Chapter 79

“Hm?” Jiang Chao had been spacing out. She came back to herself at Sheng Huaixi’s sudden question and curved her lips. “I don’t know.”

She had only been following Sheng Huaixi’s lead and pushing back a little; after all, the way Sheng Huaixi had sounded earlier made it seem like she was about to fly over and drag her home the very next second.

“If I hadn’t said that, you might already be checking flights.”

Sheng Huaixi did not deny it.

If Jiang Chao had not said the tracker was fake, then perhaps a few seconds after getting no reply from Jiang Chao, she really would have booked a ticket on the spot.

But after thinking it over, Sheng Huaixi’s gaze slowly settled on the screen; her long lashes lowered as she quickly did the math.

Since Jiang Chao hadn’t discovered the tracker she had planted in her phone, that meant Jiang Chao had been wandering around in circles this whole time.

Jiang Chao was looking for something.

“Then again, Sheng Huaixi, don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”

The crisp sound of tapping came from the other end of the screen. Sheng Huaixi looked up and gave a soft mm, as if she didn’t understand.

Jiang Chao bent a finger and tapped the screen, her fair, slender fingertips striking it again and again; her eyes narrowed slightly, her fine dark brows drew together in displeasure, and a trace of irritation rose on her face.

“When did you put a tracker on my phone?”

The words had barely left her mouth when something in Jiang Chao’s memory was suddenly tugged loose. Her pupils contracted at once, as if something had touched them, and fragments of memory surfaced in her mind.

Her brows tightening in thought, Jiang Chao said instinctively, “Wait...”

Speaking of phones, she suddenly remembered what Sheng Huaixi had done on the first day she moved in.

On the first day she went into her room, Sheng Huaixi had directly put her phone face-down under the bed. She hadn’t even waited until the next day, and she hadn’t even bothered to turn on silent mode.

The level of shameless audacity had gone far beyond Jiang Chao’s imagination, but Sheng Huaixi had really done it.

So if Sheng Huaixi could do something like stuffing her phone under the bed on the very first day she stepped into her home, then the tracker in her phone...

“You didn’t put the tracker in on your first day at my place, did you?!”

Even though Jiang Chao had already been shocked speechless by Sheng Huaixi’s various actions, she was still stunned by how early Sheng Huaixi had started.

They had only known each other for how long back then?

By Jiang Chao’s own reckoning, her understanding of Sheng Huaixi at the time had been only superficial: a frightening woman with ulterior motives.

Of course, looking back now, Jiang Chao felt her own thoughts had been far too naive.

Sheng Huaixi had no intention of denying or defending herself. When she heard Jiang Chao’s question, she merely gave a light smile, and the pleasure in it only made Jiang Chao’s irritation flare hotter.

She had been thinking that way on the very first day she entered her home, and this woman still had the nerve to smile?

The anger in Jiang Chao’s chest almost ignited into a wildfire; with just a small spark, flames burst up and the surging annoyance roared into a sea of fire.

As if she could see Jiang Chao’s anger at that moment, Sheng Huaixi stopped laughing after a while and answered with interest, “What do you think?”

What did she think?

Hearing that, Jiang Chao’s irritation only burned stronger.

What she thought was that right now, she wanted to lock Sheng Huaixi up and beat her half to death, knocking all those crazy ideas out of her head.

“Deliberately hurting yourself, secretly tossing my phone under my bed, following me around, and now this tracker in my phone... Sheng Huaixi, I’m honestly a little afraid of you.”

Jiang Chao bent forward, her whole upper body sinking onto her thighs as she spoke, and by the time she finished, she was fully folded over them; even her voice had turned muffled.

“You’re not afraid,” Sheng Huaixi said with certainty, not at all like before, when she was more easily provoked.

If it had been the Jiang Chao from the beginning saying those words, Sheng Huaixi might already have been overwhelmed by a rush of unease.

But now, Sheng Huaixi was certain Jiang Chao wouldn’t be afraid.

“You’re just unhappy that I did this without your permission.” She paused briefly, then curved her lips. “I don’t think you’re still afraid of me now.”

Rather than Jiang Chao being afraid of her, Sheng Huaixi felt it was more like she herself had started to be a little “afraid” of Jiang Chao.

Because now that Sheng Huaixi knew Jiang Chao had feelings for her, she found herself hesitating instead of stepping forward.

Jiang Chao did not answer. Sheng Huaixi sensibly changed the subject.

Her gaze sharpening, Sheng Huaixi shifted position and fixed her dark eyes straight on the screen, urging her on.

“Book the ticket quickly. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

She had endured living like this for so long; she didn’t want to go on another day.

“No. Give me another... give me three more days’ leave.”

Jiang Chao refused Sheng Huaixi’s suggestion at once. Lowering her eyes, she thought for a moment, and her hesitation gradually turned into resolve.

“Three final days. No matter what happens after three days, I’ll come back.”

Sheng Huaixi’s face darkened. She hadn’t expected that after all her persuasion, Jiang Chao would still insist on staying there a little longer.

“No.”

Never mind three days; Sheng Huaixi wished she could put Jiang Chao on a plane right this second and have her fly back to her side tonight.

Sheng Huaixi’s refusal was exactly what Jiang Chao had expected. She let out a soft sigh, pushed herself up from her thighs, and bent her fingers again to tap the screen, the sound clear and bright.

“But I’m having too much fun here to want to leave. What am I supposed to do?”

By this point, Jiang Chao was glad the call she had just made to Sheng Huaixi was voice only; she didn’t have to see the expression on Sheng Huaixi’s face right now.

When the narrow corners of those eyes pressed downward and the dark pupils ignited with a spark of fury, it was terrifyingly sinister, as though some cold, ghostly flame had licked at them and left her whole body shuddering.

“Jiang Chao, don’t force me to tie you up.” Sheng Huaixi spoke.

Even through the screen and half a globe of distance, Jiang Chao could still hear the ruthlessness in Sheng Huaixi’s voice. She wasn’t joking.

Jiang Chao selectively ignored the warning and kept tapping at the screen, talking to herself.

“I haven’t been by your side lately, and I haven’t even run into any of those bold scenes once. I also haven’t had to deal with your suitors targeting me...”

Jiang Chao said each sentence one by one, and every one of them stabbed straight into Sheng Huaixi’s heart.

Her breathing gradually deepened; the darkness in Sheng Huaixi’s eyes gathered tightly, cutting off Jiang Chao mid-sentence.

“Don’t deliberately provoke me, Jiang Chao.”

Her voice was low, with storm clouds gathering behind it.