The Popular Flower’s Midnight Confidant

“Zhou Yining, I’m warning you, don’t go too far. Things are already like this between us, what more do you want?” Zhou Yuanfei’s tone was calmer than before.

“Nothing much, I just want to move my household registration out. If you insist on stopping me, then I’ll have to resort to legal procedures.” Zhou Yining said indifferently.

Zhao Xiuna, however, started crying again. “Please don’t go through legal procedures again. Look at this house, what has it become?”

“Give me the household register to use. I’ll send it back to you once I’ve completed the procedures.”

Zhou Yining looked at Zhao Xiuna and said.

“Yining, do you really have to move it out?” Zhao Xiuna continued to cry.
Zhou Yining looked at her and said coldly, “Yes.”

Zhou Yuanfei glared at Zhou Yining furiously. After a long while, he finally said,

“It’s not impossible for you to move out, but you’ve seen the state this house is in now, and I was fired from my company because of you.

It wouldn’t be right if you didn’t give us some compensation, would it?”

“Then let’s not talk about it. I’ll just go the legal route directly.” Zhou Yining said, making to leave.

Zhao Xiuna quickly called her back. If Zhou Yining sued them again, it would be another troublesome matter for them.

“I’ll go get it for you, I’ll go get it.” She said, going into the room and bringing out the household register, handing it to Zhou Yining.

Zhou Yuanfei didn’t stop her.

After what had happened before, he had learned his lesson.

Zhou Yining took the document and quickly completed the procedures to move her household registration, relocating it to her newly bought small apartment.

After that, she had someone send the household register back to Zhou Yuanfei and the others.

During Zhou Yining and Jiang Xizhi’s sophomore year winter break, they were still interning at the company.

Zhou Yining even ran into an acquaintance at the company, Wang Qiaochu. He had probably already graduated and was interning at Jiang’s Group.

Wang Qiaochu hadn’t expected to see Zhou Yining there.

He thought Zhou Yining was working a winter job there, and feeling a little proud that he was already in his probation period, after all, Jiang’s Group was the largest conglomerate in Nanchuan City.

Wang Qiaochu saw that Zhou Yining had no intention of greeting him, so he quickly approached her.

Everyone at school knew that Zhou Yining had a girlfriend, but the more that was the case, the more some people refused to give up, and Wang Qiaochu was one of them.

“Zhou Yining? Are you here for a winter job?” He looked Zhou Yining up and down, seeing her in a professional suit, looking even more beautiful than when she was at school.

He couldn’t help but stare a few extra times.

Zhou Yining had no intention of talking to him further and said directly, “This is my company, I don’t need to do a winter job.”

“What? Your company?” Wang Qiaochu’s face turned red, then white.

Zhou Yining nodded. “Yes, it’s my girlfriend’s company. I’m currently familiarizing myself with the business so I can take over the company in the future. If that’s all, I’ll get back to work now.”

“Okay.” Wang Qiaochu remained stunned in place until Zhou Yining was long gone.

He felt unbalanced. Back in school, everyone had fawned over him, but now, he was a newcomer in the workplace, not only being exploited by his colleagues but also constantly worried about not performing well enough to be officially hired.

And then there was Zhou Yining, who, simply because her girlfriend came from a wealthy family, had instantly reached the top.

Wang Qiaochu was extremely unwilling. He spent the entire day gathering information about Jiang Xizhi.

He figured that since Zhou Yining could do it, maybe he could try his luck and win over Jiang Xizhi with some effort.

After all, rich young ladies like her were often the easiest to fool.

After a few days of observation, Wang Qiaochu learned that Jiang Xizhi liked to go to the pantry around 10 AM to make coffee and take a short break.

He decided to stake out the place to engineer a chance encounter.

“Hello, do you also like this type of coffee?” Wang Qiaochu pretended to have bumped into her by chance.

Jiang Xizhi frowned.

She was usually with her sister, and she knew most of the employees on this floor.

A new face suddenly appearing made her feel a bit strange.

“You’re not from our floor, are you? Every floor should have a pantry. Why are you here instead of on your own floor?”

“No, I just came out for some fresh air.” Wang Qiaochu tried to say more, but Jiang Xizhi was already preparing to leave with her cup.

Seeing Jiang Xizhi about to leave, Wang Qiaochu quickly spoke up again.

“I’m also a student from Tsinghua University, and I know Zhou Yining.”

Jiang Xizhi’s brow furrowed slightly.

She thought the person was acting strangely. “Sorry, please move aside. I need to get back to work.”

Seeing Jiang Xizhi’s displeased expression, Wang Qiaochu didn’t dare to say anything further. He moved aside, letting Jiang Xizhi leave.

That evening, when they returned home, Jiang Xizhi lay in Zhou Yining’s arms and recounted the incident.

“Today, when I went to the pantry for water, I met a man who said he knew you. I thought he was a bit odd, not quite right.”

“Was it Wang Qiaochu?”

“Who?” Jiang Xizhi asked.

“He was in our grade, but he should have graduated by now. He’s working at our company.

I ran into him a few days ago too. He probably wanted to pursue me before, but I rejected him.”

“Then I’ll ask my sister about him tomorrow. It’s best not to keep people like that in the company, otherwise…” Jiang Xizhi nestled into Zhou Yining’s embrace and said.

Zhou Yining kissed the tip of Jiang Xizhi’s ear. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

She murmured softly, “I feel like we’ve been spending less time together since we came back. I’m on my way to work.”

Zhou Yining gently coaxed her. “It can’t be helped. We need to adapt early so we can have an easier time later on.”

“Mm.” Jiang Xizhi nuzzled into Zhou Yining’s arms, then leaned in to kiss the corner of Zhou Yining’s lips.

Zhou Yining’s eyes curved, and she looked down at the young lady in her arms. “What is it?”

“Nothing, I just missed you.” Jiang Xizhi said with her ears turning red, then quickly buried herself in Zhou Yining’s embrace.

Zhou Yining kissed Jiang Xizhi’s lips. “Really? Let me check if you truly missed me.”

Before Jiang Xizhi could say anything else, her words were blocked by Zhou Yining’s kiss, and Zhou Yining’s hands also began to grow restless.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Zhou Yining and Jiang Xizhi were both in their senior year.

In the past few months, Zhou Yining had sold the film and television rights for several of her novels, earning millions.

They were both very busy, their schedules packed with classes, and they still had to intern at their company during the holidays.

However, since it was their senior year, after the internship, they could directly return to school for their thesis defense and to collect their graduation certificates.

In the latter half of their time at the company, Zhou Yining and Jiang Xizhi had already begun to formally participate in company decision-making. Both held the position of Vice President of the group.

Zhou Yining was in charge of the company’s clothing and fashion-related businesses, while Jiang Xizhi managed the catering and entertainment sectors.

When they returned to school for their graduation defense, Zhou Yining and Jiang Xizhi had long shed their student demeanor.

When Zhou Yining entered her classroom, the students clearly felt that Zhou Yining’s aura had changed. Zhang Ye had also undergone a transformation.

He was now working in his own company and had become much more mature.

Compared to them, the other students in the class seemed much more immature.

After graduating from university, Zhou Yining and Jiang Xizhi both returned to work at the group headquarters in Nanchuan City.

With their help, Jiang Shengde and Liang Jing were no longer as busy as before.

Zhou Yining’s clothing brand was about to launch its new season’s products, so she decided to invite Zhong Yumeng out to discuss endorsement matters.

They arranged to meet at a restaurant. Around 6 PM, Zhou Yining arrived first.

She waited at the entrance for about five minutes before Zhong Yumeng’s nanny van arrived.

They hadn’t seen each other for over half a year, and Zhong Yumeng was ecstatic. Upon seeing Zhou Yining, she gave her a big hug.

“Long time no see! Why didn’t Jiang Xizhi come with you today? I haven’t seen her in a while either,” Zhong Yumeng asked.

“Zhizhi is out of town inspecting hotels.

She’ll be gone for about a week. Come on, let’s go inside and eat while we talk.

It’s rare for you to have time to come out.”

“Don’t even mention it. I’m swamped right now. I have to join a new film crew next month,” Zhong Yumeng complained.

They went to a private room, and Zhou Yining explained her ideas.
Zhong Yumeng agreed without hesitation.

“Sure, and I can even take a lower endorsement fee. We’re all so close, this little thing is no problem.

But you’ll need to have your secretary contact my agent to confirm the time.

My schedule is too chaotic right now; I can’t even keep track of my own daily itinerary.”

“Okay, I know you’re busy,” Zhou Yining said with a smile.

They chatted about gossip for a while longer before parting ways. That evening, Zhou Yining was already asleep when her phone rang again.

Still groggy, she answered. “Who is it? Why are you calling so late?”

“I have something to tell you, don’t worry. It’s best if you inform your partner first,” Zhong Yumeng’s voice came through the phone.

Zhou Yining rubbed her eyes, her sleepiness gradually fading. “What is it?”

“It’s actually not a big deal. I haven’t had any scandals in all these years I’ve been acting, and the media likes to make up stories.

We were photographed going out for dinner yesterday, but it’s fine. My team will clarify it soon.

I’m just telling you in advance because I’m afraid Jiang Xizhi will lecture you,” Zhong Yumeng said with a laugh.

She and Zhou Yining were high school classmates, and it was easy to clarify.

Besides, they were both girls.

As long as they weren’t photographed kissing, it was just a friendship between girlfriends.

“Okay, I got it. This is actually a good time to start warming up for the brand’s new product launch.”

Zhou Yining was clearer-headed now and immediately saw this as a perfect opportunity to announce the spokesperson.

“By the way, why don’t we take this opportunity to announce that you’ll be endorsing our company’s new clothing line? This will save some publicity costs.”

“Tsk tsk, you’re really becoming more and more like a boss. Alright, have your business department contact my agent now.

It’s best to sign the contract later today, let the news ferment a bit, and then announce my endorsement tomorrow morning along with the clarification.”

“Mm, that’s exactly what I was thinking.”

After hanging up, Zhou Yining called her secretary and asked her to go to Zhong Yumeng’s side with someone to review the contract immediately and sign it if there were no issues.

At the same time, the trending topic on Weibo was still “Popular Young Actress Meets Secret Friend at Night.”

There was even a video below it. It wasn’t much, just a hug between her and Zhong Yumeng, but the paparazzi had turned it into what looked like a romance exposé.

Zhou Yining found it quite amusing.