It wasn't until Lu Luochen's figure disappeared as the elevator doors closed that Wen Sining, who had been sitting upright all this time, slowly relaxed her back. Looking utterly exhausted, she slumped into her chair.
Dealing with Lu Luochen was more tiring than dealing with a bunch of wily old foxes. If Lu Luochen had stayed any longer, one of them would surely have snapped today.
Wen Sining let out a long, heavy sigh. She looked up at Xiao Zhan sitting beside her and asked, puzzled, "Shouldn't you be shooting an advertisement right now? What are you doing back here?"
Xiao Zhan told her about the car accident involving the client's director and cameraman. Wen Sining nodded in understanding and then asked, "So you rushed back to the company to see me. Is there something you need?"
"Can't I come to see you if there's nothing?" Xiao Zhan tilted his head slightly and gave her a soft smile. "Don't tell me that now we're just a boss and an employee?"
"Hey, let me correct you. We're not a boss and an employee anymore. You should have signed the contract with Donna, right? Now, we're partners."
Every year, Mo Xin would provide Xiao Zhan with resources as stipulated in the contract, and in return, Xiao Zhan would bring profits to the company. It was a mutually beneficial partnership.
"So, my partner, you didn't come back just to chat with me, did you?" Wen Sining shrugged, a helpless smile on her face.
Xiao Zhan wiped the joking look off his face and opened his Weibo page to show her.
"You and Lu Luochen were photographed, and it's trending on Weibo. I asked someone to try and suppress the trend on my way back, but since it's all spontaneous discussion from netizens, the effect wasn't ideal."
The trend had originally climbed into the top three. After the suppression efforts, it dropped to outside the top twenty, but now it had climbed back up to the tenth place. If there wasn't a bigger news story, the trend about Wen Sining and Lu Luochen was likely to keep rising.
Wen Sining casually clicked on one of the trending topics and took a quick look. She was only slightly shocked for a moment before returning to her nonchalant attitude.
"It's just the netizens having fun on their own. As long as we don't respond, the hype won't last long. We don't need to worry about them."
Wen Sining said nonchalantly, as if the comments weren't about her.
"Actually, I came back to ask you about you and Lu Luochen..."
"We're not divorced yet," Wen Sining said without hesitation.
She regarded Xiao Zhan as a friend. Since this was something that people would find out sooner or later, she didn't mind telling Xiao Zhan now.
"So you're really planning to get divorced. Why? Did he bully you?"
Due to the angle, when Lu Luochen misunderstood Wen Sining of having an affair the night before, they were standing side-on to the camera. It was impossible to tell what they were saying from their lip movements. All people knew was that they had an argument about something.
Wen Sining shook her head. "I don't want to talk about him now. Let's change the subject."
"Cough, Sining, you should know how I feel about you. Since you're getting divorced from Lu Luochen, can I pursue you after your divorce?" Xiao Zhan suddenly said.
Wen Sining, who was drinking water, immediately spat it out in shock.
"Xiao Zhan, do you know what you're saying?"
"I do. I'm confessing my love to you. I like you. I've liked you since the first time I saw you when we were kids. I want to be with you."
Wen Sining was stunned by the honesty and blatant love in his eyes. It took her a long time to come to her senses. With a complex look on her face, she said, "But Xiao Zhan, I've always regarded you as my friend."
"That's why I want to pursue you. Sining, give me a chance, okay? I can promise you that I'll only start pursuing you formally after your divorce. Before that, I won't do anything that will cause you trouble."
Xiao Zhan's expectant gaze was like a burning flame, too hot for Wen Sining to meet.
She jumped to her feet so abruptly that she almost knocked the chair over.
"I'm worried about Donna staying in the hospital alone. I'll go and check on her."
Saying that, she walked out of the room in a hurry.
It was really embarrassing. She was twenty-three years old, and this was the first time she had ever received a confession. Right now, her mind felt like it was being stirred by a blender, all jumbled up.
Suddenly, in her muddled state, Wen Sining didn't notice the chair in front of her. Her high heels caught on it, and she fell straight into Xiao Zhan's arms.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to," Wen Sining's face was as red as a cooked shrimp. She was floundering to get up, but the more panicked she was, the worse the situation became.
She not only failed to get up from Xiao Zhan's arms but also managed to tangle her hair in the button of his collar. Every time she tried to get up, her scalp would hurt.
"Don't move. I'll help you untangle your hair," Xiao Zhan placed one hand on Wen Sining's back to keep her still, while the other hand groped to untangle her hair from the button bit by bit.
"Is it still not done? If you can't untangle it, just pull the hair out," Wen Sining was so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself. Her face was so red that it was about to explode.
Noticing the frustration in Wen Sining's voice, Xiao Zhan couldn't help but smile.
"It'll be done soon. Don't move. You'll just get tangled up again," Xiao Zhan said softly.
A few minutes later, Wen Sining's hair was finally freed from the button. She got up quickly and took a few steps back, putting some distance between them.
"Cough, well, I'll go to the hospital to see Donna now."
Wen Sining blurted out nervously and was about to leave. Just then, Xiao Zhan stood up. After straightening his clothes, he said, "I'll go with you."
"What do you want to go for!" Wen Sining almost jumped up.
"Sining, have you forgotten? Donna got injured because of me. It wouldn't be right if I didn't go and see her, would it?"
Wen Sining came to her senses and scratched her face awkwardly.
"Oh, right. It would be inappropriate if you didn't go. Since you're going to the hospital, I won't go. I just remembered that I have a few documents to approve. I'll go and do that."
Saying that, Wen Sining rushed back to her office as if there was a dog chasing her.
Watching her fleeing back, Xiao Zhan finally couldn't hold back his smile. A brilliant smile slowly spread across his face.
As soon as Wen Sining returned to her office, she rushed into the bathroom. She splashed her face with cold water roughly to cool down her burning cheeks.
She sat back in her chair and randomly picked up a document to read. A few minutes passed, but her eyes were still stuck on the first word.
She had no intention of reading the document at all. Her mind was filled with what had happened in the meeting room just now.
As she thought about it, her face started to turn red again uncontrollably.