The Sickly Girl Becomes a Scum Alpha - Chapter 44

Glancing toward the lounge, Jian Sui took a closer look at the inventory list.

It appeared to be a detailed record of Chu Ci’s personal assets, meticulously documented down to every property and luxury car currently under her name, not to mention various miscellaneous businesses and shares.

The list spanned several pages, packed so tightly it made one’s eyes wander. Most items were followed by a financial appraisal, and the long strings of zeros were enough to make anyone dizzy.

It had to be said that Chu Ci’s private fortune alone was almost equivalent to that of a listed company.

After flipping through it carefully and finding no other useful information, Jian Sui placed the list back where she found it. She didn’t know why Chu Ci was suddenly investigating her own assets, but it left her feeling a sense of unease.

Chu Ci’s nap lasted a smooth two hours. When she woke up, she found Jian Sui still working.

Such hard work. She poured a glass of water and placed it by Jian Sui’s hand, then sat behind her desk yawning, flipping through files out of boredom.

Her gaze inadvertently fell on something tucked between a stack of documents. Chu Ci reached out and pulled it out, discovering it was her own property inventory.

She had previously asked Li Sinan about writing a will. Li Sinan had briefly explained the process, noting that detailing personal assets would be the most troublesome part. She had intended to follow up with more questions but hadn’t found the chance. She had asked Cheng Feng to pull a list of her assets first; it seemed Cheng Feng had finished it while she was away these past two days and left it here.

To be honest, Chu Ci wasn’t entirely clear on how much wealth the original host possessed, so she began to look through it seriously.

It was clear that Chu Xiong placed great importance on his heir. Perhaps assuming everything would eventually belong to Chu Ci anyway, he had been exceptionally generous.

By the time she finished reading to the end, Chu Ci realized this was quite a thorny issue.

The original host’s current assets were both too much and too little—at a very awkward threshold. If she were to die or divorce Jian Sui, it was simply impossible to leave everything to Jian Sui.

It was “too much” because the Chu family would never allow such a massive fortune to flow into Jian Sui’s hands. It was “too little” because if she had more—specifically, more shares in the Chu Group held by Chu Xiong—she could directly push Jian Sui into power, making her untouchable.

It was truly a headache.

While Chu Ci was fretting, Jian Sui had actually been watching her movements since she woke up. Seeing Chu Ci staring at the inventory for so long, she felt even more that something was wrong.

She stood up, walked to Chu Ci’s side, and placed a cup of warm water by her hand. “What are you thinking about?”

Lost in thought, Chu Ci nearly jumped. Seeing it was Jian Sui, she hurriedly tried to hide the inventory, but realizing that would look suspicious, she stopped herself. She placed the list openly on the desk and picked up the water to cover her tracks.

“Nothing much, just…” Chu Ci’s mind raced as she took a sip. “Just, didn’t I have Cao Xi acquire Shengyun Investment recently? Some of the investments under my name shifted, and I forgot which ones. I had Cheng Feng print out a full inventory so I could take a closer look.”

Jian Sui looked at the document on the desk, half-believing her. “But there’s no information about recent changes on here. Can you remember the specifics?”

“I can’t,” Chu Ci took another sip of water. “I realized after Cheng Feng printed this out that Cao Xi hasn’t sent me the updated details yet, so this isn’t very useful for now.”

As she spoke, Chu Ci reached out and tossed the file into a lower drawer.

Jian Sui felt Chu Ci was being a bit strange, but since her explanation was logical enough, she let it go. She returned to the sofa to continue her work.

Chu Ci breathed a quiet sigh of relief and began tackling her own tasks. The office grew quiet, filled only with the sound of turning pages.

Chu Ci was relatively idle now. Other projects had their own leads, and as the head of the department, she mostly just needed to sign off on things. Her only active project was the collaboration with the Bai Group.

By the time she finished her paperwork, it was nearly time to clock out. Chu Ci sat in her chair looking at Jian Sui, who was clearly much busier. It made sense; Shengyun Investment had massive internal and external issues. The legacy problems had to be cut through quickly. It would be strange if she weren’t busy.

Rarely, when the clock struck five, Chu Ci remained seated without rushing Jian Sui, waiting for her quietly.

As a result, she nearly fell asleep while waiting.

When Jian Sui finally finished and looked up, the light had already dimmed. Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, the last light of the sun saturated the sky. The clouds glowed like fire, a passionate burn providing one last sweltering illusion before the cool of the coming night.

Jian Sui looked at Chu Ci, who had fallen asleep leaning slightly in her chair. The sunset glow fell on one side of her face, gilding her porcelain skin with a soft halo that created a false image of rosy health. Yet, using the bridge of her nose as a boundary, the other half of her face hidden in shadow was cold and devoid of warmth.

One face, completely split by a single beam of light—like two sides of the same coin, fractured yet coexisting.

Taking out her phone, Jian Sui approached slowly and captured the moment. Though the camera couldn’t capture a tenth of what she saw with her own eyes, it was still breathtaking.

She couldn’t let Chu Ci sleep here forever, so Jian Sui gently woke her up.

Chu Ci was a bit dazed when she woke. She gave Jian Sui a slow look before remembering where she was. She stood up to go home with her.

On the drive back, Chu Ci—still not fully awake—felt her eyelids were heavy. She looked like she was about to doze off at any second.

Jian Sui watched Chu Ci’s head nod rhythmically. She reached out to shield Chu Ci’s head and pulled her onto her shoulder. Deprived of her usual wit by exhaustion, Chu Ci was exceptionally docile. She leaned against Jian Sui’s shoulder without resistance and closed her eyes to continue sleeping.

When they arrived home, Chu Xiong and Zhao Zhu had not yet returned.

Jian Sui went to the kitchen. The chef stood by, looking like he wanted to cry as he watched her skillfully tie her apron. He felt like his job was about to disappear. Perhaps the chef’s vibes were too strong, as Jian Sui finally realized someone was standing there. She thought for a moment and sent him to prep the ingredients.

Because of Cao Xi’s antics at lunch, Chu Ci had been in a good mood and finished the lunch Jian Sui prepared. Jian Sui didn’t intend to feed her as much for dinner, as her stomach might struggle to digest it, causing more discomfort.

She prepared easily digestible items. However, the ingredients for tomorrow’s breakfast were more complex and specialized, requiring prep tonight—such as the beef, which needed to be boiled and dried tonight for use tomorrow morning.

Finding a task, the chef went to work happily. Jian Sui finished the dinner and looked at Chu Ci, who had fallen asleep again on the sofa.

Maybe it wasn’t her imagination—Chu Ci seemed exceptionally lethargic after eating. Unsure if this was normal, Jian Sui called Jiang Xun. Only after hearing it was fine, provided she wasn’t overfed, did she feel at ease.

Chu Ci knew nothing of this. After waking up and eating dinner with Jian Sui, she went upstairs to wash up. Her mind was fully alert now. She looked at Jian Sui, who was still in the bathroom, and then at the small medicine bottle.

The application of medicine had to continue tonight.

Although she felt a bit embarrassed about it, Chu Ci thought about how Jian Sui had proactively said goodnight yesterday, and she felt motivated again. How could she fail at such a simple task of mutual assistance?

Sure enough, when Jian Sui emerged, she understood the moment she saw the bottle in Chu Ci’s hand.

Chu Ci applied the medicine to Jian Sui’s arms and back quickly, muttering for her mind to stay calm. When it came to the legs, before she could even crouch down, Jian Sui rested her leg across Chu Ci’s lap.

“This is more convenient, right?” Jian Sui knew Chu Ci couldn’t crouch for long without getting dizzy, so she proactively extended her leg.

It was just… a bit too intimate.

The edges of Chu Ci’s ears turned bright red. Reciting “hear no evil, see no evil” to herself, she didn’t dare move as she applied the ointment.

“Thank you. Goodnight.” Jian Sui withdrew her leg, retreated to her side of the bed, and pulled up the covers.

“Goodnight.” Closing the bottle, Chu Ci touched her burning ears and turned off the light.

The next day was Tuesday—the day agreed upon for the inspection at Cosleto Secondary School.

Early in the morning, Jian Sui was called to Shengyun by Tang Ze for an emergency. She had to go, but before leaving, she made sure to tell Chu Ci to finish her breakfast and meet her later at the Chu Group.

Chu Ci acknowledged her. When she went downstairs to the dining room, she found the breakfast Jian Sui had personally made. However, she was alone. In the vast, silent villa, even the sound of her cutlery seemed exceptionally loud, startling her.

Looking at the empty chair across from her, she found the food tasteless.

People really are spoiled by luxury. Hadn’t she spent most of her time in her previous life eating alone in a hospital room? And those nutritional meals were far worse than this. Yet here she was with a delicious meal, feeling miserable because she didn’t have company…

Tsk, how pathetic.

Scolding herself silently, Chu Ci managed to finish the breakfast. The thinly sliced beef was soaked in a thick sauce Jian Sui had specially prepared—it tasted wonderful. Paired with delicate steamed buns and a clear rice porridge, it was a perfect combination.

After eating, it was time for work. Sitting alone in the car, Chu Ci’s face was written with unhappiness. Not only did she have to eat alone, she had to go to work alone. And then at work, she had to see Bai Qingqing. It was becoming a very bad day.

Perhaps she had grown so accustomed to Jian Sui’s constant presence that everything felt wrong now. Of course, the part that made her feel even worse was yet to come.

As soon as she entered the company, she saw Cheng Feng waiting for her, making exaggerated facial expressions. Before she could guess what he meant, Chu Xiong’s Assistant Wu walked over.

“Little Mr. Chu, the Chairman wants you to go to his office immediately upon your arrival.”

Chu Ci’s expression darkened even further.