After Breaking Up With the Scheming Bad Woman 2

Chapter 2: We’ll Talk When We Get Home.

In Huai Xing’s experience, few people ever said no to Chu Wantang. Besides, the pantries on both of the company’s floors were for public use, so what was there to mind?

She stood to the side, watching with a slightly dazed expression as Chu Wantang exchanged pleasantries with the two team leads, careful not to let her gaze linger too boldly.

Now that she was closer, she could see the exquisite earrings dangling from Chu Wantang’s porcelain-white earlobes, swaying gently with their owner’s slight movements. Shifting her gaze, she saw Chu Wantang’s long, thick lashes, her straight and elegant nose, and the faint upward curve of her lips.

“I forgot to bring my cup down. Are there any disposable paper cups in the cabinet?”

“No ice, thank you, Team Lead Fei.”

The pleasant voice flowed into Huai Xing’s ears. She lowered her eyes, preparing to take her cup and return to her desk.

But Gu Rufeng called out to her, “Xiao Huai.”

“Team Lead.” Huai Xing looked over again, restraining her gaze, not daring to let it rest too long on Chu Wantang. Chu Wantang, for her part, remained turned to the side, continuing her conversation with Fei Shutao, appearing completely uninterested in the scene beside her.

Gu Rufeng handed the rose over, her voice gentle. “You forgot the flower Team Lead Fei gave you.”

“Thank you for reminding me.”

Huai Xing took a step forward and accepted the rose.

The rose was wrapped in clear plastic, its thorns already removed, so it didn’t prick her. She clutched it tightly along with her cup and fled the suffocating scene.

As her figure disappeared from the corner of her eye, the coffee Fei Shutao had made was also ready.

Chu Wantang collected her thoughts and took a light sip. The bitter taste instantly spread through her mouth, the aroma filling her senses.

She thought of the ice cubes in Huai Xing’s cup, and the corners of her lips pressed down slightly, an imperceptible movement.

Beside her, Fei Shutao draped an arm over Gu Rufeng’s shoulder and asked with another smile, “Team Lead Gu, can you bring me along to your team dinner tonight? I don’t eat much, I swear. I have the appetite of a bird.”

“Get lost.”

Gu Rufeng pushed her face away, demonstrating a clear double standard. “If Director Chu had asked, I might have agreed.”

Chu Wantang’s fingertips gently traced the rim of her cup. Hearing this, she raised an eyebrow nonchalantly.

Two seconds later, her lazy voice rose.

“Is that so?”

“Where is Team Lead Gu planning to have dinner tonight?”

…

When Huai Xing returned to her desk, a box of chocolates had appeared.

She set down Ren Jiao’s cup and gave her a questioning look. Ren Jiao pointed in a certain direction.

It was a male colleague from Team 3 who had been showing interest in Huai Xing ever since she joined the company. Huai Xing had rejected his obvious advances every single time.

She hadn’t expected him to leave chocolates on her desk while she was in the pantry.

Normally, Huai Xing would have returned it privately to maintain a semblance of politeness.

But she was in a foul mood, holding in her anger. And after noticing her return, that male colleague was still looking over, watching her reaction.

Huai Xing pressed her lips together tightly. Without sitting down, she picked up the box of chocolates and walked directly to the male colleague’s desk. Her expression couldn’t help but turn cold, and the words that came out were just as devoid of warmth. “This would be more at home in a trash can, don’t you think?”

As she spoke, she placed the chocolates on his desk.

Everyone in the office area turned to look. The male colleague, having lost face, looked rather grim.

Just before he could say something nasty, Gu Rufeng happened to walk over. She clapped her hands, her tone cheerful. “Team 2 members, there are still two hours until we get off work. Have you finished the tasks at hand? We have a team dinner tonight, you know~” She patted Huai Xing’s shoulder. “Xiao Huai, get back to work.”

The interlude ended there. Huai Xing murmured an “Mm.”

Turning to the side, she saw Chu Wantang standing not far away, holding a cup of coffee, her expression unreadable.

From a few meters away, their eyes met.

Huai Xing’s hands hung at her sides. She curled her fingers. Her legs seemed to have a will of their own, wanting to step toward Chu Wantang. She even felt the urge to call out, “Jiejie.”

But ultimately, she was the one in control of her body. She didn’t take that step, and her lips remained sealed.

Chu Wantang’s gaze flickered to Huai Xing’s workstation for half a second before she looked away, leaving the marketing department with a placid expression.

She looked as if she were just passing by.

Huai Xing felt a thin layer of sweat break out on her skin. She returned to her desk on unsteady feet and sat down. The slanted sunlight enveloped her, but she felt as if she had been drenched by the tiny droplets of condensation on her coffee cup.

“Was that Director Chu just now?” Ren Jiao leaned over, asking in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Huai Xing’s lips moved with difficulty. “Yes.”

“Wow.” Ren Jiao cupped her face, her eyes sparkling. “It’s my first time seeing her in person after being here for so long. She’s so, so beautiful, like a celebrity…”

Huai Xing had heard such praise many times in the past.

The first time she heard something similar was at the parent-teacher conference during the second semester of her sophomore year of high school. It was an important mid-term conference. Her homeroom teacher, knowing about the tragedy that had struck her family two months prior, felt sorry for her. The teacher called her to the office and told her she could leave school and have fun on the day of the conference; after all, her grades were fine.

Huai Xing slowly shook her head. “My older sister will be there.”

The homeroom teacher was a little confused. “Older sister?”

She had never heard of one.

“Mm.” Huai Xing said nothing more.

At that time, she and Chu Wantang were not in the same city, separated by a thousand miles. She had called Chu Wantang about the conference, and Chu Wantang hadn’t given an immediate answer, only saying, “I’ll come if I have time.”

She knew what “if I have time” meant. Her mother used to say it to others all the time; it was just a polite turn of phrase.

But she was absolutely certain Chu Wantang would show up, because they were family, not strangers.

In the end, just as she had hoped, Chu Wantang appeared in her classroom before the conference began and sat in her chair. Huai Xing stood by Chu Wantang’s side. It was the first time they had appeared in public as “sisters.”

After the conference ended and Chu Wantang left, many classmates gathered around, praising Chu Wantang’s eloquence and beauty to Huai Xing.

For the next six years, many different people would say similar things to Huai Xing.

But never before had she been in a situation like this, where she couldn’t acknowledge her relationship with Chu Wantang.

She lowered her gaze, looking once more at the chat window with no new messages, and slowly deleted the words she had typed: I miss you so much.

She replied sluggishly, “Yeah, she is.”

…

Because it was Valentine’s Day, not everyone from the team could make it to the dinner. Only 12 single people were in attendance.

The dinner was at a Chinese restaurant not far from the office. The decor was upscale, the food was delicious, and the prices were reasonable—the top choice for work gatherings in the area.

Gu Rufeng was eloquent and knew the owner, which was how she had managed to book a table. The 12 of them sat around a large square table, a perfect fit.

There was alcohol on the table, but Huai Xing drank warm water. She sat between Ren Jiao and Gu Rufeng, eating quietly and listening to everyone chat and joke, occasionally offering a polite smile. It was only now that she, too, couldn’t help but feel that such gatherings encroached on one’s personal space and time.

With that thought, the speed at which she ate her rice unconsciously quickened.

But in the private room, Chu Wantang’s eating pace was unhurried, the picture of elegance.

The window of the restaurant’s private room was fitted with blinds spaced at just the right interval. She would occasionally lift her eyes to look outside, then slowly retract her gaze.

After she did this yet again, Su Cheng, who was sitting opposite her, was utterly exasperated. “Director Chu, if you’re really that worried about Xingxing, then please invite her in to eat with us, okay? Or you can just get out.”

Su Cheng was a long-time friend of Chu Wantang’s and had met Huai Xing early on.

Huai Xing had a pair of charming almond-shaped eyes, and because her name was a homophone for the word for apricot, Su Cheng had nicknamed her “Xingxing” upon their first meeting.

A dimple appeared on Chu Wantang’s lips. “What do I have to be worried about?”

“If you’re not worried, would you have followed them here?”

Chu Wantang frowned slightly, correcting her friend’s choice of words. “CEO Su, I’ve been on a business trip for half a month. I was missing the taste of this restaurant. Is there a problem with that?”

But Su Cheng wasn’t buying it. She feigned getting up, a grin on her face. “Well, I miss Xingxing, so I’m going to…”

Seeing the color drain from Chu Wantang’s face, she sighed and sat back down properly. “Fine, fine. I know you’re angry at her. I won’t go say hi for now.”

Several seconds later, Chu Wantang finally let out a soft “Mm.”

After swallowing the vegetables in her mouth, she lifted her gaze again, then slowly stood up. “I’m going to the restroom.”

In the restroom, Huai Xing was washing her face.

She had accidentally taken a sip of alcohol, and her face reacted quickly. Her cheeks were as red as ripe tomatoes, standing out starkly against her fair, clear skin. Not only that, but a layer of mist had clouded her eyes. She steadied her breathing and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Thank goodness Chu Wantang isn’t here right now. Otherwise, she’d worry if she saw me like this.

She didn’t want Chu Wantang’s concern. She had graduated from university over half a year ago; she wasn’t so naive anymore.

The moment that thought arose, the face she longed for appeared in the mirror.

Through the mirror’s surface, their gazes met for the second time that day.

“Jiejie…” Huai Xing wiped the water from her face, turned her head, and called out softly. She quickly scanned the restroom for any colleagues, but the people around were all strangers.

Chu Wantang walked over gracefully. The two-centimeter height difference between them was negligible. She lowered her eyelids slightly, showing no intention of speaking, and simply used a paper towel to silently wipe the water droplets from Huai Xing’s face.

The mirror reflected their close figures.

Huai Xing’s eyelashes were damp. She looked at the woman right in front of her and explained in a small voice, “I didn’t drink. That dish was a little spicy, and I grabbed the wrong cup by mistake.”

Chu Wantang uttered four words softly: “We’ll talk when we get home.”

“Okay.” Huai Xing broke into her most genuine smile of the day, her eyes curving into crescents. “You must be tired from your trip, Jiejie.”

Chu Wantang’s closed lips twitched into a slight smile.

Two minutes later, Huai Xing left the restroom first and returned to her seat.

Ren Jiao asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Huai Xing shook her head, unable to completely hide her smile.

Gu Rufeng, who had had a bit too much to drink, saw her expression and sighed, “Xiao Huai, you look like you found a few million in the restroom…”

Huai Xing smiled. “Better than a few million, Team Lead.”

“I didn’t know this restaurant had gold-plated toilets.”

That remark made everyone at the table laugh.

The smile on Huai Xing’s lips didn’t fade.

But in the next instant, she saw the retreating figures of Chu Wantang and Su Cheng as they left gracefully.

Her expression couldn’t help but darken.

So, she didn’t mean we were going home together.

…

It was eight-thirty when she got home.

Chu Wantang’s apartment was only six or seven kilometers from the financial district. The location was excellent, and the commute wasn’t too long.

Huai Xing’s heart had started to race the moment she left the dinner, and by the time she walked through the front door, it was beating erratically.

This was the Chu residence, the place she had lived for a long time over the past four years in Jingcheng. More importantly, no colleagues would discover that she and Chu Wantang were not strangers here.

A warm yellow light was on in the living room. Chu Wantang had already showered and dried her hair. She was sitting on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, her legs crossed, talking on the phone.

Huai Xing first changed into her loungewear, then padded over in her slippers and stood cautiously in front of her.

When the call ended, Chu Wantang put down her phone. She turned slightly, propping her head up with one hand on the arm of the sofa, her fingertips unconsciously twirling a strand of her hair.

The light in her brown eyes was soft, but her expression was somewhat cool, not as gentle as it had been in the restroom.

Huai Xing came before her, lowered her head, and admitted her mistake. “I’m sorry, Jiejie…”

“I didn’t intentionally hide the fact that I was interviewing at ‘Lan Ling’ from you. I wanted to ease some of your burden, and the position at ‘Lan Ling’ was a good fit. I swear, I won’t expose our sisterly relationship in front of my colleagues. I…”

Chu Wantang let out a soft laugh, cutting her off. “Have I or have I not told you not to drink iced things? But the moment I’m not around, you can add that much ice to your coffee? Is that it, Huai Xing?”

“I…” Huai Xing felt so guilty that her breathing grew shallow, her gaze darting away.

Chu Wantang then crooked a slender finger, gesturing for her to bend down and come closer. As she looked into her little sister’s clear, innocent eyes, she raised a hand and slowly placed it on the back of the girl’s neck, her thumb stroking the skin gently.

Seeing the girl’s eyelashes tremble, she added unhurriedly, “You handled the chocolates well, but… the rose Fei Shutao gave you, do I need to remind you to throw it away? Hmm?”