Bai Yin naturally did not know what Chen Huaixiao was thinking. She only felt that he was deliberately making things difficult for her. "What...what do you want to do to me?"
Chen Huaixiao looked at the girl's slightly frightened expression, amused by her response. "What could I possibly do to you?"
"Who knows! You're...suddenly acting so strange, giving me the whole company. Who knows what perverted things you want to do to me."
"So in your eyes, I'm just a pervert?"
"Um..."
Bai Yin's mind was filled with thoughts of Su Shi Entertainment Media. She was afraid Chen Huaixiao would change his mind. "Let's not talk about all that. Shall we sign the contract now?"
"Sure."
Chen Huaixiao got up and walked out of the office, heading towards the elevator.
Bai Yin hurried after him, eyeing his back suspiciously. She could hardly believe her own ears. She had only come to get an explanation from Chen Huaixiao and curse at him to let off some steam. She did not expect that he would willingly hand over Su Shi Entertainment Media to her. This was completely inconsistent with his usual style and temperament.
Chen Huaixiao entered the elevator and looked back at her, as if waiting for her.
Bai Yin quickly stepped inside and the elevator doors slowly closed.
"Are we really going to sign the contract?"
"Of course."
"You won't make any weird demands of me, right?"
Chen Huaixiao was silent for a few seconds before replying, "You're my wife. Any demands I make of you would not be inappropriate."
"......"
"Chen Huaixiao, I am a principled person with standards."
"Your principles and standards are meaningless in the face of self-interest."
Bai Yin glanced up at him. The man had a tall, upright posture that inspired a sense of security. It was just that someone so upright had such a sarcastic, venomous tongue.
"So in your eyes, I'm just a scheming woman who will stop at nothing for self-interest."
"Not only are you scheming, sometimes I have to admire your ruthless tactics."
Bai Yin snorted. "It's only natural to see no good in someone who isn't dear to you."
"Bai Yin, I've told you that you never understood my heart."
"Then what is in your heart?"
"I..."
Just as Chen Huaixiao was about to speak, the elevator suddenly shook violently and then began plummeting rapidly.
Bai Yin screamed and her legs went weak.
Chen Huaixiao immediately embraced her against the wall of the elevator.
Finally, after a few seconds of free fall, the elevator jerked to a stop, suspended in midair at an unknown floor.
The bright lights in the elevator flickered and went out, plunging them into pitch darkness and silence.
Bai Yin felt the man's tight embrace, almost unable to breathe. But in this kind of darkness, his embrace was deeply comforting.
Just a moment ago they were bickering over self-interest, but when crisis hit, Chen Huaixiao unhesitatingly held her close.
Bai Yin buried her face in his chest, pressing tightly against his burning hot skin through his thin shirt, breathing in his scent deeply. Their bodies were so familiar with each other through countless intimate encounters that they instinctively clung together in crisis.
Chen Huaixiao took out his phone and called Shen Bin. His voice was slightly shaky and breathless. "What floor is the elevator stuck on?"
When Shen Bin heard Chen Huaixiao ask this, he paled in shock. "The elevator is having some problems. Chairman Chen, you're in the elevator? How did you end up in there!"
"Stop wasting time."
"The repair crew is already on their way! The elevator is currently on the 15th floor. Chairman Chen, please be very careful. Tell everyone in there not to move around, it's dangerous. If it were to fall...the consequences would be unthinkable!"
Chen Huaixiao held the woman in his arms tighter. "It's just me and Bai Yin."
Shen Bin cried out in distress, "Ahhhhh! The madam is in there too!"
Chen Huaixiao: "......"
"What kind of reaction is that?"
Shen Bin was nearly in tears. "The repair crew is already on their way. I'm rushing over immediately."
Bai Yin asked tremulously, "What did they say outside?"
"The elevator is currently suspended at the 15th floor," Chen Huaixiao explained. "It might fall, so don't move."
After saying this, he clearly felt the woman hold him even tighter.
"I won't move."
"Bai Yin, are you afraid?"
"Yes."
She was afraid of dying meaninglessly in a place like this before she could enjoy happiness, with all her thoughts and schemes ending up for naught.
"You must not be afraid." Bai Yin said in a muffled voice, "You do extreme sports, this kind of thing...must be nothing to you."
"You never truly understood me." There was a strange tone in Chen Huaixiao's voice. "I'm afraid of pitch darkness where I can't see my hand in front of my face. I'm afraid of never being able to get out."
Bai Yin was slightly surprised and unconsciously raised her head, but she could not see Chen Huaixiao's face clearly.
Chen Huaixiao held her very, very tightly, so tight that his body trembled slightly.
It seemed he was not trying to protect and comfort her, but rather...drawing warmth from her body. Like a desperate man clinging to a final lifeline.
"Chen Huaixiao..."
Chen Huaixiao's breathing became very rapid, seeming to have trouble catching his breath.
Bai Yin fumbled for her phone with a trembling hand and turned on the flashlight. Only then did she see Chen Huaixiao's face pale and damp with sweat, his brow furrowed as if he was having great difficulty breathing.
"Brother!"
Not knowing what to do, she hurriedly helped him sit against the wall of the elevator and loosened his tight tie, unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt.
The air in the elevator was not thin, and Bai Yin was breathing normally. Chen Huaixiao did not seem to be suffocating from lack of oxygen...
"Are you alright!" She patted Chen Huaixiao's face anxiously, on the verge of tears as she cried out, "Is anyone out there! Hurry open the door!"
Suddenly, her hand was grasped tightly by Chen Huaixiao's large hand. "Don't cry."
"You're scaring me to death." Tears flowed freely down Bai Yin's face as she tried to soothe his breathing by stroking his chest.
"I'm fine." The man's voice was low, but the tremor was still obvious. "I just get very anxious in this kind of cramped, dark environment."
"You never told me about this before..."
"There's a lot you don't know about me."
Seeing that he was still breathing with difficulty, Bai Yin stopped bickering and obediently sat by his side, tightly clutching one of his hands while stroking his chest with the other to help him breathe.
The light on the elevator ceiling flickered and came back on.
Bai Yin saw Chen Huaixiao's complexion ashen, his sweat-soaked white shirt sticking to his chest. He really looked very unwell.
Not knowing what else to do, she could only grip his hand tightly.
The light seemed to alleviate Chen Huaixiao's deepest fear. He opened his eyes slightly and his gaze swept over Bai Yin.
The girl's face was streaked with tears and she looked rather disheveled. He reached out and stroked her face. "There are many people outside. If they see you crying like this, they'll think I did something to you in the elevator."
"I won't cry." Bai Yin sniffed and scrubbed at her face vigorously with the back of her hand. "I thought you were going to die, you scared me."
Finally, the corners of Chen Huaixiao's mouth curled up slightly.
He knew Bai Yin was not a girl who cried easily. When she was in school in her rural hometown, she suffered no small amount of bullying from bad classmates for being an outsider. But she never made a sound or showed vulnerability.
Chen Huaixiao knew how strong she was. For her to cry over him meant she truly cared deeply for him. His heart was melting.
Just then, the elevator doors were pried open from the outside by several people. Shen Bin's concerned voice came through, "Chairman Chen! Are you alright? Is Bai Yin alright!"
"He's not feeling well, hurry and get a doctor over here!" Bai Yin called out.
The elevator was stuck between the 15th and 14th floors, with only a small window they could climb out of. Bai Yin asked the repairmen to help pull Chen Huaixiao out first, but Chen Huaixiao pushed her from behind. "Get out first."
Bai Yin knew how stubborn this man was. Helplessly, she climbed out first, then lay by the doorway reaching down for Chen Huaixiao. "Brother, grab my hand."
Chen Huaixiao gently pushed her hand away, then allowed Shen Bin and several other men to haul him out.
Once in the open space, his complexion improved significantly. His breathing was somewhat hoarse but no longer suffocating like it was in the elevator.
The private doctor had arrived at Chen Huaixiao's residence. Shen Bin was going to take him up in another safe elevator. Everyone crowded around concernedly asking if he was hurt, paying no attention to the other person who had also been stuck in the elevator.
Chen Huaixiao had one foot in the elevator but suddenly stopped and looked back at Bai Yin.
Bai Yin stood in place at a loss, rubbing her nose and composing herself.
"Come over."
Hearing the man's low voice, Bai Yin looked up blankly at Chen Huaixiao in the elevator doorway.
Chen Huaixiao hesitated, then said in a very awkward tone, "Come with me."
