Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

The agent opened her mouth, as if to say something, but swallowed her words after meeting Lin Qingmian's calm eyes. She put the letter back in her bag and nodded: "I understand. Sorry to bother you."

She turned and took a few steps, then stopped and looked back at her: "Miss Lin, Miss Su... she's actually just too proud. She's been pampered since she was little and hasn't experienced any setbacks. This is the first time she's been rejected so thoroughly to her face. She just can't accept it right now."

Lin Qingmian looked into her eyes: "Everyone experiences rejection for the first time. How old is she this year?"

The agent didn't answer. She lowered her head, as if stumped by the question, and then quickly left the corridor. Yao Yingyu leaned closer and whispered, "She won't come looking for trouble with you, will she?"

"No." Lin Qingmian looked away. "Let's go."

While they were eating in the cafeteria, Lin Qingmian's phone vibrated twice more. The first was a message from Fang Shiyang, saying that the arrangements for Paris Fashion Week had been tentatively finalized and asking if she had a passport and if she needed to expedite her visa application. She replied, "Yes, no need to expedite," and then put her phone on the table to continue eating. The second message was from Ji Linzhou, who sent a screenshot of a post from the official Paris Fashion Week account. The post featured a partial image of her design draft, with the caption, "A new generation of designers worth looking forward to." He didn't add any text, just the screenshot.

Lin Qingmian looked at the picture and replied, "Your screenshot came at just the right time." He immediately replied with a period, and a moment later added, "I'll pick you up after my meeting this afternoon."

When she finished her afternoon classes, she walked out of the teaching building and saw the dark gray car already parked on the side of the road. She opened the passenger door and got in. Ji Linzhou was wearing a white shirt, the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms, one hand on the steering wheel, watching her get in the car. He waited for her to fasten her seatbelt before starting the car.

"I heard Su Tingwan's agent went to see you," he said.

"You're quick to respond." She turned to look at him.

"She called me," Ji Linzhou said calmly. "She said you refused and asked if I could help persuade you."

"What did you say?"

"I told you I have nothing to do with her." The car stopped at a red light, and he glanced at her. "I said if you don't want to see her, then you won't see her. There's no point in trying to persuade you."

They cooked dinner together. She chopped vegetables in the kitchen while he washed the pots and pans beside her, the spatula occasionally making a crisp sound against the edge of the pan. As she bent down to chop green peppers, he suddenly walked up behind her, rested his chin on her shoulder, and glanced at the cutting board under her hands: "You've chopped them quite neatly."

"Stay away, you might cut your hand." She shrugged, trying to shoo him away, but he didn't move. He stood there against her for several seconds before stepping back to get the seasonings. As she continued chopping vegetables, the heat in her ears lingered.

After finishing her meal and clearing the table, she sat on the sofa scrolling through her phone. She saw that the comments on the post from the official Paris Fashion Week account had already reached over a thousand. Some people were praising the design, some were guessing who the designer was, and a few were asking if the dress was available in men's style. As she was browsing the comments, Ji Linzhou came out of his study, placing a document on the coffee table in front of her.

"What is this?"

"Exhibition agreement." He sat down next to her. "Fang Shiyang asked me to bring it back for you to see. If there are no problems, sign it."