A small candy

Chapter 24 Let’s take a nap together

"You didn't sleep that night?!"

As soon as Jian Ling said this, she realized that her voice had broken. She also realized that she had indirectly admitted to having an affair with Cheng Zhixu, and she immediately bit her lip in annoyance.

Cheng Zhixu looked at her regretful expression, a mischievous smile flashing in his eyes: "I drank that night and was exhausted. I fell asleep on the sofa, and then you woke me up with a kiss."

What does it mean to be woken up by her kiss?!
Jian Ling refuted strongly: "You are talking nonsense!"

"Really? I'm not lying to you." Cheng Zhixu smiled, raised one hand and made a swearing gesture.

Jian Ling lost herself in memories. She had been so mesmerized by him at the time, her legs went numb as she tried to stand up, and she fell back down, kissing him on the lips. That force... seemed like it could really wake someone up.

Cheng Zhixu sensed her thoughts and raised his eyebrows: "You remembered?"

"Okay, I admit that I kissed you, but it wasn't a sneak kiss!" Jian Ling spoke incoherently to prove that she was definitely not a mean person. "I, I didn't stand firmly and accidentally bumped into you."

Cheng Zhixu said "Oh" neither lightly nor heavily, with the smile in his eyes still there, and he didn't know whether he believed it or not.

"You're talking about me, what about you?" Jian Ling stared at him.

Cheng Zhixu propped himself up on the sofa cushion, sat up a little, put his elbows on his legs, and looked questioningly: "Me? What's wrong with me?"

"You clearly knew everything, so why didn't you ask a single question after you woke up?" Jian Ling complained, "You're really pretending."

"Are you sure you want me to ask you something in that situation? Or look at you in shock?" Cheng Zhixu chuckled. "When I opened my eyes and looked at you, you were so embarrassed that you almost buried your head in the ground. To save your face, I could only pretend that I knew nothing."

It’s fine if you don’t understand his good intentions, but now you’re blaming him for pretending?

Jian Ling couldn't argue with him, and she was so embarrassed and angry that she didn't want to stay in the office for another minute. She stood up and said, "I won't talk to you anymore."

It's just like when I was a kid and couldn't win an argument with my friends, so I turned around and left, leaving behind a nonchalant remark.

Jian Ling raised her legs to escape, but Cheng Zhixu seized the opportunity and grabbed her wrist. With a little force, she lost her balance and fell into his arms, sitting on his thigh.

Cheng Zhixu didn't let her struggle, and put his arms around her waist and abdomen: "I don't blame you, why are you running?"

Jian Ling: "I'm not running away. I'm going to work."

When Cheng Zhixu mentioned work, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he lowered his gaze to stare at her flushed face. His voice was low and slow: "Are you still going to resign?"

Before Jian Ling could answer, he said to himself, "It's okay to resign. It's not like I can't afford to support you."

Jian Ling choked and pushed him: "I'm not resigning."

"Have you thought it through?" Cheng Zhixu held her fingers, thought for a moment, and realized that her shouting about resigning yesterday was probably because she misunderstood that he had someone he liked, rather than the so-called "no time for blind dates."

"I've thought about it." Jian Ling said.

She worked wherever she went, so she might as well be closer to him. Apart from anything else, she was already familiar with and had gotten the hang of the planning department. While her daily routine was tough, with overtime and late nights a common occurrence, every day felt fulfilling.

The nature of human beings is double standards.

When she couldn't woo Cheng Zhixu, she complained countless times about how busy the planning department was and how much she couldn't handle it. After she got him, her description of this job became "fulfilling."

Cheng Zhixu didn't say anything. Jian Ling raised her eyelids to look at him, then scratched his palm with her fingers: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm waiting for you to confess." Cheng Zhixu clenched her hand tightly, preventing her fingertips from making trouble in his palm, which would make him feel itchy and affect his subsequent interrogation.

Jian Ling was frightened by his cold gaze and asked in confusion, "What do you want to confess?"

Cheng Zhixu flicked her forehead with his finger, deliberately keeping a straight face: "Did you forget what you said so quickly? Let me think about it, you said you quit your job because you didn't have time for blind dates?"

So this is what he was talking about. Jian Ling's heart dropped, and she whispered, "I was just talking nonsense..."

"Nonsense? I don't believe it."

Jian Ling had barely finished speaking when Cheng Zhixu took over. He looked unhappy, with a tense expression on his face.

Although he and Ye Guizhou had both held high positions for a long time and appeared to be both serious and upright, Ye Guizhou was easily perceived as a gentle and easygoing person. Of course, this could also be because Ye Guizhou was her uncle, and they had lived together since childhood, making them too familiar with each other. Cheng Zhixu, on the other hand, was unpredictable; judging by his expression alone, it was difficult to tell whether he was truly angry or just holding back.

Cheng Zhixu touched her face with his fingers: "I saw it all."

"Hmm?" Jian Ling came back to her senses and looked at him.

Cheng Zhixu had no intention of mentioning it to her. She was already his, so there was no point in fussing over it. The topic just happened to come to this point, and he couldn't help but ask. It seemed that he still cared about her.

Cheng Zhixu's dark eyes were as deep as a lake, but his tone was calm and straightforward. "I saw you on a blind date with that guy, Doctor Chen, right? He held your wrist, and you two seemed to be having a very happy chat."

Hearing this, Jian Ling's pupils shrank slightly: "You...when did you see it?"

"Why do you care when I saw it?" Cheng Zhixu pinched her chin with a little dissatisfaction.

Jian Ling pursed her lips and smiled. She could hear the sourness in his tone, a hint of jealousy, which she found very novel.

She licked her lips, suppressed a smile, and said, "Then let me tell you, you misunderstood too. My family and Dr. Chen's family are old friends, but I've never met him before. That time was—" She paused, sizing up Cheng Zhixu's expression, and then continued, "My mom and his dad did want me to go on a blind date with him, but that wasn't why I went to see him."

Cheng Zhixu stared at her lips without moving, listened to her voice with his ears, and watched her mouth move when she spoke with his eyes. The unpleasant feeling in his heart also faded away.

He shook his leg, gave her a shake, and motioned for her to continue.

Jian Ling knew she couldn't hide it anymore: "I'm not feeling well, I'm sick. The main reason I went to see Doctor Chen was for treatment. You saw Doctor Chen grabbing my wrist, he must have been taking my pulse, including checking my tongue coating and so on. That's how Chinese medicine treats patients, you know."

"Are you sick? What's wrong?"

Cheng Zhixu no longer had the heart to care about anything else. He frowned, the concern and worry in his eyes real. He remembered that time in the elevator, when something fell out of her bag, including the medicine bottle.

Jian Ling was a little embarrassed to speak, looking around, and finally Cheng Zhixu held her face, preventing her from moving. She whispered, "My period is irregular."

Cheng Zhixu fell silent. Jian Ling climbed up from his lap, propped herself up on one foot, and knelt on the edge of the sofa. "I really have to go."

Cheng Zhixu glanced at his watch. It was still early and he didn't want her to go down so early, so he pulled her over again, hugged her, and held her in his arms.

Jian Ling was still shy, probably because every time she saw his face, she couldn't help but think of their kiss just now. Her heart felt hot and she couldn't look him in the eye.

Cheng Zhixu touched her forehead with his chin and looked down at her. "Your eyes are bloodshot. Didn't you get enough rest last night?" He muttered to himself, "I didn't get enough rest last night either. Let's get some sleep together."

Jian Ling shuddered and leaped up from his arms. Without giving him a chance to speak again, she took off running, saying as she ran, "I just remembered I haven't taken my after-meal medicine yet! I'm going to take it!"

The glass door opened and closed, and the person disappeared.

Cheng Zhixu folded his hands between his legs, looked at the slightly shaking glass door, and smiled silently. Was this enough to scare people away?
He stood up lazily, took out his phone, opened it, found her WeChat and sent her a message.

Jian Ling's phone chimed, and a WeChat message appeared across the screen. She tapped twice, entering the chat interface.

Cheng Zhixu: "Don't get me wrong, I didn't mean that."

Jian Ling got out of the elevator, covered her burning cheeks and walked into the planning department's office area.

Dai Wangchu sat at his workstation, holding a white porcelain cup in his hand and threw a tea bag into it. A white string connected to a small tag hung from the rim of the cup, swinging back and forth with his movements.

She saw Jian Ling walking slowly towards her, with lust hidden in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, and she was stunned for a moment.

Jian Ling sat down and moved her chair forward. She looked at her portion of braised pork ribs rice and a bowl of tomato and egg soup on the table. She reached out and touched them, and they were already cold.

Dai Wangchu: "Have you eaten yet?"

"I've eaten." After she talked about it with Cheng Zhixu, her appetite improved and she ate a lot. Cheng Zhixu even said that she had a big appetite.

Thinking of this, Jian Ling covered her mouth and smiled.

Dai Wangchu took a sip of the longan and red date tea from the cup. When he looked up, he saw her smiling and shy at the same time. He asked suspiciously, "Did you take the wrong medicine?"

"Oh, yes, take medicine."

If Jian Ling hadn't been reminded, she would have almost forgotten. She quickly took out medicine bottles of various sizes from her bag and placed them neatly on the table. She went to the tea room and got half a cup of boiling water, added some cold water, and drank the medicine slowly.

"Where did you go?" Dai Wangchu asked.

Jian Ling took a big sip of water, swallowed it, and said vaguely, "I'll tell you later."

By the time she finished swallowing the pills one by one, the full glass of water was almost empty. Jian Ling tidied up the table, picked up a folder, opened it, and held it up to cover her face, laughing out loud.

Dai Wangchu didn't know what was going on, but seeing her laughing like that, he couldn't help but smile too. When he had laughed enough, he pushed her shoulder and said, "Stop keeping me in suspense. Tell me now."

Jian Ling peeked out from above the documents and glanced around. Some colleagues who had gone out to eat had not returned yet, so the office area was relatively quiet.

She hooked her finger at Dai Wangchu, who was very experienced in listening to secrets. He put down his cup and leaned forward. The next second, Jian Ling's voice rang in her ear: "Cheng Zhixu and I are together."

Dai Wangchu took a breath and said, "But he..."

"No buts." Jian Ling knew what she was about to say and quickly interrupted her. "What happened that afternoon was a misunderstanding. We all misunderstood him."

Jian Ling described in detail what happened that afternoon. Dai Wangchu sighed and said, "It turns out it was a problem of angle. I thought so." Although he didn't have much contact with Mr. Cheng, he didn't look like someone who would kiss someone in public.

Jian Ling waved her hand: "I don't want to mention it anymore. I'm too stupid."

"...I can't believe President Cheng is interested in you." Dai Wangchu shook his head, then suddenly realized something. He paused, his eyes widening. "Then you're the president's wife, right? Why are you still working in the planning department?"

Jian Ling: “…”

-

Jian Ling was determined to continue working in the planning department. When Yuan Xiao came in the afternoon, she knocked on his office door. After entering, she apologized sincerely and felt guilty for her inconsistency.

Yuan Xiao was easy to talk to. Seeing her positive attitude, he didn't say anything. He just asked her to concentrate on her work. He said that after a while, he might start assigning them individual projects instead of group assignments.

Jian Ling nodded repeatedly and assured him that she would do it well.

Coming out of the office, she breathed a sigh of relief. The phone on her desk vibrated, and she answered it. The caller said it was a delivery person, asking her to come down quickly.

Jian Ling subconsciously thought that Ye Guizhou had sent her something in a flash, so she took her cell phone and went downstairs to get it.

When she returned, she was holding a large bouquet of vibrant red roses. The blossoms, a dazzling mass of crimson, enveloped in pink and white wrapping paper, looked even more delicate and vibrant, drawing the attention of everyone in the planning department. Several of the female colleagues couldn't help but stand up and scoop up a closer look.

"Jian Ling, who sent you these flowers? They're so beautiful."

"Red roses, probably given by an admirer, right?"

"Hey, there's a card on it. Let's see what it says."

Only then did Jian Ling discover that there was a heart-shaped card hidden at the edge of the flower, which was similar in color to the wrapping paper. No wonder she hadn't found it just now.

A guess popped up in her mind, and Jian Ling couldn't suppress her rapid heartbeat. She was about to raise her hand to take the card, but unexpectedly someone took the lead - Fan Yijun reached out and took the card.

She held the card between two fingers and waved it in front of everyone: "Let me see what it says?"

Jian Ling secretly cried out in her heart, reaching out to grab it: "Give it back to me——"

However, Fan Yijun had already flipped over the card in front of everyone and seemed to be about to read out the contents.

　Jian Ling: Ahhhhhhhhhh, you can’t play like this!!! Is it okay to be in Speed Racer every day?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)