Chapter 195 - 172: Once Upon a Time and Fear (2)

The Ice Cold Beauty, wearing tinted sunglasses and a large face mask, gripped the steering wheel with her eyes fixed straight ahead. In the blink of an eye, she was gone, leaving only a trail of exhaust.

Others might not have recognized her, but how could Xiao Zhao not?

’Isn’t that Miss Ni?’

As for his brilliant, formidable boss, a quick glance revealed him excitedly looking down to fasten his seatbelt, looking just like an elementary schooler about to go on a field trip!

"Holy shit!"

Xiao Zhao couldn’t help but cry out in shock.

Some time ago, his boss had taken a trip to Rongcheng City. He came back incredibly excited, but just a few days later, his whole mood turned grim.

Back then, Xiao Zhao had guessed his boss had probably confessed his feelings and been rejected. He never expected to see Miss Ni picking him up today.

’So are they together? Or not?’

’If they’re together, how can he be such a workaholic?’

’If they’re not together, how could he just hop into her car so smoothly?’

"This is seriously big news!"

Xiao Zhao muttered, then quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.

He glanced around. Seeing that no one had noticed, he located his own car and sped home.

’I absolutely can’t tell anyone else about this... but I can definitely tell my wife.’

’After all, she’s a huge fan of Miss Ni. This will make her happy, and a good mood will make her pregnancy a little easier.’

’I have no idea where the boss learned all this stuff. A single guy, telling me all day long not to let a pregnant woman smell alcohol, not to make my wife unhappy, don’t do this, don’t do that... It got so bad that for a while, I started questioning my existence. I almost asked him if he’d been pregnant before.’

Xiao Zhao was Sang Yuan’s trusted aide, so neither Sang Yuan nor Ni Bingyan thought much of him seeing them.

Besides, it wasn’t like they were doing anything they needed to hide.

"Sorry, my car’s having some trouble. Looks like I’ll have to hitch a ride with you today."

Sang Yuan slid into the passenger seat, fastened his seatbelt without batting an eye, and casually told a lie.

’Ah, my wife picking me up from work... I’ve really missed this feeling.’

"It’s no problem. I’m heading home anyway. We can just go back together after we eat dinner."

Since she had already asked him to dinner, Ni Bingyan didn’t mind giving him a ride home.

Sang Yuan smiled reservedly, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead. "So," he began casually, "did you need me for something today? I noticed you’ve been busy ever since the New Year. You didn’t even have time to attend the shareholders’ meeting."

’He’d been dying to brag a little.’

’After all, not just anyone could take Ni Bingyan’s ten million and make a fortune with it in such a short time.’

Last month, he had asked Ni Bingyan what to do with the profits in her account. She was busy filming in the Northwest and just told him to reinvest it.

Sang Yuan had hoped to use it as an excuse to go see her and sign the contract in person, but she didn’t want to meet, so they handled the signing by mail.

"Yeah, Director Luo is very particular about locations, so we had to change sets several times. In between, I also shot a bunch of commercials and walked the red carpet at a few award ceremonies. It’s just been non-stop until now."

They were both perfectly aware of the whole "blind date" situation, but with Ni Guangli in the picture, they both tacitly agreed to play dumb. When they met, they just made small talk like they always did.

"I saw your painting was trending online a few days ago. I had no idea you were so skilled at it."

’In his memory, his wife didn’t have this talent. He felt a little uneasy as he asked, worried that something else had changed.’

’After all, if he could be reincarnated, so could someone else. Even a transmigrator... there was no rule saying they couldn’t be reincarnated too.’

What he didn’t know was that in her past life, Ni Bingyan hadn’t had to deal with his advances. With less mental stress during that period, she naturally never felt the need to pick up this old hobby.

But in this life, thanks to the butterfly effect he had caused, this super-achiever had suddenly mastered a new skill. It was enough to leave one speechless.

"Work has been really stressful lately. I’ve been painting and drawing since I was a kid, and I haven’t had time to go fishing while on set. I figured this would be a good way to quiet my mind, so I picked it up again."

Ni Bingyan herself didn’t even know she was so talented in this area.

After all, in her past life, her family had been poor when she was a child, so she never had the opportunity. Once she grew up, she was busy building her career, constantly caught up in the entertainment industry’s rat race. She never had the time or inclination for such leisurely pursuits and thus never had the chance to display her talent.

"What are you in the mood for tonight? We can find a place to eat and talk. You’re giving me a ride, so dinner’s on me. It works out perfectly."

Fearing that the ever-proud Ni Bingyan would insist on splitting the bill, Sang Yuan quickly added, "There have been so many new projects at the company lately that I often don’t get to eat properly. My mom is always worried I’m going to ruin my stomach. Sigh! What else are you supposed to do when you’re young but build your career? Once you get old, you won’t have the energy to work even if you want to. Don’t you agree?"