Chapter 28

~~~

Ning Jiuwei had never shown such enthusiasm to anyone in her entire life up to this point. She rolled over to get out of bed, but the arm around her waist clamped down firmly, pulling her right back in and leaving her unable to budge.

“President Su.” Being this intimate with Su Jinglan while fully awake made Ning Jiuwei’s heart pound wildly. Her body went limp, heat blooming in her chest and surging up to her brain, growing fiercer with every inch it traveled.

Su Jinglan smiled and gave her sensitive waist a light pinch. Ning Jiuwei shuddered uncontrollably in her arms, breathless.

“Su Jinglan!” Ning Jiuwei seized Su Jinglan’s arm, her tone sharp and severe.

Fearless as ever, Su Jinglan leaned in with a radiant smile. She rolled over in one fluid motion, pinning Ning Jiuwei beneath her. Her burning gaze traced the quivering softness of those lips before settling on a pair of stunning eyes. Then she dipped her head until their foreheads touched.

Ning Jiuwei had no strength left to fight back. Overwhelmed by Su Jinglan’s commanding presence, her body felt as securely bound as if by the Binding Immortal Rope, leaving her utterly at this woman’s mercy.

“Forehead temperature’s normal. The fever’s completely broken.” Rather than taking advantage of her, Su Jinglan simply checked her temperature this way before releasing her and sitting up.

Ning Jiuwei: “…” She had actually thought Su Jinglan was about to kiss her.

Last night, Su Jinglan had only shrugged off her trench coat. Her satin blouse and crisply tailored trousers remained intact, though Ning Jiuwei’s restless tossing had left the blouse’s collar gaping open, one shirttail tucked into her waistband and the other hanging loose.

“What would you like to eat? I’ll have the hotel send something up.” Barefoot on the plush carpet, Su Jinglan straightened her rumpled blouse, tugging both shirttails free before smoothing out the wrinkles.

Ning Jiuwei looked away, the tips of her ears turning a subtle pink. The shift in conversation was jarring—from the scorching tension of two adults teetering on the edge of something irreversible to mundane aftercare in the span of a heartbeat.

“I’ll eat out.” Ning Jiuwei wanted nothing more than to put some distance between herself and Su Jinglan.

Su Jinglan unbuttoned her blouse one by one, then refastened them with care. She could read Ning Jiuwei’s mind all too well. Gazing down at the woman lying perfectly still on the bed like an obedient child, Su Jinglan let out a soft chuckle. “Designer Ning, you’d do best to stay in the hotel and rest. You had a brutal fever last night. It’s gone now, but your body’s not fully recovered yet.”

Ning Jiuwei’s eyes caught on the ear thermometer sitting by the pillow, and her gaze froze.

Scattered fragments of memory bubbled up in her mind. Last night, drifting in and out of awareness, a gentle hand had brushed her hair aside from her ear, cradling the back of her head as it slipped something cool inside. It tickled, urging her to pull away.

But the hand steadied her head, preventing the dodge, and withdrew the object moments later.

Again and again, countless times, like a dream caught in an endless loop.

Now Ning Jiuwei understood: it hadn’t been a dream at all. It was Su Jinglan measuring her temperature with the ear thermometer.

Hadn’t she called Assistant Tan last night? How on earth had Su Jinglan ended up here?

Ning Jiuwei figured Assistant Tan must have grown worried about how serious her condition was and reported it straight to Su Jinglan.

“Designer Ning?” Dressed once more in her usual composed elegance, Su Jinglan made the earlier embrace feel like nothing but a figment of Ning Jiuwei’s imagination.

The sound of her name pulled Ning Jiuwei back to the present. She pushed herself up to lean against the headboard and offered Su Jinglan a calm apology. “President Su, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Su Jinglan settled on the edge of the bed with evident curiosity, facing her directly.

Ning Jiuwei didn’t reply right away.

Even now, she refused to believe she’d dialed the wrong number. Those gentle eyes fixed on her without wavering, drumming her heartbeat into a frenzy. A storm of emotions churned in her chest, dark and gathering like thunderheads on the horizon—vast, unstoppable, poised to sweep everything away.

She reached for her phone on the bedside table and opened WeChat as if it were nothing. Last night, she’d placed a voice call to Assistant Tan, who now had an unread message waiting. Tapping into the chat, Ning Jiuwei saw no record of the call.

She backed out to the conversation list. No need to open it—the last entry with Su Jinglan blazed across the screen under her name: Voice Call, in bold letters.

Su Jinglan watched every move without a word, waiting for Ning Jiuwei to continue.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you last night, President Su.” With the evidence staring her in the face, Ning Jiuwei met Su Jinglan’s eyes squarely. “I meant to call Assistant Tan but hit your number by mistake. Thank you for looking after me.”

“No thanks necessary.” Su Jinglan’s trench coat lay on the opposite bedside table. She circled around to grab it, parting the curtains along the way. Warm sunlight poured into the room, gilding the pristine white bedspread in gold.

Beyond the window sprawled a dazzling cityscape, bisected by a mighty river that snaked through it like a dragon. Ships plied its waters ceaselessly.

Su Jinglan took in the unfamiliar view for a moment before pulling out her phone to text her assistant.

Ning Jiuwei leaned against the headboard behind her, watching in silence.

Sensing that Su Jinglan was about to turn around, Ning Jiuwei averted her gaze and replied to Assistant Tan’s message.

“Fengmian will bring some food over shortly.” Su Jinglan walked to the bedside and picked up the forehead thermometer from the pillow. “To be cautious, let me check your temperature once more.”

“No need,” Ning Jiuwei refused.

Su Jinglan wouldn’t hear of it. She tucked a strand of Ning Jiuwei’s hair behind her ear, then gently cupped her face. “Don’t move,” she commanded softly.

The ear thermometer slid into the warm ear canal, pressing close to the eardrum. Ning Jiuwei suppressed the wild urge to pull away and held herself perfectly still.

The intimate breath against her skin and the warmth of that palm were utterly unbearable. Ning Jiuwei felt like she was on the verge of suffocating as heat surged through her entire body.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, Su Jinglan withdrew the thermometer.

“You still have a slight fever.” Thankfully, it didn’t match the unreliable forehead reading. Su Jinglan lifted her eyes from the display screen, concern evident in her gaze. “I’ll check again after breakfast. If it’s still elevated, we’ll go to the hospital.”

“Doesn’t President Su have work to do?” Ning Jiuwei refused politely.

Su Jinglan curved her lips into a smile. “I’m preparing for tomorrow morning’s meeting. Nothing else on my plate.”

She could spend the entire day by Ning Jiuwei’s side.

Lin Fengmian made a trip to the hotel’s buffet dining room and packed some light, easy-to-digest food as instructed, delivering it straight to the room.

Assistant Lin showed no sign of curiosity about why the president wanted breakfast brought here. She set down the food and left.

Su Jinglan unpacked everything herself and arranged the breakfast items neatly on the small round table.

Ning Jiuwei, who had gone to freshen up, lingered in the bathroom. She splashed warm water on her face and stared at her damp reflection in the mirror.

Water dripped from her hair. Fragmented memories from the night before pieced themselves together hazily in her mind—too vague to tell if they were real events or just her brain’s wild inventions.

She had forgotten so much. All she could recall was Su Jinglan carrying her to bed and feeding her medicine. After that, nothing. She certainly couldn’t remember how she’d ended up sleeping in Su Jinglan’s arms, holding her so intimately.

Ning Jiuwei scooped up another handful of water and splashed it over her face, forcing herself to stop dwelling on last night.

When Ning Jiuwei emerged from the bathroom, Su Jinglan asked politely if she could borrow her facilities and use the toiletries in the room.

The king room came stocked with double sets of disposable amenities, so Ning Jiuwei didn’t object. Su Jinglan washed her face and brushed her teeth in there.

“Why hasn’t Designer Ning eaten yet?” The food on the small round table was exactly as Su Jinglan had left it—untouched.

Whether out of courtesy or something else, Ning Jiuwei had good reason to wait. She picked up a spoon. “I was waiting for President Su.”

It wasn’t their first meal together. They sat facing each other, eating the breakfast on the table leisurely.

“Let’s check your temperature one more time.” Su Jinglan washed her hands and reached for the ear thermometer again, preparing to take Ning Jiuwei’s.

This time, Ning Jiuwei refused. As Su Jinglan leaned in, she stepped back and grasped the thermometer. “I’ll do it myself.”

If she let Su Jinglan do it, her temperature would probably read high again.

Su Jinglan released it with a smile. “Alright, Designer Ning can do it herself.”

She watched from the side as Ning Jiuwei inserted the thermometer into her ear, adjusted her position, and pressed the button.

The reading was just a touch above normal.

“No need to go to the hospital at this temperature,” Ning Jiuwei said first.

Su Jinglan hummed in agreement.

After that, Ning Jiuwei fell silent.

“Get back in bed,” Su Jinglan broke the quiet.

Ning Jiuwei, who had been trying so hard not to let her mind wander, was suddenly flooded with a string of steamy images from those three words. She stared at Su Jinglan in disbelief.

Realizing her words had caused a misunderstanding, Su Jinglan clarified. “Designer Ning, get some rest in bed. I won’t be joining you.”

The clarification was somehow worse than nothing.

Ning Jiuwei glanced toward the door, then looked back at Su Jinglan, silently urging her to leave.

Reading the hint in her eyes, Su Jinglan obliged. “Rest well, Designer Ning. Call me if you need anything.”

Su Jinglan returned to her own room. Exhausted from the night, she fell asleep the moment she hit the bed.

After a nap to recharge, Su Jinglan opened her email and handled her messages. She replied to everything, downloaded the organized documents to her tablet, skimmed through them quickly, and prepared for tomorrow morning’s meeting.

With her work for the day done, Su Jinglan knocked on the door across the hall.

She pressed the doorbell twice before Ning Jiuwei came to open it.

Seeing Ning Jiuwei still in her pajamas, it was clear she’d spent the whole day holed up in the room.

“Feeling any better?” Without an invitation, Su Jinglan didn’t enter and simply asked after her from the doorway.

The fever had come on quickly and receded just as fast. Ning Jiuwei replied, “I’m all better now. Thank you for your concern, President Su.”

Her subtext was clear: If there’s nothing else, President Su, you can head back now.

“Come inside to talk.” Su Jinglan didn’t budge, putting on the air of someone with business matters to discuss.

As President of the Design Division, the greatest perk was the ability to enter Ning Jiuwei’s room under the guise of official business.

Ning Jiuwei hesitated for a moment before letting Su Jinglan into her room.

Night had fallen, the sky a vast dome studded with the lights of countless homes. From the window, the whole city sprawled out below. Su Jinglan gazed at the seductive nightscape as she chatted with Ning Jiuwei.

“I’m leaving the hotel at eight tomorrow morning for a meeting,” Su Jinglan said, laying out her schedule in detail. “It’ll take all day. I should be back around nine at night.”

Ning Jiuwei listened quietly. Su Jinglan turned to her, her gaze lingering deeply on Ning Jiuwei’s face. “Will you keep resting here at the hotel tomorrow, Designer Ning, or head out in search of some design inspiration?”

She’d already spent the whole day resting today, so tomorrow it was time to get out and about—but Ning Jiuwei hadn’t decided on a destination yet. “I’ll go out looking for inspiration.”

Su Jinglan nodded, a spark of amusement lighting her eyes. “And tonight? Planning to go out?”

“No.” Ning Jiuwei felt a flicker of confusion.

Su Jinglan soon cleared it up. “Then let’s turn in early.”

Ning Jiuwei blinked. “……Us?” She glanced at the bed, unsure of her meaning. “Sleep together?”

“Mm,” Su Jinglan replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

~~~