The most beautiful space

59. The cunning strategist Wang Lu

Since he said that, Su Tong hugged him and ran over, barking and wagging her tail to greet Kong Kong. She went inside and placed various snacks on the coffee table, then asked, following his words, "Who is it?"

Xie Chengjing was feeding Xie Er'er a piece of meat. He had been noticeably more indulgent with Xie Er'er these past few days. Under his unusually gentle care, it had recovered to be even more spirited and beautiful than when Su Tong first saw it in the capital. Its eyes were calm yet bright and intelligent. Xie Er'er swallowed the rest of the meat in one large bite. Xie Chengjing wiped his hands clean with a tissue before answering Su Tong casually, "Someone you know."

As she said this, Su Tong actually felt that Xie Chengjing's dark eyes, which were staring at her, carried a hint of accusation.

"It's probably just my imagination," Su Tong told herself. How could someone as cool, handsome, and domineering as Xie Ershao complain to her? But if someone dared to tamper with Xie Chengjing's beloved pet, and was someone Su Tong knew, then it could only be: "Xiao Yang?"

Xie Chengjing nodded. "After spending a few years in City C, I haven't improved much in terms of skills, but I've become bolder and bolder." Unlike Xiao Yang, who always wanted to compete with Xie Chengjing no matter how far he went or how mature he became, Xie Chengjing, although he also didn't want Xiao Yang to surpass him in any way, always looked at Xiao Yang with a bit of a junior's perspective.

In Su Tong's less-than-glorious 26 years of life, the only people she knows from such influential political families in the country are Xie Chengjing and Xiao Yang. Now, the one she is more familiar with is talking to her about the other in a tone that says, "This child is being naughty again." Su Tong didn't know how to respond for a moment, so she only replied, "Well, he did something to the ear. Although it wasn't serious, it was still a bit excessive."

Because Xie Chengjing had mentioned that he minded Xiao Yang and Lin Zhen, Su Tong didn't want to talk about Xiao Yang with Xie Chengjing, lest everyone be unhappy. After thinking for a moment, she opened several snack bags, and the living room was immediately filled with the aroma of various snacks. Su Tong smiled and changed the subject: "You're back so early today! Have you eaten? I just bought some snacks: roast duck, fried sausage, noodles with minced meat sauce, pea flour cake, all kinds, but not much of any of them. I bought them from the most authentic places in the capital that Brother Wang and Tingting mentioned. Do you want some? If so, I'll go get two sets of bowls and chopsticks."

Eating a variety of foods in one meal was another bad habit of Su Tong's. Whether in high school, university, or after she started working, she only had a handful of truly close friends, but she always had many friends she could eat with regularly. It was fine for formal meals, but when they ate snacks together, each person would buy two items and then spread them out for everyone to eat. When Su Tong first arrived in the capital, she remembered Xie Chengjing's methodical, almost chore-like approach to breakfast at the city hospital, and thought he wouldn't be able to accept such a casual way of eating. It turned out she had underestimated the second young master's tolerance.

"Okay, no need to take it to the living room, we can just eat it on the coffee table." After thinking about it, Xie Chengjing not only agreed, but also said that they could eat it directly in the living room.

As soon as he mentioned Xiao Yang, Su Tong changed the subject. Although Xie Chengjing felt that Xiao Yang was far inferior to him, reason made him realize that Xiao Yang was a capable and charming man. Su Tong's avoidance of the topic made the second young master very unhappy, just as unhappy as knowing that Lin Zhen had given her a gift. While the second young master was silently unhappy, Su Tong turned to go to the kitchen to get some tableware when Xie Chengjing's phone rang. It was a loud WeChat message notification. Xie Chengjing only had one friend on Weibo, Wang Lu. So, with a calm expression, he quickly took out his phone and opened it. There was something Su Tong didn't know. Ever since Xie Chengjing used Wang Lu's WeChat to chat with Su Tong, the conversation had stalled after only a few sentences because Xie Chengjing didn't want to chat under someone else's name and immediately revealed his identity. Xie Chengjing immediately intensified his coldness towards Wang Lu, who was driving in front, making Wang Lu, who already thought there was a chance between Xie Chengjing and Su Tong, completely take it as his lifelong mission to match them up, and even volunteered and forced himself to become Xie Chengjing's strategist.

Although Wang Lu knew in his heart that Xie Chengjing valued him, his former comrade-in-arms and current assistant, over the years, he always felt that there was some distance between them, making it difficult for them to get close. Therefore, he devoted himself to serving as Xie Chengjing's emotional advisor almost more than his own job.

Actually, Wang Lu himself was quite clueless when it came to choosing a wife back then. Ironically, the wife he ended up with was both beautiful and virtuous, but she was also his first love, and he had absolutely no experience in pursuing women. However, he had watched a few idol dramas and considered himself an experienced man. For the first time, he discovered that he had something better than the all-powerful Second Young Master Xie. For the sake of his position in Xie's heart and Xie's future happiness, he enthusiastically offered Xie various kinds of guidance. He provided examples from various idol dramas and romance films, first reminding the Second Young Master to be gentle and to treat Su Tong with utmost care and concern every day. Xie, after considering it reservedly for several days, reluctantly agreed, which led to Xie's humble visit to the set.

After visiting the set a few times, Wang Lu subtly asked the second young master not to go anymore, saying, "I've already been a few times, Su Tong... probably already knows how you feel." But what he was thinking was: Are you really visiting the set? The way you are makes everyone think you're there to supervise the production! With you there, everyone in the crew is drawn to Su Tong, isn't that right?

But this was exactly the effect the Second Young Master wanted. Wouldn't it be perfect if no one else dared to approach Su Tong? So every few days, under Wang Lu's astonished gaze, he would calmly say to him, "Go to the film set."

Wang Lu thought about his relationship with his wife back then and told Xie Chengjing:

After Xie Chengjing said that that night, Su Tong's response was, "I can't treat you like an ordinary person."

So that evening, when Wang Lu routinely inquired about his progress with Su Tong every few days, Xie Ershao immediately told Wang Lu via WeChat (how could Ershao possibly say such a thing over the phone, so WeChat was their communication tool) that this strategy was ineffective. After a while, Wang Lu replied mysteriously:

When Wang Lu sent the message, Xie Chengjing knew it was his so-called new strategy. He opened it to find a huge pile of files: video clips of classic scenes from various romance dramas, and numerous classic romance novels. Xie Chengjing's eyes immediately turned cold; he thought Wang Lu seemed unreliable. Although he wanted Su Tong's attention and even affection, it didn't mean he would change everything for it. These dramas held no interest for him. He coldly scrolled down to find Wang Lu's latest strategy, a lengthy and complex document.

Su Tong brought over the bowl and chopsticks and found Xie Chengjing engrossed in his phone. At first, Su Tong thought someone as privileged as Xie Chengjing wouldn't use a phone, but she quickly realized she was mistaken. Xie Chengjing would play on his phone when he was bored during set visits. She once saw him playing a very difficult action game, and watching his fingers move so fast it was dazzling, she understood what god-like skill truly meant. However, even while playing such a challenging game, though expressionless, you could tell he played with nonchalance, effortlessly achieving scores that most people could only dream of. In short, this was the first time Su Tong had ever seen him so focused on his phone.

As I placed his set of bowls and chopsticks over, I asked, "What are you playing with?"

"WeChat chat," Xie Chengjing replied while skimming through Wang Lu's convoluted new strategy.

Chatting!? Although she knew that some people who are extremely introverted and don't like to talk in real life might be cheerful, active, and almost talkative online, Su Tong couldn't imagine Xie Chengjing chatting so enthusiastically online. Just as she was surprised, Xie Chengjing thought for a moment and added, "With Wang Lu." Not with anyone else.

"Oh." Su Tong found his explanation, which sounded like he was reporting something, a little strange. However, Xie Chengjing and Wang Lu's conversation seemed more normal. In the past, when eating with Xie Chengjing, Su Tong wouldn't dare to eat first unless he started eating. But now that she had said she would try to treat him like an ordinary person, she smiled and said, "Then you chat, I'll start eating." As she spoke, she picked up two slices of roast duck with her chopsticks and put a mouthful of noodles with minced meat sauce into her bowl.

Xie Chengjing quickly summarized the main idea of ​​Wang Lu's long speech: "If you like someone, you should say it." He said you shouldn't be shy, you should always let the other person know that you care about her, don't be stingy in telling her your feelings, and occasionally being jealous not only shows that you care about her, but also kills the rival in the bud, blah blah blah... It still felt a bit unreliable, so this time Xie Chengjing didn't reply to Wang Lu at all.

"I'm done talking." Xie Chengjing put down his phone and started eating.

As she picked up a slice of roast duck, she remembered that when Xiao Yang came to the capital last time, he even packed a roast duck to take back to City C, probably for Su Tong, who was living in the White Queen Castle at the time. At that time, she and Xiao Yang were completely alone together, so she asked, "Su Tong, what do you think of Xiao Yang?"

"Huh?" Su Tong was startled, not expecting Xie Chengjing to ask her such a question one day, and with such seriousness, like a general manager asking a deputy manager how a certain employee was doing at a promotion meeting. "Why did you suddenly ask this?"

Xie Chengjing's gaze was open and intensely focused, surprisingly pure, devoid of any worldly taint, a purity that was captivating. "I just want to know." (166 Reading Network)