Our Love, A Public Service - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Her mood changed faster than flipping a page. One moment she was throwing a tantrum in bed, the next, Jing Rui was being so considerate. Chi Jia hadn’t yet adjusted to this sudden change.
"Are you coming or not?" Jing Rui asked impatiently, not waiting for Chi Jia's reply, and went to the entrance to change her shoes.
"Coming…"
Chi Jia didn’t know how many cars Jing Rui owned; she had never seen her drive the same one twice. But whichever car it was, it was probably something a lowly office worker like her could never afford, even after a lifetime of working.
Throughout the ride, Chi Jia stared intently at the time ticking away on her phone.
Jing Rui, glancing at Chi Jia’s money-grubbing expression, said with disdain, “How much is that perfect attendance bonus anyway?”
Talking about money with a wealthy woman was definitely disheartening. Chi Jia gave Jing Rui a cold look, then stared straight ahead. “Of course you would say that, you don’t lack money.”
“Are you that short on money?”
“Who doesn’t like money?” Although the bonus was only a few hundred, it was better than nothing. Even fifty yuan, Chi Jia would feel the pinch if it was deducted. Every single yuan was precious to her.
At a red light, Jing Rui stopped the car and turned to Chi Jia. “Do you know why you can’t make big money?”
Chi Jia knew surnamed Jing was about to condescendingly lecture her, so she rolled her eyes and didn’t respond.
“Your vision is too narrow, your perspective too small.”
“Just drive,” Chi Jia muttered. “What perspective does a mere employee like me need?”
“Hahaha…” Jing Rui always found Chi Jia’s awkwardness amusing.
Chi Jia turned to see the vixen grinning from ear to ear. Such a strange sense of humor. She wondered what was so funny about what she just said.
But she couldn’t help but glance at Jing Rui’s face; she looked genuinely beautiful without makeup, especially when she smiled.
In Chi Jia’s memory, Jing Rui rarely smiled so openly, usually wearing an enigmatic, closed-lip smile. Perhaps without makeup, she seemed less alluring, but also less distant and intimidating, simply beautiful in a comfortable way. As long as she didn’t speak; whenever they talked, Chi Jia felt they were on completely different wavelengths.
She was lucky today, arriving at her office building at 8:50 AM.
“Thanks.” Chi Jia mumbled, unbuckling her seatbelt.
Miss Chi, once again, became the center of attention. As soon as she opened the car door, she was met with numerous stares. She tried to get out of the car gracefully.
This time, it was in front of her own company building, and she happened to run into a few colleagues.
“Xiao Jia, is that really you? You’re off the market now?”
That luxury car wasn’t something ordinary people could afford, so their first thought was naturally along those lines.
“I…” Chi Jia smoothed her hair, forcing herself to say, “What nonsense are you talking about? I overslept and just took a Didi here.”
“I’ve never hailed such a luxurious Didi!”
“That’s a matter of luck.” Chi Jia tried to brush it off.
“I noticed… Xiao Jia isn’t wearing a different outfit today!”
“See? We told you something was going on!”
Fashionable women in the office rarely wore the same outfit twice in a week, and Chi Jia was the same. So, not changing clothes overnight meant what? It meant spending the night elsewhere. Coupled with the scene of her getting out of a luxury car, this would probably provide gossip fodder for the girls in the break room for quite some time.
“If we don’t go up now, we’ll be late.” Chi Jia joined the crowd waiting for the elevator, quickly escaping the scene.
In the car, Jing Rui bent down and picked up a document folder that Chi Jia must have dropped in her haste. It was the contract they signed last night. Jing Rui smiled at the folder, placed it on the seat next to her, and instead of taking it to Chi Jia, she started the car and drove away.
At noon, Jing Rui was sitting in her office when she received a call on her private number. The innocent little lamb had finally called.
“Did I leave my contract in your car?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll come to your restaurant to pick it up tonight.”
“No need.” Jing Rui checked her schedule and said softly, “Come to my place the day after tomorrow night to pick it up.”
“To… your place?” Chi Jia’s heart started racing, her thoughts wandering to inappropriate places. The vixen inviting her to her place… “I’ll come to your office instead.”
“I won’t be at the office for the next two days.”
“Then leave it at the office, or mail it to me.”
“Miss Chi, do you think I have that much free time? Come to my place the day after tomorrow night, that’s final.” It was rare for President Jing to repeat herself; in work matters, she would have fired the person already.
“But…” Chi Jia wanted to argue, but Jing Rui had already hung up.
A moment later, her secretary knocked on the door.
“Ms. Jing, what would you like for lunch?”
“Anything is fine.”
The secretary breathed a sigh of relief; her boss had been in a foul mood for the past few days, making everyone nervous when reporting to her, afraid of saying the wrong thing.
“Also,” Jing Rui suddenly remembered something and called out to her secretary.
The secretary turned around, startled.
“Buy me something, chocolate bars.”
“Chocolate bars?” The secretary thought she had misheard. She clearly remembered her boss didn’t like sweets.
“Yes, buy a hundred.”
Seeing her boss in a good mood today, the secretary dared to ask, “That many?”
Jing Rui searched on her desk, found Miss Chi’s business card in a corner, and handed it to her secretary. “And have someone deliver these to this person this afternoon.”
The secretary looked at the card: AS Interior Designer, Chi Jia.
She suddenly understood. Last time, when her boss suddenly bought a villa, it was also to sign a design contract with this Miss Chi. Her assistant had gossiped that Miss Chi might be her boss’s new girlfriend, but she hadn’t believed it. Now, with a hundred chocolate bars being sent, it seemed the rumors were true. After all, with her busy schedule, why would her boss remember to send snacks to someone?
“Okay, I’ll have it delivered this afternoon.” The secretary smiled; if this was her boss’s girlfriend, she naturally had to be more attentive. Her boss was truly extravagant, taking care of everything, from villas to snacks.
That afternoon, Chi Jia was dozing off at her desk. She had stayed up too late last night and couldn’t focus today. Her arms were still sore, and as she stretched them, she recalled the details of last night, especially on the desk…
Just thinking about it made her heart race.
Her phone suddenly rang, startling her. It was an unknown number.
“Hello Miss Chi, you have a package here, can you come and collect it? I’m at your company’s front desk.”
“A package?” Chi Jia was confused. “Who sent it?”
“A Miss Jing.”
“Oh, I’ll be right there…”
Chi Jia hung up and walked towards the front desk, thinking it was probably the contract she and Jing Rui signed yesterday. But when she arrived, the delivery guy handed her a box of… chocolate bars???
After asking repeatedly, it was confirmed that there was nothing else but chocolate bars.
Holding the box of chocolate bars, Chi Jia stood there, dumbfounded, thinking, had surnamed Jing lost her mind? She had the time to have someone deliver a box of chocolate bars, but not the contract?
“Come to my place the day after tomorrow night, that’s final.” Chi Jia recalled Jing Rui’s words from earlier. This wasn’t her overthinking; the vixen clearly had ulterior motives…
Hmm
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