He simply squeezed Qin Fan's hand, which was still restlessly tracing his Adam's apple. His voice was cold, yet tinged with familiarity. "Have you had enough fun?"

This was naturally said to Qin Fan.

Hearing his tone, Pei Yanyan instantly understood that the relationship between this stunningly beautiful woman and Xie Yanli was anything but ordinary.

She felt as if her world had come crashing down.

'Sob... The only man I've been interested in for twenty years turned out to be a total player!'

Qin Fan blinked, thinking the girl was upset about her low ranking. "How about this? Wait until I'm in a good mood, and I'll give you my spot. Let you cut the line?"

Pei Yanyan's composure shattered completely. She turned and ran away, crying.

'She cried?'

That, Qin Fan hadn't expected. She removed her hand from Xie Yanli, took two steps back, and kept a safe distance.

Then, she deftly shifted the blame. "You made the poor girl cry!"

Xie Yanli's gaze fell on her dressed-up appearance. His thin lips formed the faintest of curves, but his eyes showed no emotion, as if he were looking at a robot.

'Mrs. Xie always loved to play the victim.'

Not forgetting her real business, Qin Fan walked past Xie Yanli toward the private room with the closed door at the end of the hall.

Just as Qin Fan raised her hand to knock, she noticed Xie Yanli had stopped behind her.

Qin Fan's delicate brows knitted together. "Why are you following me?"

Right in front of her, Xie Yanli pushed the door open and walked in.

The next moment, a voice floated out from inside. "Yanli, we're one short for cards, just waiting for you."

Feigning composure, Qin Fan lowered the hand that had been awkwardly poised to knock. ...

'This damn man, Xie Yanli, couldn't he have said he was going to the same meeting?'

There weren't many people in the room, just seven or eight, none of whom Qin Fan recognized.

But hearing how casually that person spoke to Xie Yanli, she knew they had a good relationship.

Back at their wedding, she had only attended the ceremony itself. The seemingly grand event concluded without even the traditional toasting of the guests.

As for Xie Yanli's friends, she had never officially met a single one.

Such a fake and superficial marriage.

After entering the room, Xie Yanli casually picked up his suit jacket from the sofa. His voice was cool. "I'm not playing. I'm heading back."

A young man sitting in the back, a cigarette dangling from his lips, teased in a leisurely tone, "What's this? The wife at home is strict? Did she give you a curfew?"

"Too bad I was filming abroad on your wedding day, or I would have loved to meet Mrs. Xie. Why don't you call her over to hang out?"

Hearing Pei Feng's words, Xie Yanli glanced sideways at Qin Fan, who stood half a step behind him.

The meaning was clear: 'No need.'

Pei Feng, however, didn't catch on. Following his gaze, he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, isn't this the little starlet Fang Yuze recommended? Did you come together?"

Pei Feng studied Qin Fan's face. This starlet certainly possessed a stunning beauty.

Qin Fan met the young man's pensive gaze and recognized him as Pei Feng.

She stepped forward and introduced herself. "Hello, Director Pei. I'm Qin Fan."

A man in a floral shirt at Pei Feng's card table suddenly remarked, "Qin Fan? The name sounds a bit familiar."

Pei Feng replied, "An actress. It's normal that you've heard of her."

He then waved Qin Fan over. "Come here."

The man in the floral shirt was skeptical. 'Is that it?'

'He didn't usually watch dramas... He felt that wasn't the reason the name sounded familiar.'

Seeing that Pei Feng had also put down his cards, the man in the floral shirt didn't have time to dwell on it. "Hey, you're quitting too?"

Pei Feng led Qin Fan toward an inner tea room, waving his hand dismissively. "Not playing. Time for an interview."

'Since I promised Fang Yuze, I can't just send her away.'

Holding his suit jacket, Xie Yanli stood at the doorway, watching as Qin Fan and Pei Feng's figures disappeared from view.

He turned and left at an unhurried pace.

Half an hour later, as soon as Qin Fan walked out of the club, she saw a black Maybach parked by the roadside.

The rear window slid down slowly, revealing a man's cold, refined profile. His tone was flat. "Get in the car."

Under the night sky, the Maybach sped down the empty street.

After her chat with Director Pei, Qin Fan had more or less secured an audition spot, and she was in a pretty good mood.

That is, until she was scrolling through Weibo and caught sight of the man resting beside her with his eyes closed. Being 'caught in the act' by her tonight hadn't seemed to stir the slightest emotion in him.

Bored, Qin Fan asked deliberately, "Aren't you going to explain yourself? A married man meeting privately with a young girl? Do you have any self-awareness as a married man?"

She heavily emphasized the words "married man."

Xie Yanli's half-closed eyes slowly opened.

In the dim light of the car, his gaze swept lightly over her troublemaking face. His thin lips curved into an enigmatic smile as he slowly uttered, "She's Pei Feng's biological sister."

Qin Fan's expression changed. "!!!"

'Damn it, is the audition I worked so hard to get about to be ruined!'

Seemingly finding her expression amusing, Xie Yanli added in a nonchalant tone, "And you're the one who made her cry."

Hearing those familiar words, Qin Fan was speechless. "..."

'This damn man is so vengeful!'

The hand Qin Fan was using to hold her phone paused. "Was I wrong? Aren't we just bed buddies?"

'Good friends in bed, a fake couple out of it.'

She wasn't lying. 'Bed buddies' wasn't wrong, Xie Yanli had indeed given her a room key before, and she hadn't made anything up to slander him. Every word she said was to save a young girl from going astray—it was a world-shakingly good deed.

In any case, she would never admit to making her future patron's sister cry. Absolutely never!

Xie Yanli sat up straight, turning his head to look at her quietly.

His gaze made her feel guilty, but Qin Fan refused to show weakness. "What are you looking at? It was only thanks to my accumulated good karma that heaven sent a benefactor to introduce me to Director Pei. Unlike some people, who only know how to drag others down."

"Your heaven-sent benefactor... is married."

'Film Emperor Fang is married?! How would Xie Yanli know that?'

Before Qin Fan could recover from this shocking piece of gossip, the car had already reached the Beijing Suburban Villa, and the Maybach came to a smooth stop.

The car had already reached the Beijing Suburban Villa, and the Maybach came to a smooth stop.

Xie Yanli unbuckled his seatbelt, reached out a long arm, and grabbed her wrist.

Qin Fan's fingertips, which were clutching her phone, subconsciously loosened, and the phone suddenly fell onto her lap.

The lit-up screen showed a push notification from thirty seconds ago: "Traffic Police on Duty Stumble Upon Couple Having Sex in a Car, Remind the Public That While Fun is Good, One Shouldn't Deliberately Seek Out Thrills."

Xie Yanli glanced at the push notification's headline and smoothly changed the subject. "Do you know the difference between a bed buddy and a wife?"

Just as Qin Fan was about to look up at him, she felt a long, fair finger tracing along the slit of her thin silk qipao.

Her gaze and attention were fixed on her own thigh. A long-unfelt tension spread through her body, and before she could part her lips...

The next moment.

The intensely-felt fingertip suddenly moved, lightly tapping a line of text on her phone screen.

Qin Fan's eyes followed the man's intensely-felt finger—

The words "sex in a car" leaped into view.

'What does he mean?!'

Qin Fan looked up and met Xie Yanli's ink-black eyes.

His unhurried, low voice sounded in her ear, "Mrs. Xie, why don't you experience the treatment a bed buddy receives firsthand?"