Princess Syndrome - Chapter 98
Chapter 98: Roses
After returning home, Ji Zhiyi video-called Su Lingyue. Su Lingyue had just finished showering and came out of the bathroom. Her eyebrows still had drops of water on them. She wiped her face with a dry towel and answered the call. Ji Zhiyi’s background was revealed: clear skies, good weather, which was a stark contrast to the darkness where she was. The feeling that Ji Zhiyi wasn’t by her side intensified. Su Lingyue asked, "Are you home?"
The video lagged for two seconds, as if it had only just received the signal. Ji Zhiyi stared at the screen for a moment and said, "Yeah."
Then, she turned the phone to show her surroundings. Su Lingyue saw Ji Zhiyi’s house through the video. Unlike her apartment in Qingquan City, this one didn't look very big. It was decorated mainly in gray and white tones, similar to the style of the house she lived in now. Su Lingyue asked, "Where's your sister?"
Ji Zhiyi replied, "She's at school, she'll be back in the afternoon."
Knowing that she had arrived, Ji Zhis had wanted to skip class today, but Ji Zhiyi had told her to rest. So she remembered, "You must be tired after sitting on the plane for so long. Sleep early, I'll be back after school." Her tone was excited.
Su Lingyue hummed, looking at Ji Zhiyi in the video. Ever since they had decided to give it a try, they hadn’t separated. Not to mention separated by such a great distance. So, she always had an uneasy and volatile feeling, but after hearing Ji Zhiyi’s voice, that feeling magically disappeared.
She had never thought that trusting someone would be so simple.
Ji Zhiyi asked, "Did anything happen at work today?"
Su Lingyue said, "Does being lectured by the boss count?"
Ji Zhiyi laughed at the way she rolled her eyes.
Although she was overseas, she knew a bit about what was happening in the company. Naturally, she had heard about Su Lingyue being scolded by Qi An. But Qi An was like that, every assistant she had was scolded, so she wasn’t too surprised.
Su Lingyue didn't mention Su Qi’s matter.
She didn't want to bother Ji Zhiyi.
Besides, she had already found a compromise. She didn't have to go through Zhou Shiyu, so there was even less need to bring it up and give Ji Zhiyi a headache. Xiao Mafan rubbed against her, and Su Lingyue picked it up, holding it up to the screen. The cat looked at Ji Zhiyi on the phone for a long time, extending its paw as if wanting to grab her. Su Lingyue said, "Ji Zhiyi, the cat misses you."
Ji Zhiyi heard her soft voice, looking at the cat's adorable appearance on the screen. She automatically overlapped the image of the cat with Su Lingyue. Although the cat's head took up the whole screen, through the association, her heart softened. Ji Zhiyi replied, "Yeah." She leaned back on the sofa. "What about you?"
Su Lingyue squeezed the cat tightly, seemingly unintentionally fiddling with her phone. When the camera faced her, she quickly changed the direction of it, but Ji Zhiyi had already seen a slightly flushed face.
She was getting shy from just those words.
It was very inconsistent with her usual bold behavior.
As expected, Su Lingyue’s shyness didn’t last long. She cleared her throat and said, "I miss you too."
She had wanted a calm tone.
But she ended up sounding stiff.
Ji Zhiyi smiled, whispering softly into the phone, "Lingyue."
Su Lingyue clutched her phone, looking at Ji Zhiyi. Through the screen, she saw Ji Zhiyi's thin lips move, saying, "I miss you too."
Her voice was so seductive and alluring.
A ball of fire started to gather in Su Lingyue's heart, quickly spreading to her face.
This time it wasn’t from shyness that made her face red.
She took a deep breath, her heart pounding. The touch-but-don't-get feeling was like a cat's paw, making her heart itch unbearably. Her gaze towards Ji Zhiyi also became strange. "When are you coming back?"
Ji Zhiyi met her gaze, staying silent for two seconds.
Su Lingyue called to her, "Ji Zhiyi."
Ji Zhiyi laughed.
Her face was joyful.
Su Lingyue was annoyed by her laughter. She harrumphed. Ji Zhiyi replied, "Sister Yunlu’s body hasn’t recovered yet. I want to wait for her to recover a bit before discussing the matter of going home with Godmother."
Su Lingyue, hearing that she was talking about business, suppressed her other feelings and hummed.
She didn’t look at the phone.
She looked around, saying, "Are you still going back to Yilin?"
Ji Zhiyi said, "If Godmother needs me to."
She had originally wanted to leave Yilin after the Dingsheng matter was resolved, but now things had changed. Jiang Yunlu had woken up, and they didn't know how much she would be able to recover. If it was as Jiang Ya had worried about, that her recovery wouldn't be very ideal, their family would certainly have to take care of her in the future. It wouldn't be appropriate to bring up leaving Yilin right now.
Su Lingyue understood, so she nodded.
Ji Zhiyi added, "But you can leave whenever you want."
Once the processing plant was up and running, someone would have to take charge. Zhang Xian certainly wasn't suitable. If Su Lingyue was willing, she could go over there. But Su Lingyue didn't have such plans yet, so she said, "Then I'll wait for you to come back."
Ji Zhiyi replied, "Okay."
Su Lingyue lowered the backrest of the sofa, lay down on it, covered herself with a thin blanket. Xiao Mafan came over and lay in the crook of her arm. Su Lingyue found it amusing. The camera kept switching between the cat and herself.
Ji Zhiyi didn’t move.
Being swayed back and forth by her, she felt sleepy. She lay on the sofa, her eyes closing.
Seeing this, Su Lingyue asked, "Are you sleepy?"
Ji Zhiyi answered vaguely, "Yeah."
Su Lingyue asked, "Want to take a shower before you sleep?"
Ji Zhiyi replied, "Okay."
She agreed, but didn't move or get up. She continued lying on the sofa. Seeing that she didn’t even have a blanket on, Su Lingyue called out, "Ji Zhiyi."
This time there was no reply.
After taking such a long flight, Ji Zhiyi was tired. After returning, she had been busy at the hospital. Even an iron man couldn’t withstand that. She had politely - fallen asleep.
They had only been separated for a short while, but Su Lingyue already felt powerless.
She couldn't even get a blanket for Ji Zhiyi.
This sense of powerlessness turned into melancholy. She lay there watching Ji Zhiyi's sleeping face until Ji Zhiyi’s phone ran out of power, ending the call. Only then did Su Lingyue turn off her phone. She hugged Xiao Mafan, burying her face in the cat’s stomach.
For the first time, she didn't feel so comfortable and soft.
She rubbed it gently. Xiao Mafan seemed to know she was in a bad mood, sticking close to her.
Her bad mood led to her not sleeping well that night. She had countless bizarre dreams. One moment, she dreamt that Ji Zhiyi had returned, but she didn’t know her. The next, she dreamt that she had gone to find Ji Zhiyi, but she saw that she was standing next to a stranger. Ji Zhiyi was talking to that person and no matter how much she shouted, Ji Zhiyi wouldn't pay any attention to her. Su Lingyue woke up startled, getting up to see that it was just past four o'clock.
She hugged the cat and went back to her room, lying on Ji Zhiyi’s bed. She finally fell into a peaceful sleep while surrounded by the familiar scent.
She arrived at the company early the next day.
There weren't many people in the office yet. Just as Su Lingyue sat down, she received a message from Yang Zhizhi’s assistant, asking if she was free recently and if she would like to have a meal with her. Only then did Su Lingyue remember the perfume she had received last time was still in her bag. She replied to the assistant: [Does Miss Yang not have any schedule recently?]
The assistant quickly replied after receiving it: [Zhizhi is currently resting at home and reading scripts.]
Su Lingyue: [She generally likes to stay at home?]
Assistant: [If it’s not necessary to go out, Zhizhi will stay home.]
Su Lingyue: [What does she do at home?]
Assistant: [She reads books, makes food, and exercises.]
Su Lingyue: [Tell me the truth.]
Assistant: …
She looked at Yang Zhizhi.
Yang Zhizhi paused from playing games, glancing at her. Seeing her constipated expression, she asked, "What's up?"
The assistant said quietly, "Assistant Su."
Yang Zhizhi’s hand holding her phone stiffened. She handed her gaming phone to the assistant. "You play."
She took the assistant's phone.
After reading the chat history, she paused for two seconds: [Watching dramas, playing games. What's up?]
Su Lingyue: [Nothing, I was wondering what kind of gift she would like.]
Yang Zhizhi looked at her phone.
What did that mean?
Was Su Lingyue going to give her a gift?
Why a gift?
Before she could even get happy for two seconds, Su Lingyue added: [I received the perfume. Please thank her for me.]
Yang Zhizhi's happiness was instantly deflated.
So, it was a return gift.
But at least it was a give and take. That was better than the previous times, where they would start arguing the moment they met. Yang Zhizhi: [She likes flowers.]
Su Lingyue: [Flowers?]
Assistant: [Yes, don’t buy her anything else, she won’t use them. She likes fresh flowers, roses are the best.]
Su Lingyue was still looking at the messages.
The assistant sent her a location.
And finally asked: [Are you coming today?]
Su Lingyue: …
Why did she feel like there was something strange about her tone?
Yang Zhizhi saw that she hadn't replied in a long time. She changed her tone: [Zhizhi has been home recently, Assistant Su is welcome to come over anytime.]
After sending the message, Yang Zhizhi shook the goosebumps off her arms.
But she was also desperate to see what Su Lingyue would reply with.
The other side was still silent.
Yang Zhizhi held her phone.
After the assistant finished playing the game, she looked at Yang Zhizhi.
Yang Zhizhi handed her the phone. The phone vibrated. She looked at it immediately.
It wasn't a message from Su Lingyue.
Su Lingyue, before she could even reply, was dragged away to a meeting. After returning, she saw Yang Zhizhi’s message, so she replied: [I understand, thank you.]
The other side quickly sent back a cute smiley face.
Su Lingyue put down her phone. Then she thought of the message from the assistant. Yang Zhizhi liked flowers. She searched for the nearby flower shops. Of course, she couldn't send roses, but there were many other types of flowers. After choosing for a while, she glanced at the time on her screen. Then she sent a message to Ji Zhiyi.
Ji Zhiyi had originally set her alarm for the afternoon. When she woke up, the sky was already dark. Ji Zhis’ school event wasn't over yet, so she wouldn't be home until later. She opened her eyes to see that her phone screen was black, with no battery.
She quickly charged it and called Jiang Ya, also sending a message to Ji Zhis. She had wanted to message Su Lingyue, but was worried about waking her too early, so she waited.
She first received a message from Su Lingyue: [Are you awake?]
Ji Zhiyi: [Yeah, are you at the company?]
Su Lingyue: [Yeah, when are you going to the hospital?]
Ji Zhiyi: [After Sisi gets back, maybe in about an hour.]
Su Lingyue: [Okay, then I'll go to work first.]
It was just ordinary chat, but Ji Zhiyi reread it several times, then she got up and went to the nearby supermarket to buy some simple food. She was planning on eating before going to the hospital, also wanting to bring something for Jiang Ya. Shortly after returning home, she heard the doorbell ring. She thought it was Ji Zhis, so she opened the door, only to be greeted with a bouquet of flowers.
Ji Zhiyi was stunned.
The delivery man said in a accented tone, "Are you Miss Ji?"
She came back to herself, "I am."
She was then handed a signature slip.
Ji Zhiyi flipped the signature slip over. There was a moon drawn where the sender’s name should be.
Su Lingyue?
She felt dazed for two seconds. She took the flowers and called Su Lingyue. The other side sounded pleased. "Aren't you touched by me?"
She opened her mouth.
Her throat was dry.
Her voice was stifled. She couldn't get it out. Su Lingyue said, "I even asked Zhang Xian to find out where to buy them. Are they pretty?" Her tone was full of the pride of someone wanting to be praised.
Ji Zhiyi laughed.
She said, "Yeah, they're pretty."
It wasn't the first time that she had been given roses, but it felt like the first time. It was like she had been hit by an unexpected surprise, and she couldn’t come back to herself. A bouquet of roses left her clueless on what to do. She tried putting them in several places, in the study, living room, and bedroom, but she wasn't satisfied with any of them.
In the end, she asked Zhang Xian: [Are you free? I need you to help me with something.]
Zhang Xian had just sat down, but upon seeing that message, she paid full attention. She replied cautiously: [What's the matter?]
Ji Zhiyi sent several pictures, the living room, the balcony, the bedroom, the study. And lastly, asked Zhang Xian: [Where would it be best to put the flowers for the best effect?]
Zhang Xian: …
These couples were going to kill her!!!
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