Shi Yu stopped because of Panpan.
When it came to her daughter, she had always been indulgent. Panpan rarely asked to see Ji Yao. In the fabricated lies Shi Yu had woven, Ji Yao was always busy, and Panpan, being sensible, understood.
But yesterday’s broken promise, coupled with Panpan coincidentally running into Ji Yao, had stirred up those thoughts.
Just as Shi Yu was about to ask Ji Yao if she had time to have dinner with Panpan and incidentally inquire about what had happened the night before, she hadn’t expected Ji Yao to still be like this…
“Shi Yu, it really was just an accident. Please believe me!”
Ji Yao’s shamelessness was cut short in Shi Yu’s mind. Before she could even process it, Ji Yao had already retreated at lightning speed, even closing the car door again.
The driver in the front seat was Xiao Di, who turned around upon hearing the commotion. Seeing Shi Yu’s displeased expression and Ji Yao standing outside the car, she softly apologized, “Sorry, Sister Shi, I forgot to lock the car door.”
Forgetting to lock the car door was a bad habit, but it was because of Shi Yu. Every time she got out of the car, she tended to overlook whether the door was locked, leading to more than one awkward situation.
Although Xiao Di never dared to say anything, over time, she had developed the habit of not locking the car door during short trips.
Right now, they were driving Shi Yu home, a journey of no more than half an hour, and both of them tacitly agreed not to lock the door.
“Shi Yu, you really should lock the car door,” Ji Yao reminded her in a low voice while Shi Yu and Xiao Di exchanged awkward glances.
Ji Yao actually felt wronged too. After experiencing something like that, who could remember to hold back? And she never expected Shi Yu to leave the car door unlocked!
Shi Yu’s expression wasn’t exactly pleasant after Ji Yao’s quiet reminder, but it was still better than her earlier icy demeanor. However, she had lost the desire to question Ji Yao further.
Fortunately, her spokesperson, Xiao Di, was on the case.
“Sister Ji, are you free tonight? Panpan invited you to have dinner together.”
Xiao Di was perhaps the person who understood best just how much Shi Yu doted on Panpan. Ever since Panpan had called her earlier with the request, similar scenarios had played out in her mind multiple times. So, even though she was the one asking, it felt completely natural and it also helped Shi Yu avoid an awkward situation.
Shi Yu’s expression gradually softened. Although she clenched her fists, somewhat unwilling, she didn’t want Ji Yao to reject Panpan even more. If that happened, Panpan would be very upset, and she’d have to spend a long time comforting her when she got home.
“Tonight? I might not be able to make it. I sold my car, and the buyer wants to see it. Also, I started a new job and need to stop by the new workplace in the evening.”
Ji Yao wasn’t lying about any of it, she spoke very seriously, but it only made Shi Yu find it amusing. The more earnest she sounded, the more ridiculous it seemed.
Shi Yu was well aware of Ji Yao’s character. Hearing her say this now made her not want to waste another word. At most, she’d just have to comfort Panpan properly when she got home.
She nodded to indicate she understood, then turned to instruct Xiao Di, “Let’s go.”
Xiao Di stepped on the gas quickly. By the time Ji Yao thought of something else to say, all she could see was the rear of the car and that dark figure was plastered on it again.
“Hey, Shi Yu, wait.”
Ji Yao grew anxious, and soon a peculiar scene unfolded on the street: a young female alpha, with her long legs, chasing after a commercial vehicle.
She ran for two blocks, but the commercial vehicle only grew farther away.
Ji Yao, however, had no intention of giving up. She scanned a shared bike and chased after the car, starting with light panting until she was forced to take deep, heavy breaths. Finally, she caught up with Shi Yu at a traffic post.
Propping herself up with one foot on the ground, she gently tapped on the car window.
Shi Yu, who had been staring straight ahead, flinched in surprise at the sound.
“Shi Yu! Listen to me. You absolutely must find someone to accompany you recently!”
As soon as Shi Yu cracked the window open, she caught those half-spoken words carried by the wind.
The car had already driven away, but Shi Yu was still pondering, what exactly was Ji Yao trying to say?
Find someone to accompany her?
How absurd…
Yet, the moment she recalled the surge of pheromones that had stirred within her during her brief encounter with Ji Yao, her face flushed with anger.
That word shameless popped into Shi Yu’s mind once again.
Utterly shameless.
How could there be an alpha like this in the world?
Unaware of what Shi Yu thought of her, Ji Yao found herself completely exhausted after struggling to deliver that message. She could no longer muster the strength to ride the bike.
After returning the shared bike, she sat back down by the roadside to rest.
A few minutes later, her driver called.
“Where are you? I can only wait five more minutes.”
Five minutes, there was no way she could make it back. It had taken her over ten minutes of frantic biking just to catch up with Shi Yu, and now she had little energy left.
She had no choice but to cancel the ride, further straining her already tight finances.
Fortunately, her car was likely to be sold soon, and her new job was already secured.
Ji Yao booked another ride, hurried home, and drove out her Audi A7.
The car was only a couple of years old, with low mileage, and she had priced it as the lowest among similar models. The buyer didn’t hesitate 33,000 yuan, and the deal was done.
For a brief moment, Ji Yao felt a wave of satisfaction as she saw the money come in.
Then, she went to pay off her car loan and part of her high-interest debt.
Both this car and the one she had sold to Qiao Zixi were bought on loans, but only a small balance remained. The leftover money was enough to cover a portion of her high-interest debt.
By the time the ownership transfer was completed, it was already late. Ji Yao waited by the roadside for Qiao Zixi to pick her up.
Without a car, the trip to Ningjiang was too far, so she needed Qiao Zixi to give her a ride.
Qiao Zixi arrived a little later than agreed, and to Ji Yao’s surprise, there was an unexpected person in the car, Xu Yi.
“Ji Yao, I’ll drop Xu Yi off first.”
“Okay.”
Ji Yao sat in the backseat, doing her best to avoid looking at the two in front.
With her alpha senses, she could tell there was something ambiguous going on between this alpha and omega pair especially Xu Yi, whose gaze toward Qiao Zixi seemed to linger with unspoken tension.
When Qiao Zixi dropped Xu Yi off at the suburban villa area, Xu Yi refused to get out of the car.
“Zixi, can I talk to you?”
“No, can’t you see I’m busy?”
Qiao Zixi rejected Xu Yi bluntly, not even sparing her a glance, which brought the omega to tears.
Ji Yao felt awkward in the backseat, trying her best to make herself invisible.
The tense atmosphere didn’t last long, though. Qiao Zixi eventually gave in to Xu Yi, telling Ji Yao to wait a moment before getting out of the car and leading Xu Yi to the roadside.
Their conversation was brief, no more than five minutes.
Only when Xu Yi’s mood visibly brightened did Qiao Zixi impatiently return to the car.
“Omegas can be so clingy,” Qiao Zixi remarked as she got back in. When no one responded, she took a sip of water, glanced back at Ji Yao, and patted the passenger seat. “Come sit up here. It’s too much trouble to talk like this.”
Without a word, Ji Yao switched seats. Although changing seats was a hassle, since she was hitching a ride, it wouldn’t be appropriate to sit in the back and make Qiao Zixi look like a chauffeur.
Once she settled in, Qiao Zixi started the car and drove off, muttering under her breath with dissatisfaction, “I wonder if there’s enough battery left to get to Ningjiang after dropping her off.”
Ji Yao quietly thought to herself: There is.
But she didn’t feel comfortable saying it out loud.
After all, Qiao Zixi’s expression was rather unpleasant, her face stern the entire time.
It wasn’t until they left Xijing and were on the highway that Qiao Zixi couldn’t hold back any longer and asked Ji Yao, “Why haven’t you asked me what my relationship with Xu Yi really is?”
“You’ll tell me when you’re ready. It would be too intrusive for me to ask,” Ji Yao replied, her gaze fixed on the scenery outside the window. She glanced at Qiao Zixi briefly before turning away again.
She missed the slightly frustrated expression on Qiao Zixi’s face.
By the time they reached the service station, Qiao Zixi got out to smoke, while Ji Yao went to buy two grilled sausages.
It was already past six in the evening. She hadn’t eaten lunch and was starving by now.
Munching on her sausage, she asked Qiao Zixi, “Do you want one?”
Qiao Zixi stubbed out her cigarette and asked, exasperated, “Ji Yao, how can you be so lacking in romance?”
“???” The sausage suddenly lost its appeal. Ji Yao pressed her lips together, feeling deeply offended.
Ignoring her reaction, Qiao Zixi continued to vent her feelings, “Xu Yi and I met a few times when we were kids. I had just left Xijing back then. My dad was quite skilled at reading feng shui and served as a consultant for Xu Yi’s father. Occasionally, he’d bring me along to gatherings.”
“But you have to understand, Xu Yi is only 23 this year, a full five years younger than me. Back then, I saw her as just a kid, and it’s still the same now.”
“The reason I ended up by Xu Yi’s side is because she stubbornly participated in a talent show, got cyberbullied until she cried and went back home, but still insisted on entering the entertainment industry.”
“I happened to need a suitable identity, so becoming Xu Yi’s manager was a perfect fit it gave me a legitimate reason to be around and also allowed me to protect her.”
“So, she’s both my employer and my partner.”
“Tell me, Ji Yao, how could I be so unprofessional as to fall in love with my employer? And yet, this kid just won’t give up.”
What Ji Yao had assumed was a familiar yet ambiguous topic of romance unexpectedly turned into a discussion about professional ethics, a subject she was well-versed in. Taking a bite of her sausage, she declared firmly, though her words were slightly muffled, “You really shouldn’t fall in love with your employer. It’s unethical.”
“The work we do often fosters dependency, so it’s even more important to maintain boundaries.”