of the unfamiliar intensity of the moment.
"I..."
"Didn't you want to spend the night with me?" Qi Chengyan gently turned her face toward him. "Then you can't take it back now."
"Mm..."
He kissed her.
They had kissed before, but Qi Chengyan had always been careful, always restrained. This time, something had changed.
Guan Zhiyi had been lying on the bed, her breathing already uneven. His sudden closeness made her whole body feel warm, and she instinctively tried to sit up. He steadied her with ease, leaving her flustered and unsure what to do.
She'd been angry earlier, wondering whether she held any real attraction for him. What she hadn't expected was for everything to happen so suddenly.
Or perhaps it wasn't sudden at all. He'd probably been thinking about this for a long time. She was the one who'd thrown caution aside and forced the truth into the open.
"What are you thinking about, hmm?" Qi Chengyan eased back slightly and asked in a low voice.
Guan Zhiyi drew a few quick breaths and shook her head.
Lying there, her thoughts had become a complete muddle, but she couldn't deny that she didn't dislike being close to him. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to spend time wrapped up in him, to stay close and linger together. That wasn't something she'd only started wanting today.
"So... am I really not going home tonight?" she asked softly.
Qi Chengyan lowered his gaze to her. "After saying something like that, do you really think you can still go home?"
Guan Zhiyi turned to look at him for a long moment. Then she rolled onto her side to face him.
"Fair enough. I did want to stay here... and spend the night with you."
Qi Chengyan paused for the briefest moment. Then he lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her neck.
"Good girl."
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