Chapter 30

Because she was woken up in the middle of the night by Yuan Yi, Yan Xi arrived at the office the next morning yawning.

"Yan Jie, weren't you on leave yesterday? Why do you look so tired? Did something urgent come up?" Xiao Yang poured a cup of coffee and placed it on Yan Xi's desk. The midday news was aired from Monday to Saturday, with Sunday broadcasting satellite programs. "Around the People" aired from Monday to Friday evenings, with reruns of Tuesday and Wednesday's episodes on weekends. Since taking on the role of hosting "Midday News," she only got one day off each week, provided there were no urgent situations requiring her to work overtime.

"I was with Zhao Ge filming some material yesterday, so my day off was wasted," Yan Xi slumped on the desk, her eyes dull. "This morning, I almost couldn't wake up."

Xiao Yang sympathized with her. When the station was quiet, it was really quiet, but when things Xiao Yang looked at her with some sympathy. When the station was quiet, it was truly quiet, but when it got busy, they treated men like workhorses and women like men. For someone like her in post-production, it wasn't too bad, but she'd heard that reporters would sometimes get calls in the middle of the night during the winter and have to rush out to cover the news.

"I'm doing better than most," Yan Xi took a big sip of coffee to wake herself up. "I had a classmate who used to be an entertainment reporter. To get useful material, she spent three days in a rundown building during the peak of summer."

At the time, she was still in graduate school. When she heard her classmate complaining about it in their WeChat group, she found it both funny and a bit pitiful. Later, her classmate probably couldn't bear the hardship anymore and opened a hotpot restaurant, where her life was much more comfortable.

Xiao Yang couldn't even imagine enduring three days in the heat without a shower, staying in a room full of mosquitoes. Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable, and she felt a deep respect for entertainment reporters. She completely forgot that not long ago, she had been angrily criticizing entertainment reporters for invading her idol's privacy.

"Xiao Yan," Chen Pei pushed open the door and saw Xiao Yang in Yan Xi's office. "You two get ready, there's an emergency meeting at the station."

After Chen Pei left, Xiao Yang whispered, "Chen Dao's expression looks so bad. Did something happen?"

Yan Xi shook her head. Although Chen Pei's face was serious, there didn't seem to be any anger. It was probably something had gone wrong, but it likely had nothing to do with them.

"As a second-generation rich kid, how come all you think about is making money?" Chen Pei said, feeling exasperated. "Can't you have some ideals?"

"Making money is such a noble ideal, what's wrong with that?" Yan Xi casually drew a round golden ingot in her notebook. "Even if I'm a second-generation rich kid, I can't say there's too much money."

"If you really love money, there are many ways to earn it," Chen Pei looked at Yan Xi with a half-smile. "Why don't you do it?"

The Things Around Us had gradually gained a good reputation locally. If Yan Xi really cared about making money, she could have put some thought into the program and there would be no shortage of opportunities to profit.

"Isn't there also a saying that a gentleman loves money, but takes it the right way?" Yan Xi said, quickly sketching. The last ingot turned into a pile of gold ingots. "Clearly, I'm a second-generation rich kid with integrity and ideals."

Chen Pei was almost moved by Yan Xi's shameless boldness, almost laughing out loud. Fortunately, she remembered that today's meeting should be serious and solemn, so she fought back her smile.

Once the head of the Golden Station and several other leaders arrived, they began to relay a newly issued document from above. As expected, it banned hosts from privately signing commercial contracts and other matters. The wording of the document was strict, but everyone remained calm.

Even if the station allowed them to privately sign commercial contracts or advertising endorsements, no brand would approach them anyway, so how much of an impact could this have on them? This kind of procedural meeting, if not for the fact that there were people sent from the central station, they wouldn't even bother to pretend to be serious.

After the meeting ended and the people sent by the central station left, everyone went back to doing what they normally did and quickly forgot about the matter.

In the makeup room, the makeup artist was applying foundation to Yan Xi and joked, "Xiao Yan, did you go on a date with a handsome guy last night? Your dark circles are a bit deep."

"No handsome guy, but I did have a guy call me in the middle of the night," Yan Xi said, nervously widening her eyes. "Is it that obvious?"

"Don't worry, with me here, even if you have panda eyes, I can make you look beautiful on camera," the makeup artist said with a smile. "You're so easygoing. If anyone wakes me up in the middle of the night for no reason, I'll definitely beat them up the next day."

"You think I don't want to beat them?" Yan Xi said with a bitter expression. "They're overseas, I can't even find them to do it."

Just as she finished speaking, her phone rang. Yan Xi glanced at the caller ID and pressed the answer button.

After Yan Xi ended the call, the makeup artist smiled with an ambiguous look. "Looks like you have a date with a handsome guy tomorrow."

"It's not a date with a handsome guy, it's someone who needs a good talking to coming to my door," Yan Xi shoved her phone forcefully into her handbag, feeling a bit reluctant. In reality, even if Yuan Yi really showed up, she didn't dare to deal with him.

Holding the news script, she felt a bit hopeless, thinking about how cruel reality was.

When she entered the studio, Zhang Hao was already sitting at the host desk, and the lighting and camera crew were still preparing. Yan Xi greeted Zhang Hao before taking her seat. The news content wasn't anything new—one-third was about international news, one-third about national news, and the remaining third about what was happening in the capital. The first two parts were already covered by other stations, and most of the capital news was about leaders visiting people or new development projects. If she were an ordinary viewer, she wouldn't care much about these kinds of news.

But Midday News was different from The Things Around Us. As a host, she only needed to do her hosting job. The rest wasn't her concern. Instead of worrying about that, it was better to think about how to avoid making a mistake, since even one wrong word could lead to a fine.

After the Midday News live broadcast, Yan Xi was already calmly cleaning up the documents on the desk, chatting casually with Zhang Hao, then greeting her colleagues as she grabbed her bag to go home and sleep.

However, just as she was about to drift into sleep in bed, her phone rang again. The caller was Yuan Yi.

"Young Master, Big Young Master, Yuan Big Young Master," Yan Xi held the phone, almost in tears. "What do you need to say now? Didn't we just talk on the phone this morning?"

"I..." Yuan Yi sat in the airport lounge, watching the lights of the airport, "I just saw your WeChat Moments. Congratulations."

"Huh?" Yan Xi's mind was as fuzzy as paste, and she mumbled in response, her voice hoarse, "Can I go to sleep now?"

"Okay." Yuan Yi hung up the phone, feeling empty inside, not sure what kind of feeling it was.

Even someone like Yan Xi had fallen into love?

Looking down at the contact name on his phone, Yuan Yi stared for a long time, then changed "Yan Single Dog" to "Yan Xi." He locked the phone screen, closed his eyes, and began to rest.

He didn't like the clingy dynamics of romantic relationships, hated going to great lengths to please women, and had no interest in love.

Love could make a man neglect or even coldly treat his own family, and that kind of relationship was truly frightening. He didn't understand why so many people sought out such a thing.

"Boss, you don't look too well. Are you feeling unwell?" His assistant noticed Yuan Yi's pale complexion and thought he had a stomach issue. "I brought some stomach medicine. Take two pills."

"I'm fine," Yuan Yi opened his eyes, his tone calm. "I'm alright."

Apart from feeling a bit uncomfortable inside and slightly chilled, everything else seemed normal.

The first-class cabin was very comfortable, but Yuan Yi didn't sleep well. He woke up several times in just a few hours, not understanding what this suffocating and unvented feeling was.

Could it be... that he wasn't interested in love himself, but didn't want Yan Xi to fall in love either?

Yuan Yi realized that this mindset was unreasonable and disrespectful to others. He frowned. Could it be that something was wrong with his mental state?

Yan Xi had a comfortable sleep and felt like the world was beautiful when she woke up. She got out of bed, and as she opened the door, the aroma of food wafted in. She leaned over the balcony railing and loudly asked downstairs, "Dad, you're home so early today?"

"Awake?" Song Hai came out of the kitchen, undoing his apron. "I noticed you've been working hard lately, so I made some soup for you. Come try it."

"Thanks, Dad," Yan Xi went downstairs, sipping the soup made with her father's love. She casually opened her WeChat Moments, suddenly remembering the call from Yuan Yi in the afternoon.

What was he congratulating her for? Congratulating her on becoming the host of Midday News? That had happened days ago, so why is he only saying it now?

She looked at her Moments again, surprised by how many likes and comments there were. She was startled, staring at the screen full of congratulations and wondering who the man was. Her mind went blank—was there some misunderstanding she didn't know about?

Da He, I'm Xiao Xi: This is love [photo]

Yan Xi stared at this Moment for a long time. It had misled so many people? She watched her friends' excited comments in the post and calmly posted a new Moment.

Da He, I'm Xiao Xi: Today, I'm still a beautiful, charming, golden-diamond single dog. The previous post was about admiring other people's love, while my man seems to be lost or acting foolish, still hasn't come to find me.

Yuan Yi had just landed, and when he passed through customs, he had to pay a customs duty for the whole set of lipsticks since it was so conspicuous. Only then could he successfully bring the set home.

"Boss..." The assistant stared at the large set of lipsticks, feeling like it wasn't lipstick but vibrant, fragrant bills packed inside.

"Take this over to her," Yuan Yi stopped and handed the lipstick to the assistant. "Just tell her it's an apology for making her angry."

"Um... wouldn't it be more appropriate for you to deliver it in person?" The assistant hesitated. "After all, you chose it yourself, and to buy the entire set, you went to several counters."

Boss, with this attitude, it seems like the other person is just an ordinary opposite-gender friend.

"It's not appropriate for me to deliver it as a man. She has a boyfriend, and I don't want others to misunderstand." Yuan Yi firmly shoved the lipstick into the assistant's hands. "Go deliver it now." He wasn't feeling well, and just looking at the lipstick made him feel worse.

His intuition told him that his current state of mind wasn't right for seeing Yan Xi.

"Boss, I'm also a man," the assistant insisted on this point. "Others will misunderstand if they see me deliver it, too."

Yuan Yi glanced at his face. "Don't worry. If you deliver it, people will only suspect you, not her."

Assistant: ...

Can't we just have a friendly exchange? Why the personal attack?

Yuan Yi returned home and saw his parents sitting on the sofa, chatting affectionately. With a calm expression, he walked up to them. "Mom, Dad, I'm planning to move out for a while. I've already packed the house."

Xu Yali furrowed her brows slightly. "Why are you thinking about moving out?"

Yuan Yasen glanced at his wife, then at his second son. "You just got back, go upstairs and rest for now. We'll talk about other things later."

"Xiao Er, there's no one else at home, and it'll be more lively with the whole family living together," Xu Yali extended her well-maintained hand to pour tea for Yuan Yi. "Are you planning to move out because you have a girlfriend?"

Yuan Yi didn't tell Xu Yali that he couldn't drink tea two hours before going to bed. He took the cup, casually took a sip, and placed it on the table. "No, I just don't want to disturb your time together. Moving out is fine."

"You child, what nonsense are you talking?" Xu Yali looked at the tall young man in front of her. The child who once cried to be held, carrying his little pillow and wanting to sleep with them, seemed to have grown up without her noticing.

Yuan Yasen glanced at the tea cup Yuan Yi had placed on the table. The tea had barely moved. He furrowed his brows slightly. "Aya, the child has his own thoughts, let him be."

"But..."

"Mom, Dad, I'm going to take a shower first," Yuan Yi rubbed his temples, interrupting the conversation between his parents. "I've been adjusting to the time difference and haven't slept well."

"Ah, okay," Xu Yali nodded slightly, unable to say a word of opposition.

After taking a shower, Yuan Yi lay down on the bed and picked up his phone from the bedside table. He opened his WeChat Moments skillfully.

Suddenly, he sat up straight, dialing the assistant's number.

"Meng, have you arrived yet? If not, go home and rest. I'll deliver the lipstick myself, I don't want to trouble you too much."

With his left hand holding the phone and his right hand holding the lipstick, Assistant Meng stood in front of the Song family's front door, face to face with Song Hai:...