Bright sunlight streamed through the car window, yet Ning Jiuwei felt no warmth from it at all. She turned on the air conditioning and closed her eyes, resting her head on a soft neck pillow.
Time ticked by slowly. The sudden vibration of her phone jolted her from her brief repose. Ning Jiuwei slowly opened her eyes, her gaze clear and free of any lingering drowsiness.
She hadn’t actually been asleep—just closing her eyes to think.
The phone buzzed several more times as messages poured in. Ning Jiuwei pulled it from her pocket and glanced at the sender before setting it down in the cup holder.
Her car had been parked in the spot for quite a while, long enough for Su Jinglan to notice something was off. Jinglan came downstairs with her assistant in tow.
It wasn’t quitting time yet, so few employees were coming and going from the office building. From a distance, Ning Jiuwei spotted the familiar figure emerging.
A hunch told her that Su Jinglan was coming for her. Ning Jiuwei hurriedly fastened her seatbelt and drove off.
As her car passed right in front of Jinglan, Ning Jiuwei stole a glance. Her eyes pierced through the car door’s glass, quietly gauging Jinglan’s reaction.
The side windows were tinted with privacy film, but their gazes met precisely nonetheless. Ning Jiuwei’s heart raced, and her foot unconsciously pressed harder on the accelerator.
A warm breeze carrying the scent of sunshine tousled Su Jinglan’s hair. Watching the car’s taillights fade into the distance, Jinglan played her part to the end and headed to her own vehicle with her assistant.
Ning Jiuwei kept an eye on them through the rearview mirror, confirming that Jinglan wasn’t actually there for her. Only then did the tension in her chest ease a little.
She left the company and followed the main road. It wasn’t until Ning Jiuwei realized she was on an unfamiliar stretch that she understood she’d been drifting aimlessly, just following green lights the whole way.
She pulled over to a spot where she could park and checked her current location on her phone.
The notification bar flashed, and a string of new messages popped up. Ning Jiuwei tapped into them—they were from Shen Lanyan.
During a break from her schedule, Lanyan had been chatting with Ning Jiuwei about idle topics. Getting no replies, she’d deliberately switched to work-related matters, asking how far along the ring design had progressed.
Ning Jiuwei knew Lanyan was trying to lure her back into the conversation. With any other custom client, she would have responded politely, but with Lanyan—based on past experience—replying rashly would likely lead to a phone call and being forced to listen to her call “sister.”
“Designer Sister, are you busy?”
In the hesitation, a voice message arrived. As expected, Ning Jiuwei heard Lanyan calling her “sister” again.
Ning Jiuwei activated the car’s AI system and set it to navigate home.
Ignoring messages like this made her feel a bit like a heartless ex. Once home, she opened the chat. It was still stuck on that voice message; Lanyan hadn’t sent anything else after. Ning Jiuwei carefully worded a response to shut down the topic.
“The design drawings are nearly complete. I’ll deliver them to Miss Shen on time per the contract.”
The message had barely sent when Lanyan’s call came through.
Ning Jiuwei rubbed her forehead and slowly answered.
“Sister took a while to pick up.” Seated before her vanity mirror, Shen Lanyan waved off the makeup artist behind her. Her face lit with a smile as she asked, “Did you miss me?”
The flirty tone made Ning Jiuwei want to hang up immediately, but she kept her composure. In a cool, emotionless voice, she replied, “I think of Miss Shen when I’m sketching the designs—recalling all your various behaviors.”
“Really?” Lanyan laughed. “What does Designer Ning feel when you think of me?”
“You’ll know once you see the design drawings.” Ning Jiuwei ended the call. “I need to get back to work.”
“Then I won’t keep Sister any longer.” Lanyan knew when to draw the line. Even if she suspected it was just an excuse, she had to play along.
Ning Jiuwei brewed a cup of coffee and headed to the balcony.
The enclosed balcony was carpeted with thick, plush material in a gray-blue-and-white diamond pattern, like ripples spreading outward across a pond’s surface. Ning Jiuwei settled onto the low sofa and set her coffee on the small table in front.
On the other side of the balcony stood a beauty couch, where she liked to rest on fine days. Otherwise, she sat here on the sofa to ponder her thoughts.
The jet-black coffee looked bitterly intense in its white cup edged with gold. Ning Jiuwei took neither sugar nor milk, sipping it slowly. The bitterness spread from her tongue all the way to her stomach.
Pain and bitterness both had a way of sharpening the mind.
Ning Jiuwei opened her photo album and long-pressed the “Album” label in the upper right corner, entering her private photo album.
It required a password. She stared blankly at the numbers on the screen for a moment before entering her birthday.
No matter how many phones she changed, those deeply buried secret photos always came along for the ride.
Last night, a new photo had been added to this album.
Ning Jiuwei tapped to view it full-size. She didn’t want to look, yet she couldn’t stop herself from scrutinizing every inch in meticulous detail.
Stagnant breathing brought a suffocating sensation. Ning Jiuwei exited the photo album and leaned back against the sofa.
After a long while to recover, she pushed herself upright using the armrest. The coffee had gone cold, its bitterness even more pronounced. Ning Jiuwei downed it in one gulp and carried the empty cup back to her room.
The sun had dipped below the western horizon, filling the sky with fiery red stratocumulus clouds in a magnificent, captivating display. Ning Jiuwei had buried herself in work for hours, but the vast sea of sunset clouds drew her to the window.
Gazing into the distance, every sight and sound sparked inspiration. She watched the sun slowly swallowed by the horizon and night creeping in from all sides.
Like the encroaching night, the dream blanketed everything in darkness. Ning Jiuwei jolted awake, her eyes opening to pitch blackness. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she was still trapped in the dream.
She took a few deep breaths and flicked on the light. She had gone to bed at nine-thirty, and now it was only ten-thirty.
Her foggy memories rewound: after leaving the study, she had cooked dinner herself, showered, and gone to sleep.
Her routine was as regimented as that of an elderly person.
At this moment, she was in her own home, lying in her own bed in the bedroom.
The endless, lightless void of the dream had chased away any trace of sleepiness. Ning Jiuwei slipped into a thick flannel robe and shuffled to the kitchen in linen slippers, pulling open the fridge.
Her eyes skimmed past the pure milk and honey. Instead, she poured a glass of warm water and stirred in some honey to make a soothing drink, then sipped it down.
The dream returned, but this time it featured another person.
A familiar silhouette sharpened into focus amid the dim night. The instant Ning Jiuwei recognized it as Su Jinglan’s back, Su Jinglan turned and met her gaze.
Dreams obeyed no logic of time or space. In a blink, the night faded, and Ning Jiuwei collapsed onto a sofa.
It was the sofa in Su Jinglan’s office.
“Ning Jiuwei.” She heard Su Jinglan call her name in a gentle voice. That scorching gaze seemed poised to devour her whole. Ning Jiuwei tried to sit up, but Su Jinglan swung a long leg over her, pinning her firmly to the sofa beneath her weight.
The kiss descended fiercely, its soft pressure sending tingles through her entire body. Ning Jiuwei shoved at Su Jinglan, who curved her lips in a smile, covered Ning Jiuwei’s eyes with one hand, and murmured in a voice laced with threat, “Don’t move, or I won’t be able to hold back.”
That intimate whisper, reserved for lovers, sent a jolt through Ning Jiuwei, and she woke up.
She had actually dreamed of Su Jinglan—and something so utterly implausible.
It had to be the overly sweet honey, combined with Su Jinglan pressing her against the sofa in the President’s Office that afternoon, that conjured such an outrageous scene.
Ning Jiuwei steadied her breathing, her thoughts drifting to the design drawings for Shen Lanyan, and she finally drifted off to sleep.
No more strange dreams plagued her. She slept soundly until morning.
Recalling her encounter with Su Jinglan in the first-floor lobby the previous morning, Ning Jiuwei deliberately drove to the underground parking lot today.
The elevator descended from the first floor. When the doors slid open, that familiar gentle smile greeted her once more.
“Morning, Designer Ning.” Su Jinglan stepped back to make room. “What a coincidence again today, running into you.”
The dream made the moment unbearably awkward, but thankfully Su Jinglan had no idea. Ning Jiuwei murmured a good morning in reply and stepped inside, positioning herself in the opposite corner.
“Does Designer Ning have plans tonight?” Su Jinglan glanced sideways, her amused tone carrying the prelude of a date invitation.
Without a second thought, Ning Jiuwei blurted, “I have something on tonight.”
The words tumbled out too quickly, betraying her fluster. She composed herself, mustered a mild smile, and asked, “Does President Su need something?”
“I’ll hear what Designer Ning has planned first, then decide on mine.” Su Jinglan leaned in closer, her expression one of earnest interest.
Ning Jiuwei usually deflected with talk of client meetings, and she nearly did so again. But remembering the invitation she’d received before her sick leave, she switched tactics. “I’m attending a new product launch tonight—to check out the work from designers at other companies.”
Designers at such events shared their concepts, inspirations, and intended messages. Ning Jiuwei disliked the schmoozing, but she made a point to attend one or two from renowned names.
Su Jinglan hadn’t expected Ning Jiuwei to have that commitment, sparing her the need to invoke her presidential authority for a joint appearance. She concealed her inward delight and nodded nonchalantly. “In that case, I’ll catch up with Designer Ning another time.”
They parted ways at the office door. This time, Su Jinglan didn’t linger to watch Ning Jiuwei; she strode directly into her own office.
The two un-frosted glass walls allowed glimpses of each other’s activities. Ning Jiuwei focused intently on her work, careful not to look over.
Su Jinglan spent two hours in her office before leaving.
Ning Jiuwei had no interest in her whereabouts, but the transparent glass walls meant she inevitably caught occasional glimpses of the scene across the way.
After leaving that morning, Su Jinglan never returned to the office. Aside from herself, only her assistant knew the president’s schedule. Ning Jiuwei held her insulated cup, her gaze settling on the empty boss chair across from her.
It was now afternoon, and Su Jinglan still hadn’t come back. It looked like she might be away on a business trip.
Ning Jiuwei finished the water in her insulated cup and called Assistant Tan in.
“Come with me to tonight’s press conference,” Ning Jiuwei said, pulling out the invitation and handing it to Tan Yushu.
The invitation bore Ning Jiuwei’s name, but it didn’t mean she had to attend alone. She could bring a friend—or an assistant.
“Should I go home and change?” Tan Yushu glanced down at her outfit for the day. “I’ll put on a pretty dress, something worthy of you, Designer Ning.”
They hadn’t even reached the New Product Launch venue yet, but Assistant Tan was already picturing the two of them walking the red carpet together.
“Either works,” Ning Jiuwei replied, leaving it up to her. She checked the time and added, “If you want to go home, head out now.”
“Okay!” Tan Yushu quickly calculated the round-trip time. “If I don’t make it back to the company in time, I’ll wait for you at the hotel entrance.”
Ning Jiuwei went back to her work. “Sounds good.”
~~~
