If It’s Wrong, Then It’s Wrong - Chapter 84
Chapter 84: The Thirty-First Day
“Sister, I want to go home for the May Day holiday,” Cheng Gui said, sitting at the dining table.
He had received his job offer today, but the holiday started tomorrow, and they had told him to start after the break. Having spent the past six months searching for a job, hiding it from his family, he felt guilty. The written exam and interviews had been grueling, but at least there was a positive outcome.
Cheng Liu nodded: “It’s good to go home.”
Cheng Gui hesitated, then finally asked, “Sister, do you want to come too?”
In recent years, apart from New Year’s Eve, when she would fly back for dinner, she had always been working.
Cheng Liu instinctively looked at Ji Chaozhou. She had been planning to go on a trip with him during the holiday.
“Sister, you…don’t have to come if you’re busy,” Cheng Gui said, sensing something.
“I’m not busy. I can handle work remotely,” Cheng Liu said, then, turning to Ji Chaozhou, asked directly, “Do you want to come with me?”
Ji Chaozhou, meeting her gaze, paused, then nodded.
Cheng Liu’s tense shoulders relaxed. She immediately took out her phone to book tickets: “I have a dinner gathering tonight. We can leave tomorrow morning.”
After dinner, Cheng Gui left to pack. He had rented an apartment yesterday, planning to move in after the holiday. Cheng Liu didn't interfere, intending to transfer ownership to him in a couple of years.
The apartment wasn't important to her. She wanted to help her siblings. She had the means to do so.
“Sister, you…” Cheng Gui said, glancing back at the living room, then lowering his voice, “What’s your relationship with him?”
Cheng Liu looked at her brother, a smug smile on her face: “Your future brother-in-law.”
Cheng Gui nodded knowingly. He had suspected as much.
In all his life, he had never seen his sister so attentive to anyone, constantly observing Ji Chaozhou’s every move.
“Should I tell Mom and Dad to prepare?” Cheng Gui asked hesitantly.
Ji Chaozhou seemed even more discerning than He Bai. His mere presence made people want to offer him the best of everything.
“No need,” Cheng Liu said after a moment’s thought. “Just focus on packing.”
“Okay,” Cheng Gui said, walking out. “I’ll be going then.”
Cheng Liu watched as he got into a taxi, then went back inside.
Ji Chaozhou had to go to Ranshan in the afternoon, so Cheng Liu went to work as well.
The new fragrance Ji Chaozhou had blended was good enough to be Ranshan’s next flagship product, but he felt it was incomplete, so he hadn't announced it yet.
Besides blending the fragrance, he also had to design the bottle.
The other perfumers at Ranshan usually had dedicated designers, or they provided the concept, and the designers created the bottle.
Only Ji Chaozhou did both. In addition to his talent for perfumery, he also had a background in design.
When Cheng Liu had added him on WeChat, the perfume bottle in his profile picture was his first design.
This time, he hadn’t decided on a design yet. He took out his phone, opened WeChat, and looked at the photos in He Bai’s Moments post, saving each one. He then cropped out everyone except Cheng Liu.
So what if He Bai had been with her for nine years? He wanted Cheng Liu to be with him forever.
Ji Chaozhou, masking his emotions, picked up a sketchpad and started drawing the outline of a perfume bottle.
…
At Shenyin Technology.
Cheng Liu sat at her desk, lost in thought.
She had already finished reviewing the company's daily documents and rejected several proposals from the autonomous driving technology team. There was nothing else to do.
She was thinking about Ji Chaozhou, how he had looked that morning, tying his robe.
CEO Cheng wished she had recorded it.
He had looked so handsome! His waist so slender!
Cheng Liu, lost in her thoughts, her ears turning red.
She should have kissed him when she woke up this morning.
Before Cheng Liu could indulge in fantasies about their future together, Li Dong called.
“CEO Cheng, still at work? Come early tonight,” Li Dong said, his voice drowned out by the noise in the background. “We’ve got a special gathering for you.”
“Okay, I’ll be there soon,” Cheng Liu said, readily agreeing.
Li Dong’s “special gathering” wasn’t an exaggeration. It was a group of business partners she knew, both men and women, all friendly and supportive. And they were the ones who enjoyed bragging the most.
“She’s here!”
“I hear our CEO Cheng has found someone special.”
As soon as Cheng Liu entered, she was surrounded, everyone eager for details.
“CEO Ji’s son is truly exceptional. I thought you would be single forever. Turns out you were just waiting for the best,” a woman sitting at the end of the table said, patting Cheng Liu on the shoulder. “Tell us how you met.”
Cheng Liu, of course, couldn't tell them the truth about mistaking Ji Chaozhou for someone else, so she quickly changed the subject.
“The rescue efforts in Z Province are still ongoing, but it’s almost over,” someone said, raising their glass to Cheng Liu. “CEO Cheng, I hear you were quite helpful there.”
“It was nothing. Others worked much harder,” Cheng Liu said, taking the glass and draining it in one gulp. At the mention of Z Province, the smile in her eyes faded.
The group of CEOs chatted, sharing industry gossip and bragging about their spouses and children, bottle after bottle of expensive wine being opened.
Everyone toasted Cheng Liu, and she accepted each one, not refusing any.
Since returning from Z Province, she had been trying to suppress her emotions. Alcohol was a good escape, a way to forget the sadness.
Several rounds later, with most of the food gone, Li Dong shook his head: “That’s enough for tonight. If I stay any longer, my wife will kill me.”
The CEOs started calling for rides.
Cheng Liu, although drunk, still had her wits about her. She took out her phone to call a designated driver.
“What are you doing?” Li Dong, his face flushed, grabbed her phone, exiting the designated driver app. He looked like a typical, middle-aged man after a few drinks, but he was the most sober person at the table.
“I have to go,” Cheng Liu said, trying to get her phone back. “I have an early flight tomorrow.”
Li Dong, standing in front of Cheng Liu, looking at her with mock disappointment: “Cheng Liu, I truly overestimated you. Such a perfect opportunity, and you’re calling a designated driver?”
Cheng Liu looked up at him: “Don’t drink and drive. Don’t drive after drinking.”
“Tsk, you should call someone to pick you up. Why waste money on a designated driver?” Li Dong was exasperated. She was so stubborn.
“Chief Assistant He broke his toe. He can’t drive,” Cheng Liu said, pouring herself a glass of honey lemonade. She wasn't about to exploit her injured assistant just to save a few bucks.
Li Dong, speechless: “Call…that person to pick you up.”
“That person?” Cheng Liu asked, suddenly more alert.
Li Dong scrolled through his contacts, finding the one labeled “Boyfriend”: “This one. Call him.”
CEO Cheng, now slightly drunk, seeing Ji Chaozhou's number, instinctively straightened her clothes, stood up, and said, “Mr. Li, you’re right.”
She dialed Ji Chaozhou's number, nervously waiting for him to answer.
After two rings, his clear, cool voice, like a refreshing spring, came through the phone.
“Cheng Liu?”
“Good evening!” Cheng Liu said formally.
Ji Chaozhou, holding his phone, smiled, then quickly realized, “Are you drunk?”
“Just a little,” Cheng Liu said, not admitting it.
Li Dong, across from her, gestured frantically, urging her to ask Ji Chaozhou to come.
Cheng Liu ignored him, holding the phone to her ear, her heart pounding just from hearing his voice.
“How much is ‘a little’?” Ji Chaozhou asked patiently.
Cheng Liu turned and counted the bottles: “Six of us had thirteen bottles.” She had drunk most of them.
Ji Chaozhou frowned: “Cheng Liu, is that ‘a little’?”
Cheng Liu, feeling guilty, immediately corrected herself: “Not a little.”
He said her name again, his voice cold.
Cheng Liu quickly asked, her voice low, “I think I’m drunk. Can you come get me?”
Ji Chaozhou: “…Okay, I’ll be there.”
He knew where she was. She had mentioned the dinner gathering earlier.
…
When Ji Chaozhou arrived, the others were sprawled out on the sofa, feigning drunkenness. Cheng Liu was sitting alone at the table, staring at her phone.
Li Dong stood up: “He’s here. She had a bit too much.”
Ji Chaozhou helped Cheng Liu up, nodded at Li Dong, and then led her away.
As soon as they left, the others sat up.
“That’s CEO Ji’s son? He's even more handsome in person!”
“CEO Cheng truly is capable.”
“They look good together.”
…
Ji Chaozhou, unaware that they had been pretending, led Cheng Liu out, helped her into the car, fastened her seatbelt, and reclined the seat for her to rest.
On the way, Cheng Liu shifted uncomfortably, frowning.
Ji Chaozhou, turning to look at her, noticing the sweat on her forehead, lowered the window slightly, letting the cool air in.
When they reached the villa, he unbuckled his own seatbelt, about to unbuckle hers, but she suddenly woke up.
“Chaozhou?” Cheng Liu said, staring at him, then, a smile appearing on her face, “Why are you here?”
Ji Chaozhou, not replying, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He could smell the alcohol on her breath, but it didn’t bother him.
Cheng Liu, probably thinking she was dreaming, mumbled, “You looked so handsome this morning.”
Ji Chaozhou paused, a flicker of something in his eyes, leaning closer to her ear, his voice low: “You like me in that robe?”
“I do,” Cheng Liu said honestly. “Very handsome.”
Outside, the night was quiet.
In the car, Ji Chaozhou leaned over her, his ears flushed, his long eyelashes trembling, his voice calm, yet seductive: “Which part?”
“Your hands,” Cheng Liu said, her drunken honesty spilling out. “Your face too. I want to touch your waist.”
Ji Chaozhou looked at her, then took her hand and placed it on his waist: “Like this?”
Cheng Liu tightened her grip. His waist was slender and firm, the feeling beneath her fingers pleasant.
Even Ji Chaozhou’s pale neck was flushed now. He suddenly regretted his actions.
The drunken CEO Cheng, emboldened, continued her exploration, then said, “I also want you to bite me.”
She didn’t admit that she had been slightly jealous of the sash he had held between his teeth that morning.
Ji Chaozhou looked down at her. She was drunk, like last time. She wouldn’t remember.
He leaned down, capturing her lips with his, his earlier hesitation gone. He deepened the kiss, his tongue tasting the faint sweetness of honey and grapefruit, mixed with the lingering taste of wine.
—Her taste.
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