Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Cheng Yan felt that the very first time he made that call to Yan Huai had been a mistake.

One wrong step, and every step after went wrong.

The current situation was entirely his own doing.

Cheng Yan, unable to bear watching and full of regret, turned his gaze away and lit a lonely, helpless cigarette.

By the roadside, He Wei had no idea Cheng Yan was even there.

She was being held very tightly by Yan Huai—so tightly that she could clearly feel the arm around her waist exerting force, as if he wanted to press her into his own body.

He Wei’s breathing was a little difficult. She raised her hand and gently pushed him. “Let me go first…”

“I still have my assistant here.”

Yan Huai lowered his head and lightly kissed her on the forehead. “When you were just rushing into my arms, why didn’t you remember your assistant was here?”

“……”

Her mind had been hot at the time—wasn’t she allowed to be momentarily confused?

He Wei gave a soft hum and pushed him again.

She wasn’t really that famous yet. In China, there probably wouldn’t even be paparazzi willing to follow her, let alone here overseas.

Even if there really were paparazzi who followed them all the way to Dubai, they would probably be photographing the other four guests instead.

After all, any one of the other four alone had more buzz than several He Wei combined.

If Feng Ning hadn’t been standing there today, she wouldn’t have wanted him to let go so quickly either.

The man’s scent was very clean—there wasn’t even a hint of smoke today—and being in his arms felt especially comfortable.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time to be comfortable.

He Wei felt his arms loosen slightly and quickly took the chance to slip out of his embrace.

Feng Ning was completely stunned on the side, mouth open, not making a single sound for a long time.

He Wei cleared her throat softly and stepped back two paces to stand beside Feng Ning again.

When she had just been hugging and kissing him, she hadn’t felt anything. But now seeing Feng Ning’s expression as a bystander, she suddenly felt embarrassed.

He Wei wasn’t extremely thick-skinned, but she definitely wasn’t thin-skinned either—still, her ears turned red immediately, and even her voice dropped. “Which hotel are you staying at?”

Her eyes didn’t fully land on him, carrying a hint of shyness.

When He Wei was shy, she was truly shy; when she was bold, she was also genuinely bold.

Yan Huai raised a hand and pressed lightly at his throat, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips. “The same one as you.”

His gaze shifted and lingered for half a second on Feng Ning. “Get in the car. We’ll go back together.”

The street was not far from the hotel—it would only take about five minutes by car.

Only when He Wei got into the car did she notice Cheng Yan in the driver’s seat.

The two of them met eyes, and Cheng Yan silently extinguished his cigarette.

Although the temperature had dropped a little at night, it was still shockingly hot outside.

The car’s air conditioning was turned up high, and when He Wei stepped inside, she couldn’t help but shiver slightly as she adjusted to the cold.

Feng Ning immediately took out a thin shawl from her bag considerately. “Sister Weiwei, don’t catch a cold.”

Yan Huai glanced through the rearview mirror and noticed He Wei’s shoulders slightly curling in. She was dressed very little today, very casually—a white short-sleeved top, blue denim shorts, and white sneakers.

She looked extremely light and refreshing.

She was beautiful, with a very typical Chinese girl’s appearance. Earlier on the street, many people had been looking at her.

Yan Huai suddenly felt the urge to hide her away.

He withdrew his gaze and adjusted the air-conditioning vent upward.

Cheng Yan changed a few songs and, while doing so, said to He Wei in the back: “Weiwei, there’s a press conference for The Princess next month. Do you have time?”

He Wei, suddenly being called on, froze for a moment before asking: “When next month?”

“Probably at the end of the month, the exact date hasn’t been confirmed yet.”

“I’ll see. If I have time, I’ll go.”

Cheng Yan gave a soft “Mm,” then glanced at the man beside him.

Yan Huai’s expression didn’t change much. After a few seconds, he asked: “Is Su Mu going too?”

The other three: “……”

What press conference doesn’t have the male lead attending?

Cheng Yan coughed lightly. “Alright, that’s enough.”

Su Mu has a wide acting range—could Yan Huai really rearrange all their schedules just so He Wei wouldn’t run into him?

Joking.

After a while, Cheng Yan suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned to Yan Huai and lowered his voice: “The Princess is Weiwei’s first drama. Don’t mess around.”

Yan Huai lowered his eyelids and didn’t respond.

The hotel arranged by the production team was a five-star hotel; the environment and service were both excellent.

He Wei and Feng Ning were originally supposed to share a room, but today was a special situation, so special arrangements were made.

Her boyfriend had followed her all the way overseas—He Wei couldn’t exactly let him spend the night alone. After returning to her room to organize what she would need for tomorrow, she gave Feng Ning a few instructions and went to Yan Huai’s room.

Not to mention there weren’t any paparazzi following her—even if there were, she wasn’t very worried.

After all, she and Yan Huai were now openly in a legitimate relationship. Neither married nor engaged; aside from the fact that she had once been his younger brother’s girlfriend, there was nothing anyone could really criticize.

Yan Huai and the other three male guests were on the same floor.

When He Wei went upstairs, she happened to run into Su Mu.

Su Mu’s gaze swept over her, still wearing that gentle and approachable façade. “Here to see someone?”

He Wei gave a soft “Mm.”

Su Mu swiped his key card, and as he opened the door, he turned back to look at her again. “Want to come in and sit for a bit?”

“N-no, it’s fine.”

He Wei quickly refused. She definitely didn’t dare go inside.

Although there were probably no paparazzi willing to follow her all the way overseas, there were definitely many willing to follow Su Mu.

If this got photographed… the consequences would be unimaginable.

To distance herself from any connection, He Wei even took half a step back.

Su Mu smiled. “Am I that scary?”

Of course he was scary.

He Wei very hypocritically shook her head. “I think it’s better if I and Senior Brother avoid appearing too close in the future.”

The smile at the corner of Su Mu’s lips deepened. “I’m not going to eat you.”

As soon as he said that, he pushed the door open a little and walked toward He Wei. The distance between them wasn’t exactly ambiguous, but he lowered his voice, and what he said was extremely suggestive: “Little junior sister, I just happen to know a director who’s looking for a female lead.”

He Wei stepped back half a step.

Su Mu advanced another half step. “Spend one night with me, and I’ll recommend you to him. How about that?”

He Wei kept retreating, shaking her head as she went. “You should go find someone else…”

Su Mu kept pressing closer: “I quite like you—”

Before he could finish, the door of the opposite room opened, and a man’s voice sounded from behind her: “Weiwei?”

His voice was low, the tail slightly raised.

Yan Huai was calling her.

He Wei was so startled by those two words that she almost bit her tongue. She turned her head and saw Yan Huai slightly furrowing his brows, his eyes half-lowered, his tone light and cool: “The water is ready for you.”

“……”

Su Mu also clearly froze.

He knew Yan Huai, and he knew He Wei, but he had never imagined the two of them would know each other.

And it looked like their relationship was, well… quite, frankly, unbelievable.

Su Mu did have some interest in He Wei.

Clean, beautiful young girls—who wouldn’t like that? Especially when He Wei was so quiet and focused; she was very attractive to him. He had intended to take things step by step, but he never expected that halfway through the “step-by-step” process, someone would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Yan Huai had been his former boss after all; he knew very well whether he could afford to offend him.

Su Mu frowned. Just for a moment, he quickly masked the disbelief in his eyes and put on an “I see” expression. “So President Yan is here on vacation?”

He assumed He Wei was Yan Huai’s little lover kept outside.

Yan Huai also frowned. His expression was always faint, so even when he frowned, it wasn’t very obvious. His voice, however, was completely cold: “Here to see my girlfriend.”

Su Mu, having been in the industry for years, reacted quickly. He suppressed the shock in his eyes and showed an expression of sudden understanding. “President Yan and your girlfriend really have a good relationship.”

Yan Huai said nothing more. He grabbed He Wei’s wrist and pulled her into the room, pushing her inside. As he closed the door, he curled the corner of his lips slightly toward the person outside.

The door shut right in front of him.

Su Mu’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably.

He understood it. Yan Huai had silently said two words just now—

“Wait.”

Only after finishing her shower and stepping out of the bathroom did He Wei still feel lingering fear.

She actually hadn’t expected Su Mu to set his sights on her.

At the very least, in her imagination, it shouldn’t have happened this quickly.

Half an hour later, when He Wei came out of the bathroom wearing her pajamas, Yan Huai was sitting on the bed in a video conference.

Her hair was still wet. She sat far away and only then picked up the hairdryer to start drying it.

She kept the airflow low, and it took her more than ten minutes to dry it halfway.

Her arm was almost numb. Just as she was about to turn off the hairdryer and let it air-dry, it was taken out of her hand.

Yan Huai’s movements as he combed through her long hair were very gentle. The buzzing sound was also low, and when He Wei spoke, he could hear her clearly: “Are you done with work?”

“Mm.”

He Wei turned her head slightly, lifting her face to look at him. “Su Mu turned out to be that kind of person.”

Yan Huai looked down at her. “What kind of person?”

“He actually wants to sleep with me.”

He Wei shrank her shoulders. “Even rabbits don’t eat grass near their own burrow…”

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt her hair—still held in Yan Huai’s hand—being tugged slightly. She was afraid of pain and followed his movement. At the same time, Yan Huai turned off the hairdryer and leaned down beside her ear: “They do eat it.”

“……”

The room’s air-conditioning was set very low, yet the man’s breath against her ear was warm.

He Wei felt a slight itch and instinctively reached up to touch it.

But just as her hand touched her ear, it was grabbed and pulled down again. In the next second, the man’s kiss came crashing down.

Completely opposite to the cold temperature in the room, his lips were scorching hot, and so were his fingers. Wherever they passed felt like a spark igniting, quickly growing into a wildfire.

He Wei had a very bad premonition.

She felt that Yan Huai definitely had something else in mind this time.

On one hand she was nervous, on the other she couldn’t resist him at all. She didn’t even know how she ended up being carried onto the bed.

The overhead light was still on, its bright glare pouring down, yet her vision still felt blurred.

Yan Huai hadn’t actually intended to go all the way. At the critical moment he was still able to stop. In the end, it was He Wei who couldn’t hold back and kept holding onto him without letting go.

She had anticipated the worst outcome—in this life, their first time.

But after it ended, she realized the outcome could actually be even worse.

Although it wasn’t as painful as the last time, it still hurt.

Neither of them had much experience, especially He Wei, who was extremely tense the entire time. Every small sensation in normal circumstances was amplified to the maximum by her nerves.

It was past midnight when it finally ended, and He Wei lay limp on the bed, not wanting to move at all.

In the end, all the cleaning up was done by Yan Huai. She was too tired even to open her eyes properly and, half-asleep, fell into the bathtub and drifted off.

Yan Huai had been busy with work these past few days. He knew that He Wei still had filming early the next morning, so he hadn’t intended to go all the way with her at all.

But He Wei had been far too proactive last night—so proactive that he simply couldn’t refuse.

And he didn’t want to refuse either.

Yan Huai felt completely satisfied, his whole body relaxing.

He held He Wei in his arms, and that night’s sleep was deep.

But also unsettled.

He had a nightmare—he dreamed that He Wei died on his bed.

At around three in the morning, Yan Huai jolted awake from the dream.

Outside, the streetlights were already off. Everything was dark and heavy, without a single trace of light.

Yan Huai let out a breath and instinctively reached for He Wei’s hand.

He Wei was still fast asleep and let out a soft, faint hum.

Good.

Yan Huai couldn’t sleep at all after that. He threw off the blanket, got out of bed, picked up a cigarette box and lighter, and went out to the balcony.

The next day, He Wei was woken up by her alarm.

Six in the morning.

Filming would start at 8:30, so it was still early.

After turning off the alarm, she was about to curl back into Yan Huai’s arms for a few more minutes of sleep.

But when she turned over, the spot beside her was already empty.

He Wei frowned, and then she heard Yan Huai’s voice—hoarse, with a faint edge of irritation:

“Did I hurt you last night?”