Amnesia Trap (GL) - Chapter 41

When she first heard Ji Qingfan say that, she didn’t quite process it. However, as the sting gradually intensified, Sheng Zhi couldn’t help but push Ji Qingfan away.

Her immediate thought was that Ji Qingfan was absolutely taking the opportunity to retaliate. Biting that hard…

The sweet and obedient persona she had put on while acting spoiled vanished in an instant. Sheng Zhi covered the patch of skin that had been repeatedly licked and ground by teeth, her brow furrowed in a look of dissatisfaction that suggested she was about to give Ji Qingfan a piece of her mind.

She tried to hold it back, but ultimately couldn’t resist losing her temper.

The after-sting really hurt—so much so that tears were nearly welling up in her eyes, making her gaze look watery and shimmering. “Are you a dog?”

Even though Ji Qingfan had stopped at this moment and Sheng Zhi had already pushed her away, that sharp, stinging sensation seemed to linger on her skin, spreading and feeling numb.

That patch of skin was also incredibly damp; it was impossible to ignore. Sheng Zhi felt awkward all over. Seeing Ji Qingfan trying to lean in again, she used her fingertip to block the other woman’s lips.

Ji Qingfan merely blinked and subtly glanced over. She noticed that Jiang Wanyin was no longer there, having returned to the private room at some point.

Hmph, coward.

She grabbed Sheng Zhi’s fingertip and gave it another little bite, responding with a soft hum as if nothing had happened, completely unfazed as she went along with Sheng Zhi’s previous remark: “I am the Young Lady’s dog.”

As she spoke, her hand moved up again, stroking the spot where she had left the mark like a feather. She let out a near-sigh, “Zhi Zhi, why are you so delicate?”

Sheng Zhi’s skin was naturally fair, making any mark stand out vividly—especially one left so heavy and intentionally; it looked quite excessive.

Sheng Zhi felt her face flush after having her finger bitten while trying to ward Ji Qingfan off. She instinctively and guiltily looked back.

The area near the private room was quiet; there was no sign of Jiang Wanyin coming out.

This discovery made her heave a sigh of relief, yet it also felt strangely thrilling—especially after hearing Ji Qingfan directly admit to being her dog.

The current atmosphere and Ji Qingfan’s expression were entirely different from the awkward, cold tension they had in the car earlier. Ji Qingfan had reverted to the clingy, proactive person she usually was.

And the fact that she just admitted to being her dog was truly too…

Thinking of this, the temperature in Sheng Zhi’s cheeks rose again, and her emotions felt a bit stirred.

Initially, when Ji Qingfan bit her, she had regretted it, feeling that doing this was simply unnecessary. But seeing Ji Qingfan like this now, she felt that the bite wasn’t such a big deal. Although it hurt a bit, it wasn’t unbearable.

Ji Qingfan had thrown a bit of a temper with her, too, but it was easy to resolve, wasn’t it? She had previously thought Ji Qingfan was going to give up on the act, but to her surprise, Ji Qingfan had composed herself after only a short while.

Perhaps because she had experienced that brief feeling of “almost losing” it, as she thought about it now, she found herself becoming less and less resistant to Ji Qingfan’s performance of deep affection and marital bliss.

Being so submissive, following her every whim, looking only at her, favoring her, being incredibly indulgent, and occasionally making it obvious that she was trying to seduce her… there wasn’t a single flaw to be found. It made her feel very pleased.

Even if Ji Qingfan was only doing it for profit.

But so what?

She had plenty of profit to let Ji Qingfan keep plotting for a long time. No one could ever surpass the benefits the Sheng family could bring to Ji Qingfan.

It wouldn’t be bad to let Ji Qingfan keep acting like this, Sheng Zhi thought. Realizing something, she mentally rationalized it for herself—this was just another way to see Ji Qingfan suffer. Since she disliked Ji Qingfan, let Ji Qingfan continue this reluctant performance indefinitely; after all, Ji Qingfan was the one who started this act first.

Sheng Zhi met Ji Qingfan’s gaze.

Ji Qingfan looked at her, her pupils reflecting only her, giving off a vibe of intense focus and patience.

After a long silence, Sheng Zhi spoke, “Then you can only be a dog for me.”

She thought back to a long time ago, around the time her dog, Xiao Hua, had just died. She was so sad and miserable that she truly treated Ji Qingfan like a puppy to be raised and toyed with for amusement.

In truth, that was quite excessive. Others had noticed back then; she had overheard people privately telling Ji Qingfan that she was being too much and that Ji Qingfan should stop being afraid and resist—otherwise, the more she didn’t resist, the more she’d be bullied. She didn’t hear how Ji Qingfan responded, but she vaguely recalled seeing that Ji Qingfan’s face looked terrible and very ugly.

Sheng Zhi never considered herself a particularly good person. However, others only cursed her in private; no one dared to be too obvious about it. She didn’t care about those things. Previously, because she was close to Jiang Wanyin, someone joked that they should just be together. At the time, even Jiang Wanyin said not to make such jokes, as no one could tolerate Sheng Zhi’s personality forever.

As her voice trailed off, Sheng Zhi observed Ji Qingfan’s expression. Ji Qingfan took her hand, lifted it, and leaned her head over to rub against it. Her tone was incredibly sweet. “I’ll only be a dog for you.”

After saying that, she even gave a soft “woof.”

Sheng Zhi felt as if her fur had been smoothed over from head to toe, and also like an electric current had passed through her entire body.

It was still a bit too stimulating. She didn’t even dare to imagine what would happen if Jiang Wanyin walked out right now and caught them…

Sheng Zhi shook off the hypothetical scenario that made her want to vanish on the spot. Looking at Ji Qingfan’s expression, she cleared her throat. “Then let’s go. Let’s head out first.”

Ji Qingfan followed her lead and held her hand, but just as Sheng Zhi took a step, she felt a tug, and then Ji Qingfan stopped.

“Zhi Zhi, wait a second.”

“?” What else?

Sheng Zhi turned her eyes to meet Ji Qingfan’s.

Ji Qingfan withdrew her hand, untied the decorative choker from her own neck, and then tied it around Sheng Zhi’s neck.

The choker didn’t look out of place on Sheng Zhi; it matched the dress she was wearing quite well.

Ji Qingfan’s voice was soft, the complete opposite of the intensity she used when leaving the mark just now, like a gentle spring rain: “Cover it up.”

Without a mirror nearby, Sheng Zhi couldn’t see exactly what the mark looked like after being licked and bitten, but judging by the stinging pain she had felt, she assumed it must have left a mark.

“Covering it is fine.” As she said this, she raised her hand to touch the choker. She felt a bit awkward, her ears faintly heating up.

—After all, it had just been taken off her.

The choker still retained a hint of Ji Qingfan’s warmth.

Sheng Zhi and Jiang Wanyin had scheduled this lunch because they had previously had a bit of a falling out; this was supposed to be a symbolic “reconciliation” meal.

However, they didn’t expect another conflict to arise so quickly—one could even say it happened that very day.

After the three of them finished eating, Jiang Wanyin sent her a bunch of strange messages, questioning her: didn’t she dislike Ji Qingfan? Why were they so intimate and entangled in the hallway? She didn’t seem to be resisting at all.

This was a relatively polite summary; the original words and tone were the kind that made Sheng Zhi very angry.

Sheng Zhi hadn’t seen Jiang Wanyin come out at the time, but she had considered the possibility that Jiang Wanyin might have seen something.

But regardless, she never expected Jiang Wanyin to say such nasty things to her one day. It was completely nonsensical.

She was naturally someone who responded to gentleness but resisted pressure. Once her temper flared, she had a massive argument with Jiang Wanyin.

Not long after the fight, Jiang Wanyin came to apologize to her, but Sheng Zhi was truly angry this time and had no intention of forgiving her. She directly blocked Jiang Wanyin on all communication platforms.

The moment she thought about those words, she felt both aggrieved and furious.

If it were anyone else, she might not have felt this miserable, but the person who said those things was Jiang Wanyin. They were supposed to be such close friends.

…How could she say that about her?

Therefore, even though Jiang Wanyin kept apologizing and insisting she had only spoken out of anger that day, Sheng Zhi ignored her.

While it appeared on the surface that she was giving Jiang Wanyin the cold shoulder, in reality, Sheng Zhi’s own state was affected by the incident.

The most obvious sign was that she, who usually never made mistakes, made a small error in her work today—

She got a numerical value wrong.

Fortunately, it was discovered in time, so it didn’t cause any major losses.

However, despite the lack of major damage, the forms that had already been completed based on that incorrect value had to be redone.

During the lunch break, Ji Qingfan called her into her office.

Sheng Zhi thought Ji Qingfan was going to criticize her, but Ji Qingfan didn’t. Instead, she brought her to the bed she used for her midday rest.

There was a rest area inside the CEO’s office.

Ji Qingfan poured a glass of water and placed it beside her. “What’s wrong? Is my Jiao Jiao too tired?”

Actually, when Ji Qingfan first started calling her “Jiao Jiao”, Sheng Zhi was very unaccustomed to it. But as Ji Qingfan said it more often, she grew less bothered by it.

Ji Qingfan said she didn’t want to call her “Zhi Zhi” after the three of them returned from that lunch.

At the time, Ji Qingfan asked if she could call her what she used to.

Sheng Zhi heard her and instinctively asked, “What do you mean, ‘used to’?”

As if waiting for her to ask that question, Ji Qingfan replied with a sigh: “Back before Zhi Zhi forgot me. Everyone else calls you Zhi Zhi, and it makes me so sad. I still want to call you Jiao Jiao like I used to.”

As she spoke, her expression took on a hint of disappointment. “In the past, Jiao Jiao called me very intimately, too, unlike now, when it’s just my cold full name.”

Seeing that expression, Sheng Zhi knew she was acting again. Actually, the nickname “Jiao Jiao” wasn’t that unfamiliar; she remembered that on the occasion they swapped phones, Ji Qingfan had her saved as “Jiao Jiao.”

She didn’t say whether she accepted Ji Qingfan calling her by such a nickname, but instead asked: “Then what did I used to call you?”

Ji Qingfan moved a bit closer, her tone becoming slightly seductive. “For example, ‘Wife,’ ‘Sister,’ ‘Dearest’…”

She seemed to be helping her remember, but hearing those intimate terms made Sheng Zhi’s face heat up for some reason. She turned her face away. “Do as you wish. Regardless, I won’t call you that.”

Ji Qingfan was very good at testing the limits based on her words. Seeing no response after calling her “Wife,” she switched to “Dearest,” which Sheng Zhi pretended not to hear.

Despite this attitude, Ji Qingfan didn’t seem discouraged. Instead, she went through a whole list: “Darling,” “Baby,” “Honey”…

Sheng Zhi hadn’t expected her to spout so many sugary and ambiguous terms. She couldn’t help but interrupt: “If you want to call me Jiao Jiao, then just do it…”

Ji Qingfan’s eyes curved into a smile, appearing happy to have her permission, and she repeated the name several times.

Thus, Sheng Zhi went from her initial discomfort to now being able to accept hearing it.

Sheng Zhi didn’t want to say much about the Jiang Wanyin situation, but she was vague about it, and Ji Qingfan managed to piece most of it together from her words.

She actually even said a few words on Jiang Wanyin’s behalf. “Miss Jiang might just be too concerned about Jiao Jiao. Though, speaking of which, I didn’t see when she came out at the time. How strange.”

Hearing Ji Qingfan speak up for Jiang Wanyin now, Sheng Zhi paused for a second and looked up at her. “Do you also think I’m the one who’s more at fault?”

Her tone became even worse. Ji Qingfan reached out and ruffled her hair. “No. Actually, I don’t really like Miss Jiang’s approach either.”

Having said that, she seemed to feel it was inappropriate and added: “But she is a very close friend of Jiao Jiao’s, after all, so it’s not my place to say anything. However, putting myself in her shoes, if I were her, I would absolutely never do such a thing…”

At this point, Ji Qingfan’s gaze turned apologetic. “I’m sorry, Jiao Jiao. If I hadn’t insisted on a kiss back then, we wouldn’t have been seen by Miss Jiang, and you wouldn’t have had a conflict with her because of me.”