The Sickly Beauty Can’t Escape the Obsessive Lover - Chapter 21.2

As they arrived at the Qianyu Kongque tea field with Cheng Yun, Jing Yuan asked cheerfully, “What conditions do we need to meet to secure a feature report from Xinghe Media?”

Cheng Yun hadn’t expected Jing Yuan to be so straightforward. Given the other’s appearance and demeanor, he had assumed he was a shy, timid rich second generation.

He filmed with his camera as he spoke. “The materials you provide need to form a cohesive series suitable for reporting.”

After a moment’s thought, Jing Yuan shared his ideas.

“We have about ten varieties of tea here, covering roughly 50 acres? During the picking season, we can open the fields to you. The tea-making process can also be publicly shared, and we can even disclose information about our new products, giving everyone a chance to taste them in advance.”

Cheng Yun’s impression of Jing Yuan shifted slightly. He smiled and asked, “Have you studied anything related to media?”

Jing Yuan replied, “No, I just noticed that food shows all follow this formula.”

After a brief consideration, Cheng Yun said, “If what you’ve described can be realized, we can arrange a feature report.”

Jing Yuan said, “OK.”

This city is home to many ethnic minorities, and their traditional attire is exquisite and beautiful. While strolling through the tea fields, Jing Yuan took a liking to the tea baskets the farmers carried while harvesting tea leaves. To indulge his vanity, he asked for one as well, slinging it over his shoulder as he wandered through the tea fields.

The tea field he was currently exploring was called “Thousand-Feather Peacock,” where a single batch of tea could sell for as much as 430,000 yuan, making it the most profitable tea in Yun Shui Jian.

Jing Yuan affectionately stroked the young tea shoots, murmuring incantations over them in the hope that they would grow strong and yield great profits in the future.

It was the busiest time for the tea farmers.

Since they were all part of Yun Shui Jian, Jing Yuan decided to join them in their labor, treating it as a form of exercise.

He was exceptionally sweet-tongued, addressing the elders as “uncles” and “aunties” repeatedly. He even baked tea cakes to share with everyone, charming the elders so much that they eagerly invited him to their homes.

A neighboring tea farmer, noticing Jing Yuan’s fondness for their ethnic attire, offered to give him a set of traditional men’s clothing.

The uncle asked Jing Yuan, “Child, how tall are you? I’ll pick out the right size for you.”

Jing Yuan, looking slightly embarrassed, clasped his hands behind his back and replied, “One meter eighty-eight.”

The uncle looked startled for a moment, then chuckled warmly, “I was asking about your height. Did you mishear me?”

Jing Yuan’s smile slowly faded. “One meter eighty-five.”

The uncle stared at him in disbelief, even rubbing his eyes as if doubting his own vision.

Feeling self-conscious under the uncle’s gaze, Jing Yuan coughed lightly and turned his head away. “One meter seventy-seven.”

The uncle laughed, “That sounds about right.”

Xiao Jiang, who was following behind Jing Yuan, struggled to hold back his laughter. He found his boss both amusing and easygoing—though his luck in love seemed rather poor.

During a break, several warmhearted uncles and aunties chatted with Jing Yuan about his romantic life. When they learned he was already engaged, they sighed in sympathy.

Jing Yuan looked quite young—one might even mistake him for a recent high school graduate.

One uncle asked him, “Ningcheng is so far from here. Why didn’t your fiancé come with you?”

Throughout the conversation, Jing Yuan took his medicine several times, and everyone noticed his poor health, feeling deeply concerned for him.

Jing Yuan sighed, “My fiancé… ah…”

The uncle asked with concern, “Does your fiancé treat you poorly?”

Jing Yuan’s face clouded with sorrow. “Let’s not talk about him.”

Seeing Jing Yuan’s mood darken, the elders didn’t press further. After Jing Yuan left, Xiao Jiang, not wanting them to worry, revealed quietly, “That person is a devil. Our boss has suffered a lot because of him.”

“What? Xiao Jing is so well-behaved. How could anyone treat him badly?”

“How could someone be so cruel?”

…

That night, Jing Yuan sat in the small courtyard, holding a hand warmer as he gazed at the stars.

Though the day had been exhausting, the sense of fulfillment and contentment he felt was something rare and precious.

Dinner consisted of sausages, cured meat, and colorful sticky rice. Jing Yuan held a bowl piled high with food, savoring the rare tranquility of the evening.

The media team would be staying a few more days. After preliminary discussions with Cheng Min, Jing Yuan felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.

He opened his phone, but the WeChat interface remained empty.

Over the past two days, the only person who had contacted him was the manager of Yun Shui Jian. No one else.

It was as if Ji Yan had abruptly vanished from his life. Aside from the memories, there was no trace of him left.

After finishing his meal, Jing Yuan contentedly patted his full stomach, lay back in the rocking chair, and started watching the latest hit TV series.

He really liked the temperature and climate here. Just wearing ordinary cotton clothes was enough to keep him from feeling too cold. Gradually, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. By the time he woke up, a long time had passed.

The surroundings seemed even quieter now, with only the chirping of unknown insects breaking the silence. Jing Yuan’s throat ached, his nose felt blocked, and his entire body was shivering with cold.

He had a bad feeling about this.

Struggling to sit up, he lifted his wrist to feel his forehead. A burning heat slowly radiated from it.

Sure enough, he had a fever.

Although Xiao Jiang lived next door, he was probably fast asleep at this hour. Unwilling to disturb others, Jing Yuan leaned on the armrest of the rocking chair and slowly made his way into the bedroom.

His vision was too blurry, and he didn’t have the energy to search for medicine. Staggering, he sat down on the bed, clumsily wrapped himself tightly in the quilt seeking warmth, and fell into a deep sleep once again.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he woke up to find Xiao Jiang watching him, accompanied by the town’s well-known doctor.

Xiao Jiang breathed a sigh of relief. “Boss, you’re finally awake.”

Jing Yuan moved his chapped lips slightly. “Mm.”

Xiao Jiang continued, “I originally wanted to find some fever-reducing medicine for you, but when I saw your medicine box filled with allergy medication, I was worried you might have allergies and didn’t dare give you anything randomly.”

Jing Yuan raised a weak thumb. “Kudos to you.” Thankfully, Xiao Jiang was clever enough not to give him random medicine—otherwise, he might have ended up in serious trouble.

Just then, the doctor spoke in the local dialect, “After taking the medicine I brewed, he should be fine now.”

The tea farmer who had given Jing Yuan the clothes said gratefully, “Thank you.”

After seeing the guests off, only Xiao Jiang remained with Jing Yuan. He had printed out the shooting script requested by Xinghe and began explaining it to Jing Yuan while saying, “You should rest for a few days. Leave the rest to me.”

With a baby fever-reducing patch on his forehead, Jing Yuan looked apologetic. “Sorry for giving you so much work.”

Xiao Jiang smiled. “It’s part of my job.”

Jing Yuan frowned and adjusted the patch to uncover his eyes. “Then, could you make me some fried chicken? Preferably with some tomato sauce and honey mustard sauce.”

Seeing the sparkling anticipation in Jing Yuan’s eyes, Xiao Jiang’s smile stiffened. “I’ll ask the homestay owner.”

Jing Yuan raised two fingers and painstakingly formed a heart shape over his chest. “Thank you. When we get back, I’ll give you a promotion and a raise.”

Motivated by this promise, Xiao Jiang immediately perked up. “I’ll go kill a chicken.”

…

And so, Jing Yuan, now ill, stopped running around and focused all his energy on recovering.

With a cold, Jing Yuan became even pickier about food, complaining every day that everything tasted bland. In just a few days, he had lost two or three pounds.

It was worth noting that every pound of his weight had been meticulously maintained at great expense. Seeing the number on the scale broke his heart.

Cheng Yun from Xinghe Entertainment heard that Jing Yuan was sick and specially bought a lot of nutritional supplements to visit him.

Wrapped up like a silkworm cocoon, Jing Yuan looked at the room full of people, deeply moved, and quickly asked Xiao Jiang to brew tea for everyone.

Seeing how severely ill Jing Yuan was and how much weight he had lost, Cheng Yun smiled with concern. “How did you suddenly get so sick?”

Jing Yuan replied, “I caught a cold while eating.”

Cheng Yun looked at him in surprise. “Then you really should focus on building up your health.”

Jing Yuan listlessly responded, “Oh.”

Recently, Cheng Yun had heard quite a bit about Jing Yuan’s private life. Everyone was saying that Jing Yuan had married young, but unfortunately, his partner didn’t cherish him and often mistreated him, even nearly breaking his leg.

That was exactly why Jing Yuan had fled here.

Looking at the boy before him—so beautiful and clever—Cheng Yin felt both furious and bewildered by the cruelty of Jing Yuan’s partner.

Jing Yuan stared at the lychees Cheng Yin had brought back from the city, secretly picking at the fruit basket. Fresh fruit had to be bought in town, and he hadn’t had any in a long time.

Just then, several black Maybachs pulled up outside the village.

The tea farmers, who had never seen such a spectacle, gathered at the edge of the tea fields, watching curiously.

The lead black car came to a slow stop, and an elegant middle-aged man stepped out.

He politely asked, “Excuse me, have any of you seen this young man?”

The tea farmers gathered around to look and saw that it was none other than Jing Yuan in the photo.

“We’ve seen him. He’s staying at the guesthouse up ahead.”

Chen Tian nodded. “Thank you.”

Just then, one of the older women anxiously spoke up, “Why would you say that so carelessly? Haven’t you all heard that Xiao Jing has a fiancé with a violent temper? What if this man is him? What will happen to Xiao Jing then?”

The uncle who had spoken earlier immediately regretted his words. “Is that true?”

Another elderly man chimed in, “I’ve heard about it too. That man almost broke Xiao Jing’s leg!”

Chen Tian froze in shock. Beside him, the car window slid down silently, revealing a handsome yet cold face.

Ji Yan suddenly chuckled. “Violent temper.”

Chen Tian hesitated before asking, “Did you really hit Young Master Jing’s leg?”

Ji Yan shot him a cold glare. “If your brain isn’t working properly, you can run after the car to clear your head.”

Chen Tian immediately fell silent and got into the car without another word.

This kind of rumor was probably just hearsay…

But who started it? That remained to be investigated.

Most likely, it had something to do with Jing Yuan.

However, given how Ji Yan had personally delivered a forgotten medication to Jing Yuan, it seemed unlikely that he would have been violent toward him.

The convoy set off again in a grand procession. Ji Yan leaned against the window, closing his eyes to rest, seemingly unperturbed.

Five minutes later, the car stopped in front of the guesthouse.

Ten bodyguards followed Ji Yan as he stepped out of the car and headed inside.

The guesthouse owner’s wife, startled by the imposing sight, quickly called for her husband. Both of them watched the group nervously, their expressions tense.

Inside Jing Yuan’s room, the atmosphere was lively.

Jing Yuan, wrapped in a quilt and sitting on the bed, was discussing Ningcheng’s climate with Cheng Yin.

It turned out that Cheng Yin was also from Ningcheng but worked in Haishi.

As the saying goes, when fellow townsfolk meet, tears of joy are shed.

Jing Yuan happily cracked the nuts and ate the fruit Cheng Yin had bought for him, listening with great amusement to the gossip shared by the media reporters.

Cheng Yin then said, “After I finished my master’s degree, I really wanted to stay and work in Ningcheng. But the company I liked had a change in management and didn’t hire me, so I ended up working as a reporter for a media company.”

Jing Yuan skillfully cracked a pecan. “Which company was so blind as to turn you down?”

Cheng Yin felt a bit embarrassed by the compliment. “The Ji Corporation.”

Jing Yuan’s eyes immediately flickered with guilt. “Oh.”

Xiao Jiang, hearing the name of the Ji Corporation, also had something to add. “The Ji Corporation’s financial power in Ningcheng is practically unrivaled. The entire company, from top to bottom, acts aloof and looks down on everyone.”

Jing Yuan chewed slowly. “Oh.”

Cheng Yin smiled and asked, “Xiao Jing, how long are you planning to stay here? Until we finish filming?”

Jing Yuan’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. “A year or so—”

Before he could finish his sentence, hurried footsteps echoed in the small courtyard.

Before anyone could react, seven or eight burly bodyguards in black had already barged into Jing Yuan’s bedroom.

Cheng Yin immediately stood up, ready to call the police.

Jing Yuan, still sitting on the bed, trembled with fear, desperately trying to recall if he had made any enemies recently.

He curled up like a frightened quail and timidly asked, “Who are you?”

A familiar voice came from behind the bodyguards.

“Your violent-tempered fiancé, the one who almost broke your leg.”

Ji Yan, with one hand in his pocket, stepped over a few stairs and slowly appeared in the room.