Chapter 61

“Jiang Chao, did you sneak out to the countryside this weekend to feed chickens and catch fish? Those dark circles are so bad you’re practically a national treasure already.”

Yuan Bai’s complaint rang in Jiang Chao’s ears. Jiang Chao shot her an annoyed look, but even her voice came out faintly hoarse with exhaustion.

“Shut up. You’re the one sneaking around slacking off.”

The words had barely left her mouth before Yuan Bai’s round eyes widened even more. She looked at Jiang Chao, worried, and put a hand on her shoulder, kneading the muscle beneath her palm.

She used a little force, but Jiang Chao still didn’t react at all. Her long lashes drooped over her eyelids; gray shadows lay beneath them, and she looked wilted and listless all over.

Even when Yuan Bai pinched her shoulder hard, she still didn’t move.

Compared with how quick and decisive she’d been before, turning around and smacking Yuan Bai’s arm the moment she was touched, it was like night and day.

“What on earth were you doing?” Yuan Bai asked. “You look completely drained. Did you hide it from me and go work some shady side job?”

Letting go of Jiang Chao’s shoulder, Yuan Bai bent down until she was right in front of her face. Her eyelashes fluttered as she studied Jiang Chao’s features carefully.

Her usually fair, luminous skin looked dull and lifeless now; sprawled over the desk under the office lights, she looked softened into a puddle of mud, as if she might melt the next second.

After a normal two-day weekend, no one should come back looking completely refreshed, but they shouldn’t look like Jiang Chao did either, dragging themselves into negative territory.

Her energy hadn’t recovered over the weekend; it had only gotten worse.

It was like those ghost stories about someone having their vitality sucked out.

In Yuan Bai’s memory, Jiang Chao’s light makeup was already one of the more polished looks she ever wore; even so, it only brightened her complexion a little.

Now that Yuan Bai had leaned in, Jiang Chao’s dark circles and under-eye bags were plainly visible; that thin layer of powder hadn’t covered them at all.

For Jiang Chao, who usually kept excellent sleeping habits, this kind of flaw was rare enough to count as unusual.

Besides the possibility that Jiang Chao had secretly gone off to work two jobs behind her back, Yuan Bai couldn’t think of any other explanation.

“Is it really that exaggerated...”

She’d only leaned in for a closer look, and Yuan Bai was already accusing her of doing shady work.

Jiang Chao turned her eyes slowly, the complaint squeezed out in a low murmur so faint it almost scattered on the wind.

Resting her chin on one hand, Jiang Chao swept a quick glance over Yuan Bai’s face and took in the concern there. At least now she understood Yuan Bai wasn’t joking.

Still, that also proved just how bad she looked; otherwise Yuan Bai wouldn’t have said something like that.

Jiang Chao let out a long breath inwardly and sighed to herself.

She wanted to explain, but she really didn’t have the energy to go into detail about what she’d been doing lately. The words hovered on the tip of her tongue for a long time before she finally gave a lazy, reluctant “Mm.”

That was basically admitting she’d been doing black-market work.

When she thought about it carefully, what she’d been doing lately really did sound like shady labor.

Working during the day, overtime at night, voluntarily and actively “helping” Sheng Huaixi do two people’s worth of work, and having to live with the fear of Sheng Huaixi finding out; on top of that, she might very well end up with the worst possible outcome, where good intentions brought bad results.

Described in one breath, that kind of ending really did sound like something out of a black-hearted scheme. Calling it “shady work” was almost too fitting.

“So what shady work is it? Our internship pay isn’t exactly high, but you’re not at the point where you need weekend side jobs, are you?”

Confusion rose on Yuan Bai’s face. Suspicious that Jiang Chao was hiding something, she leaned even closer, nearly pressing herself against Jiang Chao in an effort to wring out more explanation.

Jiang Chao waved a hand to deny it; her long fingers moved weakly, and even her voice was faint and feeble.

“What side job? It’s not a side job. Side jobs at least pay money.”

As for what she’d been doing this week... Jiang Chao didn’t even dare look at how much her little savings account had been drained. She had even written several blank checks to Jiang Mu because of it.

It was all to clear out the people Sheng Huaixi still remembered around her.

Jiang Chao clenched her teeth; her jaw tightened as the memories of everything she’d experienced over the past few days flashed rapidly through her mind.

After she finished speaking, her complexion had clearly worsened, and Yuan Bai noticed it, her brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

“So you actually paid out of pocket? What have you been doing lately, then? Spending money to buy suffering?”

The hand gripping Jiang Chao’s wrist tightened. Jiang Chao patted it reassuringly; her expression eased, and a gentle smile warmed her gaze, signaling Yuan Bai not to worry.

“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

Jiang Chao didn’t plan to involve Yuan Bai in what she was doing. More importantly, this matter involved Sheng Huaixi’s love life.

Although part of it had already spread through the company and the gossip had become vivid and detailed, Jiang Chao still subconsciously wanted to keep these things about Sheng Huaixi from other people.

After all, she was secretly doing this behind Sheng Huaixi’s back too...

Thinking of that, Jiang Chao lifted her eyes and quickly glanced toward Sheng Huaixi’s office with a guilty conscience.

The light inside was still steady; the person in the office was also properly keeping their agreement with her today.

But if Sheng Huaixi found out what she was secretly doing now... Jiang Chao shivered violently and quickly pulled her gaze back, her expression hardening.

She needed to speed up the garbage-clearing process even more.

“Hey, you two, check the group chat. Hot springs, hot springs! This week’s team-building trip is to the hot springs!”

Li Sensen’s chair rolled over with a scrape, and her cheerful voice, along with the sound of the wheels, quickly reached the two of them.

“Hot springs? No way, they’re being this generous for team-building?”

Jiang Chao snapped back to attention, eyes widening in disbelief. She exchanged a look with Yuan Bai, and both of them turned at the same time to grab their phones and open the big group chat.

It was real; they really were going to the hot springs, and the place wasn’t cheap either.

“Damn, this is so generous it feels like a dream...” Jiang Chao muttered to herself.

The last time she’d been to a hot spring was when she’d been crushed under coursework and flew all the way to Japan for a Christmas trip just to soak in an onsen.

Immersed in the steaming water, Jiang Chao could only describe it as pure, soul-cleansing comfort.

The team-building trip was set to leave Saturday morning.

Jiang Chao closed her eyes and draped an arm over the desk; most of her spirit had already floated off somewhere.

The fatigue of the entire week finally had somewhere to go. Jiang Chao narrowed her eyes, spread her hand like a cat stretching a paw, and it was as if she could already feel every pore in her body relaxing in the warmth of the spring water.

Then her phone gave a soft ding.

Jiang Chao was in a good mood; she simply reached forward, lifted her phone, and pressed it to her cheek. Her long lashes slowly lifted as she waited for the Monday work push notification.

- New employee benefits. Do you like it?

The accompanying provocative photo instantly stirred up memories in Jiang Chao’s mind.

“Cough, cough, cough—” Her face turned red from coughing. Jiang Chao looked at the image in the chat window and leaned forward in panic, scanning left and right over the camera above her head.

Her little dark head spun frantically beneath the surveillance camera, like a tiny top.

Snow-white skin pressed against a matching camisole; large stretches of pale flesh shimmered with a gorgeous sheen in the dim light. It was the same type as the one Jiang Chao had seen before, only from a different angle.

Her ears burning red, Jiang Chao set the phone on the desk in front of her chest and curved her shoulders almost into a bow, carefully making sure Sheng Huaixi’s photo wouldn’t be exposed to the surveillance for even a second.

[Sending me this kind of photo at work—are you sexually harassing me?!]

Jiang Chao ground her teeth and typed out each word one by one with her fingertips.

TL Note:

"National treasure" here is a joking comparison to a giant panda in case you didn't get it.