Chapter 76

Time passed second by second, and Yuan Bai’s patience was being worn down little by little.

When she looked up and met the unwavering gaze fixed on her, Yuan Bai pinched the tip of her finger. Irritation rose in her chest as she asked bluntly, “Sheng Huaixi, what exactly do you want?”

It was Friday, and there was still half an hour left before work ended. Yet Sheng Huaixi kept staring at her, with no intention of letting her leave on time.

Yuan Bai already had plans after work and didn’t want to spend another second alone with this mentally ill boss, wasting her time.

“You wanted to know about Jiang Chao, and I already told you. She didn’t say when she’d be back, and I don’t know anything more than you do.”

At that, the gaze on her finally shifted, growing even deeper than before.

Yuan Bai sighed helplessly, thinking her own sister was truly a woman of great merit to have taken in such a wronged soul. Sheng Huaixi’s way of staring at people was downright creepy.

Sheng Huaixi looked at Yuan Bai in silence. The deep bloodshot red in her eyes showed how exhausted she was, and the irritability around her only grew worse.

That gaze lingered, unmoving, for a long time. Yuan Bai tilted her chin and glanced at Sheng Huaixi again, then sighed once more.

“Can you stop looking at me like that?” It was honestly creepy.

She swallowed the rest of the sentence and, meeting Sheng Huaixi’s dark gaze, raised both hands in surrender.

“If you miss her that much, why don’t you just fly to England to find her...”

With the amount of effort she was using to torment Yuan Bai here, Sheng Huaixi could have flown to England and back several times already. Yuan Bai couldn’t understand why Sheng Huaixi insisted on taking out her frustration on her instead of Jiang Chao.

At that, Sheng Huaixi’s eyes flickered slightly, but her face darkened even further, as if a dense black cloud had rolled over it, making Yuan Bai’s heart jump. She didn’t know what she had said wrong.

“She won’t let me.”

Ah. So she’d been rejected by Jiang Chao and had nowhere else to go except to bother her.

Yuan Bai covered her mouth, tensing her cheeks and trying not to let the corners of her lips show too obviously.

If Sheng Huaixi saw that she was enjoying this, who knew what kind of retaliation she’d face later.

Sheng Huaixi glanced at her coolly, leaned back in her chair, and said slowly, “It’s almost time to get off work.”

Yuan Bai nodded and followed her lead. “Then I should go.”

“Go?”

A faint smile curved Sheng Huaixi’s lips as she stared at Yuan Bai with dark eyes, quietly watching as the gentle smile on Yuan Bai’s face gradually stiffened and her expression went black.

Yuan Bai was now certain that if Sheng Huaixi couldn’t squeeze any information out of her today, she wasn’t getting out of this office.

“I’m taking leave. I’m skipping work. Anyway, just pretend I never came in today.”

Yuan Bai straightened in her seat. While speaking, she checked the time on her phone again. Her brows tightened slightly, and her fingertips slid over the screen, a hint of urgency in her expression.

Sheng Huaixi also held her phone, tapping it slowly, her patience completely unlike Yuan Bai’s.

“Today counts as overtime. Anything past the end time will be paid at ten times the rate. I’ll cover it privately.” Sheng Huaixi was unhurried, her dark eyes lifting slightly as she pressed down on Yuan Bai’s wrist from above, her expression leaving no room for refusal.

“Sit.”

Stay calm; this is your direct boss. Endure it. Yuan Bai repeated it to herself over and over, forcing a strained smile onto her lips as she held her ground.

“She really didn’t contact me.”

“You’re lying.” Sheng Huaixi said lightly, her gaze deep.

Yuan Bai narrowed her eyes. Sheng Huaixi gave her a faint smile and tilted her head, shifting into another relaxed posture as the gloom in her black eyes settled even deeper.

“I have plenty of time to talk to you, Yuan Bai.”

It had already been more than twenty-four hours since she’d heard anything from Jiang Chao, and Sheng Huaixi’s patience had run out. The only breakthrough left was the Yuan Bai sitting in front of her.

Sheng Huaixi clasped her hands together and rested them on her thighs. Under the cold-white electric light, the chill on her pale, composed face spread further, and her black-and-white eyes stared straight into Yuan Bai’s, the pressure overwhelming.

Minute by minute, the agreed-upon time drew closer. Yuan Bai watched the appointment time approach and frowned so tightly that her impatience was obvious; her fingertips kept tapping her thigh.

“You know I don’t like seeing you and Jiang Chao together.” Yuan Bai lifted her eyes to meet hers, narrowing them slightly, her opposition completely plain.

Sheng Huaixi nodded and asked in return, “Jiang Chao doesn’t want to be with me?”

“...” Yuan Bai choked on her words, irritation flashing across her face.

If Jiang Chao didn’t care about Sheng Huaixi at all, she would have said it outright long ago. Why would she still be standing here, arguing with Sheng Huaixi?

Her phone rang again. Then, under Sheng Huaixi’s watchful gaze, a stream of nonstop notifications sounded, the urgency in them unmistakable.

For no reason at all, Yuan Bai looked at Sheng Huaixi’s still-composed eyes and felt that, after those few reminders, she had somehow been the one to lose ground.

She stood up abruptly. Her thoughts were already elsewhere, and she no longer wanted to get involved between these two. She left the message Jiang Chao had sent and walked out.

“She said she’s looking for her true self. She wants you to approve another month of leave; I already submitted the request for her. Just approve it while you’re at it.”

The office door shut firmly. Sheng Huaixi tapped the floor with her toes, then decisively slid forward in her chair, clicked into the system to check the request, and as the loading circle spun, her gaze darkened.

The request displayed on the computer screen was exactly as Yuan Bai had said: one month.

One month...

Coldness sank deep into Sheng Huaixi’s eyes. She gave her wrist a sharp flick, the mouse gliding quickly across the desk, and turned to grab her phone and send a message at once.

【I installed a locator in your phone. If you don’t want me flying to England tonight to drag you back, reply to me now.】

After sending it, Sheng Huaixi irritably dragged her tongue over her teeth, the tip pressing against her lip as she ground it slightly. She stared fixedly at the screen, counting the seconds one by one.

Every second felt like a year.

At last, the long-bright screen changed.

Jiang Chao: 【I bought a new phone.】

Her breathing tightened. Sheng Huaixi stared at the message Jiang Chao had sent her, and the string in her mind, stretched taut for so long, finally snapped cleanly. She grabbed her phone and immediately started firing off voice messages nonstop.

“Jiang Chao, you liar. Didn’t you promise me you’d be back within a week at the latest...?”

“I can’t give you another month; I won’t allow it!”

“Tell me where you are, okay? Tell me and I’ll feel better. Wherever you go, tell me, okay? I’ll wait for you, I...”

Sentence after sentence, Sheng Huaixi’s emotions shifted again and again. Whether it was a threat or a plea, or even acting spoiled—anything she could think of, anything she believed Jiang Chao might agree to, she used.

In the end, what Sheng Huaixi got back was a voice call.

At the touch of a finger, Jiang Chao called her name in a low voice. The ending rose slightly, soft and sweet as honey, wrapping around all of Sheng Huaixi’s emotions.

The unease that had filled her chest finally found an outlet. Sheng Huaixi clutched her phone like it was the last life-saving straw and, in one breath, hurled all her anxiety toward the other end of the line.

Jiang Chao’s breathing was steady and rhythmic, sounding softly by Sheng Huaixi’s ear.

Sheng Huaixi’s panicked, agitated sounds gradually settled. For a moment, the room was filled only with her hurried breathing.

After a long while, Jiang Chao spoke, breaking that rapid breathlessness.

“Sheng Huaixi, how much do you like me?”