Xiao Cheng froze for a moment, then smiled.
He held his phone screen out in front of Jiang Chiyan. "See for yourself."
Jiang Chiyan took it and asked Xiao Cheng for the lock-screen password.
"There's no password. I use facial recognition," Xiao Cheng said.
Xiao Cheng raised his hand, gently lifted Jiang Chiyan's chin, and lined his face up with the phone screen.
"Click-" The phone unlocked.
The pleasure in Jiang Chiyan's eyes deepened.
He draped an arm around Xiao Cheng's shoulders, his eyes half-lidded. "This is your private stuff... you don't mind me looking?"
Xiao Cheng shook his head. "With you, I don't need privacy, or freedom."
Chiyan.
Once our relationship begins, it can't end.
I hope that, from now on, you'll use my name to turn everyone else down.
Xiao Cheng took Jiang Chiyan's hand.
He was just about to say something.
A knock sounded outside the door.
Knock, knock, knock-
"Brother Cheng, are you in there?"
"Brother Cheng, Sister Ting told us to meet in your office."
"Teacher Xiao, may we come in?"
Xiao Cheng abruptly got up from Jiang Chiyan's lap.
As though they were having an affair.
His dark eyes were full of panic. He swallowed and looked at Jiang Chiyan without much confidence.
"Jiang Chiyan, how about... you hide for a bit?"
Although he dreamed of going public with Jiang Chiyan,
the matter with Shen Yunxing was still at the center of the storm.
If a romantic scandal broke out now, he would be a sitting duck.
Jiang Chiyan tugged at his collar and sat languidly in the chair, not moving an inch.
"What did you call me?"
"Chiyan?" Xiao Cheng tried a different name.
Jiang Chiyan looked dissatisfied.
"A-Yan?"
Jiang Chiyan was still dissatisfied, staring straight at him.
Xiao Cheng awkwardly averted his gaze, bent down to Jiang Chiyan's ear, and called him-
"... husband."
Jiang Chiyan smiled. "Good boy."
He slowly rose to his feet.
His languid, foxlike eyes swept around the room.
Xiao Cheng's office had a minimalist black-and-white design.
Jiang Chiyan looked around but couldn't find anywhere to hide.
There was, however, a poster on the wall beside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The poster was a costume portrait of Xiao Cheng from a period drama.
He wore solid black court robes patterned with golden dragons, his eyes filled with the commanding air of someone whose power held sway over the world.
What Jiang Chiyan thought was...
Someday, coaxing Xiao Cheng into calling me his lord husband, his dear husband...
That seemed pretty good, too.
Just then-
Lu Ting's voice came from outside the office.
"Why are you all standing here? Didn't I tell you to go inside and wait?"
With that, Lu Ting reached out to push open the office door.
Xiao Cheng grabbed Jiang Chiyan by the back of his collar.
He shoved him straight under the desk.
Jiang Chiyan froze. "You..." The next second, he started to emerge from beneath the desk.
Xiao Cheng clapped a hand over his mouth.
Then he looked up with feigned composure and greeted his studio colleagues.
A whole crowd of people streamed in.
Lu Ting was at the front, asking Xiao Cheng with concern, "Your face is so red. Do you have a fever?"
Xiao Cheng paused, wanting to withdraw his hand from under the desk as though he had a guilty conscience.
But before he could move,
he felt his wrist tightly restrained, his palm wet.
Crouching beneath the desk, Jiang Chiyan licked his hand.
His deep, foxlike eyes held a smile as he stared straight at him.
Xiao Cheng's hand trembled, and his Adam's apple bobbed twice. He told Lu Ting he was fine, but his voice was terribly hoarse.
Yet Jiang Chiyan's lips traveled gradually up from Xiao Cheng's palm.
Until they reached the pulse point on his wrist.
Jiang Chiyan lightly bit his vein, making Xiao Cheng bend forward and nearly let out a muffled groan.
"Xiao Cheng, what's gotten into you?" Lu Ting placed the documents on the desk. "Flushed cheeks and a racing heart. You're not dating someone, are you?"
Xiao Cheng straightened up and cleared his throat. "I'm playing with a dog."
Under the desk, Jiang Chiyan ground his teeth.
Lu Ting asked, "You brought your dog to the office?"
Xiao Cheng lied without batting an eye. "I'm video calling my doggy."
Jiang Chiyan narrowed his eyes.
He wanted to have his way with Xiao Cheng right then and there.
Xiao Wu, beside Lu Ting, asked, "Brother Cheng, what breed is your dog? Do you have any pictures?"
Xiao Cheng smiled. "Yes."
In his private villa, there was a room that stayed locked all year round.
An entire room.
Full of photographs of Jiang Chiyan.
Xiao Cheng added to Xiao Wu, "But I don't want to show you."
Xiao Wu said, "Huh?"
Xiao Cheng said calmly, "I'm possessive."
Lu Ting said, "All right, let's get down to business. PR is working on suppressing the negative news about Shen Yunxing. As for legal..."
Lu Ting paused and looked at Xiao Cheng. "Xiao Cheng, contact Lawyer Jiang and see whether he's willing to take the case."
Xiao Cheng answered instinctively, "He will."
Lu Ting frowned. "Xiao Cheng, it's not as though our studio can't afford legal fees. You can't make Lawyer Jiang work for free."
She still vaguely remembered.
The last time Seventeen Strokes sued Xiao Cheng for plagiarism, Jiang Chiyan had handled the case.
Xiao Cheng didn't seem to have paid Lawyer Jiang any legal fees.
Lu Ting said, "He's a top lawyer at a Red Circle firm. I know you're close, but it's not really appropriate to get several million, or even over ten million, in legal fees out of him for nothing."
Xiao Cheng: "..."
Jiang Chiyan: "..."
Crouching under the desk, he sent Xiao Cheng messages on WeChat.
Jiang Chiyan: "It's perfectly appropriate."
Jiang Chiyan: "You pay me legal fees, and in the end I still have to hand my salary card over to you. Isn't that a hassle?"
Xiao Cheng's phone vibrated twice.
He was discussing work with his studio colleagues and hadn't had time to look.
Xiao Cheng was sparing with words, and Lu Ting was brisk and decisive.
So the work meeting ended in less than ten minutes.
The crowd streamed out.
Only Lu Ting, Xiao Cheng, and Jiang Chiyan, crouching under the desk, remained in the room.
Lu Ting placed two invitations on the desk.
"Nan Qiao came to talk to me earlier. This installment of The Warmth of the Law will premiere during prime time on national television. I suggest you take part."
Xiao Cheng lowered his eyes and looked at the invitations on the desk.
Two invitations.
One was a red invitation for a celebrity guest.
The other was a blue invitation for a legal professional guest.
They were for him and Jiang Chiyan.
Lu Ting added, "If Jiang Chiyan agrees, you can play up being a couple with him a little, but don't take it too far. The studio will cover the cost. Ask him to name his price."
Xiao Cheng: "..." This really was quite a thrill.
Eavesdropping beneath the desk, Jiang Chiyan took out his phone again and sent Xiao Cheng messages on WeChat.
Jiang Chiyan: "Don't take it too far... does kissing count? Does pinning you against a wall count? What about pinning you to the floor or the bed?"
Jiang Chiyan: "If I have to name a price just to play up being a couple, wouldn't I have to pay until I'm bankrupt for wanting to date you of my own accord?"
Xiao Cheng didn't want to respond to him.
But Lu Ting kept discussing work with Xiao Cheng, showing no sign of leaving.
Jiang Chiyan's legs began to ache and go numb.
He reached out toward Xiao Cheng.
His pale, translucent fingers settled on Xiao Cheng's knee.
Xiao Cheng shuddered.
With Lu Ting there, he didn't dare make any large movements, nor did he slap his hand away.
Jiang Chiyan grew bolder and bolder.
His fingertips gradually traveled upward along the line of Xiao Cheng's thigh.
Xiao Cheng was unbearably nervous.
He sat rigidly in the chair, not daring to move at all.
Jiang Chiyan's fingertips were very cold.
Even through the thin fabric of his suit trousers,
Xiao Cheng felt that the skin Jiang Chiyan touched burned fiercely.
Gradually, Xiao Cheng grew a little distracted.
From time to time, he lowered his eyes and glanced down at Jiang Chiyan, tucked under the desk.
He was sitting.
Jiang Chiyan was crouching.
The space beneath the desk was cramped, forcing Jiang Chiyan to tilt his head, his line of sight and Xiao Cheng's waist...
Were on the same level.
Xiao Cheng awkwardly looked away. He didn't take in a single word Lu Ting said after that.
Until-
Jiang Chiyan reached out and hooked a finger around the metal buckle of Xiao Cheng's belt.
Xiao Cheng lowered his eyes, his face so red it could have dripped blood.
His hand shook, and he accidentally knocked the folder off the desk, sending it down beside his feet.
Lu Ting bent to pick it up.
But Xiao Cheng beat her to it. "Sister Ting, let me."
Xiao Cheng bent down.
Leaning forward, hidden by the desk, he pressed his lips to Jiang Chiyan's.