After Becoming a Full-Time Employee, I Signed a Romance Contract with My Ice-Cold Boss - Chapter 22

Lips Brush Against the Cheek

The next day, after the doctor completed the review and announced that she could be discharged, the heavy stone hanging over Xu Que’s heart finally hit the ground. Having barely closed her eyes all night, she went to handle the discharge procedures with dark circles under her eyes.

As for the patient herself, under the influence of the medication and Xu Que’s attentive care, she had slept soundly. When she woke up, she was full of energy and in high spirits.

“I’ll take you home.”

“But I have an inspection to go on today.”

Xu Que was rare in her firmness: “You are resting at home today. You aren’t allowed to go anywhere.”

She didn’t give Jiang Fengyi a chance to bargain; she pushed her into the car and drove straight toward home.

Jiang Fengyi was very quiet on the road, closing her eyes to rest.

Fragmented sunlight filtered through the gaps in the roadside trees, spilling onto her pale pink cheeks and reflecting a faint golden halo. The light and shadow shifted with the movement of her gaze.

Catching a glimpse of this from the corner of her eye, Xu Que couldn’t help but soften her breathing.

After arriving home, Xu Que helped Jiang Fengyi out of the car.

Upon touching the other’s skin, Xu Que discovered that Jiang Fengyi’s body temperature was higher than her own. She immediately pulled Jiang Fengyi to turn back.

“We’re going back to the hospital! You aren’t better yet.”

“I’m not going back. I’m fine.”

Jiang Fengyi’s face grew even redder as she spoke, and her breath carried a scorching heat that sprayed entirely across the back of Xu Que’s hand.

“You’re burning up like this and you still say you’re fine?”

Just as Xu Que was about to open the car door, Jiang Fengyi grabbed her wrist.

Her gaze avoided Xu Que, landing on the tips of her toes.

“The heat is because my susceptibility period has arrived; it has nothing to do with yesterday’s allergy,” Jiang Fengyi said in one breath. “Can you help me buy some inhibitor patches? It seems the ones at home are used up.”

“Oh… of course…” Xu Que turned around and fled as if escaping.

“I’ll go buy them for you right now!”

Halfway through her run, she turned back again, lowered her head, and focused on helping Jiang Fengyi into the elevator.

“I’ll take you upstairs first.”

Turning her head, Jiang Fengyi saw the other’s reddened earlobes, and the corners of her mouth curled up.

The 22nd Floor of Jingjiang Building

Someone leaned over to He Shuyi’s workstation and whispered, “Why didn’t Little Xu come today? I didn’t hear about her taking leave.”

He Shuyi was equally bewildered: “I don’t know either; she didn’t tell me.”

“Maybe she was delayed on the road or accidentally overslept. She should be here later.”

As the two were chatting, they saw Wu Qi pass by expressionlessly, heading straight into President Jiang’s office.

They immediately fell silent, sitting up straight and switching to their “serious work” mode in a second.

Sister Wu was even more cold and ruthless than President Jiang.

Before their straightened backs could relax, Wu Qi walked back out.

He Shuyi was puzzled. Usually, when Sister Wu went in to report on work, she wouldn’t come out for a while. Why so fast today?

And her expression didn’t look good. She didn’t catch me slacking off, did she?

The more they worried, the more Wu Qi walked in their direction.

Finally, she stopped in front of the two and asked coldly, “Have you seen President Jiang?”

Both shook their heads in unison. From the start of the shift until now, the office door had never opened.

Jiang Fengyi’s private elevator could reach her office directly; if no one was inside, it meant President Jiang hadn’t come to work today.

After Wu Qi left, He Shuyi leaned her head toward her colleague, her expression shocked as if she had just tasted some major gossip.

She turned her head mechanically, bit by bit: “Do you think there’s a possibility that Little Xu not coming to the company has something to do with President Jiang?”

The colleague clearly didn’t ship this pair and even expressed confusion.

“How could Little Xu not coming be related to President Jiang?”

“It’s normal for young people to oversleep and be late,” she expressed her understanding. “It’s even more common for President Jiang not to come to the company; she doesn’t need to clock in and sit at a desk every day like we do.”

He Shuyi nodded perfunctorily, unable to find common ground with someone who didn’t follow the ship.

As the President’s assistant, Sister Wu was someone who understood President Jiang’s itinerary better than Jiang Fengyi herself, yet she actually came to ask them if they had seen her.

This exactly proved that President Jiang was attending to a private matter outside of her schedule.

And coincidentally, Xu Que—who had feelings for President Jiang—was also absent. He Shuyi reasonably guessed that there was a high probability the two were together right now.

She predicted to her colleague: “President Jiang and Little Xu will definitely return to the company on the same day.”

“How could it be such a coincidence? Even if such a coincidence happens once, there won’t be a second time.”

The colleague still firmly believed that both President Jiang and Little Xu not coming to work was a coincidence.

He Shuyi smiled enigmatically: “Just you wait and see.”

The Living Room

Jiang Fengyi nestled into the sofa, unwilling to move. Every time her susceptibility period arrived, she would become very lazy, wanting to do nothing at all. But she didn’t want outsiders to know, so she often forced herself to act the same as usual.

But in front of Xu Que, Jiang Fengyi no longer needed to wear the mask used to conceal her true self; she could freely and easily be herself.

After Xu Que returned from buying the inhibitor patches, the red on her ears had not faded.

She hadn’t noticed it herself, busying herself back and forth with ears so red they looked like they were bleeding, deeply concerned about Jiang Fengyi’s feelings.

“Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable now?”

Xu Que wanted to get closer, but she didn’t dare get too close without permission, worried that her Alpha pheromones would affect Jiang Fengyi during her susceptibility period. The conflict was written all over her face.

Jiang Fengyi found it a bit funny to watch.

She let out a soft laugh.

Xu Que was confused: “What are you laughing at?”

“I’m happy.”

“I’m happy that someone is taking care of me.”

Moreover, with Xu Que’s company during her susceptibility period, those low moods and unstable pheromones didn’t come to harass her at all.

Hearing this, Xu Que’s eyes instantly lit up. Looking at Jiang Fengyi was like a puppy looking at its owner—her heart and eyes were full of the other person.

“Then I’ll stay with you for the next few days!”

“I’ll stay by your side, never leaving your step.”

Xu Que, who had originally intended to stay for only one day, immediately changed her mind and decided to stay long-term.

The smile on Jiang Fengyi’s face grew even wider.

“What do you want to eat for lunch? I’ll go make it.”

“It’s already lunch?” Jiang Fengyi’s eyes widened slightly. “How did time pass so quickly?”

“It’s already 10:30.”

Crap! She hadn’t notified Wu Qi to cancel this afternoon’s inspection.

She was wearing loungewear and didn’t have her phone on her. Looking left and right, she couldn’t find it anywhere.

“Where is my phone?”

Jiang Fengyi muttered softly, “I forgot where I put it again.”

She was about to get up to find it when she was pressed back into the sofa by Xu Que.

“I’ll get it for you.”

“You know where my phone is?”

From disappearing to reappearing in front of her, it only took Xu Que a moment. Not only did she bring back the phone, but she also brought the clutch bag from last night’s banquet.

Jiang Fengyi opened the bag and saw that her phone had run out of battery and turned off.

This time, before she could even look up, she heard Xu Que in front of the sofa say: “I’ll go get the charger for you.”

Once the charger was connected, countless missed calls jumped out.

Seeing that Jiang Fengyi would clearly be busy for a while and wouldn’t have time to mind her, Xu Que spoke up proactively: “I’m going to prepare lunch. What would you like to eat?”

Without even looking up, Jiang Fengyi said casually, “Just make whatever you think is best.”

“Oh…”

Xu Que left, looking back every three steps. Her somewhat disappointed back looked like a puppy drenched by rain, both shoulders slumped down.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too late. Jiang Fengyi systematically arranged the following work over the phone, and Wu Qi on the other end only needed to execute it strictly.

“You’ll have to work hard to handle company affairs for the next few days.”

After dealing with the company, Jiang Fengyi’s eyes darkened as she stared at that string of unremarked digits.

That just left the Zhao family.

The Kitchen

Xu Que washed the pea shoots with force. The crisp, tender green leaves tried to escape her palms with the help of the water flow, but she was cold and heartless, continuing to scrub the green sprouts vigorously.

She also carried her emotions while cutting the beef. Every stroke of the knife fell heavily, with such force that the cutting board suffered an undeserved calamity.

Xu Que was secretly sulking in the kitchen alone, while the person who should have been the target of her venting sat on the living room sofa, completely unaware.

Whether the food turns out well depends heavily on the chef’s mood. As soon as Xu Que thought about preparing food for Jiang Fengyi, her mood naturally improved.

The sizzling sound of oil rang out in the kitchen. Xu Que waited for the oil to heat evenly before pouring in the beef marinated with seasonings, stir-frying it quickly, and setting it aside on a plate.

After Jiang Fengyi finished handling everything, she sniffed and caught the fragrance drifting from the kitchen.

Xu Que’s culinary skills were top-tier.

Just the smell made Jiang Fengyi instinctively start salivating. She couldn’t wait for the meal to start; she wanted to eat now.

Jiang Fengyi got up from the sofa and walked straight toward the kitchen.

The closer she got to the kitchen, the richer the aroma became.

“It smells so good~”

Jiang Fengyi walked up behind Xu Que and leaned her head over, wanting to see the dishes in the pot clearly.

“What are you making?”

The range hood was on, so Xu Que didn’t hear Jiang Fengyi’s footsteps; she only heard her voice behind her ear.

Xu Que instinctively turned back.

Her lips lightly brushed against Jiang Fengyi’s cheek. Xu Que only felt a jolt of electricity pass through her, leaving behind a tingle and ripples of emotion.

Jiang Fengyi hadn’t expected Xu Que to turn around so suddenly, much less that the two would accidentally touch. She froze in place, stunned.

She, who was so at ease handling company affairs, now had eyes wide and round, staring at Xu Que without blinking.

The flames on the stove flickered with little blue teeth, working hard to heat the food in the pot.

In this space, it was the only thing still working.

“The beef…”

After Jiang Fengyi snapped back to her senses, she avoided Xu Que’s gaze and looked down at the pot.

“If you don’t stir-fry the beef soon, it will get tough.”

“Oh, oh…” Xu Que suddenly snapped out of it, mechanically stir-frying the celery and beef in the pot. “Th… thanks for the reminder.”

To ease the awkwardness, Xu Que waved the spatula in her hand and searched for something to say: “Do you like your beef ‘old’ or ‘young’?”

Help, what am I saying?

It wasn’t until a slight burnt smell reached the tip of her nose that she thought to turn off the heat. The blue flame extinguished with a “buzz.”

Her hands felt as if they were newly installed as she mechanically plated the dish, then moved her new legs—which hadn’t quite adapted yet—stiffly to the sink to wash the pot.

“I… I’ll take the dish out first.”

Jiang Fengyi wasn’t doing much better. Having lost control of her brain, she closed her eyes and praised: “It’s very fragrant. This looks delicious.”

After saying that, she walked out carrying that plate of burnt celery and beef.

The kitchen was like a giant steamer. When they came out, their faces were each redder than the other.

Sitting across from each other at the dining table, they were as shy as a couple about to be wed.