Falling After Marriage - Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Treat Every Time Like The First Time

The CEO’s office, usually so cold and serious, was noisy for the first time today.

The combined desks created two contrasting scenes.

The large space always amplified subtle sounds, like the rustling of turning document pages mixed with intermittent clanging, making the atmosphere half quiet and half lively.

The afternoon sun was golden, clinging to Lin Jin’s beige satin blouse like a cicada’s wing, radiating a soft halo.

She worked extremely efficiently. The mountain of documents was nearly reviewed, but looking at large financial data for too long easily caused dizziness.

Boss Lin also took breaks to relax, and the little dog was naturally the best diversion.

When her temples throbbed, she would rub the bridge of her nose and close her eyes to rest, or stare at the little dog fiddling with wood for a moment to soothe her eyes.

When she gazed in a trance, the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curve up, mostly satisfied with the little dog’s flustered appearance, which was all because of her.

At the other end of the desk.

Cheng Sangluo was immersed in the world of carving, struggling with the piece of wood in her hand. Even the disturbing gaze from the person across the table failed to elicit any reaction from her.

She hadn’t stopped all afternoon, trying to learn carving from short videos. The tutorial looked easy, but lacking skill, she could only give up after watching it once.

Several pieces of ruined wood were piled on the desk. Cheng Sangluo scratched her head in frustration, thinking that if she continued carving like this, all the materials bought today would be wasted.

“Hiss—”

While distracted, a piercing pain shot through her fingertip, causing her to emit a brief cry of pain.

The carving knife wasn’t particularly sharp, but if the force was applied incorrectly or if she slipped, it was easy to prick a finger.

She saw the blood quickly swell into a full drop, and she immediately put it in her mouth to suck on it, hoping to quickly stop the bleeding.

Lin Jin heard the sound and peeked half her head over the monitor to see what was happening.

Her expression didn’t change much, but her tone held a hint of concern: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing.” Cheng Sangluo mumbled, sucking her finger, then quickly looked for tissue to wrap the wound.

When she looked up again, Lin Jin had already hopped over to her side on one foot.

“Clumsy hands.” Lin Jin chastised, grabbing the little dog’s fingertip to examine it while pulling open the desk drawer.

Cheng Sangluo subconsciously looked into the drawer and saw it filled with band-aids. Her expression, previously one of suppressed pain, softened slightly. She couldn’t describe the strange feeling in her heart.

It hurt, but why was there a faint sweetness?

Perhaps what she saw was not just the prepared band-aids, but also the crazy woman’s unspoken, deep care.

Lin Jin gently wrapped the band-aid around her wound. “Does it hurt much? After all, fingers are connected to the heart.”

Cheng Sangluo rubbed the edge of the band-aid with her thumb, shrugging dismissively: “Doesn’t hurt. This little injury is nothing.”

“You’re not a soldier in the army anymore. Can’t you stop trying to be tough about everything?” Lin Jin’s tone held a hint of reproach, hoping the person who was always getting hurt would take better care of herself.

She leaned against the desk, picked up a piece of wood, and examined it. The carved name was a mess. It seemed this task would keep the little dog busy for a while.

Cheng Sangluo muttered defensively: “I only got hurt because of this strange task you gave me.”

Lin Jin saw the little dog puff up her cheeks, thought it was cute, and reached out to pinch them, asking in return: “Then why don’t you think about why I want you to carve signature stamps for me?”

“Don’t you worry, I’ve thought about it thoroughly.” The little dog was self-righteous: “Based on my understanding of you, you most likely can’t stand to see me idle, so you’re trying every way possible to torment me.”

The crazy woman was displeased: “Tsk, shallow.”

The little dog flared up: “Hmph, calling me shallow? Look at the things you do. Which one isn’t shallow?”

The crazy woman pretended to be hurt: “My little dog is becoming rebellious. She’s learned to talk back to me.”

The little dog shouted: “What ‘your’ little dog! Besides, these are my heartfelt words, the honest truth!”

The two started arguing again over a disagreement, yet the atmosphere was more harmonious than ever before.

Lin Jin grabbed a can of chilled coke and handed it to the little dog. “I didn’t give you a deadline. No need to rush. Take a break first.”

“You’re messing around. Can’t you sit properly and stop wandering?” Cheng Sangluo took the coke, criticizing her verbally, but unable to hide her concern for the crazy woman’s foot injury.

Just like before, she pulled out three wrinkled one-yuan bills. “I won’t take it for free.”

“Fine, you won’t take it for free.” Lin Jin mimicked the little dog’s voice in a high pitch.

She didn’t refuse the loose change. She then picked up one of the bills, folded into a heart shape. “Don’t you want to know why I asked you to carve stamps?”

“I do, but every time I want to know something, you always evade the question. I just stopped asking.”

Lin Jin slapped the heart-shaped paper bill onto the little dog’s forehead, commanding: “No, you have to ask.”

Cheng Sangluo indulged her, raising her fist like a microphone to Lin Jin’s lips, interviewing: “Ms. Lin, why do you want me to do something so boring, tiring, and thankless? Please answer me directly.”

Lin Jin smiled radiantly, leaning in toward the ‘microphone’ in front of her, her expression becoming particularly serious. “Because I want Ms. Cheng to remember my name. Every stroke must be carved into her heart. Even if one day I leave her life, she might forget what I look like, but she definitely won’t forget my name.”

Cheng Sangluo, who had been staring at the slender fingers gripping her wrist, heard the serious reply, and the smile at the corner of her lips stiffened slightly.

The crazy woman had put sincerity into her words, and Cheng Sangluo felt a strange discomfort, completely unsettled.

She didn’t evade Lin Jin’s serious gaze, but after a long silence, she forced a dry laugh and said: “I think that even if you disappear from my life one day, I won’t forget what you look like. Your smile is too annoying, it’s hard to forget.”

As soon as these words left her mouth, Cheng Sangluo immediately regretted it deeply.

D*mn mouth, what are you saying?!

“Oh~ My smile is annoying~” Lin Jin pretended to laugh carelessly, secretly pinching the little dog’s injured finger hard. “Hatred or dislike, isn’t that also a type of emotion that affects the heart? Don’t you agree?”

Cheng Sangluo narrowed her eyes in pain from the pinch and quickly explained: “I was joking… just joking…”

“Dog thing, with such a nasty mouth, just stop talking.” Lin Jin pinched a milk raisin mochi and stuffed it into the little dog’s mouth, forcing several in until her cheeks puffed up like a hamster’s before stopping.

Cheng Sangluo chewed vigorously, teasing: “You’re so childish and petty. I just made a few comments. No need to get angry with me!”

Lin Jin’s way of expressing anger was to ignore her.

She went straight back to her desk. She had mostly finished reading the documents, but there was one more important thing to handle.

She created a new document on the computer, typing vigorously, hitting the spacebar extra hard, seemingly letting off steam.

As for what she was angry about, only the little dog across from her knew.

After hearing that explanation, Cheng Sangluo played with the wood block, lost in thought. The carving knife in her hand hesitated to move. She was clearly distracted and couldn’t settle down to carve for a while.

She pricked up her ears, listening to the forcefully struck keys, and couldn’t help but stretch her neck to look across. However, the monitor blocked her view, preventing her from seeing Lin Jin’s current expression.

Why would she say she might disappear from my life one day? Why the need to carve the name stroke by stroke? Does she really need me to remember? Does she really need this kind of entanglement?

The more Cheng Sangluo thought, the more confused she became, leaving her mind in a jumble.

She couldn’t bring herself to flatter the crazy woman who was clearly angry, so she propped her cheek up with one hand and fiddled with the wood block with the other.

In the spacious office, the atmosphere became noticeably subdued following the abrupt halt of the conversation.

Cheng Sangluo turned to look at the small daisies placed in front of her. The flowers were in full bloom, full of vitality.

Ding!

A flash of inspiration hit her. She thought of a way to appease Lin Jin without lowering herself.

Cheng Sangluo pulled out a sheet of A4 paper and cut it into a stack of small strips with a utility knife.

She pondered for a while before picking up a pen and drawing on the small strip of paper.

Lin Jin stared expressionlessly at the monitor. In just a few minutes, the new document was covered in dense text.

This was the draft of the terms of the contract marriage agreement, several dozen clauses, all unfairly targeting the little dog.

It seems being angry is the best way to inspire ideas for bullying the little dog.

Whoosh! A paper ball flew in a beautiful arc, landing precisely on the keyboard.

Lin Jin glanced at it coldly, not wanting to indulge the little dog’s childish behavior, but the speed of her typing clearly slowed down until there was complete silence in the office.

She opened the paper ball and looked at it. It was a drawing of a little duck by Cheng Sangluo.

The little duck had a crooked neck and looked silly. Below the drawing was a sentence: Once upon a time, there was a little duck…

Lin Jin looked at the crooked-necked duck and tilted her own head, her eyes involuntarily curving into a smile.

She realized the little dog was an untapped treasure.

This person could actually draw simple cartoons. A few strokes created cuteness, and she wrote in beautiful regular script.

And then? What happened to this little duck next?

Lin Jin wanted to know the rest, but since she was still pretending to be angry, she couldn’t break character, so she cleared her throat dramatically.

The person across the desk seemed to understand her intent and immediately threw another small paper ball over.

Lin Jin eagerly grabbed the paper strip, then thought that doing so would make her look easily appeased, so she slowed down her movements slightly.

She casually unfolded the paper strip. This time, Cheng Sangluo drew a row of little ducks, with the cute crooked-necked duck standing at the end, still looking clumsy.

The text below the drawing read: The little duck wanted to line up with the ducks in front, but it couldn’t line up straight.

Lin Jin placed the two paper strips together and tucked them into her notebook.

This time, she didn’t make a sound, waiting for the little dog to actively throw a paper ball.

Cheng Sangluo across the desk was hunched over, watching Lin Jin’s every move through the gap under the monitor.

Seeing that she had finished reading, she quickly threw out the third paper ball.

Lin Jin wasn’t stupid. This old-fashioned cold joke’s punchline was obvious.

But she enjoyed this interaction. It was a little childish, but the simple gesture of trying to please her was the little dog’s unique brand of romance.

When she opened the third paper ball, the crooked-necked duck in the drawing was bowing 90°, accompanied by an enlarged expression.

The little duck had a mournful face, sweating profusely, saying: Can’t line up, ya, can’t line up, ya, I’m sorry, ya!

Lin Jin couldn’t hold it in and burst into laughter.

Before she could realize she had lost her composure, the little dog quickly threw a neatly folded piece of paper.

Lin Jin opened the paper with a smile. Inside, a plucked small daisy was taped, with a sentence next to it: Thank you for taking her away from the mud.

Her, not it.

Lin Jin smiled silently, her fingertip gently stroking the flower, as if caressing Cheng Sangluo’s face. Her eyes held an innocent kindness.

So, that person knew everything. She knew to say thank you. She knew what it meant to love a person like tending to a flower.

Lin Jin tucked the remaining paper into her notebook and carefully placed it in the drawer. Perhaps one day in the future, seeing it unexpectedly would still bring a surge of heartwarming joy.

She didn’t go to the anxiously waiting little dog but leaned back in her CEO chair, closing her eyes to savor this brief moment of happiness that didn’t need to be bought with money.

Cheng Sangluo now truly looked like a little resentful wife.

She drooped her head on the desk, whining inwardly: Oh, heavens! Can’t be appeased, this woman can’t be appeased!

Cheng Sangluo hadn’t realized when she had become so obedient. The crazy woman told her to stop talking because her mouth was mean, and she actually shut up.

The two people separated by the office desk felt like they were separated by an ocean, miles apart, each harboring their own thoughts.

One quietly waited, the other silently yearned.

Lin Jin pinched the bridge of her nose, her brows gradually furrowing into a deep scowl.

The moment she couldn’t resist standing up, the wilting little dog across from her also stood up knowingly.

The two utterly resentful people met each other’s gaze, followed by another heart-stopping silence.

Lin Jin slightly lifted her chin, maintaining her usual haughty demeanor, and said coldly: “Speak.”

Cheng Sangluo tightly pursed her lips, leaned down, and hastily wrote a sentence on paper, showing it to her: You told me not to speak.

Dog thing, now she’s playing mute.

Lin Jin’s eyes crinkled in a smile. She sat back in her chair and beckoned to her: “Come here.”

Cheng Sangluo also curved a faint smile at the corner of her lips, walked up to her, and spread her hands, indicating: Is there something you need?

“Do you know that your apology is more precious than your thanks? At the pool party, the yacht party, at Seventeen Harbor, in my home… getting you to say ‘I’m sorry’ is harder than climbing heaven itself…”

Lin Jin wanted to hear Cheng Sangluo pronounce “I’m sorry” clearly and properly one time. So, she spoke this declaration very seriously, like a student needing an answer, desperately seeking the correct one.

Cheng Sangluo still didn’t make a sound, but her expression was surprised, contemplating every scenario the crazy woman mentioned.

She felt that during those times, the person who should have apologized was clearly Lin Jin, so she raised an eyebrow, shook her head, and crossed her arms into an X: No.

“You’re being absurd.” Lin Jin’s anger hadn’t subsided. Now she was even angrier. She reached out and fiercely pinched the little dog’s thigh. “Even the crooked-necked duck is more sensible than you.”

“Ouch!” Cheng Sangluo’s pain broke her silent act, and she cried out.

She wasted no more words, half-kneeling to illustrate her point. She lifted Lin Jin’s foot and brought it toward her chin.

Lin Jin tried to pull her foot back but couldn’t escape the little dog’s powerful grip. “What are you doing?”

“This is how you humiliated me before. Why should I apologize?” Cheng Sangluo wasn’t just being stubborn but using this to express the injustice she faced. “You could have used many reasonable ways to get close to me, but you didn’t. You drugged me, you humiliated me in public, you took away my livelihood, and you even jumped into the sea to intimidate me. I have no reason to say I’m sorry, right?”

Although the little dog was reasoning, Lin Jin would never admit she was wrong.

She was born arrogant, and the number of people she had stepped on was countless.

Talking about dignity with a person like her was like telling a joke.

Lin Jin leaned back, crossed her arms, and repeated her old trick of lifting her toes.

She rubbed her foot against the little dog’s chin again, maliciously saying: “I don’t care. At least you said the wrong thing today, and you need to apologize to me.”

Cheng Sangluo felt she was being self-degrading, actually allowing the crazy woman to use this posture again to inflict that humiliating trick.

However, she didn’t resist like she had before. Instead, she went with the flow, holding the slender white ankle beneath her face.

She pushed up the trouser cuff with her fingertips and pressed a kiss onto the delicate ankle. Her gaze never strayed, fixedly staring at the crazy woman looking down at her, making sure she saw what she was doing.

The kiss didn’t show any sign of defiance. Instead, it hid deep ambition, and beneath that ambition, a stirring excitement.

It was an addiction. That unbearable craving had returned.

“I’m sorry.” Cheng Sangluo gently lowered the humiliating foot, then added: “I only mean for saying the wrong words to you today.”

How did I just compromise? Cheng Sangluo herself couldn’t figure it out.

In her mind, the disgusting things Lin Jin had done were numerous, yet somehow they had been trivialized.

She traced the source, racking her brains, until the memory dissolved into that boundless sea where Lin Jin freely fell into the deep, her arms spread wide as if begging for her embrace.

The soft-hearted one seems to only remember the soft-hearted things, forgetting all the bad.

The compromise had simply arrived.

Lin Jin, at this moment, looked even more flustered. She stared wide-eyed, unable to fathom what the little dog was thinking.

She sighed in disbelief: The iron tree… just blossomed?

Those three words were worth gold. She had waited time and time again, but they never came, yet now they arrived so suddenly.

She leaned forward, grabbed Cheng Sangluo’s collar, and simultaneously wrapped her foot around the sturdy waist. “Cheng Sangluo, without my permission, you are not allowed to say these three words to anyone else from now on. That way, today’s apology will be truly precious.”

“Okay.” Cheng Sangluo was unprecedentedly compliant, nodding her agreement readily.

She asked softly: “So, do you forgive me?”

Cheng Sangluo felt increasingly strange. Why didn’t she feel any sadness when debasing herself in front of the crazy woman?

“It’s not that easy to be forgiven.” Lin Jin shook her head arrogantly, but reached out and stroked Cheng Sangluo’s head, as if petting a dog.

Satisfied with this unconventional apology, she gave the most generous reward from the owner: “Carry me to the rest area.”

Cheng Sangluo didn’t refuse. She stood up and embraced the person in the chair. “Are you tired? How about we go home to rest?”

“I’m not tired… I want you…” Lin Jin wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing and biting his ear, whispering seductively: “Who told you to kiss my foot? You stirred up trouble, so you figure out how to solve it~”

Lin Jin’s words for desire weren’t vulgar, yet they were filled with ‘want’ in every line.

Her eyes flickered with anticipation. She slightly tilted her head, waiting for the little dog’s response, and deliberately sucked on a corner of her collar with her lips, leaving a dazzling smear of red.

The smile curving on her lips was full of suggestive provocation. Falling into Cheng Sangluo’s eyes, it stirred a sudden, violent summer storm, hard to quell, and impossible to escape.

Cheng Sangluo couldn’t escape. With a slight lapse in attention, she plunged into those rosy eyes, secretly sighing that the crazy woman was comparable to a cunning fox, even more enchanting than one.

She leaned down, supporting her palm on the armrest of the CEO chair. Her other hand cupped the slender waist that could be grasped in one hand. The tension of her grip made the muscles in her arm bulge into beautiful lines.

She trapped the fragile Lin Jin in her embrace. Smelling the familiar delicate fragrance, her questioning tone was burning and alluring. “How do you want me to solve it?”

Lin Jin’s eyebrows lifted playfully. She laughed with increasing difficulty, and also laughed at how satisfied she was with the little dog’s reaction every time since he had tasted the sweetness of intimacy.

She had initially wanted the little dog to carry her back to the rest area to satisfy her craving, but the little dog’s compliance sparked a mischievous, stimulating idea.

That mischievousness had to be crazy enough to fill the loneliness of all the years she had waited.

Lin Jin wrapped her arms around the little dog’s neck, pressing tightly against him in a moment of pleasure, and issued a command: “Right here. Do whatever you want to do.”

Astonishment flashed in Cheng Sangluo’s eyes, but it was quickly masked by her habitual calmness.

Sure enough, only a lunatic would be so blatant, doing the most vulgar things in the most serious setting. The lack of avoidance fueled all the excitement.

“That’s a bit much.” Cheng Sangluo bent down to kiss the red lip print on the collar, muttering: “The whole building is working diligently, but their boss is doing…”

The words ‘filthy things‘ were stuck in her mouth. Cheng Sangluo didn’t continue, lest the petty woman get angry again. Instead, she quietly used her mouth to unbutton the shirt.

Lin Jin’s excitement was easily ignited by the person in front of her, then released in a denser wave of eagerness.

“Are you blaming me, the boss, for not being proper?” She reached her fingertip toward the abdominal muscle beneath the T-shirt, wickedly twisting it hard, chiding: “Then forget it. Don’t do it.”

Cheng Sangluo narrowed her eyes in pain but couldn’t help but smile. Why play hard to get?

Who can’t play that game?

Cheng Sangluo straightened up, preparing to leave, going along with the flow: “Alright, I listen to Boss Lin. If you say don’t do it, then we won’t.”

A strong tug came from her leg, prompting her to look down.

The slender long leg, wrapped in flowing fabric trousers, was now tightly coiled around her leg.

Like a snake, like a vine, like a tentacle, any description was filled with an intense, undiluted passion and desire.

“Did I give you permission to leave?” Lin Jin leaned back, tightening the grip on her leg, pulling the pretending-to-leave little dog back. “Take it off for me yourself. Perform well, and you’ll be rewarded for your service.”

Even though Cheng Sangluo was addicted to intimacy, she resisted this humiliating request.

Her face was beyond red, burning with a sensation that was hard to calm down. She stammered: “I… I don’t know how… how to perform…”

“Then try to learn. You are currently trying to please your sugar mama. Shouldn’t you put in some effort?”

Cheng Sangluo didn’t argue further, but performing was out of the question.

She grabbed the hem of her shirt and quickly pulled off hre T-shirt. Hre healthy, wheat-colored skin, set against the golden sunlight, made her already handsome muscle lines even clearer.

Lin Jin always felt that Cheng Sangluo was wild, but couldn’t quite pinpoint how. Now she seemed to have the answer.

That pleasing physique was her foundation. The skin, glistening with light, moved with her breath, appearing more vibrant. The old scars covering her body were startling, but they also amplified her alluring tension.

Lin Jin propped her chin with one hand, her fingertips delicately tracing her lips, her gaze wandering over the fine view, unwilling to look away. She even forgot to reach out to outline this beauty.

Cheng Sangluo leaned against the side of the office desk. Even though only the two of them were in the room, she still glanced around uncomfortably, afraid of being seen by anyone.

“You’re shy.” Lin Jin broke the silence, destroying the little dog’s last bit of shame, and teased: “It’s not our first time… doing…”

Cheng Sangluo swallowed a dry gulp, unable to handle such direct flirting. “But I can treat every time like the first time.”

“What a novel line.” Lin Jin sighed, seeming to really like the phrase. She leaned forward, pressing her face against the firm abdominal muscles. “Keep your figure well. If you lose shape, I’ll starve you and won’t give you food.”

These words seemed to carry a double meaning, and the smart Cheng Sangluo naturally understood.

She braced her hands on the desk, finding the command amusing. She stroked Lin Jin’s hair, twirling it around her fingers. “Then I’ll sneak out and find food elsewhere.”

Lin Jin suddenly lifted her head, her eyes filled with a warning. “You dare! If I catch you sneaking food outside, hmph, I’ll make you regret it.”

Cheng Sangluo suddenly held Lin Jin’s back, using the momentum to press her down into the chair. “Are you going to keep bickering with me like this?”

Lin Jin loved this kind of proactive little dog too much. She allowed her to randomly kiss her neck. “Then use your mouth… remove the word ‘mouth’…”

The large office, with its spacious CEO chair, couldn’t accommodate the intimacy of the two people, and the desire spilled out everywhere.

The difference in body size and height always created a sense of intoxicating allure.

Cheng Sangluo bent her back, embracing Lin Jin, almost engulfing the soft person.

She was like a black-coated, sleek leopard, circling her prey as if to kill, but then a playful urge to tease took over.

Precisely because of this, she didn’t realize that in her intimacy with Lin Jin, she had already exposed her dangerous nature.

When she bowed her head, her eyes were wolf-like, radiating fierce light, traversing the plains and climbing the peaks.

Her throat was parched, seeking moisturizing relief.

Lin Jin foolishly sucked on her own finger.

A complete sense of powerlessness.

Her whole body felt weak.

Too weak to straighten her back.

She could only slump in the CEO chair, as if melting in the sunlight.

Hiding the little dog under her desk was once a wild, cherished dream.

Finally, that dream had been fulfilled.

‘Knock, knock, knock—’

Just as the two were at the height of their passion, the office door was knocked.

Cheng Sangluo’s heart leaped in surprise. She forgot where she was, and as she tried to stand up, she harshly hit her head.