Chapter 84

Ning Jiuwei pushed Su Jinglan away and leaned back in her chair. With the desk between them, Su Jinglan couldn’t reach her.

The door to the Teachers’ Office stood wide open, and someone could walk in at any moment. Ning Jiuwei didn’t want her colleagues to catch her being intimate with the president, so she kept a perfectly professional smile on her gentle face. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about, President Su. I need to work on my design drawings now. Please see yourself out.”

Out of Su Jinglan’s line of sight, Ning Jiuwei gripped the armrest tightly. Beneath her clothes, her heart pounded wildly, her knuckles whitening as she fought to suppress the trembling in her body.

Su Jinglan straightened up. Her burning gaze slowly traced Ning Jiuwei’s lips, following the line of her collar down to her chest, then drifting to her waist and abdomen.

Some people could convey desire with nothing more than a look, tempting flights of fancy. Ning Jiuwei was especially prone to letting her imagination run wild. Under that stare, she felt herself melting from the heat, her surging emotions dissolving into a helpless puddle. Their current situation made the embarrassment all the more acute.

Ning Jiuwei shifted uncomfortably, crossing her legs as she tried to shake off the exquisite pleasure Su Jinglan had ignited in her.

Su Jinglan smiled and went to close the office door.

She locked it securely—it couldn’t be turned from the outside—then deftly activated the frosting on the glass walls. Towering over the woman in the chair, she gazed down at her.

“Doesn’t Teacher Ning understand?” Su Jinglan swallowed softly, her scorching eyes fixed on those parted lips. She pinned Ning Jiuwei’s hands in place and let her body do the talking, showing her exactly what it meant to kiss her right here.

She parted her lips with forceful tenderness, her overflowing love surging to its rightful home. Su Jinglan adored the sensation of kissing Ning Jiuwei; her blood boiled through her veins. Her hands slid around that slender waist, drawing Ning Jiuwei’s back against her and lifting her to her feet.

Design drafts and a drawing tablet cluttered the desk, alongside an open dual-screen notebook. Su Jinglan, tall with long legs, perched on the edge of the desk. Her spread thighs bracketed Ning Jiuwei’s legs, and her tightening arms pulled her fully into the embrace.

The fervent, tangled kiss stirred Ning Jiuwei’s own emotions to life. Oxygen-starved, her chest thumped wildly; suffocation mingled with a delicious, deadly tingle. Ning Jiuwei clutched Su Jinglan’s shoulders, responding with abandon.

“Do you get it now?” Su Jinglan panted, smiling as her usually enigmatic eyes became crystal clear, staring straight at Ning Jiuwei. Her fingertips teased along the curve of her back.

Ning Jiuwei was helpless against such enthusiastic initiative from Su Jinglan. Her eyes dropped to the soft lips right in front of her, her reply coming out of left field. “Your lipstick’s smudged.”

Su Jinglan pursed her lips at the words. “Does Teacher Ning have any lipstick here?”

“Yes.” Ning Jiuwei bent to pull open the drawer, but Su Jinglan’s arms made it awkward. She patted her arm in a signal to let go. “I can’t reach like this.”

Reluctant to release the woman she’d finally pulled into her arms, Su Jinglan twisted sideways, resting her chin on Ning Jiuwei’s shoulder. “Now you can.”

The face-to-face embrace shifted to a sideways one, Ning Jiuwei bending with her following suit.

“I’ve used it. Do you mind?” Ning Jiuwei pulled a half-used tube of lipstick from the drawer.

Su Jinglan let out a disbelieving chuckle. She’d kissed far more than just those lips. “Lipstick my wife has used? Why would I mind?”

Ning Jiuwei froze for a beat, making sure she’d heard right. “A bit early to call me wife, don’t you think? Here, President Su.”

She pressed the lipstick into Su Jinglan’s hand and slipped free of her embrace. Su Jinglan caught her wrist, refusing to let her go. “I need a mirror.”

No mirror meant no good application. Ning Jiuwei reached for one in the drawer, but Su Jinglan held her steady with both hands, her intense gaze locked on those clear eyes. “Teacher Ning, look at me.”

Realization dawned on Ning Jiuwei—Su Jinglan wanted to use her eyes as a mirror. “Let me help you, President Su.”

She reclaimed the lipstick and handed Su Jinglan a wet wipe. Su Jinglan eyed it with the air of a spoiled young lady expecting to be served, her smile radiant as she made her request. “Teacher Ning, wipe it off for me.”

For some reason, Ning Jiuwei flashed back to the night before—Su Jinglan had done this for her then, and now the roles were reversed. Her ears burned, the heat spreading straight to her heart.

She didn’t refuse. Ning Jiuwei cupped Su Jinglan’s face and wiped away the ruined lipstick with gentle precision, tracing the lip lines from center to corners.

Old color gone, she applied the fresh coat.

Su Jinglan smiled the whole time, her eyes simmering with restrained heat as they roamed Ning Jiuwei’s face. Watching the woman she adored apply lipstick for her was pure, unspoken bliss.

Blissful moments always flew by. Su Jinglan hadn’t gotten her fill when Ning Jiuwei let go. “There. All done.”

Su Jinglan couldn’t look away. “Designer Ning doesn’t usually wear much lipstick, but you’re so deft at applying it. What were you thinking about while doing mine, Teacher Ning?”

_Was she picturing doing it for her wife?_

Ning Jiuwei answered her, “I often color in line drafts…”

Before she could finish, Su Jinglan’s smile visibly faded a few degrees.

“So in Designer Ning’s eyes, I’m just a line draft waiting to be colored, huh?” Su Jinglan teased. “Does Designer Ning want to color some other places too?”

Ning Jiuwei: “…”

Something about those words just felt off to her.

The red maple lipstick had spread from Su Jinglan’s lips onto Ning Jiuwei’s, leaving obvious smudged traces. Without needing Su Jinglan to point it out, Ning Jiuwei grabbed a wet wipe and turned sideways to scrub at it.

Compared to the gentle care she’d shown Su Jinglan earlier, she rubbed at her own lips without a second thought, scrubbing hard until it was clean in just a few strokes.

She hadn’t been wearing lipstick anyway, so once it was gone, her bare lips were back to normal. Ning Jiuwei headed to the tea station to pour herself some water.

“Really not eating together?” Su Jinglan settled into Ning Jiuwei’s chair and switched off the frosted glass walls.

Standing at the tea station with her back to Su Jinglan, Ning Jiuwei drank down several gulps and let out a soft sigh. “Where are we going?”

“The company canteen.”

Since joining the company, Ning Jiuwei had only been to the canteen twice. The food there was varied and decent enough, but the crowds were a problem—she hated mingling with people. Both times, she’d run into Zhang Xiaoyue and ended up eating with her, so she hadn’t gone back since.

Going to the canteen with Su Jinglan might look perfectly innocent, but with the recent rumors swirling around the company, Ning Jiuwei turned it down. “Then could President Su grab something for me to go?”

“Let’s eat out.” It had only been a joke—Su Jinglan had never intended to actually go to the canteen. Even if Ning Jiuwei had agreed, she would’ve diverted her halfway.

Now that their relationship had turned intimate, their interactions felt awkwardly stiff instead. Ning Jiuwei handed her car keys to Su Jinglan. “President Su, wait for me in the car. I’ll head down in a bit.”

“Is Designer Ning compensating me?” The black Mercedes key was plain, with no keychain or fob. Su Jinglan toyed with it in her hand, her smile intriguing and hard to read.

A car was such a personal thing, especially for someone like Ning Jiuwei. The fact that she was willing to hand over her keys spoke volumes about Su Jinglan’s place in her heart.

The “compensation” referred to the previous time when Su Jinglan had wanted to sit in Ning Jiuwei’s car for a bit but hadn’t gotten the chance. Ning Jiuwei paused, then remembered. “I just want us to head down separately.”

“Is our relationship something to hide?” It wasn’t their first time leaving together. Staggering their exits would only raise more suspicions. Su Jinglan pocketed the keys with a smile. “Designer Ning, you haven’t given me any official status yet. I’m still your boss.”

The president of the Design Division and the chief designer—what could be more pure and professional than that? Walking side by side was perfectly reasonable.

Seeing that Su Jinglan wasn’t going to go down alone, Ning Jiuwei dropped it. She tidied the drawings on her desk, then headed out shoulder-to-shoulder with Su Jinglan.

They took the elevator down to the parking lot and ran into a few company colleagues—none from the Design Division. Ning Jiuwei paid them no mind and strode straight to her car.

Those colleagues stopped at a distance and glanced over. Su Jinglan shot them a cold look, her commanding aura instantly silencing them. Not one dared approach to say hello.

Su Jinglan still had the car keys and hadn’t given them back. She unlocked the doors and slid naturally into the driver’s seat.

Their heights were similar, so she didn’t need to adjust the seat. Ning Jiuwei hesitated for a moment, then buckled her seatbelt and settled into the passenger side.

“Wife…” The word slipped out instinctively, straight from Su Jinglan’s heart. Meeting Ning Jiuwei’s sharp gaze, she laughed it off and corrected herself. “Designer Ning, busy this afternoon?”

Twice now, Su Jinglan had let endearments slip. Ning Jiuwei’s emotions were starting to show through. She fell back on her usual demeanor, her tone mild but her words coolly distant. “Not busy.”

“Then let’s go somewhere a bit farther out.” Without needing GPS, Su Jinglan drove for over forty minutes to the Jiangji Center, leading Ning Jiuwei to the highest restaurant in the city, one with a view overlooking the entire skyline.

At the height of the one hundred and twentieth floor, it felt almost dizzyingly precarious. The vista was expansive, the ambiance serene and quiet. Su Jinglan had specifically chosen a window table, complete with a balcony railing outside for taking in the city’s most stunning sights.

After lunch, Su Jinglan drove them back to the company. Once they parked, Ning Jiuwei reached for her keys, but Su Jinglan held on tight. With the elevator empty, she took advantage, pulling Ning Jiuwei close.

“Tonight, I’ll drive too.” Su Jinglan had the evening all planned out. She leaned in by Ning Jiuwei’s ear and whispered, “Sleep at my place tonight. We’ll relive last night… and unlock some new things.”

Ning Jiuwei had never encountered a situation like this in her life. Were those things from last night really the kind you talked about in broad daylight? Heat flooded her body, urging her to shove Su Jinglan away. They had just separated when the elevator dinged to a stop at the sixth floor.

Ning Jiuwei frowned lightly, her expression one of clear displeasure as she passed by the open-plan office. The diligently working colleagues all noticed her mood.

It was rare to see Designer Ning upset, so they couldn’t help stealing a few extra glances.

Not far behind Ning Jiuwei, Su Jinglan approached at a leisurely pace, her face as coldly impassive as ever.

Putting two and two together, everyone understood: Designer Ning’s mood stemmed from President Su.

Once they returned to their respective offices, the two women exchanged a glance through the dividing wall. Su Jinglan’s icy demeanor melted into a gentle smile, her eyes sparkling with a teasing, flirtatious glint. Ning Jiuwei averted her gaze, but after ducking her head, she couldn’t suppress a laugh.

“President Su, the Chairman wants you upstairs,” Assistant Lin interrupted the president’s blossoming warmth to relay the message.

Su Jinglan reined in her gaze and headed upstairs with Assistant Lin.

She was gone for the entire afternoon. Ning Jiuwei checked the time and prepared to head home after work.

“Are you taking a cab home?” Wen Wanyuan called to arrange a meetup that evening. Upon hearing that Ning Jiuwei planned to cab it, she instructed, “Wait for me at the company. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“No need.” Spotting Su Jinglan, Ning Jiuwei refused nonchalantly. “I’ve got my car keys back.”

Wen Wanyuan was quick on the uptake. “Ah Mu, are you living with Su Jinglan now?”

“Mm.” Ning Jiuwei hesitated for a few seconds before admitting it.

~~~