Chapter 5

What was she supposed to do now?

Countless thoughts flashed through Jiang Chao’s mind in an instant; her expression stiffened, and her wrist stayed frozen in midair for a long time.

In the photo——

Snow-white skin pressed against a matching camisole; a broad sweep of pale flesh glowed beneath the dim light. The parts below the waist were submerged in water, the surface shimmering faintly.

The figure was sexy, every curve outlining the woman’s alluring shape; seaweed-like waves spilled over bare skin, lazy and beautiful.

And most shocking of all was that pale strap half-slid off her glossy shoulder, the fabric hanging loosely, half concealing and half revealing a rounded curve.

A photo like this...

Jiang Chao’s ears turned bright red. Her gaze flickered away as she closed her eyes, silently praying that when she opened them again, she wouldn’t still see it.

But reality was cruel. When she opened her eyes again, Jiang Chao not only found that the photo hadn’t been recalled, she also received a “death message.”

【How does it look?】

Just six blunt, simple words; the final question mark landed mercilessly, pressing down through the screen with overwhelming force.

Exhaling, Jiang Chao looked at Sheng Huaixi’s message and told herself to calm down.

It’s fine. Even if she’s crazy, you’re neither a pervert nor do you like her.

To you, she’s just an ordinary boss who holds your internship’s life-and-death decisions in her hands.

Staring at the sultry photo that made her face burn red, Jiang Chao finally noticed something tucked in a corner and her expression suddenly brightened.

Spring Hot Spring.

Thinking back to the badge and milk tea from the morning, Jiang Chao suddenly understood what Sheng Huaixi was trying to tell her, and the tension in her chest eased at once.

This must have been a team-building event the Creative Department held before, and Sheng Huaixi had sent it to her so she could take a look.

Her fingers flew over the screen; Jiang Chao replied earnestly.

【Director Sheng, is this also a new hire benefit? cat peeking and silly grin.gif】

After sending it, satisfied with her answer, Jiang Chao leaned back on the bed, grabbed a plush doll and hugged it to her chest, lazily watching the chat window.

Then she opened the photo again and began studying the hot spring environment inside.

Mist curled through the air; the water looked beautiful. A few slender stemmed glasses held red wine, and beyond them stretched a distant glittering sea of ten thousand homes, lavish and luxurious.

Shengjing’s employee care really was good, Jiang Chao thought. She had only just joined, and yet they already had a hot spring team-building activity.

Ding. Jiang Chao snapped out of her thoughts and looked to see what Sheng Huaixi had replied.

Sheng Huaixi: 【Do you like it?】

Jiang Chao: 【I do! It looks both beautiful and comfortable~ I feel nice!】

Sheng Huaixi: 【Good, then next time you can come along.】

The smile on Jiang Chao’s lips froze. Suddenly, she felt the meaning in their exchange might be a little off.

She had been talking about the private hot spring in the picture; what did Sheng Huaixi mean by “come along”?!

“I——!”

A moment later, Jiang Chao shot upright, and the doll in her arms rolled across the bed several times from the sudden movement.

Shock and helplessness flashed across her eyes. She tossed the phone aside, and several red clouds of embarrassment rushed up her face.

“So embarrassing..."

Carefully rereading the few messages between her and Sheng Huaixi, Jiang Chao suddenly realized something was wrong.

What she and Sheng Huaixi were talking about was very likely two different things, and the source of the disaster was the “new hire benefit” line she’d tried to be clever with at the start.

She had never specified what the “new hire benefit” referred to.

Jiang Chao had been thinking of the private hot spring in the photo, but what Sheng Huaixi meant might have been herself.

And Jiang Chao had told Sheng Huaixi, dressed in a thin swimsuit, that she looked both beautiful and comfortable.

“Beautiful” was fine, but “comfortable”——Jiang Chao’s brain spun for ages and still couldn’t come up with a decent explanation for why she had praised her that way.

On the contrary, she could instantly think of several terrible interpretations, especially——

Given that Sheng Huaixi was still the main character in this H-drama world, the chances of taking it the wrong way only multiplied.

Setting that premise aside, just linking the two words together...

Jiang Chao felt that if someone praised her like that, she would only think they were flirting with her.

Her phone dropped helplessly onto the bed and bounced several times.

Jiang Chao curled in on herself and knelt on the bed, the muffled sound of her groan pressing out through the quilt. Why had she made so many stupid mistakes today of all days!

She slapped her boss during the day; she flirted with her boss at night.

And the person she was slapping and teasing, by some terrible coincidence, was the very boss she was absolutely certain was a crazy woman.

Staring at the chat, Jiang Chao sighed in misery, but she still held onto one last shred of hope.

Maybe Sheng Huaixi sent this photo because the person in it wasn’t her... What boss would send their own swimsuit photo on the very first day?

But thinking of who had sent it, Jiang Chao no longer dared to be sure.

After all, Sheng Huaixi was the kind of woman who, after secretly watching two people kiss, would still walk up and greet them with complete composure; mad and wild.

From this brief time together, Jiang Chao felt she still couldn’t figure Sheng Huaixi out.

On the message screen, Sheng Huaixi’s black-and-white text sat neat and orderly. The words “next time you can come along” circled in Jiang Chao’s eyes like a death sentence.

Jiang Chao collapsed weakly onto the bed, imagining Sheng Huaixi staring at her with that dark, eerie look, then picking some random day and quietly, without a sound, getting rid of her...

For a moment, Jiang Chao could only think of two words——

She was done for.

*

“Chaochao, are you okay?”

Jiang Chao set down her black shoulder bag and sat down. Li Sensen, seated beside her, leaned over worriedly, her eyes roaming over Jiang Chao’s face.

She was outgoing and lively; yesterday, when Jiang Chao had been assigned to sit next to her, she had been so happy she practically ran around doing things for her, saying that at last she wouldn’t have to be lonely by herself anymore.

With a wry smile, Jiang Chao thought of the nightmare she had spent all night having and replied, “I’m fine. I just didn’t get enough rest.”

Li Sensen thought for a moment about how Sheng Huaixi had personally taken Jiang Chao around the company yesterday, and understanding immediately showed in her eyes.

“I get it. After getting special treatment from the Great Demon King during the day, how could you not have nightmares at night?”

Jiang Chao blinked. “Great Demon King?”

“You didn’t know?” Seeing her reaction, Li Sensen instantly forgot her work fatigue and turned to look around cautiously before leaning close to Jiang Chao’s ear.

“Great Demon King is the nickname we use for Director Sheng in private. You’re new, so you wouldn’t know. She works brutally and decisively, and won’t tolerate even a grain of sand in her eyes. But the weird thing is, all kinds of inexplicable pursuers keep showing up at her door.”

Jiang Chao nodded. Hadn’t she run into that the day before she reported in?

Seeing her reaction, Li Sensen suddenly pointed and said, “Right, you even helped Director Sheng out that day.”

“You know about that too?” Jiang Chao’s expression stiffened.

Li Sensen blinked in confusion, as though Jiang Chao had asked something strange. “Of course. The whole company already knows.”

The whole company already knew?!

Her breath caught; Jiang Chao’s mind went blank. Her lips opened and closed, and she only felt like she might faint in the next second.

Seeing how thunderstruck she looked after hearing this, Li Sensen reached out and patted her shoulder comfortingly. “It’s fine. Next time, just stay far away when the Great Demon King gets hit on again.”

At that, Jiang Chao came back to herself and remembered how, on her first day, everyone she had seen had been just as indifferent as Li Sensen. She couldn’t help asking, puzzled, “Is Director Sheng very good at dealing with people who pursue her?”

Li Sensen shook her head and said only, “You’ll understand after you see it once yourself next time.”

Jiang Chao flattened onto the desk, her brows drooping helplessly. She really did not want to show up at Sheng Huaixi’s confession scene again.

She did not want to play fake lovers with Sheng Huaixi in public again.

Come to think of it, after she had helped Sheng Huaixi last time, the coworkers passing by had all shot her looks of pity and admiration.

At the time, she had still wondered why there was pity in those looks. Now that she knew what Sheng Huaixi would become in the future, Jiang Chao understood.

Who had ever seen a fool charge straight into the Great Demon King’s arms on purpose?!

Someone tapped her shoulder. Jiang Chao assumed it was Li Sensen checking on her, so she rested her chin lazily on the desk and replied without turning her head, “I’m fine. I’m just mourning the fact that the whole company knows I helped Director Sheng now.”

“Then do you need me to send flowers?”

Jiang Chao was amused. She propped her cheek up on her wrist and half-joked as she turned around. “If we’re talking about sending flowers, shouldn’t Director Sheng personally——”

The smile froze at the corner of her mouth. Jiang Chao looked at Sheng Huaixi, who was standing behind her at some point, and her body, just turning back, went taut as though stretched to its limit.

Sheng Huaixi was holding a small black leather bag. Her jade-like fingertips tapped lightly against her arm, and as if she couldn’t see the blank shock on Jiang Chao’s face, she smiled casually.

Long raven lashes cast a shadow over her eyelids; with her red lips and snow-white skin, her presence was commanding.

“Yes, I’ll personally send them.” After a pause, Sheng Huaixi lowered her voice. “I’ll mourn for you.”

The chair scraped back with a sharp sound. Jiang Chao jerked up at once, waving both hands repeatedly. “N-no, no, there’s no need at all. Director Sheng, you’re joking.”

The chair she had pushed back was steadied by a hand. Under Jiang Chao’s gaze, Sheng Huaixi casually pulled it back and set it between Jiang Chao and Li Sensen’s seats.

“Oh?”

One heel stepped forward with a light click; the sound was crisp. Hearing it, Jiang Chao’s heart jolted hard, and her wrist behind her back trembled unconsciously.

Sheng Huaixi lowered her eyes and glanced at it, but her steps kept moving forward. The expression on her face was half-smiling, half-not, and it made Jiang Chao’s heart tighten in alarm so hard that even her breathing stopped.

“Joking? Do you mean the flowers, or the mourning?”

Jiang Chao’s survival instincts surged. “Both!”

Sheng Huaixi didn’t stop. The pointed toe of her shoe stepped closer again under Jiang Chao’s stare, the sound clear and decisive as it slid into her ears. The familiar scent of tea drifted faintly to Jiang Chao’s nose, rich but balanced.

Sheng Huaixi was tall, and as she came closer step by step, the pressure she gave off was immense. Especially when those stunning, deep features were touched with a hint of a smile.

The aura of someone in power made people show a trace of timidity without meaning to.

Being watched so unblinkingly, Jiang Chao pressed her lips together to suppress her panic; her wrist moved back, and she braced herself nervously against the edge of the desk.

Sheng Huaixi took in her tension, her pupils darkening slightly, her gaze drifting to the long lashes trembling on Jiang Chao’s eyes.

The distance between them kept shrinking, and the defenses in Jiang Chao’s heart rose higher and higher.

“Why are you still this afraid of me?”

Her delicate brows and eyes magnified before Jiang Chao. Sheng Huaixi leaned slightly on the chair armrest as she bent down, her words carrying a note of confusion.

Jiang Chao’s vigilance had already risen with Sheng Huaixi’s approach, but she hadn’t expected her to suddenly ask that.

“Weren’t you not afraid when you slapped me yesterday? Your hand even turned red.” Leaning close to her ear, Sheng Huaixi looked at the soft flesh behind it and spoke softly; her breath was light and drifting.

At that, Jiang Chao’s pupils contracted in shock, and she immediately looked toward Li Sensen.

She sat properly in front of her computer, occasionally angling her ears toward them. Her expression was full of gossiping curiosity and speculation, but there was no look of shock on her face.

Thank goodness she hadn’t heard. Jiang Chao loosened her clenched palm; her nails had bitten painfully into her flesh.

Having been startled like that, Jiang Chao’s fear of Sheng Huaixi dropped again. She explained softly, “That was an accident. I didn’t mean to hit you.”

“Mm. You rubbed it quite well afterward. When I put on my base makeup today, that spot wasn’t even red anymore compared to yesterday.” Sheng Huaixi’s fingertip tapped her own cheek.

At those words, Jiang Chao’s gaze unconsciously followed her finger to the place she had struck yesterday.

It was completely covered by makeup, so there was no way to tell what it originally looked like.

But Jiang Chao remembered the soft, yielding feel when she had rubbed it yesterday; it had been tender and smooth, skin that seemed easy to redden and leave a mark on.

Yesterday, when she struck Sheng Huaixi, she had used quite a bit of strength in order to keep Sheng Huaixi from speaking and being overheard by the people in the stairwell.

Then after Sheng Huaixi went back yesterday, had she seen her face swollen and decided to add Jiang Chao on WeChat to settle accounts?

That would also explain why Sheng Huaixi had proactively added her on WeChat yesterday.

Maybe that photo had been sent on purpose by Sheng Huaixi too... A face that beautiful would definitely hurt if it were struck red.

Holding onto that somewhat remorseful thought, Jiang Chao looked again at the carefully made-up face before her, and her fear gradually turned into guilt.

Relaxing, with emotion rising in her chest, Jiang Chao blurted out an invitation.

“Then as an apology, can I treat you to dinner after work on Friday as compensation?”

The words had only just left her mouth when, before Jiang Chao could even react, she heard a “Okay.”

Jiang Chao met Sheng Huaixi’s eyes. Looking at her cool expression, she asked again as if to confirm, “Just the two of us?”

Straightening up, Sheng Huaixi tapped her arm with her fingertips and met Jiang Chao’s gaze without changing expression. “Isn’t that the apology you’re giving me? Of course it’s only the two of us.”

That made sense.

Jiang Chao stood frozen in place.

Until Sheng Huaixi’s figure had entered the office and the chair beside her slid with a soft scrape, Li Sensen leaned over and solemnly patted Jiang Chao’s shoulder.

“Assistant Jiang, as the first person to successfully invite Director Sheng to a date and meal, please be prepared.”

Jiang Chao turned her head, her tone faint and gloomy. “The company already bought insurance for me yesterday, right?”

If not, Jiang Chao decided she would buy some herself.

Not for anything else, only because Jiang Chao remembered very clearly——

The time Sheng Huaixi could no longer endure the torment of her insane pursuers and first lost control and went mad was Friday!

And she, Jiang Chao, might witness it personally...

TL Note:

H文 (H-drama) = more accurately, any erotic/explicit fiction