She Gives Too Much (GL) - Chapter 12
Chen Xi’s morning text had left Li Zhi feeling mildly flustered, to the point where she barely touched her lunch.
By evening, when Li Zhi was preparing to pick her up, she still hadn’t replied to Chen Xi’s question about which outfit she preferred.
Chen Xi didn’t send another message to follow up. She’d flirted and moved on, acting as if she’d forgotten the whole thing, completely indifferent to the answer.
Meanwhile, Li Zhi found herself constantly checking her phone throughout the afternoon on set. Every three to five minutes, she’d glance at it, as if waiting for a message from someone.
Her expression was serious, her brow furrowed slightly, making her look as if she were handling important business.
The male and female leads had planned to greet Li Zhi, but seeing her unapproachable aura, they hesitated for ages, only daring to offer distant smiles and nods, never venturing closer.
Finally, the director asked, “President Li, do you have other matters to attend to this afternoon?”
She’d already observed the outdoor filming; presumably, she wanted to see the indoor scenes as well. If she was pressed for time, the crew could accommodate her by shooting an indoor scene first.
Completely unaware of how frequently she’d been checking her phone, Li Zhi looked up, her eyes filled with genuine confusion. “I don’t have anything urgent.”
She even countered, “Why do you ask?”
The director chuckled. “You’ve been checking your phone constantly, like something urgent is on your mind. If you’re busy, we can shoot the interior scenes first.”
Li Zhi turned to her assistant and asked softly, “Have I really been checking my phone that much?”
The assistant nodded. “Yes. In the past minute alone, you looked at it at least ten times.”
“……”
That meant she was glancing at her phone every six seconds on average. She was basically picking it up as soon as she put it down.
No wonder the director asked if she had something important to handle.
To the crew, President Li’s serious expression likely meant she was negotiating an eight-figure contract. How could they possibly imagine that what kept her glued to her phone were two pairs of risqué panties from Chen Xi?
Li Zhi’s eyelashes fluttered twice, her expression uncharacteristically awkward.
She took a deep breath, turned off her phone, and pressed it under a stack of documents, her voice regaining its usual detached tone.
“My apologies. There’s nothing urgent here. Let’s continue filming.”
It wasn’t until the end of the workday that Li Zhi felt the earlier embarrassment gradually fade.
She pulled out her phone.
Even before opening the app, a notification popped up: “You have 99+ unread messages.”
A smile flickered across Li Zhi’s face. Her heart felt like a helium balloon, light and buoyant, rising toward the sky with anticipation.
Li Zhiwei had no idea what Chen Xi was trying to convey with so many messages.
She tilted her chin slightly to unlock her phone, her mind preoccupied with her overwhelming workload. Who has time to help Chen Xi choose outfits?
But when she opened the phone—
Apart from work-related notifications, there wasn’t a single personal message.
The “99+” messages were all work-related, and the constant stream of contacts and group chats had completely buried Chen Xi’s messages at the very bottom.
The hydrogen balloon of her heart, which had been floating halfway to the sky, suddenly burst like a pinpricked balloon, collapsing back to earth with a pop.
Her buoyant mood shattered into pieces, leaving behind an inexplicable disappointment and stifled frustration.
The smile that had just curved her lips slowly flattened as she expressionlessly scrolled through the messages, sliding to the very bottom to find Chen Xi.
She stared at Chen Xi’s profile picture.
It was a selfie of Chen Xi hugging a plushie, her eyes crinkled in a relaxed, contented smile.
She looks so happy.
Li Zhiwei couldn’t help but think that Chen Xi was to blame for her embarrassing afternoon. Yet the culprit hadn’t sent her another message since.
The last message in their chat was still Chen Xi’s:
“Young Miss, which outfit do you like? I’ll wear it for you tonight.”
If I don’t choose, will she just not wear anything?
And why hasn’t she sent another word all afternoon?
Li Zhi felt as if a layer of shredded balloon skin had been plastered across her chest, suffocating her and making it hard to breathe.
She had assumed at least one of the “99+” notifications was from Chen Xi.
Like being trapped in a confined space under the weight of suffocating work, even a trivial or casual message would have felt like a breath of fresh air, a glimpse of sunlight from outside.
But there was nothing.
Li Zhi said nothing, merely lowered her lashes and returned to the main screen, placing her phone on the passenger seat.
She had let her driver and assistant leave early today, driving herself to C University to pick up Chen Xi.
At the traffic light before the school gate, Li Zhi pulled into a temporary parking spot and texted Chen Xi:
“I’m here. Come out.”
The reply came almost instantly:
“Coming, coming~!”
The tone was cheerful.
Li Zhi silently put her phone down, rested her hand on the steering wheel, and drove the car directly to the school gate.
She parked the car defiantly in the most conspicuous spot outside the gate.
But it was National Day holiday, and there were hardly any students around.
The sky outside was already beginning to darken, twilight settling in as the streetlights along the school’s main avenue flickered to life.
The golden leaves of the plane trees glowed in the lamplight, creating a halo effect that made the wide avenue look like it was strung with two rows of yellow fairy lights.
Occasionally, a few couples who had stayed late on campus strolled hand-in-hand through the school gates, their footsteps crunching softly on the fallen plane tree leaves as they leaned in to whisper and laugh.
In that moment, the unique atmosphere of the campus—clean, romantic, and purely beautiful—became strikingly apparent.
Until Chen Xi’s figure appeared in view.
She was wearing a light blue denim mini skirt, a white t-shirt, and canvas sneakers.
Her outfit was crisp and fresh as she walked down the main avenue from a distance, like a fluttering white butterfly, her steps light and graceful.
She was walking quickly, her head bent as she glanced at her phone.
Li Zhi’s phone buzzed on the passenger seat. She picked it up and glanced at the screen.
“I think I see your car.”
Li Zhi looked up and saw Chen Xi waving at her from ahead, then jogging toward her with her bag slung over her shoulder.
The evening breeze lifted Chen Xi’s long hair, pulling the loose white t-shirt she wore back against her body. The fabric clung to her waist and abdomen, accentuating her delicate curves and slender waist.
Li Zhi’s phone screen went dark, and her gaze drifted down to Chen Xi’s long, pale legs exposed beneath her short skirt.
An ambiguous thought crossed her mind:
When it comes to sleeping together, this girl is always so eager.
Not a word of casual chat, but she replies instantly when it’s about hooking up.
A little vixen like this must be every sugar daddy’s dream—no small talk, no drama, always available at night with plenty of tricks.
Yet Li Zhi felt a suffocating tightness in her chest.
The happier Chen Xi seemed, the colder Li Zhi became.
She was actually quite curious about what kind of underwear Chen Xi was wearing under her skirt.
Compared to the black lace-trimmed pair, Li Zhi preferred the red one.
But she couldn’t bring herself to ask, especially now that she was feeling so resentful. She certainly didn’t want to initiate the conversation.
“Young Miss, why did you drive all the way to the entrance today?”
Chen Xi opened the car door and climbed in, her eyes still sparkling with the fragmented glow of streetlights.
“Oh, is it because school’s out for the holiday and there’s no one around?”
No, Li Zhi thought silently.
She’d only driven the car here to tease Chen Xi, hoping to stir up gossip. Who knew she’d forgotten it was National Day holiday and the school would be deserted?
Chen Xi leaned in happily and kissed the corner of Li Zhi’s lips.
The Young Miss is so thoughtful!
Heaven only knew how much Chen Xi struggled to walk home the morning after their nightly “exercise.”
Li Zhi frowned slightly, but before she could react, Chen Xi had already pulled back. Only the soft touch lingered on her lips, and the faint floral scent of Chen Xi’s shower gel lingered in the air. It smelled fresh and clean, as if she’d just stepped out of the shower.
“Are we going to that hotel again today?” Chen Xi pulled out her phone. “It looks like they’re fully booked.”
It wasn’t just “looks like”—they were definitely fully booked.
During the National Day travel peak, nearly every hotel in the city center was at full capacity.
Chen Xi had been sighing just moments ago, lamenting that they might have to spend the night in the car.
“We’re not going to a hotel.”
Li Zhi didn’t even turn on the GPS; she simply drove in a straight direction.
Chen Xi glanced curiously out the window at the road.
Good, we’re not heading out of the city on the highway. At least we won’t be doing anything too wild.
Li Zhi seemed to sense what she was thinking, her eyelid twitching heavily.
Her voice was cold. “We’re going to my place.”
Li Zhi owned an apartment in the city, in a prime location.
Being on a higher floor, it offered stunning night views that rivaled the hotel they’d stayed at before.
This time, it was Chen Xi’s eyelid that twitched.
She touched the crossbody bag on her lap, pretending to look out the window at the scenery, her gaze unnaturally fixed on the view.
Taking me home?
Their arrangement was supposed to be a paid relationship. Taking her home felt like it was changing the dynamic.
Chen Xi checked nearby hotels, at least four-star, but they were all fully booked.
That killed any hope of staying in a hotel.
She put away her phone, feeling inexplicably uneasy, as if the air in the car had solidified into silence.
She realized what was missing.
There’s no music on.
Chen Xi connected her phone via Bluetooth and started playing upbeat pop songs, and the atmosphere immediately loosened.
If the Young Miss doesn’t mind going home, why should I?
It’s just a place to sleep, right? Anywhere will do.
The car arrived at an upscale residential complex. Li Zhi swiped her face to enter and drove into the underground parking garage.
The drive from C University to Li Zhi’s apartment took about forty minutes.
During the journey, Chen Xi either listened to music or chatted with others, never once mentioning the multiple-choice question from the photo.
The car came to a stop in its parking space, the windows locked.
Li Zhi’s slender, pale hand rested on the steering wheel. She didn’t open the door or tell Chen Xi to get out.
Chen Xi blinked, feeling like she understood something instantly, and suppressed a laugh.
The Young Miss is clearly curious but too stubborn to admit it. If she hadn’t locked the car doors, Chen Xi might have genuinely thought she wasn’t interested.
Chen Xi unbuckled her seatbelt, twisted around, and knelt halfway on the passenger seat to kiss Li Zhi’s lips.
At the same time, she took the Young Miss’s wrist and placed her hand on her own thigh.
The moment Li Zhi’s palm made contact, her brow furrowed slightly.
She was wearing long sleeves today, and the car’s air conditioning hadn’t been set too low. She’d completely forgotten that Chen Xi was wearing a short skirt.
After driving with the cold air blowing on her the whole way, the skin on Chen Xi’s thigh was now icy.
Li Zhi hadn’t thought of it, and Chen Xi herself seemed oblivious, not even realizing her own leg was cold enough to ask Li Zhi to turn up the temperature.
Chen Xi parted her lips from Li Zhi’s, her hand still gripping Li Zhi’s wrist, urging her to follow her gaze upward.
Li Zhi’s hand pressed against the hem of her denim miniskirt as she looked up at Chen Xi.
She had deliberately avoided looking at Chen Xi the entire drive, only now realizing, at this close proximity, that Chen Xi was wearing meticulously applied makeup tonight.
Her lips were painted with the burnt tomato-red lipstick Li Zhi had given her, and the already alluring corners of her eyes were subtly winged with a matching shade of eyeliner.
Not gaudy, not plain—just the right touch of enchantment.
Chen Xi whispered softly to Li Zhi, their lips nearly touching, her long lashes drooping.
The sparkling laughter in her eyes shimmered like a glass of intoxicating red wine, making Li Zhi’s heart race.
“I wore the dress the Young Miss might like,” she murmured.
“Want to inspect it yourself?”
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