The Woman I Was Flirting With Turned Out To Be A Chaebol Heiress - Chapter 19

White shirt, black suit vest and matching trousers, a dark red bow tie  Jiang Ji walked out of the fitting room.

Sure enough, just like Li Nianyi said, suits fit her perfectly. Her shoulders were broad, her figure tall, her lines sharp and cold. When expressionless, she gave off an aura of aloofness, like a lake covered in thick snow and ice  hard to approach.

For a moment, Li Nianyi couldn’t take her eyes off her.

“Nian Nian? Do you like it?”

Jiang Ji felt like this outfit wasn’t any different from her usual work attire stiff and serious. Wouldn’t Li Nianyi find such a style boring?

Li Nianyi didn’t answer directly but beckoned her over.

“Lift your arm a little.”

She slipped a shirt sleeve garter onto Jiang Ji’s upper arm.

It was a bit tight.

Jiang Ji noted to herself.

Li Nianyi kept her head down while adjusting it. At that moment, Jiang Ji only needed to lower her eyes slightly to see the crown of her head, her hair whorls. The sensation of her fingers brushing along her arm made Jiang Ji feel inexplicably uneasy.

Her heart tightened slightly.

Jiang Ji stared at Li Nianyi’s hand as she adjusted the garter. Her skin was so fair that the veins on the back of her hand stood out in a bluish tone. Her bones shifted subtly as her fingers moved.

“All done.”

Li Nianyi circled behind Jiang Ji and placed both hands on her shoulders, pushing her in front of the mirror. The tall full length mirror reflected a close and intimate image of the two of them.

“What do you think? Doesn’t it look great? I’ve got a good eye, right?”

Jiang Ji looked at the mirror, though her gaze wasn’t on herself. Rather, both their eyes were locked on each other.

“Yeah… you look good.”

Dressing up Jiang Ji was something Li Nianyi tackled with the same patience and joy as a childhood dress-up game. She picked out several more outfits for Jiang Ji single breasted, double-breasted, British style, American style having the time of her life.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ji completely surrendered control of her body, letting Li Nianyi do as she pleased, like a doll at her disposal.

Only when Li Nianyi finally tired out did she head to the front desk to pay.

“Pack up all the suits I tried on just now.”

She swiped her card and left an address: “Have them sent here.”

Li Nianyi collapsed onto the sofa, inwardly sighing at Jiang Ji’s financial strength.

As soon as they stepped out of the store, the suited-up alpha reverted back to the tank-top-wearing plumber.

The mall was enormous. Even after spending the entire afternoon, they hadn’t covered all of it. Their legs ached from walking so much or rather, only Li Nianyi seemed exhausted.

Suddenly

“It’s Yuki Amami!”

Li Nianyi spotted a poster on the wall featuring Yuki Amami’s endorsement. She tossed her phone to Jiang Ji.

“Take a picture of me with it!”

Jiang Ji looked at the grin spreading across Li Nianyi’s face as she snapped the photo, her tone both sour and subtly probing:

“Are you her fan?”

“Not exactly… but who can resist Yuki Amami, right?”

Li Nianyi deliberately showered the handsome actress with exaggerated praise, as if completely oblivious to Jiang Ji’s slightly annoyed expression.

Oddly enough, seeing Jiang Ji’s jealous and aggrieved look gave her a strange sense of satisfaction.

Yes bad girls are like this.

For instance, right now as Li Nianyi took back her phone, her fingertips unintentionally brushed Jiang Ji’s palm. The ticklish sensation sparked something that made their hearts flutter.

“Um… Nian Nian, are you thirsty? Want to grab something to drink?”

Jiang Ji guiltily pulled away and headed toward a nearby drink shop, clutching her right hand tightly, her walking posture oddly stiff.

Following behind her, Li Nianyi smiled and agreed.

Even after all this time, Jiang Ji still found herself involuntarily flustered just by being near Li Nianyi.

They each held a cup of milk tea, sipping quietly. The atmosphere between them had grown more still, yet their hands would occasionally brush as they walked.

Each skin contact stirred waves in their chests.

The milk tea was too sweet.

Li Nianyi thought this quietly to herself.

Jiang Ji’s reactions were so pure, it made Li Nianyi feel that fluttery, ambiguous rush like back in their school days.

“Nian Nian, I’m going to the restroom.”

She shoved her milk tea and phone into Li Nianyi’s hands and bolted into the restroom like her pants were on fire.

Watching Jiang Ji’s retreating figure, Li Nianyi leaned against the cold ceramic tile wall, lost in thought.

Those eyes when they looked at her definitely held some other emotion. Li Nianyi was a perceptive person. She could feel this undercurrent.

Jiang Ji’s eyes were terrible at hiding things  at least, when it came to this.

A small, uncontrollable joy bloomed at the tip of her heart.

She wondered given how slow Jiang Ji could be  what were the chances she’d ever confess first?

Yes, Li Nianyi was banking on this.

She wanted to hear Jiang Ji say “I like you” out loud.

Suddenly, an urgent ringtone snapped Li Nianyi from her thoughts. Glancing at the screen, she saw an unmarked number calling Jiang Ji’s phone.

Thinking it was some telemarketer or scam call, she ignored it and turned the volume down. But the number called back again and again, relentless.

Could it be someone Jiang Ji knew?

But why wasn’t there a contact name?

She picked up the call. Before the person on the other end could speak, she said first:

“Jiang Ji is in the restroom. If you have something to say, call her back in a few minutes.”

Silence on the other end then a quick hang up. The phone didn’t ring again.

Li Nianyi frowned slightly but didn’t dwell on it. When the call ended, she saw Jiang Ji’s lock screen a collage of photos of the two of them together.

She had said those were her two favorite pictures. Jiang Ji had stitched them into one and set it as her lock screen.

This woman, seriously…

She probably even changed her chat backgrounds too.

Of course, in reality she’d plastered a whole wall with those photos.

When Jiang Ji came out, Li Nianyi told her about the call. She noticed Jiang Ji looked visibly nervous as she asked whether the caller had said anything. When Li Nianyi shook her head, she finally relaxed.

Jiang Ji avoided looking at her.

“Nian Nian, do you think someone like me is dishonest?”

Li Nianyi hadn’t expected a question like this. She thought for a moment, then replied seriously:

“Everyone has things they’d rather keep to themselves. I do too. Though it feels like you have a lot of secrets… I’m used to it. If one day you want to tell me, I’ll listen. If you don’t, I won’t force you. That way, neither of us has to feel pressured, right?”

She winked at Jiang Ji, then added:

“But… I am really curious about you.”

She could tell Jiang Ji seemed afraid of something but she didn’t mind waiting.

Jiang Ji pursed her lips. She knew she was a coward, too afraid to see even a trace of dislike or rejection in Li Nianyi’s eyes. The mere thought made her feel like she was plunging into ice.

“Nian Nian, what if the real me… isn’t as good as you think I am? Would you hate me?”

Li Nianyi raised her eyebrows in surprise. She didn’t expect such a question. Since when did this woman have a self-esteem issue?

Why would she even feel insecure?

Letting out a sigh, Li Nianyi hooked her pinky finger around Jiang Ji’s.

“I don’t know what this so called ‘real you’ is like, but I trust my feelings. Jiang Ji, you’re a really good person.”

“You’re a really good person.”

The conviction in her voice almost made Jiang Ji want to cry.

For a moment, she really believed she was as good as Li Nianyi said.

Jiang Ji felt like her brain had turned into a broken radio that sentence played on repeat, looping over and over again.

It had to be the sweetest love words in the world.

Even if she knew those words might only be Li Nianyi’s way of comforting her, Jiang Ji still stubbornly and selfishly engraved them into her heart “Her Love Words” letting them soak into her soul.

Seeing her eyes turn red, Li Nianyi panicked.

Even when Jiang Ji had been seriously injured before, she hadn’t shed a single tear.

“H-Hey… why are you crying?”

She had no idea how powerful her words had been  she simply scrambled to grab tissues and dabbed at Jiang Ji’s tears.

She gently patted her shoulder, letting Jiang Ji bury her face into her neck. Despite being so tall, Jiang Ji now curled into her arms like an abandoned, pitiful little creature.

Her shoulder grew damp with tears.

Jiang Ji was always so stoic and aloof even crying, she made no sound.

From the viewpoint of the occasional passerby, it was nothing more than a couple cuddling in a corner.

After a long time, Jiang Ji finally lifted her head. Her pretty eyes were still red.

“Sorry, Nian Nian… I made a fool of myself. It’s just… it’s been so long since anyone said something like that to me.”

Her voice was stuffy, nasal.

Li Nianyi instantly thought of the typical harsh, emotionless East Asian upbringing.

She gently wiped the smudged tear marks from Jiang Ji’s eyes, gazing into those quivering pupils.

“Jiang Ji, I won’t laugh at your tears, and I’ll never be stingy with praise for you.”

Jiang Ji couldn’t remember exactly how the day ended. She only knew that she felt light, as if floating. The way Li Nianyi spoiled and indulged her  it made her feel completely, utterly captivated, body and soul.

She liked her so much…

Later…

Li Nianyi had been looking for a new part time job.

Being a tutor for this rich young lady wasn’t a long-term solution. One day she might just get bored and fire her.

After finishing the day’s lessons, she was politely escorted out by the butler. But before she could leave the grand villa district, she remembered she’d left her tablet charging in the room.

She checked her bag it really was missing so she turned back.

But just as she reached the top of the stairs, she heard a familiar voice:

“Dai, you’d better stay out of this.”

It was Jiang Ji’s voice.

She turned instinctively and saw Li Nianyi standing there in shock.

“Jiang Ji? What are you doing here?”

Suddenly, the girl beside Jiang Ji — Dai  spoke:

“Sis, I told you not to keep hiding this from Teacher Li, but you wouldn’t listen. Now that she’s found out, I won’t help you cover it up anymore.”