After Flirting with the God-Tier Beautiful Tycoon - Chapter 21

“Two bowls of shepherd’s purse wontons, are these yours?” The proprietress broke the silence.

“Uh, yes, yes, they are… they are ours.” Shen Xiaojiang’s ears were a little red.

Chen Yi glanced at her ears, then took her bowl of wontons.

With the interruption, Shen Xiaojiang lowered her head, thinking about the previous question.

What was their relationship?

The first time she met Chen Yi was at Sun Jiabao’s birthday party.

A dark green halter dress, a flower tattoo covering her entire back, seductive phoenix eyes shimmering with light, and the smoke from her cigarette tips carried a hint of intoxicating allure.

A glance was enough to remember her for a lifetime.

Every time they met, Shen Xiaojiang’s heart would pound, and her ears would feel hot.

This must be liking.

Shen Xiaojiang liked people like her.

She liked Chen Yi.

But, did Chen Yi like her?

She didn’t know.

She didn’t even know if Chen Yi liked women at all.

Asking her directly would be too abrupt.

After all, they had only met a few times, and were not even really friends.

She buried her head in her wontons, not uttering a sound even when she scalded herself.

“Hmm, delicious.” Chen Yi carefully cut the already small wonton in half, and then cut each half in half again.

She ate very elegantly.

They say one’s eating style reflects their personality, and it seemed true.

Shen Xiaojiang pointed to a small stainless steel jar and asked, “Do you want some chili oil? The proprietress makes it herself, it’s very fragrant.”

Chen Yi didn’t look at the jar, only at Shen Xiaojiang, “Do you eat it?”

Shen Xiaojiang “mm-hmm,” not daring to meet Chen Yi’s eyes.

“Then I’ll have a little too.” Chen Yi handed over her vinegar dish, and Shen Xiaojiang scooped a spoonful for her.

Before long, Shen Xiaojiang heard strange noises and looked up again.

She saw Chen Yi covering her mouth with one hand and fanning her face with the other.

“You can’t eat spicy food?” Shen Xiaojiang put down her chopsticks.

Chen Yi moved her hand away from her mouth, sticking out her pink tongue.

Shen Xiaojiang immediately got up, opened the drink fridge, but put the ice water she had picked up back inside.

She turned around and said something to the proprietress.

Returning to the table, she handed Chen Yi a bottle of room-temperature mineral water.

Chen Yi looked a little confused.

Shen Xiaojiang then handed Chen Yi a clean vinegar dish, “You just had your rabies vaccine yesterday, right? You shouldn’t eat spicy food, and you should try to avoid ice water. I’m sorry about the spice, so I can only make up for it with the water.”

Chen Yi bit her lip.

“Oh, right, Auntie, why did you tear off your antiseptic patch? It will hurt when the wound touches water,” Shen Xiaojiang said, looking at Chen Yi’s scratch marks.

Chen Yi had long been immune to such minor aches and pains.

“I accidentally rubbed it off,” she replied.

Shen Xiaojiang blinked and asked again, “Then, Auntie, did you feel any discomfort after you went back yesterday?”

“What?” Chen Yi looked at Shen Xiaojiang.

“No,” she replied.

The hot steam from the bowl partially obscured their view, leaving their faces half clear, half blurred.

In truth, Chen Yi had felt groggy this morning, which made her late for a meeting, and she still felt a bit unwell.

Shen Xiaojiang showed a look of relief, “That’s good.”

Chen Yi nodded, took a sip of the room-temperature mineral water, then lowered her head and ate a wonton.

Suddenly, she said, “Shen Xiaojiang, we haven’t added each other on WeChat yet, have we?”

Only then did Shen Xiaojiang remember that last time, Chen Yi had written her phone number on her arm, and she had only saved it as a contact, but hadn’t added her on WeChat.

Actually, Shen Xiaojiang rarely initiated adding anyone on WeChat.

Chen Yi put down her chopsticks, took out her phone, did something with it, and then turned it over for Shen Xiaojiang to see.

“Here, add me.”

Shen Xiaojiang took out her phone and scanned the QR code on the other person’s phone.

With a “beep”, a friend request popped up on Chen Yi’s phone.

She curved her lips into a smile, then did something else on her phone.

“Take a look. Is this note okay?” Chen Yi asked with a slight smile, then turned the phone over again for Shen Xiaojiang to see.

[Note: Shen Xiaojiang (Friend)]

So, Chen Yi’s WeChat note for her was “Friend.”

So, she and Chen Yi were friends?

Shen Xiaojiang’s eyes were fiercely scorched by those two words.

Her heart pounded crazily, and the hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.

Their relationship seemed to have taken a step closer.

After finishing the wontons, it started pouring rain outside the door.

Nancheng’s weather was just like this; it started raining continuously every May.

One moment it could be sunny, the next it could be a downpour with strong winds.

Locals jokingly called it the “Little Plum Rain.”

Neither of them had brought an umbrella.

Shen Xiaojiang turned to the proprietress, “Auntie, could I borrow an umbrella? I’ll return it later.”

The proprietress wiped her hands on her apron, then produced a small red floral umbrella, smiling simply and kindly, “It’s alright, my home is just upstairs. It’s only an umbrella; just come and support the business more often in the future.”

“Okay!” Shen Xiaojiang took the umbrella with a smile.

Suddenly, she remembered something and turned back to the proprietress, “I almost forgot, how much was it?”

“40 in total. That beautiful lady already paid,” the proprietress gestured toward Chen Yi.

Shen Xiaojiang frowned slightly, then quickly walked over to Chen Yi, “Auntie, why did you pay? Didn’t we say I was treating?”

Chen Yi ducked under the small umbrella Shen Xiaojiang opened, and said softly, “You can treat next time.”

Next time?

Shen Xiaojiang tightened her grip on the umbrella handle, unable to hide the smile in her eyes.

The rain soaked half of her shoulder, yet she didn’t feel cold at all.

He Zhong hadn’t finished his meal yet, so Chen Yi followed Shen Xiaojiang all the way to the girl’s dormitory entrance.

She looked at Shen Xiaojiang’s back and paused.

“He Zhong hasn’t answered my call,” she said, holding up her phone.

Shen Xiaojiang turned around upon hearing this, looked at the phone in Chen Yi’s hand, and then at the rain outside the window, “Then, do you want to…”

The rest of the sentence was left unsaid.

Shen Xiaojiang pointed to the dormitory door behind her.

Chen Yi, of course, understood what Shen Xiaojiang meant.

She didn’t answer immediately, but looked into Shen Xiaojiang’s eyes.

In those few seconds of eye contact, Chen Yi thought of many things.

She didn’t know if what she was doing was right.

She had entered society at sixteen, determined to carve out a path for herself in a business world dominated by men.

In her relentless pursuit of being superior, of climbing to that so-called highest position, she had interacted with more people than she had eaten meals, and had used countless people.

In the past, she had always felt justified, believing that those people also got what they wanted, making it a win-win.

But now, standing before her was a person as pure as distilled water, a person who didn’t want to take anything from her.

Chen Yi hesitated.

She didn’t want to hurt Shen Xiaojiang, nor did she want Shen Xiaojiang to be drawn into her personal war.

“Shen Xiaojiang,” Chen Yi called her name.

Shen Xiaojiang stood still, her hand resting against the seam of her trousers.

“Hmm?” After a second, she replied.

Chen Yi raised her hand and touched the white jade bracelet on her wrist.

To the students going in and out, the two of them looked strange, and even the dormitory manager auntie put on her glasses and scrutinized them a few times.

“Shen Xiaojiang,” Chen Yi called again.

Shen Xiaojiang didn’t rush her, just waited patiently.

The world in her ears had become quiet.

A girl carrying a thermos passed by Chen Yi. Perhaps she was too engrossed in chatting with her friend, but she bumped into Chen Yi.

Chen Yi frowned slightly.

She still hated being touched by others.

Just then, Shen Xiaojiang quickly stepped forward, naturally moving Chen Yi aside and shielding her.

The girl said, “Sorry.”

“It’s nothing,” Shen Xiaojiang said for Chen Yi.

The girl nodded and walked away.

Shen Xiaojiang turned back to Chen Yi, “Are you okay?”

Although Chen Yi was wearing high heels, she was still a little shorter than Shen Xiaojiang.

At this moment, she looked up slightly, observing Shen Xiaojiang’s slender jawline, slightly rounded chin, full red lips, lost in thought.

Soon, she lowered her head again and whispered, “I’m fine.”

The rain outside seemed to be falling in sheets, getting heavier, and the wind had picked up.

Some girls were standing at the entrance putting away their umbrellas, and the rain was being blown inside by the wind.

Chen Yi subconsciously leaned into Shen Xiaojiang’s arms for shelter.

Shen Xiaojiang also subconsciously raised her hand, wanting to shield her from the wind and rain.

Then, Shen Xiaojiang lowered her head, Chen Yi looked up, and their eyes met again.

The light cast a block of shadow, and Chen Yi was hidden within it.

In the whole world, only their rapidly accelerating heartbeats and deepening breaths remained.

“The rain is so heavy,” Shen Xiaojiang finally summoned the courage, “Do you want to… wait a while in my dorm?”