Chapter 23: VIP Entry Notice

“Sorry…” Meng Chuning’s cheeks suddenly flushed bright red. “Did I squeeze you too hard?”

As she spoke, Jiang Xiaoyi felt the leg around her waist loosen. She lifted her gaze and saw Meng Chuning’s face flushed with embarrassment.

It was just one sentence—why was her face so red?

They were standing so close that Jiang Xiaoyi could smell the faint fragrance from Big Boss Sister’s neck.

Her eyes drifted downward to Meng Chuning’s red lips, mere inches away. Jiang Xiaoyi’s gaze flickered slightly; she couldn’t detect any lipstick scent.

After a few seconds of pause, Jiang Xiaoyi turned her face away and said, “It doesn’t hurt. It just felt a little itchy.”

“Mmm…” Meng Chuning held her breath lightly, still not recovered from that earlier conversation. If Jiang Xiaoyi had said something like that to her in bed, she would have climaxed on the spot…

“Come down.” Jiang Xiaoyi helped her off the office desk, then crouched to tidy up the scattered boxes at her feet.

Once Meng Chuning had steadied herself, she asked, “You said earlier you had to go out?”

Jiang Xiaoyi decided not to mention the gift shopping. After a moment’s thought, she replied, “I have something to take care of outside. I’ll be back soon.”

“Alright. Should I wait here for you?” Meng Chuning’s eyes held a faint glimmer of expectation.

Jiang Xiaoyi nodded. The way Meng Chuning had clamped her waist earlier had made her forget to ask why she needed someone to spend her birthday with. Were all of Meng Chuning’s family and friends too busy with work?

As she passed Shen Ling’s desk on her way out, Jiang Xiaoyi caught a glimpse of her cradling her face with a beaming smile at a photo on her screen.

It was a quick glance, but the photo was of her and Meng Chuning.

In the picture, their arms were pressed close together. Jiang Xiaoyi was beaming brightly at the camera, while Meng Chuning gazed sideways at her.

Jiang Xiaoyi froze. Was it just a candid shot by coincidence?

“Are there any other photos?” Jiang Xiaoyi leaned over and whispered. Shen Ling tried to close her computer, but it was too late. “Yeah, do you want them? I can send them to you.”

“Sure, thanks.” Jiang Xiaoyi opened WeChat and added Shen Ling as a friend. Shen Ling nearly jumped out of her seat in excitement. “I’ll send them right now.”

Her phone buzzed five times in quick succession. Jiang Xiaoyi received five photos from Shen Ling.

She tapped them open one by one. The first four all showed Meng Chuning staring at her, and only the last one had her facing the camera.

So it wasn’t all of them staring at her.

Shen Ling watched as Jiang Xiaoyi’s fingers opened the originals and saved them. All five photos downloaded to her phone.

Aaaah, she loves this so much.

Shen Ling’s big eyes sparkled as she nearly burst with excitement. “Miss Jiang, are you spending President Meng’s birthday with her tonight?”

Jiang Xiaoyi looked up. Shen Ling suddenly felt like she’d overstepped. “I’m not prying into your privacy. I just wanted to say that last year, President Meng spent her birthday alone in the office. If you’re with her this year, she won’t be lonely.”

“Alone last year?” Jiang Xiaoyi found it odd. “How could Meng Chuning spend it by herself when she has so many friends?”

Shen Ling explained, “President Meng had just returned to the country and taken over YN Group last year. She didn’t have many friends here, and her family wasn’t around.”

Noticing the faint daze on Jiang Xiaoyi’s face, Shen Ling continued, “This year, the friends around her are all busy with their careers, and I heard her family doesn’t make a big deal out of her birthday either.”

Didn’t Meng Fanyu care either?

Suddenly, Jiang Xiaoyi felt a pang of sympathy for Meng Chuning. How could anyone overlook her birthday?

…

Jiang Xiaoyi headed to a nearby mall and picked out a satisfactory gift, boxing it up. She made a detour to a creative dessert shop as well.

On the way back to YN Group, something occurred to her, and she shook Su Jiuyue on WeChat.

Xiao Yi: 【Picture】

Xiao Yi: 【What brand, shade number, and flavor is this?】

Su Jiuyue: 【What did you crop the picture of? It’s just lips?】

Su Jiuyue: 【But whose lips are these? They’re perfect.】

Xiao Yi: 【They really are perfect.】

Su Jiuyue: 【It’s shade 08 from this brand.】

Jiang Xiaoyi dashed straight to the cosmetics section, found shade 08 lipstick, paid, and left.

In a secluded corner, Jiang Xiaoyi unwrapped it and took a light taste.

“Rose flavor!”

【Are you there, System? Did I say rose flavor?!】

System PP, hiding in the shadows, didn’t dare emerge.

With no completion notification for the task, Jiang Xiaoyi grew suspicious.

Xiao Yi: 【That’s not it.】

Su Jiuyue replied instantly: 【It should be shade 56 then.】

Jiang Xiaoyi doubled back, bought shade 56, unwrapped it, and tasted: “Peach flavor!”

Su Jiuyue: 【Maybe it’s shade 78.】

Xiao Yi: 【…】

She strongly suspected Su Jiuyue was in cahoots with the System, messing with her.

Finally unable to stand it, System PP popped out: 【Host, think about it again. I’m the Sweet Love System, not a detective solving cases.】

Jiang Xiaoyi took a sip of water and rinsed her mouth. The sweet, cloying taste was gone.

【You might as well call yourself the Beating Around the Bush System. Just tell me directly, okay?】

Next time, it would definitely assign Jiang Xiaoyi a straightforward task.

The System conceded in frustration: 【Kiss her! Kiss her!】

Jiang Xiaoyi choked on her water. “Cough cough cough…”

Back at YN Group, Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t bring herself to look straight at Meng Chuning. The System actually wanted her to kiss Big Boss Sister.

“Xiaoyi, come with me somewhere.” Meng Chuning had reapplied lipstick to her smudged lips, making them look even more alluring.

Jiang Xiaoyi stuttered nervously, “S-sure, Sister. I’ll go anywhere with you.”

By the time they left YN Group, night had fully fallen.

Neon lights flickered on one after another, their multicolored glow reflecting off the car windows.

The car pulled up at the largest amusement park in the city center.

Even before getting out, they could hear laughter drifting from not far away.

Jiang Xiaoyi turned to Meng Chuning with a smile. “An amusement park, huh.”

Meng Chuning stood beside her, looking up at the steadily rotating Ferris wheel. “The Ferris wheel here is beautiful. Will you ride it with me?”

“It really is gorgeous. I’ll go buy tickets.” Jiang Xiaoyi joined the line, quickly returned with two tickets, and said, “Let’s go, Sister.”

She had no idea what day it was, but the park was packed.

Worried about losing Meng Chuning in the crowd, Jiang Xiaoyi bought a balloon and tied it to her wrist. “This way, I can spot you easily in the crowd.”

Meng Chuning wiggled her wrist, making the Little Cat balloon sway cutely alongside.

They exchanged smiles. A young couple passed by, chatting.

“I heard if you kiss at the top of the Ferris wheel, your wish comes true.”

“Baby, what’s your wish? Let’s make it happen together.”

“My wish is…”

The couple drifted out of earshot, but their words lingered in Jiang Xiaoyi’s ears. She muttered suspiciously, “I’ve never heard that version of the Ferris wheel legend.”

The one she remembered was that couples who kissed at the top would be together forever.

Meng Chuning said softly, “I think I’ve heard it.”

“Really?” Jiang Xiaoyi pondered. “Maybe I’ve got it wrong.”

Not far ahead, another young couple passed.

“Does kissing at the top of the Ferris wheel really make wishes come true?”

“It definitely does. I’ve tried it.”

Jiang Xiaoyi was starting to doubt herself. “Is that really the Ferris wheel legend?”

Meng Chuning murmured in agreement. “Seems like it.”

At the Ferris wheel queue, a descending couple gushed happily.

“If we kiss and make a wish at the top, it’ll come true, right?”

“Of course. The deeper the kiss, the more likely the wish comes true.”

Jiang Xiaoyi second-guessed herself. “Maybe they’re right.”

Meng Chuning’s lips curved slightly. “Mm.”

The Ferris wheel cabin docked slowly. Jiang Xiaoyi stepped on, then turned and extended her hand to Meng Chuning. “Give me your hand, Sister.”

Meng Chuning placed her pale hand in hers. Jiang Xiaoyi gripped it firmly and helped her aboard.

The cabin swayed gently, and Meng Chuning instinctively tightened her hold.

Jiang Xiaoyi guided her to the seat. “It’s fine now. No more shaking.”

As the Ferris wheel rose slowly, the city’s twinkling nightscape unfolded below.

Jiang Xiaoyi gazed at the starlit panorama with delight. “Sister, look—it’s like stars filling the sky.”

She turned her head. Meng Chuning was still holding her hand. Jiang Xiaoyi tugged lightly but couldn’t pull free.

Neon lights danced in Meng Chuning’s eyes. “Xiaoyi, do you believe in the Ferris wheel legend?”

Jiang Xiaoyi nodded. “Of course. It’s so romantic.”

Meng Chuning’s voice grew serious. “Can you help make my wish come true?”

Jiang Xiaoyi was more than willing. “How?”

Meng Chuning’s gaze fell to her lips.

Jiang Xiaoyi recalled the three couples’ words: Kiss at the top of the Ferris wheel, and wishes come true.

Big Boss Sister couldn’t mean… kissing to make it happen.

The thought sent Jiang Xiaoyi’s breathing into disarray.

The Ferris wheel climbed higher, farther from the ground.

Meng Chuning tilted her face up. “We’re almost at the top.”

She couldn’t verify the legend’s truth, but Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t want to disappoint Meng Chuning on her birthday. “Y-yeah… I want to help make your wish come true, Sister.”

Meng Chuning squeezed her fingers. “Then come here and kiss me.”

Jiang Xiaoyi’s heart pounded wildly. As the Ferris wheel reached its peak, she leaned down and pressed her lips to Meng Chuning’s.

A soft touch, gone in an instant—too brief to savor.

Jiang Xiaoyi blinked in a daze, stammering, “It’s… ch-chocolate flavor.”

Meng Chuning chuckled softly. “Is it tasty?”

Jiang Xiaoyi licked her lips, her cheeks burning red. “Mm.”

“What now?” Meng Chuning cupped her face. “I still have one more wish.”

That kiss had robbed Jiang Xiaoyi of her wits. Whatever Sister said, she’d go along.

“Shall we ride another loop?”