After a long moment, Ou Lu finally snapped back to reality.
“Cough!” She awkwardly averted her gaze, no longer looking toward the green-haired girl. She casually picked up a file, pretending to unscrew the pen cap with exaggerated care, and stared down at it.
Liang Sheng let out a “pfft” of laughter. “Sister Ou Lu, you’re such a klutz! You’ve got the pen upside down!”
Eh? Ou Lu looked more closely and realized her fountain pen was indeed reversed. She cleared her throat lightly and turned it right side up with feigned composure.
Liang Sheng didn’t call her out on it. She had already seen through Ou Lu’s flustered panic.
Sigh~ I’m really just waltzing through a garden of flowers, aren’t I~?
“Yeah, right—waltzing through the flowers with every petal sticking to you,” Akino Kazuko teased.
“Nonsense,” Liang Sheng laughed along. “I’m clearly waltzing through the flowers covered head to toe in petals.”
“Hahaha~~” The Favorability System burst into a fit of laughter.
Hmm~ Very self-aware, aren’t you~?
And just like that, the last beautiful girl whose favorability toward Liang Sheng hadn’t broken past one hundred “vanished” from the world.
Liang Sheng watched as the domineering Female CEO Ou Lu gradually regained her composure and dove back into work mode. Suddenly, she found herself with nothing to do. Though she was tempted to keep up the conquest, interrupting someone during work would surely tank her favorability.
She could only kill time on her phone.
But as time dragged on, Liang Sheng—the notorious night owl who loved staying up late—finally succumbed to drowsiness in the middle of the day. A white fog seemed to cloud her vision. She blinked hard a few times, not wanting to fall asleep for fear of snoring.
Yet human will could only resist sleepiness for so long. The green-haired girl slowly closed her eyes and drifted into a deep slumber.
“Liang Sheng.”
“Liang Sheng.”
“Liang Sheng!”
Liang Sheng felt someone nudge her arm.
She jolted awake, her eyes flying open as she shot upright, still dazed and clearly not yet pulled from her sweet dream.
“Wh-who? What’s up?”
The poor girl had completely forgotten where she was.
“Pfft~” Ou Lu covered her mouth, struggling to hold back her laughter. “Liang Sheng, it’s noon. I’ll take you to lunch.”
“Ah, ah, okay.” Liang Sheng stared at the scorpion beauty before her and finally remembered where she was and why she was there. She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
What a silly expression—still oddly adorable.
Ou Lu couldn’t help stealing a few more glances at her, proving the old saying that love puts a rose-tinted filter on everything.
Truth be told, the Female Boss Lady had been hungry since eleven, but when she stood up to invite Liang Sheng to eat and walked over, she found the girl sprawled on the sofa, mouth agape, snoring softly in the sweetest sleep.
At that moment, Ou Lu had bent down for a closer look at the slumbering green-haired girl.
Hmm~ This kid really has such a lovely face.
Her fingertip had nearly brushed against the sleeping girl’s cheek.
Fortunately, she caught herself in time, snapped out of it, and pulled her hand back.
Heart racing, she retreated to her desk, hoping to review a few more files and calm her stirred emotions.
But staring at the dense text on the pages—like ants swarming over bones—gave her a headache like never before.
A voice in her mind kept urging her to approach Liang Sheng, to chat more with her.
“Urgh!” Ou Lu rubbed her temples, her brows furrowing like an old man’s.
What on earth was wrong with her?
Ever since high school, Ou Lu had lived like a nun, steering clear of men entirely.
Her world revolved around making money, starting her business, proving her strength, expanding her company, and restoring her family’s former glory!
This fiercely ambitious career woman had no clue she’d fallen head over heels in love, tumbled into a gentle paradise. Instead, she chalked it up to a lack of rest these past few days.
Yeah, it was about time she took a break.
Amid Ou Lu’s sigh, she lifted her head again. Her gaze involuntarily drifted back to the still-soundly-sleeping Liang Sheng. For some reason, another voice echoed in her heart.
“Since you’re due for a break, why not sooner rather than later? Think about it—if you wait too long, your body or mind might just collapse from exhaustion~ Besides, the files are almost done. Knock out another hour now, and the whole afternoon is yours~”
“Imagine—a whole afternoon to unwind, to have fun, to do all sorts of things~”
Ou Lu felt mesmerized by the voice within, nodding unconsciously in agreement.
That voice coaxed her further. “Going out alone to relax sounds pretty dull, doesn’t it? No one to chat with on the road, no one to share the fun… so…”
Ou Lu’s eyes landed on Liang Sheng’s face once more.
“So, take this kid along. She’s on break anyway, loves to play, and she’s a total chatterbox who adores talking. If you don’t invite her, she’ll just go out and have fun by herself. Right?”
Ou Lu wavered.
The inner voice pressed on. “Plus, she seems to like you a lot. If you go without her and she finds out, wouldn’t that hurt her feelings? Ou Lu, can you really bear to wound the heart of a girl who’s only seventeen?”
“I…!”
Whether it was imagining Liang Sheng hurt or her own desire to take the girl out, the beauty steeled her resolve right then: she’d spend the afternoon playing with the green-haired girl.
Right! Back to work!
That was why Ou Lu kept reviewing files until after noon.
Rubbing the numb side of her face from sleeping awkwardly, Liang Sheng stood up.
“Ow!”
Having slept too long in one position, her legs were numb too. The moment she rose, she wobbled and nearly toppled backward.
Ou Lu startled and instinctively reached out to steady her. “Careful!”
But that was a mistake. As she grabbed Liang Sheng’s hand and pulled, she failed to budge her—and ended up tumbling down herself.
Thud!
They collapsed onto the sofa like a human stack, Ou Lu on top of Liang Sheng.
Ah… so close.
The tips of their noses touched, each girl breathing in the other’s scent, their breaths mingling.
Uh… wh-what should I do? Apologize to Sister Ou Lu? Or push her off first? Liang Sheng was both embarrassed and utterly confused.
Ou Lu, meanwhile, flushed bright red.
In all her years, this was the first time she’d blushed from being so close to another girl.
Ahhh… so close, so close!
“S-Sister Ou Lu…” Liang Sheng murmured. “You smell… so good…”
Those earnest wide eyes met Ou Lu’s deep crimson ones.
In that instant, tiny heart-shaped sparks flew.
“Ding~” Favorability increased.
“Ou Lu’s Favorability toward Liang Sheng: 110”
