Chapter 119

Fang Bai slept soundly.

If she hadn’t been woken up by the heat.

Her sleepy eyes opened, and in the hazy blur, Ji Yuning’s profile appeared before her.

It was the perfect backlight angle, Ji Yuning’s curved eyelashes distinct, her nose bridge and lip curves like mountains and hills. Under the silhouette of the light, her entire profile presented a perfect line.

Fang Bai took a moment to gather her senses, realizing she was sleeping in Ji Yuning’s arms. The arm embracing Ji Yuning’s waist was entwined like a vine, and their four fair legs were intertwined, the places where they touched feeling warm.

The weather in mid-August was still very hot. In a room without air conditioning, two people sleeping embraced, no wonder Fang Bai was woken up by the heat.

However, to be clear, Fang Bai was the one holding Ji Yuning as she slept.

As a result, Ji Yuning didn’t feel hot at all, her breathing was steady, and she hadn’t broken a sweat.

Fang Bai was already immune to the two of them hugging each other. Even if she slept close to the edge of the bed every night, far away from Ji Yuning, the next day when she opened her eyes, she was guaranteed to wake up on Ji Yuning’s side of the bed.

Touching the beads of sweat on her nose, Fang Bai wanted to reach for a tissue on the bedside table to wipe it away. To avoid waking Ji Yuning, she carefully retracted the leg resting on Ji Yuning, followed by the arm resting on Ji Yuning’s abdomen, and finally the head resting on Ji Yuning’s arm.

But the moment Fang Bai moved away from Ji Yuning’s arm for a second, her body even just turning to the side, her waist was hugged from behind.

“What is Auntie doing so stealthily?”

Ji Yuning hugged Fang Bai from behind, burying her head in the back of Fang Bai’s neck, inhaling the sweet but not cloying scent on Fang Bai’s body.

Both of them were wearing very thin silk pajamas. Their bodies were pressed together, as if only a layer of clothing separated them. Fang Bai clearly felt Ji Yuning’s softness pressing against her. Ji Yuning’s breath brushed against the back of her ear. Fang Bai awkwardly shrugged, wanting to push Ji Yuning away, but the other woman hugged her even tighter.

Pressed close, it was as if there was nothing between them.

This made the person who was already sweating at the tip of her nose feel even hotter.

Except the former was physical sweating, while the latter…

Since Ji Yuning was already awake, Fang Bai didn’t need to be so quiet anymore. She propped herself up on the bed, broke free from Ji Yuning’s embrace, and said, “It’s hot.”

After speaking, Fang Bai pulled out a tissue and pressed it against her nose, the sweat slowly soaking through the paper.

Fang Bai sat with her legs crossed, not noticing that her clothes had bunched up at the top of her thighs, directly facing a certain someone.

Fortunately, her legs were stacked together, so it wasn’t very clear.

Ji Yuning looked away, rolled over, and sat up, staring at Fang Bai for a few seconds before propping herself up on the bed with her hands, crawling on her knees towards Fang Bai.

The neckline of her clothes drooped, revealing a boundless view inside.

Unfortunately, Fang Bai’s first reaction was that Ji Yuning also wanted to wipe sweat. She didn’t lower her gaze but pulled out a tissue and pressed it against Ji Yuning’s face, wiping [read the original at bailiantales.com]downwards along Ji Yuning’s forehead, murmuring, “You don’t have any sweat, what are you wiping?”

Ji Yuning grabbed the hand in front of her face, pulling Fang Bai’s hand down onto the bed while leaning towards Fang Bai.

She first kissed Fang Bai’s face, and just as her lips were about to touch Fang Bai’s lips, Fang Bai pulled out the hand Ji Yuning was holding, using it to block Ji Yuning’s lips while covering her own mouth with her other hand.

Her voice came from between her fingers, “Haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

Ji Yuning’s eyelids twitched twice.

Seeing that Ji Yuning wasn’t moving, Fang Bai lowered her hand, turned around, and got out of bed. “I’m going to wash up.”

In the end, the two didn’t kiss.

While Ji Yuning was brushing her teeth, Fang Bai had already washed up and was making breakfast.

For breakfast, Fang Bai simply cooked porridge. Just as the porridge was ready, she received a phone call.

The call ended, coinciding with Ji Yuning coming out of the bedroom.

Fang Bai put her phone on the table and called out to Ji Yuning, “Come eat.”

“Mm.”

After Ji Yuning sat down, Fang Bai said, “Accompany me to see someone later?”

As if thinking of something, Fang Bai quickly added, “She’s flying abroad this afternoon, so we arranged to meet in the morning. It should be over before nine, won’t take up too much time.”

Ji Yuning didn’t ask who it was, just nodded.

But her attention was drawn to something else. Her gaze lingered on Fang Bai for a few seconds before she called out, “Auntie.”

Fang Bai lifted her face from the bowl. “Hmm?”

“As long as I’m with you, it’s not wasting time,” Ji Yuning said softly. “So you don’t need to explain it to me specifically.”

Ji Yuning didn’t want her relationship with Fang Bai to take another step forward, but Fang Bai’s attitude towards her had become reserved. She could feel it; it wasn’t shyness, it was caution.

Fang Bai pursed her lips. “I was just afraid you would refuse, thinking it would affect your work.”

“If I were busy, I would refuse you,” Ji Yuning said.

Love wasn’t compromise.

Fang Bai naturally understood Ji Yuning’s meaning. The small knot in her heart was smoothed out, and a smile appeared on her lips. “That’s good.”

Ji Yuning didn’t know who Fang Bai was taking her to see. After all, Fang Bai knew very few people in Beijing, but those people wouldn’t require Fang Bai to drive her to meet them. If they wanted to meet, they could do so at any time.

When she saw the familiar building, the curiosity in Ji Yuning’s heart was finally piqued.

If it were any other place, it would be fine, but it was the same teahouse where Lu Zheng had asked Fang Bai to talk last time.

The car stopped by the roadside, confirming that their destination was indeed the teahouse.

Ji Yuning raised an eyebrow and looked at Fang Bai. “Who is Auntie taking me to see?”

“I’ve already prepared to hand over the person and receive the money. You’re only thinking of asking now? Isn’t it too late?” Fang Bai said with a smile as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “Little kid, don’t you have any sense of vigilance?”

“I trust you so much, and you actually…” Ji Yuning cooperated with her words, even slightly furrowing her brow, but her voice was level, completely unconvincing, yet Fang Bai was still stunned.

After the stare, Fang Bai held the steering wheel and chuckled softly with her head down.

She really hadn’t expected Ji Yuning to have this kind of reaction.

Where had the coldness and aloofness gone? The contrast was too great.

She was still… quite cute.

Looking at the person whose shoulders were shaking, Ji Yuning coughed softly. “Stop laughing.”

She hadn’t intended to make Fang Bai laugh, she was just cooperating with her acting, but she hadn’t expected it to backfire.

A minute later, the two got out of the car.

Fang Bai held Ji Yuning’s arm. “Okay, okay, Auntie won’t laugh anymore.”

As she spoke, the smile on Fang Bai’s face showed no signs of diminishing.

She wasn’t even good at coaxing people.

Ji Yuning took Fang Bai’s hand, changing the subject. “Who are we going to see?”

As she spoke, the two had already entered the teahouse. Clearly, the waiter at the entrance recognized them, or perhaps someone had instructed them. Upon seeing Fang Bai, the waiter walked forward and automatically led the way for Fang Bai.

Following behind the waiter, Fang Bai replied, “Jiang Qingyue.”

Ji Yuning raised her eyes.

If the Lu family’s power in Beijing was not to be underestimated, then the Jiang family was an existence that stood on equal footing with the Lu family. Although they couldn’t be considered direct rivals, they mutually suppressed each other.

Jiang Qingyue, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, in her early thirties, was already the person in power at Jiang Corporation.

Ji Yuning had met her a few times at banquets.

Very beautiful, with a generous demeanor, but the shrewdness and sharpness in her eyes couldn’t be ignored.

A smart person.

She just didn’t know how Auntie had gotten to know her.

The waiter walked ahead. Fang Bai considered her words and said in a voice only she and Ji Yuning could hear, “With the cooperation with the Lu Corporation ending, we need new partners. After thinking about it, the Jiang Corporation is the most suitable.”

The phone call this morning was from Jiang Qingyue’s secretary, arranging a meeting for today.

The location was chosen by Jiang Qingyue.

Fang Bai felt it was intentional on her part.

Lu Zheng often came to this place. It was said that Lu Zheng had invested in it. If Jiang Qingyue and Ji Yuning met here, Lu Zheng would know within half a day.

Jiang Qingyue probably wanted to see if Ji Yuning would come, thereby gauging Ji Yuning’s relationship with the Lu family.

But she hadn’t expected Fang Bai to just tell Ji Yuning they were going to see someone, without saying who.

Ji Yuning could only choose at this moment, but seeing that Ji Yuning’s expression was the same as usual, Fang Bai knew it didn’t matter if she said it or not.

Not saying it allowed her to see Ji Yuning’s cute side.

Thinking of what happened in the car, the corners of Fang Bai’s lips curved up again.

Meeting Ji Yuning’s gaze, Fang Bai linked unauthorized copy her arm with Ji Yuning’s again and leaned close to her ear, asking, “Have you ever thought about cooperating with the Jiang Corporation?”

Her voice was soft and gentle, a slow whisper, like a feather brushing against the heart.

The corners of Ji Yuning’s lips lifted. She lowered her head slightly and also leaned close to Fang Bai’s ear, saying, “We’ve met a few times before, but we haven’t explicitly discussed it.”

Fang Bai couldn’t bear the itch in her ear and shrank back slightly, asking, “What do you think?”

F.J. was currently facing survival and development. It needed to gain a foothold in Beijing without completely relying on another party.

The latter had gradually taken shape after several rounds of monopoly by the Lu Corporation, so the main problem now was being able to withstand the Lu Corporation’s counterattack after ending their cooperation.

Fang Bai was right. The Jiang Corporation was indeed the most suitable choice.

But what if the Jiang Corporation’s demands were as overbearing as the Lu Corporation’s?

Ji Yuning pinched the soft flesh at the base of Fang Bai’s thumb, watched the waiter stop in front of a door, and said, “Let’s see what she thinks first.”

The door opened, and Fang Bai raised her eyes to see the person sitting in the teahouse, leisurely sipping tea.

A light green cheongsam, her hair pinned up behind her head with a single hairpin.

Her name suited her.

Like the moon reflected on a clear lake late at night, solitary [stolen content]and ethereal, elusive and intangible.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Jiang Qingyue put down her teacup and turned to look at the two of them. “Ms. Fang, President Ji, please come in.”

“We’ve kept President Jiang waiting.”

Jiang Qingyue’s eyelids lifted slightly. “Just call me Qingyue.”

Ji Yuning pulled out a chair for Fang Bai. After Fang Bai sat down, she sat down on the side.

Jiang Qingyue took in their interaction. After Ji Yuning was seated, she said, “President Ji, long time no see.”

Ji Yuning nodded. “Long time no see.”

Jiang Qingyue smiled slightly, pouring tea for the two of them as she said, “I didn’t expect that to arrange a meeting with President Ji, I would have to go through Ms. Fang.”

Fang Bai looked at the two of them with a puzzled expression.

So not only had they met a few times, but they hadn’t even successfully arranged a meeting before?

No wonder there had been surprise in Jiang Qingyue’s eyes when she contacted her.

Jiang Qingyue explained to Fang Bai, “I sent President Ji an invitation once before, but President Ji declined.”

Ji Yuning recalled what Jiang Qingyue said and then said faintly, “Sorry, I was [unauthorized copy]in South City at the time and couldn’t make it back.”

Jiang Qingyue’s gaze swept towards Fang Bai. “I heard Ms. Fang came from South City?”

Fang Bai nodded. “Yes, Xiao Ning should have been with me at that time.”

“Then Ms. Fang and President Ji are?” Jiang Qingyue’s voice contained curiosity, but her inquiry didn’t make Fang Bai feel offended.

“I’m an employee of F.J., and also her…”

Fang Bai wanted to say she was her aunt.

But she paused for a second, just a second, and Ji Yuning continued her sentence, “Girlfriend.”

Jiang Qingyue was stunned, looking at the two of them with a knowing smile.

No wonder her attempts to arrange a meeting with Ji Yuning hadn’t been successful, while when she met Fang Bai, the other woman had easily said she could bring Ji Yuning to meet her for cooperation talks.

Jiang Qingyue quickly recovered, revealing a suitable smile and sighing, “I didn’t expect that while discussing cooperation, I would also get a mouthful of dog food.”

Author’s Note:

Xiao Ji’s Diary:

Aunt Fang is a bad person! She wants to sell me! Sob sob sob~