Princess Syndrome - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Bonus

Su Lingyue had never thought about being in a relationship. She wouldn't think about it before, it just wasn't something on her mind. Later, she didn't want to think about it. Occasionally, when she saw couples on the street, Chu Yi would enviously say, "I really want a sweet romance—"

The dreamy tone always made her roll her eyes.

Chu Yi would ask, "Lingyue, do you want one?"

She would answer without hesitation, "No."

Now, facing Ji Zhiyi's question on a piece of paper.

She bit her lip.

The simple word "no" felt impossible to say, especially since, if she really didn't want to, why would she write those questions?

Wasn't that like taking off your pants to fart, completely unnecessary?

So Su Lingyue held the piece of paper, and under Ji Zhiyi's patient gaze, she quietly reached out and covered Ji Zhiyi's eyes.

Ji Zhiyi tried to take Su Lingyue's hand away.

Su Lingyue said, "Don't move."

She 'threatened', "If you move, I won't try it with you."

She made talking about being in a relationship sound like playing house.

Ji Zhiyi really didn't move, just sat there, her arm around her waist. Because she couldn't see Su Lingyue, her sense of hearing was heightened. She could hear the rustling of fabric.

She asked Su Lingyue, "Why are you covering my eyes?"

Su Lingyue bit her lip.

She didn't know why either.

She was just shy, belatedly.

It was because of their current position, because of Ji Zhiyi's question, because of her own answer.

She said, "Because I want to."

Alright.

Ji Zhiyi smiled. Su Lingyue, covering her eyes, looked down at her straight nose bridge, delicate nose tip, and the slight upward curve of her lips. She let go of the piece of paper with one hand and pinched Ji Zhiyi's cheeks. "Don't smile."

Ji Zhiyi said, "Aren't you being a little..."

A little what?

A little barbaric?

A little bossy?

Ji Zhiyi said, "A little cute?"

Who was cute!

Su Lingyue jumped off Ji Zhiyi's lap like an agitated Xiao Mafan and stood in front of her. Ji Zhiyi turned her head to look at her, her eyes meeting Su Lingyue's. Su Lingyue turned and ran to her room.

Xiao Mafan, trying to follow, couldn't keep up and was shut out by Su Lingyue with a bang!

Unhappy, it sat at the door, scratching and meowing. Su Lingyue opened the door, reached out, and dragged Xiao Mafan inside.

The living room fell silent.

Ji Zhiyi rested her hand on her forehead.

Slowly covering her eyes.

It was as if Su Lingyue was still sitting on her lap, blocking her vision.

She closed her eyes.

Her mood was particularly pleasant.

After a while, she stood up and saw the piece of paper Su Lingyue had dropped. She picked it up and turned to look at Su Lingyue's room, smiling.

Su Lingyue lay on her stomach on the bed, turning her head to look at the door, wondering if her actions just now were too childish. She wasn't a high school student, so why would she do something so immature?

What would Ji Zhiyi think of her?

Su Lingyue had a headache.

She buried her face in Xiao Mafan's belly and groaned. Xiao Mafan tried to escape but was caught and had no choice but to let her maul it. When Xiao Mafan was exhausted, it lay limply on the bed, head on the pillow, eyes closed, letting Su Lingyue do whatever she wanted.

Su Lingyue hugged it, rubbed it, pressed it against her chest, and finally covered them with the quilt. The two rested in bed.

She was woken up by a knock on the door.

Su Lingyue heard Ji Zhiyi say, "Dinner is ready."

Had time passed so quickly?

Su Lingyue felt like she had only dozed off for a few minutes, but it was already dark? She got up and walked to the window. It was pitch black outside. Su Lingyue turned on the light. Xiao Mafan poked its head out from under the covers and meowed at her. Su Lingyue tapped its head. "Dinner."

Xiao Mafan meowed and happily jumped to the door. Su Lingyue opened the door, and it darted out.

Su Lingyue peeked out the door. Ji Zhiyi wasn't there. The kitchen light was on. Had Ji Zhiyi cooked?

She walked out and saw four dishes and a soup on the table. Ji Zhiyi said, "The housekeeper just delivered it."

Su Lingyue said "Oh."

Neither of them mentioned what happened in the afternoon.

The awkward atmosphere seemed to linger.

Ji Zhiyi didn't mention it either. If she didn't mention it, it wouldn't be so awkward.

Su Lingyue walked to the dining room. When she passed the coffee table, she saw the paper with her questions. Next to it was a notebook, Ji Zhiyi's work notebook. She walked over and looked down.

Next to her original questions were the answers.

[When did you go abroad? Why did you go abroad?]

[After the sophomore summer program, because I wanted an opportunity.]

What opportunity?

Su Lingyue looked down.

Ji Zhiyi had added another sentence below: [Not because of what happened that day.]

Su Lingyue held the paper.

She turned her head to look at Ji Zhiyi, trying to recall everything she knew about her, but—her memory was limited. Things she hadn't paid attention to before were hard to remember clearly now.

It was a lie to say otherwise.

She folded the paper and put it in her pocket, then turned to go to the dining room.

Ji Zhiyi had opened a bottle of red wine and poured her a glass. Su Lingyue held the glass and looked at Ji Zhiyi, sitting down beside her. "Is there something to celebrate?"

Ji Zhiyi said, "To celebrate."

Su Lingyue held up her glass. "Celebrate what?"

Ji Zhiyi looked at her. "Today is our first day together. Shouldn't we celebrate?"

Su Lingyue's hand trembled, and she almost dropped her glass. Heat rushed to her head, and a blush visibly spread across her face. She took a sip of red wine and muttered softly, "When did we get together?"

Ji Zhiyi said matter-of-factly, "This afternoon."

Su Lingyue swallowed the wine. "I didn't agree."

Ji Zhiyi said, "You didn't refuse either."

That—

That was true.

She said, "Okay."

Her tone was reluctant, but her heart was bursting with joy. But she still kept a straight face. "We said we'd try it first."

Ji Zhiyi picked up her glass, offering a toast.

Su Lingyue pretended to be serious, but steadily picked up her glass and clinked it against Ji Zhiyi's, taking a small, elegant sip before lowering her head to eat. The dining room was quiet. Ji Zhiyi's phone vibrated, closer to Su Lingyue. She was about to say, "President Ji, your phone," but suddenly remembered her new identity.

Ji Zhiyi's girlfriend.

Even if they were just trying it.

She was now her legitimate girlfriend.

Thinking this, she picked up the phone from the side and handed it to Ji Zhiyi, her expression calm. Ji Zhiyi looked at her, amused by her eagerness for praise. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Su Lingyue said. "It's my duty."

Ji Zhiyi glanced at her.

She answered the call.

It was a video call from Zhang Xian.

Ji Zhiyi propped up her phone and heard Zhang Xian say, "Having dinner?"

She gave a soft "Mmm."

Zhang Xian also saw Su Lingyue and greeted her. "Good evening, Assistant Su."

Su Lingyue maintained her dignified persona and gave a slight nod.

Zhang Xian: ...

The atmosphere between these two was a bit off.

Had Ji Zhiyi bullied Su Lingyue again?

She really wanted to say something, but they were together, so it didn't seem appropriate. Ji Zhiyi asked, "What's up?"

Zhang Xian snapped back to reality. "I've informed Xie Lan about the business trip."

Ji Zhiyi nodded. "What did she say?"

Zhang Xian said, "She was a little surprised but didn't say anything."

Ji Zhiyi said, "Got it."

Seeing Zhang Xian still looking at Su Lingyue, Ji Zhiyi raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

Zhang Xian said, "Nothing."

She smiled at them. "I'll hang up then."

Ji Zhiyi hung up the phone.

Su Lingyue asked, "Business trip?"

"Arno's event invitation. You should also prepare. We'll go together the day after tomorrow." After saying that, Ji Zhiyi looked at Su Lingyue. "Have the design and publicity departments come up for a meeting tomorrow."

Su Lingyue asked, "To decide the theme for the autumn exhibition?"

Ji Zhiyi took a bite of her dinner and nodded.

Su Lingyue listlessly poked at her rice. "Oh."

She knew the theme for the autumn exhibition. It had been decided that Xie Lan's design would be the main one. Inviting Lin Fei and Yang Zhizhi was to fit the 'mother-and-child buckle' theme, centered around Xie Lan's design. Taking Xie Lan along for Arno's event invitation was probably because she would be the main person giving the speech on stage.

It was understandable.

Xie Lan's design was indeed very good this time. The theme matched the mother-and-child buckle design, and with Lin Fei and Yang Zhizhi's current online buzz, it would definitely draw attention to Yilin at Arno's autumn exhibition.

And what Yilin needed most right now was public attention.

So Xie Lan was the best choice.

But because of that past incident, it was a knot in Su Lingyue's heart. She looked at Ji Zhiyi, seeing her slowly eating her dinner, clearly not taking what she had said about Xie Lan to heart.

Sometimes she really admired Ji Zhiyi.

She could separate public matters from private matters.

She couldn't.

So she was now a little dissatisfied with Ji Zhiyi because of Xie Lan.

Minus two points!

Was two points too much?

Su Lingyue felt that from Ji Zhiyi's perspective, there was no reason not to use Xie Lan's design.

Minus one point then.

It was because she didn't investigate.

This one point was because she didn't trust her!

Su Lingyue's internal scales fluctuated up and down. Ji Zhiyi turned her head, noticing the changes in her expression. "What's wrong? Don't you like the dinner?"

Su Lingyue snapped out of her thoughts. "No, it's delicious."

She took a big bite, her cheeks bulging as she chewed. Not wanting Ji Zhiyi to see, she said, "Eat your food!"

Ji Zhiyi smiled.

She lowered her head to eat.

After dinner, Su Lingyue cleared the table while Ji Zhiyi went to the bathroom to wash up. When she came out, Su Lingyue wasn't in the living room. She sat on the sofa and opened her laptop. She heard footsteps behind her. Su Lingyue came out after washing her face, droplets of water still clinging to the hair beside her cheeks, glistening.

She said, "Come here."

Su Lingyue didn't hesitate and walked over. Ji Zhiyi pulled her down onto the sofa and casually grabbed the dry towel she had just used to wipe the water from Su Lingyue's cheeks.

They were quite close. Su Lingyue lowered her eyes and saw Ji Zhiyi's smooth, flat collarbones, her fair skin, and the lines of her neck, where her pulse was visible due to the movement. She stared at them and suddenly reached out, placing her hand on Ji Zhiyi's collarbone.

Ji Zhiyi paused, lowered her head, and met Su Lingyue's slightly raised gaze.

Su Lingyue's thin lips were rosy, a natural color. Her lips parted slightly, looking up at Ji Zhiyi as if offering a silent invitation. Ji Zhiyi gripped the towel tightly, her knuckles turning white. She lowered her head slightly, leaning closer.

Su Lingyue's mind went blank.

She didn't know how to react and just froze. Ji Zhiyi tentatively leaned in, her lips about to touch Su Lingyue's cheek when the doorbell suddenly rang!

Su Lingyue jolted, her eyes meeting Ji Zhiyi's. She jumped up. "I'll get the door."

Ji Zhiyi wanted to grab Su Lingyue's wrist but was too late.

Su Lingyue had already hurried to the door. She took a deep breath to calm her heartbeat, unconsciously brushing her bangs to cover her flushed cheeks, then patted her face and opened the door. A warm breeze rushed in from outside, bringing Zhang Xian with it.

Zhang Xian waved. "Assistant Su, hi."

She had been worried after hanging up and decided to stop by on her way home.

Su Lingyue forced a smile. "Director Zhang, what brings you here?"

Zhang Xian looked inside at Ji Zhiyi sitting on the sofa. "I was just passing by and thought I'd check in."

Ji Zhiyi, hearing them talking, turned her head. "Your detour must be quite a long one."

She stood up and walked to the door. "But it's good you're here. I was just about to talk to you about the design department's bonuses for this month."

Zhang Xian's heart leaped with joy. "Bonuses? For me?"

Ji Zhiyi's tone was indifferent. "Besides you"

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