Zhou Yining glanced back at the door and walked directly into the bathroom to shower.

When she came out after showering, Ji Dongyang was cooking noodles in the kitchen. She walked over and hugged him. “Cooking for me?”

Ji Dongyang looked back at her. “Mm, you didn’t eat much tonight, only drank wine.”

Zhou Yining raised an eyebrow. “But I’m not hungry. Besides, eating late-night snacks makes you fat.”

Ji Dongyang squeezed her hand at his waist. “You’re very thin. You’ve lost weight recently.”

For the past two months or so, she had eaten with him almost every day, and it didn’t seem like she ate little. But a single glance showed she was much thinner than when she filmed Taiping Dynasty. When he held her, she felt lighter than before, too. If it wasn’t physical stress, then it was psychological stress. It was easy to imagine how much psychological pressure Zhou Yining bore while filming this movie.

Zhou Yining rubbed her soft chest against his firm back and said deliberately, “My chest didn’t get smaller.”

Ji Dongyang’s body tensed, his voice deepening. “Go sit at the dining table.”

Zhou Yining smiled and said, “Closet pervert.” With that, she went to the dining table and sat waiting for him.

A while later, Ji Dongyang placed the noodles in front of her. “I’m going to shower.”

Zhou Yining grabbed him. “Stay with me until I finish eating.”

Ji Dongyang didn’t answer but sat down beside her.

The noodles were delicious. Zhou Yining ate more than half the bowl, her cheeks slightly flushed from eating, beads of fine sweat appearing on her forehead. After a while, she looked up at him. “Can’t finish it.”

Ji Dongyang glanced at her and took the bowl. Zhou Yining thought he was going to wash the dishes, but unexpectedly, he picked up the chopsticks, ate the remaining few mouthfuls of noodles, and then went to wash the dishes.

Zhou Yining smiled at his back, ran to brush her teeth, and returned to bed to wait for him.

After a while, Ji Dongyang came out of the bathroom wearing the bathrobe he had left here. He stood at the bathroom door, wiping his hair with a towel. After a few strokes, he tossed the towel back and returned to the bed, covering her body. Zhou Yining hooked her arms around his neck and asked, “What if Zhou JiaHui really exposes our relationship?”

Zhou Yining didn’t want their relationship to be exposed by Zhou JiaHui. She looked at him. Ji Dongyang lowered his head to kiss her lips, saying in a low voice, “She doesn’t have the guts right now.”

Zhou Yining rubbed her legs against his, closing her eyes to respond to his kiss.

Half a minute later, Ji Dongyang suddenly pulled her hands down. Zhou Yining opened her eyes to look at him. He said, “Did you take your medicine?”

Zhou Yining didn’t speak. Ji Dongyang got up from her, walked to the cabinet, opened the drawer, and took out the assortment of medicine bottles. He counted the pills according to the dosage, poured a glass of water, came back, and placed the pills in her palm. “Take them.”

Zhou Yining stuffed the pills into her mouth, took the water to swallow them, and put the glass on the cabinet. Ji Dongyang was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Zhou Yining held his shoulders, straddled his lap, and leaned close to him. “Can we continue now?”

Ji Dongyang held her waist, kissing her neck and cheeks, his hands stroking her body. “Mm.”

Their bathrobes were shed. Zhou Yining stroked his abs, her hand moving down to grip the already responsive… She sheathed it from the base up, stroked back and forth a few times, then held it and sank down forcefully.

Ji Dongyang grunted, too late to stop her. Seeing her frown, he held her waist to prevent her from moving recklessly, asking in a hoarse voice, “Does it hurt?”

Zhou Yining closed her eyes, her body involuntarily tightening. She let out a long breath before opening her eyes to look at him. “It hurts, but I like you inside me.”

Ji Dongyang pressed his lips tight, staring at her, kissing her lightly, and stroking her body, waiting for her to adapt.

She straddled him, breathing rapidly, eyes glazed, her chest rising and falling with her breath.

After a while, she slowed down. Ji Dongyang held her, stood up, pressed her beneath him, gripped her waist, kissed the small black cat on her chest, and thrusted powerfully.

…

When it ended, Zhou Yining looked at him, her gaze direct and soft.

Ji Dongyang turned over and lay beside her, pulling her into his arms. Waiting for his breathing to calm, he whispered, “I’ll go with you to the UK.”

Zhou Yining rested her head in the crook of his neck, not surprised at all. “Okay.”

…

Returning to B City, Zhou Yining visited the Qin family home. Qin Yuan was there too.

Before this, no one in the Qin family except Qin Yuan and Qin Sen knew about her illness. This time, the elders looked at her with an extra trace of heartache. Her aunt held her hand and sighed, “Silly child, why didn’t you tell Auntie? Have you suffered a lot these years?”

Zhou Yining shook her head. “No, I’m doing quite well. Auntie, you don’t need to worry about me.”

Whatever suffering there was had passed. She was fine now.

Her aunt still felt heartache. “You are the granddaughter of the Qin family. If anything happens in the future, seek the Qin family for support.”

Elder Qin was furious this time, blaming it on Qin Yuan. Running off abroad was one thing, but not mentioning such a thing to the family and letting her granddaughter suffer so much was another.

This couldn’t entirely be blamed on Qin Yuan either. The failed political marriage between the Qin and Zhou families back then had left resentment in her heart. Qin Yuan ran abroad and didn’t return home for several years, worsening the relationship between father and daughter. Qin Yuan was also the type to keep her bitterness to herself and not pour it out at home. Zhou Yining took after her temperament, never complaining to others.

Zhou Yining smiled and said, “Okay.”

After finally waiting for her aunt to finish nagging, Zhou Yining went to the balcony to catch her breath. Qin Yuan walked over. “I’m returning to the UK early next month. You come back with me. I’ve made an appointment with Mike for you.”

Zhou Yining thought for a moment. “You go back first. I can only return at the end of the month. I still have movie promotions.”

Qin Yuan glanced at her. “Ji Dongyang is enough for the movie promotion.”

Zhou Yining said, “No, I want to stay.”

Qin Yuan was a bit helpless and lit a cigarette. “Alright, as soon as possible then. I’ll wait for you to go back together.”

Saying that, she turned to leave. Zhou Yining called her. “Mom.”

Qin Yuan looked back at her. Zhou Yining said, “Ji Dongyang will accompany me to the UK.”

Qin Yuan froze for a moment, then said, “I know.”

On the second day back in B City, Zhou Yining attended the Z brand spring commercial event. She ran into Shen Qing in the dressing room. Shen Qing looked at her and said, “You seem to be in good shape.”

Zhou Yining said indifferently, “Pretty good.”

Shen Qing chuckled lightly. “Congratulations. You’ll be famous after The Heart Knot is released this time.”

Zhou Yining: “Thanks.”

Shen Qing walked out, stopped at the door, looked back at her, and said, “If that news online wasn’t a publicity stunt, then I sympathize with you very much.”

With that, she walked away in her high heels.

Zhou Yining frowned. Shen Qing thought the news online was her publicity stunt? Doing whatever it takes to get famous? Shen Qing must have been doing worse and worse these years to have such thoughts.

At the event, reporters inevitably asked about the previous incidents. They first asked, “Now, everyone knows the famous photographer Joey is your mother. Did you enter this circle under her influence?”

Zhou Yining smiled. “No.”

“Regarding those news exposures before, about you and your sister and… your illness, netizens expressed much heartache for you. You haven’t responded to this matter or said a word to your fans. Do you want to take this chance to say something to them?”

Zhou Yining maintained her smile, but the warmth in her eyes was gone. Seeing this, the host quickly smoothed things over. “Today is our Z brand event. Let’s talk about Z’s latest series. Has Yining used our latest products? How do they feel?”

…

Near the end of the event, the phone that Zhang Ran had kept rang. It was Ji Dongyang.

When Zhou Yining came down from the stage, Zhang Ran whispered in her ear, “Dong-ge’s car is parked outside. Black Passat.”

Zhou Yining nodded. “Okay, got it.”

After changing clothes, Zhou Yining put on a mask and walked to the underground parking lot. Zhang Ran dropped her off by the roadside and quickly drove away. Soon, a black Passat stopped in front of her. Zhou Yining quickly got in.

Shen Qing didn’t change clothes after the event, rushing to the next one. She walked directly out of the hotel’s main entrance and was blocked by waiting fans. A few fans had originally wanted to see Zhou Yining, but seeing Shen Qing instead, they ran up together.

Shen Qing signed autographs for fans while bodyguards cleared the way. Escorted by assistants and bodyguards to her nanny van nearby, she glanced to the side. That slender girl wearing a mask was undoubtedly Zhou Yining.

The moment Zhou Yining’s car door opened, Shen Qing saw a familiar side profile in the driver’s seat.

In less than three seconds, the car door closed.

Shen Qing froze in place. She must have seen wrong.

💝 Support the Team

possible odoabuchi

✍️ Translator

☕ Buy Me a Coffee