The Lover’s Prattle

*** = Scene change

***** = Timeskip

— Never losing and thus never bowing his head or acknowledging his mistakes.

Before the recording finished, rumors about Qingruo and Feng Qi had already begun to circulate.

Albeit unknown, she was still an actress in the entertainment circle. By herself, she was definitely not worth all of the attention, but now she was involved with Feng Qi, the hegemon of the IT industry and a man who held an unthinkable amount of shares in numerous companies. Of all the stars who had followed him in the past, which ones hadn't benefited greatly?

Photos showing a smiling Qingruo getting out of Feng Qi's car were released, followed by the confirmations of several anonymous insiders detailing the places they had seen Qingruo and Feng Qi together and how they had heard them talking about scripts. In other words, Qingruo was about to rise up the ladder.

Some people, in order to raise their own popularity, deliberately stirred the gossip pot as the netizens watched.

The Feng Company's PR manager compiled all of the rumors into a report and asked Feng Qi how they should be dealt with.

Feng Qi had a peculiar rule, and that was: He didn't mind rumors, but the rumors couldn't be spread by the person he was keeping.

He didn't like fools, and he hated it when people tried to trick him.

Before the PR manager could open his mouth, Feng Qi had already waved his hand and instructed, "Let them do what they want, but don't let it get too far."

Don't interfere, and protect Miss Song's reputation?

The PR manager left Feng Qi's office and went to ask Chu Yang for advice.

Chu Yang gave him four words regarding Miss Song: "Provide the utmost care."

Chu Yang could be considered the roundworm in Feng Qi's stomach; while others could guess a fourth of what Feng Qi was thinking, Chu Yang could always guess a half. The PR manager decided to follow Chu Yang's advice.

***

Feng Qi had some professionals fix up Qingruo's large dance practice room, then he slept alone in the beauty's nest for two consecutive months. The result? His libido was left unsatisfied for so long that it actually caused him to fall ill with a fever.

Qingruo boiled a large bowl of bitter vegetable soup and set it down beside Feng Qi.

"Drink the soup after breakfast, it will clear away the heat."

He looked down and refused to respond.

Chu Yang stood off to the side, holding back a smile.

He admitted that Qingruo had exceptional cooking skills; otherwise, he wouldn't be trying to cadge a meal from her every day. However, he just couldn't understand what Feng Qi was thinking.

What happened to the bed deal? How did it become a meal deal?

After breakfast, Feng Qi aggrievedly finished the large bowl of bitter vegetable soup and laid back stiff as a corpse, holding his stomach.

As she collected the dishes, Qingruo apprised him, "I'm going to be in Country A for a week."

Recently, all of the business trips Feng Qi went on were only two or three days long, and he would push the responsibility of the trips to other people whenever he could. Hearing her words, he blanked for a second before looking up, eyebrows scrunched together.

"What work?"

Qingruo shrugged. "Some conference, company's orders. Yang Peng can't shoulder it by himself."

Feng Qi revealed a small smile. "Don't want to go?"

She pursed her lips and nodded. Relaxing, he deliberately teased her, "How incompetent^[1].

[1] Since everyone knows that Qingruo is being kept by Feng Qi now, she's obviously getting a lot of movie/drama offers. "How incompetent" = "You're going to 'some conference' rather than filming to get more famous, how incompetent."

She glared at him and turned into the kitchen. Later when Feng Qi and Chu Yang left her home, she ignored their farewells. He thought that making her mad was pretty fun at first, but then halfway into his car ride with Chu Yang, he asked, "Could she have been incited by my provocation?^[2]".

[2] Relates to what he said about her being incompetent. "Could she have been incited by my provocation" = "Is she going to start taking a bunch of movie/drama offers now because I teased her?"

He panicked just a little at the thought of her staying in a filming studio, working until dawn every day. Goosebumps.

"I don't think so," Chu Yang responded, glancing at the rearview mirror. "Last time when the rumors were flying, plenty of film opportunities came to her, but she didn't take any of them."

Feng Qi nodded, feeling that his worry was absolutely absurd. He touched his chin and sneered, "So, Miss Song is aiming for the title of Mrs. Feng?"

Chu Yang didn't respond. He actually wanted to ask Feng Qi, "Is it like you to sleep alone for two months and torment yourself to the point of falling ill?" But if he asked, Feng Qi would definitely be irritated.

Anyway. Last month, Feng Qi forgot about An Qi's birthday. When he remembered on the day after, he sent over a pile of gifts. He didn't forget because he was busy that day—no, he was free that entire day. As a matter of fact, he had even taken Qingruo out to play golf and spent two hours personally teaching her and scoffing at her clumsiness. In the end, it was Qingruo who got impatient.

An Qi and Feng Qi had quite a history together. She'd started chasing him as early as their high school days, exhausting every trick in the book to get him. At the time, Feng Qi was always surrounded by people. When the two graduated, their families had worked together to pressure them into a marriage. Feng Qi actually hadn't cared at all. Before their marriage, An Qi was his fake girlfriend, so after their marriage, she became his fake wife. The marriage did nothing to stop his womanizing ways.

They often fought, but it was one-sided for An Qi. Three years ago, they divorced, and one year ago, An Qi married Jing Sheng. That was when Feng Qi started to miss her.

Once, Chu Yang told him he only missed her because he couldn't accept the fact that someone who used to like him so much was now married to one of his buddies. Anyone would find it difficult to accept.

After Feng Qi denied it, Chu Yang never brought it up again. Feng Qi was a dragon among men, full of defiance and arrogance, never losing and thus never bowing his head or acknowledging his mistakes. Saying more would only make him sink further into despair.

***

Feng Qi called the entertainment company Qingruo was in and promised he would give them several investments. The executive manager on the other line simply wanted to make Qingruo their company mascot and station her at the front entrance.

The call left Feng Qi in a good mood, which was experienced firsthand by the department heads who came to hand in their work. However, his good mood only lasted for an hour because he didn't receive a call from Qingruo thanking him. He wondered if he had been overindulgent.

Two hours later, he wondered if he should □□□□^[3].

[3] The original raws from the original website that the author posted on also has these boxes, so I'm ??? Oh well. Use your imagination to fill in the blanks.

Three hours later, the executive manager of her entertainment company called and said in a mournful tone, "Apologies, President Feng. When we called her, Miss Song had already boarded the plane."

"..." Feng Qi couldn't hold himself back from cursing the executive manager uphill and down dale. The middle-aged man was berated until he was trembling all over and could barely hold the phone steady.

After hanging up, Feng Qi was still enraged. He connected with his secretary's telephone and demanded, "Tell those idiots who came with their work earlier to get the hell up here. What kind of sh*t programs and plans are these? Are they all pigs?"

The secretary wasn't surprised. He calmly waited until Feng Qi was done cursing before shakily reaching out again to dial the group of department heads. Although his hands were shaking, his voice was steady—as expected of the president's secretary.

Thus, the Feng Company saw a sunny morning followed tragically by a week of hell on Earth: overtime from Monday to Friday, more overtime over the weekend, and a capricious president whose expectations rose beyond human limits.

A little rumor spread from somewhere in the company. Aside from during business dinner parties, the president stayed in his office and ate takeout. The company's IT geniuses cracked their knuckles, found the schedule for Qingruo's business trip, and matched up the times.

Sure enough, Feng Qi had started to act insane right after Qingruo left.

Before long, every single employee in the Feng Company had memorized her schedule by heart, and on the last day, the whole company was ready to celebrate.

Then at three in the afternoon, the front desk welcomed Wen Yu, who had recently won the Best Newcomer Award, as well as the title of the sexy "Little Temptress."

"Hello, excuse me, I'm looking for President Feng." The beauty shook out her long wavy curls and lifted a beautifully manicured hand to remove her sunglasses, storing them away in her new limited edition designer bag. She exuded a fragrance that made others want to move closer for a sniff, and her peach blossom eyes were especially charming. She was beautiful, and sexy without trying.

Even as a woman, the receptionist couldn't help but suck in a breath.

"May I ask if you have an appointment?"

"Yes, Mr. Chu Yang called my agent at ten o'clock this morning."

The receptionist's lips twitched, but instead of prodding, she quickly reported to the president's secretary.

"Thank you for waiting, the president said you can go up now."

"Alright, thank you."

***

Xiao Zhao—the chauffeur—received Qingruo at the airport. He told her, "President Feng told me to take you straight to the Feng Company."

Qingruo raised an eyebrow. "I want to go home. I'm exhausted, and I'm not clean."

Her bluntness rendered the chauffeur speechless. He could only pick up his phone and call Feng Qi, who responded with frightening gloom. "Then drive her back, and tell her to not regret it."

Xiao Zhao embarrassedly peered at the rearview mirror and said tactfully, "Miss Song, the president has been in a bad mood these days. It would be best if you go to the Feng Company first."

Qingruo was staring blankly out the window with her chin propped in her palm. After some time, she murmured her agreement. The car that had been moving slower and slower finally pulled out its dignity as a high-class vehicle and sped up.

When the travel-worn Qingruo entered Feng Qi's office, she was greeted by the sight of the handsome President Feng flirting with the stunning Little Temptress on his lap.

Feng Qi didn't seem to be in a rush to acknowledge her presence, and the Little Temptress obviously wished Qingruo would get out.

Chu Yang sympathetically handed Qingruo a cup of water. She took a seat on the sofa nearby and drank two mouthfuls of water. Then, with the Little Temptress's soft giggles as her background music, Qingruo fell asleep.

Feng Qi's face darkened completely. He really hadn't misjudged her, huh? She was more clever and sensible than he had expected.

"Scram." He immediately pushed away the woman on his lap, sending her crashing heavily into the solid wooden desk behind her. Before she could even cry out in pain, he had already swept over a piercing glare.

With a trembling heart, Wen Yu covered her mouth and shakily stood up.

"Chu Yang will send a script to your agent."

His low voice was so cold that even the sunlight streaming through the windows had become somewhat eerie.

Wen Yu was smart enough to know that no matter how good Feng Qi was in bed, his skills couldn't compare with an opportunity to climb up the ladder. She cast a glance at the slumbering Qingruo and nodded before quietly leaving the room.

After a long moment, he finally got up from his office chair and went over to the sofa. As he stood there, his tall shadow enveloped her entire body. Sensing that the glaring office lights were no longer shining in her face, the crease between her brows smoothed out.

That brought a small smile to Feng Qi's face, and the fiery anger in his heart began to disperse.

Maybe,

I don't like that she's so clever and sensible.

I want her to get mad,

To yell at me,

And even… get jealous.

—【Black Box】

VIN: While Feng Qi's in a bit of denial, Chu Yang really knows what's up. Feng Qi was pretty childish here.