Amnesia Trap (GL) - Chapter 43

Sheng Zhi slept for a long while, clutching the quilt.

It had been quite some time since she’d had such a long afternoon nap, especially since joining the company.

Perhaps because she was thinking about Jiang Wanyin before she fell asleep, her dreams were filled with images of Jiang Wanyin crying and apologizing to her.

Having slept for so long, she felt a bit dazed upon waking, as if she hadn’t quite cleared the cobwebs of the dream from her mind.

She couldn’t help but recall their last argument; Jiang Wanyin had ended up crying then, too.

She couldn’t stand it when Jiang Wanyin cried—not in an “unbearable” way, but in an instinctive, protective way.

When they were younger, Jiang Wanyin didn’t have the cool, tough personality she has now. Because she was chubby and had acne, people always gave her nasty nicknames and targeted her. She was very insecure and sad, but even when she was sad enough to cry, she did so silently. Sheng Zhi couldn’t stand seeing that, so she taught everyone who used those nicknames a lesson, forcing them to come over one by one and apologize to Jiang Wanyin.

Back in school, she had started early and was naturally younger than everyone else, yet she was always the one to step up when something happened. For those she considered friends, she was fiercely protective.

As a child, Jiang Wanyin followed her around like a shadow. After all these years, the person who once needed her to stand up for them had become a high-spirited racer with countless championships. Every time Sheng Zhi thought of this, she felt quite proud.

Sheng Zhi stared out the window for a while, then slowly decided she should probably pull Jiang Wanyin out of her blacklist.

After all, Jiang Wanyin would never do anything to truly hurt her. Although those words were genuinely nasty, she, being the bigger person, would overlook the transgressions of a lesser one. She’d forgive her and stop holding a grudge.

With that thought, Sheng Zhi folded the quilt, intending to unblock Jiang Wanyin and send a message.

However, no matter where she looked, she couldn’t find her phone.

She usually didn’t keep her phone far when she slept; sometimes she even slept with headphones on, often waking up to search the whole bed for both.

But… she was practically ready to flip the bed now, and she still hadn’t seen her phone.

Could I have accidentally knocked it onto the floor while sleeping?

Sheng Zhi stood by the bed, wondering if she should check the floor, when she heard footsteps behind her.

She turned and met Ji Qingfan’s gaze.

As if surprised that she was awake, Ji Qingfan froze for a moment, then naturally let a smile ripple across her lips: “Jiao Jiao, you’re awake? Did you sleep well?”

Sheng Zhi gave a perfunctory hum, spared her a single glance, and looked away. While searching, she asked: “Have you seen my phone?”

Hearing this, Ji Qingfan realized what was happening and explained in a soft, gentle voice: “It’s charging. Since you were sleeping, I didn’t say anything. I came in to get some things, noticed your phone was out of power, so I took it to charge.”

Sheng Zhi gave an acknowledging hum, but immediately after, something clicked: “Why did you touch my phone?”

If Ji Qingfan hadn’t proactively touched it, how could she have known the battery was dead?

Meeting her gaze, Ji Qingfan couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle: “Because I picked it up off the floor.”

Her tone carried a hint of teasing. “When I was holding you earlier, I thought Jiao Jiao was quite well-behaved and cute when sleeping…”

Sheng Zhi’s face heated up at that soft chuckle; she couldn’t help but interrupt: “What’s so funny? Don’t laugh. It’s because your rest area bed is too small. If my phone broke from the fall, you’d have to pay for it.”

Ji Qingfan’s eyes curved. “Mhm, I’ll take responsibility. Jiao Jiao, hurry and check if it’s broken.”

The phone was charging in the office. Sheng Zhi walked over and saw it was fully charged, though still plugged in. Some documents were scattered across the desk.

Noticing Sheng Zhi glancing at the documents, Ji Qingfan tapped a finger lightly and pushed one of them toward her. “By the way, Jiao Jiao, come with me to Rao Hai this trip. Jing Mu contacted me this afternoon; they want to strengthen the relationship between our two companies.”

Sheng Zhi was not unfamiliar with Jing Mu, the CEO of the Jingpang Group, who had some dealings with her own Shengshi Group.

And she was even more familiar with Rao Hai—during this summer warm-up period, it was a major hotspot for vacations and recuperation.

“Strengthening the relationship” was the pitch, but the moment Sheng Zhi heard Ji Qingfan say it, she understood this trip was for business negotiations.

Jingpang and Qizhong had been deadlocked for a long time over the acquisition of the same company, unable to close the deal. It was understandable that Jingpang was anxious to find another way and wanted to pull Shengshi in.

Sheng Zhi looked closely at the document and, seeing nothing of major importance, knew the real details of the negotiation probably wouldn’t be revealed until they reached Rao Hai.

But the lack of important details didn’t stop her from guessing Jingpang’s strategy: they simply wanted to win Shengshi over to start a price war and crush Qizhong. If they succeeded, Jingpang could immediately hike their position by eight points. No matter how deadlocked the situation was, it would turn into a landslide—a landslide in favor of Jingpang.

This tactic, if used well, was a win-win. Nothing was written on the paper, but Sheng Zhi didn’t think Ji Qingfan was unaware of it.

After all, Ji Qingfan had spoken in declarative sentences; Jingpang must have shown considerable sincerity. She looked at Ji Qingfan with a bit of interest: “10%?”

“More than that,” Ji Qingfan signaled a number to her. “And if the acquisition goes smoothly, Jing Mu said Jingpang would cede half of the major project they are currently managing to us.”

The profits from the large project Jingpang was handling were quite substantial. If they got half now, they’d be entering a position to “lie down and eat meat” (make easy profit).

Sheng Zhi couldn’t help but find it curious: “She suggested this herself?”

Ji Qingfan smiled, blinking softly at her like a fox. “How could that be possible?”

Sheng Zhi had only asked casually; she didn’t believe for a second that someone with Jing Mu’s personality would suggest that. Sure enough, seeing Ji Qingfan like this confirmed it—Ji Qingfan must have negotiated quite a deal to make Jing Mu “bleed” to such an extent to pull Shengshi into the partnership.

“Jiao Jiao, just come with me.” Seeing her silent, Ji Qingfan’s voice softened as she leaned in to rub her cheek against Sheng Zhi’s ear.

Having just woken up, Sheng Zhi’s body was very relaxed. She didn’t pull away as Ji Qingfan leaned in, only replying in a lazy, pampered tone: “I think you can handle it fine on your own. There’s no need for me to go with you.”

“The round trip will take several days… I’ll miss Jiao Jiao very much if I can’t see her.” As Ji Qingfan spoke, her lips moved, and she gently bit Sheng Zhi’s ear cartilage.

That unexpected nibble instantly jolted Sheng Zhi awake.

Ji Qingfan didn’t let go after biting, her movements as lingering and tormenting as her tone.

Sheng Zhi pushed at her. “Let go.”

“I won’t, unless Jiao Jiao agrees to come with me.” Not only did Ji Qingfan not let go, her body pressed even closer.

Sheng Zhi was inexplicably worried someone might suddenly walk in and see this. Although it was unlikely, she just felt…

After all, this was an office.

Moreover, the office decor was all cool tones, which made the warmth and ambiguity between them feel even more pronounced.

“Fine, I agree. I’ll go with you,” Sheng Zhi bit her lip.

Hearing her agreement, Ji Qingfan released her, looking pleased yet slightly dissatisfied. She sighed: “I haven’t had enough closeness yet…”

However, the quiet, unfinished words were cut off once she met Sheng Zhi’s gaze, as if afraid that if she pushed her luck, Sheng Zhi would change her mind about going.

Seeing Ji Qingfan obediently stop and no longer cling to her, Sheng Zhi finally reacted and unplugged her phone.

She had come over specifically to get her phone and unblock Jiang Wanyin.

But she had been sidetracked by Ji Qingfan mentioning Rao Hai; she’d had the phone for ages and was only just now unplugging the cable.

Furthermore, thinking about how she had told Ji Qingfan earlier that she wouldn’t reconcile with Jiang Wanyin, Sheng Zhi instinctively tilted the screen toward herself after tapping it on, not wanting Ji Qingfan to see.

She swiped and tapped across the screen.

When her temper had flared, she had blocked everyone: main accounts, secondary accounts. Now, going through platform by platform to release them felt like a chore.

“Jiao Jiao, what are you doing?” Ji Qingfan’s gaze was drawn by her repetitive movements. “Replying to messages? Then I’ll wait until you’re finished before telling you more about the Rao Hai trip.”

Hearing the question, Sheng Zhi nodded casually: “Something like that.”

She didn’t even tilt the screen toward her, and her answer was naturally vague.

Just as she pulled the numbers out of the blacklist, she received a message from Jiang Wanyin.

[Zhi Zhi?]

[You’ve forgiven me, right?]

Sheng Zhi hadn’t expected Jiang Wanyin to reply so quickly—it was as if she had been waiting on the other side of the screen. She felt even more guilty and sent back a “kitten nodding” emoji.

[Then you’ve read everything I said, right?]

[I’m really worried about you. Ji Qingfan is truly terrifying.]

The messages came fast, but the second one was retracted just a few seconds after it arrived.

[Sorry Zhi Zhi, I didn’t mean to interfere with your thoughts… I’m just too worried. But as long as you don’t like Ji Qingfan, it’s fine.]

Sheng Zhi was a bit overwhelmed by the barrage of messages.

But she was certain that Jiang Wanyin was very worried about her.

She typed out a line: [Don’t worry, it’s impossible for me to like Ji Qingfan.]

Jiang Wanyin’s status showed “typing…” for quite a while, flashing on and off, before finally sending: [I believe you, of course. It’s just that she’s too good at acting; it feels dangerous.]

Perhaps because the subject of the conversation was sitting right next to her, Sheng Zhi had a nagging illusion that Ji Qingfan had found out. She felt a strange sense of guilt. However, when she looked at Ji Qingfan, she saw her sitting quietly to the side, seemingly having no extra interest in who she was messaging or what they were talking about. She was just looking down at the documents in her hand, her expression calm.

The black deep-V suit and the simple choker made her aura seem cold and abstinent.

In truth, being in the same room as her, her presence was so vivid it was hard to ignore.

As if sensing Sheng Zhi’s gaze, Ji Qingfan looked up from the documents.

Their eyes met in the air.

Sheng Zhi thought about the message Jiang Wanyin had just sent.

She didn’t believe she would ever develop that kind of “like” for Ji Qingfan.

She might have different thoughts based on the persona Ji Qingfan was acting out, but that was just based on the persona. She still disliked the real Ji Qingfan.

Her own personality wasn’t great—she admitted that—but it wasn’t that bad.

For instance, if Jiang Wanyin cried because they fought, she felt distressed; and that was just a friendship.

If she really liked Ji Qingfan… she would probably become much gentler, right?

After all, “liking” should be beautiful and filled with care.

But looking at Ji Qingfan now, the only thought she had was to pull on her choker to see her look pathetic in front of her, to see her shedding tears and pleading.

Pleading for what… she didn’t know. But the mere thought of that image made her excited.

No matter how she thought about it, it had nothing to do with words like “beautiful” or “gentle care.”

No matter how she thought about it, it couldn’t possibly be “liking.”