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Chapter 25

"There is medicine inside, after you change your clothes I\'ll help you apply the medicine."

Su Tao nodded guiltily, wanting to close the door.

"You\'re so hot? Your head is covered in sweat." Jiang Qi felt the air conditioning in this hotel was quite sufficient, and said worriedly, "You\'re not sick, are you?"

"No, no, I just got hot after taking a shower, let me change and wait outside for a bit."

After saying that, Su Tao closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

The bathroom door was gently opened a little, Su Tao went up and closed the door, warning in a low voice: "Lock the door."

After two seconds of silence, the sound of the door locking could be heard from the bathroom.

Only then did Su Tao feel at ease to change her clothes.

She opened the clothes Jiang Qi bought, her expression stiffened, inside was a pink dress.

Su Tao glanced at the closed bathroom door, glared at the person inside, and gritted her teeth as she put on the dress.

After changing, Su Tao directly pulled out the room card, closed the door, and didn\'t give Jiang Qi a chance to come in and apply medicine. She just left with him directly.

With a crisp sound of the door unlocking, the bathroom door opened, and a pitch black gloomy face appeared at the door, making the whole room feel eerie.

On Xie Jin\'s phone came Jin Chuiwen\'s voice.

He said gloomily: "Tell the people at Su Tao\'s company to call her and say there was an accident at the filming site, and get her back within an hour!"

-

Along the hotel was a stretch of public beach.

The beach wasn\'t as nice as the previous filming location, but the environment was still good.

Su Tao sat on a bench, letting Jiang Qi apply ointment to her forehead. Although it hurt a little when touched, the cooling ointment took effect, slowly relieving the swelling.

"Thank you for today," Jiang Qi suddenly expressed his gratitude, making Su Tao\'s eyes curve into a smile.

"No need to thank me, just sign a contract with me." Su Tao never forgot her goal.

"You still haven\'t answered a question of mine." Jiang Qi ignored her talk of signing a contract, and asked what he wanted to know.

Su Tao didn\'t hear a word Jiang Qi said after that. Her gaze was completely focused on a woman in pink.

That woman had long straight hair, a pink dress, and the shiny bracelet on her wrist still gleamed brightly.

After a year, she actually met Qin Xuexi here.

What was even more amazing was that her outfit and dress were exactly the same as a year ago, without any changes.

In the blink of an eye, Qin Xuexi had already gotten into a luxury car. Clearly, she was doing quite well now.

"Su Tao, I\'m talking to you. What are you looking at?" Jiang Qi followed her line of sight, but didn\'t see anything.

"Sorry, I was distracted just now. What did you say?" Su Tao withdrew her thoughts, and apologetically asked.

"I asked what your relationship is with that man. Why did he suddenly appear at our school? Did he follow you all the way here? Ordinary friends wouldn\'t keep hovering around you like that, right?"

Jiang Qi\'s barrage of questions left Su Tao somewhat breathless.

"He..." Su Tao\'s expression darkened. The emotions brought up by seeing Qin Xuexi earlier were amplified again amidst his stream of questions. "He\'s my ex-boyfriend."

Jiang Qi raised his eyebrows slightly. He thought the man was just pursuing her, he didn\'t expect that he was actually her ex-boyfriend.

"Then why did you break up?"

Su Tao\'s serene face didn\'t reveal any extra expressions, but it made people sense her unclear emotions at the moment.

She lowered her head, her gaze falling on the pink dress she was wearing, and asked instead of answering: "Why did you buy me a pink dress?"

Jiang Qi blinked, not understanding how this was a question. "Of course because I thought you\'d look good in it."

Indeed, all straight men had the same aesthetic.

Su Tao\'s phone rang, it was Sun XiaoJie.

"Tao Tao, there was a bit of a problem during MingXuan\'s filming, so we can\'t continue filming now. Could you come back for a bit?"

Su Tao\'s expression tightened, and her brows furrowed slightly: "What do you mean there was a problem? What problem? Did she get injured?"

"Uh... you\'ll know when you come back."

"What do you mean I\'ll know when I come back? Can\'t you explain clearly what happened?" Su Tao became anxious and went to the roadside to hail a cab.

Suddenly remembering Jiang Qi beside her, she sighed and hung up first.

"Jiang Qi, I\'m really sorry, one of my artists has run into some trouble, I have to rush back right away."

Jiang Qi looked displeased. "You promised to be my assistant for a day, and now you\'re abandoning me halfway, how can I sign a contract with you? If there are problems on my end in the future, and problems on other people\'s ends, who will you prioritize?"

Although Su Tao was anxious inside, she still patiently persuaded: "Don\'t worry, the number of staff we assign to each artist ranges from 2-5 people, so when you need me, I will definitely try my best to be there as soon as possible. Most of the work actually doesn\'t require me to handle it personally, so accidents like this won\'t happen often, and I also have the ability to distinguish between urgency and importance, and handle everything well at the same time. Trust me, okay?"

Su Tao spoke very sincerely. She was an artist supervisor, not an executive agent. She didn\'t need to accompany the artists all the time.

What she had to do was more work, facing the boss, facing capital, fighting for resources. She couldn\'t just handle some trivial daily life and emotional matters for the artists.

"But what if my condition for signing with you is that you must personally manage me?"

Su Tao\'s irritation from wearing a pink dress and seeing Qin Xuexi, mixed with her worry for Tong MingXuan and dissatisfaction with Sun XiaoJie. Hearing Jiang Qi\'s various demands exceeding her expectations, she suddenly couldn\'t maintain her usually steady emotions.

She took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and tried to keep her tone free of emotion, but Jiang Qi could still hear her bad mood.

"I don\'t have time to personally manage you. My energy is divided among all the artists. I can only promise to give you a little more, tilt resources towards you a bit more. If you really can\'t accept..."

Su Tao breathed out a murky breath, stopped a car with her hand, and said with a tired expression: "Then let\'s forget it."

-

When she returned to the filming location in the rainforest, Su Tao practically ran to the scene.

But she saw Tong MingXuan was filming normally with everyone. Su Tao\'s first reaction was that she wasn\'t injured, thankfully.

Her second reaction was to find Sun XiaoJie and ask her what was going on.

She pulled Sun XiaoJie aside to ask her what was happening, but Sun XiaoJie looked behind Su Tao and didn\'t say anything.

Su Tao looked back and saw Xie Jin standing behind her with a cold and stern expression, gloomily saying: "I told her to trick you back."

Su Tao quietly gazed for a long time. The surging fury was flowing beneath the tranquil surface in her eyes.

"Why did you trick me back?"

She turned around and Xie Jin noticed she was actually wearing a pink dress.

Before he could ask, her gaze made him restrain his cold manner. The gloominess between his brows also disappeared as he softly said: "Who told you to hide me."

"Did you know I had something important going on? You lied using Tong MingXuan!"

Su Tao\'s voice suddenly increased in volume. Fortunately they were far from the filming set, and didn\'t affect the shooting.

But the crew members who noticed the commotion here were stunned, especially Zhou Chi, whose eyes were wide open in disbelief at what he was hearing and seeing.

Was Su Tao talking back to the big boss?

Su Tao turned around to call back Sun XiaoJie who was trying to sneak away. Her clear doe eyes were bloodshot, glaring angrily: "He told you to lie and you just lied, who\'s your supervisor? Do you have any sense of propriety when doing things yourself? If you want to jump ship to Ruiqi I won\'t stop you, you can submit your resignation as soon as you get back!"

After yelling, Su Tao strode away. She wanted to go back and find Jiang Qi, but after getting in the car she belatedly realized that when she left, she had told him forget it if he didn\'t want to sign.

The car stopped at the beach where she had parted with Jiang Qi, and as expected, Jiang Qi was no longer there.

He didn\'t answer her call or reply to her message. He probably decided he really didn\'t want to sign with her anymore.

Just because of one lie, so many days of hard work were wasted just like that?

Su Tao walked along the soft sand of the beach, not knowing how long she had been walking for. The sky gradually darkened and the city lights came on. The beachside restaurant in the twinkling lights had a hazy beauty.

Xie Jin, who had been following her, thought she wanted to be alone and would feel better. But the more he followed, the more he realized she showed no signs of stopping.

Xie Jin strode forward and forcibly blocked her path. "Little Taozi, where are you going?"

Su Tao\'s expression was as usual. But her words were like knives: "Xie Jin, don\'t let me see you again from now on, okay?"

Xie Jin stepped forward, panic flashing in his eyes. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled again. His manner was almost ingratiating: "I promise I won\'t trick you again. I lost my head in anger this time and didn\'t consider so much."

"It\'s not that you didn\'t consider so much, it\'s that you only ever consider yourself."

He hadn\'t thought at all about how much effort she had put in to sign Jiang Qi.

She had stayed up all night researching his information, going over his contract point by point, looking up so many documents and materials to make plans for him.

She couldn\'t get an appointment with him, so she bought scalped tickets to see his concert, and even agreed to be his assistant for a day.

Yet because of one lie from him, she had told Jiang Qi forget it if he didn\'t want to sign.

Forget it, she shouldn\'t blame others either. It was her own inability to control her emotions.

Just because of this pink dress, and that Qin Xuexi who was irrelevant to her anyway, it caused her to be vexed and distracted, going against the principle she usually upheld of not being ruled by emotion.

"Little Taozi," Xie Jin bent down to hold her face, looking somewhat at a loss. "I was wrong."

The clarity in Su Tao\'s eyes faded away, and a bitter smile hung on her fair and tranquil face. "It\'s not entirely your fault either, I have problems myself, it\'s that I still can\'t let go of some things I should\'ve let go of long ago."

Panic flashed in Xie Jin\'s eyes. He felt Su Tao was especially abnormal this time. Could one Jiang Qi really affect her that much?

Or did she encounter something, some stimulus.

What was with this pink dress of hers?

Su Tao\'s head was forcibly pressed against his chest. Her muffled voice came from his chest cavity, and her ears could feel the frequency of the vibrations.

"Little Taozi, please don\'t torture me."

Su Tao furrowed her brow. She didn\'t like physical conflicts, so she didn\'t struggle hard, but her words were like sharp knife tips, slowly carving open his heart.

"Xie Jin, you\'re torturing yourself. If you treat me the same way I treat you, just like an old friend or stranger, you won\'t feel unhappy at all."

Xie Jin\'s chest heaved violently, and his breathing was not very smooth. He wanted to present his bleeding heart to her, but she didn\'t even glance at it before throwing it in the trash.

"I can\'t do that. I could never leave just like you did without saying anything."

Su Tao was affected by Xie Jin\'s out of control emotions. She had thought her heart was like still water, that she could face him calmly now. But every time he acted so affectionate, she just wanted to laugh.

Just like she had laughed at herself back then.

"Xie Jin, do you still not understand why I left you back then?"

Su Tao\'s voice flowed out as clear as a spring, calm without any emotions, yet it made Xie Jin\'s mind a mess.

"Let me go first, and we\'ll talk again."

Xie Jin\'s arms that were gripping Su Tao tightly slowly loosened. Only then did he feel his palms were sweaty. Looking at Su Tao\'s messy hair that he had ruffled, and her expression that was tranquil to the point of indifference, he didn\'t know why, but he suddenly felt a little afraid to hear her reasons.

Su Tao smoothed her hair and tidied her clothes, then walked past Xie Jin.

By the time she reached the beachside restaurant not far away, the lights were already bright.

The kitchen was fully visible through glass walls. You could watch the entire cooking process of the professional chefs wearing tall hats.

The dining table was set up on the beach right across from the kitchen. It seemed to be specially positioned at just the right distance from the tide - where the waves nearly reached but not quite.

Each table was spaced apart with a sun umbrella and a warm yellow kerosene lamp next to it. A yellow scented candle sat in the middle of each table, providing both light and mosquito repellent, as well as a pleasant fragrance.

Yellow lights were dotted around, giving the entire restaurant a feeling of being close to nature yet romantic and cozy.

Indeed, such an environment could help one relax and enjoy the food and scenery.

Su Tao didn\'t even glance at the menu. She had no intention of really having a meal with him.

But Xie Jin handed her his menu, his earlier gloominess gone. His eyes reflected the flickering candle flames, making him appear gentle and affectionate. "In the past, I always ignored your preferences. From now on, I\'ll only eat what you love to eat - is that alright?"

"No need. I won\'t be having meals with you anyway in the future." Su Tao avoided his gaze and didn\'t take the menu or respond to him. She just quietly looked out at the beach.

Xie Jin\'s eyes darkened as he retracted the menu. He ordered a few non-seafood dishes and a bottle of red wine.

At this time, there were few other customers at the restaurant. Without either of them talking, the only sound was that of the waves.

Xie Jin didn\'t want to break this beautiful moment alone together, but Su Tao was the first to break the silence. She looked straight at Xie Jin and concisely said, "I saw Qin Xuexi today."

No wonder!

It seemed Xie Jin had finally found the reason for her emotional breakdown. He crossed his hands on the table, his pupils flickering slightly, with a hint of powerlessness.

"There\'s nothing between me and Qin Xuexi. I\'ve told you that before."

"You did say that, but did you ask if I believed you?" Su Tao\'s calm gaze turned sharp. "When an excuse is flimsier than evidence, do you believe the excuse or the evidence? Moreover, you never properly explained at all."

Xie Jin\'s clasped hands unconsciously tightened, turning the knuckles white.

His Adam\'s apple moved slightly, his face tense. His voice turned hoarse again, "There\'s nothing between us. Believe me."

Just the same pale excuse, not a word more than a year ago.

The food was served and the wine poured, swirling red in the glass.

Su Tao picked it up and took a sip. The alcohol content was slightly higher than what she usually drank, but she was feeling emotional now, so she didn\'t pay it much attention.

"The pink dress, seafood, bracelet, photographs - with all these, how can you ask me to believe you? With just a simple \'believe me\', you want me to turn a blind eye and pretend I know nothing?"

Su Tao\'s petite face was beautiful and vivid in the flickering candlelight. "You know what my bottom line is - I can\'t tolerate you having someone else in your heart."

"Other than you, how could there possibly be someone else in my heart?"

"Haven\'t you noticed that about Qin Xuexi, you never give a direct answer and keep trying to cover things up?"

Su Tao drank another mouthful of wine.

She thought time was the best medicine, but it turned out that bringing this up again still unsettled her.

Xie Jin\'s tightly clasped hands were shaking. He closed his eyes briefly, long eyelashes fluttering slightly. Slowly, he let out a breath, relaxed his grip, as if having made some decision. Lifting his eyelids, he looked straight at her.

"Alright, ask anything and I\'ll answer properly."

Su Tao drank another mouthful of wine without looking at him or responding. She lightly tilted her head to one side, eyes blurred and brimming with misty moisture, indistinct in the dim lighting.

Seeing her stay silent, Xie Jin recalled what she\'d mentioned earlier. "First, the seafood. It\'s because your nails are always brittle and you refuse to take calcium pills. I insisted you eat it even though you don\'t like it - I didn\'t consider your feelings then, which was wrong of me. But what does this have to do with Qin Xuexi?"

"Qin Xuexi loves seafood." Su Tao\'s tone was calm. Although she was still gazing into the distance, she promptly resolved his confusion.

Xie Jin hesitated briefly, frowning. "I have no idea what Qin Xuexi likes to eat."

Su Tao drank more wine without speaking again.

Xie Jin could only continue, "The pink dress - Qin Xuexi did wear pink before, but that\'s just her personal preference. It has nothing to do with me liking to see you in pink."

Su Tao gave a soft laugh and drank more wine.

"What else? The bracelet. That was my mother\'s heirloom. I gave it to you when we first got together. How is that related to Qin Xuexi either?"

The more Xie Jin explained, the more baffled he felt. At the time, he had thought it was all nonsense.

"Little Taozi, just because of these things, you feel I like Qin Xuexi?"

"What about the photograph then?" The previously silent Su Tao looked at him tipsily, eyes blurred.

Xie Jin\'s expression changed sharply. Shock and panic flashed through his eyes even though he tried to suppress it. Perspiration beaded his temples.

His voice was hoarse, "Wha-what photo?"

Su Tao smiled ruefully, the bitterness clear. She set down her now empty wine glass and retracted her gaze to look at Xie Jin. Her cheeks were already flushed.

She got up, swaying slightly unsteadily. She stumbled over to Xie Jin, took out her phone, and entered a password to open the photo album. A picture popped up.

She shakily held up the petite white phone to him. With red lips slightly parted, she murmured, "The photo of you kissing Qin Xuexi."

After seeing the photo on the phone, Xie Jin\'s pupils constricted. His breathing seemed to stop for a second. Fine sweat beaded his forehead and his fingers clenched tightly into fists.

His eyes were fierce, voice hoarse, "Where did you get this photo?"

"Heh, I don\'t know who sent it to me either, or why I kept it and even made a private protected album for it."

Su Tao shook her head with a smile. Suddenly exerting strength, she wanted to fling the phone into the sea, but her hand was weak and the phone merely dropped onto the beach.

Su Tao lowered her head. Her vision was starting to blur. She tilted up his chin with her forefinger and stroked his lips with her thumb. Eyes clouded over, she murmured, "Xie Jin, you\'re dirty. I don\'t want you anymore."