Chapter 55

Jiang Chao didn’t let the atmosphere stay still for long. Soon, she returned to her usual manner, a faint smile on her face and a calm note in her voice as she answered.

“What you make really does taste better than what they make outside. Why would I lie to you?”

It was only about the food, nothing else.

Jiang Chao was sidestepping the real issue, and Sheng Huaixi knew it perfectly well.

Across a few exchanged looks, Sheng Huaixi could see the calm in Jiang Chao’s eyes with perfect clarity. The emotions there were like a still pool; the ripples stirred up by a fierce wind had been smoothed flat.

Jiang Chao was deliberately keeping her expression in check.

Sheng Huaixi narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze fixed on the crown of Jiang Chao’s lowered head. The soft black strands swayed with her movements as she focused entirely on fighting with the food in the bowl.

Their eyes never met again. In the gap between their crossed gazes, Sheng Huaixi’s waiting came to nothing, extinguished by Jiang Chao in this silent way.

She knew Jiang Chao wouldn’t answer her promise directly again.

Sheng Huaixi lowered her eyes; her long lashes fell quietly, and her gaze grew darker. She didn’t ask further.

When the scorching gaze on her body finally moved away, the fingers Jiang Chao held her chopsticks with stiffened slightly. Her heartbeat skipped once, then settled again.

Time passed in silence. After dinner, Sheng Huaixi rested on the sofa for a while, then said she wanted to go to the gym for some exercise and left by herself.

Jiang Chao stared blankly at Sheng Huaixi’s retreating back.

If this had been before, Jiang Chao would have chosen without hesitation to follow after Sheng Huaixi, stick close, and go to the gym with her, working out beside her.

But today, Jiang Chao didn’t do that, and Sheng Huaixi didn’t take the initiative to invite her either.

It was just a casual notice, like something between ordinary roommates or friends.

Jiang Chao withdrew her gaze. Out of the corner of her eye, even the hazy light that had been left on seemed to dim with the soft click of the door closing. The apartment sank into a thick silence.

The breath in her nose and lungs seemed to be seized and pressed down hard; Jiang Chao’s breathing gradually turned heavy, and she could clearly feel the air inside her body being drawn away.

She leaned forward, helplessly stretching her arms toward the table, burying her face between them and curling into a small ball. Her shoulder blades loosened bit by bit.

After a long while, Jiang Chao exhaled the heaviness in her chest in one long breath. It hit the tabletop, then washed over her face. Her long lashes fluttered once before she quietly closed her eyes.

Calm down.

She kept telling herself.

The overhead light in the living room slowly dimmed. Beyond the drifting gauze curtains, the sky grew darker and darker, bringing with it a suffocating, numb chill that sank straight into one’s heart.

The stars wheeled on; the unchanging black kept this land covered. The wind tore violently at the empty air, slamming hard against the glass with loud, clanging bangs that echoed through the room.

The small figure curled up on the carpet looked especially lonely.

In the days that followed, in Jiang Chao’s eyes, the two of them fell into some inexplicable period of coldness.

It wasn’t actually inexplicable. Jiang Chao understood something after that dinner; only the way the two of them were being cold was inexplicable.

A coldness in going to and from work together, a coldness in eating dinner together, a coldness in discussing work matters at home...

But the cold war Jiang Chao thought she saw only earned four words from Yuan Bai after hearing her describe it: inexplicable.

Watching Jiang Chao sigh unconsciously at work for several days in a row, Yuan Bai had originally thought something unspeakable had happened to her, leaving her troubled.

But then...

Yuan Bai’s expression darkened. She shot Jiang Chao a disgusted look and really couldn’t sympathize with the so-called coldness Jiang Chao kept talking about.

“It’s practically only missing the part where you two are being cold while fucking.”

Smack.

Jiang Chao directly slapped Yuan Bai’s arm without a shred of politeness. “What nonsense are you saying?”

Yuan Bai rubbed her arm and pouted. “That’s exactly what it is.”

A period of coldness; in other words, wasn’t that just a cold war?

Yuan Bai had never seen any couple’s cold war look like this.

Neither of them was poor, and yet they insisted on driving the same car to and from work even during their cold war.

Their home wasn’t large, but they had both unspokenly chosen to eat the same meal at the same time at the same dining table.

There were so many forms of entertainment after work, and yet they insisted on discussing work with each other at home. This wasn’t deliberate small talk? Yuan Bai really found that hard to believe.

They had already done the things they should do together—going to work, eating, chatting; what was so strange about doing one more thing like love?

Yuan Bai felt she hadn’t said anything wrong.

“Go, go, go. I’m not talking to you anymore. I’m going to pack up and get off work.”

Jiang Chao gave up arguing with Yuan Bai any further, turned back to her seat, and started tidying up.

Today after work was the time she had agreed on with Bai Xiangshu. Bai Xiangshu had sent her the location early on.

When quitting time came, Jiang Chao didn’t hesitate and left immediately.

Before leaving, Jiang Chao subconsciously glanced toward Sheng Huaixi’s office. The office, empty the entire afternoon, still hadn’t seen its owner return by the end of the workday.

Sheng Huaixi seemed to have been very busy lately.

Whether at the company or at home, Jiang Chao had recently kept seeing Sheng Huaixi holding an iPad and skimming through documents at speed. Aside from domestic files, there were also French and English ones mixed in.

Was it Shengjing’s overseas branch? Or Sheng Huaixi’s own business...

Jiang Chao looked out the window, her thoughts drifting. Her fingertips unconsciously pressed against her palm as she kept replaying recent events in her head.

“Miss Jiang.” Bai Xiangshu appeared gracefully, her low voice brushing Jiang Chao’s ear. “Sorry, I’m late.”

Jiang Chao came back to herself and calmly swept her gaze over Bai Xiangshu. With a light smile, she gently shook her head. “Not at all. This place is very close to my company; Miss Bai choosing it was very thoughtful.”

Bai Xiangshu sat down. The bead chain hanging from her ear glittered under the bright lights, catching flashes with every slight movement of her body and reflecting softly onto her neck and face; warm, yet somehow aggressive.

“Enough pleasantries. Miss Jiang, what exactly do you want to know from me about Sheng Huaixi? Go ahead and say it.”

After ordering the dishes, Bai Xiangshu raised her eyes to Jiang Chao. Her gaze held a gentle smile, her expression soft, like an easygoing neighbor.

But the words she said were completely different; direct to the point of catching Jiang Chao off guard.

Under the table, Jiang Chao’s fingertips twitched. Her expression froze slightly, then she quickly broke into a smile as well, looking at Bai Xiangshu with interest.

“I thought I was the one who was more anxious, but now it looks like Miss Bai is even more interested in Sheng Huaixi.”

Using Sheng Huaixi so openly to lure her out; after only a few sentences, she had directly pointed out Jiang Chao’s purpose.

Jiang Chao’s purpose really was Sheng Huaixi, but because Bai Xiangshu had said it so bluntly, it instead showed how impatient Bai Xiangshu was about this matter.

Bai Xiangshu was eager to learn Sheng Huaixi’s recent situation through Jiang Chao’s questions.

Since someone was more anxious than her, Jiang Chao was no longer in a hurry.

The initiative was in her hands; there was no reason for Jiang Chao to panic.

Bai Xiangshu tilted her face slightly. Her expression didn’t change, and she didn’t deny Jiang Chao’s words either. She nodded with a smile, her fingertips tapping her cheek, looking relaxed.

“As Miss Jiang’s blind date, of course I wouldn’t want Miss Jiang’s thoughts to be entirely on my ex-girlfriend.”

“If I can resolve your curiosity about her as soon as possible, that’s naturally a good thing for me.”

Ex-girlfriend?

The smile at the corner of Jiang Chao’s lips suddenly stiffened. Her gaze sharpened, and her whole aura rose sharply as she pressed toward Bai Xiangshu without changing her expression.

“Sheng Huaixi is your ex-girlfriend?”

Sheng Huaixi actually had an ex-girlfriend?!