Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 326 - 307: Running Into Fu Da

Fu Jichen turned his head at the sound, and his indifferent expression instantly softened. He spoke softly to the person on the other end of the phone: "Tell Fu Yuling, I will not see her."

It’s been more than two months, and Fu Yuling still refuses to admit guilt, insisting on seeing Fu Jichen before she’ll explain those elusive details they couldn’t uncover. Fu Jichen is also very firm and will not see her again.

The assistant Xiao Yu saw Fu Jichen in the room and hurriedly brought in Shen Jianian’s things, quickly greeted Fu Jichen, and then slipped away.

Shen Jianian closed the door behind her, her gaze never leaving that person, still a bit incredulous: "Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?"

She had no mental preparation at all.

Fu Jichen raised his phone to indicate: "I called you, but you didn’t answer."

Shen Jianian covered her forehead, eyes filled with apology: "I forgot."

She generally doesn’t answer calls on set, with so many staff around, being overheard wouldn’t be good. Previously, at the training base, Fu Jichen called her, and Tong Yan saw it. Tong Yan took every opportunity to ask questions, so she became extra cautious after that.

She had initially planned to call him back after the shoot, but she was too tired, took a nap on the ride back, and completely forgot about it.

Fu Jichen wouldn’t blame her for such a small matter, he raised his hand to touch her cheek: "Why is your face red?"

Shen Jianian sneezed again, the feeling was all too familiar, she had been through it many times before. She smiled bitterly and said: "I might have caught a cold."

Fu Jichen’s expression turned serious, he called the front desk to send up a thermometer, measured her temperature, it was over thirty-eight degrees.

"How is Zhao Yu taking care of you?" He couldn’t suppress his temper, "If it’s no good, get someone else."

"It’s not Xiao Yu’s fault." Shen Jianian understood her assistant’s innocence, "This afternoon, we shot a scene after a shower, requiring wet hair. Because the co-actor kept NG-ing, the makeup artist kept spraying my hair with water, even my clothes were soaked through."

She wore icy wet clothes to shoot for most of the afternoon, the cold seeped into her body, with her constitution, it was inevitable she’d catch a cold. Even though it’s already late May.

Fu Jichen poured her a cup of hot water: "Drink it, I’ll take you to the hospital."

"I’ll just take some medicine." Shen Jianian sipped the hot water, "There’s some in the suitcase."

Fu Jichen’s lips were pressed into a thin line, he found the medicine in the suitcase, all stored in a waterproof storage bag, there were all kinds of cold medicines.

Shen Jianian took the medicine, went to take a hot bath in the bathroom, her head was dizzy, and she forgot to bring her pajamas in. Once done soaking, she wrapped herself in a bath towel: "Fu Jichen, are you outside?"

"Yes."

"...I didn’t bring my pajamas."

"Wait, I’ll find them for you."

Fu Jichen opened the wardrobe, took out a set of cotton pajamas, and pushed open the bathroom door.

The room was filled with steam, Shen Jianian’s washed hair was wrapped in a dry hair cap, her face, white with a tinge of red, still had water droplets on it, the white bath towel was wrapped around her chest, revealing delicate clavicles and round shoulders.

Fu Jichen was devoid of any desire, placed the pajamas on a bench, and instructed her to quickly put them on, then left.

Sitting on the sofa, he calculated that he needed to find a doctor to help Shen Jianian properly nurse her body.

Shen Jianian came out in her pajamas, holding a hairdryer. Seeing this, Fu Jichen got up, took the hairdryer, and sat her by the bed to blow her hair.

Whenever he did these things, there was always a sense of incongruity, his long fingers, adept at handling the stock market, threaded through her hair, gently combing, letting the warm air in, drying her hair.

His eyelashes were lowered, his expression focused, as if he were doing something meticulous.

Amidst the buzzing, Shen Jianian felt drowsy.

Two months ago, she had the silent treatment with Fu Jichen, or rather, she was giving him the cold shoulder. Because of the incident with Fu Yuling, she couldn’t get over it psychologically for a short time, unable to face Fu Jichen, so she chose to escape from him, living in a hotel near the training base like other actors.

Fu Jichen would come to find her every day after finishing company matters, and wouldn’t speak, playing the role of a mute, silently accompanying her.

Even though they faced each other, he had things he wanted to say to her, he had to pull out a pen from his pocket, and using the paper provided in the hotel room, write notes to her.

After half a month, he had written a thick stack, and she could no longer harden her heart, it was softened by him.

The noise of the hairdryer came to an abrupt stop, and Shen Jianian was drawn out from her memories.

Fu Jichen was combing her smooth long hair that draped over her back: "Hungry?"

Shen Jianian squinted her eyes: "I want to have some hot noodle soup."

Fu Jichen: "I’ll tell Aunt Cheng to cook and bring it over."

Cheng Jin’s suite had a small kitchen, with fresh ingredients supplied every day.

Shen Jianian nodded, and Fu Jichen went to put the hairdryer away.

The phone rang, Shen Jianian picked it up and looked, the crew chat was buzzing, messages were scrolling fast.

Tonight’s night shoot was canceled, a set wasn’t set up properly, someone suggested having a dinner party, and everyone responded enthusiastically.

Since the start of filming, everyone had been maintaining a state of high mental tension and hadn’t had a meal together, so they tagged all members.

Director Wang Kelun wanted to edit footage and didn’t join the fun. The real reason was, estimating that if he went, those people would be uncomfortable, it would be better to let them use the opportunity to relax.

Shen Jianian pursed her lips and typed: "I’m not going either, have fun you all."

Fu Feibai: "Come on, it’s rare for us to get together like this, who knows when the next time will be."

Tong Yan: "Yeah, come join us, I held you up for so long this afternoon, I want to apologize to you in person. You wouldn’t deny me this, would you?"

Shen Jianian wasn’t feeling well, having taken medicine that made her drowsy. She just wanted some noodle soup and to lie down to rest.

She replied to Fu Feibai: "I’ve already started eating on my end, so I’m not going."

Then she replied to Tong Yan: "No need to apologize, I didn’t mind, it was all for the sake of getting the scene right."

Fu Jichen came out from the bathroom after a shower, wrapped in a bathrobe, just in time to hear a knock on the door. He went over to open it, finding Cheng Jin with two portions of noodle soup and a bowl of sliced fruit.

"Thank you, sir, enjoy your rest." Fu Jichen took them with both hands and expressed his gratitude.

"When Jianian was hung on that harness, there might be marks on her, sir, don’t forget to remind her to apply the medicine."

After saying this, Cheng Jin left, not wanting to disturb the young couple’s time together.

Shen Jianian set down her phone to eat the noodles. The broth was a creamy bone broth, with thick slices of beef, fresh tender greens, and halved boiled eggs, alongside two boxes of homemade pickles from Aunt Cheng. Comfortably eating it all, Shen Jianian went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and then lay down in bed.

Fu Jichen pulled out some ointment from a medicine bag for bruises: "Aunt Cheng said you have injuries, let me take a look."

Shen Jianian hugged her clothes tighter, shrinking into the blanket: "I was filming a dialogue scene today, no harness work."

"Let me see." Fu Jichen was firm and left no room for argument.

With that said, he pulled back the blanket, unbuttoned her clothes, and indeed saw the marks left by the harness, glaring against her fair skin.

Fu Jichen furrowed his brow tight, poured the ointment into his palm, warmed it up, and applied it to her wounded areas.

Shen Jianian bashfully said, "I can do it myself." Two of the injuries were on her thighs, which made her feel embarrassed.

"Shen Jianian, I am your fiancé."

Fu Jichen said righteously, pulling at her waistband.

*

The crew had booked a luxurious private room at a nearby restaurant, with Fu Feibai picking up the tab.

At the dinner table, Tong Yan enjoyed the fresh crab, sighing contentedly, though she dared not indulge, worrying about edema affecting her appearance on camera the next day.

Thinking this way, she felt that Shen Jianian not coming was wise.

Tong Yan’s eyes glinted, loudly saying in an enlightened tone: "I know, did Jianian not come because she’s afraid of gaining weight? Unlike me, who has to force myself to get up an hour early for more exercise tomorrow to get a few more bites. Ah, this gluttonous mouth of mine..."

Another actress quickly covered her mouth: "You’ve reminded me, I really can’t eat anymore."

Tong Yan glanced over with a knowing smile: "That’s why Jianian’s smart. How can one resist such a feast, so she simply didn’t come."

"She must be exhausted." Fu Feibai wiped his mouth, raised his cup to drink, "I wasn’t on set to see, but I heard the scene NG’d over a dozen times this afternoon, anyone would be overwhelmed, and I heard she had to frequently wet her hair. Tsk, what a tough day."

Tong Yan’s face flushed red; it wasn’t over a dozen takes!

Who spread this rumor?! If the media caught wind of it, what would happen?

Seeing her expression change, Fu Feibai coughed and hurriedly said, "I’m not blaming you, don’t take it to heart, I’m just speculating why Shen Jianian didn’t come to the dinner."

Tong Yan smiled awkwardly: "I know, it’s my fault for causing Jianian to get tired. I’ll pack some food and visit her later."

Someone joked: "Feibai, why are you so concerned about Shen Jianian, do you like her?"

Another chimed in: "Yeah, I’ve seen you stand up for her more than once."

Having gotten familiar with each other, they weren’t as reserved as in the beginning, and some teasing slipped out.

Fu Feibai almost choked on his drink; he was only taking special care of Shen Jianian under his brother’s orders, who would have thought others would misunderstand.

He broke out in a cold sweat, waving his hand: "No, no, please don’t misunderstand, I have no such intentions towards her, not even a little bit!"

The group saw him nearly swear an oath and let it go with a laugh.

After the gathering, Tong Yan did what she said she would, packing a few of the restaurant’s signature dishes to bring back to the hotel, heading to Shen Jianian’s room, and knocking on the door.

With filming scheduled for the next morning, no one drank, and the night ended early, not even past nine; Shen Jianian likely wasn’t asleep.

Tong Yan checked her post-meal touch-up makeup with her phone’s front camera, adjusted her lipstick again while the door remained unopened, her lips instantly becoming as radiant as rose petals.

The door opened from the inside then, and Tong Yan quickly stuffed the lipstick back into her pocket, looking up with a frozen smile.

She saw a man inside wearing a white bathrobe, the crisscrossed neckline revealing tantalizing collarbones, his handsome face deep and cold, with a faint air of detachment.

Even Tong Yan’s young assistant behind her was stunned.