Chapter 59

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Su Jinglan’s mind filled with visions of intimate moments in the library.

Her memories remained vivid even after years away from school. She remembered every detail of what happened there—plenty of couples came to study, holding hands at the desks, embracing by the bookshelves, sharing soft, smiling kisses.

In the past, she could only watch her classmates fall in love. Now, was it finally her turn?

A spark ignited in her chest, leaving Su Jinglan parched and breathless. She glanced sideways at Ning Jiuwei, who didn’t pull away from her grasp. Instead, when their eyes met, Ning Jiuwei squeezed her hand gently, holding on tighter.

For the first time, she received a response like that. Su Jinglan’s heart fluttered with a delicious numbness, pounding wildly as hot blood surged through her veins.

The thrill of reciprocation was intoxicating. She wouldn’t just let Ning Jiuwei do something to her—she’d let her do anything at all.

Suppressing her surging affection, Su Jinglan whispered, “What do you want to do to me, Classmate Ning Jiuwei?”

Ning Jiuwei’s warm breath brushed her lips. Su Jinglan’s gaze drifted to those soft lips, wondering what they would taste like.

She raised her hand, her fingertips lightly hooking a stray lock of dark hair from Ning Jiuwei’s temple and tucking it behind her ear.

The gesture felt like something lovers in the heat of passion would do.

Ning Jiuwei smiled without a word, making no move to evade. Instead, she led Su Jinglan deeper into the stacks.

The library was divided into eastern and western sections. Su Jinglan had explored every floor, and she recalled that the West Area on the sixth and tenth floors tended to have fewer students. Sure enough, as they walked, only a handful of students sat scattered at the window desks, with empty tables visible farther ahead.

A desk wasn’t ideal for anything too intimate, though. Su Jinglan’s imagination ran wild, wondering what Ning Jiuwei had in mind. She scanned the other students before looking back at Ning Jiuwei.

But Ning Jiuwei changed direction, veering toward the bookshelves.

The towering shelves blocked the view, opening up all sorts of possibilities. Su Jinglan followed close behind.

Each shelf was labeled with a range of index numbers. Su Jinglan pulled up the school’s official WeChat account and opened the library search function in its mini program, looking for psychology books.

She’d chosen the tenth floor—over the sixth—for another reason: it housed the psychology collection.

As Su Jinglan scanned for a book on cognitive psychology, Ning Jiuwei reached up and pulled one down. “Let’s go,” she said softly.

“Hm?” Su Jinglan followed her to an empty desk and sat down.

The table had four seats, but they took spots side by side, pressed close together. Ning Jiuwei placed the book in front of Su Jinglan and gave her a knowing smile.

The cover read Behavioral Psychology. Su Jinglan shot her a puzzled look, silently asking what it meant.

Ning Jiuwei flipped a lecture handout to its blank back side and set it by the book. Propping one hand on the table’s edge and the other on the back of Su Jinglan’s chair, she leaned in. “Flip to any page. Read for ten minutes, then write down everything you remember on the paper.”

A memory test? Su Jinglan grinned. She riffled through the pages backward from the end, then stopped abruptly.

She’d landed on page 127—a full page of dense professional theory.

Ning Jiuwei shifted in her seat, resting her chin on her hand as she watched from the side.

Su Jinglan’s phone screen now showed a ten-minute countdown. They exchanged a glance, and Ning Jiuwei hit start, sliding the phone farther away.

Su Jinglan focused intently, her eyes scanning line by line.

The library’s atmosphere was perfect for studying. Even after years since graduation, being there brought back that familiar immersion. Ning Jiuwei watched her concentrate, her own breathing slowing as her smile deepened.

So this was what Su Jinglan looked like when she studied.

Ning Jiuwei’s gaze traced every detail: the way her fingertips pressed the page, blinking every three lines. From the slender eyelashes downward—to the depths of her eyes, the straight bridge of her nose, and her lightly pursed lips.

Lost in memorizing, Su Jinglan ignored the world around her, oblivious to the intensity of that stare.

Ten minutes passed. Su Jinglan had read for ten; Ning Jiuwei had watched her for ten. The phone buzzed twice. Ning Jiuwei stopped the timer and handed Su Jinglan a pen, cap already removed.

Skimming was fast, but memorizing required focus. Su Jinglan read deliberately, line by line, slower than usual—but in those ten minutes, she’d covered two full pages.

Her handwriting was bold and vigorous, the running script elegant and swift. As Su Jinglan finished each segment, Ning Jiuwei checked it against the book.

One segment after another: perfect match, word for word, even the paragraph breaks identical.

“Satisfied, Designer Ning?” Su Jinglan set down the pen and leaned in close to her ear.

Ning Jiuwei’s heart pounded like she’d sprinted a hundred meters while wearing a mask, a wave of heat thrumming with every insistent thump. Su Jinglan smiled at her. “Your turn, Designer Ning.”

Ning Jiuwei capped her pen, clipped it to her documents, picked up the book, and rose from her seat.

She slotted the book precisely back into place. The floor was covered in sound-absorbing carpet, muffling every step, but Su Jinglan had followed silently. She gripped Ning Jiuwei’s shoulders with a playful squeeze. “Is this what Designer Ning wants to do to me—make me recite it from memory?”

“What do you think, President Su?” It felt almost as if Su Jinglan had pulled her into an embrace. Ning Jiuwei twisted around to face her, slipping free from the hold.

Su Jinglan released her, her gentle smile radiant with vibrant energy, like she was a girl again—carefree, bold, charging ahead without a second thought.

She cradled Ning Jiuwei’s face in both hands, her eyes flicking meaningfully toward her lips. “I thought Designer Ning wanted to kiss me.”

She laid it out plainly, offering no escape.

She wanted to see how Ning Jiuwei would respond.

They were in the library, after all. Their relationship was still just boss and subordinate—at most, a boss and subordinate who had shared a bed. A kiss was for lovers, not them.

Ning Jiuwei said nothing.

She met Su Jinglan’s gaze head-on. A torrent of emotions churned deep inside her, sharp as a blade against her skin, while scorching heat battered her reason. Su Jinglan let go of her face with a light laugh. “I was only joking, Designer Ning. Don’t take it to heart.”

Su Jinglan passed up the chance to close the distance, deciding to wait for another moment.

There was no rush. They had all the time in the world to take it slow, one step at a time.

Then Ning Jiuwei reached up, looping her arms around Su Jinglan’s neck. She tugged her forward by the nape, drawing her close. Her gaze burned as it darted between Su Jinglan’s eyes and lips, lingering on those alluring red maple-colored lips before pressing her own against them.

Su Jinglan’s heart detonated the instant she realized Ning Jiuwei was kissing her in full awareness. A tingling electric current surged through her body, and all her pent-up feelings erupted beyond control.

She leaned in to kiss back—but Ning Jiuwei pulled away.

It had been a featherlight touch, just a soft press of lips against lips, nothing deeper, no lingering dance of tongues.

Even after they left the library, Su Jinglan’s heart hammered relentlessly, refusing to settle. She took Ning Jiuwei’s hand and pressed the point. “Teacher Ning, you’ll take responsibility for me this time, won’t you?”

They had kissed, after all. It only made sense to start dating now.

Ning Jiuwei glanced at their clasped hands. The heat she’d finally tamped down flared up again. She withdrew her hand, her face a mask of cool detachment. “I was just making President Su’s wish come true. I have no interest in taking things further with you.”

She handed the alumni card back to Su Jinglan. “Consider this my thanks for borrowing your alumni card.”

They stepped out through the school gate, where Assistant Lin—parked a short distance away—spotted them and pulled the car up.

Su Jinglan was still adrift in the memory of that kiss, struggling to refocus. Ning Jiuwei’s sudden distance baffled her. She’d felt the emotion in her eyes back there—so why, the moment they left the library, was she insisting on nothing more?

Ning Jiuwei skipped the back seat entirely, claiming the front passenger spot beside Assistant Lin—a clear signal of her intent to keep space between them.

An awkward tension hung in the air inside the car. Lin Fengmian stole a glance in the rearview mirror, carefully gauging the president’s mood.

No one else might know how much President Su liked Ning Jiuwei, but she did. And if the president was upset, she wouldn’t dare put the car in gear.

President Su’s expression was utterly blank as she directed Assistant Lin. “Drive. Back to the company.”

“Right away.” Assistant Lin flicked a sidelong glance at the passenger seat. Ning Jiuwei sat with her eyes closed, slumped against the headrest, looking completely drained.

Were classes really that exhausting?

Assistant Lin had long since forgotten what attending them felt like. She quashed her impulse to fish for details and drove on in silence.

By the time they returned to the company from Jiangji University, the setting sun had painted a majestic sweep of clouds across the sky. Ning Jiuwei unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out. Without waiting for Su Jinglan, she headed straight into the office building and took the elevator up alone.

“President Su, did something go wrong at the university?” Lin Fengmian twisted around to check the back seat.

Su Jinglan hadn’t budged from her spot in the car. Her eyes, fixed through the window, tracked Ning Jiuwei until she vanished from sight—yet still she didn’t look away.

The car idled right in front of the office building. The front desk staff recognized President Su’s vehicle, along with the chief designer who’d emerged from it. They craned their necks, peering curiously.

The side windows were darkly tinted, revealing nothing—no way to tell if the president was inside.

Su Jinglan finally pulled back her gaze and sat in silence.

She lingered without moving, and Assistant Lin bit back any urge to speak, waiting patiently beside her.

Minutes ticked by. At last, Su Jinglan opened the door and stepped out at an unhurried pace.

As always, she strode into the office building with composed grace, crossing the lobby to the elevators.

She pressed the button for the sixth floor, bound for the Design Division.

Ning Jiuwei’s office door stood ajar. Inside, Assistant Tan and Designer Jiang stood in front of the desk, partially blocking the view. From the doorway, Su Jinglan caught sight of the person bustling behind the desk. Ning Jiuwei seemed to sense something and glanced toward the entrance.

Their gazes met briefly before sliding apart. Ning Jiuwei acted as if she hadn’t noticed Su Jinglan at all. Instead, she smiled warmly at Assistant Tan and spoke calmly about work matters. “For the next month’s clients, you’ll handle the meetings and discussions yourself. Screen out the suitable ones, then schedule my time around them.”

Assistant Tan was deeply touched by Designer Ning’s trust. “I’ll carefully select the clients for you, Designer Ning.”

“Good. Get back to work.” But realizing it was about time to clock out and no one could focus properly now, Ning Jiuwei smiled and changed her words. “Actually, it’s almost the end of the day. Go ahead and prepare to head out.”

Assistant Tan flashed a brilliant smile and happily returned to her workstation.

Ning Jiuwei stealthily glanced toward the office across the way. Su Jinglan hadn’t lingered at the door for long before retreating to her President’s Office.

“I can’t look at your design drawings, Designer Jiang.” Ning Jiuwei picked up the tablet from the desk and handed it back to Jiang Shiyao. “For this year’s Annual New Product, I need to submit my own design draft too.”

They were competitors now, so it was best not to peek at each other’s work to avoid any issues.

The moment Jiang Shiyao heard this, she felt an immense pressure, but the thought of competing directly with Designer Ning ignited a surge of excitement in her. “If it’s inconvenient to look at the drawings, are you free tonight to catch a musical together? A friend gave me two VIP front-row tickets.”

“I have to work on my design drawings tonight,” Ning Jiuwei refused. “You should invite someone else, Designer Jiang.”

Jiang Shiyao left the office, and Ning Jiuwei couldn’t help glancing once more toward the woman across the hall.

Su Jinglan had her forehead propped on her hand, gazing right at her, her fingertip resting on the lips they had intimately touched before.

Assistant Lin, standing across from the desk, pulled a tube of lipstick from her pocket and offered it with both hands. “President Su, here you go. I brought the shade you wore today.”

Ning Jiuwei had sharp eyesight. Though she couldn’t hear what Assistant Lin and the president were saying with their backs to her, she could clearly make out the slender object being handed over.

Remembering what she had done to Su Jinglan in the library, Ning Jiuwei’s throat tightened, and a flush of heat rose within her.

Su Jinglan glanced at the brand-new, unopened lipstick and asked Assistant Lin offhandedly, “Did my lipstick smudge?”

Assistant Lin didn’t know how to respond. Telling the truth might upset President Su, but lying wasn’t an option since the lipstick really had smudged.

After a moment’s hesitation, she opted for honesty. “Your lower lip is a little smudged.”

Su Jinglan smiled faintly, her fingertip lightly tapping her lips. “If it’s smudged, then it’s smudged.”

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