Amnesia Trap (GL) - Chapter 23

Her question was posed so naturally, a feather-light sentence devoid of any suggestive undertones, yet it hit her with the most provocative and blunt force.

Sheng Zhi coughed a few times as if choked, her ears turning red: “I can tell you’re not that drunk. Wash yourself.”

And she wanted her to help her shower? Dream on.

“Mmm…” Ji Qingfan sounded very disappointed, letting out a soft sigh.

As soon as Sheng Zhi finished speaking, she noticed Ji Qingfan’s movements in her peripheral vision and couldn’t help but ask, “What are you doing?”

“Taking off my clothes,” Ji Qingfan met Sheng Zhi’s astonished gaze, her gentle movements not stopping. “If Zhi Zhi won’t help me, I’ll just have to rely on myself.”

She looked pitiful, as if she was incapable of doing anything if Sheng Zhi didn’t help her shower.

Sheng Zhi hadn’t expected Ji Qingfan to undress in front of her like that. Realizing what was happening, she quickly walked out of the bathroom and closed the door, as if a monster was chasing her and she’d be trapped if she was a moment too slow.

But there was no monster, only Ji Qingfan.

Sheng Zhi fanned her face with her hand.

She suddenly felt the soundproofing was terrible. Even though she was out, she could still hear the faint sounds of Ji Qingfan undressing, and she involuntarily saw flashes of the scene she had just witnessed.

She was glad there wasn’t a mirror nearby, otherwise seeing her face flushed red because of Ji Qingfan would surely have made her feel embarrassed again.

Soon, the subtle sounds stopped, replaced by the intermittent sound of running water, along with Ji Qingfan’s voice, which sounded husky and ambiguous because of the steam.

“Zhi Zhi, how about you sleep here with me tonight? We’ll sleep together, just like we used to.”

Sheng Zhi heard her question, she turned back, ready to say, “You’re dreaming,” but turning around, she realized the bathroom’s design wasn’t completely opaque; it was one of those faintly transparent designs. She instantly whipped her head back around. The forceful reply she was about to give was tripped up by this realization, losing half its intensity: “I’m not sleeping with you. I’m leaving right now. The driver is still waiting.”

“And stop bringing up the past. It’s pointless telling me things I don’t even remember.”

Her words were cold and aloof, carrying a chill that suggested she’d been killing fish in a supermarket for thirty years.

Ji Qingfan sounded even more dejected: “I understand. Zhi Zhi won’t be staying here tonight?”

“Mhm.” Sheng Zhi continued her cold reply.

“Alright…” Ji Qingfan continued, “Then, Zhi Zhi, don’t forget to pick me up for the company tomorrow morning.”

Sheng Zhi’s first reaction was that she’d misheard, and she instinctively asked, “What?”

Wait, what does she mean, ‘don’t forget to pick her up for the company tomorrow morning’?

She was addicted to ordering her around, wasn’t she? When had she ever driven someone, let alone pick her up early in the morning? How could she dream so big?

The sound of water stopped. Ji Qingfan was probably applying shower gel. The sound wasn’t loud, but it slid into Sheng Zhi’s ears without obstruction.

Sheng Zhi’s questioning tone was clearly not because she hadn’t heard, yet Ji Qingfan acted as if she hadn’t noticed, repeating patiently: “I’m reminding Zhi Zhi not to forget to pick me up for the company tomorrow morning, since Zhi Zhi is my chief assistant now.”

The implication was that these things were within her scope of work.

Sheng Zhi wasn’t very clear on the specifics of her job. Everything she had done today had been hands-on guidance and instructions from Ji Qingfan.

So, despite her uncertainty, it didn’t stop her from refusing.

This time, she spoke the three complete words: “You’re dreaming.”

After saying that, Sheng Zhi walked to the bedroom door, flung it open, and walked out, not forgetting to slam it shut to announce her departure.

Compared to Ji Qingfan’s movements, her movements were much louder, as if afraid others wouldn’t know she was leaving.

After the bedroom door closed, she couldn’t hear a sound. Sheng Zhi stood still for a few seconds, then thought of something and found herself unable to move.

The only people in this villa right now were her and Ji Qingfan.

Taking a hot bath after drinking… Didn’t Ji Qingfan just order her to pick her up for work tomorrow morning?

Forget it. I’ll leave after she’s done showering.

She wasn’t worried about her; she just found it bothersome. If Ji Qingfan passed out in the bathtub tonight, she certainly wouldn’t come back to take care of her.

Sheng Zhi stood by the door, occasionally playing with her hair or adjusting her clothes. She realized the phone recording was still on, so she pressed the screen to turn it off. Jiang Wanyin had sent her a message, asking to meet in a couple of days if she had time. She replied “Okay.” After putting her phone away, Sheng Zhi noticed the paintings on the wall and started examining the artwork in the hallway, moving around restlessly, appearing busy, as if she wasn’t actually waiting for Ji Qingfan to finish her shower.

The sound of water started and stopped, and finally, after one last stop, it didn’t start up again.

Sheng Zhi was still studying the paintings on the wall. They looked artistic, but it was a shame she didn’t know the artist.

Just then, she heard Ji Qingfan suddenly call her name, “Zhi Zhi.”

Sheng Zhi was stunned, and a question escaped her control: “How did you know I hadn’t left?”

After asking, she felt like she’d revealed herself. Ji Qingfan might not have known, perhaps she just heard a sound in the hallway and called out uncertainly. So, Sheng Zhi snapped back angrily, “Stop calling. I just came back for something I forgot.”

The voice from the bedroom seemed to let out a faint chuckle, or maybe it was just her imagination.

Ji Qingfan listened to her voice, her own face seeming to materialize before her eyes.

Truly fierce yet adorable. She wondered if she would be just as entertaining in bed…

Thinking this, she played along: “Then Zhi Zhi came back just in time. I forgot to bring my towel and a change of clothes. Could you please get them for me from the walk-in closet?”

Sheng Zhi clicked her tongue in annoyance, then opened the bedroom door that had been ajar, muttering, “You really are hopeless, forgetting even this. If I hadn’t come back, you’d have to come out naked to find them.”

She got the bath towel from the location Ji Qingfan had described, then went into the walk-in closet and opened the wardrobe door, “Which one?”

“I want the white, lace one. Oh, and could you also grab a lotus-root pink silk nightgown?”

The opened wardrobe didn’t just contain clothes in Ji Qingfan’s size; there were other sizes too. Although she already had a suspicion, Sheng Zhi took a look and found that they were indeed her sizes.

She also noticed a few very familiar-looking dresses hanging in the corner, looking exactly like the ones she used to wear.

But if she remembered correctly, some of those clothes she had gotten rid of a long time ago.

Sheng Zhi was about to take a closer look when she heard Ji Qingfan ask, “Is it a little hard to find?”

Hearing this, she stopped her movements. She found the white lace set among the dazzling array of styles in the drawer, and also took down the hanging lotus-root pink silk nightgown. “What’s hard to find? I found it ages ago.”

She looked at the clothes in her hands, finding it hard to imagine.

Before this, she would have assumed Ji Qingfan only wore black, white, or gray pajamas or nightgowns. She hadn’t expected…

She tried not to think about it, but the image of Ji Qingfan putting them on still flashed involuntarily in her mind.

As a result, the nightgown, especially the bra, suddenly felt hot in her hands. The thin fabric almost made her drop them.

Sheng Zhi hurried into the bathroom, stopping at the shower door.

The clothes and towel in her hands were excessively soft. Due to her recent thoughts, she just wanted to quickly hand them over to Ji Qingfan. If she held them any longer, she felt like her hands wouldn’t be her own. “Here.”

Ji Qingfan responded with a soft hum, her tone wistful and clingy: “What would I do without Zhi Zhi by my side?”

Sheng Zhi heard her words but remained silent, her expression a little unnatural.

…It was just bringing clothes and a towel. Why was she speaking in that tone? Ji Qingfan was definitely doing it on purpose, wasn’t she?

The shower door was pulled open a little. The woman’s outstretched arm was so fair under the light it was almost reflective. She wasn’t the overly slender type; on the contrary, she was full-bodied and mature, like someone who looked thin but felt soft to hug, and whose cool eyes could become seductive and charming when she deliberately flirted.

Sheng Zhi clearly saw how water droplets were tracing paths down her skin and falling, one by one.

She originally intended to hand everything over and be done, but Ji Qingfan only took the bath towel on top, leaving the rest in her hands.

“I’ll have to trouble Zhi Zhi to hold them a little longer. I need to dry off first,” perhaps noticing the phone in her hand as she took the towel, she continued, “Zhi Zhi, put your phone over there. It wouldn’t be good if it got wet. My phone is there too, and that spot won’t get splashed.”

As she took the towel, her fingertips briefly brushed against Sheng Zhi’s, light as a butterfly’s kiss.

Sheng Zhi looked away and put her phone down. The bathroom glass was covered in steam, making it much more blurry than before, but the sensation it gave her wasn’t any better; the half-hidden view only intensified the atmosphere.

“Hurry up and dry off, then change. I need to leave.” She couldn’t help but rush her.

She didn’t know if it was the steam, but it was getting hot in here, making her feel agitated.

After what felt like ages, Ji Qingfan finally finished changing and emerged from the shower.

She had removed her makeup, her lips were a paler shade, but her face was even more exquisitely refined. Her hair was still wet, dripping with moisture. The lotus-root pink nightgown made her skin look as white as snow and jade, blindingly fair.

Sheng Zhi didn’t know where to look. Ji Qingfan had finished, and she should leave, yet she felt inexplicably nervous, watching Ji Qingfan approach.

She smelled like a flower, but not just one kind. She couldn’t tell what it was—maybe the shampoo, maybe the shower gel, or maybe… her natural scent. Amidst all these confusing sensations, one word instinctively came to Sheng Zhi’s mind—

Ravishing.

Ji Qingfan walked up to her, her thick, long eyelashes distinct. Sheng Zhi could clearly see her own reflection in Ji Qingfan’s pupils, flickering as she blinked.

“Zhi Zhi, are you really not going to stay and sleep with me tonight?” She was using that hard-to-resist, poignant tone on her again. “Maybe we could remember some things about our past that way.”

Sheng Zhi was enveloped by her scent, like an embrace. She was so “hugged” that she felt completely restless: “No. I told you I only came back for something I left behind.”

Sleeping together… She would absolutely not sleep with her.

What kind of relationship did they have to sleep together? They weren’t a truly loving married couple.

However, Ji Qingfan had furnished “their shared home” with such detail that it was surprising.

So detailed it was as if they had truly lived together.

Ji Qingfan was an impeccable liar. A moment of carelessness and she would be fooled by her pitiful appearance, false sweet words, and endearing tone.

She had to remain a hundred percent vigilant.

“Is that true?” Ji Qingfan moved a little closer. “I almost thought Zhi Zhi stayed because she was worried about me.”

Her scent was unavoidable. Sheng Zhi saw her phone nearby, picked it up, and said, “You think too much. I’m leaving.”

At that moment, Ji Qingfan suddenly grabbed her hand and leaned in to kiss her cheek: “Zhi Zhi, don’t forget to pick me up tomorrow. I want to go to the company with you.”

Her lips were soft. Sheng Zhi paused, pulling her hand away and rubbing the spot where Ji Qingfan had kissed her.

“I don’t care.”

Tossing out that sentence, Sheng Zhi turned and left.

As she walked downstairs and out, she instinctively looked up and met Ji Qingfan’s gaze. She was standing by the window on the second floor, bending her eyes as she silently mouthed something, smiling brightly. Against the light behind her, her not-quite-dry hair was outlined with a soft halo.

Sheng Zhi deciphered it. Ji Qingfan was saying, “See you tomorrow.”

…Her face felt so hot.

She ignored her, turning her eyes away.

Yet, after getting into her family’s car, she instructed the driver: “Be back here before 7 AM tomorrow.”