Indeed, because everyone in the Lu family was so busy, it seemed they hadn't formally announced their relationship to the family yet.
The dramatic, drawn-out "Ooh" from her best friend, Lu Jingxi, made Xu Yanxia blush a little.
Lu Jingming, however, looked completely unfazed as he spoke to his sister on the other end of the video call. "What do you mean 'successfully climbed the ranks'? I call this 'where there is a will, there is a way.' Also, who gave you permission to call her 'baby'?"
On the other end, Lu Jingxi scoffed at him and said, "Brother, don't get too carried away! Even if you marry Xiao Xia in the future, I can still call her baby. This is between us girls; keep your nose out of it!"
Saying that, she deliberately called out to Xu Yanxia several more times, "Baby, baby, baby, baby."
Xu Yanxia could only laugh and agree to each one.
After they finished laughing, she asked Lu Jingxi, "By the way, Xixi, what did you need to talk to me about?"
Lu Jingxi let out an "oh," finally steering the conversation back on track. "I wanted to let you know that if you want to sign a contract with Qiwei for that food variety show, it's best not to negotiate the price yourself. You're too honest and easily lowballed by them. If necessary, my agent can help you negotiate. I've already spoken to her, and she won't charge you a service fee."
"Plus, you can raise your asking price a bit. I heard that Qiwei's rival, Heguang, is also planning to produce a similar show recently and really wants to hire you too!"
"Understood,"
Xu Yanxia nodded. She was still pondering whether to ask Lu Jingxi's agent for help when Lu Jingming told his sister, "There's no need for your agent. Xiao Xia has her own."
"Who?"
Lu Jingxi asked immediately.
"Me,"
Lu Jingming said with a completely earnest expression. "I'll just negotiate with Qiwei on her behalf."
Xu Yanxia, "..."
He was the dignified CEO of such a massive conglomerate, and he was going to haggle on her behalf with a company he sponsored?
"You're done for, Brother,"
On the screen, Lu Jingxi immediately clicked her tongue a few times, shaking her head with a look of disdain. "You are completely love-struck right now! I bet you'll be totally whipped by your wife in the future!"
"So what?"
Lu Jingming didn't blush at all. "Haven't you heard that listening to your wife brings prosperity?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Queen Xixi on the screen continued to rub her arms in disgust. "I can't take it anymore, I've got goosebumps all over! Alright, I've said what I needed to say. You two go back to being lovey-dovey. Bye!"
With that, she waved goodbye and hung up the video call.
The room fell quiet once again.
Xu Yanxia put her phone down, only for Lu Jingming to catch her hand. He asked, "Why did you cover my mouth just now?"
Xu Yanxia shot him an amused glance. "If I hadn't covered it, you would have blurted it out."
Lu Jingming, "...Second Brother can call you baby, but I can't?"
Xu Yanxia raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I say it's different between us girls?"
"...Alright."
He had no choice but to shift the topic back to business. "Based on what Second Brother said, do you want to wait for Heguang's invitation? With two companies competing, you might be able to drive up the price."
Xu Yanxia replied, "I still lean toward the current one with Qiwei. For one, I already recorded with them once, so I'm more familiar with their staff, and everyone is quite easy to get along with."
"Furthermore, this script is genuinely very appealing to me."
"Alright then,"
Lu Jingming nodded and said, "Forward the proposal to me later. I'll study it carefully this afternoon and talk to them."
"Are you really going to negotiate for me?"
Xu Yanxia said, "Wouldn't that be beneath you? You're their sponsor, after all."
"How is that beneath me?"
He smiled and said, "Business is business. I wouldn't feel at ease letting someone else negotiate for you anyway. Besides, I can have a chat with them, and if it really has potential, I can continue to invest."
"After all, it perfectly aligns with our food and beverage project."
"...Alright."
He was indeed much more professional when it came to investments like this.
Xu Yanxia nodded, picked up her phone, and directly forwarded the proposal to his WeChat.
Glancing at the time, she reminded him, "It's past one-thirty. Shouldn't you be heading back to work?"
"No rush."
Lu Jingming replied, "There's still something important that hasn't been finished."
"What important..."
Before Xu Yanxia could finish her sentence, he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and captured her lips.
It was just like yesterday.
No, it should be said, it was even deeper than yesterday.
He entangled her, pressing against her so much that she could barely catch her breath.
"Mmm..."
She tried to speak a few times, but her words were completely drowned out by his gentle yet domineering assault.
Until a certain moment, his phone began to buzz and vibrate.
She finally pushed him away, struggling to steady her breathing as she said, "You have a call..."
But he chased after her, murmuring indistinctly, "I don't want to answer it..."
What the heck.
Xu Yanxia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had to put up a hand to block him, reminding him, "Aren't you really busy today? Don't delay important matters."
As soon as she finished speaking, the phone stopped vibrating.
Immediately after, it gave a short buzz, likely receiving a message.
Lu Jingming paused, then finally picked up his phone.
Xu Yanxia also quickly stood up from his lap.
Then, she heard the voice of his excellent executive assistant, Wen Jiajun, coming from the phone's speaker: "The meeting is in half an hour. May I ask where you are, President? If you ran off on a date, please make sure to come back. This is the second review for the European project, it's very important."
Pfft...
Xu Yanxia laughed with a blushing face, reaching out to pull him. "Hurry up and go to work!"
"Alright."
Lu Jingming sighed, got up from the sofa, adjusted his clothes, and finally prepared to head out.
Xu Yanxia called out to him again, "Wait."
"What's wrong?"
He halted his steps and looked at her.
He watched as she quickly grabbed a tissue from the table, walked up to him, and raised her hand to wipe the corner of his lips.
Her pretty face was tinted a rosy pink.
Lu Jingming curled his lips into a smile, then lowered his head again to kiss her cheek, saying, "See you tonight."
He then turned to open the door.
Xu Yanxia reminded him from behind, "Drive safely."
"Mm."
He waved his hand and smilingly went to press the elevator button.
...
A short while later, Xu Yanxia stood by the window, watching his Maybach merge onto the main road. Then she took out her phone and opened the backend of Douyin.
First, she changed her profile picture to the latest photo she took a few days ago in her hometown with those two fat cats.
Then, she found the picture of the two lovers' knots they had woven together at the tea shop in the old town that day, and posted it.
And she accompanied it with a short caption—
"It's official."
...
