Princess Syndrome - Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Being Kept

Regarding habits, Su Lingyue felt that there was a first time, then a second, then a third, and then it would become a habit. For example, she didn’t like moving to Ji Zhiyi's apartment at first. Now, she was used to it. For example, she hadn't thought that she would sleep in the same bed with Ji Zhiyi, but after sleeping in it once, it seemed quite good. That night, she hadn’t had any bad dreams, and she had slept very soundly. Either way, if she went back to her own room, she would think about the movie scenes, and she definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep well. It was better to just bunk with Ji Zhiyi in the living room.

She was very happy to do so.

Seeing that Ji Zhiyi didn't reply, Su Lingyue took the initiative, lifted the thin blanket, and lay down under it.

Ji Zhiyi slowly let go of her hand.

The warmth from her palm seeped into her body, it was a little hot.

She uncomfortably changed her position.

She heard Su Lingyue asking next to her: "Do you want me to lower the volume a little?"

Ji Zhiyi said: "It's okay."

She pretended to close her eyes, and listened to the rustling sounds of the fabric next to her.

Su Lingyue was wearing cotton pajamas, short sleeves and long pants. Occasionally, her arm would touch her pajamas. The cool silk would instantly be stained with warmth, which was hers, Ji Zhiyi knew.

She didn't move, just listened quietly.

Su Lingyue changed her position. She didn't know if it was because she was scared, or if that position wasn't comfortable. She turned to her side, facing her. The faint fragrance was inescapable. Ji Zhiyi turned her body, and faced her back towards Su Lingyue.

Seeing her like this, Su Lingyue leaned forward and grabbed the remote control, lowering the volume.

The surroundings became dark.

The sound became lower.

Everything became blurry.

Ji Zhiyi vaguely heard someone calling her, the voice was light and soft. She wanted to turn her head, but she forced herself to restrain it. A hand suddenly wrapped around her body. Her back was pressed against something soft.

She couldn't move.

That person said, "Why aren't you looking at me?"

Her palm was opened, her fingers inserted, and she was moving in circles and pressing against her back.

Her breath was touching her neck, and her skin began to tremble. Ji Zhiyi’s body tightened. Her body was turned, and Su Lingyue propped herself up with her elbow, looking down at her.

Ji Zhiyi closed her eyes.

Something soft covered her lips.

A never-ending sweetness. She was being consumed, and her tongue was too weak to resist. Her head tilted back as she accepted this not-so-violent kiss. The fire that had erupted in her heart was burning, and was destroying her rationality.

She really wanted to...

"Ji Zhiyi." A sweet voice called her name.

Ji Zhiyi opened her eyes.

The blurry sounds from the movie were gradually becoming clearer. The dark surroundings were changing with the light from the TV, at times it was bright and at times it was dark. The little wild cat was sleeping soundly by her feet, and she could feel its fur.

She turned her head, and Su Lingyue was already asleep.

She was just lying there, with one hand reaching forward, holding the remote control. The other arm was acting as her pillow, she didn't know if her arm would feel sore. Ji Zhiyi thought of that absurd dream, and didn't want to remember it any longer.

But she couldn’t resist it.

When she looked at Su Lingyue’s face, she thought of the Su Lingyue in her dream, she was turning her body, and they were facing each other. The warmth from those thin lips. Her gaze fell on Su Lingyue's lips. After a few seconds, she reached out her hand and lifted the thin blanket to go change.

---

When Su Lingyue woke up, there was no one next to her.

It was normal for there to be no one there.

It was just that last night, she had been sleeping outside with Ji Zhiyi, right?

Where was Ji Zhiyi?

Su Lingyue looked around in the living room. She didn't see anyone. She walked barefoot to the bathroom, and there was no sound either.

Wasn’t she home?

Not home in the morning. Had she gone to the company?

She didn't think too much about it. She walked to the sofa and found the control button. The sofa slowly closed up. When the little wild cat heard the sound, it climbed up, stretched, wiggled its tail, and went to the balcony to look for food. Su Lingyue woke up and sat on the sofa, spacing out.

Her phone rang.

It was Chu Yi.

She stretched her neck and answered the phone.

Chu Yi said: "Are you going to work today?"

She said lazily: "I'm not."

While saying that, her legs curled up onto the sofa, and she used the thin blanket to cover her body.

She was a little regretful that she had put the bed away. She should have taken a nap.

Chu Yi said: "Then are you going home?"

"Go home?" Su Lingyue was a bit confused. When she heard what Chu Yi said, she remembered that she was talking about her rental apartment. She said: "I'm going back."

They were having a team dinner tonight. She needed to go back and change.

Chu Yi laughed: "Then I'll wait for you!"

After all, they hadn't seen each other for several days. When Su Lingyue heard her laugh, her expression also became happy. She had completely forgotten that she had been unhappy because Chu Yi had cursed Ji Zhiyi earlier. She hung up the phone and looked around. When she had made sure that Ji Zhiyi wasn't home, she cleaned up after Xiao Mafan, added food and water for it, and finally took the trash bag and left the apartment.

The weather outside was hot and humid.

She regretted stepping out after walking just a few steps.

But when she thought about the team dinner tonight, she gritted her teeth and quickly left the complex, and got into the car. When the air conditioning hit her, she finally felt alive again. After sitting in the car, she started using her phone. Lin Fei and Su Qi’s news was still trending on the internet. The curses about Su Qi were endless, and it was obvious that someone was pushing it from behind.

Under these circumstances, the next spokesperson would be a target.

It was no wonder why Yang Zhizhi had been so eager to cooperate with Ji Zhiyi last night.

It was just that, would she accept the conditions?

Thinking of this, she thought of Ji Zhiyi.

She hadn't seen her this morning, and she didn't know if she had gone to the company. If she had gone to the company, would she not tell her, her assistant?

Su Lingyue frowned.

She bit her lip, and was about to send a message to Ji Zhiyi. When she was typing, she stared at the screen. Even though it was a simple question, she couldn’t type it out. Finally, she wanted to turn off her phone.

With a ‘beep’ sound.

Her phone vibrated.

She clicked it open, Ji Zhiyi had sent: "Where are you?"

Su Lingyue stared at these two words. For some reason, she felt a little good. She smiled, she couldn't control herself, so she called Ji Zhiyi.

Ji Zhiyi was tossing and turning, and couldn't fall asleep last night. So, she had gone to her studio. She had worked all night, and had only dozed off for a little while at five or six AM. She was woken up by her phone ringing. She walked out of the room, and saw that the sofa was very neat, and Su Lingyue wasn't there.

She hurried a few steps to Su Lingyue’s room, and no one was there either.

So, she had sent a message to Su Lingyue.

Su Lingyue reported: "President Ji, I'm outside."

Ji Zhiyi's voice was coming from the phone. She wanted to ask what she was doing outside, but then she remembered that the weekends were hers. She swallowed the words that she wanted to ask, and said, indifferently: "Okay, I know."

Su Lingyue tightened her grip on her phone, and she didn't know what she was waiting for.

Neither of them hung up the phone.

The sound from the phone was so quiet that even their breaths seemed to be muted.

The sound of a car horn outside Su Lingyue’s car woke them both up. Ji Zhiyi asked, "Are you coming back for lunch?"

Su Lingyue said: "I don't know yet."

Ji Zhiyi pursed her lips. After a moment of silence, she said: "Then I'll hang up first."

Su Lingyue gave an "oh". The driver said: "Miss, we're here."

She paid the driver and got out of the car. She looked down at her phone. A parasol blocked the sun. She looked up, and saw Chu Yi said: "Why aren't you using an umbrella?"

Su Lingyue said: "I forgot."

She turned her head: "Let's go."

Her tone had slightly changed.

It was different than before.

It had only been a few days. Why did it feel like Su Lingyue had changed?

Chu Yi didn't have the time to think about it. She followed behind Su Lingyue and entered the house. Su Lingyue was standing at the door. She didn't know if it was because she had been staying at Ji Zhiyi's place for a while, but she actually felt a little uncomfortable coming back.

There was sliced fruit and half a watermelon on the coffee table. Chu Yi said: "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Su Lingyue said: "Not yet."

"What do you want to eat?" Chu Yi sat down next to her. In the past, they would order takeout on weekends. Su Lingyue didn't cook, and Chu Yi was too lazy to do it. Su Lingyue said: "Let's get something from the place downstairs."

Something normal.

Chu Yi replied with an ‘okay’.

Su Lingyue picked up the fruit. It had just come out of the refrigerator. She bit into it, and felt very refreshed. She took another spoonful of watermelon. Chu Yi said: "Eat less. You haven't had breakfast yet, eating too much cold stuff is not good."

Su Lingyue said that she understood, but she took another bite.

Chu Yi shook her head.

Su Lingyue had always liked cold things.

Although she didn't like summer, she liked cold drinks. She would even put mineral water in the refrigerator for a while before she drank it.

After she had ordered breakfast, Chu Yi sat next to her, and started asking questions out of curiosity. She finally got to ask the questions that she had been holding back for several days: "What's going on with you and Ji Zhiyi?"

Su Lingyue turned her head to look at her expectant eyes, and said: "We're doing well."

Chu Yi said: "What do you mean by doing well? Didn't she threaten you last time?"

Su Lingyue paused for a moment: "That was-" As she was thinking about how to explain it, she said hesitantly: "That was a special case."

Chu Yi was half-believing: "Then she hasn't been threatening you, right?"

Su Lingyue shook her head: "No."

Chu Yi breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. I don't know when she's going to be less angry and let you go."

Su Lingyue heard this, and slowly chewed on the fruit.

Actually, Ji Zhiyi wasn't restricting her freedom.

In the beginning, she wanted to make it seem like she was targeting her, so she brought her to her side to be her assistant, and had her clean up her study. But now that the endorsements were finalized, she didn’t need to live in the apartment anymore.

When would she let her go?

Actually, if she wanted to leave now, she only needed to tell Ji Zhiyi, and she could leave anytime.

But, she didn't seem to be thinking about leaving.

Why?

Was it because of Xiao Mafan?

Or...

"Lingyue?" Chu Yi reached out her hand and waved it in front of her: "What are you thinking about? I called you and you didn't even react."

Su Lingyue snapped back to reality: "What?"

Chu Yi said: "Didn’t you tell me last time that you and Ji Zhiyi had reached an agreement? When the agreement ends, can you leave?"

Oh right, the agreement.

She and Ji Zhiyi still had an agreement.

Su Lingyue seemed to have found a reason, and nodded.

Chu Yi then asked: "What agreement?"

Su Lingyue turned her head to look at her, and swallowed the watermelon juice.

How should she say it?

Should she tell the truth?

That definitely wouldn't do.

Zhang Xian had said that no one should talk about the new factory. This matter wasn't just about her. It was also about Ji Zhiyi’s plan. So, how should she explain this agreement?

Su Lingyue looked troubled.

She seemed to be in a dilemma.

When Chu Yi saw her expression, a thought suddenly popped into her head. She gasped: "It can't be, right?"

Su Lingyue saw her shocked expression, and bit her lip.

Chu Yi said: "You and Ji Zhiyi, you two?"

It was like something big had happened. She said firmly: "I knew Ji Zhiyi was up to no good! How could she suddenly ask you to move there? She was planning all of this! Why is she like this!"

Chu Yi was furious on Su Lingyue’s behalf.

Su Lingyue didn’t say anything.

Chu Yi said: "Are you suffering a lot of grievances?"

Su Lingyue said, muffled: "Actually, it's not too bad."

"What do you mean, it's not too bad!" Chu Yi became even more angry: "You even broke off ties with your dad in order to refuse Zhou Yan! You just didn't want to be played like a puppet. Ji Zhiyi is taking advantage of you being her boss now, and she's openly bullying you!"

Su Lingyue said: "She didn’t bully me."

Chu Yi was anxious: "She's keeping you, and she hasn't bullied you?!"

When she said those words, she felt that she had said something hurtful. She looked at Su Lingyue, knowing that she had said something wrong.

Su Lingyue understood. So, Chu Yi had misunderstood. However, this solved her urgent problem. She didn't have to think of a reason anymore. She nodded and said: "Ji Zhiyi isn't keeping me."

Chu Yi was suspicious: "Then what agreement were you talking about?"

Su Lingyue reacted quickly: "I'm keeping her."

Chu Yi’s eyes widened.

After a few seconds: "Where did you get the money?"

Su Lingyue said: "She doesn't want money."

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