Chapter 39

“A blind date partner?”

Jiang Chao had just turned to answer Sheng Huaixi when Bai Xiangshu, who had been waiting quietly nearby, suddenly cut in, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“You think I’m Jiang Chao’s blind date partner?”

Jiang Chao blinked. Before Sheng Huaixi could speak, she asked first, “Aren’t you?”

From what Bai-mother had said earlier, and from the few questions Bai Xiangshu had just asked her, not to mention Sheng Huaixi—Jiang Chao had already assumed Bai Xiangshu had been privately set up by her mother on a blind date.

What she hadn’t expected was that this blind date would turn out to be someone Sheng Huaixi knew.

Bai Xiangshu smiled and didn’t deny it. Her gaze slowly swept over Jiang Chao’s face.

The dusky orange night light naturally lent everything an ambiguous, seductive haze.

That kind of suggestive beauty sat on Jiang Chao’s features, gathered in a pair of clear, clean eyes. Her peach-blossom eyes were the sort most likely to seem flirtatious, yet the way she carried herself made them look pure instead.

Completely unlike Sheng Huaixi.

Even now, because Sheng Huaixi was standing behind her, Jiang Chao watched Bai Xiangshu with obvious wariness. And yet her gaze remained gentle, and she was even holding Sheng Huaixi back behind her.

Gentle and courteous, firm and steady; her eyes and bearing carried a faint, refreshing clarity.

Her concern for Sheng Huaixi wasn’t simple ignorance or naivety, but the protection of someone who knew the truth.

Even knowing how bad Sheng Huaixi could be, even though what had just been said made things difficult, she still instinctively protected her.

Bai Xiangshu admitted Jiang Chao was indeed very charming, especially to people like them, who were buried under layers of darkness and shackled by one chain after another.

There was nothing more alluring than resolve once you knew the truth.

What was most intoxicating were those watery, yielding eyes; no matter what you did, they would take it, and in the silence of that acceptance, a person’s desire would only grow.

Sheng Huaixi had actually found someone willing to indulge her.

Bai Xiangshu curled her fingers and let out a soft sigh. Jealousy bubbled up in her heart, one bead after another, coating the surface of her chest and smothering the resentment that had always lived inside it.

“It wasn’t certain at first,” Bai Xiangshu said with a light laugh, her expression returning to its usual gentleness as her eyes locked directly on Jiang Chao. “But now it is.”

Jiang Chao’s expression turned subtle. The wrist that had been slapped away behind her was now caught again.

“Don’t tell me,” Jiang Chao said, raising her brows slightly and forcing the words out through the pain, a trace of alarm flickering in her eyes. “You’ve developed an interest in me now?”

It really did sound awfully familiar.

Behind her, fingers tried desperately to hook upward again. Jiang Chao spread her fingers, trying to shake off Sheng Huaixi’s hold.

Sheng Huaixi’s gaze was dark and cold. One hand pressed Jiang Chao in place while her other focus stayed fixed on Bai Xiangshu. Fury burned in the depths of her eyes, and the anger at someone else coveting what was hers scorched away the last of her reason.

If Jiang Chao hadn’t been standing in front of her, Sheng Huaixi would have slapped Bai Xiangshu without the slightest hesitation.

Even if they had both once witnessed that incident back then.

Hearing Jiang Chao’s words, Bai Xiangshu smiled and nodded. Then her gaze shifted, and she met a pair of icy, sinister eyes head-on.

The rage churning in those eyes was denser than anything she had ever seen before, far more intense than what she’d seen back then.

Tsk. So attached, huh.

Bai Xiangshu’s interest only deepened.

The instant that nod came into view, Jiang Chao’s breath caught. She gave a faint sigh; the wolf lying in wait behind her stopped bothering to hide itself. It stepped forward and pressed straight against her back, and she could clearly feel Sheng Huaixi trembling.

“Bai Xiangshu, put away those thoughts,” Sheng Huaixi said, her eyes burning with anger and her voice low and dangerous.

She looked like a beast whose territory had been invaded without permission; fury surged in her heart, rising violently, darkness spreading through the depths of her eyes as thick possessiveness poured out without restraint.

Every movement she made carried a fierce, uncompromising refusal.

Bai Xiangshu shrugged carelessly. She was practically hoping Sheng Huaixi would make a move against her.

The pain from the slap still faintly lingered on her face. Bai Xiangshu brushed her fingers over her cheek, lightly licked the tip of her tongue, and suddenly curved her lips into a pleased smile.

“Miss Jiang, we’ll meet again next time.”

With that soft, drifting line, enough to stoke Sheng Huaixi’s anger, Bai Xiangshu turned and left. Her figure remained calm and steady as her black dress moved farther and farther into the banquet, dissolving into the night.

For a moment, Jiang Chao couldn’t tell whether her “see you again” referred to the next blind date gathering.

“Don’t look at her.”

A hand covered Jiang Chao’s eyes. From behind her came a chilling voice, hot breath brushing against Jiang Chao’s frozen-red ear. “You’re only allowed to look at me.”

The palm over her eyelids was icy. Jiang Chao thought of Sheng Huaixi’s snow-white shoulder from earlier; the cold wind from the window had been slipping in through her sleeves, pressing against the skin of her arms.

Jiang Chao placed her fingertips on the back of Sheng Huaixi’s hand; the chill answered her touch, and she couldn’t help but knit her brows. Her voice sank a little. “Is that all you care about?”

It was November. The damp cold in the air clung to the wind as if it would cut into the skin the next second, seeping straight into the bones. The apparent temperature had already dropped to near freezing, making people numb with cold.

Jiang Chao had only stood outside in the wind for a little while, and it already felt as if the blood in her entire body had frozen and started running backward. Sheng Huaixi had been standing at the window for far longer.

After finally seeing Bai Xiangshu off, this was the first thing she said.

The chill couldn’t suppress the emotions surging in her heart. Jiang Chao’s chest rose and fell; she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, her lashes brushing against Sheng Huaixi’s palm.

In the end, she still held back her restlessness.

“Come with me.” Jiang Chao slid her fingers over Sheng Huaixi’s wrist, pulling her into the night. Her figure was slender.

Being led away on purpose, Sheng Huaixi followed with unusual docility. Her gaze greedily skimmed over Jiang Chao’s back, the corners of her lips lifting almost imperceptibly as her eyes traveled from top to bottom.

The dazzling crystal chandelier shone bright and magnificent, its light spilling through the delicate openwork decor into the corridor. Jiang Chao’s black hair fell in soft, seaweed-like waves; her slender figure looked delicate, but there was real resilience beneath it.

The force gripping her wrist told Sheng Huaixi exactly how much explosive strength that beautiful body held.

After turning several corners, Sheng Huaixi’s breathing kept drifting into Jiang Chao’s ears. Only their footsteps echoed in the corridor, gradually falling into sync.

By the time they reached the room, only one set of footsteps remained.

Jiang Chao sank into the thick, soft sofa. The wrist she’d let go of in midair was quickly seized again; Sheng Huaixi reacted instantly, her palm reaching up to grab the fluffy blanket.

“Let go. Cover yourself properly.”

The moment Jiang Chao turned to get the hot-water kettle, she glanced back and happened to see Sheng Huaixi’s movement. Her long lashes lowered slightly in warning.

After speaking, Jiang Chao turned to look for a disposable cup.

Her back was to Sheng Huaixi, so she didn’t see what happened next.

The blanket in Sheng Huaixi’s hand shook once; bits of cheap fluff fell off at random, and there was even a trace of some unknown lipstick at the corner. It was obvious at a glance that someone else had used it.

Sheng Huaixi’s brows drew together visibly. She casually tossed the blanket aside and her eyes flashed with disgust.

She hated using things other people had used, and she hated even more having other people’s scent on her body. Once something got on her, it clung to her without the slightest politeness.

An awful smell, like a stubborn medicated plaster that couldn’t be peeled off.

When Jiang Chao came back with a cup of hot water, steam curled up slowly in front of her. She couldn’t stop her brows from lifting. This woman really had to provoke her today, didn’t she.

“Sheng Huaixi, aren’t you cold?”

She set the disposable cup on the table and sat down beside Sheng Huaixi, reaching for the blanket Sheng Huaixi had thrown aside.

A cold palm intercepted her movement midair.

Jiang Chao turned her head. Sheng Huaixi shook her head at her, stopping her from leaning over.

“No need.” Sheng Huaixi paused, then added when she saw the faint anger on Jiang Chao’s face, “I don’t like using blankets other people have used. Besides, there’s air conditioning in here.”

A clean freak. Jiang Chao pressed a hand to her forehead, a trace of trouble flashing in her eyes. She had forgotten Sheng Huaixi’s obsessive cleanliness; this person had never liked using things other people had used.

But for the moment, she really couldn’t find a blanket that was completely clean.

“Drink the hot water. I’ll go adjust the air conditioner.” As she spoke, Jiang Chao bent her knee and was about to stand.

Her pale wrist was exposed in the air. The moment she tried to leave, Sheng Huaixi didn’t hesitate; she quickly reached out, gripped it tightly, and under Jiang Chao’s startled cry, decisively yanked her back to her side.

Just as she was getting up, Jiang Chao was pulled down again. With the force of the motion, she was dragged straight back against the sofa. Her palm swung through the air and landed on Sheng Huaixi’s thigh.

“No.”

Her black hair spilled across the brown leather behind her, glossy and gleaming. Jiang Chao wondered if she had heard Sheng Huaixi wrong.

But her mouth had already moved before she could think, blurting out her confusion: “Why not?”

The weight of Sheng Huaixi’s shoulder settled on her. Her careless answer drifted into Jiang Chao’s ear.

“No need.”

As she spoke, Sheng Huaixi hunched her shoulders and rubbed against Jiang Chao on her own. She was carrying the same cold air with her, and even the familiar scent on her body had taken on a sharp, wintry edge.

Sheng Huaixi wrapped her arms around Jiang Chao’s waist, bent down, and pressed in close. The scent unique to Jiang Chao lingered lazily at the tip of her nose, something she could smell whenever she wanted.

Her fingers tightened unconsciously. Sheng Huaixi’s lashes trembled, and she rested her cheek against Jiang Chao’s shoulder. Leaning on that closeness, she softly said what was in her heart.

“As long as you’re here, that’s enough.”

Jiang Chao shivered. Her gaze lingered for a long time on the exquisite Baroque carpet as the emotions surging in her heart were scattered into the air by Sheng Huaixi’s single sentence.

She really couldn’t understand Sheng Huaixi.

Tonight was Grandma’s birthday. If Sheng Huaixi was coming, then she must have received an invitation long ago; but clearly she hadn’t, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked Jiang Chao this afternoon what her plans were for tonight.

So Sheng Huaixi had clearly never intended to come to the banquet.

And yet, in the end, she came.

Why?

Jiang Chao really didn’t want to overthink it and seem full of herself, but the facts in front of her now seemed to point in exactly that direction, whether it was what Sheng Huaixi said or what she did.

“You came here specifically to find me today.”

Sheng Huaixi rubbed against her shoulder and nodded in agreement with Jiang Chao’s words. Her body stretched lazily as she finished stating the purpose of coming here tonight.

“And to take you home.”

“Take me home?” Jiang Chao’s settled mood gave way to fresh confusion. She gathered her fingers and glanced sideways at her shoulder; the tip of a delicate upturned nose flashed before her eyes. “I have to go back to my own home tonight.”

Her mother had repeatedly emphasized that after the banquet, they’d have a long-overdue mother-daughter heart-to-heart, and she had to go home.

Besides, Jiang Chao didn’t understand. “Didn’t I tell you this afternoon? I wasn’t coming back tonight.”

Just to take her home—was it really necessary for Sheng Huaixi to make a special trip?

After a long silence, the body leaning against her shoulder slowly straightened. Jiang Chao heard Sheng Huaixi’s question, low and faint, carrying an indistinct weakness and grievance.

“What about me?”

Sheng Huaixi’s wrist pressed against Jiang Chao’s shoulder as she dragged her down and pinned her against the back of the sofa, staring at Jiang Chao with an unreadable gaze.

Uneasy displeasure swept past like the winter wind; cold and sharp, it ignored the thin layer of cover and forcefully blew into Sheng Huaixi’s blood. The fiery emotions she had carried here were frozen on the way.

The damp cold wrapped itself around the seams of her bones; the indoor heating did nothing at all. Sheng Huaixi’s gaze clung to Jiang Chao and wouldn’t move away.

Jiang Chao lifted her eyes. Sheng Huaixi was braced over her, and the crystal light above was completely blocked by her silhouette, leaving only scattered brilliance spilling over her body on both sides.

Wherever she looked, Sheng Huaixi filled her vision completely.

Jiang Chao could see Sheng Huaixi’s emotions all too clearly: her grievance, her anger, and the jealousy hidden deep within them, laid bare from this angle.

That silent pressure seemed to close in on Jiang Chao from all sides.

“I’ll go back tomorrow.”

In the end, Jiang Chao still softened. She lifted her hand and gently stroked Sheng Huaixi’s cheek, kneading the soft flesh there before patting it, soothing her in a voice made tender by the feeling in her heart.

Without warning, sharp teeth bit fiercely into Jiang Chao’s palm. Pain shot through her senses; she instinctively tried to pull away, but the bite only tightened.

As Sheng Huaixi bit her, she also lifted her eyes to look up.

The stinging pain in her palm kept spreading, sharp and savage. Jiang Chao lowered her head—

There was actually a faint red wetness in Sheng Huaixi’s eyes!

She was crying?!