Princess Syndrome - Chapter 64
Chapter 64: Kiss
Zhang Ting was speechless listening to the increasingly outrageous theories of the crowd. How did it seem like Ji Zhiyi was taking such good care of her? She had been working overtime at the company these past few days, and she hadn’t heard a single word of concern from Ji Zhiyi!
She waved her hand, “Can you guys be a little more reliable?”
Secretary Li asked her, “It's pretty reliable. This matter is being handled by you and Assistant Su, if not you, then is it Assistant Su?”
The round table fell silent for a moment.
Su Lingyue lowered her head.
Why couldn’t it be her?
The person beside Secretary Li chuckled dryly, “Then Secretary Zhang is more reliable.”
Zhang Ting wanted to say something, but held back.
Ji Zhiyi taking care of Su Lingyue?
It was a miracle if she didn't torture her to death. Last time she was going to fire her, how could she possibly take care of her?
It seemed like she was indeed the more reliable one.
It’s just that something felt off, right?
Before Zhang Ting could figure it out, Wu Meiyan entered in her high heels. Seeing that the dishes hadn't been served, she asked, “Why haven’t you ordered yet?”
Everyone looked at Su Lingyue.
Su Lingyue said, “I ordered a few dishes, everyone can add more as you see fit.”
The menu was passed around. Su Lingyue had ordered all the restaurant’s signature dishes, which were quite substantial. No one needed to add anything, and they just asked for the dishes to be served. Wu Meiyan asked Zhang Ting, “Have you notified everyone about the cancellation of the team building event?”
Zhang Ting said, “How could I make the same mistake twice? It's all settled.”
“The design department must be in a mess now, right?” The secretary beside her said, “Serves them right for letting Chen Zhiyao scheme against Assistant Su.”
Su Lingyue glanced at the secretary who spoke.
She wasn't very old, probably just out of college, with a very straightforward personality. When she first joined the secretariat, she was asking her predecessors in the tea room whether she should make things difficult for herself.
Now she was speaking up for her.
Su Lingyue's heart gradually warmed. Apart from Ji Zhiyi, it seemed that they all believed her side of the story, that Chen Zhiyao was lying.
This was somewhat like the past.
Everyone would stand by her side and speak up for her.
But it was also different from the past.
Now she no longer had the Su family, no longer had those inherent conditions that made people think she was right.
What they believed in was her, the person.
Should she say she was too much of a failure before, or that her reaction was too slow? Because it had been too long, too long since she had been genuinely believed, she had gradually given up on herself and lived numbly.
Come to think of it, she should thank Chen Zhiyao.
If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have been moved by being believed, wouldn't have had her numb nerves stimulated, and wouldn't be becoming more and more like a normal person.
She lowered her head and smiled.
Everyone else was also laughing.
Su Lingyue blinked, her eyes slightly hot, and she picked up her cup, saying, “I’ll use tea instead of wine, thank you.”
Having been in the secretariat for so long, she had only taken the initiative a countable number of times. Seeing Su Lingyue holding her cup and standing up, there was a few seconds of silence at the round table. Wu Meiyan quickly stood up, “This incident should serve as a warning to everyone. Let's do even better in the future!”
The others also stood up one after another. The dishes weren't even served yet, and they were already enjoying themselves with a pot of tea.
Wu Meiyan looked at Su Lingyue.
Ever since she came to the secretariat, her attitude had been aloof, as if there was a gap between her and everyone and everything, like an invisible chasm that made her feel very unapproachable.
It wasn’t aloof and arrogant.
It was indifference.
The kind of indifference that had no desires or demands.
Scolding her, wronging her, nothing could stir up her emotions.
But now it was different.
Wu Meiyan wasn't someone who had seen countless people, but she had the ability to observe others developed from being by the leaders’ side for a long time. She had keenly noticed Su Lingyue’s subtle changes. The same smile as before, the same taciturn, the same silence, but her attitude had changed.
She was willing to be closer to others now.
Like a hedgehog that was initially covered in thorns, now she was finally willing to show her flat belly and let you touch her.
Wu Meiyan even reached out her hand.
She laughed as her hand hovered in mid-air.
What nonsense was she thinking?
Su Lingyue didn't notice Wu Meiyan; her mind was on her phone. She had reported her itinerary to Ji Zhiyi before lunch, something she had never done before. There was an indescribable feeling of being willingly led.
She even wanted to send a picture of the nice dish she was eating to Ji Zhiyi.
She held back, and didn’t leave her seat during the entire lunch, listening to everyone chat, “Did you guys hear? An internal news from Linwu Entertainment company said that all its artists will no longer collaborate with Su Qi.”
“Linwu? Isn't that Yang Zhizhi’s management company? What’s going on?”
“What else could it be? She must have offended Yang Zhizhi.”
“Does Yang Zhizhi have that much power?”
“I don’t know about the rest, but Yang Zhizhi’s manager was fired. Could it be related to this matter?”
Everyone looked at Su Lingyue, “Assistant Su, you’ve had a lot of contact with Yang Zhizhi, do you know what’s going on?”
Su Lingyue saw everyone looking at her and shook her head lightly.
Everyone sighed, “Is Su Qi going to be done for like this?”
“How could that be? A starved camel is still bigger than a horse; it can still hold on for a while.” Secretary Li said, then looked at Su Lingyue, signaling everyone to stop talking about Su Qi. Su Lingyue calmly ate her beef ribs, and said, “It’s fine if it’s finished.”
Everyone couldn’t tell whether she was being sincere or not, and gave a dry laugh.
Only Su Lingyue knew that she was being sincere.
She had always been looking forward to Su Qi's end. She had even collaborated with others to bring down Su Qi before, and was called a madwoman. Some even said she deliberately used the excuse of bringing down Su Qi to win the trust of other companies and steal information.
Su Lingyue: …
She was being sincere, but no one believed her.
That's not right.
Ji Zhiyi believed her.
Su Lingyue lowered her head and smiled, her eyes full of delight. The little secretary beside her poked her, “Assistant Su, what are you thinking about?”
She turned her head and saw everyone looking at her, shrugging, “Nothing.”
The little secretary beside her giggled, “Your smile is so sweet.”
Su Lingyue touched her face, “Really?”
The others agreed, “I wanted to say it this morning, Assistant Su, you’re not in love, are you?”
Su Lingyue choked, “Why do you think I’m in love?”
“It’s simple. Usually, when you’re this happy, it’s either a promotion or smooth sailing in a relationship.” Su Lingyue had no chance of promotion, being suppressed by Ji Zhiyi, and was often called in for scolding. As for harmonious family relations, that was a joke. Everyone knew that she and her stepmother, Zhou Shiyu, argued every other day, even breaking off all ties after her father died.
That meant she was in love.
It all made sense.
Su Lingyue hadn’t thought that they could deduce so much from a smile.
She nodded in realization.
The others became interested, “Is it true, Assistant Su?”
Su Lingyue didn’t hide it, “Something like that.”
Everyone let out a long "oh" and started asking about gossip, “Is it someone from our company?”
Zhang Ting knocked the person’s head, “You idiot, of course not someone from the company. Look, who can Assistant Su talk to in the company?”
The person who was knocked said, “That’s true, I’ve never seen Assistant Su get close to anyone in the company.”
Su Lingyue lowered her head, swallowing the words ‘company colleague’ that were about to come out, and smiled.
Everyone understood and started to joke about it to skip over the topic.
However, the topic occasionally still turned to Su Lingyue, curious about who her partner was. Zhang Ting even came up with a terrible idea, “We’ll see who picks up Assistant Su tonight, then we’ll know!”
Everyone clapped, “Yes! That makes sense!”
Su Lingyue: …
It made sense, but it wouldn't work.
She would be leaving with Ji Zhiyi tonight.
As she was thinking, her phone vibrated. Su Lingyue took the chance while everyone was excitedly chatting to look at her phone.
Ji Zhiyi asked her: [Have you finished eating?]
She replied: [Not yet, still a while.]
Ji Zhiyi looked at the cold meal in front of her, having no appetite. She still forced herself to take two bites. She hadn't rested well last night and started to feel sleepy during her lunch break. Thinking that Su Lingyue wouldn't be back so soon, she got up to go back to the rest room first.
The rest room was quiet, and soundproof, so even though she could see cars speeding by downstairs from the window, she couldn’t hear anything. Ji Zhiyi walked to the bed and lay down, her hand on her forehead. She had a slight headache from lack of sleep, and closing her eyes helped.
She had a strange dream.
She dreamed that Su Lingyue’s back was always facing her.
She wanted to pull Su Lingyue, but there was always an arm’s length between her and Su Lingyue. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t touch Su Lingyue. She tried to call her name, but Su Lingyue kept talking to the person in front of her, not hearing her voice at all.
She didn't even turn back to look at her.
Ji Zhiyi frowned.
A finger tapped between her eyebrows. Su Lingyue returned after lunch, and found that Ji Zhiyi wasn’t there. She wanted to call her, but remembered what Zhang Xian said about her poor sleep quality. She thought she might be taking a nap during the lunch break, so she came to the rest room to check. She was indeed there.
She pushed the door open and walked in, seeing Ji Zhiyi resting on her side.
Su Lingyue leaned by the bed, looking at Ji Zhiyi’s facial features. Half of them were hidden in the soft pillow, while the other half were covered by her hair. She brushed away Ji Zhiyi’s hair, revealing her beautiful face.
The sleeping Ji Zhiyi didn't have the usual stern expression, looking much softer. Su Lingyue touched her forehead with her finger, then her eyebrows, tracing along the bridge of her nose to her thin lips.
It was this face that had made her infatuated at first sight.
Su Lingyue raised her lips. Suddenly, she saw Ji Zhiyi’s tightly closed eyes furrow, as if she was having a dream.
Was she dreaming of something unpleasant?
She reached out her finger and touched Ji Zhiyi’s brow, without even thinking.
The tense brows relaxed.
Those eyes slowly opened as well.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Su Lingyue squatting by the bed, leaning and looking at her. The figure in front of her overlapped with the one in her dream. The figure she couldn’t reach no matter how hard she chased in her dream, was now less than an arm's length away from her.
Su Lingyue had deliberately gone to the bathroom to touch up her makeup before coming in. Her brows and eyes were clear, her makeup delicate. Her thin lips were covered in a light shade of lipstick, which made her look young and vibrant.
Ji Zhiyi felt like time was moving in reverse.
It was as if she had returned to that tree many years ago. The girl standing under the tree was smiling at her.
Her heart seemed to be clenched tightly, paused for a moment.
Then it suddenly released.
Beating intensely.
Seeing that Ji Zhiyi had opened her eyes but didn't speak, just stared at her, Su Lingyue was confused, and spoke, “Ji Zhiyi, you…”
Her neck was pulled, her head was forced forward. Ji Zhiyi propped up half of her body with her elbow, leaned forward, and the moment Su Lingyue called her name, her thin lips touched the corner of Su Lingyue's lips.
She closed her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering, looking pious and solemn.
Su Lingyue instantly turned into a wooden puppet, unable to move.
She was stunned.
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