Chapter 38 Part 1

“You’re telling me you’re dating Jiang Man? My dear Yiyi, you two are legally married already, and now you’re giving me this routine? Going for Marriage Before Love, huh?”

Jiang Yueyi sprawled lazily on her bed, chatting with her saucy friend Yu Jialin. When Yu Jialin asked about the events after that night at the bar, Jiang Yueyi held nothing back. She told her friend everything she should and shouldn’t have, which was why Yu Jialin was so shocked. At the same time, Yu Jialin marveled that Jiang Man was actually quite down-to-earth.

The reason Yu Jialin felt this way was primarily because of Ah Man’s usual demeanor. She was stern and unsmiling, serious and rigid. Ever since she was little, Yu Jialin had heard her parents sing Ah Man’s praises, practically wishing Ah Man was their own biological daughter.

So in Yu Jialin’s view, this workaholic Ah Man should be married to her company for life. She never imagined Ah Man would actually say such things to Jiang Yueyi. This made Yu Jialin more and more suspicious.

“Yiyi, could it be that Jiang Man had designs on you from the very beginning?”

These words seemed to shatter the calm within Jiang Yueyi’s heart, sending ripples layer after layer through it.

Jiang Yueyi did a kip-up and sat straight up, her long hair a mess from rolling in the blankets. She scratched her head and asked incredulously, “No way, right? She’s eight years older than me! We’ve literally never even met before. When she graduated university, I was still in middle school playing with my QQ avatar dress-up! Impossible, impossible.”

Yu Jialin, after hearing this, nodded in agreement. “You’re right. There’s no way Jiang Man would set her sights on you. I was overthinking it, was thinking too highly of you, sister. Wastrels like us are just suited for living off our parents.”

Jiang Yueyi felt deeply uncomfortable at these words and sneered coldly. “You’re the wastrel! I’m a little artistic genius! Don’t you forget my side gig. I’m not just some rich Eldest Miss. Hmph, how did I end up with a friend like you? Not a single kind word. Are you even my good sister or not? So what if Jiang Man is outstanding, does that make me totally worthless?”

“Sis, sis, sis, don’t be mad. I’m the wastrel!”

“That’s more like it.”

Jiang Yueyi hugged her Drumstick Pillow and rolled around on the bed, saying, “Wanna play a game together? I’m so bored.”

In Jiang Yueyi’s worldview, she could call herself a wastrel, but absolutely no one else could. After all, she was a graduate of a prestigious university, excelling in morals, intellect, physique, aesthetics, and labor across the board! So she definitely wasn’t inferior to Ah Man.

“Sure, let’s duo queue.”

Jiang Yueyi’s cat-like eyes curved into crescent moons, smiling sweetly. Anyone who knew her would certainly recognize that Jiang Yueyi was plotting something mischievous again. Who knew what kind of shenanigans she’d pull next.

“Wait a sec, let me invite someone.”

Yu Jialin asked curiously, “Who?”

Jiang Yueyi climbed off her bed, slipped on her cat-paw slippers, and ran towards Ah Man’s study. “Jiang Man, of course.”

There’s absolutely no way she plays games, since she’s so busy. When the time comes, I can bully her with my pro skills and run rampant all over her!

Yu Jialin’s hand, which was propping up her chin, nearly slipped in astonishment. “President Jiang isn’t at the office?”

“Nope, working from home. Did you think bosses go to the office every day? That’s just stuff from TV shows.”

Yu Jialin rolled her eyes. Even though her family wasn’t as well-off as Yiyi’s, her dad was still a company boss. The way Yiyi put it made it sound like she’d never seen a boss before.

“Gotta go, gotta go. I’ll fill you in later.”

Yu Jialin hurriedly said, “Wait, no! Put your phone in your pocket. Let me listen to how Jiang Man talks in private.”

Jiang Yueyi muttered, “What’s so interesting about that? Fine, fine.”

She stuffed her phone into her pajama pocket, obediently knocked on the door, then twisted the handle and poked her little head in. She saw Ah Man typing away at her keyboard, simultaneously speaking French, seemingly in a video conference.

Seeing Ah Man busy with work, Jiang Yueyi felt a bit disappointed and pursed her lips. She’s so busy. Finally a day when she’s home, but it’s no different from the usual.

Her bright, large eyes dimmed, and she wilted, losing her earlier cheerfulness.

Good thing I didn’t make a sound just now, or it would’ve been so awkward.

Jiang Yueyi decided to retract her little head and pretend she’d never come to the study.

But Ah Man beckoned her over. Then, after saying a few words in French, she ended the video call with a smile. Ah Man took off her Bluetooth earpiece, stood up, and walked towards her, asking, “Why didn’t you come in?”

Jiang Yueyi tiptoed to peek at the now-closed laptop screen and asked, blinking, “You’re done with work?”

Ah Man nodded, taking her hand and having Jiang Yueyi sit on the sofa.

She picked up the cup of coffee sitting on her desk, stirred it, and took a sip.

“Mhm, all done.”

Ah Man leaned back against the desk. She wore a comfortable, casual loungewear set at home. The light blue color made Ah Man seem much softer. Even the loose clothing couldn’t hide her figure. Even Jiang Yueyi couldn’t help but sigh: She’s truly a walking clothes hanger.

“What are you staring blankly at?”

Ah Man set down her coffee, both hands bracing against the desk behind her, leaning forward slightly as she smiled at the dazed Jiang Yueyi.

Jiang Yueyi looked up and saw the faint dimples that appeared on Ah Man’s cheeks when she smiled, and said, “Nothing. I just wanted to ask if you want to play a game with me.”

“A game? What kind of game?”

“That super popular game right now, it’s really famous.” The moment the topic turned to something Jiang Yueyi was interested in, she became animated, introducing the game to Ah Man with great enthusiasm. She had no idea just how cute she looked right now.

Her thick, dark hair hung down to her chest. Because she had been rolling around in bed earlier, static electricity from the fuzzy pajamas had made the top layer of hair stick up, the ends bouncing lightly with her every gesture.

This made Ah Man, who had been watching her all along, unable to hold back her laughter. She pressed her fist to her lips, the mirth in her eyes growing. Finally, unable to restrain herself, she leaned down and ruffled Jiang Yueyi’s hair, gently smoothing down the flyaway strands.

Whether it was the closeness or Ah Man’s gentle touch, Jiang Yueyi’s face and heart started racing again. She leaned back, dodging the hand on her head, and said huffily, “Why do you always like touching my head?”

Ah Man countered, “Don’t you like it?”

Jiang Yueyi curled her lip, folded her arms, and complained discontentedly, “You think it feels like coaxing a little kid, don’t you? I’m an adult! I’m twenty-one! Stop casually touching my hair!”

Ah Man couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She pushed up her glasses, her red lips curving upward. Going along with her, she agreed to it.

“That’s more like it. If you touch my head again, I’ll chop off your hands!”

“Okay.”

“It’s all your fault, we got off-topic. It doesn’t matter if you can’t play games, I’ll carry you. I’m super good at jungling!”

Ah Man swung a long leg over and sat down beside her, handing Jiang Yueyi her phone. “Play a round first, and I’ll watch.”

“Ha, you don’t believe my jungling skills are awesome, huh?”

Ah Man said gently, “I believe you.”

Jiang Yueyi just sneered disdainfully. “Hmph, my gameplay is gonna make you eat your words later!”

Ah Man shrugged.

“Hey, why can’t Face ID unlock your phone?”

Ah Man said unhurriedly, “I turned it off.”

“Then what’s your passcode?” Jiang Yueyi felt this person was really strange. Face ID was so much faster than typing a password, yet she deliberately went against the grain. Seriously, what a weirdo.

A glance at Jiang Yueyi’s expression, and Ah Man knew she was silently cursing her. She lowered her eyes, a smile at the corner of her lips. “Your birthday.”

“Oh, my birthday— Wait! Why did you set it as my birthday?”

Ah Man looked at Jiang Yueyi’s profile. Hearing Jiang Yueyi’s question, she stretched out an arm to hook it around Jiang Yueyi’s shoulder. “You’re my girlfriend. If I don’t use yours, should I use someone else’s?”

Hugging the phone, Jiang Yueyi stared unblinkingly at Ah Man. Finally, her heart raced so fast it was about to leap out of her throat. Shyly, she covered her face, no longer daring to look at Ah Man.

A sharp glint flashed through Ah Man’s eyes as she pushed up her glasses. Why I turned off Face ID, you should understand the answer now, right?

Their conversation was heard clearly by Yu Jialin through the phone in Jiang Yueyi’s pocket. On her bed, Yu Jialin thrashed around, letting out a scream. “Aaaah, this Jiang Man must be doing it on purpose! She’s so smooth!”

Yu Jialin could already imagine the expression on Jiang Yueyi’s face right now. For all her surface-level bravado, she was actually a total rookie. Now that she’d met Jiang Man, her buddy here wouldn’t last a month before being completely conquered by Ah Man.

Yu Jialin couldn’t help but pound her mattress. Why did I suggest listening to them talk earlier? Wasn’t this just me voluntarily stuffing dog food into my own mouth?!

Ah Man saw her reddening ears but didn’t continue teasing her. Gradual and steady wins the race. I’m quite enjoying this process of pursuing her.

Saying I’m pursuing Jiang Yueyi… but isn’t she pursuing me just as much?

Feelings are a two-way street.

Ah Man tugged at her collar, pulling her away. “Teach me how to play the game.”

Jiang Yueyi forced herself to calm down. In order to save face, she decided to forget everything that just happened. Such a pathetic reaction absolutely could not have been done by me.

Jiang Yueyi fiercely glared at Ah Man and cleared her throat. “Watch my moves carefully, I’m seriously flashy!”

The home internet speed was definitely worthy of Ah Man’s status; the game downloaded very quickly.

Jiang Yueyi logged into her game account and showed off to Ah Man. “See that? I own all the skins.”

Ah Man was an emotionless cheering-tool. “Impressive.”

“Learn from this.”

The game started quickly. Ah Man played her best hero, rampaging and getting kills, drawing exclamations of amazement from Jiang Yueyi.

Ah Man’s expression was calm, but her tone of voice was very animated. Since Jiang Yueyi was looking down at the game the whole time, she naturally couldn’t see Ah Man’s acting. She actually thought she had already won Ah Man over.

As the game ended and she was the MVP on her team, Jiang Yueyi proudly raised her chin, waiting for Ah Man’s praise.

Ah Man held back her laughter, put on a serious expression, and gave Jiang Yueyi a thorough round of flattery.

“Is my play like this correct?” Ah Man took her phone and started practicing against bots, with Instructor Jiang Yueyi guiding her from the side.

“Ugh, not like that. You’re so dumb. Watch how I do it, pay attention!”

As they chatted, Jiang Yueyi somehow ended up in Ah Man’s embrace. Ah Man half-held her as they reclined on the sofa, listening to Jiang Yueyi’s complaints, her gaze exceedingly gentle.