When Hong Minjun and Nie Anni arrived, they came in a car dispatched by the company. Just as the two were about to get in, as the driver tried to start it, the engine made several strange noises, but the car wouldn’t move.
"What’s going on?" asked Hong Minjun.
The driver said somewhat embarrassedly, "Sister Minjun, it seems like there’s a problem with the engine."
An engine malfunction meant that, repairable or not, they were temporarily without a ride for the evening.
Hong Minjun and Nie Anni got out of the car feeling somewhat awkward, only to find quite a few people looking at them.
Director Li asked, "Miss Hong, what happened?"
"The car broke down, may not be drivable."
Jiang Xuanqi’s eyes lit up, "Sister Minjun, ride with me!"
Although Hong Minjun wasn’t high up in the company’s hierarchy, who didn’t know she was Yin Maohui’s right-hand woman, the person he trusted the most?
If she could put in a good word for her in front of Yin Maohui, it would definitely benefit her future career!
Hong Minjun smiled, "No need to bother."
Then, she glanced around and said with a smile, "Anni, since you and Zexiao are going to work together, why don’t we take his car? It’ll be good to get to know each other."
The smile on Jiang Xuanqi’s face "whooshed" away. She didn’t get mad at Hong Minjun, though. She just smiled, got into her own car, and then—slammed the car door shut with force.
Hong Minjun then approached Yu Zexiao and Jian Anning, "Zexiao, sorry to trouble you, but can we ride in your car?"
Yu Zexiao looked at her and then at Nie Anni beside her, and without much thought blurted out, "Sister Minjun, of course for you. But her... um..."
Before he could finish, Jian Anning covered his mouth with her hand and without a second word dragged him into the car. Then she turned back to the two women with a smile, "Sister Minjun, Miss Nie, don’t mind him. Come on, hurry and get in."
Hong Minjun knew all too well about the conflict between Yu Zexiao and Nie Anni and, thinking about the fact that they would need to collaborate in the future, could only laugh "hehe" awkwardly.
Nie Anni said nothing, just shrugged her shoulders and got into the car with her.
Once in the backseat, which had been converted into a small living space, Yu Zexiao and Jian Anning sat on one sofa, while the other two sat across from them on the opposite sofa. Directly across from Yu Zexiao was Nie Anni. He was noticeably displeased, "Why couldn’t I speak? I was already bothered, they..."
Nie Anni coolly retorted, "Still a man, yet so petty, just like a kindergartener!"
Yu Zexiao, who had begrudgingly offered them a ride without receiving a single word of thanks only to hear complaints in return, suddenly got angry, "What did you say!—Ow!"
A cry of pain came as Jian Anning, sitting next to Yu Zexiao, quickly and forcefully pinched his lower back.
Tears welled up in Yu Zexiao’s eyes as he looked at the woman beside him, smiling serenely. Jian Anning simply said, "Hahaha, Miss Nie, don’t mind him; he just tends to spout nonsense sometimes, just ignore him."
Nie Anni glanced at Yu Zexiao, writhing in pain but not resisting, then at the smiling Jian Anning, and said nothing but looked out the window.
Jian Anning wasn’t oblivious, either. She saw that though Yu Zexiao and Nie Anni bickered, the two had quieted down a lot concerning work since their recent musical collaboration.