Chapter 28

As the thought flashed through her mind, Jiang Chao kicked off the covers and rolled out of bed. She padded soundlessly to the bedroom door, not even daring to make a noise.

Biting her lip in agitation, she stared at the thin stripe of light leaking through the crack in the door, her hand hovering on the knob.

Should she open it and take a look? If it really was Sheng Huaixi, would she scare her...

While she hesitated, the light in the crack shifted again.

Jiang Chao’s heart lurched. She hurriedly rubbed her arms; the cold breeze brushed over her skin, making the eerie feeling even stronger.

The unknown presence outside the door silently stirred her nerves.

Forget it. Whether it was a person or a ghost, she had to see clearly tonight!

Gritting her teeth, Jiang Chao made up her mind. Holding her breath, eyes fixed, she pressed down on the handle as gently as she could.

The faint light that had only been squeezing through the crack now spilled in through the opened door; a long, sharp blade of brightness fell across the floor.

Her lashes fluttered. Jiang Chao stood behind the door, staring quietly at that full strip of light. After a moment, she cautiously poked her head out.

No one.

The living room floor lamp was still on.

Jiang Chao pushed the door open a little more and silently stepped out.

The shadow she had just seen really did seem like nothing more than an illusion. The living room was empty; only the lonely lamp remained lit.

Had she really just been so sleep-deprived that she’d seen it wrong?

Confused, Jiang Chao turned her gaze toward Sheng Huaixi’s door.

It wasn’t closed.

Should she go in and see whether Sheng Huaixi was asleep?

The thought sprang into Jiang Chao’s mind at once. She stared at the door, open only a sliver, and a conflicted look crossed her face.

Sneaking into Sheng Huaixi’s room in the middle of the night without permission—wouldn’t that make her guilty of the same bad behavior?

Jiang Chao bit her lower lip hard, her eyes fixed on the slightly open door.

The floor lamp in the living room cast light into the room, faintly illuminating the darkness inside. From where she stood, most of it was still a deep, unfamiliar black.

Sheng Huaixi’s room now looked like Pandora’s box, full of temptation, with no way of knowing what might be waiting inside.

If Sheng Huaixi wasn’t asleep, but was lying there awake like she had been, what should she say?

That she had been scared when she saw a shadow outside the door, so she came out to check; she didn’t find anything, then noticed her door was open, so she came in to take a look.

The excuse sounded almost exactly like the conversation they’d just had at noon.

The same thing: seeing something suspicious and going to check on it.

“So you’re here to catch the culprit.”

When Sheng Huaixi had answered her that way, the disappointed look on her face was still vivid in Jiang Chao’s memory.

Was she really going in?

Jiang Chao hesitated, worrying at her fingertips, her feet rooted in place.

The chill on her arms came back again, a cold reminder. Jiang Chao shut her eyes tightly, then took a step forward and went in.

She gently pushed open Sheng Huaixi’s slightly ajar door and slipped inside, and at once saw the answer she had been looking for.

The person she had worried about a moment ago was now sleeping soundly in bed, breathing long and even.

That shadow was not Sheng Huaixi.

Relief flooded Jiang Chao’s heart; the nerves that had been taut all evening finally loosened. Her legs softened, and a wave of cold rushed from the soles of her feet up to her calves.

Only then did Jiang Chao realize she had come out without slippers.

Now that she had gotten the answer she wanted, she was about to leave when her eyes flicked down and she noticed the blanket over Sheng Huaixi had slipped slightly to the floor.

Her frozen toes were trembling from the cold. Jiang Chao quietly turned back, walked to the side of Sheng Huaixi’s bed, and very gently picked up the blanket to cover her again.

Jiang Chao didn’t dare breathe. Her face was flushed red, afraid that even the slightest disturbance in the air would wake the person sleeping on the bed.

The blanket had to be pulled across the bed; Jiang Chao needed to lift the corner and drape it over Sheng Huaixi’s other shoulder, and that made her even less willing to breathe.

She secretly glanced at Sheng Huaixi. Her breathing was still even; there was no sign of waking.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Chao had no choice but to lower the blanket, placing her fingertips as lightly as possible on Sheng Huaixi’s shoulder as she pressed the edge of the blanket down to make sure it tucked into the hollow of her neck.

Just as Jiang Chao was about to leave—

Her wrist, resting on Sheng Huaixi’s shoulder, was suddenly seized in a sharp grip.

Jiang Chao lowered her eyes in shock; her wrist trembled, and the burning palm felt like a branding iron, pinning her in the dark.

“Caught you,” Sheng Huaixi said, word by word.

In that instant, Jiang Chao’s heartbeat exploded. She snapped her head around.

“You weren’t asleep!?”

She met a pair of eyes that gleamed faintly with amusement. In the dim light, Sheng Huaixi’s narrow eyes were slightly narrowed, dangerousness overflowing from them.

Sheng Huaixi tightened her grip on Jiang Chao’s wrist, cutting off any attempt to escape.

“Miss Jiang, sneaking into my room in the middle of the night and apparently up to no good.”

“So you were awake.”

Jiang Chao hadn’t expected to be caught red-handed by Sheng Huaixi. Her breathing was a mess now, and the part of her body crouched beside the bed had gone completely rigid, letting Sheng Huaixi hold her wrist as she pleased.

That pair of smiling eyes looking at her seemed to carry some emotion that made her heart quiver.

“I was asleep, but if someone touches your body while you’re sleeping, waking up seems like a very natural thing to do.”

“Don’t you think so? Jiang Chao.”

Jiang Chao didn’t know; Jiang Chao had nothing to say.

“You shouldn’t have deliberately scared me like that...”

Her tone softened as she admitted she was in the wrong, but the moment Sheng Huaixi had grabbed her wrist, Jiang Chao had felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest.

Sheng Huaixi propped herself up, looking at Jiang Chao while holding her wrist in her palm, her expression half-smiling.

“In the middle of the night, if a hand suddenly touches your face and gently strokes you, what would your reaction be?”

Jiang Chao imagined that for a moment, then pressed her lips together and fell silent.

She thought that if it were her waking up in the middle of the night and finding someone crouched beside her bed, even if it were a fairy from heaven, she’d still kick them twice.

That was too scary!

Patting the mattress, Sheng Huaixi looked at Jiang Chao with a foxlike smile, hooked and irresistible, and invited her, “Since you’re already here, do you want to lie down and sleep with me?”

“No, n-no need! You should rest early; I’m going back to my room now. Good night.”

Looking at the bed Sheng Huaixi had openly offered her, Jiang Chao inhaled sharply, decisively turned, and ran out. She didn’t dare stay in the room for even another second.

Sheng Huaixi watched her retreating figure until the sound of the door clicking shut faded away. Only then did her lower back finally relax, and she pressed a hand to her forehead, resting it against the headboard.

“Thank goodness...”

She hadn’t noticed.

*

The afternoon sunlight was bright and brilliant; a thin veil of gauze rippled across the living room floor, and clusters of light and shadow curled up lazily.

Jiang Chao continued enjoying her comfortable vacation.

After lunch, once she’d finished tidying up, she happily carried her iPad to the living room sofa and opened the show she hadn’t finished that morning to keep watching.

From time to time, Jiang Chao would turn and glance toward Sheng Huaixi’s room. Seeing that she was only looking down and tidying something up, she didn’t bother her.

The two of them went about their own things.

Jiang Chao was engrossed in the drama’s plot and missed the soft footsteps behind her.

It wasn’t until a pair of arms reached from behind and rested on her shoulders that she noticed.

“Since you have the day off, want to go out and take a walk?”

Sheng Huaixi had somehow walked up behind her from the room without making a sound. Her arms gently pressed down on Jiang Chao’s shoulders as she asked in a soft voice.

Jiang Chao paused the show and turned back in surprise. “Mm... you want to go out and walk around?”

During the time they had lived together, she’d never once seen Sheng Huaixi take the initiative to suggest going out for a stroll.

“Mm. Since we’ve been living together, we still haven’t bought anything new for the place. We can use today’s free time to go and have a look.”

Jiang Chao had originally planned to laze around at home and use her day off to properly rest and recover.

But after thinking it over, she nodded, turned off her iPad, and stood up from the sofa.

“Alright. Let’s get changed and go shopping.”

After a quick change of clothes, the two of them headed out.

The neighborhood Jiang Chao rented in was close to the company and surrounded by a bustling area; the large shopping center wasn’t far, so they chose to walk.

Today was the weekend, and the streets were packed.

Along the way, men and women kept glancing at the two of them.

Occasionally, friendly girls would greet them, and Jiang Chao would smile back even if she didn’t know them.

Sheng Huaixi’s brows tightened subtly, her expression cooling as she turned to ask, “When you go out, do people often look at you like that?”

“Sometimes, maybe they’re just appreciating?” Jiang Chao tapped her fingertips together, her eyes curving. “After all, I can’t help looking at other beauties either.”

Everyone appreciates beauty. Jiang Chao felt she was especially like that.

Besides, she secretly tugged at Sheng Huaixi’s sleeve, leaned over, and gave her a teasing smile. “The number of people looking at you is obviously more than at me.”

“Is that so?” Sheng Huaixi’s expression remained cool, unchanged.

She turned her face slightly. Wrapped in a black coat that accentuated her sensual figure, she wasn’t wearing makeup, but her features still carried a natural, alluring charm.

Jiang Chao withdrew her gaze and nodded in agreement.

At the very least, she felt she had looked at her quite a few times.

“I dislike being watched by other people.”

Sheng Huaixi’s face stayed cold. As she spoke, she casually brushed back the hair stirred by the wind; that same effortless, seductive aura spilled out again, drawing even more attention.

Jiang Chao understood the meaning behind her unspoken words, and a bitter feeling flashed through her eyes. But then—“When you go out, you probably attract attention all the time.”

With a face prettier than a celebrity’s and such a sexy figure, it seemed hard not to draw eyes the moment she stepped onto the street.

Sheng Huaixi nodded, admitting Jiang Chao was right, and as if remembering something unpleasant, her brow tightened slightly.

“Change sides.”

Taking Jiang Chao by the sleeve, Sheng Huaixi circled around to the outside, directly avoiding the two people who had deliberately tried to brush close to them several times.

She shot them a cold look and stared straight at their backs without wavering, her gaze dark and sinister. Only after they sensibly turned away did she withdraw her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Chao didn’t think there was anything off.

Sheng Huaixi shook her head; the gloom in her eyes softened as she continued the earlier topic. “When I go out, I wear a mask to cover my face. It saves me a lot of trouble.”

Thinking about that, Jiang Chao recalled that on her first official day at work, Sheng Huaixi had also worn a mask.

And because Sheng Huaixi had lowered the mask a little, Jiang Chao had slapped her.

She had hit her boss on her very first day at work, and yet she was still working at Shengjing now, even having been promoted a little to become the director’s assistant.

Thinking about it that way, Sheng Huaixi really was a good person.

Parentheses: when she wasn’t crazy.

Jiang Chao looked at her profile and silently added that in her heart.

They went into the supermarket.

After thinking about it, they still chose to grab a shopping cart and browse as they went.

After a simple trip through the supermarket, Jiang Chao finally understood why Sheng Huaixi had such a good figure.

No snacks, no drinks; even the fruit she liked was the standard kind for cutting fat.

The cart that had originally been prepared for Sheng Huaixi eventually ended up with more than half of it filled with Jiang Chao’s favorite snacks, especially puffed snacks and carbonated drinks.

Watching Sheng Huaixi’s gaze sweep over each item Jiang Chao picked, even picking them up to examine them carefully as if they were rare curiosities, Jiang Chao felt a little embarrassed and cleared her throat, turning her face away.

“...It looks like not everyone is suited to having abs.”

At the very least, she didn’t seem suited to it.

“It’s fine; you can touch mine.” Sheng Huaixi set down the snack in her hand and turned to say it.

Hearing her completely straightforward words, Jiang Chao instinctively looked around, afraid a passerby might misunderstand.

“Hey! Sheng Huaixi, I already told you last time, I’m purely admiring them, not some pervert with possessive urges.”

“That’s why I said it’s fine.”

A faint smile tugged at Sheng Huaixi’s lips. She looked at Jiang Chao without flinching, her fingertip tapping her own shoulder as she leaned in and spoke softly, her voice deep and enticing: “I’m willing for you to touch them.”

Leaving that sentence behind so lightly, Sheng Huaixi turned and walked toward the checkout, leaving Jiang Chao staring after her tall, slender back with her ears burning.

Standing there, the stunned look on Jiang Chao’s face slowly changed, embarrassment rising across her cheeks as she hurriedly pushed the cart and chased after her.

“Sheng Huaixi, I never said I wanted to touch them.”

Who would even be craving your abs!

*

After paying at the supermarket, they reached the required spending amount, and the store asked whether they wanted free delivery service according to policy.

Jiang Chao thought about it. Since they were already out, they might as well keep walking for a while longer, so she wrote down the address and handed it to the staff, asking them to place it in the community delivery locker.

The two of them strolled home at an unhurried pace, leisurely and relaxed.

Passing a pet park, the incessant calls and playful cries of cats and dogs filled the air. As a seasoned cat lover, Jiang Chao instantly couldn’t move her feet.

“Let’s go take a look.”

Seeing the anticipation spilling from Jiang Chao’s eyes, Sheng Huaixi turned and walked toward the park.

Jiang Chao cheered and immediately followed.

At dusk by the roadside, many people who had finished dinner were letting their cats and dogs play freely in the park; there were also well-behaved little cats strolling across the stone pavement as if on patrol.

Jiang Chao easily scooped up a docile Ragdoll cat and played with it happily.

Her smile shone brightly; her brows and eyes were open and lively, her hair falling loosely over her shoulders, and a happy little dimple sank into the corner of her mouth, sweet as honey.

By the riverside as the light faded, a breeze came over the water, stirring ripples across the surface.

The girl’s bright smile was dazzling, and her laughter rang like a bell.

Sheng Huaixi sat nearby, unable to look away. She stared at Jiang Chao for a long while, a flicker of fascination sliding through the depths of her eyes.

It seemed she could always see beauty in Jiang Chao, overflowing from the inside out, something she didn’t need to struggle to find.

Watching the scene before her, Sheng Huaixi didn’t want to spoil it, but the faint sounds reaching her ears left her no choice.

Letting out a slow breath, a flash of irritation crossed Sheng Huaixi’s eyes as she said in a low voice, “Let’s leave here early.”

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Chao blinked in confusion, lifted the little cat she had been teasing, then got up and sat back beside Sheng Huaixi.

She looked her over with concern, then pinched her arm and touched her forehead. “Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

Sheng Huaixi shook her head. Her expression looked normal. Seeing Jiang Chao’s concern and confusion, she lifted her wrist, curved her long fingers, and beckoned her over.

Jiang Chao obediently bent down and offered her ear to Sheng Huaixi’s lips.

“If we don’t leave now, we’re going to run into a live porn scene.”

The low whisper came slowly, carrying a trace of barely concealed irritation.

“!” Jiang Chao immediately braced herself against the bench, looking at Sheng Huaixi in disbelief. “Where?”

This was still the riverside park; were they that bold?

Seeing the adorable, catlike look of shock on Jiang Chao’s face, Sheng Huaixi’s lips lifted slightly, and the emotion within her was slowly soothed.

“Behind us, by that big tree.”

Jiang Chao followed the direction Sheng Huaixi pointed to, and the scorching scene that met her eyes made her suck in a breath. She decisively turned her gaze back and sat up straight.

“Since when did you see it?”

Those two were practically about to take it all the way.

Sheng Huaixi said flatly, “All along.”

“...” Jiang Chao gritted her teeth. “Then why didn’t you call me over when they first started?”

The pair behind them were almost about to burst into flames, and Sheng Huaixi had only told her once things were nearly burning.

If she’d said something earlier, Jiang Chao wouldn’t have dared to keep petting the cat so leisurely; she would’ve dragged her along and run all the way home.

“You want to watch?” Sheng Huaixi touched her chin, her narrow eyes slightly narrowing. Then, as if suddenly understanding, she patted Jiang Chao’s thigh with mock seriousness. “Although this isn’t the company, if you want, I can keep you company like last time.”

“Who wants to watch! I want to leave.”

Seeing the smile on her face, Jiang Chao almost lost her mind, her cheeks flushing red. The words made her immediately remember what she had said to Sheng Huaixi on her first day at work.

“Is this Shengjing’s corporate culture?”

She didn’t understand what had possessed her to ask Sheng Huaixi that back then.

But it was really stupid.

Stupid enough that she couldn’t even sympathize with her past self now.

Jiang Chao shook her head to clear the thought. What mattered most now was figuring out how to leave this place without drawing attention.

She did not want to stay here watching someone get it on at sunset.

Especially not with Sheng Huaixi beside her; that would be worse than bad.

However...

“Sheng Huaixi, I’ve noticed that whenever I’m with you, I seem to run into this kind of filthy stuff very easily.”

Jiang Chao spoke in a low voice, looking a little depressed.

First day at work in the hallway, team-building in the bathroom, and now even while out for a stroll, she’d actually run into something like this in the park.

Every time, Sheng Huaixi was there beside her.

Jiang Chao now deeply felt the strange text that had suddenly appeared, along with the slutty-heroine buff Sheng Huaixi seemed to come with.

Before Jiang Chao came to Shengjing, she would only have thought this kind of thing existed on their school’s gossip wall or on certain vulgar websites.

She never imagined that during one stretch of time, she would run into this sort of thing so often.

Too many times; too often. Jiang Chao felt no happiness at all.

From this angle, Jiang Chao rather pitied Sheng Huaixi. She’d spent most of her life living inside such a twisted worldview.

“Is that so?” Sheng Huaixi raised an eyebrow and lowered her head, drifting closer to Jiang Chao with apparent indifference; her striking features loomed larger and larger.

As the words fell, weight pressed onto Jiang Chao’s leg. A long, pale hand lazily rested on her thigh.

Its presence was impossible to ignore.

The cool gaze falling on her face was equally impossible to ignore.

Jiang Chao stiffened in place, her neck rigid, not daring to glance around carelessly; she could only meet Sheng Huaixi’s fixed, direct stare.

“It should...” Jiang Chao said softly, her brows faintly furrowed as she endured the itch on her thigh and gave her answer.

Hearing that, Sheng Huaixi’s smile deepened, her allure captivating.

Her fingertip moved lightly, tapping Jiang Chao’s thigh; at that moment, it carried something almost annoyed.

Jiang Chao couldn’t help but shiver, her brows drooping slightly in grievance.

She was telling the truth.

It was just that Sheng Huaixi didn’t seem to like hearing the truth.

Sheng Huaixi’s smiling face drew closer and closer, and a bad feeling flashed through Jiang Chao’s heart.

“Jiang Chao, have you heard the saying: sincerity moves heaven?”

Suddenly hearing Sheng Huaixi say this, Jiang Chao looked surprised, then gave a small nod, blinking in confusion.

She didn’t understand why Sheng Huaixi had suddenly shifted the topic to this.

This was a saying often treated in the secular world as a Buddhist phrase about abstinence, yet spoken at this slightly erotic moment, the contrast was so sharp it caught Jiang Chao off guard.

“Then do you think that the reason you keep running into situations like this is because you’re thinking about it in your heart, so heaven is simply fulfilling your wish?”

“How could that be!”

This time, Jiang Chao didn’t need to think; she denied it without hesitation.

Her eyes widened slightly at Sheng Huaixi’s words, and a hint of embarrassment flashed across her face.

Thinking about it, she met Sheng Huaixi’s eyes and added, “Even if I did think that way, it would definitely have to be in a situation where both people were willing, or at least where one thing could lead naturally to another.”

“Is that so.” Sheng Huaixi smiled lightly and turned her gaze toward the gloomy sky, a trace of mockery flashing in the depths of her eyes.

“Of course. Doing something like that definitely has to respect the other person’s opinion.”

Jiang Chao went on with what she wanted to say, and it was also the thought that had flashed through her mind when she saw Sheng Huaixi’s story.

When she said this, her eyes were bright, utterly unlike the dim sky behind her.

She drew the eye; she seized the heart.

The light in those eyes reflected in Sheng Huaixi’s own, and her heart suddenly softened. Her throat felt a little dry; that dryness slid down through her windpipe into her chest and lungs, making her itch with restlessness.

Unable to soothe the itch herself, Sheng Huaixi spoke.

“Jiang Chao.” Her voice lowered.

As the words fell, Sheng Huaixi leaned forward, pressing herself closer to Jiang Chao like someone seeking something, shrinking the distance between them.

Their cheeks were almost touching. Jiang Chao looked at the softened, fragmented expression on Sheng Huaixi’s face; beneath those thin eyelids, the eyes held a faint hint of fragility.

With just that slight blink, Jiang Chao’s heart softened and she loosened her body, no longer resisting Sheng Huaixi’s approach.

Their even breaths tangled together; Jiang Chao held her breath.

At the same time, Sheng Huaixi’s hand resting on her thigh also started to move in an unhelpful way.

A light, itchy sensation crawled over her thigh; it made Jiang Chao’s lower back go weak, and she couldn’t help leaning back, only to find her path blocked by the wooden backrest behind her.

There was nowhere for Jiang Chao to retreat.

Sheng Huaixi took advantage.

Her palm shifted again on Jiang Chao’s thigh. Jiang Chao looked at Sheng Huaixi as she smiled softly at her.

But Jiang Chao couldn’t smile at all; all her attention had fallen on the hand on her thigh, every nerve taut.

Her chin was lightly lifted, and Sheng Huaixi’s figure leaned in.

Jiang Chao lowered her gaze. A few strands of fragrance drifted through the air; it was a crisp citrus scent.

Those exquisite, beautiful features gradually enlarged before her, stunningly gorgeous. Sheng Huaixi blinked her lashes, her breath brushing Jiang Chao’s cheek as she leaned close to whisper beside her ear.

It seemed like she wanted to tell her some intimate little secret between friends.

Jiang Chao had absolutely no defenses.

Their shoulders were intimately pressed together; the woman’s scent and breath intertwined in the same rhythm.

The setting sun was tinted with a faint orange darkness, a mesmerizing wash of color spilled like thick ink; the dreamy scene entered Jiang Chao’s eyes, and her pupils contracted slightly.

Warm breath landed in her ear, and her heartbeat suddenly sped up.

For the beautiful view, and for the person pressed so close against her.

Their bodies were tightly fit together; with every breath Jiang Chao took, it felt as if Sheng Huaixi’s perfume had soaked her entire body in its scent, wrapping around her like a net.

The sweet-bitter scent of orange bloomed carefully at her nose.

The palm resting against her thigh slowly moved, and a spark of electricity shot through her; through the thin denim, it tugged at her heart.

“Jiang Chao.” Sheng Huaixi paused for a long time, then suddenly spoke, her voice soft as a gentle breeze passing by.

Jiang Chao gave a soft mm, her breathing gradually drawing in, her heartbeat speeding up uncontrollably. Then she heard her say—

“If I were willing, would you imagine it?”

“Wanting to do something dirty with me.”