All I Want Is to Hold the Heroine in My Arms [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 22

Two casual photos were posted in the social feed.

The first showed three dishes that looked so delicious, they instantly made your mouth water.

The second photo was of two people.

On the left side, a person with long curly hair looked gently into the camera.

The person next to them, with a half-up bun hairstyle, was staring at the one beside them, completely focused. Only one side of their face was visible in the photo.

There was a slight smile at the corner of their lips. It was obvious they were in a very good mood.

“You little liar,” Wan Cheng muttered softly, flicking the head of the person on the right side of the photo through his phone screen.

Said you wanted to be alone and quiet, and then turned around and brought someone home?

Hmph.

Wan Cheng’s eyes moved to the other person in the photo.

What exactly is this Miss Shi thinking?

She just turned down Xiaoshuang yesterday, and now she’s coming to visit?

A weasel?

Jealous and uneasy, Wan Cheng couldn’t help but imagine Shi Yi as a sly and untrustworthy person.

After seeing the photo, Wan Cheng completely lost interest in reading the documents in front of him. His eyes drifted toward the glass wall of the airport lounge. At that moment, a woman in a red spaghetti-strap dress with big wavy hair happened to glance inside.

Their eyes met.

The woman outside quickly turned and walked away again in a panic.

…

“Uncle Shi, what do you think of my proposal?” Inside the Shi family’s living room, a young man in a tailored suit sat on the sofa.

He seemed respectful, but there was a clear sense of arrogance hidden in his attitude.

Jing Yijie slid the contract across the coffee table toward Shi Xiangnan, resting his well-defined fingers on a specific clause.

“Uncle Shi, I hope you really think this through. What I’m offering is far more than what Wan Cheng could ever give you. It’s a hundred times better.” Jing Yijie adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and spoke in a voice full of confidence and persuasion.

He didn’t actually respect Shi Xiangnan at all.

To him, Shi Xiangnan was just a selfish man who built his career through a woman and only cared about profits. What kind of business sense could someone like that have? As long as he got the biggest benefits, nothing else would matter to him.

And just as expected, the moment Jing Yijie finished talking, Shi Xiangnan’s eyes lit up with greed.

Pretending to think deeply, he said, “Young Master Jing, I’d really like to say yes. But Nan Jie and Yucheng are already in the middle of serious talks. If we suddenly cut ties, it would be hard to explain…”

Jing Yijie sneered to himself.

What’s there to explain? When Yucheng first came to you, you didn’t hesitate to reject our partnership and went with them instead.

Shi Xiangnan seemed to remember that moment too. His expression became a little awkward, but then he added, “But since Young Master Jing is showing such sincerity, I’m more than happy to work with you.”

He signed his name on the contract and immediately called his secretary.

“Xiao Wang, cancel the deal with Yucheng.”

“Yes, sir.” The secretary clearly had questions, but didn’t dare ask anything.

After giving a few more instructions, Shi Xiangnan hung up the phone.

Once everything was arranged, the smile on Jing Yijie’s face faded slightly. But he still kept a polite tone. “Uncle Shi, once the project starts running, you’ll see that you made the right decision today.”

“Being able to work with you is a great opportunity for me,” Shi Xiangnan replied.

“By the way, where’s Xiao Yi? I haven’t seen her.”

When Shi Xiangnan heard him refer to his daughter so intimately, he felt secretly pleased.

It looked like the dinner he arranged for his daughter and Jing Yijie had worked out well.

Though happy inside, he kept a kind and gentle look on his face. “She’s rarely home. Is there something you wanted to talk to her about, Young Master Jing?”

“I just haven’t seen her in a while. I’ve missed her.”

The truth was, Shi Yi had blocked all of his contact info. And these past few days, he had been tied up with work and hadn’t had a chance to visit her flower shop. They simply hadn’t had a chance to meet.

“I’ll give Xiao Yi a call and ask if she can come home for dinner,” Shi Xiangnan said quickly, picking up on what Jing Yijie was really asking.

“Thank you, Uncle Shi.”

…

“Sister Shi Yi… I’m so full…” Xiaoshuang leaned back in her chair, rubbing her belly as she spoke between breaths.

The food that Xiao Yiyi made was just way too good.

She lost control and actually ate three bowls of rice.

She scolded herself in her mind for being greedy, but her face still showed pure satisfaction.

Even though Shi Yi had a calm and distant personality, seeing someone enjoy her cooking so much still gave her a little sense of pride.

Shi Yi smiled gently and quietly began cleaning up.

By the time Xiaoshuang snapped out of her daze, the table was already spotless.

“Sister Shi Yi…”

Once someone’s had a full meal, they start thinking about life.

As she stared off in thought, all Xiaoshuang could think about was Shi Yi—her smile, the way she looked while trimming flower stems—every moment felt beautiful and unforgettable.

Shi Yi placed the dishes into a pink dishwasher, pressed the button, and turned around when she heard Xiaoshuang call her name. “What is it?”

“We’re… friends now, right?” Xiaoshuang finally asked the question she had been wanting to ask ever since she saw Shi Yi at the door.

After she said it, all the tension she had been holding in her chest disappeared.

She tried to act casual as she looked at Shi Yi, as if no matter what answer she got, she would be okay with it.

“Of course.”

Shi Yi had also been unsure about this.

Rejecting Xiaoshuang didn’t mean she didn’t value her as a person.

Even if they couldn’t be lovers, they could still have another kind of bond.

Like friendship.

After she spoke, both of them smiled at each other.

Xiaoshuang was thinking about staying close to Shi Yi as a friend so she could keep pursuing her.

Shi Yi, on the other hand, was simply thinking of them being just friends.

Even though their thoughts weren’t the same, it didn’t affect the warm atmosphere between them.

Just then, a phone call came in.

“What is it?” Shi Yi asked calmly.

The voice on the other end was different from the usual cold and stern tone. It carried a warmth that only a father would have. But even though it sounded gentle, it still had the tone of a command.

“Come home for dinner tonight.”

A flicker of emotion passed through Shi Yi’s usually calm eyes.

Since she moved out, Shi Xiangnan had never called her specifically to ask her to come home.

This sudden change could only mean one thing, something else was waiting for her.

“Why?” Shi Yi asked without emotion.

As expected, the next second, Shi Xiangnan replied, “Young Master Jing is at the house waiting for you.”

“No time.” Shi Yi sneered silently in her heart and was just about to hang up when he added,

“My new project is in partnership with the Jing family.”

The meaning was clear. I’m working with the Jing family now, so you can’t embarrass Young Master Jing.

There was also another message hidden beneath his words. Shi Xiangnan didn’t say it directly, but Shi Yi understood it right away, it was about the shares.

After hanging up the phone, Shi Yi looked at Wan Shuang and said, “Sorry, Xiaoshuang. I can’t go to the movies with you tonight.”

During dinner, Wan Shuang had checked the cinema for newly released films. One of them looked really good, so she invited Shi Yi to go with her, hoping to grow a little closer in the process.

“Is something going on at home?”

Shi Yi’s expression during the phone call had already told Wan Shuang everything she needed to know.

Throughout the story, Shi Yi had only ever shown a cold attitude toward two people: Shi Xiangnan and Jing Yijie.

The reason for Shi Xiangnan was obvious.

As for Jing Yijie, it was because one time, Shi Yi happened to see him kissing another woman. The very next day, she broke up with him without hesitation.

For the two months that Jing Yijie tried to win her back, Shi Yi always treated him with complete indifference.

It wasn’t until another unexpected incident occurred that the two finally reconciled.

Shi Yi didn’t respond to Wan Shuang’s question. Instead, she said something else.

“Nanjie signed a contract with Tianjing.”

Tianjing was the name of the group Jing Yijie belonged to.

“What?”

“I need to go home for a bit. Excuse me,” Shi Yi said as she walked over to the entryway and changed her shoes.

“Alright… see you then,” Wan Shuang said, still in a bit of a daze.

“See you.”

The sound of the door closing made Wan Shuang flinch slightly.

Wait a minute, what did Shi Yi just say?

Nanjie signed with Tianjing?

Wan Shuang had something on her mind that she wasn’t sure she should say out loud.

But she didn’t need to think too hard to figure out what had happened.

It had to be that Jing Yijie had offered some tempting terms to convince that old man to sign the contract.

That was exactly what he did in the book too.

What was this called?

Taking advantage of her brother being on a plane to sneak in and steal the opportunity?

Wan Shuang was furious.

She had completely forgotten the original reason why Wan Cheng was supposed to sign a deal with the Shi family.

Now, she had only one thought in her mind.

Something that should have been hers had been taken away.

So, she decided to report it.

“Brother!! While you weren’t here, Jing Yijie went to talk to that old man from the Shi family!! And they actually signed the contract!! Brother!! He’s trying to crush you when you’re not even around!!”

At that moment, Wan Cheng’s plane had already reached cruising altitude. As soon as he turned on his phone, he saw Wan Shuang’s messages pop up.

Crush you while you’re down?

What kind of dramatic expression was that?

Then Wan Cheng read the rest of the message. His brows furrowed slightly, and he let out a short laugh.

“What happened?” a soft, curious voice asked from beside him.

Wen Yao had noticed the sudden change in his mood and had cautiously shifted away from him. Her voice was quiet and nervous.

She was frustrated.

Earlier today, she had suddenly been told by her boss that she needed to travel overseas. She hurriedly packed her bags and rushed to the airport, not even having the chance to let Shi Yi know.

She had planned to wait in the airport lounge, but when she passed the VIP area, she saw the man who had terrified her the night before.

After she ran off, she thought she had escaped. But then fate played a trick on her.

Her assigned seat was right next to him.

Wasn’t he supposed to be sitting with that handsome secretary of his?

Since she sat down, she had been extremely careful, afraid to speak or move too much.

If he hadn’t suddenly said something, she wouldn’t have dared to ask anything at all.

Wan Cheng glanced coldly at the woman who was almost pressing into the aisle and replied with only two words.

“It’s nothing.”

Then he sent a reply to Wan Shuang.

When she read it, she felt even more frustrated.

The message only had two words: “Stay calm.”