Deep Fog Kiss

As the sun sets, the orange-red sunlight streams through the clear windows into the bookshelves crammed with thick volumes.

"My God!"

Shen Nianchu excitedly pushed open the office door and saw a person sitting in an office chair, leisurely swirling the leather chair and lazily basking in the sun.

"The legal department of Shile Media sent me a contract!"

Jiang Li had just closed her eyes in the sunset, pondering the matter of announcing the engagement.

Upon hearing this, she suddenly opened her languid eyes. "Tell me?"

That shouldn't be the case; logically, Gu Zhishen should have intervened.

Does he really intend to just sit idly by and ignore her?

"Tell me?" Shen Nianchu's eyes widened. She turned the laptop on the table around, pulled up the email she had just sent to Jiang Li, opened it, and pushed the laptop towards Jiang Li. "Look."

Jiang Li looked in the direction she was pointing, her almond-shaped eyes widening. "Breach of contract compensation!"

"An eight-figure compensation, four times the price of the script!" Shen Nianchu exclaimed in shock. "Has Luo Hui had a change of heart?"

Jiang Li stared at the enormous amount of compensation, somewhat stunned.

She originally intended to use Gu Zhishen to get revenge on Luo Hui, at most making him fulfill the contract and buy the script at the original price.

Unexpectedly, Luo Hui offered a huge sum of compensation.

The methods behind this are self-evident.

Shen Nianchu's gaze suddenly shifted to her face. "Tell me honestly, how did you deal with that bastard Luo Hui?"

"..." Jiang Li met her curious gaze and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"I..." Her eyes darted around, she couldn't very well say that she knew the CEO of Tianze Capital.

Although she had known Shen Nianchu for two years, she had never mentioned anything about China to him.

Shen Nianchu was unaware of her relationship with the Gu family in Jingzhou, and even less aware that she had a nominal uncle, Gu Zhishen, the head of Tianze Capital.

"I see!"

Shen Nianchu's eyes lit up, and she nodded meaningfully, "You have a powerful backer!"

Jiang Li's heart skipped a beat. "W-what kind of expert?"

"Still pretending." Shen Nianchu smiled and said a name, "Xiang Jingcheng, a legal genius."

"Everyone in the alumni group is saying that Xiang Jingcheng went back to China these past few days." She looked at Jiang Li, her eyes full of curiosity about the gossip. "Isn't it because of this that he went back to China?"

Jiang Li was taken aback. "Xiang Jingcheng has returned to China?"

She really didn't know about this, and besides, she didn't pay much attention to whether Xiang Jingcheng returned to China or not.

"You didn't know?" Shen Nianchu frowned slightly. "When you were abroad, Young Master Xiang pursued you relentlessly; his feelings for you were obvious. Wasn't it him who helped you this time?"

During my two years studying abroad, there was a saying circulating at school: "In the south, there is the beautiful actress Jiang Li; in the north, there is the legal genius Xiang Jingcheng."

At that time, drama and film studies were located in the South Campus, while law studies were located in the North Campus.

At that time, Jiang Li and Xiang Jingcheng were the focus of attention on campus, both in terms of looks and professional skills.

This saying naturally spread, and even graduating seniors knew about it.

Even more outrageous rumors circulated that she and Xiang Jingcheng were a high-profile couple on campus.

In reality, Xiang Jingcheng did pursue Jiang Li, but Jiang Li never reciprocated his feelings.

Judging from Jiang Li's expression, she really didn't know that Xiang Jingcheng had returned to China. Shen Nianchu said, "He's a big shot in the legal world now. As soon as he returned to China, he became a partner at a top-tier law firm."

She looked at Jiang Li, her fingertips lightly pinching, "You really have absolutely no feelings for him?"

"What are you talking about?" Jiang Li chuckled, closing her laptop. "How high do they stand now? Do you think a big shot in the legal world would even notice a nobody like me from a startup?"

Besides, even if I did like it, so what?

There is no rule in this world that says the person you like must like you back.

If so, then Gu Zhishen should like her, only like her, and like her fiercely.

"I don't know what you're thinking."

Shen Nianchu sighed slightly, "Xiang Jingcheng, you're not tempted at all, yet you agreed to get engaged to that rotten cucumber from the Tang family. You're pushing yourself into a fire pit."

"A fire pit?" Jiang Li suddenly laughed. "I'm not jumping in."

During the conversation, Jiang Li's phone, which was on the table, rang.

Seeing that she looked unhappy, Shen Nianchu didn't ask any more questions and left the office.

The phone rang for more than ten seconds before it was answered.

"Ginger and Pear".

On the other end of the phone was Xiang Xinyao. "When my mother was sorting through my grandmother's belongings, she found some small items that were probably things your mother kept before she got married."

When Jiang Li mentioned her grandmother and mother, her eyes flickered slightly.

From childhood to adulthood, she had always dreamed of seeing her mother.

But her mother didn't seem to like her and never appeared in her dreams.

On the other end of the phone, Xiang Xinyao asked, "Do you want this? If not, we'll burn it."

Jiang Li said coldly, "You dare!"

"Come and get it yourself if you want it." Xiang Xinyao smiled gently. "I'll send you the time; it won't be available after that."

......

At seven o'clock in the evening, the city lights began to come on.

Jiang Li hailed a car and drove to the Xiang family villa.

As soon as I arrived at the front door, I heard Su Ruolan's voice coming from inside the house.

"This Jiang Li is utterly useless; she can't even hold onto Tang Lin. It's lucky that she's able to climb up to the Tang family now because of our Xiang family's backing. If she can't get into the Tang family, she'll have a lot of miserable days ahead of her."

Jiang Li, speechless, pushed open the door and went in.

In the living room, the three members of the Xiang family sat neatly together.

"Su Ruolan." She stepped forward and called her by her name. "Speaking so harshly is bad for your health; it can easily cause shoulder pain."

She turned to Xiang Xinyao and said, "It seems this marriage is about to fall through, and your family's business partnership is in jeopardy. You're such a useful daughter; shouldn't you submit to Tang Lin to save the partnership and show your filial piety?"

Her words struck a nerve with Xiang Xinyao, whose expression immediately turned ugly.

Jiang Li chuckled and glanced at the people present, her distant gaze landing on Xiang Yaojie. "You all want me to get engaged, simply for that 30 million cooperation and future dealings with the Tang family. As long as we can get the cooperation, whether we're engaged or not is unimportant."

"I have a plan for the cooperation, and what you promised me must be honored."

After saying that, she reached out to Xiang Xinyao, "Give me back my mother's things first."

Xiang Xinyao and Su Ruolan exchanged a glance, suppressing their anger, and said, "Come with me."

She walked slowly towards the basement, and Jiang Li followed.

Pushing open the door, I entered a dimly lit room filled with the strong scent of incense.

"It's on the table inside." Xiang Xinyao stood at the door, arms crossed, looking at Jiang Li. "It's really bad luck, go get it yourself."

Standing at the door, Jiang Li could vaguely see the decorations inside the house through the dim light. Some of the old items looked familiar; they belonged to her grandmother.

It seems that they've thrown all of Grandma's old things into this dark and shabby storage room.

Xiang Yaojie said that his grandmother passed away in another city and was also buried there.

Su Ruolan considered it unlucky, so there wasn't even a portrait of her grandmother in the villa in Jingzhou, and all the old things were thrown there.

"Since you think it's bad luck, I'll take Grandma's things with me another day."

"Whatever," Xiang Xinyao said dismissively. "A pile of junk nobody wants."

Jiang Li walked into the room and looked at the table she was pointing to, where a dusty wooden box sat.

Perhaps it was because the space was too cramped and the oxygen too thin, but Jiang Li's gaze toward the wooden box became somewhat heavy, and her breathing became somewhat rapid.

Several double images suddenly appeared in front of me, and my nostrils were filled with a strong aroma of incense.

Her eyes suddenly narrowed, and she abruptly turned to look at Xiang Xinyao at the door.

The other person stared at her, smiled quietly, a smile that was calm and profound.