Chapter 26

"Xie Jin, you're filthy. I don't want you anymore."

These words pierced Xie Jin's heart like a sharp knife, twisting and stabbing, over and over again, until all the blood drained out. She had spoken these words herself, and they were even harder for him to bear than her sudden disappearance a year ago.

Back then, at least he could deceive himself, thinking that she must have encountered some trouble, that she didn't truly mean to reject him, and that she would surely give him a reasonable explanation.

But today, the reason for her departure was right in front of him.

She simply didn't want him anymore.

The lamplight streamed through the car window, casting mottled shadows. Xie Jin gazed at Su Tao, who was drunk and sleeping soundly in his arms, feeling a mix of emotions.

She slept so obediently that, if not for the trace of a tear on her face, he would have almost believed that his obedient little peach had returned.

He wiped away that glistening tear with his fingertip, his eyes filled with anguish.

"That person sent that photo to Xiaotao as well." In the quiet car, Xie Jin suddenly spoke to Jin Chuiwen, who was driving.

Jin Chuiwen was taken aback, his eyes darting around.

He immediately understood which photo the boss was referring to.

It was probably the one where Xiaotao had come to the company. The boss had asked him to lead the Information Department colleagues in investigating an email account. Later, he found out that an anonymous email with a kissing photo had been sent to the boss, but they hadn't been able to find any leads.

As a result, the boss had transferred Qin, the secretary.

And now that person had sent the kissing photo to Xiaotao? No wonder she had left without a word.

Who was this person? What was their motive?

"Should the boss continue the investigation?" Jin Chuiwen hated the person who sent the photo, seeing how the boss had been devastated by Xiaotao's departure.

"Yes," surprisingly, Xie Jin didn't explode in anger. Instead, his tired and weary voice carried a sense of resignation. "Jin Chuiwen, do you believe me when I say I didn't kiss Qin Xuexi?"

Jin Chuiwen tightened his grip on the steering wheel, his lips twitching. In reality, he didn't believe it.

He himself had experienced moments of drunkenness, where memories could be hazy and fragmented. He might have kissed someone without remembering it once he sobered up.

And there was photographic evidence this time, albeit a bit blurry, but it was clear that the two of them had kissed.

Xie Jin smiled bitterly at Jin Chuiwen's hesitation. "If you don't believe me, she won't believe me either."

Xie Jin lowered his head and looked at Su Tao in his arms. The slender contours of her cheeks appeared softer. "I had someone analyze the photo. It was taken from a video, which is why the image quality is poor. If we can find the original video, it will surely prove my innocence."

Jin Chuiwen pursed his lips, neither confirming nor denying. Considering the need to secure their livelihoods, he reluctantly nodded. "Yes, Boss, I'll start investigating right away. I'll clear your name."

After getting out of the car, Xie Jin carried Su Tao while crossing a suspension bridge.

She clung tightly to him, her arms wrapped around his waist. It seemed that the scent of sandalwood on his body brought her comfort. Even though he was not walking steadily on the bridge, she continued to sleep soundly.

Xie Jin hesitated for a moment outside his own room before finally stepping inside while still holding her.

He only turned on a dim lamp, and a faint light from the night-lit pool outside seeped in.

On the table was the hangover medicine that Xie Jin had asked Jin Chuiwen to prepare for him before he set out on his journey. But when he picked it up, he hesitated.

Would she never see him again once she was sober?

He remembered the resolute look on her face when she showed him the photo, and Xie Jin slapped himself hard, the loud sound echoing through the entire room.

He hated himself for leaving just because of the photo of her kissing someone else. How cold and painful her heart must have been at that time.

If it had been him, seeing a photo of her kissing someone else, he would have wanted to kill someone!

Xie Jin stroked Su Tao's hair, looking at her affectionately, his throat choked with emotion. "I'm sorry, Xiaotao, I didn't know..."

I didn't know how much pain you had gone through, and I even blamed you for leaving without a word.

His words were swallowed up by tears.

Su Tao was murmuring something in her sleep, and Xie Jin wiped away his tears, leaning his ear closer to her mouth.

Suddenly, he felt a nibble on his ear, and Xie Jin's ear instantly grew hot, the heat spreading rapidly throughout his body.

His throat rolled as he looked at Su Tao in the dim light.

Her red lips were naturally closed as she slept soundly, and he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

"Xiaotao, Xiaotao," Xie Jin called softly, feeling quite sleazy. Did he really expect Su Tao to do something to him while she was drunk?

He would never do anything to her without her consent.

Suddenly, Su Tao's soft hand covered his back, climbing up his arm to his chest and reaching his throat. He grabbed her wrist, swallowing hard, and put her arm back under the covers, tucking her in.

Xie Jin got up and went to the balcony, letting the cool breeze blow on him. He felt much better.

He poured a cup of warm water on the coffee table and returned to the bedroom, only to find that Su Tao had kicked off all the covers.

She was probably hot and was pulling at her own collar.

Xie Jin put down the cup and pulled down her skirt, covering her slender, straight legs. Then he sat on the edge of the bed, lifting her head to give her some water.

Su Tao seemed to feel the coolness on Xie Jin's body and rubbed her face against his chest, her arm climbing up to wrap around his neck. She clung to him.

Her red lips came to his ear, and his cold ear instantly grew hot.

As if she couldn't feel the cold anymore, Su Tao explored to the side, rubbing her hot cheeks against his face, warm eyes, and finally finding his lips, which were still relatively cool in comparison.

Xie Jin's body stiffened, his hands weakly trying to remove her hands from around his neck, but he couldn't.

"Umm... Xiaotao..." Xie Jin's mouth was blocked by her, and he couldn't say a complete sentence.

In the dim light, Su Tao's pale face turned red, her weak body almost entangled with his. Xie Jin didn't want to do anything that she would regret the next day.

But he couldn't push her away because he had no strength left.

Holding her, being kissed by her, how could he have the strength to push her away?

Xie Jin was being passive for the first time, letting Su Tao take the lead the whole way.

In her dream, Su Tao felt like she had gone back to school, to her first year when she first met Xie Jin.

They were on a cold and windy bridge, two hearts with different wounds blending together, able to understand each other.

The unfamiliar young man stood on the railing and reached out to her. Without hesitation, she grabbed his hand and climbed up onto the railing.

She knew that the young man in front of her wanted to jump off, and she didn't actually want to jump either. But she didn't know where her confidence came from and felt that if she was with him, he might not want to die.

As expected, she was right. The young man got off the railing and hugged her.

He opened his coat and let her hide in his arms. She felt that his embrace was warm, getting hotter and hotter, and she leaned out to kiss his icy lips.

Suddenly, a cry rang out. Zhang Qiguang's voice came from the side. "Su Tao Tao, look at who's under you. It's your most hated Xie Jin!"

"No," Su Tao said, not stopping her aggressive actions. "He's my little brother, not that bastard Xie Jin."

"It's Xie Jin, open your eyes and take a look."

"No, don't disturb us, Brother Zhang!"

"Brother Zhang!" Su Tao only shouted the last two words before leaving the dream and quickly falling asleep again.

Xie Jin: "......!"

Did she just call out "Brother Zhang" while she was on top of him?

Xie Jin, drenched in sweat and with a face that had turned from red to white, stared incredulously at Su Tao, who was limp on him.

This realization made Xie Jin suddenly feel like a deflated balloon, unable to inflate himself.

---

The first ray of sunlight shone on Su Tao's face, and even with a hangover, her biological clock of many years made her slowly wake up.

She opened her somewhat heavy eyelids and wondered why she hadn't pulled the curtains yesterday.

Thinking of the curtains, Su Tao became a little more sober and remembered that she had a fight with Xie Jin yesterday, then drank some alcohol. After that, she didn't remember anything. How did she get back to the hotel?

Finally, her heavy eyelids were lifted, and a stunning face appeared in front of her. With one hand propping up his head, he raised an eyebrow at her and his deep, dark eyes were staring at her intently.

Seeing the person in front of her, Su Tao's heart suddenly jumped. Looking down, the quilt covered his waist, and his bare upper body indicated something.

With a gulp, Su Tao swallowed and looked down at herself, her pupils suddenly dilating. She immediately slid into the quilt, tightly wrapping herself up.

"You slept with me last night," Xie Jin said, his eyes resentful and gloomy.

With his words, Su Tao's mind suddenly became unusually clear. She also merged her dream and reality together.

She silently buried her face in the pillow, admitting the truth in his words.

"We're both adults, don't worry about it," Su Tao's muffled voice came from under the pillow.

"You called out another man's name while you were on top of me," his voice was low, like the calm before the storm.

Su Tao jumped out from under the pillow and met his dark eyes weakly. "Who did I call?"

Xie Jin raised his hand abruptly and lightly poked her forehead on the side without any injury, saying angrily, "Who do you think you called?"

"What did you dream about last night?" Xie Jin asked, appearing frank and straightforward, questioning her.

Su Tao's eyes darted around, and she twisted towards the edge of the bed, reaching for the clothes scattered on the floor. She slipped under the blanket and quickly put them on.

Su Tao emerged from under the blanket, ran her fingers through her hair, and calmly left the bedroom.

As she passed by the dressing mirror at the door, she noticed a strawberry mark on her neck and hurriedly grabbed a towel from the bathroom to cover it. After checking herself in the mirror and finding no flaws, she opened the door.

"Is your senior from school Zhang Qi Guang? The owner of Jingyang's?" Xie Jin, who had followed her without her noticing, stood behind her with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Su Tao turned around and glanced at him. His entire upper body was covered in purple-red hickeys. She quickly closed her eyes and turned her face away, unable to bear looking at him directly.

Su Tao cleared her throat and calmly said, "Let's forget about what happened yesterday."

Then she quickly opened the door, intending to sneak back to her own room without being noticed.

But as soon as she opened the door, Tong MingXuan and Xiao Shan passed by the door. They froze when they saw Su Tao and Xie Jin standing behind her.

"Taotao, Sister Taotao," the two of them were momentarily at a loss for how to greet them.

Su Tao calmly tightened the towel around her and smiled gently, "Where are you two going?"

She felt that as long as she didn't panic, others wouldn't be able to tell that she was flustered.

Tong MingXuan and Xiao Shan replied, "We're... we're going to record the program."

Su Tao nodded and said seriously, "Oh, I was discussing work with Mr. Xie. Don't misunderstand."

Tong MingXuan and Xiao Shan suddenly realized and clapped their hands.

"Sister, you're so dedicated."

"So hardworking."

For the sake of their resources, Sister Tao went to such lengths. She had sacrificed too much for them.

Amid their weird applause, Su Tao returned to her room with a dark expression.

The two of them also escaped under Xie Jin's calm gaze.

---

Even in the dense jungle, the weather in July was hot.

But the cast and crew of the entire production team noticed that Su Tao and Xie Jin were both wearing high-necked shirts underneath their clothes, which made them wonder if it was a new trend for the season.

During breaks in filming, Zhou Ci bought a lot of food and drinks, including snacks, local specialties, and hard-to-find items. He said it was courtesy of Mr. Xie.

Initially, everyone thought it was just a perk, but upon closer inspection, they realized that many of the items were expensive and required queuing up to purchase.

This level of thoughtfulness seemed more like a little trick to please a girlfriend.

In fact, after observing Xie Jin's personal involvement in the filming for so many days, everyone more or less understood that he was doing it for Su Tao's sake.

So they all knew that these treats were undoubtedly thanks to someone's influence. After receiving the food, they all smiled at Su Tao, making her feel awkward.

Shen Ou specially brought over two items for Su Tao to choose from and eat, but she declined both.

She whispered in Su Tao's ear, "Mr. Xie has been staring at you. Why does his gaze look like he wants to devour you? Did you two have a fight?"

Su Tao glanced at the man standing tall not far away, looking at her with a gloomy expression.

She wasn't used to the occasional smiles and attention from the crowd, let alone being stared at like prey by someone. She got up and left the recording site.

Su Tao wandered aimlessly and eventually arrived at a restaurant by the creek. She ordered a pot of tea and a plate of fruit, finally able to sit alone for a while.

Her phone rang, and it was a video call from Zhang Qi Guang. Su Tao answered.

In the video, Zhang Qi Guang wore red sunglasses and silver earrings, and winked at her.

"Su Tao Tao, am I getting younger and younger?"

Su Tao rolled her eyes. "You're not getting any younger. I'm the one doing all the worrying."

"How come you haven't taken down that young man yet?"

When Su Tao was negotiating the contract, she made a promise with Zhang Qi Guang to sign him.

She nodded with a bad complexion and a dull look. It seemed like a temporary setback.

"Of course, it's just a temporary setback. Su Tao Tao, there's nothing you can't achieve. Do what you want to do, and I'll always support you!"

Although the encouragement sounded hollow and meaningless, it was still comforting for Su Tao, who had suffered a series of setbacks. She felt that Zhang Qi Guang was the best.

"Qi Guang~"

It was the first time Su Tao spoke to him so softly. Zhang Qi Guang was taken aback and felt that this kid had been greatly stimulated. "Hey, I'm here. What's up?"

"I dreamed about you last night..."

Before she could finish her sentence, a flawless face suddenly appeared on the screen. The thin face, fair complexion, and red lips with a little beauty effect, along with the cold eyes emitting a gloomy aura, made the person look like a species that should not exist in the mortal world.

"What the hell is this? A vampire?"

Zhang Qi Guang's phone camera was spinning, as if he had thrown his phone.

Su Tao looked at the screen and saw Xie Jin, who had appeared mysteriously behind her. She was at a loss for words and didn't know what to say.

Just like the "vampire" that Zhang Qi Guang had just mentioned, Xie Jin slowly turned his face and looked at her snow-white neck, as if he was going to bite it.

"What did you dream about him?"