My Little Pink Crocodile - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Do You Miss Home?

Hearing Jiang Yao’s words, Qi Yan fell silent for a moment, her brows knitting slightly as she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Though Qi Yan had only met Jiang Yao twice, she knew the woman was not one to show her emotions easily; Jiang Yao must have been truly exasperated this time.

On the other end, Jiang Yao was facing a relatively “normal” human and forced herself to suppress her irritation. She sighed and said, “In short—”

“Don’t hide!”

Jiang Yu’s sudden exclamation cut off Qi Yan’s ability to listen further. Qi Yan looked over to see Jiang Yu grabbing the Golden Retriever by its tail as it tried to escape her clutches, pulling the poor dog back to her side with a forceful tug.

The dog let out a pitiful “awoo” and looked at Qi Yan with a pleading expression, which inexplicably made Qi Yan want to laugh.

Qi Yan became a bit distracted; she didn’t pay much attention to what Jiang Yao said afterward. However, remembering that Jiang Yao was so angry because of Jiang Yu, she instinctively looked toward the person most likely to be the “culprit.”

The “culprit” was currently sitting on the floor hugging the Golden Retriever, so bored that she was forcibly braiding the dog’s fur.

The Golden Retriever tried to squirm away, but Jiang Yu caught it again, sat on its backside to keep it from fleeing, and tugged on its ears while whispering “kind” greetings into them.

“Where are you running? Having me personally style your hair is a supreme honor for you.”

The Golden Retriever lay flat on the ground and whimpered, finally giving up on the struggle. The warm yellow light of the bedroom made the scene look exceptionally cozy and domestic.

Looking at Jiang Yu and the dog covered in braids, Qi Yan felt a headache coming on. She opened her mouth to ask something, but in the end, she only said: “The floor is cold. Get up first.”

Hearing her voice, Jiang Yu looked up at Qi Yan and gave her a sweet smile. “It’s not cold.”

As she spoke, Jiang Yu tucked her feet underneath the dog’s belly for warmth. She was comfortable, but the dog began to question its life choices.

Qi Yan watched her helplessly, walked over, and pulled Jiang Yu up from the floor, letting the braided Golden Retriever scurry out of the room first.

On the phone, Jiang Yao grew frustrated by the sudden silence. Her face darkened. “Boss Qi, are you even listening to me?”

Just as Qi Yan was about to respond, Jiang Yu nimbly snatched the phone away. She spoke into the receiver, indignantly standing up for Qi Yan: “She’s listening, she’s listening! Why are you being so mean?”

Hearing Jiang Yu’s voice, Jiang Yao frowned and said coldly, “Jiang Yu, you are an adult. I can overlook the running away part, but if you continue to be this unreasonable, I won’t hesitate to contact your parents and have them take you back right now.”

Faced with this threat, Jiang Yu instinctively defended herself. She pouted and gave a perfunctory reply: “I know, I know. I’m not being unreasonable. You’re framing me.”

Jiang Yao: “…”

“Jiang Yu.” Jiang Yao’s brow furrowed deeply. No matter how long it had been since she’d seen this girl, she was still such a shameless rogue.

Sensing that the other woman was about to snap, and fearing she really would be sent back, Jiang Yu immediately stuffed the phone back into Qi Yan’s hands. Before letting go, she whispered one last warning to Jiang Yao: “You can’t tell them.”

Qi Yan took the phone back. Seeing Jiang Yu looking at her with an aggrieved expression, her heart softened. She said to Jiang Yao, “I’m sure she didn’t do it on purpose.”

Jiang Yao rubbed her temples, her temper finally subsiding. She said calmly, “You have no idea what she actually did.”

“I didn’t do anything at all,” Jiang Yu muttered on the side. She hugged Qi Yan, leaning against her shoulder and inhaling the faint, fresh scent of Qi Yan’s recent bath.

Feeling the weight on her shoulder, Qi Yan tilted her head slightly to look at Jiang Yu. She couldn’t see the girl’s expression and assumed she was still upset, so she comforted her: “President Jiang won’t blame you.”

“Really?” Jiang Yu asked happily.

The person in question, Jiang Yao, tightened her grip on her phone. She drained the drink her assistant had prepared to quell her lingering anger, though she still spoke through gritted teeth: “Right. I don’t have the standing to blame her. After all, her status is so noble.”

Qi Yan assumed this was just a sarcastic remark made in the heat of the moment and didn’t think too deeply about it.

“President Jiang, please tell me what she did first. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to make amends,” Qi Yan said gently.

Thinking about it still gave Jiang Yao a headache. “Just look for yourself. But next time, please keep a better eye on her. At the very least, tell her not to bother me.”

At this point, Qi Yan still didn’t know what Jiang Yu had done, so she smiled and agreed. “Alright, I’ll keep a close eye on her.”

Jiang Yao suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, “I heard you’re taking her skydiving. I know that was definitely Jiang Yu’s idea. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to agree to it.”

Qi Yan looked at Jiang Yu and said with a smile, “Don’t blame her. I’m the one who promised her.” Thinking the other woman was worried about safety, Qi Yan paused before adding, “If it feels unsafe, I’ll take her to do something else instead.”

On the other end, Jiang Yao let out a laugh. “Jiang Yu is thick-skinned and tough, she’ll be fine. It’s you who should be careful, Boss Qi.”

Just as Jiang Yao finished speaking, a ghostly voice drifted from behind Qi Yan. “I have thin skin.”

Jiang Yu’s tone was resentful, clearly unhappy that Jiang Yao was speaking ill of her to her face. Before Qi Yan could respond to Jiang Yao, a pair of hands reached around from behind her and playfully tried to cover her eyes.

Qi Yan knew it was Jiang Yu and spoke with a touch of doting, “Jiang Yu, stop playing.”

As she spoke, she tried to pull the hands away from her eyes, but in doing so, she accidentally hung up the call.

Jiang Yao: “…”

Qi Yan saw that she had hung up the phone. For some reason, she didn’t call back. Jiang Yu, thinking Jiang Yao had been the one to hang up, grumbled unpleasantly: “She’s finally quiet. How dare she threaten me.”

“President Jiang is just concerned about you.” Qi Yan still didn’t know the full story and assumed it was just some minor mischief.

However, when she looked at the chat interface on Jiang Yu’s phone, she saw a wall of text where Jiang Yu had been unilaterally making “suggestions.”

Qi Yan read halfway through, her heart skipping a beat. She frowned and continued reading. Jiang Yu was still venting beside her: “She totally ignored me! She didn’t even reply once. Isn’t that so rude?”

Qi Yan clicked on the voice-to-text conversion for the last message. She fell silent for a moment, then looked up at the girl lying on the bed, playing with the hairdryer while fuming with indignation.

After thinking for a bit, Qi Yan sat down beside her. Just as she was choosing her words, Jiang Yu suddenly leaned over her shoulder and asked curiously, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Qi Yan had grown used to Jiang Yu’s proximity. The scent of her own bath products on the girl’s skin made the atmosphere feel a bit intimate.

“Jiang Yu, this isn’t good. Don’t bother President Jiang like that next time.”

Though Qi Yan spoke very gently, Jiang Yu could tell she was being corrected. Her energy slumped, and she looked a bit dejected. “Fine. But if you feel tired, just tell me. I have money.”

As she spoke, Jiang Yu became confident and boastful again, acting as if she were going to support Qi Yan financially. It was the first time Qi Yan had heard someone say something like that to her. A slight smile curved her lips, and she couldn’t resist teasing her.

“Can you take it out right now, then?”

At that mention, Jiang Yu’s spirit slumped again. She buried her face in the crook of Qi Yan’s neck and muttered honestly, “No.”

As the Young Master of the Crocodile Clan, Jiang Yu certainly wasn’t short on money; she had piles of rare treasures gifted to her every birthday. But she had run away in such a hurry that she hadn’t brought a single thing with her.

While she was lamenting her fallen status—like a tiger bullied by a dog or a phoenix less than a chicken—she saw Qi Yan cover her nose and sneeze. She suddenly remembered that Qi Yan’s hair was still wet.

She immediately placed her hand on Qi Yan’s forehead to check her temperature. “You have a fever! I’m not a doctor, what should I do?”

In truth, she couldn’t feel anything specific, but she felt Qi Yan’s complexion didn’t look right. Seeing Jiang Yu so worried about her, Qi Yan felt a sudden surge of warmth in her chest.

She and Qi Ming had always been burdened by the high expectations of their parents. Ever since she began to rebel and found an excuse to move out, even if Grace helped her occasionally, she had to handle everything alone. She was long used to being sick by herself.

But being cared for like this… she suddenly felt that this was quite nice.

Seeing that Qi Yan didn’t speak and just looked at her, Jiang Yu thought the fever had made her go dazed. She began panicking and talking to herself.

“What do I do? Should we go to the hospital? But I don’t think I can drive… Even if she’s dazed, she’s still a pretty sister, but I still like her smart look better…”

While Jiang Yu was agonizing over what to do, Qi Yan grabbed her as she was about to leave the room and spoke softly: “I’m fine. Just dry my hair for me.”

Seeing that Qi Yan seemed normal, Jiang Yu immediately hugged her and said with lingering fear, “What if you died? I’m still young and don’t want to be a widow. It’s all Jiang Yao’s fault for talking so long.”

Qi Yan: “…”

She didn’t quite understand the logic Jiang Yu picked up from those TV dramas. She frowned for a long time before managing to squeeze out a sentence: “Don’t worry, I won’t die.”

The sound of the hairdryer wasn’t too loud. The person behind her, arranging her long hair, was very unskilled—as if she had never used such a thing before. She played with it for a while before seriously helping Qi Yan dry her hair.

Qi Yan felt the girl’s fingers carefully moving through her hair. A strange sensation spread through her heart. On a sudden impulse, she asked: “Jiang Yu, do you miss home?”

If the girl missed home, Qi Yan certainly couldn’t keep her here. But at the thought of her leaving, her heart felt uncomfortable.

Hearing the question, Jiang Yu answered without a moment’s hesitation. “No.”

Qi Yan knew it was a defiant answer born of stubbornness. But hearing it, she felt her heart settle. She knew it was wrong to think this way, but she couldn’t help wanting to keep this person by her side.

She thought she might truly have fried her brain with a fever.