Chapter 53: Reward
“What did you just call me?”
Before Ye Jiayuan’s words had even faded, Fu Chaoying suddenly felt her heart race. She quietly tried to put some distance between them, only to be pulled close again.
“Hmm?” Ye Jiayuan’s breath brushed her ear once more.
“You… Ye Jiayuan!” Fu Chaoying whispered, only to gasp when Ye Jiayuan took her earlobe into her mouth.
Fu Chaoying shuddered all over and froze. “Sister…”
Her tone turned soft and coaxing. The next second, Ye Jiayuan let her go and gave a helpless, low laugh. “So, do you want it or not?”
Fu Chaoying blinked and lifted a hand to touch her face lightly. “Sleep!”
As soon as she spoke, a hand was already resting around her waist. Warm and strong, it began to rub lightly and teasingly at that spot.
The damp heat by her ear didn’t fade either. Fu Chaoying’s breathing gradually quickened; reason told her to reach for Ye Jiayuan’s hand, but Ye Jiayuan simply caught her hand in reverse.
“Little darling.” Ye Jiayuan murmured softly by her ear, her tone so intimate it seemed almost capable of melting her.
Fu Chaoying’s heartbeat suddenly sped up, only to hear Ye Jiayuan let out a faint sigh. Her chest tightened. Without thinking, Fu Chaoying let go of her hand.
But she saw that Ye Jiayuan had only settled a hand at her waist and wasn’t making any further move.
Fu Chaoying’s pulse still didn’t slow. Then a soft voice brushed her ear: “Go to sleep. Good night.”
Fu Chaoying hummed in response. “Good night, Sister.”
Before her words had even faded, Ye Jiayuan gave a low chuckle and gently stroked her waist. “Since you’re calling me Sister…”
Fu Chaoying’s breath caught again; the heartbeat that had just begun to settle was stirred up once more by her.
“How can there not be a goodnight kiss?”
Fu Chaoying froze slightly, only to be kissed gently a moment later.
Ye Jiayuan’s soft tongue slid in, circling her tongue tip and sucking lightly.
It was a kiss that was gentle, yet domineering.
Listening to the mingled wet sounds by her ear, Fu Chaoying’s breathing grew increasingly rapid; the place Ye Jiayuan was rubbing also began to itch faintly.
The temperature around them kept rising. Fu Chaoying couldn’t hold back a soft moan.
In an instant, Ye Jiayuan let go of her lips and tongue, pressing her forehead and the corner of her mouth against hers as she whispered, “Good night, little darling.”
Her tone was tender beyond measure.
It felt as though a feather had lightly brushed the deepest part of Fu Chaoying’s heart, stirring up an indescribable itch.
Ye Jiayuan lay back down, then tightened her arm and pulled Fu Chaoying back into her embrace.
Fu Chaoying didn’t push her away again; she only shifted into a comfortable position in her arms on her own.
Before, Fu Chaoying had always felt that in the intimacy between herself and Ye Jiayuan, lust mattered more than feeling.
But at this moment, she understood it differently. She wanted to be intimate with Ye Jiayuan, but even more, she wanted their hearts to touch.
She liked talking to her; she liked sleeping shoulder to shoulder with her.
Fu Chaoying slept exceptionally well that night, and very deeply.
So deeply, in fact, that when she slowly woke the next morning and found the person beside her missing, she was still a little dazed.
A faint question surfaced in her mind: hadn’t Ye Jiayuan said she would take her to work before going to the airport?
A knock suddenly sounded at the door. Fu Chaoying’s heart jumped. “Come in.”
Aunt Wu peeked her head in, smiling. “Xiao Ying, get up quickly.”
Fu Chaoying blinked. “Has Jiayuan already left?”
“No. Miss Jiayuan is making breakfast in the kitchen; she insisted on cooking herself, and nobody could stop her.”
Fu Chaoying’s heart trembled. She got out of bed at once, slipped on her slippers, and hurried outside.
Aunt Wu watched her hurry past like a gust of wind, standing there for a moment before smiling and shaking her head.
Fu Chaoying took the stairs two at a time and went straight to the kitchen. Only when she reached the corner of the dining area did she finally see Ye Jiayuan’s figure.
The Ye CEO, who usually commanded the business world with ease amid its hidden currents, was wearing an apron. Fu Chaoying paused in surprise.
As if she had eyes in the back of her head, Ye Jiayuan turned toward her the moment she appeared at the corner of the dining area, as though by telepathy.
“I happened to have time, so I made you breakfast.” Ye Jiayuan’s gaze was flowing and soft, like a warm sea breeze brushing past.
Fu Chaoying smiled faintly at her. “What are you making?”
“Tomato and egg noodles, plus fried eggs.” Ye Jiayuan was frying the eggs; the heat was just right, and she looked completely at home.
Fu Chaoying blinked. “It smells great.”
Ye Jiayuan smiled and lightly tapped her forehead. “Go wash up.”
Fu Chaoying felt her ears heat up and ran back to the bedroom.
Only then did she realize her hair looked like a bird’s nest, and her face grew even hotter.
Thinking back to the looks Ye Jiayuan and Aunt Wu had exchanged, Fu Chaoying had a brief moment of meltdown.
After quickly washing up, doing her skincare, and putting on a light makeup look, she went downstairs. Ye Jiayuan was already waiting beside the dining table.
“Come eat breakfast.”
Fu Chaoying sat down opposite her and took a sip of the soup first. “This tastes really good, Jiayuan. Where did you learn it?”
“There are lots of tutorials on Little Orange Book.”
Fu Chaoying thought of something and couldn’t help laughing. “Aunt Chu even said you’re an old cadre. Looks like she still doesn’t know you well enough.”
Ye Jiayuan gave a slight nod. “It’s enough for you to know me.”
Allowing her to know her was a right Ye Jiayuan had granted her.
Realizing that, Fu Chaoying’s heartbeat sped up uncontrollably.
Slowly savoring the noodles Ye Jiayuan had cooked, Fu Chaoying felt as if she were in a dream.
Ye Jiayuan was someone who clearly didn’t usually touch the spring water of ordinary life; and yet for her, she was personally cooking, personally driving.
Fu Chaoying casually glanced at her long, slender, well-defined fingers. For some reason, she felt a pang of wastefulness, as if those hands ought not to be used this way.
After breakfast, Ye Jiayuan drove Fu Chaoying to work.
Since there was time to spare today, Ye Jiayuan, as usual, pulled over by the roadside.
Fu Chaoying looked at her calm, elegant back, and something in her stirred. She raised her phone, took a photo, and posted a moments-only update visible only to herself.
Not long after, Ye Jiayuan came out of the flower shop holding a bouquet of blue roses.
She walked steadily to Fu Chaoying’s side, bent slightly, and handed the flowers to her. “Ms. Fu, good morning.”
The corners of Fu Chaoying’s lips lifted uncontrollably. She lightly tugged on Ye Jiayuan’s sleeve. “Good morning, Sister.”
Amusement flashed clearly in Ye Jiayuan’s eyes; then she went around to the front of the car and got in.
Fu Chaoying breathed in the fragrance of the roses, the smile on her lips impossible to suppress.
But the drive wasn’t long. Not long after, the car was parked steadily downstairs from Fu Chaoying’s company.
The sense of reluctance peaked at that moment. Fu Chaoying lingered and didn’t get out, only for Ye Jiayuan to gently stroke her hair—
“I’ll probably be free on Sunday.”
Fu Chaoying nodded lightly and tucked away the reluctance in her heart. “Safe travels, Sister.”
Before she could finish speaking, just as Fu Chaoying was about to open the door and get out, Ye Jiayuan grabbed her wrist.
Ye Jiayuan’s gaze settled on her pink lips, her eyes darkening.
Fu Chaoying understood immediately what she wanted to do; her heartbeat sped up again uncontrollably, only to see Ye Jiayuan raise a hand and point to her own lips. “Little darling, do you want a kiss?”
Fu Chaoying’s throat moved. She asked with a soft laugh, “What’s the reward?”
Ye Jiayuan’s gaze deepened; a barely perceptible smile curved her lips. “I’ll give it to you when we meet next time.”
Ye Jiayuan’s tone was so mysterious that Fu Chaoying couldn’t help feeling curious. So she immediately leaned over and kissed her lips, only to have Ye Jiayuan press a hand to the back of her neck and deepen the kiss.
The mingled breath and wet sounds rose and fell in her ear. Something itchy shot straight into her heart; Fu Chaoying’s breathing gradually grew unsteady, and an involuntary sound slipped from her throat before Ye Jiayuan finally let her go.
Fu Chaoying clutched Ye Jiayuan’s shoulder for support, trying to steady her heartbeat and breathing, only to hear a cool, gentle voice by her ear—
“Work hard.”
Fu Chaoying drew in a breath and softly said goodbye to her, then got out of the car. Her legs felt weak for a moment; after pausing for two seconds, she finally managed to steady her steps.
The car behind her still hadn’t started. Fu Chaoying turned around and waved at Ye Jiayuan.
Ye Jiayuan gave a slight nod, then lightly pointed at her lips.
Fu Chaoying understood at once. She took a mirror out of her small bag and saw that the lipstick in the reflection was uneven, the edges blurred and indistinct.
Good thing Ye Jiayuan reminded her; otherwise, if a colleague ran into her later…
Suddenly, a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts: “Good morning, Teacher Fu. Why are you touching up your lipstick here?”
“And someone sent flowers again~ Teacher Fu is so happy.”
Fu Chaoying gently smudged the fresh lip tint into place and turned to look at the speaker; it was a colleague from the HR department.
Fu Chaoying smiled faintly at her. “I smeared it while eating breakfast; I only just remembered to touch it up.”
The colleague didn’t doubt her. Instead, she excitedly brought up the team-building plan, saying she had done a simple survey of everyone’s preferences; they wanted to go camping by a lake on the outskirts of the city.
Fu Chaoying had camped in many famous mountains and rivers while sketching in college, but she’d rarely gone to lakes, so naturally she had no objections.
Her only request was: “Set it for midweek.”
The colleague’s eyes lit up. “The boss is so nice!! Teacher Fu, you’re truly the best boss in the world!!”
Fu Chaoying subtly avoided the other woman’s close contact and laughed softly. “I hope everyone can spend the weekend well.”
The two of them took the elevator into the company together. As soon as they reached the entrance, they heard the receptionist teasing, “Teacher Fu got flowers again~”
The HR colleague winked at her. “You get used to it.”
Fu Chaoying could only smile helplessly. “Alright, alright, go rest for a bit. Work starts in a while.”
“Yes, ma’am, Teacher Fu!”
Because the few colleagues in HR had such good personalities, the people they hired were pretty good too.
Fu Chaoying entered the office with a smile, as usual arranged the flowers in a vase, and changed the water for the flowers from the previous few days.
Luckily, when they bought the supplies back then, they’d gotten a few extra vases; otherwise, those flowers that hadn’t wilted yet would have gone to waste.
Fu Chaoying took a photo and sent it to Ye Jiayuan, followed by: [Safe travels /[rose]]
Thinking that Ye Jiayuan was probably driving, Fu Chaoying started working.
Ten minutes later, remembering something, Fu Chaoying called Ye Jiayuan’s butler in Gangcheng.
After hanging up, Fu Chaoying was still in a pretty good mood.
Then around ten o’clock, while checking her email as usual, she found a message she didn’t even need to read carefully to know who it was from.
Ye Yian really thought that Fu Chaoying’s social post was reminiscing about her…
Fu Chaoying skimmed it once, blocked the account, and deleted the email.
She shook her head slightly; her mood wasn’t affected much.
Not long after, she received a reply from Ye Jiayuan, and Fu Chaoying settled down to work.
In the afternoon, she had to go to the art museum to discuss transferring part of her grandmother’s works to Gangcheng for exhibition.
Fu Chaoying had already arranged a time with the relevant staff.
Just then, she received a message saying Ye Jiayuan had landed safely. Fu Chaoying rested for a while, then went downstairs to hail a taxi to the museum; unexpectedly, she got a call from Ye Jiayuan’s driver.
“Hello, Miss Chaoying. CEO Ye instructed me to wait downstairs from your company; whenever you need the car, just call me directly.”
Fu Chaoying’s heart trembled. “I’ll come down now.”
“Alright.” The other party told her the exact location.
Fu Chaoying couldn’t help but marvel at Ye Jiayuan’s attentiveness and thoughtfulness.
As their time together increased day by day, Fu Chaoying increasingly felt that what she had seen was only the tip of the iceberg.
From the fact that Ye Jiayuan had done so much charity work on her own, one could tell she was the kind of person who only became more impressive the deeper you looked.
Fu Chaoying smiled and shook her head, then sent a message to the person she missed: [CEO Ye is meticulous. I happen to need a car this afternoon.]
Ye Jiayuan replied almost instantly: [Going to the art museum?]
Fu Chaoying: [Mm, discussing Grandma’s works.]
There was no reply for a while. Fu Chaoying locked her phone and closed her eyes to rest, only for her phone to suddenly vibrate.
She unlocked it, looked up, and saw a new message in the chat box: a voice recording.
Fu Chaoying instinctively searched for her headphones in her bag. The moment they connected by Bluetooth, she heard through the earphones—
“Wishing our little darling everything goes smoothly.”
The instant she heard her voice, Fu Chaoying’s heartbeat began speeding up uncontrollably.
Clearly, what Ye Jiayuan had sent was an utterly normal sentence. Perhaps it was because her tone was too gentle; Fu Chaoying couldn’t help replaying it several times.
But she accidentally tapped on a new voice message that popped up: “Little darling, can we video chat tonight?”
Fu Chaoying instinctively wanted to say yes. Just as she opened her mouth, she remembered Ye Jiayuan wasn’t beside her right now.
Her fingertips tapped the screen, and she typed: [Okay~]
Then, for some reason, she felt embarrassed and changed it to: [Okay.]
After sending it, Fu Chaoying inexplicably felt her mood soar.
When she arrived at the art museum and got out of the car, her phone suddenly vibrated; it was a voice call from Ye Jiayuan.
She raised a hand and answered, then heard Ye Jiayuan say from the other end, “Little darling, I’m home.”
Fu Chaoying’s lips curved slightly. “Then Sister, hurry and rest for a bit.”
“I saw your flowers; I miss you.”
Fu Chaoying laughed softly and pretended not to understand. “What flowers? How would I know?”
Ye Jiayuan: “The butler told me.”
Fu Chaoying: “Then do you like them?”
Ye Jiayuan: “I do; but I miss you.”
Fu Chaoying coughed twice. “That… I’m going into the elevator.”
Ye Jiayuan hurriedly asked, “Don’t you miss me?”
Fu Chaoying hummed in reply and quickly hung up.
The moment the call ended, Fu Chaoying’s heartbeat inexplicably sped up again. She took two deep breaths before managing to calm herself.
When she entered the elevator, Fu Chaoying had already prepared herself for a few days of back-and-forth over this matter, but she hadn’t expected that today everything, from top to bottom, would go unusually smoothly.
In the past, handling this kind of thing meant running up and down, signing and stamping documents until she was exhausted, and it still might not get done.
Yet today, one of the directors proactively offered to help her smooth things over; from top to bottom, everyone was inexplicably polite to her.
She happened to run into Director Qu and another director who would be attending the fifth memorial ceremony for Grandma Fu Li; the other party even smiled warmly and greeted her first, saying they hoped there would be a chance to work together again next time.
Fu Chaoying nodded politely at them, though inwardly she felt puzzled.
After everything was finally settled, Fu Chaoying called the company driver and took the paperwork to the storage room; by then it was only three in the afternoon.
Everything had been wrapped up in just an hour. Fu Chaoying felt a little unreal.
She immediately sent Ye Jiayuan a message: [Have you been putting pressure on the art museum again lately? Today went so smoothly.]
Only after sending it did she call her aunt to ask. The other side was also surprised. “Did Xiaoyuan’s last words have an effect?”
The corners of Fu Chaoying’s mouth lifted. “Maybe.”
After discussing the details a bit more, both of them concluded that aside from Ye Jiayuan, no one else could have had the ability to make their attitude do a complete one-eighty.
Just as they were wrapping up, Fu Chaoying was about to hang up when she heard her aunt say hurriedly, “I’ll handle the communication with Xiaoyuan’s side; you just focus on your own things.”
Fu Chaoying pressed her lips together and hummed lightly before hanging up.
Fu Anyun’s suspicion was within her expectations, but her resistance to the relationship between the two of them seemed a little unusual.
Fu Chaoying shook her head, only for Ye Jiayuan to call her.
“Sister?”
“I did pressure them; don’t take it to heart.”
For Ye Jiayuan, it was only a small matter; but for the Fu family now, it was not.
Fu Chaoying laughed softly. “Then let’s see what thank-you gift my aunt gives you.”
There was a pause on the other end. Only then did Fu Chaoying hear her voice again: “Can I specify it?”
Fu Chaoying blinked slightly, then heard her laugh and say in a low voice, “I want the Fu family’s most precious treasure.”
That sentence echoed in Fu Chaoying’s mind like morning bells and evening drums, deafening.
“I only want you, little darling.” Ye Jiayuan’s voice was as cool as ever, but the tenderness in it was especially beautiful.
Fu Chaoying couldn’t help laughing softly. “Sister, you’re so good at flirting. Have you really never taken any lessons in relationship school?”
There was silence for a moment. Fu Chaoying blinked slightly and instinctively asked, “You really did take lessons?”
Ye Jiayuan hummed. “Sunday night. I watched tutorials all night.”
“My mom found out I hadn’t slept all night, wouldn’t let me go out to work in the morning, and then we had an argument.”
Fu Chaoying was silent for two seconds. “So that’s what the fight was about.”
Then she smiled again. “Your learning ability is pretty strong, Sister.”
Ye Jiayuan sounded helpless when she said softly, “Sometimes I also wonder if I’m being too greasy.”
Fu Chaoying couldn’t help but snort a laugh. “Sister even knows the word greasy.”
“I learned it on Little Orange Book,” Ye Jiayuan said flatly.
Fu Chaoying coughed twice before speaking. “You’re not greasy at all.”
She swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue: I like it a lot.
She wanted to keep that line for a specific moment; she wanted to say it to Ye Jiayuan face-to-face.
They chatted a little longer, and when Ye Jiayuan said she had to go into the elevator, Fu Chaoying finally hung up.
It felt a bit like being back in college, spending hours on the phone with a girlfriend. Fu Chaoying suddenly wanted to experience student days again—student days with Ye Jiayuan in them.
The driver came over and carefully secured Grandma’s works, then packed them together with the other pieces and handed them off to a professional logistics company bound for Gangcheng.
Fu Chaoying’s lips curved slightly. She went upstairs again to inspect the art exhibition her company had planned, then returned to the office.
That evening, she had dinner with Shen Guannan and her cousin.
When Shen Guannan heard about her and Ye Jiayuan, she smiled meaningfully, then said mysteriously, “Actually, I guessed long ago that the two of you would end up together.”
Fu Chaoying blinked. “How so?”
“The night you broke up, Ye Jiayuan’s reaction was way too unusual.”
“Before you said you’d broken up, she was still calm and collected; after you said it, she actually immediately suggested coming to pick you up.”
“Don’t you think that’s strange?”
Fu Chaoying and Fu Chaohua exchanged glances. “It does seem a little strange?”
Fu Chaohua couldn’t help laughing. “As expected of Lawyer Shen! So observant!”
Shen Guannan smiled. “Anyway, she was always special toward you. I’d actually had a little feeling about it before.”
“Do you remember the time in your first year when you changed dorms? I was on a business trip out of town then, and your grandmother was… critically ill; it was Ye Jiayuan who handled the follow-up procedures for you.”
“By rights, your grandmother should have asked Aunt Chu to come forward, since she was an elder.”
“So Ye Jiayuan helping you with it was probably because she took the initiative to bring it up with Aunt Chu.”
Fu Chaoying’s heart trembled as she recalled the day she changed dormitories.
It had been drizzling. Ye Jiayuan had personally helped her carry each piece of luggage, brisk and decisive.
In the end, Ye Jiayuan had even called in several female bodyguards and warned those roommates that if they dared to trouble her again, they would not be let off as easily as this time.
One of the roommates had been scared to tears on the spot.
That had been the first time in Fu Chaoying’s memory that Ye Jiayuan had ever been so angry. But back then, her heart had been full of gratitude; she hadn’t had any other thoughts.
Shen Guannan smiled lightly. “So maybe CEO Ye already had a soft spot for you back then.”
“And pity is the beginning of love.”
Fu Chaoying nodded lightly and clinked glasses with them while holding back the sourness in her nose.
Fu Chaohua sighed softly. “I really didn’t see it at all; and besides…”
Fu Chaohua paused for a moment. “My mom never told me about you being bullied. I only found out today.”
Fu Chaohua raised a hand and gently patted her sister’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Fu Chaoying smiled at her. “What are you apologizing for, sis? There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“It’s all in the past now. Let’s celebrate our little couple finally being together, okay?” Shen Guannan spoke up just in time, trying to sweep away the unpleasant memories.
They chatted a bit more about the gossip between Fu Chaohua and Dong Muyu. Partway through, Fu Chaoying received a video call from Ye Jiayuan and subconsciously touched the screen to answer it.
“I’m eating with my sister and Sister Guannan,” Fu Chaoying said with a smile, too embarrassed to call out that tender, lingering term in front of others.
Ye Jiayuan gave a slight nod, greeted the others one by one, and then looked at Fu Chaoying and said softly, “Then call me again when you get back. Around what time?”
Fu Chaoying tilted her head to look at them, then turned back. “Eight o’clock!”
Shen Guannan and Fu Chaohua exchanged glances and smiled.
After the two of them hung up, Shen Guannan led the teasing: “Oh, your CEO Ye speaks so gently.”
Fu Chaohua started talking a mile a minute: “You have no idea, when they were in Gangcheng, they were constantly sneaking around. CEO Ye was just incredible; she was like a completely different person from usual.”
“Ugh.”
Fu Chaoying felt inexplicably embarrassed. “Alright, alright. So, do you two still have a second round later?”
“Alright, alright, so now it’s ‘you two,’ is it.”
“With a wife, you forget your friends; how very beautiful and loyal of you.”
Fu Chaoying blinked lightly. “Do you? Wasn’t your Sister Dong just urging you moments ago?”
This was a world where only Shen Guannan got hurt.
Shen Guannan let out a long sigh. “Fine, fine. The three of you go fall in love; let me, the lonely singleton, go drink.”
After some playful bickering, they finally decided that Dong Muyu would join them for drinks, while Fu Chaoying would go home and talk on the phone with Ye Jiayuan.
When she got home, after showering and blow-drying her hair, Fu Chaoying half-reclined on the sofa by the window and made a video call to Ye Jiayuan.
The moment the video popped up, Fu Chaoying inexplicably felt her cheeks warm—
Ye Jiayuan was staring at her while unbuttoning her shirt with one hand, one button after another, stopping only when she reached the hollow at her chest.
Fu Chaoying’s breath caught; only after Ye Jiayuan stopped did she stammer, “S-Sister, what were you just doing…?”
“It’s a little hot.”
Fu Chaoying looked at the large expanse of pale skin and couldn’t help swallowing.
Then she looked away. “Turn on the air conditioner.”
A hint of amusement flashed through Ye Jiayuan’s eyes. “No.”
“Then I’m turning mine on.” Fu Chaoying accidentally glanced again at the faintly visible fullness of her chest; to keep herself from feeling overheated, she raised a hand and turned on the air conditioner after all.
But then she heard a very soft laugh from the other end.
Fu Chaoying turned back at once. “What are you laughing at, Sister?”
Her tone had unknowingly turned coquettish.
Ye Jiayuan looked at her, her eyes deepening. “Little darling, do you still want your reward?”
Fu Chaoying suddenly remembered the reward she had kissed her for before leaving.
She subconsciously nodded a little, only to see Ye Jiayuan pick up something and hold it in front of the camera.
Seeing the small toy on the screen, Fu Chaoying understood what she wanted to do; her heartbeat abruptly sped up.
When she saw Ye Jiayuan set the phone on a stand and adjust the angle, Fu Chaoying hurriedly spoke up, “S-Sister, what are you going to do?”
“Didn’t you say before that I wasn’t enthusiastic enough…? Then today, let’s try remote control.” Ye Jiayuan’s cool voice carried a trace of hoarseness, adding a touch of sexiness and temptation.