This Time, She Confesses First - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was well known that the subways in the Magic City were crowded, but Jing Huan hadn’t expected them to be this crowded. She held up her arms, about twenty centimeters from her body, carrying a bag of mangoes home—no, more accurately, it was mango juice now.

The graduate dormitory was a two-person room, and her roommate hadn’t returned yet. Jing Huan put down her backpack, dumped the bag into the sink, and managed to salvage three relatively intact mangoes from the bag of orange-yellow liquid. The rest were all washed down the drain.

In this season, premium mangoes cost nearly twenty yuan per half-kilo. Jing Huan felt heartbroken and shook her head with a sigh.

“Oh? You’re back.”

Just as she finished cutting the mangoes, her roommate, Qi Mengmeng, returned. She looked at Jing Huan with an exaggerated, ghost-seeing expression: “How could a Fortune Global 500 company let employees off work this early?”

“It’s already 8:30 PM. That’s not early,” Jing Huan handed over the fruit plate, propped her chin on one hand, and said honestly: “I’m just an intern. Even if I wanted to work overtime on my first day, I don’t have any work yet.”

“True.”

Qi Mengmeng speared a piece of mango with a toothpick and winked at Jing Huan, “Quickly tell me, what’s it like working in a big company? Are there a lot of handsome guys and beautiful girls? And is the boss the ‘domineering president’ type?”

Jing Huan twitched the corner of her mouth and gave a helpless smile: “I told you to read less fiction, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“Ah? No way,” Qi Mengmeng frowned, clutching her chest tragically: “Don’t tell me your boss is also a middle-aged man with a big belly and a receding hairline, oh no! Can’t a girl have any dreaming material these days?”

Jing Huan froze slightly, speared a piece of mango and fed it into her mouth. The previous pieces were all sweet, but this one felt numb: “No.”

Ke Qingyun was certainly not a middle-aged man with a big belly and a receding hairline. On the contrary, her hair was dark and thick, her figure slender and tall, and her rosy lips set off her fair, flawless skin. She looked more mature than she did seven years ago, with sharp eyebrows and a powerful aura. This was probably a necessary quality for a boss, especially one managing over a hundred people.

Jing Huan never imagined she would see Ke Qingyun again, let alone as her special assistant. The moment she saw Ke Qingyun, aside from shock and surprise, Jing Huan didn’t deny the hidden, uncontrollable joy in her heart. However, this feeling of surprise lasted less than half a minute before vanishing completely, because the other party clearly didn’t remember who she was.

“CEO Ke, this is the new intern.”

At that moment, Jing Huan stood slightly behind the HR manager. She saw the woman sitting in the office slightly lift her eyelids when she heard the sound, sweeping a fleeting glance at the doorway. The brief look didn’t even allow her to take in Jing Huan’s entire body before she lowered her head and said emotionlessly: “Got it.”

The Ke Qingyun sitting in the office looked even more distant than the older sister who had rejected her seven years ago.

So much time had passed, and Jing Huan naturally held no further improper fantasies about Ke Qingyun. However, being forgotten by the other party still brought a touch of sourness when she recalled it.

Qi Mengmeng waved her hand in front of Jing Huan’s eyes, “Huanhuan, what did you mean ‘No’?”

Jing Huan snapped back to reality, the corner of her mouth slightly curved, “Nothing. Oh, right, I’m moving out next Saturday. I won’t be staying in the dorm with you anymore.”

Qi Mengmeng immediately frowned sadly and hugged Jing Huan reluctantly, “You found an apartment so fast? Waaah, what will I do when you leave? Why don’t you stay? A forty-minute commute is actually fine, and the subway isn’t that crowded.”

Jing Huan hugged Qi Mengmeng back and gently patted her a few times, “I don’t want to leave you either, but the company’s new office is too far from school. Thankfully, we’re still in the same city, and we can still meet up on weekends. Be good, don’t be sad.”

HR notified all departments to move their offices to the park area before New Year’s Day. The park was in the high-tech development zone outside the Fourth Ring Road. Getting there from school would involve a bus transfer and subway, taking over two hours, which was completely impractical. So, before starting work, Jing Huan had found an apartment near the park.

“Moving to the new office means you’ll be working with a bunch of old men and women, right?”

Jing Huan’s company was politely called the Health and Wellness business group. It provided integrated medical and elderly care services according to international standards. To put it bluntly, it was a high-end nursing home. After the park opened, dealing with the elderly was inevitable, but it wasn’t as exaggerated as Qi Mengmeng made it sound.

While the residents’ living areas and the employees’ office areas were close, they were strictly separated. In principle, non-essential personnel could not affect the clients’ living experience. After all, the people who could live there were not ordinary elderly; they were knowledgeable, had status, and background. Moving into the park was a way for them to change their lifestyle, make friends, and enrich themselves—in a sense, it was also a way to combat loneliness.

Jing Huan looked up: “I’m not sure yet if internal staff can move around inside the park.”

Qi Mengmeng sighed: “Well, I’ll help you move next Saturday then.”

“Okay, you’re helping me so much. I’ll treat you to dinner sometime.”

Qi Mengmeng rested her head on Jing Huan’s shoulder, acting out her ‘chuunibyou’ phase again: “How can I bear to see my woman suffer and toil?”

Jing Huan held back a laugh and showed disgust: “Can you stop being so cheesy, student Mengmeng?”

They chatted for a few minutes, and Jing Huan’s phone on the desk rang. It was from Ke Qingyun’s special assistant, Zhu Sisi. HR had mentioned earlier today that Zhu Sisi would hand over her work and resign at the end of the month, and Jing Huan would take over her position. That’s why she had been shadowing Zhu Sisi all day.

Jing Huan put her index finger to her mouth and shushed Qi Mengmeng before answering, “Hello, Sister Sisi.”

“Jing Huan, I’m Zhu Sisi. I remember you have a driver’s license, is that right?”

Jing Huan didn’t know why she suddenly asked this, and answered truthfully: “Yes, I have one.”

“Then go out now, take a taxi to the Sycamore Hotel and pick up CEO Ke.” Zhu Sisi was definitely an experienced special assistant, wasting no words: “I’ll reimburse the taxi fare.”

Jing Huan was stunned, unable to object. Her mind was filled with the thought that she had to go pick up Ke Qingyun, and her heart unconsciously tightened a little.

“CEO Ke’s dinner will probably end around 9:30 PM. The car is parked in the underground parking lot, Section D. I’ll send you the license plate number. Once you arrive, find the car first, and then wait for CEO Ke to finish dinner and drive her home.” Zhu Sisi continued to instruct.

Jing Huan’s heart was pounding, but she still retained a sliver of rationality, “Sister Sisi, who do I get the car keys from?”

“The front desk.”

Zhu Sisi said, “I’ll send you CEO Ke’s phone number and WeChat later. You can contact CEO Ke directly when you arrive.”

“Oh, okay.”

Jing Huan hung up the phone, licked her dry lips, and turned to Qi Mengmeng: “A Fortune Global 500 company really doesn’t let employees off work that early.”

Qi Mengmeng was dumbfounded.

Ke Qingyun had been drinking tonight, and quite a bit. Her cheeks were flushed, and her curled eyelashes cast a shadow on her lower lids, softening her features. She hadn’t spoken since getting into the car, leaning against the window with her eyes closed, her beautiful eyebrows knitted together, looking quite uncomfortable.

Sister Sisi hadn’t taught her how to handle this situation. Jing Huan glanced in the rearview mirror, speaking in a businesslike tone: “CEO Ke, where do you live?”

“…Hmm?” Ke Qingyun murmured, slowly opening her eyes. The confined space of the car made her feel a little breathless, and her vision was unfocused. “Open the window first.”

“Okay.” Jing Huan quickly lowered all the windows completely. The chilly air instantly flooded the car, and Ke Qingyun’s headache finally eased. Her gaze moved up to the driver’s seat, and she paused slightly. The person picking her up wasn’t Zhu Sisi, but that child.

“CEO Ke, are you okay?”

Ke Qingyun didn’t speak for a long time. Jing Huan was a little worried and turned her head to check if she was unwell, suddenly catching sight of her deep, captivating phoenix eyes. Her heart skipped a beat.

Jing Huan was very familiar with this feeling. Seven years ago, she often used the excuse of fetching something or bringing fruit to sneak a peek at Ke Qingyun in Jing Yuan’s room. Every time she was caught by Ke Qingyun’s gaze, her heart would race like it was now.

She was young back then and didn’t know how to hide her feelings. Liking someone meant liking them, and every thought was written on her face. Now it was different. Even if her heart was pounding like a drum, she could pretend to be unaffected.

“What a coincidence,” Ke Qingyun smiled at Jing Huan, “Little friend.”

So, she still remembered.

Being rejected after confessing was indeed a very embarrassing and difficult thing to accept at the time. Jing Huan secretly cried under the covers for two consecutive nights. The next day, her eyes were swollen like walnuts. When her mother asked what was wrong, Jing Huan immediately started tearing up again but didn’t say anything.

This worried her mother sick. She quickly asked the teacher for leave to take Jing Huan to the doctor. The doctor said the child was only feeling down due to excessive study pressure and had no major problems, but her mother was so scared that she didn’t rush Jing Huan’s homework for an entire year.

The person she met in her youth was too stunning and excellent. Jing Huan admitted that it was hard to forget the person in front of her, but it didn’t mean she still harbored any hope of something happening with Ke Qingyun. Time may not have helped her forget everything, but it taught her composure and dignity.

“Yes, what a coincidence, CEO Ke.”

The child who used to chase after her calling her ‘Jiejie’ suddenly started calling her ‘CEO Ke’ in a serious tone. Ke Qingyun paused slightly, twitched her lips, and asked: “How are Jing Yuan’s grades now? He should be taking the college entrance exam this year, right?”

“After you tutored him, his grades have been excellent. He got into A University this year,” Jing Huan said: “My mom always brings you up, saying thank you for tutoring my brother back then and helping him discover a talent for math.”

Ke Qingyun smiled dismissively, “What about you?”

“Me? I graduate next year,” Jing Huan said.

Ke Qingyun looked up: “You went for a Master’s degree?”

“Yes.”

Ke Qingyun nodded and didn’t pursue the conversation further. The alcohol was wearing off, and her mouth started to feel bitter. She instinctively reached into her pocket for a cigarette. Noticing Jing Huan’s gaze when she looked up, her hand paused.

“Do you mind?”

Jing Huan shook her head, “I don’t mind.”

The smoke wasn’t harsh, even carrying a faint fruity scent. Jing Huan glanced in the rearview mirror. Ke Qingyun held the cigarette between her fingers, resting her forehead on the back of her hand, gently exhaling the smoke.

When the cigarette burned down, Ke Qingyun pushed open the car door and threw the butt into the roadside trash can. She didn’t rush back into the car but stood bent over by the trash can for a long time.

She had her back to Jing Huan, so Jing Huan couldn’t see her expression. After glancing twice, Jing Huan was sure she was vomiting. She got out of the car, walked over, and asked, “CEO Ke, do you need water?”

Ke Qingyun turned her head. Perhaps because she had just vomited, her eyes looked misty, adding a touch of vulnerability. “Call me CEO Ke again, and I’ll be sad.”

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