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

Xu Qingcheng was so angry when she saw the few words that had been sent that her head was spinning.

Stop trying to block me.

She wasn't afraid he would find her, but she was afraid he would find his way here and bring Yuan Yuan out.

Just as I was hesitating, my phone rang again.

Xu Qingcheng didn't want to answer, so she simply let the phone ring, treating it as music.

Without even muting her phone, she simply left it behind and went outside.

Xu Yuan slept too much during the day and refused to sleep at night, instead playing her eight-tone hand instrument.

The tinkling sound continued.

Xu Qingcheng squatted down next to Xu Yuan and collected the toys that Xu Yuan had scattered all over the floor into a storage box. She said to her, "Yuan Yuan, you should put your toys away like Mommy does after you finish playing with them."

Xu Yuan seemed not to hear, and just kept banging on her electronic keyboard.

One of her ears is normal, while the other ear is almost severely hearing impaired. In fact, when she doesn't wear a hearing aid, her perception of sound with just one ear is only about 70% of that of a single ear that is normally hearing in both ears.

Poor hearing has a significant impact on intelligence and language development, so Xu Qingcheng started early intervention as advised by doctors after birth.

Then I discovered that she had a natural fascination with the sound of the piano and loved listening to it, even if it wasn't the sound of the piano itself, the sound of striking objects would also do.

She wasn't wearing her hearing aid at the moment, but she was very focused on playing.

Hearing aids are uncomfortable to wear, and she always pulls them off after wearing them for a short time. My child is so young that I can't scold her or get her to listen, so I have to take care of her and coax her to put them on.

I'm very worried.

Moreover, children's ears are too delicate, and sometimes they will hurt after a while. If they hurt, you should stop wearing them. When she is not crying or making a fuss, she is fine, but when she cries, it is very frustrating. Whenever that happens, Xu Qingcheng really breaks down and sheds tears.

Unfortunately, Xu Yuan didn't understand anything, and didn't understand where her mother was feeling sad.

At this moment, Xu Qingcheng listened to her disordered yet earnest tapping sounds, but was not sensitive to her voice, and felt a mix of emotions.

The phone was still ringing; it was a piano piece adapted from a popular ringtone by a Japanese pianist, stirring and uplifting, which Xu Qingcheng had downloaded as her ringtone.

The person on the other end of the phone persisted, but Xu Qingcheng ignored them, put away the toys, and threw Xu Yuan's dirty clothes into the washing machine.

A moment later, Xu Yuan suddenly stopped tapping, as if listening carefully to something, and then ran into the bedroom.

Xu Qingcheng came out of the balcony after washing the clothes and saw Xu Yuan running up to her with a phone playing music.

"Mom, the phone is ringing."

She blinked her eyes and smiled, looking like she was about to receive praise.

Xu Qingcheng was both amused and exasperated. "Yuanyuan, be good..."

Before she could finish speaking, the answer button on her phone was accidentally swiped open. Xu Qingcheng fell silent, took a deep breath, and grabbed the phone.

A man's voice came through the receiver, "You've finally decided to answer the phone."

Xu Qingcheng didn't have time to reply to him.

Xu Yuan was clinging to her leg, whimpering and wanting to listen to the phone, "Yes, Yuan Yuan wants to hear it too..."

She'll cry if she doesn't get it.

Xu Qingcheng made a "shh" gesture at her, but the little girl didn't care and would throw a tantrum if she didn't get it.

She was really at her wit's end, and worried that Xu Yuan's voice might get out and cause unnecessary trouble, so Xu Qingcheng could only say, "I'm busy, I'll call you back in a bit."

Fu Jingting sat on the bed, his fingers flipping through the embroidery on the cuffs. The cluster of red plum blossoms was in full bloom, perfectly placed.

He wanted to ask about the two pieces of clothing, but he swallowed the words back. He felt that if he asked, he would be criticized without hesitation and she would humiliate him in every way possible.

Fu Jingting could come up with a whole bunch of words for her.

So I swallowed my words and didn't ask any more questions.

But not wanting to hang up, he asked her, just to stir things up, "What are you doing?"

"What's it to you!"

She snapped at him, and Fu Jingting's face darkened considerably. Unfortunately, he couldn't reach her, otherwise he would have just pulled her over and given her a good beating, and seen what she could say then.

As soon as he thought about it, he felt a surge of heat.

His mind was filled with images of her kicking and biting like a madwoman. Even with her hands bound, she didn't have a moment's peace. Men are probably rebellious at heart; the more she struggled, the more aroused he became, fueled by an endless desire to conquer.

He wanted her to be unable to escape him even if she cried and screamed, and then watch her struggle with desire, her alluring appearance making him unable to pull himself away.

He reached up and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Say it again."

The voice was low and deep, with a threatening tone.

Xu Qingcheng bit her lip lightly. "Fu Jingting, I'm not as free as you. I have a lot of things to do and I'm very busy. I don't have time to play games with you. It's over between us. Let's let each other go and not get entangled. Don't call me again and don't bother me."

As she finished speaking rapidly, she paused to coax Xu Yuan, pulling a toy phone model out of the toy box for her.

Then Xiao Xuyuan finally stopped making a fuss, holding a toy phone to her ear and pretending to make a phone call, "Hello, hello."

Hearing the child's sweet voice on the phone, Fu Jingting paused for a moment, but since he couldn't hear it clearly, he didn't think much of it.

I was very dissatisfied with the distance she created in her words.

"I told you I have no intention of letting you go, so don't try to test my patience," Fu Jingting sneered. "Xie Yin's X hasn't even established a firm foothold in China yet, so it's normal for something to go wrong."

"You!" Xu Qingcheng's blood rushed to her head in anger. "What do you want to do? What's he doing to you?"

"It's in my way."

Xu Qingcheng closed her eyes tightly. She was so angry that her hand holding the phone was trembling. But some people just don't listen to reason. They just act badly and domineeringly, taking advantage of their capital and status to do whatever they want. What can you do?

Even a higher-ranking official can have the power to crush someone.

The difference between them is more than just one level.

"It's a promise, we shouldn't involve others in our affairs." Xu Qingcheng said weakly, her voice lowered.

Fu Jingting's face darkened as he heard her suddenly lower her voice. He could tell that her seemingly ambiguous compromise was entirely because she didn't want to involve others.

This realization infuriated Fu Jingting.

His voice turned cold. "Are you coming to me, or should I come pick you up?"

Xu Qingcheng felt her head spinning and her heart rate soaring. She said calmly, "No. I don't have time right now, I can't go."

She couldn't go there, but that wasn't an excuse either; she still had Yuanyuan to take care of.

Fu Jingting seemed to know that it wouldn't be easy to get her to come willingly, so he didn't say anything more, only saying, "Come see me tomorrow."

"I'm not free tomorrow either."

Fu Jingting chuckled, "I know you're always busy. But that's okay, I can come to X to find you."

"Fu Jingting!" Xu Qingcheng roared angrily, her voice rising sharply at the end, her heart pounding with rage. She hung up the phone in a fit of rage.

Turning her head, she saw Xu Yuan blinking her big eyes at her.

Xu Qingcheng covered her face with her hands, squatted down and clapped her hands. Xu Yuan ran over, hugged her mother's neck and kissed her cheek.

Her little mouth was so soft that the restlessness in my heart quickly subsided.

Xu Qingcheng pursed her lips, knowing that getting angry with Fu Jingting would probably be pointless.

But she couldn't maintain this abnormal relationship with him.

Xu Qingcheng thought for a moment and then called Xie Yin to remind him, "You should pay more attention to business matters during this period."

"What's wrong? What rumors have you heard?" Xie Yin sat down on the sofa. "X hasn't expanded its business much yet, so there shouldn't be any problems."

"I'm afraid someone might be malicious. Anyway, be careful." Xu Qingcheng's voice was muffled.

Xie Yin paused, then suddenly asked, "Did something happen to you?"

"No, don't overthink it. I just want you to be more careful. The business environment in China is different from that abroad." Xu Qingcheng was a little annoyed, but she couldn't say it directly. The relationship between her and Fu Jingting was simply too complicated to unravel.

"The Xie family has always been based in China. It's just that I'm doing some small-scale shady stuff abroad. Don't worry."

Xie Yin didn't take it seriously.

Xu Qingcheng thought about it and agreed. Putting her heart back for the time being, she said, "Aunt Zhong has already contacted Dr. Pang. He will be back in a week. He can introduce me to him then."

"Really? That's great!" Xie Yin couldn't help but be happy for her. "You can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Don't worry, there will be good news."

"Yes, this is probably the best news I've heard in a while." Xu Qingcheng's eyes were a little moist as she hugged Xu Yuan.

Judging from her tone, Xie Yin could tell that although she was happy, something was clearly veiling her joy.

"I was worried you might be too upset to tell your former mother-in-law," Xie Yin asked with a smile. "Did you tell her about Xu Yuan's identity?"

"I didn't say anything, I just said it was a friend's child. She didn't ask any more questions."

"Wishing that I'll be cured is more important than anything else."

That's true.

Fu Jingting still hung the two trench coats back in the closet.

I recall it happening twice.

Once, on the hospital rooftop, he tore his clothes and threw them at her.

Another time, she was in his office, her skirt was torn, and she left brazenly wearing his clothes.

A faint smile played at the corners of the man's eyes, a smile that remained unnoticed in the dark night.

……

The preparation for X-Unknown's studio in China is progressing smoothly, and they are basically ready to start working. The next step is business expansion.

Several major fashion shows in China will be starting next quarter, and X Unknown needs to do a lot of preliminary work to qualify for entry in order to get a share of the pie.

The Gu family occupies a significant portion of the fashion industry, with Gu You Zhenpin's name appearing on the list of organizers for several fashion shows. However, the Gu family already has a jewelry division, and even Xie Yin himself felt there was no need to expend effort in this area.

However, they suddenly received a cooperation announcement from Guyou Zhenpin.

Adhering to the principle of creating the most wonderful show by encouraging diverse perspectives and engaging a wide range of ideas, we will collaborate with outstanding designers from various jewelry industries to design the jewelry for the show.

This was essentially a small competition, except the participants were companies and designers.

Time was tight, but it was an excellent opportunity.

Xu Qingcheng received a call from Xie Yin early in the morning, asking her to come over immediately to attend the briefing session for Gu's Premium Products.

Gu Feibai stopped and looked at the woman inside through the glass door. She was wearing cropped white trousers and a nude pink chiffon blouse, the hem of which was tucked into her waistband, revealing a tiny waist that was truly dazzling.

Young Master Gu couldn't move his feet. The woman inside had her back to him, and even sitting down, her hips looked pert. Her legs were crossed under the conference table, and the slender white ankles between her white high heels and trouser legs made his heart itch.

She's an absolute beauty.

He casually beckoned someone over, "Who's that?"

"X, the unknown designer, came with Xie Yin."

Gu Feibai looked next to her and saw that it really was Xie Yin.

He clicked his tongue, feeling that Xie Yin's name had been appearing in his ears quite often lately.

Gu Feibai walked over to greet him, but Xie Yin saw him first. "Young Master Gu, long time no see."

"Mr. Yin, it's been a long time." Gu Feibai's real intention was not what he said, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Xu Qingcheng happened to turn her face.

Gu Feibai, "..."

Holy crap! Isn't that Fu Jingting's ex-wife?!

The romantic feelings I had were instantly gone.

"Xu Qingcheng, designer of X Unknown." Xu Qingcheng introduced herself.

Xu Qingcheng didn't know Gu Feibai because he had been exiled abroad for the past few years.

However, Gu Feibai was no stranger to Xu Qingcheng. Beautiful women are naturally a topic of conversation among men, especially since he was her senior from school. Gu Feibai knew her when she was still Ye Tinghong's girlfriend.

Even though she's currently single, he wouldn't dare to lay a finger on her.

This is a simple briefing, and the meeting was arranged at the last minute in the Gu family's conference room.

In such a short time, nearly a hundred people came to the scene, which shows the influence of Gu's Premium Products. Naturally, the competition is also fierce.

Fu Jingting received a message from Gu Feibai, inviting him to visit and inspect Gu's Premium Products and discuss investment business.

"I'm busy."

Fu Jingting replied with two words, showing no respect whatsoever.

Gu Feibai wasn't annoyed. "Are you sure you're not coming?"

Fu Jingting ignored all such pointless conversations and didn't even wait for a reply.

Gu Feibai clicked his tongue twice, then had no choice but to resort to his trump card, "Never mind then, it's rather awkward for you ex-wives and ex-husbands to meet."

The statement is vague and ambiguous.

Fu Jingting stared at the words "ex-wife and ex-husband" for a long time before replying, "I have a social engagement at the Donglin Shi Mansion tonight."

Gu Feibai's mouth was practically splitting open to his ears. He couldn't hide it from Gu Feibai's nose. Ever since that day when they inexplicably asked him about Xie Yin and X unknown, he had felt something was off.

As expected, there was an affair.

"What a coincidence, I also have a social engagement over there. I'll let you know then." Gu Feibai's fingers flew across the keyboard, typing away smoothly. "Looks like we won't have time for a detailed discussion tonight. How about I schedule another time for us to talk about the investment?"

You set the time.

Gu Feibai slapped his thigh, feeling damn satisfied!

It's incredibly difficult to get anything out of Fu Jingting.

Putting down his phone, Gu Feibai sidled up to design director Chen Lu. "I've booked a table at Donglin Shifu tonight. Make sure to invite that designer from X. The others are up to you."

Chen Lu glanced at Xu Qingcheng, smiled at him, and pointed her slender finger at his chest. "So, Mr. Gu has taken a liking to you?"

"This is too good for me, young master." Gu Feibai chuckled, moving Chen Lu's wrist away. "Director Chen, please don't waste this feast of mine."

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

The briefing ended, and Xu Qingcheng pouted, "The Gu family's event was too shrewd. They got all the top designers in the country to come and set up a stage for them, which also boosted the Gu family's reputation."

"You can't even see it. Even if you know Gu's scheme, you might still want a piece of the pie. I've seen it; it'll be a big show, with everyone scrambling to get a piece of the pie." Xie Yin looked at her. "Are you confident?"

Xu Qingcheng looked up. "Are you planning to have me represent X in the competition?"

"Who else but you? I, as the boss, can't personally go and make it seem like X has no one to rely on, that would be too low-class!" Xie Yin laughed. While other companies were on high alert, he wasn't nervous at all.

Xu Qingcheng glanced at him with a smile, "Alright, then I will definitely live up to your mission."

This competition is an opportunity for X, and also for the designer herself. Xu Qingcheng understood Xie Yin's intention in giving her this opportunity, so she no longer made a pretentious refusal.

Xu Qingcheng went to register for the event.

Chen Lu, the design director of Gu's Fine Art, came over and said, "Ms. Xu, please wait a moment. I have reserved a table for tonight for all the registered designers to discuss the design theme."

Xu Qingcheng couldn't refuse and was also afraid of missing some competition information, so she simply agreed and told Xie Yin to go back first.

The private room at Donglin Shifu accommodated a dozen or so people, all of whom were well-known designers.

Xu Qingcheng entered this industry late, so it's normal that people aren't familiar with her. She's happy to remain invisible and listen to their conversations.

The man seated at the head of the table was Gu Feibai, a man whose silver tongue had amused the group of men and women.

Xu Qingcheng didn't even discuss work matters, and just wanted to find an excuse to leave. There was a little one waiting at home, so she was getting impatient.

Before she could say she was leaving, the door to the room was pushed open, and Fu Jingting came in with a wine glass. He must have drunk quite a bit that night, as you couldn't tell from his face, but his eyes had a flirtatious and wicked look about them.

According to the past... Xu Qingcheng bit her tongue hard, who cares about the past.

She frowned, wishing she could shrink herself down and hide so that no one could see her.

He told her to contact him yesterday, but she did it on purpose today by not answering his calls.

The man was sensible; after calling twice and not being answered, he stopped calling.

But seeing how familiar he was with Gu Feibai, I realized this circle was really small.

Gu Feibai smiled broadly and invited him to sit down, then had an extra chair added next to Xu Qingcheng.

Even though the other person sat down beside her and didn't even glance at her, Xu Qingcheng still involuntarily tensed up.

Many of those present knew him, and without Gu Feibai needing to introduce them, their eager eyes were fixed on him.

Xu Qingcheng couldn't hear their pleasantries; her mind was only focused on how to slip away. The moment she moved, her wrist was grabbed.

Before her buttocks had even fully left the seat, she was firmly seated back down. Xu Qingcheng struggled fiercely, but couldn't break free.

The two men's hands were hidden under the table. Xu Qingcheng didn't dare to struggle too much, for fear of attracting attention. But not only could she not break free, her hands were also held by him.

He gripped her hand tightly, and his fingers shamelessly caressed her palm.

Xu Qingcheng's face darkened.

She pinched his hand hard with her fingers, but the man didn't even flinch.

Only when she pinched him really hard did Fu Jingting glance at her, asking, "Why is it only Miss Xu who's drinking fruit wine?"