~~~
The office was quiet. Su Jinglan, ears perked up, caught Wen Wanyuan’s words. She narrowed her eyes slightly, her lowered gaze falling on the steaming tea as she calmly continued savoring its aroma without missing a beat.
Ning Jiuwei’s face paled in an instant, her heart leaping into her throat at Wen Wanyuan’s startled exclamation. Her voice caught, barely able to squeeze out a sound. From the other end of the line, Wen Wanyuan pressed, “Is it her?”
“I just got back to the company. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Ning Jiuwei steadied her expression, tamped down her emotions, and spoke to Wen Wanyuan in the mild, professional tone she reserved for clients. “Whatever it is, we can talk when I have a moment free. Right now, I need to report to my boss.”
Wen Wanyuan tugged at her hair over the phone, hearing nothing unusual in Ning Jiuwei’s steady voice. She yanked at a stubborn tuft, muttering half to herself and half to Ning Jiuwei, “It’s not her, then.”
If it had been that Su Jinglan, Ning Jiuwei never would have been anywhere near her.
Wen Wanyuan wanted to say more, but the call had already cut off.
Frowning, she spiraled into a whirlwind of thoughts. Without a clear answer to settle her churning emotions, she couldn’t calm down. Grabbing her car keys and slinging her bag over her shoulder, she snapped her laptop shut and set off to find Ning Jiuwei.
The call had spilled plenty of details: Ning Jiuwei was at the company right now. With her razor-sharp logic and knack for storytelling, her work report wouldn’t take more than half an hour. Showing up now would catch her right when she wrapped up.
Wen Wanyuan tossed her bag onto the passenger seat, buckled her seatbelt, and racked her brain for an excuse to drop by unannounced.
She had friended Ning Jiuwei’s little assistant on WeChat, and all work meetings went through her. Rather than peel out immediately, Wen Wanyuan pulled up Assistant Tan’s chat and fired off a message first.
No questions—pure statement, assertive as a demand.
Wen Wanyuan: Assistant Tan, I’ll arrive at your company in forty minutes to discuss the custom collaboration details with Designer Ning.
Message sent, phone chucked into the center cup holder. She released the handbrake and sped toward Ning Jiuwei’s company.
Ning Jiuwei slipped her phone back into her pocket as if nothing had happened. She sat ramrod straight on the sofa opposite Su Jinglan, steeling herself against that knowing smile. With utmost professionalism, she launched into a report of her recent business trip.
Designers thrived on inspiration—what they saw and heard fueled their creativity. Freelancers like Ning Jiuwei enjoyed unparalleled freedom compared to the buttoned-up sorts in open-plan offices, churning out drawings to rigid company quotas. They also wielded ironclad self-discipline.
Put simply, they could do whatever they pleased.
Ning Jiuwei gave a concise rundown: the places she’d visited, the orders she’d wrapped up, the new customs she’d taken on.
While out, Assistant Tan had stayed in touch with the company’s Assistant Zhou, sifting through new client documents each day and lining up meeting schedules. Ning Jiuwei had one ironclad rule for commissions: she had to meet the client face-to-face before committing.
In Wen Hai over those days, only one had made the cut—Shen Lanyan.
Ning Jiuwei held nothing back; there was no need to. At the close of her report, she laid it all out for Su Jinglan.
“Miss Shen placed an additional custom order: a necklace and brooch. Fees follow the prior custom contract—thirty percent deposit upfront, another thirty on the drafts, balance due within a week of completion.”
A straight-up work debrief, zero personal details.
Other people’s reports droned on like white noise, but anything from Ning Jiuwei’s lips held you rapt, no matter the topic. Su Jinglan sipped her tea now and then, nodding at pivotal moments to signal she was tuned in and to keep going.
When Ning Jiuwei finished, Su Jinglan nodded once more. This time, Ning Jiuwei fell silent, meeting her gaze with a mild expression that said: report complete.
“Looks like Designer Ning came back with a haul—and no work slipped through the cracks.” Su Jinglan wrapped it up, signaling her approval. “Oh, right—after I got back, did you meet Miss Shen one-on-one?”
“No. Miss Shen left Wen Hai the same day as President Su.” That very night Su Jinglan departed, Shen Lanyan had messaged: she needed to rush back to Jiangji for a script read-through on her new drama. They’d hash out the custom details another time, once back in Jiangji.
Su Jinglan’s mood lightened. She smiled, set down her nearly empty teacup, and rose to head behind her desk.
She didn’t say what for, or dismiss Ning Jiuwei. Remaining seated on the sofa, Ning Jiuwei’s eyes tracked the tall, graceful figure, absorbing every motion.
Su Jinglan bent slightly at the waist and tugged open the drawer on the right side of the desk. The angle of her bend and stretch pinpointed it: the second drawer down.
Ning Jiuwei lightly furrowed her brows. The unease she had suppressed earlier now surged violently again in a place hidden from Su Jinglan’s view. A swarm of emotions clutched at her heart, tugging dully as if desperate to drag those long-buried memories from the depths and thrust them back into the light.
A sharp thud echoed from the desk as a drawer slammed shut, yanking Ning Jiuwei’s wandering thoughts back to the present. She looked up to see Su Jinglan smiling as she rounded the desk and approached her.
“I noticed you seemed interested in psychology before, so I brought a few books I had on hand. Don’t turn your nose up at them, Designer Ning.” Su Jinglan handed over the books, including the very copy of Cognitive Psychology that Ning Jiuwei had spotted in the library. The original author, translator, and publisher all matched perfectly.
The plastic wrap was missing, but the books looked pristine, without so much as a single crease from being opened.
Ning Jiuwei took them and gave them a quick once-over, immediately sensing they had never been read.
Pretending these were well-thumbed favorites to pass off to her?
“Thank you, President Su.” Ning Jiuwei tucked the books away and rose to her feet. “I’ll get back to work now.”
Su Jinglan arched a brow with an amused smile, ribbing her gently. “All the other colleagues came back from your Wen Hai trip with souvenirs, but I’ve got nothing?”
On her way past the open-plan office earlier, she had watched Assistant Tan lugging a big bag around, handing out Wen Hai specialties to everyone at their desks—and making a point to say they were from Designer Ning.
“Of course you do.” Souvenirs were just a small gesture anyway, hardly costing much. Ning Jiuwei had bought extra to make sure there was plenty to go around. Even after handing them out to the entire Jewelry Design Department, she still had leftovers. Back in her office, she fired off a quick message to Assistant Tan.
A minute later, Assistant Tan came trotting up, cradling two bundles of Wen Hai treats, and marched straight into the President’s Office. “President Su, these are the specialties Designer Ning picked up. She made a point of telling me to give you an extra helping.”
Assistant Tan couldn’t help thinking back to the cozy moments between the two women on that business trip—and Designer Ning’s flat denial that they were an item. Who knew what President Su really thought? Testing the waters, she added, “Designer Ning clearly has a soft spot for you.”
Su Jinglan hadn’t been thrilled about Assistant Tan being the messenger, but that piqued her interest. “A soft spot, huh? Just because of one extra share?”
“Exactly.” The president’s mood had visibly brightened, easing the tension in the air. Assistant Tan grinned. “Everyone else got just one portion. Only you got two. That means Designer Ning likes you, President Su.”
Su Jinglan stared down at the treats in her hands, seemingly oblivious to the final remark. “Designer Ning likes… what, exactly?”
“You, President Su.”
“Back to work.” Su Jinglan’s heart quietly burst into bloom as she stashed the exclusive double helping away in her drawer.
The moment Assistant Tan returned to her desk, Little Zhou appeared with a digital recorder in hand, a strip of fish jerky dangling from her mouth as she mumbled around it, “Assistant Tan, here’s that chat recording from Miss Ye. This jerky is to die for.”
“Here—take another share.” The audio file was already on her phone, and now the recorder too. The play was obvious. Assistant Tan didn’t hesitate, pulling an extra bundle from her bag and pressing it into Little Zhou’s hands.
“You’re the best, Assistant Tan.”
Assistant Tan never missed a chance to sing Designer Ning’s praises. “My Designer Ning’s the generous one.”
Little Zhou’s eyes lit up at that. She leaned in to poke fun at Tan Yushu. “Your Designer Ning? Looks like our Assistant Tan’s got a crush on the Chief Designer.”
She poked, then bolted before the souvenir could be snatched back.
Wen Wanyuan had visited once before and knew the way to Ning Jiuwei’s office. By the time the front desk alerted Assistant Tan to a guest and she hurried to the elevator area, she ran into Wen Wanyuan already in the open-plan office passageway.
“No need to play guide, Little Assistant—I know right where Jiuwei’s office is.” Today Wen Wanyuan sported a shirt in a soft pink-to-blue gradient, blending her sweet charm with a touch of icy edge. Her long hair fell in lazy waves over her shoulders.
She slipped into the office, shut the door, and locked it.
Ning Jiuwei glanced up unhurriedly from sorting her documents and materials. “Sorry, Miss Wen, but I don’t have time these days to take on your custom design.”
“Putting distance between us now?” Wen Wanyuan dragged the chair across from the desk and dropped into it, propping her chin on interlaced fingers. Her ink-black eyes fixed pleadingly on the woman focused intently at the desk. “Ah Mu, that woman across the way—is she Su Jinglan?”
As she spoke, Wen Wanyuan tilted her chin subtly toward the opposite office, her gaze darting that way.
“Mm.” Ning Jiuwei nodded offhandedly, not breaking stride. “That’s the president’s name.”
Wen Wanyuan shot bolt upright. “It really is her!”
“What’s this? Got a thing for President Su?” Ning Jiuwei juggled her tasks effortlessly. “She’s right across the hall. Go say hi.”
Wen Wanyuan stared at Ning Jiuwei’s face, trying to read any flicker of emotion that might confirm her suspicions.
Ning Jiuwei’s expression remained utterly unchanged, as if she were simply chatting about a new colleague—someone she knew only in a professional capacity.
Could it really not be her? Wen Wanyuan couldn’t be certain. Involuntarily, she turned her head toward the office across the way.
Su Jinglan sat in the boss chair behind her desk in the opposite room, her cold eyes locking onto Wen Wanyuan’s. Their gazes met across the two glass walls, and Wen Wanyuan’s heart clenched. A shiver of dread ran through her, an overwhelming pressure radiating from the woman opposite her.
She was terrifying.
Wen Wanyuan hastily looked away, turning back to Ning Jiuwei. “The first time I saw Su Jinglan, her face felt strangely familiar. It’s been so many years—she’s grown up, matured. She doesn’t look quite like she did in that photo.”
“What photo?” Ning Jiuwei paused in her work, genuine confusion flickering in her eyes.
Every answer was seamless, every reaction impeccable. There wasn’t a single crack in her facade.
Wen Wanyuan was convinced now. It wasn’t that Su Jinglan.
Sitting face-to-face like this, she could surely spot a lie if Ning Jiuwei tried to tell one.
“I must have gotten it wrong.” Wen Wanyuan smiled, letting the topic drop. She glanced at the time. “It’s lunchtime. Come on, I’ll treat you. We can talk over the meal.”
~~~
