Accidentally provoking the spring tide

Chapter 30. Miss Jiang, No. 368 Jinghe Road, is that you?
Since joining Wish, Xiao Mo has received many clients, but none of them have made her break down like Ji Shi.

The design draft was revised again and again. The opinions raised last time were forgotten the next time they met. The person in charge was incoherent and made them want to read minds to guess what she was thinking. It was troublesome enough, but the most important thing was that the pay was also low!
The price offered was pitifully low; anyone who didn't know better would think it was the slave trade of the last century.

Xiao Mo had never seen such an extreme client before. She could complain about them for three days and three nights!
Jiang Jixu worked tirelessly and without complaint. Even when her perfectly good design was nitpicked, she didn't get angry. She worked overtime to revise it without uttering a single complaint.

Sometimes she really wondered if the Ji family had some kind of leverage over her boss.

Xiao Mo walked outside while silently complaining to herself.

Fortunately, the Ji family has now cancelled the contract themselves, which has saved them a major problem and freed up enough time to take on several big deals.

Thinking about it this way, I realize that those guys have their advantages in not recognizing value.

Xiao Mo hummed a song, her steps becoming lighter.

The crisp, melodious sound of wind chimes rang out, and the girl paused in her steps, subconsciously looking up and smiling at the door.

"Welcome to Wish Studio. Wishing you a good mood every day."

The man stood in the doorway, the sunlight streaming in through the glass door outlining his tall and slender figure, slightly dazzling, but fortunately his clear and magnetic voice softened the scorching sunlight.

"Hello, I'm looking for Ms. Jiang."

Xiao Mo stared at the man's face, her lips slightly parted, and the design drawings she was holding fell to the ground with a clatter.

Hearing the noise, Jiang Jixu walked to the stairs: "Xiao Mo?"

Xiao Mo looked up, swallowed hard, and said in a daze, "It's over, Sister Jiang, I think I'm hallucinating from drawing."

Otherwise, how could you have seen an incredibly handsome guy standing at the entrance of their studio?
Jiang Jixu was slightly taken aback, as if he realized something, and turned to look at the gate.

Just then, the man turned around, revealing his flawless face. The glint of his cufflinks fell into his cool eyes, like sunlight shimmering on a lake, softening his innate aloofness and adding a touch of gentleness.

She was wearing a black cashmere coat, exuding a sophisticated aura.

At that moment, she felt as if the male protagonist from a romance novel had materialized before her eyes.

Jiang Jixu subconsciously called out the other person's name.

“Lu Lishen…”

The man who heard the call looked up slightly and met her gaze from afar.

The sound of cicadas seemed to fill my ears, as if I had returned to that scorching, restless summer.

He stood under the sycamore tree, gazing at the girl standing on the second-floor corridor.

She carried a class's worth of homework in her arms, gently biting her lower lip as she carefully moved forward, dodging students running down the corridor.

His body acted before his brain could react. By the time he realized what was happening, he had already stepped onto the stairs, entered the upper grades' area, and reached out his hand to the girl.

She seemed somewhat surprised, her round almond-shaped eyes widening slightly. She thanked him in a soft yet cool voice, but did not hand him the things she was holding.

The light in front of me suddenly dimmed.

Lu Lishen saw the boy, who was a head taller than him, naturally take the exercise book from the girl's hand.

He knows him.

Ji Yanci, the teacher's pride and joy.

The person Jiang Jixu likes.

The other person's gaze swept over him casually, without any malice, but Lu Lishen still felt a kind of declaration of sovereignty.

The two of them walked past him together.

He heard him say that she was stupid, that she didn't know to ask for help when carrying such heavy things.

The girl smiled sweetly, her voice soft yet resolute: "Because I know you'll help me."

The boy laughed.

They walked side by side, quickly leaving him behind.

Lu Lishen still remembers that feeling.

He stood right next to her, but the girl's eyes were fixed on someone else.

Jealousy, disappointment, bitterness, and anticipation surged up all at once, making one wish they could crush his heart.

He watched her retreating figure.

I'm looking forward to every single minute.

He hoped the girl would turn around and see him, so he could say to her:
"Jiang Jixu, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lu Lishen."

As dreams and reality intertwined, Lu Lishen gazed at Jiang Jixu standing on the stairs. At this moment, he was finally able to connect with the person from his dreams. His deep voice was tinged with a faint smile, a long-awaited joy and satisfaction.

"Miss Jiang, it's been a long time."

"I am your blind date today."

Jiang Jixu snapped out of his daze and nodded subconsciously.

"Oh, my blind date... wait, my blind date?!"

She looked astonished.

The man downstairs remained calm, glancing down at the note in his palm before picking it up with two fingers, speaking slowly and deliberately.

“I don’t think I’ve come to the wrong address.” Lu Lishen raised an eyebrow slightly and looked up at the girl: “Ms. Jiang, is that you, at No. 368 Jinghe Road?”

Jiang Jixu stammered, "Yes, it's me..."

*

In the coffee shop, Jiang Jixu sat opposite the man, utterly bewildered. Her mother had indeed arranged a blind date for her today, but she hadn't expected the man to come to her studio, much less that it would be Lu Lishen…

How could it be Lu Lishen??
With his qualifications, does he even need to go on blind dates?!
Am I ugly?

The person opposite him suddenly spoke, and Jiang Jixu almost choked: "No, not ugly."

If looking like Nuwa (the Chinese goddess who created a masterpiece) is considered ugly, are there any handsome people left these days?

Lu Lishen stared directly at her with his cool, dark eyes, the corners of his eyes slightly upturned. His tone was very natural and calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"Then why don't you dare look at me?"

Jiang Jixu chuckled twice: "It's because it's too beautiful that I don't dare to look... I'm afraid you'll think I have ulterior motives towards you."

The man's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and his knuckles tightened.

Like a pebble dropped into a calm lake, creating ripples.

He slowly raised his eyes and spoke, but what he said made the girl's pupils shrink.

"Doesn't Sister Ji Xu have one?"

The three words "Sister Ji Xu" floated into her ears lightly, a feeling completely different from when Jiang Wang called her "sister".

Jiang Jixu couldn't help but recall that infinitely ambiguous night, and her fair cheeks flushed red.

She tried to defend herself, but her tone was extremely weak.

"No, no..."

Lu Lishen picked up the coffee in front of him and took a small sip.

The bitter taste mingled with the rich aroma of coffee spread across the tip of the tongue.

Like waiting year after year, long and hopeless.

"Since Miss Jiang says no, then no."

This tone.

Jiang Jixu paused.

It's as if she's being unreasonable.

She lowered her head guiltily.

"Does Miss Jiang still stand by what she said last time?"

Lu Lishen raised his beautiful eyes, his fingers gently stroking the ceramic cup, his tone calm and composed: "If it counts, I would like to ask Miss Jiang for a favor."

Jiang Jixu was taken aback for a moment, then looked at him and nodded: "Of course it counts, just tell me what kind of help you need."

Lu Lishen's gaze lingered on her fair and gentle face for a moment, then he lowered his eyelids, staring at the swirling coffee in his cup, and said slowly, "My family is small, and my mother has always hoped that I can settle down."

“Last time I didn’t come home last night, she mistakenly thought I had a girlfriend and kept nagging me to bring her home to meet her.”

Lu Lishen paused, raised his eyes and stared at her intently. Something seemed to be floating and surging in his obsidian-like eyes. His thin lips parted slightly: "...You know, it's never easy to refuse the wishes of the elderly."

Jiang Jixu pursed her lips.

No wonder someone like Lu Lishen would go on blind dates.

It turns out that's why.

A sudden wave of guilt washed over her.

If it weren't for her, Lu Lishen might still be that aloof beauty, never misunderstood by his mother, and now forced to go on blind dates.

She bit her lip and tentatively asked, "How about I ask A-Wang to help you explain? He can say that you were with him that night?"

Something seemed to shatter in Lu Lishen's eyes, a deep blackness spreading outwards. He casually stirred his coffee with a spoon.

"That doesn't seem like a good idea."

Jiang Jixu took a deep breath: "Then there's only one way."

Lu Lishen paused slightly.

The clear, crisp female voice entered my ears, as if from another world.

"I'll pretend to be your girlfriend." Jiang Jixu looked at him cautiously. "Is that alright?"

Time seems to be frozen at this moment.

Two seconds later, Lu Lishen looked up and glanced at him. Something seemed to flash in his cold eyes. He put down his cup, pondered for a few seconds as if he had thought it through carefully, and then said slowly, "It's acceptable, but it's not the best solution."

Jiang Jixu was stunned upon hearing this.

"What else..."

Lu Lishen tapped the table lightly with his finger: "Marry."

"A one-time solution, without having to do any repeated proof, a marriage certificate is clear and straightforward."

"What do you think?"

This chapter was a bit difficult to write. I wanted to capture that ambiguous, tug-of-war feeling between Lu Gou and Xu Bao. It was so hard!

I revised it countless times before I was finally satisfied.

*
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(End of this chapter)