After rummaging through the kitchen, Ji Mingqian remembered that he had only arrived here yesterday, and there was hardly anything to drink in the kitchen. He was never the type to cook, let alone expect him to go to the supermarket.

He emerged from the kitchen, smiling ingratiatingly, "Jiang Yisheng, I have some coffee beans here, would you mind helping me make a couple of cups?"

Jiang Yisheng, "..."

He hadn’t asked him over to play games, had he? It was to make coffee for him, wasn’t it?

Rolling up his sleeves, he resignedly made his way over.

"Ji Mingqian, don’t invite me over as a guest next time."

Ji Mingqian curled his lips into a smile and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Sure, sure, I’m treating you to coffee."

Jiang Yisheng gave him a sideways glance; how could he even say that?

The coffee he made, and he still had the nerve to say he was treating him.

Shortly after, a light aroma of coffee spread through the air.

Sniffing it, Ji Mingqian’s eyes narrowed contentedly.

This was the scent he wanted.

His coffee was always the most fragrant.

He washed a larger cup and dutifully presented it to Jiang Yisheng, "I’ll take a large one."

"Aren’t you afraid of insomnia from drinking so much?" Jiang Yisheng took the cup he was offering, and teased faintly.

"What’s there to be afraid of? If it comes to it, you can just stay and play games with me here," Ji Mingqian said nonchalantly.

He sure was thinking pretty thoughts. Jiang Yisheng shot him a glance, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Just then, a ringtone went off in the living room.

"I’ll take this call." The smile at the corner of Ji Mingqian’s mouth faded as he turned and walked out.

Picking up his phone, he saw it was Chen Xin calling.

Holding the phone to his ear, he said, "Chen Xin, what’s up?"

A sigh came through the earpiece, followed by Chen Xin’s voice, sounding helpless, "Big boss, you and Jiang the god have been sneakily photographed again."

Couldn’t the two of them be a little more aware of their own popularity?

Ji Mingqian raised an eyebrow as if being sneakily photographed was something he’d expected, "I know."

He had noticed someone taking pictures of them at the restaurant. Since those paparazzi didn’t come forward to disturb their meal, he didn’t bother with them.

It was just a meal; what were they going to do, turn it into a spectacle?

"You know?" Chen Xin sounded shocked.

Ji Mingqian hummed calmly, "You don’t have to worry about it, let them write whatever they want."

After all, if he didn’t like what he saw, he would personally deal with that bunch of fabricating paparazzi.

"But the fans have started making a fuss as well, and if it continues like this, things could get out of control," Chen Xin said, her voice tinged with concern.

Out of control?

Ji Mingqian glanced towards the kitchen and then strode upstairs.

"Then just disband the fan club."

If they liked watching his movies, fine, if not, he wouldn’t insist. But he would never tolerate those who intentionally tried to trip him up, those looking to stir up trouble.

"Also, I’m going to take a break for a while. Notify everyone that I won’t take on any scripts next year, and you guys can also take some time off."

On the other end of the line, Chen Xin felt as though a bolt from the blue had struck her head, leaving her momentarily stunned.

Relying on her strong mental fortitude, she quickly recovered, "Big boss, you’re not joking with me, are you?"

His only agenda every year was to do a single movie, and now he was saying that he wanted to disband the fan club and also take a break next year—no movies either.

Was their big boss considering a partial retirement?

"Do you think I’m joking with you?" Ji Mingqian pushed the door open and entered the bedroom, heading straight for the bedside table.

"That settles it then. I’ll post a tweet later, and I’ll leave the rest for you to handle."

"Are we really disbanding the fan club?" Chen Xin wanted to confirm again.

Pulling open the drawer, Ji Mingqian took out a jewelry box and walked out, "Yeah, just do as I told you, don’t worry, I won’t make a movie, but I’ll still pay your salaries."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xin couldn’t help but smile helplessly.

She really couldn’t win against him.

She joked casually, "Big boss, just a few days after Jiang God disbanded his fan club, you’re doing the same thing. Did you guys plan this together?"

Ji Mingqian toyed with the jewelry box, his lips curling into a smirk, "That wasn’t planned, but maybe I can plan it when I retire from the circle in the future."

Chen Xin let out an "ah," her face showing surprise, and the soul of gossip burned brightly; had she come across some secret she wasn’t supposed to know?

"Alright, I was just joking," Ji Mingqian said.

With that, he hung up the phone and bounced down the stairs.

In the living room, Jiang Yisheng was already drinking coffee.

The TV, which had been just for show since it was bought, was finally graced for once, but it was showing a documentary about the animal kingdom.

Ji Mingqian glanced at it, clearly uninterested, and couldn’t help but complain, "Jiang Yisheng, you keep saying life is so boring."

"I like it," Jiang Yisheng responded coolly.

Ji Mingqian tossed the jewelry box into his lap, "For you."

He put down the remote, picked up the jewelry box, and looked at Ji Mingqian in confusion, "What is it?"

Ji Mingqian lifted his cup, took a sip of coffee, and said nonchalantly, "A belated birthday gift."

A birthday gift?

Jiang Yisheng stared blankly at the jewelry box in his hands, a glint of amusement flashing deep in his eyes.

Somebody had said before that he was too old to need birthday gifts, such a hypocrite.

When he opened the jewelry box, a necklace caught his eye, the emerald diamond seemed to be coated with a shimmering luster.

He was stunned, staring at the necklace, somewhat spellbound.

After a while, he closed the jewelry box and placed it back in front of Ji Mingqian.

"What’s wrong, you don’t like it?" Ji Mingqian asked, baffled.

Jiang Yisheng smiled slightly, "Thank you, but I can’t accept it."

"Why can’t you accept it?" Ji Mingqian frowned.

Jiang Yisheng concealed the emotion in his eyes, and made up a casual excuse, "It’s too valuable."

The poor excuse did not fool Ji Mingqian at all, and his brow furrowed even more, "The watch Feng Yi gave you isn’t valuable?"

He could accept gifts from Feng Yi, but not from him; what kind of ridiculous reasoning was that.

Jiang Yisheng was speechless, "..."

"Jiang Yisheng, do you not like this necklace?" Ji Mingqian asked bluntly.

Worried about a misunderstanding, Jiang Yisheng hurriedly explained, "No, the necklace is very pretty."

Ji Mingqian opened the jewelry box, took out the necklace, and stuffed it into his hands, "If it’s pretty, then keep it."

It was the first time Jiang Yisheng was forced to accept a gift in such a manner, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Of all things to give, why did he have to give a necklace? Didn’t he understand that giving someone a necklace had another meaning?

"Don’t give it back to me," Ji Mingqian withdrew his hand, his tone feigning ferocity.

"Otherwise, I’ll throw you out right now."

Jiang Yisheng found this amusing for some reason, "Do you always force your gifts on others like this?"

Ji Mingqian gave him a look and retorted, "I give gifts, but no one has ever returned one to me like you did."

Jiang Yisheng, "..."

**

Capital City

In the dead of night, the quiet hospital corridor echoed with the sound of hurried footsteps.