Chapter 16

“Sheng Huaixi, I feel like I’m dreaming.”

Leaning against the doorframe, Jiang Chao swept her gaze around the room, which had once been empty but was now filled with another person’s things.

Unlike that one night she had spent at Sheng Huaixi’s place, Sheng Huaixi moving into her home now felt like she had become part of Jiang Chao’s life in a far more complete way; her private life, too.

And not long ago, Jiang Chao’s feelings toward her had still been dominated by avoidance.

The figure with her back to Jiang Chao paused in the middle of tidying up, then Sheng Huaixi turned around. A faint smile curved her lips as she echoed, “Me too.”

Meeting that meaningful look, Jiang Chao rubbed the tip of her nose a little self-consciously.

Compared with Sheng Huaixi, the changes in her were indeed much greater; calling it a dream was probably even more fitting.

After making sure there was nothing left in Sheng Huaixi’s room that she could help with, Jiang Chao turned and went back to her own room to fetch the ointment before returning.

“Are you done? Let me put the medicine on you.”

Sheng Huaixi didn’t have much stuff. She finished tidying in no time, and soon everything was in order. Hearing that, she turned and walked over, casually pulling a small chair over from the side.

“Sit.” Sheng Huaixi leaned against the edge of the desk and nodded toward Jiang Chao’s seat. “It’ll be easier for you to look at me if I’m standing.”

Jiang Chao had been about to refuse, but she didn’t insist after hearing that. She sat down with the medicine bag in hand and lifted Sheng Huaixi’s wrist up in front of her eyes.

Compared with the day she was injured, the wound was much better now; at the very least, it no longer looked so hideous. That only made Jiang Chao’s heart ache.

“Does it itch while it’s healing?”

Halfway through applying the medicine, Jiang Chao suddenly remembered something she had once seen somewhere; wounds tended to itch as they healed.

Sheng Huaixi lowered her head and looked at her with those watery, curious eyes, as though she were waiting for an answer.

Her throat bobbing, Sheng Huaixi raised her hand and brought her wrist a little closer to Jiang Chao’s face. Meeting her puzzled blink, she said, “Blow on it.”

Jiang Chao didn’t quite understand, but she still obediently lowered her gaze and gently blew on the wrist she was holding.

The faint breeze brushed over her wrist, light and shallow, like a kitten sticking out its tongue—obedient, yet unconsciously teasing.

Sheng Huaixi’s fingers trembled as they tightened. Her teeth pressed into her lip, and when she met the person in front of her smiling with narrowed eyes, a fire-like desire drifted through the depths of her gaze, scorching through her veins.

That heated stare didn’t leave her for an instant. Jiang Chao felt as if she were walking barefoot through flames; sparks burned from the soles of her feet up through her entire body, searing everywhere they touched.

And the one who had lit the fire might have been the breeze she had just blown across.

A dark hunger flickered in those deep eyes, enough to make her calves go weak.

Jiang Chao’s toes jerked. She quickly lowered her head and finished applying the ointment, forcing herself to ignore the gaze resting above her and putting all her focus into the wound in front of her.

“Nervous?” A soft question suddenly sounded beside her ear.

Jiang Chao shook her head rapidly, moving the ointment in her hand even faster over Sheng Huaixi’s wrist. Her heartbeat thudded wildly, and the tips of her fingers trembled out of her control.

Calm down! Jiang Chao kept silently ordering herself.

The shadow over her wrist paused for a moment, then slowly and hesitantly lowered itself toward her. Looking at her trembling hand, Jiang Chao pressed her lips together.

Faster, faster...

The shadow seemed to swallow her up as it drew closer under Jiang Chao’s pounding heart.

Finally, just as that gaze, so dense it felt almost tangible, was about to turn into words and fall, Jiang Chao kicked her foot down and sprang up from the chair.

“The wrist is done. I just remembered I still have something else to do, so I’m going back to my room first! You should get some rest early!”

She fled in what could only be called a panicked escape.

Jiang Chao didn’t dare look back at Sheng Huaixi’s expression. The intense stare following her was already enough to leave her flustered.

Because of that, Jiang Chao didn’t see the expression in Sheng Huaixi’s eyes; desire, even thicker and hotter than before, spilled past the corners of her eyes, and the deep affection beneath those long lashes was enough to make one’s scalp prickle.

“Heh.”

A low chuckle drifted through the room. Sheng Huaixi flexed her wrist. The ointment still lingered at the tip of her nose, and a trace of warmth remained where Jiang Chao had held her.

After closing the door, Sheng Huaixi leaned against the headboard and stared motionlessly at the wrist covered by a thin layer of ointment.

“Because of you, I was able to stay here...”

Her lashes trembled lightly as Sheng Huaixi slowly looked over the furnishings in the room one by one.

The warm yellow light naturally carried the implication of happiness, spilling across this small room. After Sheng Huaixi closed her eyes and leaned back, her fingertips tapped lightly against her thigh.

The injured wrist was carefully placed on the bed by its owner, like a precious doll displayed inside a glass case; a single touch would be enough to shatter it.

Sheng Huaixi slowly opened her eyes. Under Jiang Chao’s meticulous care, the burn on her wrist had already shown obvious signs of improvement.

-Until your injury heals, I’ll take care of you.

Bathed in light, the wrist as white as jade took on a lovely sheen. If one ignored the irregular burn marks, there was no doubt it was a beautiful, flawless wrist.

“Until it heals, huh...”

The warm light could not reach the darkness in Sheng Huaixi’s eyes. Her lips curved into a pleased arc; her eyes narrowed, and a trace of madness surfaced in her expression.

With a snap, the overhead light was turned off, leaving only the faint glow from her phone.

This time, the wrist was placed on the bed far more roughly by its owner.

Pain traveled from her wrist along her nerves. Sheng Huaixi lowered her gaze, her eyes cold and indifferent, utterly unconcerned.

“Be good.”

Be good, and let me make use of your value.

*

Friday.

The sound of writing beside her had become chaotic enough that Li Sensen could no longer ignore it. Not only that, but the occasional long sigh, as if from some deep frustration, was even more noticeable.

“Jiang Chao, it’s Friday already. Why are you still so depressed?”

Li Sensen kicked her chair and scooted straight over beside Jiang Chao, poking her shoulder with her pen.

Jiang Chao was slumped across the desk, listless. Even after being prodded, she didn’t jump up to retaliate like before. Instead, she only shook her head and, with some effort, said it was nothing.

Li Sensen thought about the workload lately. It did seem like a lot.

“You’re not just not used to the recent workload?”

Jiang Chao still shook her head.

Then what was it? Li Sensen propped her chin in her hand and thought hard.

Wait...?!

A suggestive image flashed through her mind. Li Sensen’s eyes widened all at once. She bent over and forced herself close to Jiang Chao’s face, asking in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Don’t tell me it has something to do with the big demon king?”

Jiang Chao had been lazily resting her face on one arm, but she immediately turned sharply. Her eyes narrowed in shock, and seeing the excitement and curiosity bursting in Li Sensen’s eyes only made her more tense.

She threw an arm around Li Sensen’s shoulders and dragged her into her embrace. Jiang Chao reacted quickly, immediately understanding that Li Sensen had recognized her from the elevator last time.

Keeping her voice low with some force, Jiang Chao asked, “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

“What?” Li Sensen’s upper body was bent half over as she hid in Jiang Chao’s arms, her breathing a little squeezed. She didn’t understand the question at first.

Then she turned and met the panic in Jiang Chao’s eyes; understanding dawned, and she patted Jiang Chao’s shoulder, giving her a solid dose of reassurance.

“No, I didn’t say anything. The big demon king already warned me—how would I dare?”

As long as she hadn’t said anything, that was fine.

The thing Jiang Chao had been worrying about finally settled. She let out a relieved breath, but when she heard Li Sensen’s next question, her nerves shot right back up.

“So, the thing you’ve been upset about these past few days is the big demon king?”

Jiang Chao turned to look at her and saw curiosity practically spilling off Li Sensen’s face. She knew that even if she gave a negative answer, this person would probably only become more certain.

In that case, Jiang Chao no longer felt like keeping it hidden. She nodded gloomily and admitted it.

“No, did the big demon king make you angry? Or did you go after her and get rejected? No, that doesn’t make sense either. Last time, I thought the big demon king was actually pretty protective of you...”

One idea after another sprang up beside Jiang Chao’s ear. Listening to them made the veins at her temple jump, but she still couldn’t tell Li Sensen the real reason.

Because even she herself was only half convinced.

Jiang Chao suspected that Sheng Huaixi might have feelings for her.

She was sharp; that hot look from that night had planted doubt in her mind. After fleeing back to her room in a panic, she suddenly heard an unfamiliar ringtone.

“Who is it?!”

The strange ringtone frightened her so badly that she shot up from bed. Jiang Chao quickly felt under her pillow for the anti-wolf weapon she kept there and searched the room.

Cold sweat had broken out across her back. Holding the weapon, Jiang Chao made a full circuit of the room, only to discover in surprise that the ringtone was actually coming from under the bed.

Crawling underneath to look, Jiang Chao found a phone; Sheng Huaixi’s phone.

The moment she picked it up, she was drenched in cold sweat. As she held the phone, many thoughts flashed through her mind.

From Sheng Huaixi finally deciding to settle accounts and leaving a phone there so she could come in and hurt her next time, to Sheng Huaixi somehow leaving a phone there because she had feelings for her and wanted to keep tabs on her in secret...

Her thoughts flashed and collided in Jiang Chao’s mind, but in the end she still couldn’t reach any accurate conclusion.

Was it hate, or was it liking?

Why had Sheng Huaixi secretly left her phone in her room?

Jiang Chao had thought about it for an entire week and still hadn’t found an answer.

And because there was something she didn’t understand gnawing at her, Jiang Chao often spaced out when facing Sheng Huaixi, causing plenty of embarrassing moments.

“Hey, Jiang Chao.” Li Sensen suddenly called her name in a very serious tone.

Jiang Chao came back to herself, turned to look at her, and blinked in confusion.

“Do you... like Director Sheng?”