She gazed at Ruan Jianglin, wanting to probe a few points of emotion from his deep eyes.

  He stopped the car by the side of the mountain road, got out and stood within the railing, Jiang Yan looked at his back, always feeling that he seemed to be swaying, about to fall down.

  "Ginger smoke, answer me," he said.

  Her eyes were somewhat dazed, as if in a trance, and she didnt understand what Ruan Jianglin meant.

  She asked: "Ruan Jianglin, why did you kiss me?"

  He smiled, and the playful disdain at the bottom of his eyes was completely revealed. Apparently, he didnt expect Jiang Yan to ask him that.

  Ruan Jianglin didnt respond, he patted his pants pocket, took out a cigarette, it was still the pack that Jiang Yan gave him last time, only three were left, and his nicotine addiction had been getting worse recently.

  Especially last night was messed up by this little girl, smoking all morning.

  He covered the wind with his palm and lit a cigarette skillfully. His skin was very white, except for the position of his index finger and middle finger holding the cigarette, which had a slight yellowish tint on the palmar surface, and there were some fine calluses, presumably caused by years of smoking.

  Jiang Yan walked over and took the cigarette from his hand, learning from him by pinching it between her two fingers.

  The wind on the mountain blows fiercely, and the smoke and fire gradually spread out from between the fingers.

  She slowly put the cigarette in her mouth, because it was burning too fast, there wasnt much left of the cigarette, she was a little afraid of scalding her own lips.

  Before it even entered her mouth, a gust of wind blew in, carrying the smoke into her mouth and nostrils.

  She coughed violently and suddenly remembered Ruan Jiangs kiss that night.

  Jiang Yans movements were very clumsy, for fear of burning her own lips, she moved cautiously, even a bit comically.

  Before she could even cough it out, Ruan Jianglin snatched the cigarette from her hand and crushed it under his foot.

  Jiang Yan raised her eyes and looked at him, just in time to see the impatience at the bottom of his eyes.

  He stood in the wind, his bangs blown messy by the gusts, with a hint of youthful rebelliousness, one hand in his pocket, he chuckled softly: "Jiang Yan, what can a single kiss represent?"

  He reached out and gently stroked Jiang Yans cheek, his hand cold to the touch.

  The wind lifted her hair, intertwined in his palm, entwined around his fingertips, and refused to let go.

  Jiang Yan unconsciously narrowed her pupils, and the fragmented feeling stimulated her heart. She felt a little cold, but didnt know if it was because of the wind.

  She suddenly grabbed Ruan Jiangs hand that was stroking her cheek, his eyes always had a deep affection, such eyes would make her misunderstand, would make her sink, would make her overthink.

  "Ruan Jianglin, will you tell me?"

  He likes those who are tall and have a good figure, and Jiangyan thinks she meets all these criteria, even surpassing the Yanyans around him, including Gu Qing.

  She didnt understand why Ruan Jianglin would refuse her.

  "Perhaps men dont like clingy women." He said frankly, as if telling her some kind of life truth.

  She relaxed her hand and unconsciously took two steps back, her footsteps a bit unsteady.

  She thought she should be a little dizzy, not because of Ruan Jianglins words hurting her, but because she was still running a fever and almost burning out her brain.

  She remembered Ruan Jianglins words, what does a kiss count for? Not even a promise, it was just an action that came naturally to adults, and besides, she was just a plaything sent to Ruan Jianglin.

  A kiss is nothing after all.

  She should thank Ruan Jianglin for not leaving her alone on the mountain that day, and "kindly" sending her back to the hotel.

  That afternoon, Ruan Jianglin and his team left Linshi. It seemed like a wasted trip as he ultimately did not invest in Qingsu, this marginal town was once again abandoned after some deliberation.

  Jiang Yan had originally planned to check out before dinner, she was afraid that her wallet would not be enough for consumption in such a star-rated hotel.

  But when she dragged her luggage to the front desk to check out, the receptionist told her that a Mr. Ruan had helped her extend her stay for another half month.

  She actually couldnt stay in Lin City for half a month, just two days later than him, no need for him to spend so much.

  Jiang Yan dragged her luggage back to her room, and from time to time, Ruan Jianglins words would pop up in her mind.

  She actually didnt have much fun in Lin City either, but she thought she should stay for two more days because she didnt think she would come back here again.

  After Ruan Jiang left, she stayed in bed for a whole day and didnt come down. The guest house did send meals over on time.

  So she wouldnt sleep till dawn and lose track of time.

  After sleeping for a whole day, I got up and found that the fever had gone down, and I was recovering from my serious illness.

  The room was very considerate, and on the second day, they even brought antipyretics, but she said it wasnt needed because the fever had completely subsided.

  She returned her house and dragged her luggage on the bustling streets of Lin City for a day, walking until her legs were almost broken.

  She didnt expect so many people, it was crowded and she couldnt squeeze out, so she successfully missed the plane and booked a high-speed rail ticket overnight.

  The difference between north and south is very big, she almost sat for a day and night on the hard seat, her hands and feet were all numb, and she recorded the scenery along the way with her mobile phone one by one.

  She had just turned off her camera when the trending topics on her phone popped up automatically. She was about to delete them, but was drawn in by one of the entries.

  Investment banking big shot denies relationship with Feng Xiaoxiao

  She clicked in and it was a statement released by his company, the statement was simple, denying their relationship and saying they would sue those who spread rumors, no doubt slapping certain celebrities in the face.

  Her fingers paused on the screen for a few seconds, and suddenly she believed that Ruan Jianglin was indeed a ruthless person. She curled up her lips, both mocking Feng Xixi and herself.

  What one thinks is a deep feeling may just be seen as an insincere move by others.

  It didnt take long for this post to go viral, and several other hot searches were also pushed up along with it. Among them, two of the posts exposed some scandalous news about Fei Xues past, including a C-clip with that director and an L-clip with that producer.

  She took a look at the comments and almost all of them were scolding, most of which said that Feng Xiao Xiaos promotional tactics were nauseating.

  Even that statement was soon pushed down.

  Its obvious that someone is deliberately manipulating things.

  She blacked out the screen, but major news websites kept pushing her notifications, and her phone wouldnt stop ringing, seemingly disturbing people around her.

  She simply shut down her mind, no longer indulging in thoughts of him, and shifted her gaze out the window.

  From high mountains to rivers, from plains to basins, the distance has already blurred her sense of kilometers.

  She didnt return to Kyoto, but went directly to Beicheng.

  She was originally going to report on time, but she missed the plane and naturally arrived late.

  She took the high-speed rail overnight and it was also late, she and her counselor applied for a late arrival, although she always felt that being late on the first day of school wasnt very good, but nowadays theres no way around it, just hoping not to lose points.