Chapter 4: Task 3

Jiang Xiaoyi: “???”

The three question marks hadn’t even appeared before Meng Chuning continued, “Bring the meal too.”

Had Big Boss Sister fallen for the food she’d made?

Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t believe that ordinary low-fat meal could linger in Meng Chuning’s mind like that. But since Meng Chuning liked it, Jiang Xiaoyi could generously share the ingredient ratios.

In her low-EQ moment, Jiang Xiaoyi blurted out, “Sister, I’ll tell you how to make it. You can whip it up anytime you want.”

Outside the office, Shen Ling’s heart shattered into pieces. She screamed internally: Meng always loves good food—why not just make it for her? It’s been ages since the president had such a hearty appetite.

“Sounds good.” Meng Chuning gave a wry smile tinged with frustration. “But my memory’s terrible. I might not remember it.”

“No worries, I can…”

“Could you send it to me on WeChat?”

Jiang Xiaoyi had been about to offer to jot it down on a sticky note, but Meng Chuning had already pulled up her QR code, waiting for the scan.

“Sure.” With no reason to refuse, Jiang Xiaoyi scanned it. Big Boss Sister quickly approved the friend request, and a message popped up in the chat window.

【Now we can chat.】

She’d actually added Big Boss Sister on WeChat. Suddenly, Jiang Xiaoyi remembered that her Moments were full of unfiltered emotional posts—stuff that anyone seeing it would think was totally out of character for her.

“See you later, Sister.” In a panic to hide her Moments from Meng Chuning’s view, Jiang Xiaoyi turned abruptly and nearly smacked her head on the glass door frame.

“Careful.” Meng Chuning’s hand cupped Jiang Xiaoyi’s cheek just in time, preventing the collision.

Jiang Xiaoyi’s soft, flushed cheek nestled warm in Meng Chuning’s palm.

For a moment, Jiang Xiaoyi froze. Meng Chuning was so gentle.

Seeing no reaction, Meng Chuning gave her cheek a light pinch. “Are you hurt?”

“N-No.” Jiang Xiaoyi’s face burned hotter as she carefully backed away a few steps. “Thank you, Sister.”

Twice now she’d acted like an idiot in front of Big Boss Sister. Did Meng Chuning think she was dumb?

Whatever—time to bail first.

Under the watchful eyes of YN Group employees, Jiang Xiaoyi hurried off, her face red as a ripe peach.

Shen Ling’s inner fireworks exploded in a frenzy. Aaaah, she touched her face! President Meng’s gaze had been so tender it could’ve melted anyone.

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, Meng Chuning watched Jiang Xiaoyi’s retreating figure disappear below.

A faint, delicate warmth lingered in her palm. Just moments ago, when Jiang Xiaoyi’s blushing face had looked up at her, Meng Chuning’s heart had itched with an unfamiliar thrill.

Once the figure vanished from sight, Meng Chuning withdrew her gaze, a touch of disappointment settling in.

She’d thought Jiang Xiaoyi’s special visit meant she’d been recognized. Turns out, it was just a thank-you.

Her phone screen lingered on Jiang Xiaoyi’s Moments feed.

The latest post was from the Charity Night.

【Aaaah, these gorgeous sisters are so beautiful! They’ve stolen my heart just like that, wuu wuu wuu.】

The attached photo showed Jing Ying and Li Qiunuo posing together on stage for the cameras.

Meng Chuning’s finger trembled slightly. “Gorgeous sisters… plural?”

…

Jiang Xiaoyi had a habit of sharing her daily moods in Moments. Most of her WeChat friends were close ones from her circle, so she never worried about them seeing her vents.

Her Moments posts were fairly tame. The real emotional rants went to her anonymous alt accounts on other platforms.

After sending Meng Chuning the low-fat meal recipe and instructions, Jiang Xiaoyi double-checked her Moments. Uh-oh—nearly every post was CP shipping content.

Better safe than sorry. She blocked Meng Chuning from viewing them entirely, then headed to her study feeling relieved to ship in peace.

Big Boss Sister was so busy; no way she’d have time to scroll through my Moments.

One minute later, a WeChat notification pinged.

M: 【Why can’t I see your Moments anymore?】

Jiang Xiaoyi choked on her water. Meng Chuning had been checking her Moments—and it looked like she had no clue she’d been blocked.

One second later.

M: 【Pussycat confused.jpg】

The image showed a fluffy white Ragdoll cat tilting its head, looking adorably innocent.

Jiang Xiaoyi stared at the cat for a few seconds, unable to picture Big Boss Sister using such a cute emoji.

After a pause, she replied.

Xiao Yi: 【I don’t have any Moments.】

M: 【But I could see them just now.】

Jiang Xiaoyi: “…”

Big Boss Sister sounded so earnest—it was almost painful to lie.

Xiao Yi: 【Can you see them now?】

M: 【Yes.】

Over the next ten minutes, notifications flooded in nonstop.

M liked your Moment +99.

Jiang Xiaoyi stared at the screen full of M’s avatar in despair. Meng Chuning had gone through two years’ worth of her posts.

How was a massive corporation’s president this free?

After liking over a hundred posts, Jiang Xiaoyi’s suspended heart finally gave out. Fine, look all you want—it’s not like I have any image to uphold anyway.

WeChat buzzed twice more. Expecting Meng Chuning, she opened it to find Su Jiuyue spamming instead: 【Xiaoyi Xiaoyi, I just shipped you with Sister Meng Chuning! Is this shippable?!】

Xiao Yi: 【…】

Ignoring the ellipsis, Su Jiuyue rambled on: 【Too little content though—I’m gonna write you two some fanfic!】

Xiao Yi’s alarms blared: 【No!!!】

Su Jiuyue was a prolific yuri writer on that flower forum, the kind whose female leads never kept their clothes on for long—H-scenes every single chapter out of a hundred. Just thinking about it made Jiang Xiaoyi shudder.

Su Jiuyue: 【Xiaoyi, spill—how’d you two meet? Are you for real?!】

Xiao Yi: 【Possible? How could a no-name like me know YN Group’s president? At the Charity Banquet, she just kindly steadied me when I stumbled. That’s it.】

Su Jiuyue’s CP brain kicked in: 【Struggling nobody x sugar mommy sister—wuu wuu, even better ship!】

Jiang Xiaoyi loved shipping CPs like Su Jiuyue did, but being shipped herself was awkward. One, she didn’t dare. Two, Meng Chuning might think she was clingy like taffy—or worse, up to no good.

Su Jiuyue: 【But Xiaoyi, remember how any CP with Meng Chuning got nuked on day one? Your ‘Chuxiao’ ship is still up though! Maybe Meng Chuning ships it too?】

Jiang Xiaoyi tapped into Weibo. The “Chuxiao” Super Topic had surged to over twenty thousand fans, with mods organizing everything smoothly—no signs of getting blown up.

Xiao Yi: 【Probably too busy. She forgot.】

She’d just sent that to Su Jiuyue when Meng Chuning’s avatar lit up with a red notification.

M: 【Looks like it failed.】

M: 【Picture】

Big Boss Sister was indeed busy—with not bombing the Super Topic.

Jiang Xiaoyi tapped it open. The photo showed a charred, unidentifiable mess that might’ve been food.

Xiao Yi: 【No worries, Sister. First tries always flop—totally normal.】

M: 【Not the first time.】

M: 【Picture, Picture, Picture.】

M: 【Pussycat sighs.jpg】

Meng Chuning sent three more failed food pics, each worse than the last. One even showed a kitchen looking like a war zone.

Staring at the sighing cat, Jiang Xiaoyi suddenly found it adorable. So this was Meng Chuning in private.

She pondered, then typed some encouragement.

Xiao Yi: 【Go kitty go.jpg】

That should be fine, right?

Switching out of the chat with Meng Chuning, she saw Su Jiuyue had sent a link to her latest story on the flower forum: 【New fic up—come like and comment!】

It was their ritual since they met: Su Jiuyue always had Jiang Xiaoyi read first.

Jiang Xiaoyi was happy to oblige: 【On it.】

The new fic featured two women in an online romance on the verge of meeting IRL. At the end, the younger one coquettishly whined to her big sis: 【Can’t feel your warmth through the screen—wanna meet in person?】

She didn’t want to be that quick-on-the-uptake girl.

The line made Jiang Xiaoyi’s face flush, blood pounding. Fingers flying across the keyboard for her comment, Meng Chuning’s message popped up—Jiang Xiaoyi accidentally tapped into the wrong chat.

M: 【It’s so tricky. Wanna meet and teach me?】

In her heated state, Jiang Xiaoyi hit send on her reply.

Xiao Yi: 【What position for face-teaching?】

The message whooshed out before she realized—this was Meng Chuning’s chat, not some anonymous zone.

Wrong chat! Wrong!

Fingers fumbling to recall it, her heart hammered wildly.

Big Boss Sister’s gonna think I’m a perv and block me.

At that moment, System PP couldn’t resist popping up with tomorrow’s task: 【Please have the host meet Meng Chuning tomorrow for in-person teaching. Positions unrestricted.】

Jiang Xiaoyi: 【?】

Thanks a lot.

Meet and teach me.

Eight whole words, and she’d zeroed in on “face-teach.”

Shipping hype always leads to slip-ups.

After minutes with no reply from Meng Chuning, Jiang Xiaoyi started to relax. A one-second recall—she probably hadn’t seen it.

Per System PP’s orders, tomorrow’s task meant personally teaching Meng Chuning the recipe, so she was brainstorming polite ways to schedule when another message pinged.

M: 【Any position’s fine.】

The taut string inside her snapped.