Su Qian leaned in, her almond eyes bright and dazzling, and kissed Jiang Ji on the cheek.
“What are you doing!”
Jiang Ji’s eyes narrowed, looking like a wronged little bride who’d been defiled. Su Qian lowered her gaze, deliberately noting the reaction of Jiang Ji’s little brother.
Sure enough—a virgin who’d just gotten his first taste.
The slightest stimulation and he… ahem.
In any case, there was hope.
Su Qian curved her lips. ”Collecting my payment for labor, of course.”
Jiang Ji’s face flushed. ”Can you be serious for once?”
Su Qian smiled. ”If you eat, I’ll be serious.”
Jiang Ji sighed helplessly and took a bite.
He had no interest in food; eating was just something he did to stay alive.
But after just one bite of Su Qian’s cooking, those cold, languid eyes brightened for an instant.
Su Qian smiled. “It’s good, right?”
Jiang Ji admitted it honestly. “It really is delicious.”
“As long as you like it. It’s just a pity that I went grocery shopping and cooked right after work, and I still haven’t had a single bite.”
Jiang Ji lifted his eyes and said awkwardly, “There are bowls in the cabinet. Get one yourself.”
“Okay~”
Su Qian held her bowl, eating her rice in small bites while gazing at Jiang Ji’s face, almost dazed.
Wow, he’s so handsome!
She took a photo and posted it to her Moments.
[Meals taste best when shared with someone you like~]
She didn’t include Jiang Ji in the photo, but she captured his hand holding the chopsticks.
Slender knuckles, cold, fair, and clean.
Jiang Ji saw the post too, his brow furrowing. “I haven’t agreed to anything.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you post it?”
“Because I wanted you to know that you’re someone I like.”
Jiang Ji’s face turned red. “Even eating can’t shut your mouth.”
Determined not to let her crush’s words fall flat, Su Qian shot back, “You could shut my mouth with something else~”
“Su Qian, do you know how noisy you are? Can’t you be quiet while eating?”
“If I’m quiet, can I come eat at your place every day? If you nod, I won’t say a word.”
Jiang Ji nodded helplessly.
And Su Qian kept her word.
That night when she got home, Su Qian messaged Jiang Ji: [What are you doing?]
Jiang Ji: [Taking a shower]
Su Qian: [Is that safe? Want me to video call to protect you?]
Jiang Ji didn’t reply.
Su Qian scratched her head. This was a flirting tutorial from Xiaohongshu for pursuing your crush, guaranteed to work every time.
But on Jiang Ji, it seemed useless—it just made her look like a clown.
Still, she wasn’t discouraged.
After all, that night at the hotel, Jiang Ji had clearly developed a taste for her. He was definitely not the frigid type Su Luoluo claimed he was.
After thinking it over, she sent another message: [If that doesn’t work, I could buy a ticket and come watch.]
Jiang Ji: [.]
Early the next morning, Su Qian knocked on the door of 2602 carrying soup dumplings and soy milk.
Jiang Ji wasn’t fully awake yet, wearing blue silk pajamas that revealed his beautiful collarbone.
Seeing it was her, the young man’s handsome face crumpled.
“Why are you here again?”
“To eat with you, of course. You promised~”
“I meant dinner.”
“Not listening, not listening. You promised me anyway~”
Not only did Su Qian make breakfast, but she also worried Jiang Ji would skip lunch again, so she brought that along too.
When Xia Jie heard about this, he smacked his forehead in exasperation. “Why don’t you just feed it straight into his mouth?”
Su Qian thought about it seriously. “Should I try that tonight when I go back?”
“You—you—you…”
Xia Jie was so angry he stammered, “Sweetie, the whole point of dating is having a man take care of us. I told you to give him affection to increase the interaction, not to become his free nanny! If you love cooking so much, why don’t you just make beef and scallion buns while you’re at it?”
“You have a point, but Jiang Ji doesn’t eat scallions.”
“Is the scallion the point here?”
Su Qian gave an awkward smile. “I admit I’m a little love-brained, but I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry about me.”
Xia Jie let out a heavy sigh.
He wasn’t worried about Su Qian.
He was worried that Su Qian would get bored in a few days, while the guy ended up falling hard for her.
What if the guy got dumped out of nowhere, mistook it for Su Qian toying with his feelings, and took revenge on her?
Xia Jie wanted to warn her.
But remembering that Su Qian would be leaving for Harbor City in just a few days, he ultimately said nothing.
Never mind that Su Qian had busied herself cooking last night and gotten up early today to prep ingredients.
She didn’t feel tired at all—in fact, she was full of energy.
She had always suffered from insomnia. She’d been to the sleep clinics of three hospitals and even visited a psychologist.
But nothing had ever been found.
Now, with all this activity these past few days, her insomnia had completely vanished.
She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow—more effective than melatonin.
On top of that, her mortal rival at the company was away on a business trip, and Su Qian’s days had never been more pleasant.
She came to a conclusion—
Jiang Ji was her good luck charm.
Su Qian fell even deeper.
She even drew a little red heart on the 21st on her calendar.
That was the deadline Jiang Ji had set for his pursuit—and also the day she’d decided to leave for Harbor City.
Ten days. Nowhere near enough time for her to win Jiang Ji over.
But Su Qian had a plan.
Ever heard of the abandoned cat effect?
It works on people too.
The ten days Su Qian had agreed to weren’t a countdown to them getting together—they were a countdown to their separation.
From her observations yesterday, Su Qian had discovered that Jiang Ji had a sweet tooth.
So on Wednesday morning, in addition to the usual breakfast, she made an extra strawberry pudding.
Now she sat across from Jiang Ji, cradling her face in her hands, beaming.
Watching the beautiful boy hold the strawberry pudding, saying tsundere-ly, “It’s too sweet,” while eating more than half of it anyway.
Su Qian had also gotten a decent read on his personality.
A tsundere who never said what he really meant.
People like that were pretty annoying.
But Su Qian simply loved his face. He was like an adorable little kitten—no matter what he did, she loved him.
“A-Ji, are you going to school today?”
“Mm.”
“Then remember to take an umbrella. The forecast says it might rain.”
“No.”
“Take it anyway. If you get soaked, I’ll feel so bad for you~”
Jiang Ji wasn’t used to hearing such sweet talk. He frowned and asked, “Do you always chase people like this?”
“What, is it working on you?”
Jiang Ji scoffed as if he’d heard a joke. “Not a chance.”
The sunlight melted across the boy’s beautiful face. His thin eyelids lifted as he shot her a glance, then went back to his strawberry pudding.
Su Qian’s heart felt like it had been struck.
So beautiful.
Even though Jiang Ji gave her nothing but cold looks, she maintained the mild demeanor of an honest, easygoing person, as if she had no temper at all.
It wasn’t that Su Qian had never seen a handsome man.
Last year, the company had hired a popular male celebrity as a spokesperson, and as the client, she had visited the set once.
The celebrity was handsome, sure, but Su Qian hadn’t felt any spark.
Jiang Ji was different.
His features were gorgeous, just like a Ragdoll cat.
One look at him and her heart would race, and she’d be desperate to make him hers.
Just then.
Her phone lit up.
It was a friend request.
The profile picture showed the back of a man standing beneath a snow mountain, broad-shouldered, with the sunrise gilding the peaks in gold.
Su Qian recognized it at a glance—she had taken that photo years ago.
The man was her mother’s stepson after remarriage—her stepbrother.
Jiang Zhaohan.