Chapter 33

“You’re acting weird, Jiang Chao.”

Propping her chin on one hand, Yuan Bai studied Jiang Chao’s face intently. When Jiang Chao’s expression grew even more guarded after hearing that, Yuan Bai became even more certain she was right.

“What are you talking about? Don’t make things up. How am I weird?” Jiang Chao patted her cheeks and lifted her eyelids to glance at Yuan Bai, looking perfectly composed.

If not for the blush that still hadn’t faded from her face, Yuan Bai might have believed her.

But the truth was, Jiang Chao had blushed inexplicably more than once lately; in fact, it was fair to say it happened quite often.

The three of them had been chatting—Jiang Chao, Li Sensen, and Yuan Bai. Yet whenever Yuan Bai and Li Sensen were talking, Jiang Chao would drift off to the side and retreat into her own thoughts.

That alone wasn’t strange. But Jiang Chao would space out, think of something, and then, without anyone knowing what she’d remembered, suddenly start blushing.

That was very strange.

When they asked her about it, she would either shake her head after snapping back to herself, signaling that nothing was wrong, or panic and jump up at once, stumbling away with flushed cheeks.

After it happened enough times, not only had Yuan Bai noticed something was off, even Li Sensen had quietly come to ask whether something had happened to Jiang Chao recently.

Yuan Bai had laughed it off for her, but that still wasn’t a solution.

Jiang Chao’s refusal to say what was going on only made Yuan Bai more certain that she was hiding something; at the same time, she also couldn’t hide the happiness that kept leaking out.

After turning it over again and again, Yuan Bai could only come to one conclusion.

“Are you... dating Sheng Huaixi?” Yuan Bai asked cautiously.

“Cough, cough, cough—”

Jiang Chao had just taken a sip of water when Yuan Bai blurted out her earth-shattering conclusion. So startled was Jiang Chao that the plain water she’d just swallowed immediately went down the wrong way, and she burst into a fit of coughing, her face turning bright red.

“You don’t have to react that strongly.”

Yuan Bai hurriedly pulled out a few tissues and handed them over. Jiang Chao lowered her head and took them in confusion, covering her mouth as she struggled to recover from choking on the water.

When she looked up again, Jiang Chao’s beautiful peach-blossom eyes were wet with tears, blazing red with irritation; even the rims of her eyes had turned red from coughing.

Her breathing still hadn’t steadied as she glared at Yuan Bai.

“Where did you even get that idea? You went straight from nothing to the two of us dating.”

Yuan Bai carefully wiped away the droplets splashed across the table and, hearing this, pressed her lips together before arguing back.

“Where’s the leap? I said last time that your relationship had the flavor of an arranged marriage turning into love. And look at how you’ve been acting lately—doesn’t it obviously look like love?”

Jiang Chao drew in a sharp breath and stared at Yuan Bai in astonishment, shocked that she could read their relationship so easily.

“My recent behavior? What recent behavior?” Jiang Chao thought hard for a moment but still couldn’t think of anything wrong.

After cleaning up the table, Yuan Bai looked at Jiang Chao and was surprised to find that the confusion on her face was completely genuine.

She really didn’t think anything about her behavior had changed.

Raising a brow slightly, Yuan Bai suddenly became interested in breaking it down carefully.

“Haven’t you noticed that in a lot of conversations recently, when there’s a lull, you suddenly get lost in your own world, then blush and feel hot all over?”

“Blush and feel hot all over?” Jiang Chao blinked in confusion. The recent memories in her head flashed past one by one. “I...”

She had just started to deny it when a memory flashed through her mind like a clamp closing around her throat. All that came out of her mouth was a meaningless, helpless sound.

It was from just yesterday—a fresh memory.

The three of them had been chatting in the office, and the topic had turned to fitness. Li Sensen had said, with obvious envy, “I wish I had abs.”

Then the topic shifted to how to get abs, and the three of them chatted casually about it for a while.

Then, for some reason, someone suddenly said:

“If I had abs, I’d lie down and let you touch me as much as you want. I wouldn’t mind at all.”

That casual joke had snapped something taut in Jiang Chao’s head.

The memory of the last time she’d been fooling around on the sofa with Sheng Huaixi suddenly surged up.

Jiang Chao knew every second of that incident, every moment, as if it had happened only yesterday.

That time, just like the joke had said, she had pinned Sheng Huaixi down on the sofa and let herself be touched without restraint.

Because she’d been teased to the point of irritation.

But the final result was...

Sheng Huaixi had lounged comfortably beneath her, listened to her swaggering words, and patiently waited until she finished before lifting the hem of her shirt with her fingertips and smiling with curved eyes.

“Then, Assistant Jiang, work hard and bully me back, okay?”

Jiang Chao really didn’t want to admit it, but the truth was that the moment she heard Sheng Huaixi say that, her wrist suddenly went weak, and she stumbled into Sheng Huaixi’s arms in a miserable heap.

“Hm? Why are you throwing yourself at me?” Sheng Huaixi had said, wrapping one arm around her waist without a hint of politeness.

The soft palm against her lower back; the hot warmth behind her waist. Jiang Chao shuddered and immediately braced herself on the side to get up, then fled back to her room in rather sorry shape.

The gaze behind her had followed her all the way until the door shut tight.

She had run, yes, but that white sliver of waist, the faint line of her abdomen, and the feel of Sheng Huaixi’s fingertips had all lingered in Jiang Chao’s mind.

The harder Jiang Chao tried to forget, the deeper the memory sank.

At any time, with just a light tug, it would surge back into her head.

Jiang Chao sighed helplessly.

That really did make a mockery of what she’d said before; she’d practically turned into a pervert obsessed with someone else’s abs...

From now on, she really did need to pay attention to her interactions with Sheng Huaixi.

“Hey! Jiang Chao! Come back to yourself!” Yuan Bai shouted, waving a hand in front of her face so fast it left afterimages, her expression resigned.

“Mm? What is it?”

Yuan Bai rolled her eyes and tapped the tabletop. “So you were thinking about Sheng Huaixi again, weren’t you?”

Jiang Chao’s pupils shrank. She opened her mouth to deny it, but one look at Yuan Bai’s stubborn expression made her understand denial was no longer useful.

“You’re still insisting that Sheng Huaixi has feelings for me, aren’t you?”

Yuan Bai nodded without hesitation.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Chao said nothing else and went straight to making a suggestion.

“Then come eat with us tonight and see whether the way we get along is really what you think it is. How about that?”

If a person stood upright, there was nothing to fear from slanted shadows. Jiang Chao felt that in their daily life at home, she and Sheng Huaixi were no different from other friends.

As for the kind of behavior lovers often shared, like sharing food, they had never done that either.

Since that was the case, letting Yuan Bai see how they interacted should make the truth clear.

Yuan Bai hesitated. “Eat with Sheng Huaixi?”

She seriously doubted whether she’d be able to eat anything sitting next to Sheng Huaixi. Besides, this sounded exactly like she’d be a third wheel.

The idea seemed completely unreliable.

“What, are you scared? I’m still here too.” Jiang Chao arched a brow at Yuan Bai.

In the end, Yuan Bai agreed.

*

With a click, the door opened; warm light from inside spilled through the gap and landed on Yuan Bai’s toes, and a draft of warm air followed it out.

Without lifting her head, Yuan Bai shook off the chill from her body and said with a slight shiver, “Sis, what did you make for dinner tonight? I’ve been busy all day; I’m starving.”

“Braised ribs, poached shrimp, vinegar-fried shredded potatoes...”

A cool voice listed a string of dish names, utterly emotionless, hollow enough to kill anyone’s appetite.

Yet to Yuan Bai’s ears, it was no different from a bolt of lightning splitting the sky.

That familiar voice rang in her ears, and Yuan Bai slowly looked up, seeing a face that was cold and expressionless, its gaze deep and unreadable.

She seemed to be in a bad mood.

The bag of fruit in Yuan Bai’s hand swayed as her heart gave a jolt. She wondered whether she had just happened to step on Sheng Huaixi’s bad side, and her nerves instantly tightened.

“Director Sheng...” she greeted softly.

Sheng Huaixi nodded in response. Looking completely calm despite Yuan Bai’s dazed expression, she opened the door and stepped back a few paces. “Come in.”

Yuan Bai nodded and went inside, reaching out to close the door behind her.

Sheng Huaixi’s back passed through her field of vision.

Yuan Bai froze.

She had always known that Jiang Chao and Sheng Huaixi were living together now, but seeing Sheng Huaixi standing inside Jiang Chao’s home in person still felt different.

Unlike at the company, Sheng Huaixi was dressed casually at home; every movement was a little more languid, a little less cold.

“What are you standing there for? Come sit on the sofa.” Sheng Huaixi half-lowered her lashes, her gaze sweeping lightly over Yuan Bai, who was frozen by the door.

The moment she spoke, Yuan Bai instantly felt the intimidating aura Sheng Huaixi always had at the company. All the thoughts in her head were wiped clean, and she walked to the single sofa with both hands and feet moving awkwardly before sitting down.

Sheng Huaixi lowered her eyes, focused on the iPad in her hands. The dim yellow light could not melt away the chill on her.

Her lashes were lowered in concentration; her expression was cool, and the corners of her lips were faintly downturned. She was aloof and distant, every bit the high-and-mighty flower on a mountain peak that people often saw at the company.

If not for the furry slippers by her feet reminding Yuan Bai, she would have thought they were sitting in a conference room.

Sheng Huaixi felt even colder here than she did in the conference room, as if dark clouds had covered the sky and she were in a foul mood.

Yuan Bai licked her lips, gripping the arm of the sofa tightly. She shifted now and then, phone in hand, nerves taut.

Should she take the initiative and say something?

Just as she was agonizing over it, Sheng Huaixi’s indifferent voice broke the frozen stalemate between them.

“I’m going to check the kitchen; sit here and rest for a bit.” Sheng Huaixi stood and left those words behind as she walked toward the kitchen.

Yuan Bai nodded, and the tight knot in her chest instantly loosened. Even the bitten-red tension in her lips eased.

Watching Sheng Huaixi’s back, Yuan Bai noticed her steps seemed to quicken with anticipation.

It must be an illusion, right? It couldn’t be that Jiang Chao had forcibly made Sheng Huaixi stay in the living room to receive her.

“Phew—” Yuan Bai shook her head and scattered the wild thoughts in her mind.

The moment Sheng Huaixi left, Yuan Bai slumped back onto the sofa, her body relaxing.

The oppressive chill she had been feeling disappeared quickly, like a silent breath leaving a frozen body and drifting into the air.

She didn’t know whether Sheng Huaixi had noticed her nervousness and was trying to be considerate, but once that overbearing aura vanished, Yuan Bai finally let out a breath.

She’d just take it as Sheng Huaixi being thoughtful, for now.

The air conditioner at home kept running; white noise hummed in her ears. Warm air brushed across Yuan Bai’s cheeks and her frozen wrists, and her body temperature gradually returned.

“How did you get in here?”

The kitchen door was pushed open, and Sheng Huaixi’s black-tea fragrance cut through the smell of food, striking Jiang Chao as unexpectedly as it was out of place. Jiang Chao stopped with the cutting board in her hands, surprise flickering across her face as she turned to ask.

Hadn’t she told Sheng Huaixi to stay outside and talk with Yuan Bai?

She and Yuan Bai had already agreed during the day to let Yuan Bai see how she and Sheng Huaixi got along in private. Now that Sheng Huaixi had come into the kitchen, what was Yuan Bai supposed to see?

The confusion on Jiang Chao’s face was obvious. Sheng Huaixi ignored it and walked closer, also ignoring Jiang Chao’s frantic eye signals.

She came to Jiang Chao’s side, leaned over, and lazily rested her head against Jiang Chao’s shoulder.

Feeling the weight on her shoulder, Jiang Chao instinctively glanced toward the doorway, worried Yuan Bai might see how the two of them were interacting in the living room.

“She’s very scared of me; she’s so nervous she’s about to scrape a layer off the sofa leather. If I stayed out there any longer, she wouldn’t even dare eat dinner tonight.”

Sheng Huaixi gave a lazy explanation, her voice calm, her cheek lightly brushing Jiang Chao’s shoulder like a cat.

The soft sweater carried Jiang Chao’s unique scent; a faint lemon fragrance drifted into Sheng Huaixi’s nose. Sheng Huaixi narrowed her eyes in comfort.

Nice.

“Is it really that exaggerated? Did you go out of your way to scare her?” Jiang Chao raised her brows, her expression openly doubtful.

She knew Yuan Bai didn’t exactly like Sheng Huaixi, but to say she feared her? That seemed a little too much.

When the two of them interacted privately, Yuan Bai didn’t show the slightest fear toward Sheng Huaixi; at most, it was obvious dislike.

Jiang Chao didn’t even know where that dislike came from. Yuan Bai had even quietly gone around asking whether Jiang Chao knew anything about Sheng Huaixi’s private life.

In response to Jiang Chao’s suspicion, Sheng Huaixi let out a muffled sound that carried no clear meaning. Her long lashes fluttered, but she gave no answer.

“Anyway, if you leave me in the living room alone with her again, she definitely won’t be able to eat the meal you make tonight.”

The corner of Jiang Chao’s mouth twitched. Very easily, she caught the warning in Sheng Huaixi’s words, along with a faint note of complaint and grievance.

There was no doubt about it—if she stubbornly sent her back out to keep Yuan Bai company, Sheng Huaixi would keep scaring Yuan Bai, and the dinner she’d specially cooked tonight would end up untouched.

“Are you a clingy little nuisance, Sheng Huaixi?” Jiang Chao said darkly.

Ever since she’d learned Yuan Bai was coming over for dinner, Sheng Huaixi’s behavior had been strange.

First, at the supermarket, she’d stuck close to Jiang Chao no matter how much Jiang Chao tried to shake her off, insisting on pressing right against her side and saying she wanted to save up some private time in advance. Jiang Chao had listened with utter bafflement.

She had no idea what Yuan Bai coming for dinner had to do with the so-called private time Sheng Huaixi kept talking about.

After they got home, Sheng Huaixi had been circling her like a ghost.

Within a few steps of Jiang Chao, Sheng Huaixi’s scent surrounded her; getting even a breath of fresh air had become a luxury, and yet Sheng Huaixi still thought that wasn’t enough, leaning closer and closer.

If Sheng Huaixi had grown a tail that could wrap around people, Jiang Chao seriously suspected she would have used it to tie her up.

One flick of the tail, and she’d be freed; one tightening of it, and she’d be dragged closer.

She was exactly like a clingy little nuisance.

“Mm... if you want, I can be.” Sheng Huaixi answered calmly, completely unfazed by the hidden meaning in Jiang Chao’s words.

As she spoke, the flesh of her cheek shifted slightly, brushing against Jiang Chao’s shoulder now and then. Jiang Chao looked down at her; even on that exquisite face, there wasn’t a trace of shame.

Jiang Chao reached back and pinched the soft flesh of her cheek. It felt tender and warm; the skin beneath her fingertips was fine and soft. “It’s really soft.”

Why had she gotten thicker-skinned every time she spoke?

Still held in the position Jiang Chao had pinched her into, Sheng Huaixi turned her head and rested her chin on Jiang Chao’s shoulder before facing her to speak.

“Then it also feels soft when you kiss it.”

Sheng Huaixi was shamelessly selling herself. She moved her chin little by little, and as she leaned in, her hot breath brushed Jiang Chao’s neck; her hair slid upward.

The skin where her breath passed couldn’t help trembling, as if a feather had skimmed over it, leaving a faint itch behind.

“Quit messing around.” Jiang Chao let go of her cheek and instead covered her neck, rubbing it lightly until the itch faded.

“You didn’t even look at me; how do you know I’m messing around?” Sheng Huaixi said with a smile, deliberately using her chin to press against the hollow above Jiang Chao’s collarbone. The sunken little space fit her perfectly.

Like two pieces that slotted together exactly.

At Sheng Huaixi’s words, Jiang Chao turned to look at her. Lowering her gaze, she found a pair of eyes beneath long lashes, bright and moist, with a trace of amusement in them.

Sheng Huaixi was offering herself up for Jiang Chao to look at.

Her features unfolded like ink wash in water; the smile spread like ink across her flawless, snow-white face. Her thick lashes trembled, and the faint dampness in her eyes gave her a touch of rosy obedience.

She relaxed and opened herself under Jiang Chao’s gaze.

Their breaths tangled as they looked into each other’s eyes. The soft peach-pink between them mingled in the rippling air and settled onto one another’s pale skin.

At first, Jiang Chao had only meant to glance at her briefly and tease Sheng Huaixi with a laugh. But after really looking, she was completely drawn in and couldn’t pull herself free.

Until a cool fingertip touched the corner of her lips.

“You’re blushing.” Sheng Huaixi’s soft laugh curled open, and she seemed delighted that Jiang Chao was so easily embarrassed because of her.

Seeing her reaction, Jiang Chao’s heart skipped a beat. The heat on her face rose even higher, and her fingers hooked into the hem of her clothes, tugging unconsciously.

It was only blushing, so why was Sheng Huaixi smiling so beautifully?

Coughing lightly, Jiang Chao gave Sheng Huaixi a deep look, then turned back to the steaming pot in front of her and pulled her hair aside to cover the red tips of her ears.

“Alright, enough fooling around. Go out already; Yuan Bai is still sitting outside.”

The smile on Sheng Huaixi’s face faded. The body she’d just straightened leaned down again without hesitation, her face rubbing against Jiang Chao’s shoulder over and over.

“It itches.” The inside of Jiang Chao’s sweater kept shifting against her, scratching at her skin until it itched. Jiang Chao laughed and leaned away to the side, reaching back to push Sheng Huaixi’s cheek.

In the end, after Jiang Chao pushed for a while, she realized this person had simply latched onto her shamelessly and wasn’t moving no matter what.

“Sheng Huaixi, get up already. I’m cooking. Do you want the three of us to eat air tonight if I can’t fry anything?”

Since pushing her away was hopeless, Jiang Chao had no choice but to try words instead, hoping the clingy little nuisance would go out for the sake of the food.

Sheng Huaixi buried herself against Jiang Chao’s shoulder and spoke in a muffled voice, “I didn’t tie your hands and stop you from moving.”

“And if we’re eating air, it should be just the two of us...”

No need for anyone else to be there.

Jiang Chao bent to reach for the oil. She only heard the first half of Sheng Huaixi’s sentence, so she turned back with the plate in hand and frowned. “What did you say? I didn’t catch that.”

Sheng Huaixi shook her head to indicate it was nothing, then reached out to bring over the seasonings Jiang Chao had prepared in advance before stepping behind her.

Her waist was wrapped from behind; a pair of arms gently bound her there, fully living up to the title of clingy nuisance.

Jiang Chao lowered her head. Those long, well-defined hands were boldly laid in front of her, and the pale, slender fingers made the beige kitchen seem faintly upscale.

They announced their presence without any attempt to hide it.

Jiang Chao didn’t try to pry her hands away. She was far too familiar with this posture; trying to wrest strength from Sheng Huaixi was simply impossible.

Only...

“Sheng Huaixi, I’m frying food, not jumping into the sea. Do we really have to cook in such a romantic pose?”

In a front-and-back embrace, Jiang Chao stared at the thick sauce simmering in front of her, the veins at her temple twitching one by one.

Were they reenacting Titanic’s classic love scene in the kitchen?

“Didn’t you say I was clingy? This is what clingy people are like.”

Sheng Huaixi wrapped Jiang Chao tighter around the waist and lowered her cheek to rub against her shoulder a few times. Since Jiang Chao couldn’t see her face, she comfortably narrowed her eyes.

Her ears twitched slightly. Sheng Huaixi caught a brief, disordered breath; it wasn’t Jiang Chao’s.

Hearing Sheng Huaixi’s shameless words, Jiang Chao glanced sideways. Even though she couldn’t see Sheng Huaixi’s expression right now, she could guess a little.

Either her eyes had narrowed in a smile, or there was a teasing look on that beautiful face.

Either way, it had to be the kind of expression that made Jiang Chao want to pinch her cheeks.

“Let go. You’re hugging me like a sloth. How am I supposed to cook if I’m carrying your weight?”

Lowering her head, Jiang Chao gave the wrists around her waist a perfunctory tug, her expression helpless.

Sheng Huaixi didn’t budge. In fact, after hearing that, she clung even tighter, her arms pulling Jiang Chao’s waist into a firm embrace.

Pushed by her, Jiang Chao had no choice but to lean forward. She braced one hand against the edge of the counter; the back of her hand strained, veins bulging with frustration, and the helplessness in her brows deepened.

She didn’t realize that this faint tolerance would only let the sharp-eyed Sheng Huaixi see through her thoughts, and then push even farther out of bounds.

Soft, rounded warmth pressed against Jiang Chao’s back; a numb, prickling itch spread between flesh and bone. Shuddering, Jiang Chao tried to inch forward.

She was trying to escape the arms encircling her, but Sheng Huaixi gave her no chance.

The more Jiang Chao shrank forward, the tighter Sheng Huaixi held her.

Heat rushed to Jiang Chao’s face; the fingertips braced on the counter kept going pale and pink from the strain. The steam rising from the kitchen reflected on her cheeks; she could clearly feel the warmth climbing there, and the soft body pressing close from behind...

Sheng Huaixi was the very definition of taking an inch and demanding a mile.

“If you keep pressing like that, you’re going to pin me against the kitchen counter...” Jiang Chao tried hard to keep her breathing under control so she wouldn’t sound too miserable.

The hot breath brushing her neck, the soft fullness pressed against her back; Sheng Huaixi’s breathing rose and fell slowly against her chest.

With every breath, Jiang Chao couldn’t help trembling.

“I’m holding your waist; I won’t.” Sheng Huaixi’s tone was especially calm at that moment.

So calm that Jiang Chao wanted to throw herself at her and bite her hard.

Was that even the point?!

“Hold you a little longer, and then I’ll behave and go out, okay?” Sheng Huaixi pressed her lips together, glancing back from the corner of her eye. The smile in her gaze was deep and dark, and the possessiveness surging inside her was like turbulent waves.

“Fine.”

Jiang Chao didn’t know what Sheng Huaixi was planning, but right now, to get her out of the kitchen, she could only agree.

Time passed second by second, each one as unbearable as being scraped by a knife.

Jiang Chao’s fingers curled slightly as she told herself to ignore the movement behind her.

But the more she tried to ignore it, the heavier that touch became.

Sheng Huaixi’s scent raged in her nose, arrogantly and dominantly filling her entire body; every nerve in Jiang Chao’s body was pulled tight.

“Done.”

After counting the time, Sheng Huaixi finally released her wrists with obvious reluctance.

The moment her grip on Jiang Chao’s waist loosened, Jiang Chao’s legs went weak on reflex. Her body relaxed, one hand bracing on the stove in front of her, her face flushed a water-bright red.

Sheng Huaixi turned around.

Outside the kitchen’s transparent sliding door, she met Yuan Bai’s shocked gaze.

Her lips parted slightly. Sheng Huaixi’s mouth curved upward; lifting her wrist, she brought it to her nose, inhaled slowly, and turned her eyes aside with a smile, her gaze deep and unreadable.

You’re satisfied

with the fact that I have her—

don’t you?