Sweet Wife Arrives: Mr. CEO, Please Pamper Me-Chapter 554: V427: For me, where the heart is, there he is... (3000)
In the end.
Wang Shuo and the others quickly left.
After all, faced with such a status, even though they all admired and liked Qiu Zhixuan, they dared not compete for a girlfriend with a high-ranking official’s son.
Are you kidding? Who dares in the same social circle?
Except for the deep and reserved one who glanced at Qiu Zhixuan, they showed no excess expression.
Qiu Zhixuan knew what they were thinking, but she didn’t mind.
After all, she didn’t plan on finding a partner, so it didn’t matter how others viewed her. Even if she wasn’t Mr. Bai’s girlfriend, she could occasionally use him as a shield.
In her current situation, without family backing and susceptible to anyone teasing her, using someone with a status like Mr. Bai to block all harassment from lesser identities saved a lot of trouble.
Except for...
Watching Wang Shuo and his group leave, and after her father also glanced at Bai Qifan and turned to enter the house,
that look from Bai Qifan with a cigarette in his mouth...
She lowered her eyelashes, pretending not to see, and turned to prepare a cup of tea for him...
Yet in the next moment, Bai Qifan grabbed her wrist.
As they gazed into each other’s eyes, Bai Qifan tossed away the cigarette butt.
With a deep gaze, he opened his mouth without hesitation, "Gu Zixuan, I’m not joking, I don’t want to be just a temporary prop, make it official, become my real girlfriend."
In an instant, Qiu Zhixuan’s heart quivered slightly.
Not just because of what Bai Qifan bluntly said...
But the mere mention of Gu Zixuan—
this name she had changed two years ago, stirred a tremor, as if she could still hear a man’s whispered laughter in her dreams, calling ’Zixuan’ at her ear, then placing a kiss at her temple and holding her tenderly.
So, her heart ached fiercely, ripples forming in her eyes.
She glanced at Bai Qifan and then shrugged off his hand.
In the next moment, she regained her erstwhile composure, calmly saying.
"Thank you, Mr. Bai, for your affection, but no, I said I won’t become anyone’s girlfriend."
Her stubborn turn made Bai Qifan’s eyebrows twitch, and he pursued her in confusion, asking, "Why? I know you were hurt emotionally a few years ago, and you didn’t marry Feng Chengjin, which left you heartbroken, and you didn’t want to find someone new. So it’s okay, I can wait for you. But now you’re twenty-eight, you can’t stay single forever. It’s been two years... since it can’t be fixed, why not try a new relationship?"
Bai Qifan was persistent.
His stance immediately recalled images of Feng Chengjin, who once lingered outside her bedroom every night.
Actually, meeting Bai Qifan in Beijing was both accidental and somehow inevitable.
...
Back then, after the drama in Rong City, on the night Zhou Xiao provoked them, she thought about Shen Jian妮’s safety afterward and called the company’s PR department to handle Shen Jian妮’s reputation, while incidentally investigating Bai Qifan’s standing in the media industry.
The result was finding out that Bai Qifan was also looking into Shen Jian妮’s information.
Bai Qifan had never suffered such humiliation before, and thinking of a mere second-tier actress who embarrassed him so much, naturally wanted to find every possible way to retaliate, yet the findings showed Shen Jian妮 was—
A reputation, rotten as a dog’s.
An image, completely ruined.
A moral compass, non-existent.
A family, completely disconnected.
Bai Qifan had never seen such a persistently strong star being cursed to death by her fans, unloved by father or mother, yet courageously charging through the entertainment industry.
It was almost enough to make him think it wasn’t worth it to target her since her family was too poor, wanting instead to give her money and help her become affluent...
It nearly made Bai Qifan spew a mouthful of blood from anger at the absurdity.
Finally, letting go of Shen Jian妮 and ceasing all plans against her, after she understood Bai Qifan’s heart wasn’t vicious to the core.
So she arranged a meeting, wanting to clarify her and Zhou Xiao’s matters, at least allowing Bai Qifan to make a real judgment and let go of certain things, so he wouldn’t intervene again after returning to Beijing.
As a result, a meeting and conversation started.
And at that time, what refreshed her perceptions and understanding of Bai Qifan for the second time was his continued words after her narration, "Miss Gu, I don’t know how important morality and right or wrong are in your eyes, or if it’s a commonly held value here in Rong City, only focusing on right, not wrong. But what I want to say is, in this world, there are no absolute bad people or absolute good people, nor absolute right or wrong. Even though Zhou Xiao did many wrong things in your eyes, she still has admirable qualities, at least she’s more daring in love and hate, without hesitation."
"Moreover, you and He Qimo are in a marriage of convenience, which to most people is almost equivalent to none. Both of us originate from prominent families, we understand what such a marriage really represents. So I don’t see any issue with each of you seeking your own paths in such a state; Zhou Xiao going for He Qimo isn’t wrong either. You don’t love, nor can you persevere, yet you won’t relent. Dragging along a man who loves you into mutual torment, it seems you also have substantial issues."
"In conclusion, even if you think I’m morally bankrupt or sophistic, I just want to say, this is the person I am, more so from my family’s standpoint, after Zhou Xiao was assaulted last time, she let it go, she didn’t cause you trouble this time. On the contrary, it was Feng Chengjin and Yu Yuanshen who acted first. So, don’t say I’ll shield the Zhou Family this time, if next time you people still act against them, I’ll continue to protect them. To put it simply, Miss Gu, Zhou Xiao is my cousin, even if she’s a wretch in the world’s eyes, as long as nothing illegal or gravely immoral occurs, I’ll always aid her!"
This was Qiu Zhixuan’s second time of reassessing Bai Qifan, despite... the differences in their positions and beliefs. Nonetheless, listening to this speech, her heart quivered faintly...
Indeed envying Zhou Xiao for having such a brother.
After all, at least during crises, there’s forever a man from her natal family standing in front.
No need to repay this emotional debt, as it’s only natural.
No need to fear overly intimate care being maliciously misinterpreted by some.
As long as she calls "Brother", even if she errs, forgiveness is eternal!
So finally, after that conversation, they got to know each other.
By two years ago, when she moved into this courtyard in the alley, also having Bai Qifan residing in the same courtyard, she indeed felt the world was too small, running into him was no longer a shock.
...
Only that, over these two years, some initial circumstances where Bai Qifan treated her as a friend, occasionally coming over for chats, helping tidy the house, evolved over time...
At this moment, hearing Bai Qifan’s words from his lips.
Qiu Zhixuan couldn’t say her heart didn’t ripple or quake.
But it wasn’t because of Bai Qifan, rather two years... these two years, despite the ever-changing times, she hadn’t spent one second letting go of the crazed yearning of a certain man Bai Qifan mentioned—
Feng Chengjin.
She missed him, really missed him, loved him, was still loving him every moment!
Time merely faded her appearance but didn’t alleviate her longing one bit.
Even just closing her eyes, every scene he ever kissed her comes vividly, coaxing her with sweet nothings like ’Zixuan, marry me, we’ll grow old together’, then vividly recalling the sharp braking sound before he pushed her aside... repeatedly replaying in slow motion...
So, with trembling eyes, she couldn’t agree to Bai Qifan’s words, but in pushing away his hand, she calmly stated, "Mr. Bai, sorry, whether you find me unreasonable or not, don’t mention I’m twenty-eight, even at thirty-eight, I don’t want anyone, and let me clarify, I don’t want to waste your time; I can’t fall in love with anyone, give it up."
"Could it be... you plan to remain single for life?" Bai Qifan didn’t expect her persistence to such an extent, his voice laced with incredulous trembling.
And in that tremble, Qiu Zhixuan firmly nodded, her essence echoing the clarity of her name.
The white Zhi flower blooming in autumn, floriography: tenacity, persistence, and longing.
She self-deprecatingly chuckled, saying, "What’s so bad about a lifetime? The day I left Rong City, I never imagined having a marriage again, Mr. Bai..."
Finally, her tone grew more and more faint, ethereal as if echoing sincerely through time, "Whether or not you all believe it, I believe love can be eternal, so don’t measure my resolve with your patience, I may not marry him, but I won’t stop loving him, nor shift my affections; to me, where my heart is, he will be..."
Turning and leaving, Qiu Zhixuan calmly entered the bedroom.
In her trembling eyes, tears crazed by the day’s stimulation, longing painfully for Feng Chengjin.
More heartbreakingly for Bai Qifan were the slender and elegant departing figure.
Recalling recent rumors he heard.
His eyes trembled slightly, deeply wanting to ask.
However... what if he doesn’t love you anymore, what if he moved on first?
