Chapter 66

“You’re lying. I don’t believe for a second there aren’t enough rooms.”

Jiang Chao kept her eyes on the road and cut off Sheng Huaixi’s excuse with obvious irritation.

Besides, Jiang Chao had roughly counted the people from their department who were coming. There was no way the place would be fully booked. If worst came to worst, she could always book a room on her own.

“Right now, open your phone and use my ID number to book another room,” Jiang Chao ordered Sheng Huaixi, not bothering to soften her tone.

Sheng Huaixi nodded. “Sure.”

She was actually being this cooperative?

Jiang Chao couldn’t help glancing at her, unease flickering faintly in her chest.

It wasn’t trust. Jiang Chao simply didn’t believe Sheng Huaixi would ask for something and then let it go so easily, especially when it involved her. That woman had no shame, especially when it came to Jiang Chao.

Almost every time Jiang Chao wanted to get something done, she had to go to great lengths.

And now Sheng Huaixi was just letting it slide this easily? Fine with Jiang Chao booking a room however she wanted?

Her doubt didn’t last long. After a brief pause, Sheng Huaixi gave an answer that immediately cleared up Jiang Chao’s confusion.

“It’s booked. There aren’t any rooms left.”

“???”

What a coincidence?

Jiang Chao’s lips parted slightly. She stared at the message in disbelief, her eyes widening. Her brows drew together, then loosened as she thought it over, twisting into a look of startled suspicion.

When she’d checked the hotel app after getting the team-building notice, there had clearly still been vacancies in every room type. And it wasn’t even peak season; this hot spring hotel was huge.

How had everything sold out so fast?!

“Try another app,” Jiang Chao said. “I remember they had that 8,999-yuan suite. Not a single room left in any of the four room types?”

“And you still owe your mom money, don’t you? One night there would wipe out two months of your salary. Aren’t you going to feel bad?”

Sheng Huaixi lowered her lashes and opened another app as Jiang Chao suggested, then casually tossed out a question.

That only made Jiang Chao’s face sour. Everything Sheng Huaixi said was true. If she really stayed in that suite, her already precarious little savings would be in even greater danger.

But they were already here; money could be worried about later.

Jiang Chao tightened her grip on the steering wheel and blinked. “Let’s put it off for now. Besides, I’ll still owe her later anyway..."

Halfway through the sentence, she suddenly realized she’d let something slip and quickly stopped herself.

“I’m heartbroken about it. So can you stay in the 8,999-yuan suite and let me take the company-reimbursed room, Director Sheng~”

She dragged out the last syllable, her voice turning sweet and soft, with a hint of pleading. Jiang Chao was very practiced at acting spoiled around Sheng Huaixi; she even pressed the brake and smiled at her with a dutiful air.

Her peach-blossom eyes curved with a springlike warmth despite the winter inside the car, as if fragrant air were drifting through it. A little dimple appeared at the corner of Jiang Chao’s mouth, making her look both sweet and delicate.

Sheng Huaixi watched her steadily, expression unchanged. Her fingers idly toyed with the phone in her hand, completely unmoved by Jiang Chao’s coaxing.

“No.” She looked utterly unruffled. “I need to save money to spend on my future partner. Being frugal is a virtue. If she happens to be someone who isn’t short on money, then I’ll have to work even harder to save. What do you think, Assistant Jiang?”

“.......” Jiang Chao said nothing.

There were too many problems with Sheng Huaixi’s words, but if Jiang Chao actually had to answer, she didn’t dare say a thing.

Who knew whether the next sentence would dig a pit for her to fall into.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the person beside the steering wheel go quiet. Sheng Huaixi narrowed her eyes and glanced over once. Her skin was smooth and luminous, her expression gentle, almost obedient.

If only she were as obedient as she looked.

Unfortunately, that was absolutely not the case.

Sheng Huaixi withdrew her hand and held the all-gray room selection page up in front of Jiang Chao, slowly waving it before her eyes. The curve of her cheek lifted as she smiled like a fox.

“All booked. What now? Are you planning to sleep in the hot spring tonight?”

While waiting in line, Jiang Chao shifted her gaze and glanced at the phone screen. Just as Sheng Huaixi had said, every room was already marked as fully booked.

If she didn’t stay with Sheng Huaixi, then there was no doubt about it; she’d have to soak in the hot spring all night.

“...Is your room a suite or a standard room?”

After wrestling with it for a long moment, Jiang Chao finally decided that if Sheng Huaixi had a standard room, she would force her way into Yuan Bai and Li Sensen’s room and squeeze in with Yuan Bai for the night.

“A suite.”

That was fine; the choice was easy.

For a moment, Jiang Chao didn’t know whether she should be happy that she wouldn’t have to suffer tonight, or worry in advance about the suite’s layout.

“I’m staying with you,” Jiang Chao said, giving up on the struggle and deciding to share a room with Sheng Huaixi directly.

She turned her head to look at the person in the passenger seat and, as expected, met Sheng Huaixi’s sideways glance.

Those narrow eyes brightened the moment they met hers, and Sheng Huaixi rested her cheek against one hand, smiling with amusement. “Oh? I thought you were planning to hide out on the little hot spring platform and curl up there for the night.”

Jiang Chao fell silent.

Thinking it in her head was one thing; saying it out loud was another.

The fact that she was trying to avoid Sheng Huaixi was something the two of them understood perfectly well. But if she made it explicit, Jiang Chao felt she wouldn’t be able to explain herself without arguing with Sheng Huaixi.

A tacit silence settled between them.

//

By the time Jiang Chao and Sheng Huaixi arrived, the others from the department had already gone off to have fun earlier. Only Yuan Bai, who had arrived slightly before them, had just finished tidying up and was waiting for them at the front desk.

“Jiang Chao, here are your two room cards.” Yuan Bai handed the cards to Jiang Chao, then looked at Sheng Huaixi, who had naturally followed behind with an unhurried air. Her expression turned subtle.

If Yuan Bai hadn’t already known what Sheng Huaixi was really like beneath that demeanor, she might have been fooled for a moment by this current approachable look.

Yuan Bai’s stare was far too obvious. Jiang Chao took the cards, then turned to look at Sheng Huaixi with her as well. Her coolness was gone; the curve of her lips and brows was soft, and she looked strikingly pleasant.

“So worried? Then why don’t you stay in a room with her?” Jiang Chao whispered in Yuan Bai’s ear.

The moment Yuan Bai heard that, she sobered instantly. Her gaze snapped away from Sheng Huaixi’s face, her round eyes nearly bulging in shock as she stared at Jiang Chao and refused without hesitation. “Absolutely not!”

She was worried about Jiang Chao, yes, but she absolutely did not want to throw herself into a den of wolves because of it.

Sharing a room with Sheng Huaixi? No—more precisely, in Yuan Bai’s imagination, even living under the same roof as Sheng Huaixi was a terrifying prospect.

“Sheng Huaixi, look at you scaring people off like that. Running for the hills,” Jiang Chao said, lightly tapping Sheng Huaixi’s shoulder with the card, her smile obvious.

The two walked side by side. Sheng Huaixi remained completely unmoved by the jab; her face shifted into that familiar expression, one brow lifting slightly, a half-smile touching her lips.

Jiang Chao didn’t panic. She poked her with the card again and tapped Sheng Huaixi’s shoulder once more, her brows and eyes all curved with amusement.

The camel-colored coat on Sheng Huaixi’s shoulder was poked again. She turned slightly and casually took the card Jiang Chao had been using to prod her. “As long as I know you’re not scared, that’s enough.”

After unlocking the door, Sheng Huaixi pushed it open and tilted her chin. “Please come in.”

Jiang Chao lowered her chin and walked in. She took the card from Sheng Huaixi’s hand and inserted it into the slot; the room lights flickered on one after another in dim, scattered layers.

The door shut behind her, and Jiang Chao looked at the so-called suite before her, falling silent.

It was indeed a suite, but it was a family suite.

In the middle of the square room sat a large bed; beside it was a one-meter baby crib.

“Mm, looks like we’re sleeping together.”

“Jiang Chao, how do you feel?”