Amnesia Trap (GL) - Chapter 20

She asked so pitifully, but Sheng Zhi had the strangely inappropriate thought of Ji Qingfan wearing the fox ears.

At that moment, Ji Qingfan was very alluring, her eyes full of charm and seduction when she looked at Sheng Zhi. Yet, now, meeting her gaze, she looked like a small dog.

—A listless, rain-soaked little dog.

She didn’t know why she suddenly had such an association. She clearly knew Ji Qingfan was too calculating to count, and that this whole act was just Ji Qingfan’s performance.

The thought was almost laughable. How could Ji Qingfan possibly give off that impression? It didn’t match her at all.

But even funnier was that she had this irresistible hallucination.

“Why are you making that face?” Sheng Zhi felt a strange awkwardness. She paused, then hummed, “If I said I really wasn’t going to eat with you, would you beg me to stay with you?”

She didn’t actually mean to make Ji Qingfan beg her, but Ji Qingfan seamlessly followed her lead.

She took Sheng Zhi’s hand and lifted it to her face, tilting her head slightly to rub against it, whispering intimately: “Yes, I beg you.”

“Zhi Zhi, don’t go with anyone else, and don’t agree to anyone else,” she said softly, watching Sheng Zhi the whole time, “I know your taste, I’m familiar with your habits, and you won’t have to lift a finger to do anything… Going with them won’t be as comfortable as eating with me, so please come with me.”

Sheng Zhi listened to her words, stunned for a moment.

Her first reaction was that Ji Qingfan actually begged her over something like this.

It was unbelievable.

Although she didn’t want to admit it, Ji Qingfan had indeed been meticulous lately, and hadn’t made her feel uncomfortable at all.

Even if she wanted to find fault, she couldn’t.

Sheng Zhi felt the smooth skin rubbing against her palm and felt a strange sense of being pleased. She hummed: “I didn’t say I wouldn’t eat with you for lunch; they invited me for the evening.”

As she spoke, she observed Ji Qingfan’s expression, curious if she would beg again.

After all, those two sentences made all of Ji Qingfan’s posturing just now entirely pointless.

But this time, Ji Qingfan didn’t follow her prediction. She simply kissed Sheng Zhi’s hand affectionately, then released it to hold her hand: “Then I want to go with Zhi Zhi.”

“…Alright.” Sheng Zhi looked at her, and not hearing her beg again, she pouted inwardly.

They got back in the car. Sheng Zhi pondered the situation all the way to the restaurant. Finally, a new idea popped into her head.

Actually, thinking about it, Ji Qingfan and her friends had always had no interaction.

There was no need to guess; it was common knowledge that Ji Qingfan looked down on their crowd of wealthy, useless second-generation heirs.

Thinking this, Sheng Zhi blinked. Just before getting out of the car, she called out to Ji Qingfan and deliberately asked: “By the way, Ji Qingfan, have you ever spent time with my friends before? I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned it.”

As the words fell, she curved her eyes, waiting for her answer, secretly certain that Ji Qingfan couldn’t give a satisfactory answer to this question.

If Ji Qingfan said she had, the lie would be exposed when they met.

But if she said she hadn’t, that would be even stranger—in Ji Qingfan’s description, they were so “loving,” so how could she not have introduced her to her friends?

Sheng Zhi thought she had posed a conundrum of the century and smugly waited for Ji Qingfan’s reply. Ji Qingfan sighed, looking as if she didn’t know what to say.

Sheng Zhi grew even more smug. If she had a tail, it would be wagging, but her triumph lasted less than three seconds.

She heard Ji Qingfan say clearly: “Zhi Zhi, don’t be upset about what I’m about to say. You might have forgotten these things, but I still remember. Your possessiveness is very strong. You never liked me spending time with others, let alone being with your friends. You didn’t like me dividing my attention with them; you wanted me to only look at you. I do want to spend more time with Zhi Zhi’s friends, but more than that, I want to make Zhi Zhi happy…”

Ji Qingfan continued speaking slowly and sincerely, one sentence after another. Sheng Zhi’s lips parted slightly, completely shocked. Before Ji Qingfan could finish, Sheng Zhi couldn’t help but interrupt loudly: “No, that’s too outrageous!”

Ji Qingfan glanced at her, shook her head, and her expression became even more deeply affectionate.

She raised her finger to Sheng Zhi’s lips, shushed her, and disagreed: “Zhi Zhi, don’t talk about yourself like that.”

“This is actually not a big deal for me, not an outrageous thing at all. It’s just your way of expressing your love and affection for me.”

Her finger pressing against Sheng Zhi’s lips caused a slight pressure.

Sheng Zhi listened to Ji Qingfan’s gentle tone and found the whole thing preposterous.

But she couldn’t exactly point out what was wrong, since she “didn’t remember” what happened between them, did she?

After a long silence, Sheng Zhi forced a smile: “It’s fine. I don’t act like that now.”

She squeezed Ji Qingfan’s wrist, pulling her hand away without a real smile: “It’s a perfect time to introduce you to my friends today.”

With such a rare opportunity, she certainly had to prepare her friends and “host” Ji Qingfan properly.

After lunch, the company’s mandatory rest period was almost over. Ji Qingfan drove her back to the company.

The assistant to the CEO’s office was right next to the CEO’s office.

The afternoon passed. With one minute left before closing time, Sheng Zhi couldn’t sit still anymore. She looked at the stack of documents in her hand, wanting to slam them on the table, but then remembered they were the result of her hard work all afternoon and finally placed them neatly on the desk.

She placed the documents and slowly exhaled.

Tired, truly tired.

And there were too many trivial things. Just one afternoon had made her head spin, let alone the future. The thought of it gave her a headache.

…She couldn’t stand this crappy job for another second.

Sheng Zhi slumped back in her chair with a feeling of being done with life. Just as she slumped, she heard a knock on the door, and then Ji Qingfan walked in.

Sheng Zhi immediately sat up straight. Not only did she sit up straight, but her expression also became very casual.

Ji Qingfan seemed surprised to find her still sitting there and curved her eyes.

“I thought you’d sneak away, but you actually sat here all afternoon,” she walked behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Zhi Zhi, you’re so good. Are you tired?”

As she complimented her, she reached out and ruffled her hair.

Sheng Zhi swatted her hand away, a slight pink flush on her pale neck, and retorted disdainfully, “Don’t touch me without permission. Also, don’t be so ridiculous, tired from this little bit of work? Who are you looking down on?”

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but after she spoke, she felt the curve of Ji Qingfan’s eyes become even more pronounced.

Sheng Zhi glanced at her, feeling a little confused, and realized it wasn’t her imagination. Ji Qingfan was indeed smiling much more obviously than before, her eyes twinkling brightly.

“What are you smiling at?” she didn’t understand.

Ji Qingfan’s finger trailed down and pinched her earlobe: “Smiling at how cute you are.”

Sheng Zhi thought Ji Qingfan was just acting again and rolled her eyes, too lazy to bother with her.

Ji Qingfan, however, seemed to be addicted to touching her, directly embracing her and leaning against her.

She was always like this, pressing close whenever she had the chance, speaking sweet words. The breath from her lips near Sheng Zhi’s ear was hot, as if she genuinely enjoyed physical contact with her.

Putting everything else aside, Sheng Zhi truly admired her for this.

She could act, she could pretend, she was sweet-tongued and ruthless. No wonder her mother valued her so much. Someone like this was bound to succeed.

However, Sheng Zhi didn’t want to cooperate with her performance and spoke as Ji Qingfan had instructed her earlier: “President Ji, please be professional in the office.”

She said it intentionally, but Ji Qingfan was clearly not provoked by her words. Instead, she moved even closer: “Zhi Zhi, it’s after work now.”

The distance closed so much that Sheng Zhi had the distinct illusion that Ji Qingfan was about to kiss her in the next second.

Sheng Zhi kept her eyes steady and her expression unchanged, but she instinctively swallowed as if she were very thirsty.

But just when it seemed like the kiss was coming, Ji Qingfan pulled away.

She looped her arms around Sheng Zhi’s neck, her eyes curved in a smile: “Right, didn’t you say you were taking me to have dinner with your friends? When should we leave?”

Unexpectedly, she didn’t kiss her. Sheng Zhi casually swept her hair back, feeling vaguely annoyed, especially when she realized she had been waiting for Ji Qingfan to kiss her.

She decided not to dwell on that.

Sheng Zhi contemplated Ji Qingfan’s question, observing her with slight suspicion.

Honestly, she didn’t believe Ji Qingfan would just agree to have dinner with them. After all, her disdain for their crowd wasn’t a one-day thing.

But looking at her now, Ji Qingfan’s expression looked quite expectant, even slightly eager. There wasn’t a hint of unwillingness.

However, considering Ji Qingfan’s acting skills that had been on display lately, Sheng Zhi wasn’t too surprised.

She glanced at her phone: “If you’re so eager, let’s go now. I already told them.”

Sheng Zhi put her phone down and looked at Ji Qingfan: “But everyone wants to have some drinks. You don’t mind, do you?”

Since they were in school, she knew Ji Qingfan strongly disliked things like smoke and alcohol. The proud top student would always frown coldly whenever she caught Sheng Zhi smoking, likely feeling contempt and disgust deep down.

She had a vague idea of Ji Qingfan’s ideal partner.

It must be a sober, non-smoking, capable, emotionally intelligent, gentle, and mature heir.

Unfortunately, she fit none of those descriptions.

Ji Qingfan’s expression remained unchanged when she heard her: “It’s fine. I don’t mind. I’m already very happy that Zhi Zhi is taking me to meet her friends.”

She rubbed her cheek against Sheng Zhi’s. Sheng Zhi felt that strange illusion that Ji Qingfan was about to kiss her again.

But once again, nothing happened.

Sheng Zhi hadn’t originally intended to kiss her, but now she was left with a feeling of being neither up nor down, which made her slightly want to kiss her.

This feeling wasn’t completely unfamiliar. Recalling the days when Ji Qingfan hadn’t contacted her, it was the same.

The feeling wasn’t so obvious when considered alone, but connecting the two instances, Sheng Zhi instantly confirmed with absolute clarity—

Sure enough, these were all Ji Qingfan’s tactics.

She had the capital to make people fall for her, especially when she deliberately created such an atmosphere.

She knew exactly how to stimulate a person’s senses.

Realizing she had almost unknowingly fallen into a huge trap, Sheng Zhi became even more energized. She truly wanted to win this “game” now.

She thought for a moment and decided to give Ji Qingfan the cold shoulder for a while, too. At the very least, she couldn’t let her emotions be led by her anymore.

So, Sheng Zhi reigned in her emotions and pushed Ji Qingfan away: “Alright, let’s go.”