“You were looking for me?”
The door stood open, and Chi Nuan walked toward Gu Ningzi. Gu Ningzi had just showered and stood by the bed in her pajamas.
“Make the bed,” she said.
“…Ah! Sorry, sorry, I forgot.” Chi Nuan hurriedly took out the bedding she had brought.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, she had video called Little Wutong, then gone for a walk with He Zhen. She had completely forgotten about making the bed.
Gu Ningzi showed no sign of blaming her. She simply waited until Chi Nuan drew near, then furrowed her brows and asked, “What happened to your eyes?”
Her eyes must still have been red, and Gu Ningzi had noticed. Chi Nuan said, “Earlier at the beach, a little bug flew into them.”
Gu Ningzi leaned in and stared at Chi Nuan’s eyes. “Better now?”
As she drew close, her pleasant scent enveloped Chi Nuan. Clutching the bedsheets and covers, Chi Nuan met Gu Ningzi’s gaze for two seconds before awkwardly shifting her eyes. “…Yes, better.”
Gu Ningzi stepped aside no longer. Chi Nuan quickly made the bed, then took out Gu Ningzi’s clothes one by one to hang and iron them.
Gu Ningzi sat on the edge of the bed flipping through her speech manuscript. Once Chi Nuan finished, she pointed to the chair in front of the bed.
Chi Nuan understood and turned off the room lights, leaving only the floor lamp by the bedside table. She sat in the chair and took the stack of speech manuscripts from Gu Ningzi’s hands.
Gu Ningzi removed her glasses and lay down, facing Chi Nuan’s direction.
Her gaze carried such a strong presence that Chi Nuan suggested, “…Do you need an eye mask? I’ll get one for you.”
Gu Ningzi: “No need.”
Chi Nuan had no choice but to lower her head and read the English speech manuscript in front of her without glancing sideways.
Over these past few months, Chi Nuan had put in the effort. She no longer stumbled over professional terms after every two sentences—a change Gu Ningzi felt directly.
—But what caught Gu Ningzi’s attention wasn’t that.
Chi Nuan sat sideways near the light source, her figure slender and graceful. Her voice was unique—soft and gentle, every word sinking into the ear. Each pause for breath made her chest rise and fall in a way that was so…
Gu Ningzi lay flat and proper, staring at the ceiling. “Eye mask.”
Chi Nuan, interrupted out of nowhere: “…”
Fine, eye mask it was.
Gu Ningzi, who had gone back on her word to put on the eye mask, didn’t stay quiet for two minutes before speaking again. “Water.”
Chi Nuan thought Gu Ningzi was so adorable. She immediately poured half a cup of warm water for her. Gu Ningzi drank it slowly, then lay down again.
That night, Chi Nuan read the long speech manuscript eight hundred times before the adorable Gu Ningzi finally stayed still.
The next day, the conference lasted the entire day, followed by a small evening reception.
Gu Ningzi skipped breakfast and downed three cups of black coffee before heading expressionlessly to Building A for the meeting on time.
Chi Nuan didn’t need to enter the conference room. He Zhen told her to arrange her own time. “Go swimming, or leave the hotel and tour the island. Treat it like a vacation.”
Chi Nuan: “Is that okay?”
He Zhen nodded. “Of course.”
But the weather was too hot. Chi Nuan retreated from the blazing sun and wanted only to stay in the room with the air conditioning. An old movie played on the TV, and turning her head revealed the vast blue sea beyond the large floor-to-ceiling windows.
It felt quite relaxing.
Over an hour later, Chi Nuan received a text from Gu Ningzi: “Boring.”
Was the meeting that dull? Chi Nuan had thought Gu Ningzi treated work with utmost seriousness, but she complained too.
What could one do when a meeting was boring? Chi Nuan thought for a moment, extended her left hand, and snapped a photo of her pinky pressed down while the other four fingers stood straight. She sent it to Gu Ningzi.
Chi Nuan: “Try it.”
Half an hour passed with no reply from Gu Ningzi.
Chi Nuan munched on an apple. On a whim while washing her hands, she snapped another photo of her fingers stacking one over the other and sent it to Gu Ningzi. “My Brother says this is called Stacking Ginger.”
Then, she deftly tied her left hand’s five fingers into a knot and snapped the final photo. The chat window showed the image sent successfully.
Chi Nuan: “This one seems kinda hard. [Smile]”
Gu Ningzi still didn’t reply.
In the evening, He Zhen called. The meeting had ended, and she told Chi Nuan to hurry to Building A.
Chi Nuan had just hung up when another message popped up from Gu Ningzi: “You have five minutes.”
Five minutes! She couldn’t even run there in time! Chi Nuan hurriedly changed shoes and rushed out.
A car waited outside Building A, with He Zhen standing beside it. As soon as Chi Nuan appeared, she opened the car door and briefly explained, “BOSS isn’t attending the evening reception. There’s a new arrangement. Follow the schedule.”
Chi Nuan climbed right into the car. She had rushed all the way and arrived flushed and breathless. In stark contrast, the cool and composed Gu Ningzi lifted her wrist and quietly checked the time.
