Chapter 26

Leng Xiang arrived at the TV station and asked the front desk receptionist if Jiang Sisi was in.

The receptionist recognized her and said with a cheerful smile, “Teacher Jiang has been waiting for you for a while. She said to go straight to her office when you arrived.”

The door to Jiang Sisi’s office wasn’t locked. When Leng Xiang pushed it open, Jiang Sisi was wearing glasses and editing footage on her computer.

The glasses had no prescription—Jiang Sisi wasn’t nearsighted at all; they were purely for eye protection.

When Jiang Sisi wore glasses, her entire aura changed. Her slightly long, wavy hair was tied back, revealing her beautiful, clean face.

She worked with intense focus, completely absorbed, all her usual playfulness reined in. The lines of her face sharpened, her lips pressed together as if deep in thought, giving her an air of abstinence.

She stared intently at the computer screen, clicking the mouse rapidly. The speakers blared an intense, rousing soundtrack from a battle scene.

The volume was loud, and she was so immersed that Leng Xiang stood there for several minutes without her noticing. Only after finishing a segment did she look up and see Leng Xiang.

Jiang Sisi smiled, took off her glasses, saved her progress, and closed the editing software. “Sorry, I got too absorbed and didn’t notice you come in.”

Leng Xiang had watched her edit for a bit too.

In the entertainment industry full of beauties, Jiang Sisi wasn’t particularly standout in looks, but she had a composed, restrained presence that was especially captivating.

Especially when she worked.

Just now, for instance, Leng Xiang had watched her editing and found herself a little entranced.

Legend had it that Jiang Sisi came from a family of officials and power. Her mother had passed away when she was young, and thanks to her ability to drink anyone under the table without getting drunk, her father had taken her to various banquets and drinking parties from a young age, where she even helped him block toasts.

Originally, her father wanted her to enter the system—wherever she went, Jiang Sisi could master the rules effortlessly. Being a host was a waste of her talents. But Jiang Sisi refused.

In the end, father and daughter compromised, reaching a mutual understanding.

Leng Xiang snapped back to reality at the sound of her voice. “It’s fine.”

Jiang Sisi stood up from her office chair and casually tugged at the back of her head. The rubber band holding her hair fell away.

Tying her hair up made work more convenient.

But when she wasn’t working, she never liked having it tied back—it felt like a constraint to her.

With the glasses off and her hair down, she reverted to her usual self.

Composed yet not entirely proper.

At that moment, she even seemed a bit dangerous.

And a bit alluring.

Jiang Sisi left her desk area, and Leng Xiang watched her approach step by step.

Leng Xiang was still standing by the door.

Which was closed.

Originally, Leng Xiang had thought they’d sit on the sofa and talk calmly about recent events, perhaps reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.

But Jiang Sisi drew closer and closer.

Leng Xiang instinctively stepped back, only to bump against the door.

Jiang Sisi was now at most a meter away. She took half a step forward, closing it to eighty centimeters, then sixty, then forty.

They had long exceeded normal social distancing.

Even closer than intimate distance.

They were too close—close enough to make Leng Xiang uncomfortable.

Leng Xiang said warily, “What do you want?”

Jiang Sisi tilted her head, smiled, and countered, “Don’t you know what I want?”

Jiang Sisi was a bit taller and could clearly see the fine fuzz on Leng Xiang’s face, the high bridge of her nose, the strands of hair at her temples, the smooth texture of her fair skin, even the tiny cracks on her lips.

And her eyes—truly beautiful, sharp enough to cut, completely different from the soft vulnerability she’d shown drunk last night.

She liked eyes like that.

Jiang Sisi thought she was being a bit too wicked.

She hadn’t meant to tease her this much, but she couldn’t help it.

A flurry of thoughts flashed through her mind: What if she kissed her now—what would Leng Xiang do? Or if she took her right here—what then?

Last night, she’d gotten drunk at the Black Pool Bar over this very thing. So after a night to sleep on it, what would her reaction be today?

But this was going too far.

Even as she inwardly repented to her scant conscience, her body kept pushing boundaries.

She leaned in closer, noticing Leng Xiang’s body stiffen.

Jiang Sisi leaned to her ear and whispered, “I heard you got drunk at the Black Pool Bar last night… and kept calling my name?”

Leng Xiang jerked her head up, glaring at her.

How did she know?!

Jiang Sisi watched her ears turn pink, the flush spreading across them and slowly staining her cheeks.

Such a beautiful color.

Leng Xiang’s ears were red, but her face remained cold, silent.

Jiang Sisi thought: This woman—when she didn’t know what to say, she stayed quiet; when angry, quiet; even now, cornered in embarrassment, still quiet.

How was she so fun?

Jiang Sisi read her expression and lied with a straight face. “We’ve been on the headlines together before, and the Black Pool Boss is my friend. She carried you upstairs to sleep last night and called me right after, saying you’d gotten drunk at her place and kept calling my name.”

Jiang Sisi laughed softly. “Were you thinking of me that much?”

Leng Xiang was stunned by her shameless twisting of facts.

This woman—this woman!!

That day here, Jiang Sisi had been polite and refined. How had she turned into such a rogue?!

Leng Xiang’s voice trembled with anger. “Who was thinking of you? Let me go!”

Jiang Sisi said, “That afternoon, you called me.”

Leng Xiang froze.

Jiang Sisi continued, “You called me that day, I handled things for you, and I assumed the deal was sealed. Now you’re in my office…”

Jiang Sisi smiled. “So why should I let you go?”

She thought she might have a knack for acting—maybe next time she could direct and star in her own film.

Leng Xiang closed her eyes briefly. “We can talk about this properly.”

Jiang Sisi feigned surprise. “You don’t want to anymore?”

Leng Xiang said firmly, “No.”