After Being Forced to Kiss My Superior (GL) - Chapter 5

Tomorrow was Monday. After a long, comfortable shower, Li Wanqiu got into bed a little earlier than usual.

To her surprise, her mother hadn’t scolded her today. Instead, she’d invited her to come home for dinner sometime in the next few days. Li Wanqiu felt a wave of relief and quickly typed back a simple: “Okay.”

After that, she opened her social feed and happened to see a new video from Yan Weiwei. Their club was in the middle of a major renovation and had just brought in lots of new equipment. The video showed Yan Weiwei pedaling excitedly on a brand-new stationary bike.

The caption read: “Trying it out for everyone first!”

She was completely into it, riding with full enthusiasm.

Li Wanqiu couldn’t help but be amused. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. After watching the video, she casually left a comment: “Looks great. I’ll come try it out this weekend.”

The reply came almost instantly:
“That’s our Ah Qiu! Always knows what’s good. Come over—we’ve saved the prettiest bike just for you!”

Li Wanqiu laughed and replied: “Sounds good.”

Her mood had rarely been this light.

Feeling unusually relaxed that evening, she rolled over in bed… but after lying there in silence for a while, she ended up sitting up again, picking up her nightdress and padding across the soft carpet to grab a bottle of white wine.

A small glass before bed always helped her sleep better.

She carefully poured the wine into a tall-stemmed glass, then carried it over to the window and sat down, gazing out at the night.

Living alone for a long time, she’d grown used to the quiet—but at times, it did get a little lonely. Over time, she’d developed the habit of sitting by the window whenever she had nothing to do—watching the world outside during the day, and admiring the stars and night sky at night.

Tonight, the stars were especially clear—absolutely beautiful.

Leaning lazily against the chair, Li Wanqiu lifted her hand, softly tracing imaginary lines between the stars above. For some reason, she suddenly thought of the starry sky from Ji Jinyan’s WeChat profile photo. It hit her then—she had really joined Bixia’s winery. The whole thing still felt a little surreal.

She glanced down at the glass of white wine in her hand, her expression slowly turning curious.

Sitting up straighter, she pulled up the documents Ji Jinyan had sent her and flipped to the section about wine.

Reading aloud softly, she said,
“At Bixia, different winemaking techniques are used depending on the type of wine. For example, in white wine production, pressing is done before destemming and crushing. This helps separate the juice from the skins and pulp…”

So much more went into it than she had imagined.

Li Wanqiu skimmed through a few pages about white wine and found it surprisingly informative. Without thinking, she opened Yan Weiwei’s chat and proudly sent her a summary of what she’d just learned.

A moment later, she got a reply:

Yan Weiwei: “???”
Yan Weiwei: “What’s going on? Did someone hack your account? What is this?”

Li Wanqiu blinked, momentarily confused—then it hit her.

Right. She’d poured the wine to relax and enjoy the night… yet somehow, she had ended up studying.

She let out a small, embarrassed laugh, typed a few vague replies to brush it off, then tipped her head back and finished the rest of her wine in one gulp.

“Time to sleep,” Li Wanqiu whispered to herself.

The next morning, Li Wanqiu arrived on time at the entrance of Bixia Winery.

Bixia’s estate was truly vast, with a wide variety of facilities. Aside from its large vineyard, it also included an exhibition hall, a main hotel, a wine castle, a private club, and more.

For a first-time visitor, it would be easy to get lost without someone guiding the way.

Li Wanqiu walked straight ahead, relying on memory to find the executive offices on the top floor. Because of how busy Bixia was, the executive assistant team was also located on that floor to ensure everything ran efficiently.

She had barely taken a few steps when someone came over to greet her.

“Miss Li?” the woman asked with a friendly smile. She was dressed in a sharp business suit, her hair neatly pinned up. “I’m Assistant An. Congratulations on your new position.”

“Hello,” Li Wanqiu responded politely with a nod and extended her hand for a brief handshake.

It seemed Ji Jinyan had arranged for Assistant An to give her a brief tour. After Li Wanqiu placed her things in the office assigned to her, she followed Assistant An around the building to get familiar with her new environment.

Along the way, she learned more about Bixia and gained a clearer understanding of the company as a whole.

The winery had originally been founded by Ji Jinyan’s grandfather. He had one son and one daughter, both of whom had their own families. The family was large and well-established. But when the old man passed away, it wasn’t his children who took over the winery.

It was Ji Jinyan.

To outsiders, the arrangement might seem unusual. There were clearly deeper reasons behind it—likely filled with complications and family matters. But as someone who had just joined the company and barely knew Ji, Li Wanqiu knew it wasn’t her place to judge or ask questions.

So, she simply nodded and kept quiet, showing that she understood.

Assistant An smiled and continued her explanations as they made a full loop through the building, eventually returning to where they had started.

Li Wanqiu’s eyes drifted toward Ji Jinyan’s office. Through the blinds, it looked empty.

She hesitated for a second before asking, “Ms. An, is President Ji not in today?”

“She’s probably in the fermentation room,” An replied after a moment. “Things have been pretty hectic lately.”

“I see.” Li Wanqiu nodded slightly.

“I have a few things to take care of,” An said with a quick glance at her watch. “Why don’t you head back and get settled into your work? If anything’s unclear, feel free to come ask me.”

“My office is just over there,” she added, pointing toward it before answering a call and walking off quickly.

Li Wanqiu nodded in return, then turned and walked into her own office.

The previous assistant had already compiled all the materials into a folder on the desktop before leaving. Autumn Li (Li Wanqiu) clicked it open to browse, and just like that, the entire morning passed.

Soon, it was noon.

The company arranged meals daily, and there was also a cafeteria within the vineyard. One way or another, no one would go hungry. After lunch, feeling bored, Autumn strolled to the floor-to-ceiling window. As she looked out, she suddenly felt the urge to take a walk.

As long as she remembered the direction she came from, she wouldn’t get lost—at least, that’s what she told herself.

Once she had the thought, Autumn acted on it. Taking advantage of the ample lunch break, she wandered through several scenic spots—gardens, wooden cottages, sculptures—each one particularly pleasing to the eye.

She walked while observing, and inspiration for her art struck her again and again.

As she continued forward, her phone suddenly rang.

It was her mother, Madam Li, who remembered it was her first day at work and called to check in. “Are you working hard?”

“Yes,” Autumn replied with a nod, not slowing her pace.

“Your father worked hard to get you into Bixia Winery. You’d better cherish this opportunity,” Madam Li reminded her. “Don’t keep thinking about your silly painting hobby.”

Autumn cleared her throat softly and withdrew her wandering gaze, replying in a gentle voice, “I know.”

She deliberately changed the subject and asked if her mother wanted her to bring anything when she came home for dinner in a few days. Momentarily distracted, Madam Li stopped nagging her.

Relieved, Autumn hung up and lowered her eyes. But when she looked up again, she suddenly realized her surroundings had become unfamiliar.

“…?”

Confused, she turned around but couldn’t find the path she had taken. She’d been too focused on the phone call to pay attention to her route and had wandered into an unfamiliar area.

She was lost.

There were no signposts nearby. After a brief search yielded nothing, Autumn grew worried that she might stray even farther. She stopped walking, took note of her surroundings, and prepared to call Assistant An for help.

But before she could take action, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Li Wanqiu, what are you doing here?”

It was Jinyan Ji!

Autumn turned around in surprise. She hadn’t expected to see her here and smiled with delight. “I…”

Just as she was about to speak, she paused. Taking a moment to compose herself, she adjusted her expression and replied stubbornly, “Nothing, just out for a stroll during the lunch break.”

“I see.” Jinyan nodded, saying nothing more, though a faint smile began to tug at the corners of her lips.

Autumn felt a bit awkward. “And you? What are you doing here?”

“This is the dormitory building,” Jinyan said, pointing it out to her. “I was feeling a bit tired, so I stopped by for a short rest.”

“Have you eaten?” she asked next.

Autumn nodded. “I have.”

“Good.” Jinyan looked down at her phone, fiddled with it in silence for a moment, then smiled softly. With a hint of complaint in her tone, she murmured, “Well, break’s over. Time to get busy again.”

“I’m heading back to the office,” she added, glancing casually at Autumn’s face. Her voice was light. “Come back and help out too.”

With that, she turned and walked ahead.

Autumn blinked, momentarily stunned, then quickly snapped out of it and hurried to catch up with Jinyan’s pace. The midday sun bathed everything in a warm, golden light, adding a special charm to the scene.

Jinyan looked back at her. Her voice came through the rustling of leaves, and the gemstone stud in her right ear sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.

“Li Wanqiu,” she called her name, her tone a mixture of exasperation and barely hidden amusement.

“Stay close to me.”