The Woman I Was Flirting With Turned Out To Be A Chaebol Heiress - Chapter 13

“My brain is slow, I can’t think of any proper names. You name them, and I’ll raise them, okay?”

Jiang Ji looked at her with some anticipation, her demeanor as if she truly regarded these two little fish as her own children.

She suddenly thought of her own name, which was perhaps the only legacy her mother had left her.

Li Nianyi pursed her lips. She hesitated for a moment but finally nodded. Since she had already decided to raise them with Jiang Ji, giving them a name seemed like no big deal.

“Alright, one will have your surname, and one will have mine.”

A name is the shortest blessing in the world.

Someone once gave her this blessing, and now, Li Nianyi could give this blessing to her little fish.

Two pairs of bright eyes gazed at the swimming fish in the water.

Jiang Ji looked at Li Nianyi’s formal manner and thought she would definitely come up with a particularly nice name.

The result…

“This solid colored one, um… let’s call it Li Huahua, and the one with black spots will be called Jiang Buding.”

Well, they are nice names too.

Jiang Ji brainwashed herself this way.

Time passed quickly tonight, the clamor seemed to fade away in an instant, like a receding tide.

The lights hanging overhead extinguished one by one, and Jiang Ji’s heart sank inch by inch along with them.

“It’s time to go home, Jiang Ji.”

Li Nianyi’s voice was soft.

“Mhm, I’ll walk you.”

Jiang Ji probably didn’t realize how she looked right now, exactly like a child who had played at an amusement park until closing time and was unwilling to leave, her face full of melancholy.

“What’s wrong? Are you so reluctant to part with me?” The curve of Li Nianyi’s lips was gentle.

“I don’t know… if this counts as reluctance?”

The woman reached out to cover the area of her heart, revealing a hint of confusion.

This emotion was too complicated; after leaving a mark on her blank, innocent slate, she herself found it difficult to distinguish.

“When I’m with you, I feel very relaxed. If I could, I’d like to spend more time with you…”

My brain can’t help but think of you.

I always inexplicably wonder what you’re doing.

If you’re also thinking of me.

If you’re tired.

If you miss home.

It must be hard being alone in a foreign country.

I always want to comfort you when you’re vulnerable.

But I’m afraid I don’t have the right to do so.

I am always curious about you.

I want to understand you.

I want to know what kind of environment you grew up in.

I want to hear you tell your childhood stories.

And then tell you my stories.

Nian Nian.

Nian Nian…

Under Li Nianyi’s gaze, Jiang Ji subconsciously revealed her true feelings, and then a strange sense of shame surged up.

She must look very immature like this.

“Jiang Ji.”

“Mhm.”

“It seems I’ve already become your ‘significant other’.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll leave you in suspense and tell you later.”

On the way back, Jiang Ji drove the motorcycle very slowly. She said she was afraid of jostling Huahua and Buding, so she hard-pressed the motorcycle into the leisurely pace of an electric scooter.

By the time the vehicle stopped steadily beneath the apartment building, the night was deep, and wearing a jacket turned out to be useful; it was already a bit chilly.

Li Nianyi hung the plastic bag containing the little fish on the handlebar of the motorcycle before removing the helmet from her head.

“I had a lot of fun today, Jiang Ji, thank you for accompanying me.”

Jiang Ji wanted to say that she was actually the one who should be saying “thank you.” If it weren’t for Li Nianyi, her life would not have had a more profound yet pure emotional experience than being with her.

Before Jiang Ji could say anything, Li Nianyi took a small object from her jacket pocket a stone sculpted miniature figure encased in a PE film box.

It was clearly a Q-version miniature of Jiang Ji.

“This is for you, consider it compensation for treating me to snacks today.”

She placed the stone-sculpted figure into Jiang Ji’s hand.

“H-How impressive…”

Jiang Ji held the unexpected small gift with both hands, looking at the transparent box lying in her palm, her eyes filled with tiny stars.

“I’m quite good at this kind of small craft; I just sculpted it when I was bored. I’m glad you like it.”

“I like it very much!”

The attire of the stone-sculpted figure was what Jiang Ji wore the first time they met a vest and cargo pants.

Li Nianyi remembered it clearly.

“Alright, take your time looking at it when you get back. I’m going home. Goodnight, Sister Jiang. I’ll come visit Huahua and Buding often!”

“Mhm, goodnight, Nian Nian.”

Watching Li Nianyi walk into the stairwell, watching the sensor lights on the floors light up one by one, watching the window on the fourth floor emit a misty light through the curtains, watching that person pull back the curtain and wave to her from upstairs.

She pointed to her phone, signaling Jiang Ji to look.

“It’s very late, hurry home.”

Seeing the message pop up on her phone, the smile on Jiang Ji’s lips widened.

“Okay, you get some rest too.”

Watching that person carefully put the gift away, and then slowly ride the electric scooter out of the apartment gate, Li Nianyi lay down on her bed.

She had walked for a long time today, and her feet were aching and weary.

Li Nianyi took out the polaroid photo from her pocket. She didn’t understand why her body was clearly tired, yet her heart felt light.

Jiang Ji, who was leaning against her in the photo, looked a little restrained, her expression gentle and shy.

A little cute.

Li Nianyi felt she needed to seriously consider what kind of feeling she had for Jiang Ji.

There was definitely a flutter of the heart.

Undeniably, it was Jiang Ji’s face that initially attracted Li Nianyi.

But what about later?

Li Nianyi began to recall the moments of getting to know Jiang Ji, little by little.

Why did she unconsciously want to tease this woman?

Why did she develop what she called a desire to explore and possess her?

Why did she feel happy being with her?

Why was she always able to effortlessly shed her persona in front of her?

Something in her chest seemed to be getting restless, something was about to burst forth.

The image of Jiang Ji solemnly promising her something countless times surfaced in her mind. That demeanor always made one feel that she and this woman might genuinely have a future.

In fact, Jiang Ji was also Li Nianyi’s ‘significant other’.

Li Nianyi tried to rationally analyze this complex emotion from within her area of expertise.

The three elements of love: intimacy, passion, and commitment.

Her previous two relationships did not lack the former two, but only in front of Jiang Ji could she feel the weight of “commitment.”

And the next second, she realized that she was actually using the word “love” to measure the relationship between herself and Jiang Ji.

“Perhaps, I like her a little.”

Looking at the ceiling, Li Nianyi said this sentence like a lunatic.

“I like Jiang Ji.”

This time, her tone was much firmer.

Her heart rate strangely stabilized, as if some information from that place had finally been conveyed to her brain, bringing a sense of calm.

If the person was Jiang Ji, they might really be able to have a great, great relationship.

Li Nianyi decided that, although she didn’t know if it would have a good outcome, she wanted to try and establish an intimate relationship with Jiang Ji.

If she was willing.

Tonight, in some unnoticed corner of this bustling city, someone was destined to be sleepless.

Jiang Ji immediately ordered an expensive fish tank equipped with a top-notch filtration system, specialized goldfish pellets, various substrates and decorations, and a stack of guidebooks on how to raise goldfish. They would be delivered tomorrow.

For tonight, Huahua and Buding would have to make do in the plastic basin.

After sprinkling a few complimentary fish food pellets into the basin, Jiang Ji carefully took out the stone-sculpted doll Li Nianyi had given her from her jacket pocket.

She searched online for tutorials on decorating stone-sculpted dolls, then browsed and bought a glass dome and small ornaments online. This little item would be placed on the bedside table, where she could see it first thing every morning.

Finally, Jiang Ji held the small polaroid photo. If she could, she actually wanted to keep this photo close to her body, but that was clearly unrealistic, so she bought many beautiful display frames to rotate them.

After all this fuss, it was already past midnight, but Jiang Ji didn’t feel sleepy at all. She felt like she had hyperactivity disorder and couldn’t lie still in bed.

Just when she had turned off the light and settled down in bed, she suddenly remembered:

“I haven’t sent Nian Nian the photos we took today.”

So she sprang up from the bed again.

Sometimes, she talked to the two fish like a madwoman.

“Huahua”

“Buding”

“I’m your Mommy… Nian Nian is also your Mommy.”

As she spoke, she actually made herself blush.

Other times, she obsessively flipped through the photos of her and Li Nianyi on her phone, as if she could never look at them enough.

Or she would hold the stone-sculpted doll and reminisce about the date tonight.

Perhaps Li Nianyi also had a little good feeling for her… otherwise, she wouldn’t have taken the initiative again and again.

But perhaps it was mostly out of a playful mindset.

Watching herself lose her composure repeatedly because of her must be a very interesting thing.

Jiang Ji couldn’t stop her wild thoughts.

She fell for Li Nianyi with a base intention.

Jiang Ji herself felt ashamed of it.

But she couldn’t control it. Her brain, her thoughts, every inch of her skin and nerves were deeply radiating an unprecedented vitality because of that person.

This lifeless stone that she was, actually managed to grow a vigorously beating, healthy heart because of her.

But Jiang Ji knew she shouldn’t.

A bad person like her would only bring endless trouble, or even danger, to Li Nianyi.

Reason told her to stay away, but her thoughts couldn’t help but sink, like the most addictive poison.

Perhaps, they should just maintain this ambiguously distant relationship, playing the role of so-called “friends,” and she could absorb her tenderness.

If she is willing.

I really am a bad person.

Life continued, not undergoing any significant changes because of someone’s decision.

Li Nianyi was packing up to go earn the tuition fee for Nishienji Dai. While riding the train and scrolling idly on her phone, a popped-up news alert caught her eye.

“Tokyo University female graduate student commits suicide by jumping off a building due to graduation pressure.”