Beware Of The Best-Friend-Kiss Friendship Trap - Chapter 7
Chapter 7: The Cat Scratched It
How could there be nothing?
Chu Weiyue felt completely lost.
She wanted to ask the System, but no matter how she called out, there was no response.
It was truly gone.
Chu Weiyue frowned in thought. Did the System know she disliked the feeling of powerlessness that came from knowing the future plot but being unable to change it, and so it simply erased the parts relevant to them, letting them proceed naturally?
Considering the System’s attitude, which was practically engraving “Stop struggling, you are meant to be” into her mind, this didn’t seem like its style.
Or did something go wrong during the plot transfer, and she didn’t receive it?
Before she could figure it out, Jiang Yiqiu appeared at the kitchen door: “Do you need my help?”
Chu Weiyue waved her hand, walked to the kitchen door, and pushed her away: “No need, I can handle it myself. You just go to the dining room and wait to eat.”
Jiang Yiqiu agreed but didn’t move: “Does it bother you if I just watch here?”
“It’s been a long time since I saw you cook.”
Jiang Yiqiu wanted to watch her cook?
Chu Weiyue immediately straightened up. She was nervous inside but maintained a calm and composed demeanor on the surface: “Of course, you can watch. I’ll give you a good demonstration.”
With that, she returned to the counter.
Jiang Yiqiu stood there obediently, making no sound to disturb her, just quietly watching Chu Weiyue work.
Cooking for her.
Mindful of Jiang Yiqiu by the door, Chu Weiyue took a deep breath, cultivating an aura of composure and ease.
She composedly placed the ready-made shaomai (dumplings) and custard buns into the steamer. She composedly threw bread into the toaster. She composedly sliced tomatoes, preparing to make tomato and egg soup.
Afraid that Jiang Yiqiu would think she could only make these things, she proactively explained: “We’ll keep breakfast simple. I’ll make you something better tonight.”
Jiang Yiqiu smiled and nodded: “Okay. I like everything you make.”
Chu Weiyue raised her chin, feeling an even greater sense of mission.
Everything was in order. Chu Weiyue couldn’t help but feel a little smug. She spoke with composure: “Am I still as good as I was two years ago? Cooking is too simple for me. It’s totally within my gra—”
Before she could finish, the composed Chu Weiyue “splat” dropped a raw egg on the floor.
Chu Weiyue: …
People really shouldn’t boast. When you boast, things go wrong.
She tried hard to pretend nothing had happened and found a reasonable excuse: “Was this egg coated in lubricant? It’s so slippery, I couldn’t hold it.”
At the same time, she secretly glanced up at Jiang Yiqiu and saw the corner of her mouth twitch.
She had reasonable suspicion that Jiang Yiqiu wanted to laugh but was desperately holding it in.
Chu Weiyue pouted.
So embarrassing.
Jiang Yiqiu immediately sensed her friend’s unhappiness. Her voice was gentle but serious: “It was that egg’s fault for being disobedient and making its shell too slippery.”
“Exactly, exactly.” Receiving affirmation from her best friend, Chu Weiyue’s posture straightened again, and she immediately agreed.
Then she crouched down to clean up the egg that had suffered an undeserved calamity, sacrificed its life for the country, and was now forced to take the blame.
After a flurry of activity, it was finally over. Jiang Yiqiu came in to help her set up breakfast, and the two ate and headed out.
Before leaving, Jiang Yiqiu emerged from the bedroom with a brooch pinned to her chest.
Jiang Yiqiu’s style of dress was simple, mainly black and white. Today, she was wearing a black business suit—black clothes, ink-black hair, capable and sharp. The white-petaled, red-stamen flower brooch on her chest became the only splash of vibrant color on her entire body.
Chu Weiyue’s eyes curved in a smile. She bent down and leaned closer to examine it: “You’re wearing it?”
“Mmm. I didn’t wear it on the plane, afraid of losing it.”
“You’ve kept it so well. It looks brand new.”
Once ready, Chu Weiyue drove to the school.
Huayu Middle School was a famous private junior high school in Z City. The school itself was wealthy, and there were countless wealthy and famous alumni. Its hardware and software were complete, the campus environment was beautiful, and all kinds of modern facilities were available. Of course, these were secondary. The reason countless parents desperately wanted to send their children there was Huayu’s college enrollment rate, which had forced other schools to scramble for second place for many consecutive years.
After parking the car, Chu Weiyue looked out at the quiet campus and the teaching building from which the sounds of students reading aloud emanated. A brand-new week had begun for the workhorses.
…
On the other side, Jiang Yiqiu arrived at the company later. The assistant arrived earlier than her, walking out of the office with a yawn, holding freshly brewed coffee. As she pushed the door open and saw Jiang Yiqiu, the half-finished yawn instantly retracted: “Good morning, CEO Jiang.”
The assistant’s heart tightened. She almost called her Qiu Jie (Sister Qiu) out of habit.
Except in special circumstances, she wouldn’t dare use any address with the boss that went beyond professional boundaries. Just now, she ran into a colleague in the elevator. A casual “Qiu Jie” slipped out. The colleague didn’t realize who it was, and upon learning it was CEO Jiang, they were astonished, never expecting her private relationship with Jiang Yiqiu to be so close as to use that address.
She almost started a rumor about an office romance between her and Jiang Yiqiu.
The assistant shivered.
Although CEO Jiang was beautiful, wealthy, and had excellent temperament…
As a 24-hour special assistant, she had access to the non-work life of Jiang Yiqiu, which was slightly better. But thinking of the boss’s uncompromising nature at work, she truly had no luck for such a romantic blessing.
The boss was in position, so the dedicated assistant certainly couldn’t be drinking coffee, yawning, and spacing out. She had to maintain professional quality.
She entered the CEO’s office, stood by the desk, and first dealt with the documents and contracts that had been temporarily put aside for the welcome dinner last night.
Jiang Yiqiu, in work mode, was indifferent and humorless. The assistant muttered to herself: The gentle and amiable Jiang Yiqiu I saw last night must be her second personality.
When Jiang Yiqiu worked, she was extremely focused, automatically isolating everyone around her, and hated being disturbed the most. She seriously read the documents. There were only her and the assistant in the office, and the large space was so quiet that their breathing was audible.
The assistant stood there silently, subconsciously breathing softly because of the quiet environment.
Since she wasn’t needed for the moment, the assistant had nothing to do. She couldn’t leave without permission, so she secretly observed her boss, stifling a small yawn.
When she first started working for Jiang Yiqiu, the latter was the most inconspicuous person at the bottom of the group. She had been by Jiang Yiqiu’s side the longest and closest. In two years, she personally witnessed her climb from the very bottom to her current position, the CEO of Hetai Group.
While her hidden identity and the Chairman’s appreciation certainly played a part, the skill and boldness she displayed were truly extraordinary.
What shocked her most was that Jiang Yiqiu seemed born to be in management. She could be said to be infallible in every matter concerning the group. She had an answer for everything, and in confronting those cunning old foxes who had been climbing the corporate ladder for years, she had already figured out their every move and plan, never once failing.
Otherwise, the old man would never have agreed to hand over the company to her.
It wasn’t a willingness but rather that Jiang Yiqiu’s momentum was too strong. It was the general trend. Instead of being overthrown, it was better to hand over power gracefully and save face.
Jiang Yiqiu dressed very formally during work hours. Today, she was also wearing her most common business suit. The well-tailored attire enveloped her slender and tall body. The high-quality fabric had a cold, subtle sheen. Her figure was long and straight, her lips habitually downturned, and her expression was distant, highlighting her entire being’s austere and aloof temperament, like frost and snow.
Only the section of neck exposed by the dark fabric—long, slender, and soft—reminded one of a graceful white swan, diluting the inviolable rigor and coldness surrounding her.
The assistant scanned the room, her gaze finally returning to the most visually appealing person in the room, the feast for the eyes.
Whether it was in the office with only the two of them now, or the crowded airport yesterday, as long as she was there, she would undoubtedly instantly become the focus of everyone’s attention.
There was no exception.
Jiang Yiqiu focused intently on the documents. The assistant carefully observed Jiang Yiqiu.
Her gaze first fell on the only vibrant red against the black and white.
When the assistant first started working for Jiang Yiqiu, she was already wearing this brooch. The frequency wasn’t high, but compared to the other dispensable, arbitrarily chosen accessories, the assistant instantly knew this was her favorite.
The reason for not wearing it often was probably for preservation.
She had never understood. Based on her understanding of her boss, the boss would never choose such an eye-catching accessory.
It wasn’t that it wasn’t beautiful, but it was too noticeable.
Jiang Yiqiu’s face was already striking. Adding this bold splash of color made the effect outstanding.
And Jiang Yiqiu preferred to be low-key.
If given a pile of accessories, Jiang Yiqiu would absolutely eliminate this one first.
Yet, she still wore it consistently.
The assistant’s mind wandered with all sorts of thoughts, and her eyes returned to her.
Sigh, the boss is great in every way. Just look at her hair quality, her skin tone, her eyes, her mouth, her neck, this…
Wait, the neck!
Scanning the boss’s neck, the assistant’s eyes suddenly widened, nearly popping out of their sockets.
W-w-what is that on the boss’s neck?!
She hadn’t eaten pork, but she had seen pigs run. The young assistant was a lifelong singleton with no intimate contact beyond handshakes and hugs.
But she had the theoretical knowledge!
Looking at the bright marks on the boss’s delicate, fair neck, the assistant’s jaw nearly dropped.
The marks weren’t obvious. They were unnoticeable unless one looked closely. Only near the shirt collar was a small area of scattered red dots accidentally exposed, mixed with two or three long scratches.
She could still console herself that the small red dots were from some tenacious mosquitoes that hadn’t died out in the winter and had bitten her.
But those long scratches…
How could they not be intentionally scratched by a person?!
In the past two years, she had never seen such marks on the boss. Yet, she had only been back for one day, met someone once, and stayed one night, and she was already marked!
Simply terrifying.
These were the ones visible near the collar. What about under the clothes…
And the culprit responsible for these marks, without a second thought, was obvious.
Those scratches… that person looks so gentle. I didn’t expect her to be so wild?
Looks can be deceiving.
The assistant was startled by her own thought. No, no, no, impossible.
Remembering the boss’s stern and sexually reserved face at the company, she couldn’t imagine what the boss would look like in certain moments.
It’s terrifyingly out of character.
But, if the marks weren’t the result of something done by someone last night, how could they be explained?
After a moment of contemplation, remembering Chu Weiyue’s appearance, Jiang Yiqiu’s rare tenderness and tolerance towards Chu Weiyue, Chu Weiyue’s absolute obedience and agreement with everything Jiang Yiqiu said, combined with the events of the past two days, the lightbulb above the assistant’s head “dinged.”
The guess about their relationship last night seemed to have an answer—
This Chu Weiyue must be a sugar baby kept by the boss!
Confirming her guess, the assistant’s mood was complex.
I didn’t expect you to be this kind of boss.
Just as a storm raged inside her and she concocted a grand, illicit drama, Jiang Yiqiu, who was intently reading the documents but was about to be burned through by her intense gaze, suddenly looked up, her expression as indifferent as ever: “What are you looking at?”
Looking through your indifferent facade at your restless heart.
The assistant subconsciously finished the thought internally. Then her expression stiffened, and she instantly stood at attention.
She almost blurted out, Looking at the scratches on your neck.
If she said that, her life might be in danger.
Fortunately, the assistant still had some sense. Her job, her salary, her year-end bonus! These were all the best means to encourage, motivate, and urge her to keep her mouth shut and be a good assistant, speaking no evil.
The assistant maintained her rigid posture, her voice full of energy: “Boss, nothing.”
Jiang Yiqiu would be a fool to believe her.
After finishing the document, she was about to ask a few detailed questions. She looked up and saw the person’s eyes glowing, about to burn two holes into her.
Jiang Yiqiu was always a woman of her word. The assistant looked visibly guilty. She didn’t waste words, speaking flatly: “Are you going to tell me or not?”
Cold sweat poured down the assistant’s back. She almost knelt down on the spot, stammering: “I’ll tell, I’ll tell, I’ll tell, Boss, your…”
Some things, if said directly, would lead to an agonizing amount of embarrassment for both people in the room.
As an assistant with high emotional intelligence, she certainly wouldn’t embarrass the boss who paid her salary.
So, she put it subtly: “Boss, did a cat scratch the back of your neck?”
Jiang Yiqiu’s placid expression wavered for a moment, a look of bewilderment flashing across her face. She subconsciously touched the back of her neck.
Remembering what happened last night, her expression shifted, and she couldn’t help but smile: “Mmm, the cat scratched it.”
“It’s fine. Look at the documents first.”
Oh my goodness. That lingering, suggestive expression…
The assistant closed her eyes.
I can’t even look.
With just one simple expression from Jiang Yiqiu, the assistant choreographed a whole scene in her head.
Dry wood and fierce fire, a sexy little wildcat, role-playing games…
That friend looked so well-behaved, I didn’t expect her to be so fiery. Look how she scratched our boss.
She wore the gossipy expression of someone who had just acquired exclusive insider information.
Then she watched Jiang Yiqiu, who had just said, “It’s fine. Look at the documents first,” abandon her and walk out.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Jiang Yiqiu was completely unaware of the dramatic psychological turmoil of her assistant. She pushed the door and walked into the lounge.
The lounge was much smaller than the outside office area. It was simply furnished, and no one except Jiang Yiqiu was allowed in. It was her private territory, used for short breaks during work.
The lounge had a minimalist and elegant layout. A bed was placed in the corner, a desk, and next to the desk, a full-length mirror was hung, convenient for the owner to tidy her appearance when needed.
Jiang Yiqiu entered the room and walked straight to the full-length mirror.
Her attire today was mainly black and white. Beneath the deep black suit was a pristine white shirt, not a single wrinkle.
Jiang Yiqiu looked at herself in the mirror, tilted her head, and her slender fingers touched the top button of her shirt. She slowly unbuttoned it, revealing the long neck restrained by the collar.
She saw the marks of “the cat’s scratches.”
She had only been concerned with the injuries on her legs and hadn’t noticed that her neck had been hit.
However, it was more likely that they were left during the play fighting last night.
Jiang Yiqiu watched herself quietly for a moment, then pulled out her phone and opened the camera.
Chu Weiyue was chatting with a colleague when she received the message.
The phone in her pocket vibrated a few times. It was a message from Jiang Yiqiu, an image.
A smile appeared on Chu Weiyue’s lips.
What did she send?
Just as she was about to unlock it, a colleague slid up beside her: “Who are you chatting with on WeChat, Xiao Chu? You’re smiling so happily, you didn’t even hear me call you.”
Another, older teacher teased: “What else could it be? Xiao Chu is at that age. She must be dating.”
Chu Weiyue explained helplessly: “No, my best friend sent me a message.”
“Really? I don’t believe it. Let me see.” The colleague next to her leaned towards the screen.
“Oh, come on, it really is my best friend. Why would I lie to you?” Chu Weiyue explained with a smile, unlocking her phone and tapping on WeChat, “If you don’t believe…”
Holy cow!
The instant the image opened, Chu Weiyue “slammed” her phone face down onto the desk.