CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 42: ARRIVING IN ICELAND

With just one sentence, she was exposed on the spot.

Su Xingyu was a mess, feeling the awkwardness of having her secret revealed. She mumbled softly, "No, no way? How could I possibly have something to ask of you? I really, really just want to compensate you."

His eyes were inscrutable: "Really."

She nodded desperately.

Then he said, "That’s for the best, so I won’t have to agree to any of your requests for a long time to come."

She suddenly looked up at him, seeing his deep, narrow eyes staring at her, like a hunter patiently watching his prey. Her heart involuntarily jumped, and she quickly lowered her head again.

Above her, his voice came, "Really not going to say it? Then there won’t be a chance."

"No!" She grabbed him in fright, blurting out without thinking, "I want to go on a business trip to Iceland! Lu Shifeng, last time a photographer from the magazine and I helped Huadie Clothing create a great advertisement, and now Huadie wants to turn it into a series. We plan to shoot the winter version in Iceland."

This was a plan she had discussed with Ling Weilong that afternoon.

She knew very well that if she directly mentioned that Cang Er invited her to shoot diamonds for "Cloud," Lu Shifeng would definitely not agree, so she had to find another reason. The people at Huadie Clothing really liked last time’s "Ruins Elf," so she asked Mr. Zheng if he was interested in developing this ad into a series, and he readily agreed.

Now, she could go to Iceland in the name of Huadie with Ling Weilong.

She nervously watched Lu Shifeng, unsure of how he would react.

Lu Shifeng, seeing her eagerness tonight, had long known she must have something unusual to ask him. He didn’t find the business trip request surprising. He didn’t reply immediately but asked, "Your colleagues? Male or female."

Su Xingyu became even more nervous, cautiously saying, "A man and a woman. Photographer Ling Weilong and female model Jiang Zhenzhen, I’m rooming with Jiang Zhenzhen." This was another reason she had Huadie do the shoot, so she could legitimately take Jiang Zhenzhen along, or else, with Lu Shifeng’s strong masculinity, who knows if he’d split her and Ling Weilong in a fit of rage.

Lu Shifeng remained noncommittal.

At the company, he was used to being in a high position, deeply concealing his feelings. Now, applying this to Su Xingyu, only made her more anxious. "Is it okay or not..." Su Xingyu couldn’t help but plead, looking at him, "Shifeng, it’s rare to go on a trip with everyone, I really want to go, it’s my first business trip."

"How many days?" Lu Shifeng asked.

Seeing his tone soften, Su Xingyu quickly said, "Seven days, just seven days! I’ll be back in a week, it’ll be fast."

He barely raised an eyebrow, voice deep, "Seven times."

"What seven times?" She didn’t understand.

Lu Shifeng looked at her meaningfully, in the dim bedroom light, her silky nightgown made her look so beautiful, like a fairy, tempting to sin. "I said seven times," his voice slightly hoarse, "You’re going for seven days, so you have to compensate me seven times, just like tonight."

She froze, finally understanding his meaning, her face suddenly flushing red.

She thought her beauty scheme had failed, but unexpectedly he made such a request, truly going too far! Sensing his heated gaze on her, she moved back a step awkwardly, "Let’s... can’t we discuss this..."

He stepped forward slowly, forcing her step by step towards the edge of the bed: "Hmm?"

"I, I’m going on a trip, clearly only once..." she faltered.

He continued moving forward: "Hmm?"

Her legs began to weaken, staggering backward, she tentatively extended her fingers: "Two, three, three times?"

Even the corners of his eyes seemed to carry disdain: "Hmm?"

"I... Ah!" She stumbled onto the bed, fearfully looking up at him towering over her, "Don’t, don’t do this."

"How many times exactly?" He bent over, trapping her beneath him, his breath brushing her cheeks.

"Seven, seven times!" She closed her eyes, trembling all over, not daring to look at his deep, sharp eyes.

She heard him chuckle lowly, then suddenly felt a chill as her silky nightgown was effortlessly opened, a strong figure pressing onto her...

Darkness, pain...

Despite being married for a while, she still never got used to this, no matter how many times it happened. She endured her discomfort to satisfy Lu Shifeng, feeling completely drained, yet had to drag her tired body to confirm the trip to Iceland, pack her luggage, and contact Cang Er and Ling Weilong.

Finally, everything was ready.

After getting off the plane, the project team sent someone to pick them up.

The person who came was a blond young man named Jerry, who spoke fluent Chinese and was very cheerful and talkative. He drove them to meet Cang Er, telling them along the way, "Cang Er has been waiting for you, saying the diamond ad relies on you."

Su Xingyu said, "We will do our best."

The black Audi stopped in front of a five-star luxury hotel.

Jerry led them out of the car, into a small hall on the second floor. The hall had been converted into a temporary studio, with many staff members working busily. Near the photography area, a woman with silver short hair in a crisp business outfit stood with a notebook, directing this and that with a commanding presence.

Jerry brought them before the woman, somewhat nervously saying, "Cang Er jie, Miss Su is here."

Cang Er... sister?!

Seeing the scene before her, Su Xingyu’s entire being was unsettled. Was this exquisitely made-up silver-haired woman really the Cang Er she’d known online for years? She, she... hadn’t she always been a man online!

"You, you’re a woman?!" She couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

Cang Er casually brushed her silver hair back, smiling at Su Xingyu, "You’re Xingyu, right. Yes, I’m a woman. Nice to meet you, the work for this shoot is heavy, our hired photographers have all failed, so we’re counting on you. Take a ten-minute break, I’ll have my assistant bring you the materials to brief you on the progress, starting officially tomorrow."

Su Xingyu nodded dreamily, watching her glide away like a silver mermaid.

Ling Weilong waved his fingers before her eyes: "Hey, snap out of it, snap out of it."

She finally came back to her senses, still incredulous: "Cang Er is a woman? Really a woman?" Her forum ID had always been more straightforward than all the men combined.

Ling Weilong looked pained: "You didn’t know? I thought you were very close with her, Cang Er reputedly acting above others even came to you for something this important." Since they were coming to Iceland, Su Xingyu had generally explained that Cang Er had invited her, leading Ling Weilong to originally think their relationship was very close.