After Breaking Up with the Stoic CEO - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Does It Have Anything to Do with You?

Because of Li Jin’s presence, the police paid great attention to this case of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. The processing procedures were simplified and accelerated as much as possible.

The group of men was taken directly to the police station. After receiving a lecture, they were respectively given administrative detention and fines. The two bodyguards were ruled to have acted in self-defense.

As for the boy’s act of slashing the tires, the footage from the dashcam was crystal clear. The measured financial loss exceeded five thousand yuan, and combined with the egregious nature of the act and the refusal to repent, the police opened a formal criminal case on the spot.

Lu Wu did not intend to waste too much time on this. She planned to fully authorize her lawyer to handle the follow-up matters.

By the time they emerged from the police station, the sky had just begun to darken. The four of them stood by the roadside, and Xiao Yin politely thanked Du Lin and Li Jin.

“President Li, regarding today’s matter, Sister Lu and I really have to thank you for your help.”

Xiao Yin had only recently learned of Li Jin’s identity and had been nervous and constrained at first. However, finding the other woman unexpectedly approachable when she spoke, she gradually relaxed. As for now, the girl’s eyes were filled with “pink bubbles” she had completely adopted the other woman as her new idol.

In the words she whispered to Lu Wu: “Such a capable and wealthy beautiful sister, taking the initiative to gallantly save us from fire and water if she’s not a goddess, what is she?”

Lu Wu neither confirmed nor denied this sentiment.

“It’s nothing, just a small favor,” the woman replied to Xiao Yin’s thanks in a gentle tone.

At the same time, Lu Wu felt a cool, detached gaze fixed upon her. Li Jin was looking at her. She asked, “You aren’t hurt, are you?”

Actually, after they had separated, Lu Wu had thought about what kind of relationship truly existed between her and Li Jin. After thinking it over, the conclusion she reached was… bed partners. Perhaps it was because she happened to be young, or perhaps because her background was clean enough. So Li Jin chose her. It was used only to alleviate desire, with no further emotion involved.

Since they were just bed partners, there was no need to act as if there was a deep-seated grudge when meeting again. As long as she maintained a normal state of mind and treated the other as a stranger, it would be fine.

Lu Wu nodded slightly. “Thank you for your concern. I’m fine.”

She didn’t leave any room for a follow-up, so after she finished speaking, the air fell into a momentary silence. The four of them stood together. Du Lin was still professionally and seriously handling the follow-up matters. Li Jin stared straight at Lu Wu. Only Xiao Yin felt a bit awkward.

She tugged on Lu Wu’s sleeve and whispered, “Sister Lu, are we leaving or staying a bit longer?”

Lu Wu smiled, her tone casual. “Let’s go.”

She turned to leave as soon as she finished. Xiao Yin’s eyes widened slightly. Shouldn’t they say goodbye to President Li at a time like this? Why had the usually socially adept Sister Lu suddenly become so lacking in etiquette? She carefully checked Lu Wu’s expression, then turned back to bow slightly to the two of them.

“President Li, Assistant Du, we’ll take our leave now!”

Li Jin stood there, watching her back. She paused, and finally opened her mouth to call her name.

“Lu Wu.”

Lu Wu stopped in her tracks and turned back. “Does President Li have something else?”

Li Jin looked directly into her eyes, silent, her eyes swirling with emotions that were difficult to decipher. She seemed to have something to say, but in the end, she only pursed her lips.

“Where are you going? I can give you a ride since it’s on the way.”

Lu Wu maintained basic politeness, but her words were merciless. “Sorry, President Li, but we aren’t going the same way.”

Li Jin didn’t give up and asked again, “You haven’t said where you’re going yet, so how do you know we aren’t going the same way?”

This sentence clearly exceeded the scope of interaction expected between strangers. Lu Wu couldn’t see what Li Jin was trying to do. The only thing she knew was that, if possible, she didn’t want to have much interaction with the other woman.

She paused, looking back with a calm gaze. “President Li should know. No matter where we go, we aren’t going the same way.”

Li Jin froze in place. Lu Wu didn’t intend to say anything else. The atmosphere, which wasn’t very lively to begin with, fell into an icy valley. The usually easy-to-talk-to Lu Wu was being aggressive for the first time.

Xiao Yin was somewhat terrified. She worried if Lu Wu’s headache had returned and she was feeling unwell, and she also worried that President Li might be provoked into withdrawing investment from the crew or issuing a direct blacklist. To avoid the latter possibility, she tried to smooth things over.

“President Li, we can just call a taxi ourselves. Thank you for your kindness.”

Lu Wu walked away, her voice calling from a distance: “Xiao Yin.”

Xiao Yin hurriedly followed. “Coming!”

Lu Wu thought Li Jin’s strange behavior would end there. However, while they were standing by the roadside trying to hail a car, a vehicle drove up and stopped in front of her. The window rolled down slowly, revealing that haunting face once again.

“It’s past eight o’clock. You won’t be able to get a taxi around here. Get in.”

Actually, Li Jin didn’t need to say it; Lu Wu had already guessed as much. Most of the crews in the film city hadn’t started filming yet. This area was in the suburbs and the location was too remote. Once it passed eight at night, there were almost no taxis around, and ride-hailing cars were mostly thirty kilometers away.

Meeting Li Jin was the start of today’s bad luck, and now, that bad luck was continuing to persist. Lu Wu was in a bad mood, so her tone was naturally blunt.

“I’ve said it already. There’s no need for President Li to trouble herself.”

Li Jin paused for a few seconds and countered, “Are you going to make her wait with you in this wilderness until dawn?”

The “her” Li Jin referred to was, of course, the assistant Xiao Yin. The girl had followed her through a bumpy journey from Tibet to C City and then immediately to the film city without having a proper rest.

Lu Wu opened her mouth but couldn’t find the words. It was Xiao Yin who, hearing herself mentioned, immediately waved her hand to comfort her. “Sister Lu, I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

Li Jin was always rational and calm. Therefore, what she pointed out was exactly the crux of the matter. Xiao Yin was understanding, but Lu Wu couldn’t let her stand in the cold wind waiting forever.

Lu Wu finally compromised. “Then… I’ll trouble you.”

Du Lin drove in the front, with Xiao Yin in the passenger seat. Beside Lu Wu was Li Jin, sitting upright as she always did, her posture elegant and noble. Lu Wu leaned against the window, aimlessly looking at the passing buildings outside.

The air conditioning was on in the car, making it much warmer than outside. Another effect of the warming temperature was that the movement of scents became more active.

The light, cold fragrance of lilies was carried to the tip of her nose by the gentle breeze, appearing and disappearing, not drawing attention yet impossible to ignore. Lu Wu originally thought she had forgotten many things from the past and no longer cared. But upon smelling this fragrance, she instantly remembered it was the perfume Li Jin habitually used.

Using this as a medium, there seemed to be more. The warm-toned bathroom, the floor-to-ceiling windows with interlacing shadows. The slightly raspy, soft voice upon waking up in the early morning, the slightly curled lips when walking through a crowd hand-in-hand.

In the end… everything turned into the flickering candelabra of that night, and that sentence: “Nothing more than a pastime.”

Lu Wu lowered her gaze. She laughed at herself in her heart for still remembering those details so clearly. It wasn’t surprising. Common wisdom often says that love can vanish quickly, but resentment is the most long-lasting.

The air was still, and Li Jin suddenly broke the silence. “Your name is Xiao Yin, right?”

Xiao Yin was somewhat overwhelmed by the favor and hurriedly turned around. “Yes, President Li.”

Li Jin’s tone was peaceful, as if she were just asking casually. “Are you from Tibet?”

Xiao Yin nodded. “Yes, my home is on the grasslands.”

Li Jin: “Do you plan to stay in C City long-term in the future?”

Xiao Yin was stunned by the question. “I haven’t saved enough money to buy a house yet, so I haven’t decided for now.”

Li Jin looked thoughtful and asked again, “Then when do you plan to go back this time?”

Xiao Yin pondered, secretly checking Lu Wu’s expression, and gave a safe reply: “That… depends on Sister Lu’s schedule.”

Li Jin wasn’t satisfied and seemed determined to get to the bottom of it. Lu Wu interrupted her at the right time. “If there’s something you want to say, you don’t need to beat around the bush with Xiao Yin. Just ask me directly.”

Li Jin paused, and finally looked over once more. “Will you go back to Tibet?”

Lu Wu smiled and asked, “Does it have anything to do with you?”

Li Jin was choked by the response. Her brow furrowed, and after a long while, she said, “As an investor, I am concerned about whether you can be present to cooperate with the subsequent promotional matters for Echo.”

She spoke with righteous justification, and Lu Wu could respond with official ambiguity. “If there is a need for promotion, I will fulfill my duties.”

Li Jin’s hand rested on her leg, her fingertips tapping lightly every now and then. Lu Wu knew her; this meant she was dissatisfied with the answer. But the more dissatisfied the other woman was, the more comfortable she felt.

“Does President Li have any other work-related questions?” Lu Wu deliberately emphasized the word “work,” a trace of mockery in her eyes. The professional matters that could be discussed between an investor and a screenwriter were truly limited.

Li Jin indeed fell into silence once more. After an unknown amount of time, the air was so quiet it almost made Lu Wu think the conversation had ended. But at a certain moment, Li Jin seemed to remember something. The corners of her eyebrows arched slightly, and a thin smile appeared in her eyes.

“Regarding work, I do indeed have some questions for Screenwriter Lu.”

Lu Wu felt a hint of something being wrong. After a few seconds, she asked, “What questions?”

“The learning materials mentioned at the script-reading session… when does Screenwriter Lu plan to send them to me?”

As Li Jin spoke, she closed the distance slightly, her voice very soft and the ending trailing upward, unconsciously alluring. Lu Wu instinctively backed away. She remembered that she had already deleted the other woman from her contacts, and her body instantly stiffened.

She turned her head to avoid her gaze. “I don’t think I have an obligation to do that.”

Li Jin, however, seemed to have regained the rhythm she had at work, suddenly becoming poised. “This is a movie depicting the delicate emotions between two female leads. If Screenwriter Lu cannot prove that she has unique insights in this area, how can I trust you to do this job?”

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