The Woman I Was Flirting With Turned Out To Be A Chaebol Heiress - Chapter 10

The air fell silent for a moment.

The two of them sat facing each other. Li Nianyi wasn’t sure if her expression had stiffened at any moment. At such a close distance, would she notice her abnormality?

Jiang Ji was too easy to take things seriously; maybe that’s the downside of getting involved with an earnest person.

When this person looks at you, those deep, pitch black eyes easily make one mistake the gaze for profound affection.

Her way of speaking, with that serious, straightforward gaze, is so solemn that it always makes people misunderstand: her words seem like a promise.

But where are there promises so easily spoken?

Li Nianyi chuckled dryly twice and half-joked:

“Really? I can’t afford to pay you to cook for me.”

Then she lowered her head to drink her soup, no longer accepting the other’s gaze such a dignified and direct refusal.

Jiang Ji instinctively wanted to say she didn’t charge money, but opening her mouth, looking at the swirl of hair on Li Nianyi’s head, she slowly realized the unspoken meaning.

The invisible collar around her neck suddenly tightened not painful, but irritating, making her feel uncomfortable all over, wishing she could disappear from Li Nianyi’s territory without a trace.

What’s going on?

Jiang Ji couldn’t help but blame Li Nianyi.

Look at her! Who’s the truly stubborn one here?

She was the one who made the first move, so why suddenly pull back?

Jiang Ji stuffed more food into her mouth with a mix of grievance and frustration, then her thoughts became increasingly chaotic.

Had she done something wrong to upset Li Nianyi?

Was it because her words just now were too presumptuous?

Or was she simply too boring, causing Li Nianyi to lose interest?

At this moment, the person opposite wasn’t as calm as she pretended to be.

Li Nianyi realized it.

She seemed to always feel the desire to tease and play with Jiang Ji.

If the other person’s mindset was the same, then she wouldn’t mind playing this ambiguous game together they both enjoyed it anyway.

But Jiang Ji seemed like a stubborn mule.

Yet, tracing back the source,

Maybe it was precisely Jiang Ji’s dumbfounded personality, which created such a contrast that attracted her.

What was cause, and what was effect, seemed hard to tell.

The meal passed with heavy thoughts, and neither said much, tacitly returning to their own lives.

Li Nianyi began avoiding Jiang Ji.

Actually, it wasn’t a very deliberate avoidance. She had been busy recently and naturally reduced contact with Jiang Ji.

Surprisingly, that woman quietly stopped bothering her, not sending a single message, and their relationship suddenly cooled.

Strangely enough, it felt reasonable.

Tokyo’s rainy season hadn’t ended, and Li Nianyi’s heart seemed to enter a damp season as well.

After finishing the group meeting today, Professor Tanaka specially asked Li Nianyi to stay behind.

The professor’s face was full of kind wrinkles, and her voice was gentle yet steady when speaking to others.

“After Suzuki’s accident, her project was shelved. Since you had worked on it with her before, the remaining finishing touches will mainly be your responsibility. Is that okay?”

Though phrased as a question, it was clear she had decided to hand over the work to Li Nianyi, who could only nod and tearfully accept the task.

“Are you still familiar with the experimental data and video materials she worked on?”

“I assisted Senior Sister Suzuki with interview analyses of the subjects, and I backed up those data, so yes, I’m somewhat familiar.”

“Did she leave you any other materials?”

Li Nianyi found it a bit strange but recalled carefully before shaking her head.

“All the data Suzuki collected were on her computer. She transferred everything to me as soon as I joined. If anything is missing, I can check her computer directly.”

“That’s good. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

After this brief exchange, the professor left, and Li Nianyi was alone in the conference room.

She stood there, silently for a moment, then suddenly sighed.

Life truly is a mix of ups and downs.

Without time to think much more, Li Nianyi packed up her laptop and data and went home to start working immediately.

She set up the needed items on the folding table on her small balcony, made herself a cup of instant coffee, and listened to the soothing sound of rain outside the window as she forced herself into work mode.

The so called finishing work was basically the final paper writing, which was definitely not an easy part.

Not to mention how many papers she had to read, even her current understanding of the project itself was a major problem.

She had participated in this eighteen-month-long project for less than two months. Li Nianyi felt overwhelmed.

Why did they make her the new person in charge?

But it wasn’t all bad; if she completed the task successfully, she would inherit the results Suzuki spent nearly a year and a half achieving.

Of course, the prerequisite was that she could get through this hurdle.

She had only been invited to join the group two months ago as a number filler. It was impossible for her to have reviewed all the project materials, let alone those countless video thumbnails scattered in folders.

She groaned but resigned herself to the work.

Scrolling with the mouse, there seemed to be no end in sight!

How did Suzuki manage to shoot so many videos alone?

Opening the earliest one, Li Nianyi started watching them one by one.

Suzuki’s topic was about the social-psychological mechanisms behind the survival space being squeezed for low-social groups. The camera mostly focused on internet cafe refugees, people living long-term in cheap capsule hotels, and even homeless people camping in parks.

For this, she had worked as a temporary cleaner in bars at night, served as a staff member during the high-checkout mornings at capsule hotels, and even risked approaching homeless people with mental disabilities.

To carry out the experiment smoothly, she had applied to the school for a considerable subsidy for participants. For the experimental target group, this was indeed an unexpected windfall.

This seemed to perfectly fit Suzuki Kazuko’s reclusive persona, studying people like herself.

Li Nianyi recalled asking Suzuki why she chose this topic when she first joined, and the girl had only smiled faintly, saying she just wanted to know why those people became abandoned by society.

At heart, Suzuki never considered herself the same as those so-called “low social groups.” There was an active vs. passive distinction there.

Even if to others this difference was small, it was just Suzuki’s comforting self-deception.

Li Nianyi couldn’t know the truth but could understand Suzuki’s lifestyle. If not for survival, she too might want to ignore everyone like Suzuki.

After watching videos for over two hours, Li Nianyi struggled to move her dry eyes.

What a tough job.

She pulled out her phone, checked the time, and swiped a few times to open the chat app.

Her gaze stopped on someone’s avatar for a moment, then quickly swiped away.

Replying to a few trivial messages, she closed her eyes tightly.

Exhausted, she looked out the window, relaxing her eyes. But the face of Jiang Ji somehow slipped into her mind.

Suddenly, she thought of the phrase: “Better to rain every day, thinking you didn’t come because of the rain.”

What about Jiang Ji?

Why had she not contacted her for so long?

Realizing what she was thinking, Li Nianyi felt a bit annoyed.

Her stomach growled loudly, pulling her out of the strange emotions, and she laughed at her own empty belly.

Forget it. No more tormenting herself. Since she wasn’t sure about her true feelings, she would find a way to verify whether her heart was really branded with Jiang Ji’s mark.

Checking the time, it was past nine, the perfect time for nightlife.

She opened the chat with Jiang Ji.

“At the bar?”

Instant reply: “Yes.”

Li Nianyi smiled knowingly at the corner of her mouth.

“Wait for me.”

She had already promised to frequent Jiang Ji’s small bar.

Two simple words made Jiang Ji hold her phone, looking at it again and again.

She was confused. Had this woman lost interest? Why suddenly reach out now?

But the sparkle at her brow betrayed her true mood.

Jiang Ji felt nervous, suddenly running a few steps to the mirror to carefully examine herself.

A loose khaki two-piece shirt with casual gray wide-leg trousers, a simple, extremely casual combination. Her long hair casually draped over her shoulders, looking somewhat lazy.

Would she be too casual to meet Li Nianyi?

Thinking about it, she unbuttoned two buttons, half-revealing her collarbone, the slender neck faintly visible between strands of hair.

Should she wash her hair again?

She had just showered last night, so her hair was still soft and fluffy.

Or change clothes?

But she didn’t know what style Li Nianyi liked, and her wardrobe wasn’t very diverse—mostly shirts, vests, and pants cycling through.

Or maybe prepare the drinks in advance?

But if the wait was too long, the ice would melt, ruining the flavor and tonight Li Nianyi might want to try something new.

Jiang Ji felt discouraged but suddenly remembered something and pulled out a bottle of perfume from the small cabinet in the break room.

Li Nianyi had said she liked this scent.

A somewhat silly smile appeared involuntarily on Jiang Ji’s face. The natural coldness and aloofness in her eyes completely vanished.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang crisp and cheerfully.

Without thinking, Jiang Ji pushed open the break room door, her steps light and filled with barely concealed anticipation.

She lifted the coarse cloth curtain on the small door leading to the bar counter.

But upon seeing the visitor, her smile froze.