Chapter 63

“You sent the message to me. How is that not on purpose?”

With a light push against her wrist, Sheng Huaixi leaned over Jiang Chao’s back and reached for the phone on Jiang Chao’s desk.

Following her movement, Jiang Chao turned too. Seeing Sheng Huaixi about to take her phone, she barely managed to open her mouth. “What I meant wasn’t—”

She had only meant to say she was startled because she had accidentally bumped into Sheng Huaixi’s chest, but Sheng Huaixi was already at it again, twisting her words to suit herself.

A flash of white light swept across her eyes. Jiang Chao frowned and instinctively narrowed them. Sheng Huaixi’s voice followed. “Smile.”

Her serious, measured tone sounded right by Jiang Chao’s ear, and Jiang Chao subconsciously thought Sheng Huaixi was in work mode. On reflex, she put on a smile, then immediately realized what she was doing and quickly raised a hand to cover her face.

“What are you doing with my phone?” Jiang Chao said angrily.

A smile tugged at Sheng Huaixi’s lips. Lowering her eyes, she looked at the phone, which was already unlocked; their chat interface from earlier was open, and her fingertip swiped right.

The message she’d just sent to the group had already been seen by Jiang Chao; that hot spring photo had been posted at exactly the right time.

The crisp taps of her fingertips on the screen were clear and sharp. Jiang Chao didn’t dare let Sheng Huaixi look at her phone for long, so she hurriedly lowered her hand and reached to take it back.

As she looked up, Jiang Chao followed the tapping sound and fixed her gaze on the spot Sheng Huaixi was touching. Her ears turned red in an instant.

“What are you doing....” Jiang Chao protested in a small voice.

Just then, Sheng Huaixi’s fingertip was pointing at the photo Jiang Chao had just sent.

Under Jiang Chao’s fixed stare, the supporting hand Sheng Huaixi had on the desk slipped a little, as if by accident, and looked as though it was about to lose its balance and slide across the tabletop.

Jiang Chao gasped. She raised her head to catch Sheng Huaixi’s weight, and a pale finger pressed directly in front of her widening eyes.

Sheng Huaixi’s photo suddenly enlarged before them.

“!” Jiang Chao stiffened, then quickly lunged forward and raised her hand to cover the phone, her expression panicked.

No one else could be allowed to see that!

Sheng Huaixi got there first. Her hand spread out and pressed the phone flat beneath her palm, leaving only a small part of the image visible through the gap between her fingers.

“Mm... I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Jiang Chao looked up. Sheng Huaixi’s unguarded, smiling eyes shone brightly in hers, and the curve of her lips looked nothing like a real apology.

Irritation surged in Jiang Chao’s chest. She opened her mouth to say, Can you at least pay attention to the photo you send yourself? But when she met Sheng Huaixi’s smiling gaze, the words died in her throat.

How had she forgotten? Others might care, but this was Sheng Huaixi.

With Li Sensen still sitting off to the side, Jiang Chao couldn’t make a scene. She could only use Sheng Huaixi’s body to block the view and slap her hand against the back of Sheng Huaixi’s hand.

“Let go. Stop messing with my phone.” Jiang Chao secretly put force into it, trying to shove the phone out from under Sheng Huaixi’s palm.

She pushed once; it didn’t budge. She pushed again; still nothing.

Li Sensen’s gaze remained fixed on Jiang Chao’s face. Jiang Chao had to care about her own image, so she could only keep a faint smile on her face and try to snatch her phone back.

She worked hard to slide the phone away from between Sheng Huaixi’s spread fingers with her fingertips. After several tries, Jiang Chao felt as if the skin on her hand had nearly been rubbed raw, but the phone still hadn’t moved at all.

Just as Jiang Chao was catching her breath, Sheng Huaixi “kindly” offered a line of concern.

“Tired?”

The light, airy words were full of mockery after Jiang Chao had struggled for so long.

Jiang Chao’s smile stiffened for a second. She told herself to stay calm and bear with it; Li Sensen was still sneaking glances at her, so she had to endure.

“It’s fine. I was just looking at the photo I sent you, and by the way I also...”

Jiang Chao couldn’t hold back anymore. The fingers she had wedged between Sheng Huaixi’s spread hand climbed straight onto the back of that hand; with her thumb and forefinger pinched together, she grabbed a patch of Sheng Huaixi’s skin and twisted it clockwise half a turn.

“Please don’t push your luck,” Jiang Chao muttered under her breath, every word bitten off cleanly. “Get out of the way.”

Sheng Huaixi let out a muffled, indistinct sound. Jiang Chao didn’t understand what she was muttering, but the person pressed behind her finally straightened up.

Once upright, Sheng Huaixi glanced lightly at Li Sensen off to the side, who was half-squinting and sneaking looks this way from time to time. Her gaze carried a warning, dark and eerie, with no smile left at all.

Was the smiling, cheerful person from just now eaten by something? Li Sensen secretly grumbled to herself, but on the surface she still obediently turned away and didn’t dare look again.

Sheng Huaixi patted Jiang Chao’s arm, hooked her fingers around a fold of Jiang Chao’s clothes and tapped it lightly, then met Jiang Chao’s scowling glare and casually held out the hand she had just used.

“See you tonight.”

Jiang Chao’s breathing tightened. She forced it down and stared at her in disbelief, her tongue unconsciously sweeping quickly over her lips.

Sheng Huaixi had just said that in front of Li Sensen?

The tall, slender figure slowly walked away. Jiang Chao immediately turned to look at Li Sensen, about to say something, but Li Sensen raised a hand to stop her.

“Don’t say it. Whatever you explain now won’t stop my wild imagination. Give up.”

“...” Jiang Chao looked at the hand blocking her and gave an awkward laugh before obediently closing her mouth.

The more she said, the worse it would get; right now, keeping quiet really was the best option.

But on second thought, Jiang Chao suddenly frowned and turned to look at Sheng Huaixi’s retreating back.

A belated realization hit her. Had she just been fooled by Sheng Huaixi?

Weren’t they talking about whether Sheng Huaixi had been secretly watching her through the surveillance cameras? Then Sheng Huaixi suddenly appeared behind her and deliberately shifted her attention.

So Sheng Huaixi really had been watching her through the cameras...

Jiang Chao clenched her teeth and turned around, ready to go ask Sheng Huaixi for an explanation.

//

“Sheng Huaixi, what is this?”

“You don’t like it?”

“...You want me to wear this while soaking in the hot spring for you to see. Are you serious?”

“Of course. I bought two sets to begin with.”

Jiang Chao tightened her fingers around the thin piece of fabric in her hand. In the dim light, her face had gone dark red, the color of a ripe apple; her brows were lowered.

She looked so angry that if she had cat ears on her head, she’d be just like a bristling little cat.

Sheng Huaixi leaned lazily against the headboard, watching Jiang Chao wave the fabric in her hand. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she thought to herself.

A dangerous look swept over Jiang Chao. Her hair stood on end. She composed herself and, without hesitation, threw the fabric at Sheng Huaixi. “Then you wear the two sets yourself.”

The only thing she could call what Sheng Huaixi had given her was fabric, not a bikini; Jiang Chao couldn’t even tell at a glance how it was supposed to be worn.

Sheng Huaixi raised her wrist and caught it steadily, placing it on Jiang Chao’s quilt. “I bought this specially for you. I think it suits you very well.”

Suits her?

Standing by the bed, Jiang Chao’s brows twitched at the words. She lowered her eyes and met Sheng Huaixi’s gaze head-on; those eyes were smiling faintly.

“I also think it suits certain things very well, especially for you.”

Pressing down with her fingertip, Jiang Chao lightly poked the soft fullness in Sheng Huaixi’s hands, sliding over its curve in one smooth motion as the corner of her mouth hooked up while she looked at Sheng Huaixi.

“Wouldn’t you say so?”

Sheng Huaixi let out a soft sigh.

“So that’s why I said it. If you want to do it with me, just say so directly.”

“Teasing me like this every day when I’m a grown adult...”

“Heartless woman.” Sheng Huaixi sighed in wounded complaint.

Jiang Chao’s face darkened. She reached out and grabbed Sheng Huaixi’s wrist, gripping it tightly in her palm; it was scorching hot.

“You still dare call me irresponsible?”