Mrs. Fu, please be mindful of the appropriate boundaries.

Fu Jingting looked at her, his eyes filled with a dark, oppressive light that seemed to want to devour her.

Tang Kejia did not avoid his gaze. "We both know the role Shengshi played in this. When the time came, it could only be a pawn to be discarded. Or do you have other ideas?"

Jingting, I need to know what you're really thinking. Will you change our cooperation methods for your wife's sake? This is also what my father is worried about.

The Tang and Fu families are undoubtedly mutually beneficial. Your attitude is extremely important to us. Please forgive my directness.

"I've always been able to distinguish between personal matters and business," Fu Jingting said coldly, his gaze filled with sarcasm. "I'm the one who can't."

Tang Kejia looked up, stared at him, and suddenly gave a bitter smile, "You're still resentful of me."

The man suddenly lost his patience. He glanced at his watch and reminded her, "If you just wanted to confirm this, then I've given you a reply."

The coffee shop was filled with the aroma of hand-ground coffee. After exchanging only a few words, he abruptly stopped the conversation, drawing a clear line between them, as if warning her not to cross it.

Tang Kejia took a deep breath and asked him, "Black coffee again?"

"I don't have time. Please make yourself at home, Miss Tang." Fu Jingting declined. "If there's nothing else to discuss, I'll be leaving now. My wife is waiting for me to take our wedding photos."

Her fingers clenched tightly into her palm, and a surge of turbulent emotions welled up in the woman's confident and composed eyes, her thoughts thrown into disarray by his few words.

Tang Kejia paused for a moment before speaking, "My father asked me to pass on a message to you. It's not that we don't want to cooperate, but the Tang family also has its own difficulties. If we want to maximize our mutual benefits, we need to move things forward. I don't need to elaborate on the pros and cons; you should understand them better than I do. The faster we act, the less the other side will be able to fight back."

As soon as the woman finished speaking, the air suddenly became extremely tense, as if countless invisible threads had been stretched taut, and even falling leaves would be torn apart by the air. Breathing became difficult.

Fu Jingting remained seated, the aroma of coffee wafting around her but unable to reach her nose. She had just been smiling and saying she was really happy, her smile carrying the scent of sunshine and the fresh fragrance of grass.

At this moment, however, he sits here pondering...

"Uncle Tang is overthinking things." Fu Jingting suddenly stood up. "I will take care of the pace myself, Miss Tang, there is no need to worry."

Miss Tang.

Tang Kejia lowered her eyes, her fingers clenching into her palms. "Does it have to be so distant? Is it so hard to call me Kejia?"

"We only discuss business between us."

He said that, then turned and left the coffee shop.

The afternoon's filming went smoothly in one way, but not so smoothly in another. Xu Qingcheng keenly sensed that Fu Jingting had become somewhat irritable after talking to the Tang family. His face was cold, and he seemed ready to provoke a temper at the slightest dissatisfaction.

Looking up, Xu Qingcheng saw a woman on the tiered steps beside her gazing at him from afar. The tassels on her shawl swayed in the wind. Even from a distance, Xu Qingcheng could tell that Tang Kejia was looking at him.

She frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure rising in her beautiful eyes. She placed her hands on Fu Jingting's shoulders and nestled into his embrace. "That Miss Tang, are you two quite familiar?"

"fine."

"What do you mean 'alright'?" Xu Qingcheng scoffed. "Is it something so important that you had to chase after Mr. Fu to the wedding photoshoot location to discuss it?"

Her eyebrows were raised, a hint of inquiry hidden beneath her allure. Fu Jingting stared at her like that, then pressed his forehead against hers, his smile full of mockery. "Why do I seem to smell something sour?"

He deliberately moved closer to her face, "What did you eat?"

Xu Qingcheng blushed at his shameless antics. The man laughed and pulled her into his arms, applying a bit of force as if he wanted to embed her into his bones.

He didn't mention Tang Kejia to her.

Xu Qingcheng decided it was inappropriate to ask any further questions.

She held firm to the bottom line she had drawn for herself, afraid that crossing it would cause embarrassment for both of them. So be it.

Today is so good, so happy, why bother with any unnecessary worries?

It was quite late when the filming was finished. The two were heading back when he was silent in the car, but he held her tightly and gently kissed her neck.

Without any lust, he simply and intimately rubbed his lips and chin against the skin of her neck and face, moving back and forth silently.

Xu Qingcheng was completely limp in his arms. She hugged him tightly, her eyes like water, letting him do as he pleased. But he didn't go any further, as if he just wanted to hold her like this, even his eyebrows were serious.

Miss Xu was particularly embarrassed. How could she admit that he had made her weak all over, so weak that she wanted him to hug her tightly and kiss her hard? Her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and if she opened it, she could make a seductive and enchanting moan. But because of his calm and serious appearance, she dared not make a sound.

The man who was usually so handsy and frivolous seemed to be bound hand and foot today.

The car stopped when we arrived at Jingshan No. 1.

He patted her bottom and gently reminded her, "We're here, get off the bus."

Xu Qingcheng gave him a strange look. "Aren't you going to carry me out of the car?"

Fu Jingting stared at her, then suddenly chuckled. He easily lifted her up in his arms. "Oh, Mrs. Fu wanted me to hold you? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Who asked you to hug me? Who cares? Put me down." Xu Qingcheng felt a little embarrassed after being teased by him.

With that kick, Fu Jingting almost lost his grip on her. Afraid of dropping her, the man hissed and slapped her on the bottom. "Behave yourself."

He didn't use much force, but with a loud slap, Xu Qingcheng's face suddenly turned bright red, and she was so angry she wanted to bite someone. "You!"

As soon as she entered, she struggled to get down, ignoring him completely. She changed her shoes and was about to walk inside when the man grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her up, and placed her on the half-height entryway cabinet, holding her close. "Are you really angry?"

"Get out of my way."

She spoke coldly, without looking at him.

It's not that I'm really angry, it's just that I suddenly feel a bit embarrassed.

"Where are we going?" he coaxed her. "Don't be angry, I'll rub it for you."

It seemed like he really wanted to help her rub the sore spot, but his hands were not behaving properly.

Xu Qingcheng suddenly pushed him hard, her face turning bright red.

The man laughed and pulled her into his arms, squeezing her tightly against his chest as if he wanted to replace all his bones with hers.

Ignoring her attempts to push him away, he kissed her with brute force, as if he wanted to completely break her apart.