182: Chapter 182 Master, what services do you need?

The nanny van was parked in the hotel's underground garage.

Tang Yingxue unbuckled her seatbelt and flipped down the sun visor mirror to check herself.

The redness at the corners of her eyes hadn't fully faded, but she had reapplied her lipstick; everything else was as usual.

She smoothed her hair again and closed the mirror.

"I'm leaving." She opened the car door, put one foot on the ground, then pulled it back.

"My flight back to Kyoto is tomorrow. I'll handle the song's promotion myself, so you don't need to worry about it."

"Okay."

Tang Yingxue got out of the car and walked towards the elevator in her high heels.

Her back was straight, showing no signs that an hour ago, she had been pressed against the back seat begging for mercy.

Jiang Fan parked the car and left the keys at the front desk for Tang Yingxue's assistant to pick up.

After leaving the hotel, he hailed a taxi by the side of the road.

"Head towards Songjiang, to XX Middle School."

Jiang Fan leaned back in the rear seat and took out his phone.

Xu Qingya had already sent over a dozen messages.

They ranged from questioning to sarcasm, finally trailing off into silence.

Jiang Fan quickly replied.

[Jiang Fan: I'm heading back to the set now, I'll come over to your place tonight.]

The "typing..." indicator on the other end flickered for over ten seconds.

Finally, three words were sent over.

[Xu Qingya: Do as you please.]

When a woman says "do as you please," it's exactly when she means the opposite.

Jiang Fan pocketed his phone and closed his eyes to rest.

He needed to think about how to get through this tonight.

At 3:30 PM, Jiang Fan returned to the set.

Li Cheng saw him get out of the taxi, trotted over, and looked him up and down.

"Brother Fan, you're back? Tang—"

"Don't ask." Jiang Fan walked inside. "What have you shot this afternoon?"

Li Cheng quickly followed. "The playground scenes are finished. Now we're filming the scene where Yuan Hua calls Qiu Ya from the phone booth."

Jiang Fan walked over to the monitor and sat down.

Director Ning Yuan glanced at him, took off one side of his headphones, and nodded at him.

"Did you drop her off?"

"Yeah."

Director Ning Yuan didn't press further and put his headphones back on. "Get ready for the next scene."

The stage crew pushed the prop phone booth into position.

A Zheng stood inside, clutching the receiver.

"Action!"

A Zheng raised the phone. "Hello, Qiu Ya, I wanted to ask which university you're applying to? I want to apply to the same one as you."

When he said this, the sincerity and anticipation in his tone were nearly overflowing.

Lu Wanqing's voice came through the speakers—

"Don't call me anymore in the future. I'm afraid Xia Luo will misunderstand."

Beep—beep—beep—

A Zheng froze in place, still holding the phone up.

The muscles in his face twitched twice.

The light in his eyes faded away bit by bit.

Then, his knees went weak, and he fell to his knees in the phone booth with a thud.

As the background music of "Yi Jian Mei" started, paired with A Zheng's desperate and absurd expression on his knees—

"Pfft—"

The lighting technician couldn't hold it in first.

Then, over at the makeup department, two girls covered their mouths and stepped back.

Shen Feng stood on the sidelines, covering his face with both hands, laughter leaking out from between his fingers.

Even Director Ning Yuan pursed his lips, his Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he had to tap his fingers on his knee to steady himself.

"Cut." Director Ning Yuan's voice trembled slightly. "That's a wrap."

He took off his headphones, stood up, walked a few steps, and turned his back to everyone.

Li Cheng leaned over to Jiang Fan and lowered his voice: "Is Director Ning Yuan laughing?"

Jiang Fan looked at Director Ning Yuan's back—his shoulders were indeed shaking.

A Zheng crawled out of the phone booth, brushed the dust off his knees, and walked over with an innocent look.

"How was it?"

Shen Feng took the script away from his face and gave a thumbs up: "Awesome. No one on set could keep a straight face."

A Zheng grinned.

They filmed until past seven, and only wrapped up once it was completely dark.

Jiang Fan packed his things and headed out. When his car passed Sichuan Road, he waited in line for ten minutes to buy two portions of pan-fried buns.

She said she wanted to eat them last week.

After eight in the evening, Jiang Fan punched in the code to unlock the door of Xu Qingya's villa.

The living room lights were half-on, and the TV was on but the volume was very low.

Xu Qingya was curled up in the corner of the sofa, wearing a white silk nightdress, one leg tucked in, with her toes resting on the sofa cushion.

She held the remote in her hand, flipping back and forth between channels.

She tilted her head to look at him, her gaze falling on the bag in his hand.

"What did you bring?"

"Pan-fried buns. You said you wanted to eat them last time."

Xu Qingya stared at the bag for two seconds, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but lift slightly.

Jiang Fan changed into slippers, placed the bag on the coffee table, and sat down next to her.

Xu Qingya continued flipping channels, not staying on any screen for more than two seconds.

After flipping through about twenty channels, she finally tossed the remote onto the coffee table.

"What about Tang Yingxue?"

"She left. Her flight back to Kyoto is tomorrow."

"Oh."

Xu Qingya didn't say anything else, staring at the screen of some shopping channel on the TV.

The atmosphere was stiff for about half a minute.

Actually, Xu Qingya felt quite guilty at this moment.

During that phone call last night, she had deliberately made noise in the background, effectively asserting her claim right in front of Tang Yingxue.

But it also meant putting Jiang Fan on the spot.

She had sent him over a dozen messages today without a single reply.

She was tough on the outside, but she had been panicking all afternoon—

What if he was actually angry?

Seeing him return with the pan-fried buns, the anxiety she had been holding onto all day finally dissipated.

Jiang Fan reached out and tucked a strand of hair that was blocking her forehead behind her ear.

Xu Qingya's shoulders flinched, and she turned her face away.

It was quiet for a few seconds.

She snorted through her nose.

"Feed me one."

Jiang Fan took a bun from the bag, blew on it, and held it to her lips.

Xu Qingya opened her mouth and took a bite, some soup splashing onto her chin, which she wiped away with the back of her hand.

After finishing one, she took a second, and as she ate, her body unconsciously moved two centimeters closer to Jiang Fan.

After the two of them finished the buns, Xu Qingya let out a hiccup and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Jiang Fan looked at her with a smile. "Are you still angry?"

Xu Qingya didn't answer.

"There's no need to compare yourself to her. You've always been number one in my heart."

"Hmph." Xu Qingya glanced at him sideways. "Smooth talker."

Although she said that, her body had already leaned completely against him, her head resting on his shoulder.

After a few seconds, she sat up straight.

"Seeing as you're so sensible, I'll give you a reward."

She put her feet down from the sofa and ran barefoot into the bedroom.

Jiang Fan leaned back on the sofa, listening as the door to the bedroom walk-in closet opened and closed.

There was the sound of rummaging, hangers clinking, and the "rip" of plastic packaging being torn open.

Here we go again.

Jiang Fan adjusted his posture on the sofa, preparing himself mentally.

He waited for four or five minutes.

The sound of high heels clicking on the wooden floor came from the bedroom, one step at a time, the rhythm deliberately slow.

Jiang Fan turned his head—

Xu Qingya was standing at the corner.

She was in a black and white maid outfit, the hem of the skirt barely covering the top of her thighs.

A white lace apron was tied around her waist, cinching it tightly.

The neckline dipped below her collarbones, trimmed with a ring of black lace.

A white bow headband was pinned in her hair, and her long hair draped softly over her shoulders.

On her feet were black patent leather high heels, paired with white over-the-knee socks.

The lace trim of the socks gripped the middle of her thighs, with skin showing above and tight white fabric below.

Xu Qingya held the hem of her skirt with one hand, the other hand behind her back.

She cleared her throat.

"Master, what service do you require?"

Jiang Fan leaned back against the sofa.

His gaze swept from those patent leather high heels all the way up to the black lace at her neckline.

A playful arc formed at the corner of his mouth.

He raised his finger and tapped the empty spot next to him.

"Come here. Let me first check if your service attitude is up to standard."