Yang Shu was very perceptive, knowing that Qi Xingzhou didn’t like being disturbed by her presence with Jiang Ning, so when the food arrived, she immediately buried her head in her bowl, eating cool and fast.
After finishing her meal, she feigned having work to do, leaving the private room first.
Yang Shu indeed had things to do; she didn’t bring an assistant this trip. Since Jiang Ning’s show was not yet done filming, if she and Qi Xingzhou planned to stay here temporarily, she would have to arrange their accommodation herself, since the production team certainly wouldn’t cover it.
It was Jiang Ning and Yang Shu’s first meeting, and they weren’t very familiar yet. Hearing what Yang Shu said, Jiang Ning just nodded and let her go.
Seeing Yang Shu leave on her own, the little daggers in Qi Xingzhou’s eyes quietly disappeared, and he found her more agreeable.
He held the small rice bowl, eating slowly as if he wasn’t very hungry or had little appetite.
Even though he looked pleasing to the eye no matter what he did because of his face, Jiang Ning only noticed one thing. She looked at the dishes on the table: "Not tasty?"
"No, I’ve just got some motion sickness, no appetite." Seeing Jiang Ning’s attention fully on him, Qi Xingzhou’s expression changed, and he seemed weak and feeble, like a wilted Xiao Hua.
Jiang Ning knitted her brows, a bit worried: "After eating, let’s see if there’s a hotel in town. A nap might help."
Hearing this, Qi Xingzhou found the meal in his hand less tasty and looked pitifully at Jiang Ning: "Won’t you take me back to the village, Jiang Ning?"
Qi Xingzhou came all this way just to find Jiang Ning.
In his mind, once he found Jiang Ning, he would stay wherever Jiang Ning was, just like before.
Little did he know, just as they started spending time together, Jiang Ning wanted to leave him here.
Qi Xingzhou didn’t voice his thoughts, but Jiang Ning understood something from his eyes full of wronged accusations.
Jiang Ning found it amusing: "I haven’t finished filming my show yet, did you forget?"
"Besides, you’re not planning on going back to the Capital City? Didn’t your dad and brother want you to learn how to manage the company?"
"... I don’t want to go back." Qi Xingzhou frowned, looking very resistant.
He’s not foolish; he figured it out days ago that work is never really finished.
Every time he cleared a stack of files, thousands more would be waiting for him.
Qi Xingzhou looked up at Jiang Ning, unable to resist complaining about Qi Jingshan and Qi Chen’s relentless behavior.
If it weren’t for the fact that the system Jiang Ning wanted wasn’t finished, he would have bolted long ago and wouldn’t have waited until now to find Jiang Ning.
Qi Xingzhou doesn’t usually socialize much, almost zero.
At work, apart from necessary interactions, he absolutely wouldn’t waste time saying an extra word.
One could say Jiang Ning was the first and only person he felt a desire to confide in.
It’s just that his ability to express himself was somewhat lacking; although he wanted to pour out his grievances from this period to Jiang Ning, he lacked the emotional vocabulary, making it feel as if a bystander were narrating facts.
But Jiang Ning still understood what Qi Xingzhou wanted to convey.
Not seeing him for half a month, Jiang Ning was surprised to discover that Qi Xingzhou could even have his own little tantrums now.
His resistance to work was just like a child who doesn’t want to go to kindergarten, almost as if the words ’Don’t Wanna Work’ were written on his forehead.
"They’re so mean!" Jiang Ning pretended to be angry, showing a united front with Qi Xingzhou, saying, "You can stay here, and after I finish filming the show, we’ll go back together. Big Brother Qi and the others will definitely realize their mistakes and get punished by having to work for a week without your help, so they have to do it themselves!"
Hearing Jiang Ning say this, Qi Xingzhou was immediately happy: "Okay."
He didn’t realize at all that, though Jiang Ning’s words seemed to vent his anger, they actually had zero impact.
Traveling over a thousand kilometers to get here, as long as he didn’t want to return, Qi Jingshan and Qi Chen naturally wouldn’t force him back.
Moreover, with him gone, the work naturally wouldn’t fall to him.
And another thing, Qi Jingshan and Qi Chen had been managing the company for so many years, and both were equally workaholic, either at work or on business trips, leaving little room for leisure.
Not to mention that when Qi Xingzhou didn’t go to the company before, they did the work themselves. Even while Qi Xingzhou was at the company, Qi Jingshan and Qi Chen never slacked a day.
The company is so big, there’s always an avalanche of paperwork waiting for the two of them to deal with daily.
Jiang Ning’s words sound like venting for Qi Xingzhou, quite forceful, but in reality... only she knew.
Moreover, she still planned on finding a place for Qi Xingzhou to stay in town first, not intending to take him to the village.
Yet, the simple-minded Qi Xingzhou, smiling with a bowl in his hands, didn’t realize a thing.
Or maybe, he just wanted Jiang Ning to show some stance in supporting him.
Jiang Ning didn’t feel guilty at all for her little white lie: "Alright, let’s settle it this way. Hurry up and eat; after this, I’ll take you to find a place to stay."
Upon hearing this, Qi Xingzhou cleverly slowed down his eating pace by a bit.
Jiang Ning didn’t notice his little action.
After Qi Xingzhou finished eating, they went to the front desk to pay the bill, only to find that Yang Shu had already settled it.
Seeing Jiang Ning look over, Yang Shu took the initiative to say: "Miss Jiang, President Qi transferred the money over."
Understanding immediately, Jiang Ning nodded.
Qi Chen must have reimbursed Yang Shu privately, worried that Qi Xingzhou wouldn’t take good care of himself.
Yang Shu also casually mentioned that there were no hotels for resting in Hetian Town, only in the county.
Hetian Town is part of Shanbai County, with only about ten kilometers between them, just a ten-minute drive one way, which is pretty close.
Jiang Ning suggested that they could temporarily stay in Shanbai County.
She exchanged WeChat contacts with Yang Shu and also forwarded Shen Zha’s contact to Yang Shu, notifying Shen Zha that this was her agent as well.
Jiang Ning entrusted Yang Shu with full responsibility for the subsequent communication on literary and tourism matters.
Qi Xingzhou stood aside, watching the exchange between Jiang Ning and Yang Shu. Once they were done, he tugged at Jiang Ning’s clothes, reluctant: "Do we really have to stay in the county? I want to go back to the village with you."
From the day he knew Jiang Ning went to film the show, he had been eagerly waiting to come along. Now that he finally did, he felt incredibly disappointed to be apart again after such a brief meeting.
Yang Shu never knew that the outwardly cold and aloof Young Master Qi, in private interactions with someone he liked, could be this way.
His little tricks of acting pitiful to gain affection seemed endless.
She stood to the side, under the pressure of potentially getting more dagger-like glares from Qi Xingzhou, and quietly spoke up for herself: "Me too, as your agent, I can also stay in the village directly, even if the environment is a bit dirty and messy."
Jiang Ning was silent for a while: "It’s not because of the living conditions."