Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Rose x Kiss

The moment Ji Mingzhu noticed the shadow falling from her right, within the range of her peripheral vision, Jiang Ji was standing there on the staircase beside her.

He didn’t glance at her, nor did he seem intent on continuing down the steps. As if frozen, he simply stopped halfway.

Seeing this, the words at Ji Mingzhu’s lips suddenly took a turn.

She had originally wanted to ask why he had gone to the second floor, but on second thought, Jiang Ji had probably gone to the study again during his spare time.

“You… still not asleep?”

When she had been editing earlier, it was already late, not to mention she had tidied up and even taken another shower in between.

Ji Mingzhu looked out the floor-to-ceiling window; it was completely dark.

The bustling cityscape stretched from the city center. Faintly, long streams of traffic could be seen, glowing along the distant horizon.

“Just handled some documents,” Jiang Ji said, then slowly stepped down.

Ji Mingzhu lowered her eyes, focusing on the small items.

She turned the music box back to silent, picked it up with both hands, and tucked it into her arms.

“Then I’ll head back to my room first.”

As she spoke, she stood up, brushed the curls falling in front of her, and swept them back.

Every early winter in Yin City was filled with dry cold, so the house maintained a constant temperature year-round and had underfloor heating.

At this moment, the house was warmly enveloped.

Since she was indoors, there was no need to be too particular, so Ji Mingzhu wore a light, cool-style pajama set.

She had originally put on a thin cardigan outside.

But perhaps the floor heating was set too high; she felt like she was in a steamer—just before the water boiled, not too hot but uncomfortable. So she simply took it off and set it aside.

Call it casual or careless; she still behaved as freely as she had at home.

New residence or Jiang Ji—neither was in her consideration.

Even then, she still felt lingering warmth, so she pushed all her long hair behind her ears, revealing the graceful curve of her swan-like neck.

Her skin was delicate, and her glossy shoulders bore faint marks from the pajama straps.

Jiang Ji took in Ji Mingzhu’s movements, then called out to her.

“You’re not cold?”

Ji Mingzhu was just about to step into her room when Jiang Ji’s sudden remark stopped her.

“Not cold.”

Jiang Ji’s gaze fell toward the sofa in the living room, the meaning obvious.

Her cardigan was still there.

Ji Mingzhu initially found it puzzling, but seeing Jiang Ji’s sharp gaze, she found it amusing. She slowly walked back and picked up the cardigan.

“You mean this?”

She blinked at Jiang Ji, her tone relaxed.

“Whether I wear it or not, you’re not going to manage that too, are you?”

“Not wear it”—she deliberately stressed the two words, pausing slightly, dragging the ending.

After speaking, she didn’t wait for Jiang Ji’s response, turning and walking to her bedroom door.

There was no movement behind her for a while.

A few seconds later, the sound of his footsteps following came.

Jiang Ji walked toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms, then stopped in front of his own door.

Ji Mingzhu let out a light scoff. Just before closing the door, she hooked her foot around the nearly shut door and leaned half her body out.

Her gaze accurately caught him, almost word by word. “Satisfied now, Young Master Jiang?”

With a “bang”—

Accompanying the girl’s voice was the somewhat abrupt, heavy sound of the door closing.

Jiang Ji’s face was hidden in the dim yellow of the hallway wall lamp, half lit, half shadowed, his expression hard to discern.

Satisfied or not?

—Ji Mingzhu’s words still echoed by his ear.

What first surged into his mind was entirely the earlier scene.

Jiang Ji stared at the tightly closed door opposite him and fell silent.

…

Ji Mingzhu entered her room and turned off the lights, leaving only a small lamp by the bed.

She had spent the whole day organizing things, then busied herself editing videos. By this point she was exhausted.

The music box had already been carefully placed beside the bedside table, right next to the key necklace Ji Shaoyan had given her.

Though extremely sleepy, Ji Mingzhu habitually checked the messages on her phone before sleeping.

Not to mention she had just choked Jiang Ji with that remark before entering the room—she could count it as a complete victory—she didn’t want to fall asleep too quickly.

How did that saying go—

If you’re in a good mood, savor the memory for a few extra seconds.

She had just lain down when, after turning on message notifications, a stream of messages poured in.

Ji Mingzhu knew many people. Previously, because of the Ji family, many extended olive branches wanting to befriend her; later, because she became a video blogger, online interactions required socializing. Though she didn’t have many close relationships, she always kept up with the latest updates.

Sometimes, not checking her phone for a while meant missing a lot.

Just like now—

She tapped open her phone. One group’s messages had exploded, almost overflowing the screen.

This group had been created recently for an upcoming gathering, bringing together many video bloggers.

Those with high traffic online were the main force in the group.

The organizer’s intention was obvious: to host a gathering by attracting quality video bloggers, then discuss cooperation afterward.

When Ji Mingzhu hadn’t returned to the country, she naturally couldn’t attend this kind of event.

This time she originally didn’t want to go, but couldn’t resist the organizer’s enthusiastic invitation.

When she had opened her personal channel domestically before, the organizer had proactively helped with some things.

Although Ji Mingzhu didn’t intend to promote herself and hadn’t requested it, it was still the other party’s goodwill—a small favor.

So she went along with it and repaid it this time.

She had also heard about some industry norms.

And she was curious about what such gatherings would be like.

Thus, Ji Mingzhu accepted the invitation.

However, today’s messages were more than usual.

The organizer also privately messaged her.

Event Coordinator: Pearl-chan, just informing you, the venue for our gathering has changed.

Event Coordinator: There’s an announcement in the group, but couldn’t find you, so I came to notify you.

Ji Mingzhu glanced at the time displayed on the screen.

The message the other party sent had come more than ten minutes ago—not too long.

Ji Mingzhu: Mm, got it. So where was it changed to?

This time the other party replied quickly—

Event Coordinator: It was originally set at Hua’an Tingcheng in the city center, but later we found the space wasn’t enough, so we temporarily decided to change it.

Event Coordinator: But the one in the east of the city happened to be more available, so we switched to that one. Don’t go to the wrong place.

Hua’an Tingcheng in the east of the city?

Ji Mingzhu searched her memory and vaguely had an impression.

She looked up the specific address online. It was further east of the eastern district, far from the city center, almost near the boundary of another city.

Previously, Ji Mingzhu had thought it was convenient—no need to travel long; it was near Park Hyatt Mansion, and she could walk a few steps to attend.

Now the change came too quickly, so she could only bite the bullet and say okay.

Leaning against the headboard, she was thinking of asking her family driver to come pick her up tomorrow when the faint sound of a door opening and closing from across the hall reached her.

Ji Mingzhu pondered, and suddenly an idea popped up.

Wasn’t Jiang Ji not that busy lately? Such good “horsepower”—no use letting it go to waste.

She turned off her phone and didn’t call home.

Closing her eyes, she fell asleep.

…

Early the next morning, Ji Mingzhu got up and knocked on the door opposite.

She had remembered and hadn’t forgotten.

But after knocking several times, there was no movement inside.

She paused, then went upstairs to the second floor, heading to the study.

This time, knocking quickly got a response.

“Come in.”

As expected.

Ji Mingzhu pushed open the door. Jiang Ji sat behind the desk, bathed in morning light.

“Hey, I want to discuss something with you.”

Jiang Ji stopped what he was doing and looked up at her.

Ji Mingzhu walked in, closed the door, went straight to his desk, swung her leg, and leaned against it.

She got straight to the point. “I need to go to Hua’an Tingcheng in the east of the city. You’re free these days, right?”

Ji Mingzhu knocked twice on the desk with the back of her knuckles. “But if you still have things to handle, Uncle Lin can drive me.”

“Uncle Lin is with my mother recently.”

Jiang Ji spoke concisely; the meaning was clear.

Uncle Lin was taking care of his mother—no time.

“Then Second Young Master Jiang is really condescending.”

Ji Mingzhu muttered inwardly; couldn’t he just speak plainly instead of beating around the bush?

She straightened up from the desk and was about to leave when Jiang Ji slowly spoke.

“You’re welcome. But Miss Ji really is forgetful.”

Jiang Ji removed his gold-rimmed glasses, his dark eyes directly fixing on her.

The corners of his eyes were long and narrow, the ends curving up in a beautiful arc.

“What could I have forgotten?” Ji Mingzhu stopped in her tracks.

“You asked it yourself, and you really forgot.”

His gaze moved down from Ji Mingzhu’s bright face, pausing at the rise of her chest before lightly sweeping past.

“As for whether I’m satisfied.”

Jiang Ji paused, his tone unhurried—

“Not bad.”

Following his gaze, Ji Mingzhu lowered her head to look down.

“.........”