This Time, She Confesses First - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After the car was parked in the residential area, Jing Huan and Ke Qingyun got out one after the other. Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was momentarily strange. Jing Huan squeezed her fingers, turning to break the silence, intending to ask Ke Qingyun if there was anything else, and if not, she was off work.

But before she could speak, her thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

“Little Jing Huan.”

Si Yao had just returned from work, spotted Jing Huan from a distance, carrying grilled skewers and a whole case of canned coke. She walked over and asked, “What are you doing standing here? Why aren’t you upstairs?”

Only when she got closer did she notice there was someone else beside Jing Huan, tall and slender, with a particularly upright appearance and an unsmiling face. This made Si Yao look a few more times. She put her arm around Jing Huan’s shoulder and whispered, “Sure enough, good-looking people hang out with good-looking people. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Si Yao was tall with a large frame. With her arm draped over Jing Huan’s shoulder, the difference in their height made Jing Huan look especially delicate. Ke Qingyun glanced at them, then looked away, waiting for Jing Huan to introduce her.

“This is my boss, Ms. Ke.” Jing Huan desperately signaled to Si Yao with her eyes. They had been roommates for so long. If she didn’t stop Si Yao’s mouth now, who knew what astonishing words might come out later.

Si Yao restrained herself a little upon hearing this, smiling and nodding to Ke Qingyun, very courteously, “Hello, Boss. Thank you for taking care of Little Jing Huan.”

Her words were very formal, with a protective elder tone, which made Jing Huan extremely embarrassed, her cheeks starting to burn. Ke Qingyun didn’t show her alcohol intake on her face and wasn’t rowdy; she spoke clearly. Jing Huan was anxious to leave, so she naturally assumed Ke Qingyun was fine, “Ms. Ke, if there’s nothing else, I’m off work.”

Ke Qingyun seemed not to hear Jing Huan. She smiled faintly and asked, “Are you Jing Huan’s roommate?”

“Yes, we’re roommates,” Si Yao said, then, feeling it wasn’t personal enough, she added, “Little Jing Huan is also my junior from school.”

Ke Qingyun nodded, asking as if casually, “Then, how much is the rent for you two living together?”

Si Yao simply took it as the boss being easygoing and didn’t overthink it, speaking candidly, “Including utility bills and property management fees, it’s about fifteen hundred a month.”

“Is that so.”

Ke Qingyun subtly glanced at Jing Huan, her words carrying a hidden meaning, “It seems fifteen hundred is quite cheap.”

The intense gaze made Jing Huan unable to look up. She wished she could find a place to hide. “It is relatively cheap. The room is very large… bright, and the water bill is also very cheap.”

Ke Qingyun acknowledged with an “En,” and gave her leave, “It’s off work now. Go back.”

Only when Ke Qingyun walked away did Si Yao ask, “What’s your boss’s name? She seems quite nice.”

“Ke Qingyun.”

Jing Huan’s head drooped, looking listless, “She is quite nice.”

Si Yao eyed her, “Then why do you look so miserable?”

Jing Huan sighed, “Work is too tiring.”

Especially in a large corporation, the intricate machinations between leaders were overwhelming her. She had to be cautious in everything, afraid that a single word or action would offend her superior. It was too difficult to protect herself.

“I bought grilled skewers and coke. Let’s go back and replenish our energy,” Si Yao said.

Jing Huan politely said, “You shouldn’t have spent money again.”

Si Yao, “If you feel bad about the cost, you can choose to pay via Alipay or WeChat.”

“…” Jing Huan said helplessly, “Fine, no problem.”

Listening to work grievances is the inherent duty of every roommate. Jing Huan originally didn’t intend to say anything, but after half a can of coke, she couldn’t hold back and recounted what happened today.

Si Yao was perplexed after listening, “That Mr. Wang is indeed disgusting, but your boss already stood up for you. You should feel relieved.”

Stood up for me?

Jing Huan chuckled, “You don’t think the boss ridiculed Mr. Wang truly for my sake, do you?”

Si Yao paused, “Wasn’t it?”

“It’s not that simple.”

Jing Huan described the welcoming dinner that evening, “I originally thought it was just a meal between leaders, but I didn’t expect those people to have more tricks up their sleeves than a honeycomb. They had hidden meanings in their words and were passive-aggressive. It was basically a feast at Hong Gate. An assistant is, at most, cannon fodder in the middle. You shouldn’t take yourself too seriously.”

Si Yao said, “Could it be that you’re overthinking it? Why would your boss ridicule someone for no reason? As you said, he was a leader from Beijing. If he hadn’t disgusted Ke Qingyun herself, she wouldn’t need to risk offending him, right?”

Jing Huan was taken aback. She didn’t know either. “Leaders are smooth operators. It’s best to stay out of their business.”

“Maybe she just wanted to care about you,” Si Yao disagreed with Jing Huan’s assessment.

“…” How could that be?

Jing Huan shook her head, “No way.”

It should be a happy thing for a leader to care for and protect her. Si Yao didn’t understand why Jing Huan was unwilling to admit it. “You seem to have a lot of issues with your boss.”

“I don’t,” Jing Huan explained. “Before I started work, my dad warned me that working in a big company means you can’t do whatever you want, and especially, you can’t be nosy and self-righteous.”

Si Yao scoffed, teasing, “That’s way too cautious. Could it be that you have a crush on your boss, and that’s why you’re deliberately keeping your distance?”

The freshly opened coke was already very fizzy. Jing Huan was choked by the gaseous compounds in her nasal cavity and throat. Tears streamed out, and she covered her mouth, complaining, “Why is this coke so spicy?”

Si Yao was dumbfounded, “I just said that casually. Did I actually guess correctly?”

“No,” Jing Huan lowered her head, denying it, “I don’t like her anymore.”

Si Yao raised an eyebrow. That word ‘anymore’ was very telling. She asked tentatively, “You and Ke Qingyun have a history?”

Jing Huan pursed her lips, finding it difficult to speak, but to move past something, she first had to start accepting it herself. “I liked her a long time ago.”

After taking a deep breath, her voice became very desolate.

“She didn’t like me.”

Si Yao paused slightly, nodding, regretting having asked. She reached out and patted Jing Huan’s shoulder in comfort, “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ve been rejected too. It’s perfectly normal.”

Jing Huan rested her chin on her knee, forcing a smile, and laughed, turning her head to say, “It’s so embarrassing, though.”

Because of Si Yao’s comment, she cares about you, Jing Huan couldn’t sleep after taking a shower and lying in bed. After failing to force herself to sleep for the third time, Jing Huan turned on the bedside lamp, reached for her phone, and unlocked it.

Forcing oneself to sleep when restless only leads to overthinking. It was better to look at her phone to pass the time. Jing Huan opened Weibo, scrolled through a few messages, exited, and then opened WeChat. Led by a strange impulse, she tapped into her chat window with Ke Qingyun. Their usual chats revolved entirely around work, with little non-essential talk.

“Understood, Ms. Ke.”

“Got it, Ms. Ke.”

“I’ll go take care of it right away, Ms. Ke.”

Jing Huan looked at her past replies and felt like laughing. In just over half a month, she had become a qualified corporate drone. Sigh!

She suddenly noticed Ke Qingyun’s profile picture—a landscape image of green mountains, clear water, blue sky, and white clouds, vast and natural. It seemed to possess a spiritual magic that drew Jing Huan to click on it, even though she knew there wouldn’t be any new content that interested her.

“You tapped ‘Ms. Ke.'”

Ahhh!

Jing Huan bolted upright in bed, staring blankly at the last sentence in the chat history. The indescribable sense of shame and embarrassment made her cheeks burn and her hair prickle. She knew that secretly looking at someone else’s moments late at night would bring retribution.

What should I do? What should I do?

Jing Huan’s brain short-circuited for about ten seconds before she remembered that the “tap” function had a revoke option. She quickly long-pressed, intending to revoke it.

“Not asleep yet?”

Her phone vibrated. Ke Qingyun messaged her.

In that instant, countless excuses flashed through her mind. Jing Huan’s fingers froze. She swallowed hard, agonizing over which excuse would be best.

“Headache.”

Ke Qingyun sent her another message.

Jing Huan was stunned. Her throat felt extremely dry. She curled her fingers, “Drink some glucose. You’ll feel better.”

Ms. Ke: “I don’t have any at home.”

Jing Huan exhaled, “Do you need me to bring some over?”

After sending this message, Jing Huan put down her phone and started putting on clothes. Her phone vibrated on the bedside table, and the screen lit up, “Do you have any at your place?”

No.

Fortunately, the pharmacy at the complex entrance wasn’t closed yet at this hour. Jing Huan bundled up in her thick down jacket, bought two boxes of glucose, and went straight to Ke Qingyun’s apartment.

Whoosh—

Ke Qingyun flushed the toilet, sitting on the floor leaning against it, her eyes gently closed. Usually, after throwing up, her headache would subside, but for some reason today, her temples were throbbing relentlessly, as if defying her.

The phone placed on the washstand remained quiet, indicating no incoming messages.

After sitting still for about ten minutes, Ke Qingyun slowly regained consciousness, knowing she couldn’t sit there any longer or she’d catch a cold. The annual meeting still had a stack of things waiting for her to handle.

Ke Qingyun braced herself against the toilet lid, attempting to stand up, when the doorbell suddenly rang, making her pause slightly as she looked towards the bathroom door.

The doorbell rang twice with no response from inside. Jing Huan’s brow furrowed, anxious. She pulled out her phone from her pocket, just about to call Ke Qingyun, when the door suddenly opened from the inside. Jing Huan’s heart violently jumped with the sound of the opening door.

Ke Qingyun was leaning against the wall, her breathing a little heavy. She looked up at Jing Huan, “I thought you weren’t coming.”

“I don’t have glucose at my place,” Jing Huan said. “It took some time to go buy it at the complex entrance.”

Ke Qingyun’s gaze shifted upward. She saw that Jing Huan’s cheeks were indeed red from the wind, and the tip of her nose was red. She moved aside, “Come in first.”

“Okay.”

The door closed. Jing Huan skillfully found the warm water and a cup, mixed the glucose, and saw Ke Qingyun half-reclined on the sofa, supporting her head with her elbow, her brows tightly knitted, looking very uncomfortable.

“Ms. Ke, the glucose is mixed.” Fearing she might startle Ke Qingyun, Jing Huan kept her voice low. “Please drink it quickly. You’ll feel better after you drink it.”

Ke Qingyun lifted her eyelids, gave a faint look, and then slowly closed them again, much like a child refusing to take medicine. Jing Huan hesitated, took two steps closer, bent down, and brought the cup to Ke Qingyun’s mouth, reminding her, “Open your mouth.”

“…” Ke Qingyun’s lips moved, mumbling something.

Jing Huan didn’t catch it and had to lean in closer, “Ms. Ke, what did you say?”

“…Heartless.”

This time, she finally heard clearly. Ke Qingyun was scolding her.

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