Chapter 37: There are No Private Matters for Trainees
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The eye-catching boy turned around, and hence, the n clustered around him did too.
Upon seeing Xia Ling being surrounded, Li Lei’s brow furrowed, and he did a hand signal. On this command, the crowd of tall n stopped laughing and quickly resud their professionality and got into position. What seed like a crowd that one could easily breeze through imdiately beca an iron wall of sorts, and a vague sense of lethality buzzed in the air.
The hold that the two bodyguards had on Xia Ling tightened.
The atmosphere turned into silence.
There was a pause before Li Lei chuckled. “What is Imperial Entertainnt’s Mr. Pei doing with my artiste?”
Pei Ziheng looked serious. “Li Lei, this is a private matter.”
Xia Ling’s heart leaped into her throat, fearing that Pei Ziheng’s rationale would turn Li Lei away imdiately. After all, her boss never really mixed his relations with work, and shortly before she had just rejected becoming his lover, so surely she must have dealt a blow to his reputation sohow. If he wanted to be a bystander and watch her get humiliated and bullied, this was the perfect ti for him to do it.
Yet, he just looked curiously at Pei Ziheng. “Skyart Entertainnt trainees have no private matters.”
Xia Ling let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and imdiately felt like her boss was a great person. He was clearly planning on intervening. And he was not completely wrong, Skyart’s trainees did not have any secrets — trainees were backup artistes, and in the eyes of an artiste, there was no divide between what was private and what was public.
“Li Lei,” Pei Ziheng’s voice rang low, mildly amused, “she’s just a small fry. I can’t believe soone as important as you can recognize a re trainee.”
Li Lei innocently replied, “I am a boss that cares about my employees.”
He started again. “Mr. Pei, please release Ye Xingling. She is still a kid, so she still makes mistakes. If she offended you in the past, please let take her to the task. I will be made answerable for her mistakes.”
Pei Ziheng studied him deeply, an unreadable look on his face.
Li Lei’s deanor still had not changed. He was relaxed, a half-smile was playing on his lips as the tens of n behind him continued to step up their guard. The tension in the air was thick and suffocating.
On the other hand, Pei Ziheng only had two bodyguards, and Xia Ling in tow.
Finally, Pei Ziheng lightly raised his hand.
The bodyguards let Xia Ling go.
The mont of freedom startled her montarily, in disbelief that it ca so simply, that Pei Ziheng had monts of weakness as well. Yet, imdiately after, her heart swelled with dismay...
“Why are you still standing there, co over here.” She heard Li Lei say.
A mont of clarity struck her, and she clambered over to his side, staying close behind his figure. His gang of n sward around her, and she tried to calm down as cold sweat drenched her back.
Pei Ziheng’s eyes never left her, targeting closely, and it was becoming a thorn in her back.
Li Lei shifted, almost unnoticeably, and his figure eclipsed hers.
“Li Lei,” Pei Ziheng spoke slowly. “you can defend her now, but that doesn’t an you can do the sa for the rest of her life.”
“I don’t need you to worry about that now, Director Pei.” Li Lei grinned.
As the words fell, he raised his hand again, and the entire procession headed towards the elevators.
As she slipped into the elevator, Xia Ling could not help but turn her head, and through the crevices of the crowd, she caught glimpses of Pei Ziheng. He hadn’t moved since then, but his gaze was unpenetrable. His eyes were trained on her like flas, like an abyss she couldn’t crawl out of.
The fear struck her again, and she scrambled into the elevator.
As the doors slid shut, the n broke into chatter. “Boss, are you for real? Even sothing like a trip to the hospital can make you a hero? This little beauty is from Skyart’s training program? I thought you hardly cared about that business?”
“That’s right, Boss, introduce us to her.”
“Little beauty, do not be afraid, you have brothers like us here. People won’t even dream of bullying you.”
As they chattered, at that mont the intimidating n that had faced-off with Pei Ziheng were no more, replaced with gossipy aunties that wanted the latest scoop. Xia Ling could feel the onset of a headache, and the remaining slivers of trauma and pain from before had been eliminated thanks to the chaos. Whoever said that a group of noisy won were like a flock of ducks clearly hadn’t seen what a group of noisy n could do.
In the chaos, only Li Lei remained quiet, chuckling at the sight with his arms pressed against the glass wall.
She was caged beside him at close proximity, and she could even observe his breathing pattern and sll the sunshine and fresh grass on his skin. It was the most comforting feeling in the world.
It wasn’t long before they reached the basent, the door opening with a ding.
The crowd spilled out, bidding their farewells to Li Lei before haphazardly making their separate ways.
Before she knew it, it was just the both of them again.
Xia Ling raised her head to look at him. In the dim light of the garage, his eyes were dark and deep, and his chiseled features were as handso as ever. With one hand in his pocket, he looked like a billboard model, stunning beyond words. It was hard to believe that this person had saved her from Pei Ziheng.
“Thank you, Boss,” she said sincerely.
Unsmiling, he replied, “Instead of thanking , how about you give thanks to your luck. Do you not want to live anymore? Why would you ss with Pei Ziheng?”
She didn’t—couldn’t reply. How could she say that she hadn’t been actively out there looking for trouble? That Pei Ziheng had tracked her down and had co in for the kill himself? Nobody would believe her. “I was in the wrong,” she said, resigned.
His attractive brows furrowed, considering her for a mont.
Now she genuinely didn’t know why he was unhappy with her again.
“I don’t like it when people brush off.” He said. “And it’s not like you to wreak havoc any other day either. If you are so quick to apologize, I am sure there’s sothing you aren’t telling . Tell the truth, how did you get on Pei Ziheng’s bad side?”
Her heart leaped again, surprised at his acute inference skills. He was right, she had apologized early on in order to let the situation die quicker. And her past with Pei Ziheng had been a rollercoaster of emotions, too intense for her to consider without feeling the sa flashes of trauma again.
She only wanted to give the simplest explanation.
But Li Lei refused to let the matter rest, instead of waiting in silence for her response.
She tilted her head, not wishing to et his eyes. “Pei Ziheng...” Just speaking the na itself expended much of her energy trying to quash down her feelings, “is interested in . He wants to be his woman. I don’t know what he sees in .”
The look in Li Lei’s eyes deepened. There was still sothing more that she wasn’t revealing, his detective skills nagged, but he decided to let the matter rest upon seeing the clenched fists by her sides...
He then smiled and thoughtfully changed the topic. “Where are you staying? I’ll send you ho.”
“Ah?” She questioned in disbelief, never having expected her own boss to be so nice. “It’s okay, it will be a hassle. I can go back on my own.”
“You want to go on your own?” He scoffed. “I don’t mind but, I’m afraid you won’t make it in ti because Pei Ziheng’s minions might be at it again.”
Xia Ling rembered Pei Ziheng’s gaze, and a shiver ran down her spine.
“Then, could you... send back to training camp.” She whispered.
She definitely could not return to the Ye’s. After all, her so-called “parents” had already betrayed her once, and surely had no qualms about betraying her once again. She had not yet grown familiar to other places, and upon deep thought, the only place she was comfortable with was the training camp.
Li Lei laughed again. “You really are giving a run for my money, huh. We are now in South City, but camp is in North City. Having to cut across the city is one thing, but the problem is that the traffic at this timing is terrible. Ye Xingling, you’re kidding , right?”
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