My Wealthy Ex-Girlfriend Knelt and Begged Me to Come Back [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 72.1

A few minutes later, Ji Jiayu changed into her casual clothes and walked out of the dressing room.

The light grey plaid hoodie was very loose, and underneath she wore a pair of shorts that came just to her knees, revealing two slender, fair calves.

She wore a pair of clean white sneakers and white socks that outlined her delicate ankles.

There was a hint of a girlish, very pure aura about her.

Qiu Miaoran’s heart involuntarily skipped a beat at the sight. She paused, her gaze sweeping over Ji Jiayu’s entire body. “Why are your shorts so short…”

“I have ones that are even shorter,” Ji Jiayu pouted.

“You don’t have to look if you don’t like it.”

“I like it…” Qiu Miaoran’s voice was slightly husky, and a faint smile seemed to play on her lips.

“But I don’t want anyone else to see it,” she said.

“Walk with me?”

Ji Jiayu hummed in agreement. When the other woman looked at her, her eyes were strange—deep and oppressive, yet dangerous.

It made her nervous…

But she still couldn’t help agreeing to Qiu Miaoran’s request.

She didn’t even know when she had started thinking about her incessantly.

Perhaps it was during the times she’d been rescued.

Perhaps it was the torrent of desire in the night over two years.

Or maybe it was the desperate clinging and entanglement when she suddenly woke up to reality.

She couldn’t even pinpoint when she started to become increasingly attached to her own feelings…

When she started to lose control of her heart.

Her heart had long since drifted in a certain direction.

Even though Qiu Miaoran seemed to still be hiding things, the attraction was still overwhelmingly strong.

This near-fatal allure even allowed Ji Jiayu to let go of her obsession with Ji Chen…

And it made her want to turn back…

They walked side-by-side into the elevator lobby.

Qiu Miaoran reached out to press the F2 button. As she withdrew her hand, the back of her hand accidentally brushed against Ji Jiayu’s arm.

Qiu Miaoran took the opportunity to gently cup her fingers around Ji Jiayu’s wrist. Her wrist bone was prominent and frail, still so thin that she could feel the slightly raised blue veins.

“You really did lose weight after being sick…”

“Ding,” the elevator doors opened.

Someone was waiting right outside the elevator doors on the F2 floor.

It was a familiar face.

Ji Chen stood there, her eyes showing a moment of surprise as her gaze fell on Qiu Miaoran’s hand, which was gripping Ji Jiayu’s wrist.

“Sister, why are you here?” Ji Jiayu’s eyelids fluttered, but she didn’t pull away from Qiu Miaoran’s grasp.

She didn’t deliberately avoid contact with Qiu Miaoran as she used to…

She allowed the woman to firmly hold her wrist right in front of Ji Chen.

“It seems I’ve come at a… bad time,” Ji Chen shifted her gaze, no longer focusing on the hand holding the girl’s wrist. Instead, she looked up at Ji Jiayu.

“I originally wanted to tell you something, but since Miaoran is also here, let her tell you herself.”

Ji Jiayu pursed her lips, a little hesitant.

Qiu Miaoran suddenly asked, “Want to go for a walk together? Auntie…”

“I won’t,” Ji Chen gently shook her head, politely refusing. “Oh, when I arrived, the ride-share driver mentioned there’s a Fengzu Mountain nearby, and there’s a Fengming Temple on the summit that’s known for granting wishes. You two should go visit it.”

“It’s not convenient for me to hike now, you two go ahead…”

Ji Jiayu: “Wait…”

Ji Chen turned, about to leave, but after taking two steps, she paused and looked back at them. “What is it?”

Ji Jiayu: “Sister, I want to say…”

“You don’t need to say it. I understand what you want to say.” Ji Chen let out a soft laugh, then turned her head to look at Qiu Miaoran.

She reached up and lightly patted Qiu Miaoran’s shoulder.

“The preliminary risk assessment for the project has passed. I’ve helped you all I can. My resignation letter has been sent to your email, Miaoran. When you get back, remember to approve it on the system.”

Qiu Miaoran, still holding Ji Jiayu’s wrist, didn’t let go, but sweat was faintly visible between her fingers. “Auntie… aren’t you going to stay?”

“No, I won’t. I feel that… the laboratory and research institute are more suitable for me.”

“Hold on, I’ll have Assistant Li drive you back…” Qiu Miaoran sent a message to Assistant Li, then looked up at Ji Chen.

“He’s nearby, yes, he’s already arrived, in parking lot C section.”

Ji Chen nodded slightly. “Then I’ll be leaving.”

Qiu Miaoran waved. “Goodbye.”

Ji Chen turned and walked away.

Ji Jiayu suddenly broke free from Qiu Miaoran’s fingers and ran toward Ji Chen not far away.

“Tap, tap—” Her footsteps were light and clear.

“Sister.” Ji Jiayu gently hugged Ji Chen from behind.

The hug was very brief.

Ji Jiayu quickly let go. “Thank you…”

“And… I’m sorry.”

Forty minutes later, Fengzu Mountain Scenic Area. The two of them walked side-by-side up the stone steps of the mountain path.

The afternoon sun filtered through the trees alongside the path, casting dappled shadows on the steps.

Their shadows overlapped on the ground.

They hadn’t been climbing for long when Ji Jiayu felt a little warm. A slight sweat beaded on her forehead, and her face was flushed, pink against the white of her skin. Her red lips were slightly parted as she lightly gasped for breath.

“Qiu Miaoran, aren’t you tired?”

“Should we take the cable car from the halfway square later?”

“Hmm…” Qiu Miaoran, wearing a thin trench coat with the tie undone, strode quickly, moving with an air of effortlessness. Her coat flapped with her movement, and she seemed not tired at all.

She looked at the girl beside her and suddenly asked, “Was what you did just now… you wanting to get back together with me?”

Qiu Miaoran was referring to Ji Jiayu not pulling away from her hand in front of Ji Chen.

Ji Jiayu’s eyelashes lowered, and her lips gently moved, as if she wanted to say something.

Qiu Miaoran paused, turned her head slightly, and fixed her dark phoenix eyes on Ji Jiayu, adding slowly,

“If you want to… I can consider it.”

Qiu Miaoran’s snarky tone hadn’t changed at all when she spoke…

Only her eyes had changed. When she looked up and gazed quietly at Ji Jiayu with those dark phoenix eyes, there was a new hint of lingering affection.

Ji Jiayu immediately stopped on the steps. She looked back at Qiu Miaoran, her lips curving into a cold smile. “I don’t have that plan right now…”

“Huh?” Qiu Miaoran was slow to react, also stopping. She sensed a different meaning in the girl’s eyes and tone.

“What’s wrong… you’re not happy today either?”

“You cut my scene,” Ji Jiayu stood there, crossing her arms, and sneered. “How can you expect me to be happy?”

Qiu Miaoran’s voice was low and hoarse. “I know I shouldn’t interfere with you, but I couldn’t help it…”

“I just can’t stand seeing you… being possessed by someone else…”

“That would be too cruel to me.”

“Fine…” Ji Jiayu sighed softly, her gaze drifting over Qiu Miaoran’s face. Noticing the faint dark circles under her eyes and the obvious look of fatigue, she asked,

“Your state isn’t right today. What exactly is going on?”

“Nothing…” Qiu Miaoran lowered her eyes and slowly pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses. “The glasses keep fogging up.”

Ji Jiayu reached out, gently took the woman’s fingers, and voluntarily led her. They walked hand-in-hand to the halfway park.

In the southeast corner of the park was a circular rest area where they sat down.

A banyan tree grew in the center of the rest area. Its canopy was lush, and the sunlight pierced through the branches, casting shimmering shadows on the ground.

Children were playing in the park, chasing a round little rubber ball.

“Charge!!”

“You can’t catch me, hahaha…”

The children’s laughter was clear, like the pleasant sound of silver bells.

The children were about six or seven years old. One of them, a little girl in a cotton dress with a pink skirt, held a pink cotton candy. She looked particularly adorable, like a little fairy.

Ji Jiayu looked up at the little girl.

She suddenly asked, “Qiu Miaoran… do you want to eat cotton candy?”

Qiu Miaoran slowly raised her head, glanced at the children, and her eyelids fluttered. “That’s for kids…”

Ji Jiayu suddenly stood up, turned her head, and smiled at her. “Wait.”

Qiu Miaoran sat there. The tree shade left mottled shadows on the side of her face as she looked into the distance.

Ji Jiayu stopped in front of the group of children, bent down, and asked the little girl in the pink dress, “Little friend, where did you buy your cotton candy?”

Then, Ji Jiayu walked down the steps and gradually disappeared from view.

A few minutes later, a slender, petite figure gradually appeared at the end of the steps.

Ji Jiayu held up two cotton candies. Even from that distance, she waved at Qiu Miaoran and quickly walked over, sitting down beside her. She handed over a light pink cotton candy.

“Here.”

Qiu Miaoran took the bamboo stick below the cotton candy, lowering her eyes to look at the soft, fluffy treat. “I actually… have never eaten this.”

Ji Jiayu opened her red lips and took a small bite of the cotton candy. “How can you have never eaten this…”

“You must have had a pretty pitiful childhood then.”

Qiu Miaoran’s lips moved, her voice dry. “I guess so…”

Ji Jiayu slowly swallowed the cotton candy that had melted in her mouth, turned her head slightly to look at Qiu Miaoran, and shook the bamboo stick in her hand. The cotton candy swayed with it, like a clean, pale pink cloud. She was suddenly reminded of the difficult years she spent as an orphan.

“Whenever I felt like I couldn’t hold on anymore, I would buy myself something sweet, even if it was just a one-dollar fried sugar cake from a street vendor…”

Ji Jiayu sniffled, her voice soft. “Because I found that eating sweets really can make your mood better.”

Qiu Miaoran also slowly opened her lips and took a bite of the cotton candy, watching the fluffy, soft sugar body get a small chunk bitten out of it.

She felt the soft, sugary strands slowly melting between her lips and teeth.

Qiu Miaoran listened quietly to her. She paused, and then suddenly spoke. “Qiu Changsheng is back from abroad.”

“Hmm.” Ji Jiayu knew Qiu Changsheng. She asked casually, “Does his return affect you?”

That person was the son of the third branch of the Qiu family, who had always managed the Qiu family’s related enterprises and assets in the overseas market.

When Ji Jiayu was at the Autumn Water Mansion, she seemed to have overheard Assistant Li and Aunt Chen mentioning, “The young master is coming back… Will CEO Qiu…”

She hadn’t heard the rest of the sentence clearly.

…

“Do you know who my new sister-in-law is?” Qiu Miaoran gently twirled the bamboo stick, making the cotton candy turn in a circle. She paused before continuing,

“It’s the second daughter of the Song family.”

Ji Jiayu’s eyes suddenly widened for a moment. The astonishment was clear in her slightly raised eyebrows.

No wonder she hadn’t seen Song Tingyu since the hot spring resort incident.

She lightly coughed. “I’m not very clear about your family’s disputes.”

“But I am quite shocked.”

Ji Jiayu suddenly recalled the bruise under Song Tingyu’s brow bone that her heavy makeup couldn’t conceal when she first returned to China.

She asked Qiu Miaoran: “Did your brother hit her?”

“Perhaps,” Qiu Miaoran said softly.

In fact, it was more than just that.

Even the cooperation project between Qiu Miaoran and Ren Tai Medical, represented by Song Tingyu, had been impeached by some members of the board of directors.

Following the return of Qiu Changsheng, the son of the Qiu family’s third branch, those old fogeys, always fair-weather friends, also began to draw lines and take sides.

The internal disputes within the group were very complex. To be precise, Autumn Water Venture Capital was only a subsidiary of the Qiu family’s main enterprise. It had only risen a few years ago with its founder, Qiu Miaoran, and was far from being able to shake the power of the parent group.

Qiu Miaoran kept these internal details to herself,

But she couldn’t hide the fatigue in her eyes, which even Ji Jiayu could notice.

Qiu Miaoran’s whole state was off. A subtle listlessness was latent in her spirit.

When a woman who has always stood tall and proud as a pine shows a subtle change in her state,

Something major must have happened.

“The project launch conference is next Monday. I’ll be giving the opening speech,” Qiu Miaoran asked her. “Will you come?”

“Project number 001.”

Ji Jiayu was very resistant to those three words. She almost reflexively replied, “I won’t go…”

Qiu Miaoran lowered her eyes, her distinct, raven-black lashes gently brushing her lower eyelids, seemingly concealing the look in her eyes. She pursed her lips and apologized again softly, “Using your data as a sample without your permission.”

“I am very sorry.”

She was clearly the kind of cold and proud woman,

Yet she had bowed her head and apologized to Ji Jiayu many times.

Ji Jiayu lifted her eyelids, her light chestnut pupils looking at Qiu Miaoran. Her heart inexplicably softened a little, as if it had been scalded by something. She curled the fingers of the hand holding the bamboo stick. “I’m still filming next Monday. If I have time, I can consider it…”

Qiu Miaoran silently ate a mouthful of cotton candy, her fingers tightly clutching the bamboo stick. She originally hated sweets, but at this moment, she felt her taste buds enveloped by a sweet sensation. This feeling was like water with a little honey added, making her feel very comfortable…

They rested in the halfway park for a while, then bought tickets at the cable car entrance to ride the cable car to Fengming Temple at the summit of Fengzu Mountain.

Ji Chen had just said that the wishes made at Fengming Temple were very effective, and the temple was very famous.

The cable car climbed the wire rope toward the summit.

“Clank—”

The cable car shook violently, and Ji Jiayu’s body fell sideways.

She landed right on Qiu Miaoran’s shoulder.

She shivered, her gaze constantly avoiding the cable car window.

Her small look was a bit pitiful.

“You’re not… afraid of heights, are you?” Qiu Miaoran’s voice came quietly from above her head.

Ji Jiayu looked up at her and snorted softly. “No, I’m not afraid of heights.”

“I never noticed how arrogant the little kitten was before…” Qiu Miaoran reached out her arm, slowly exploring the girl’s slender waist, and tightly embraced her. Her warm breath was gently sprinkled behind Ji Jiayu’s ear, and her low voice, still a bit snarky, said, “Are you always thinking of tempting me… you’re quite good at pretending?”

Ji Jiayu was held tightly, and the tiny feeling of acrophobia dissipated. She leaned in, bared her teeth, revealing a few white teeth beneath her pink lips, and quickly reached out to scratch the woman’s abdomen twice with her fingertips. “You’re the little kitten… I’ll scratch you to death.”

Qiu Miaoran was tickled and held her even tighter. This position almost pressed Ji Jiayu’s entire petite body tightly into her arms.

Qiu Miaoran turned her head and rubbed her lips against Ji Jiayu’s forehead.

Her warm breath slowly blew against Ji Jiayu’s ear, and all she could smell was the faint scent of cool sandalwood, overwhelming her.

Ji Jiayu’s body stiffened. It seemed she had just scratched something… she shouldn’t have touched…

What did this count as…

Why did it feel like she was acting spoiled in the arms of her ex-‘sugar daddy’?

“Why did you stop moving?” Qiu Miaoran asked in doubt, reaching out a hand and lightly touching Ji Jiayu’s cheek with her fingertips.

“Your face… is so hot.”

Ji Jiayu squirmed, seeming to want to sit up straight.

“Don’t move… aren’t you scared?” Qiu Miaoran tightened her arms, her fingers gently stroking Ji Jiayu’s body through the cotton fabric of the hoodie. “Let me hold you for a while…”

They leaned against each other. There was no intense sex, no lingering post-coital affection. This was the purest and most beautiful hug between them.

Time quietly slipped away, and the cable car continued to slide toward the mountaintop, making a “clank” sound.

Twenty minutes later, Fengming Temple on the summit of Fengzu Mountain.

Fengming Temple was the most famous temple in the whole Yun Province. Many devotees came to visit, to burn a handful of “heart incense,” donate merit, and hang wishing plaques under the crooked old banyan tree in the back courtyard.

The copper incense burner, as tall as a person, was full of lit incense sticks. The smoke curled up, and the entire temple was enveloped in the scent of sandalwood.

The plaque above the main hall entrance read “Guanshi Zizai” (Self-Sovereign of the World’s Contemplation), clearly indicating that the golden statue of Guanyin (Bodhisattva of Compassion) was enshrined within.

Qiu Miaoran bought thick incense sticks from the side hall. “Do you want to offer incense?”

Ji Jiayu couldn’t help asking, “Do you believe in Buddhism?”

“Hmm…” Qiu Miaoran said softly. “I don’t deliberately worship, I just want to leave a thought and repent for myself.”

Ji Jiayu raised an eyebrow. “Repent for what?”

“For the wrong things I’ve done,” Qiu Miaoran sighed. Many thoughts came to her at once.

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