Boss, Please Go Easy On Me (GL) - Chapter 24

An Yao froze in place. The warmth on her waist and back was scorching her skin. Yan Xiaomi’s sadness seemed to spread from her body to An Yao, yet even so, she noticed Yan Xiaomi’s abnormality. The usually optimistic and cheerful Yan Xiaomi was speaking with such a sorrowful tone…

This feeling was not good at all, just like when Li Wei Sa bluntly said she liked her. It wasn’t that An Yao didn’t feel a slight flicker, but at that time, because of Professor Yan, she hadn’t agreed. Later, she found out that Li Wei Sa, while liking her, also accepted a boy’s confession. That period was truly torturous for both of them.

An Yao knew Li Wei Sa might have agreed to be with the boy just to provoke her, but even the strong-willed An Yao also lacked a sense of security. She didn’t want to choose a relationship that could break due to a tantrum.

Her nature was quiet and stubborn, while Li Wei Sa was direct and fiery. Many times, Li Wei Sa would get angry and flare up because of something she did. If they were just friends, such hurt wouldn’t be much, but if they were lovers, the hurt would multiply. If Li Wei Sa were to get involved with someone else out of spite then, An Yao thought, all good things must come to an end, and she wouldn’t try to win her back.

Rather than that, it was better to stick to her original intention.

In fact, for Professor Yan, she was more of an emotional anchor, placing all her affection and obsession onto her. This way, she could pursue what she liked without being emotionally entangled.

An Yao sometimes thought she was quite selfish, rejecting all beginnings to avoid an end, and being emotionally cold as ice to others’ feelings.

And now, Yan Xiaomi’s real, warm body was pressing against her back, bringing a slight warmth to her lonely heart. When An Yao was lonely, she also thought, Why not just find someone to spend this life with? Li Wei Sa wasn’t bad, actually.

But when she calmed down, she felt ridiculous. She was good-looking and had a good job. Why was she thinking of giving up on herself?

How long could a person’s life be? In the blink of an eye, so many lonely years had passed. The road ahead was still up to fate. It would be great to meet someone to spend a lifetime with. If not, maybe she would really compromise and find someone to live with, or she might truly end up alone.

But she would not do anything to mislead both herself and others.

An Yao loosened Yan Xiaomi’s embrace, turned to face her, and asked with a smile, “Xiaomi, if I told you that Lin Ran likes you, wants to be with you, will protect you, and love you for a lifetime, would you choose him?”

Yan Xiaomi found An Yao’s smile a little unnerving. She shook her head blankly, “No.”

“So that’s the meaning.” An Yao dropped her smile. As she turned, a layer of ice seemed to cover her, serious and cold, making Yan Xiaomi dare not approach her again. If An Yao knew what was on her mind, was this her answer?

No.

Was what she said also what An Yao meant?

Seeing Yan Xiaomi’s dejected look, An Yao really wanted to reach out, rub her head, and ask, “What’s wrong now?”

But she knew she couldn’t now. Perhaps Yan Xiaomi was subtly influenced by her and developed a vague feeling for women, but she also remembered Yan Xiaomi’s sparkling eyes when she saw Professor Cheng. Yan Xiaomi liked boys. She was just confused for the moment. After she sobered up, she would find her current feelings quite comical.

Yes, she would be fine after she sobered up in a while, and she wouldn’t be confused because of it either.

In the following days, Yan Xiaomi and An Yao maintained a tacit distance. Yan Xiaomi wouldn’t bother An Yao unless it was important. After work, they ate separately, went their own ways home, and everything became as cold and impersonal as when she first joined the company.

Every time An Yao walked past her without stopping and went straight into the office, Yan Xiaomi’s sense of loss deepened. She wanted to go in and find An Yao, but there really wasn’t anything important. An Yao had instructed that any important documents should be sent directly to her office by the department staff, bypassing Yan Xiaomi, and non-important matters didn’t require bothering An Yao.

Feeling suddenly banished to the cold palace, Yan Xiaomi felt extremely wronged.

An Yao wouldn’t fire Yan Xiaomi, but she was free to leave if she wished. Yan Xiaomi still remembered how excited she was when An Yao said that, thinking she would never resign. She didn’t expect to reluctantly submit her resignation letter so soon.

An Yao was slightly surprised when she saw the resignation letter. She looked up at her and asked, “Do you really want to leave?”

She didn’t, actually, but staying here seemed pointless. She nodded softly.

An Yao put the resignation letter into the drawer. “I’m very busy right now and don’t have time to look at it. If you don’t have anything else to do, take these and distribute them to the various departments.”

An Yao pushed the documents on the desk towards her. Yan Xiaomi was a little hesitant. A resignation letter just needed a signature; what was there to look at?

“Not listening already, even before you’ve resigned?” An Yao didn’t look up at her, watching the computer and typing while she asked.

“Yes, CEO An.” Yan Xiaomi immediately hurried to take the documents and prepare to leave.

“Wait,” An Yao called her back. This time, she finally looked up at her. After Yan Xiaomi turned around, she said, “It’s Vi Sa’s birthday today. Accompany me to buy a birthday gift this afternoon.”

Only then did Yan Xiaomi remember that it was the 25th, Vi Sa’s birthday. “Yes, CEO An.”

Yan Xiaomi was quite happy that An Yao asked her to go shopping for a birthday gift together. This instantly swept away the previous gloom, and she felt alive again. When she went to distribute the documents to the departments, her enthusiasm made everyone think she had won the lottery.

Yan Xiaomi thought that if she had won the lottery, she would be too excited to sleep and feel exhausted, but this feeling now was very relaxing. It turned out what she liked was the feeling of being around An Yao, of following her and working for her. Perhaps it wasn’t because she liked the person herself.

Forget it, don’t think about it. Anyway, everything was fine now. Whether she liked her or not was unclear, and she didn’t care anymore, as long as she could be by her side.

In the afternoon, she was supposed to accompany An Yao to buy a birthday gift. As soon as they entered the mall, An Yao immediately picked out a dress, a fiery red one, quite bold and suitable for Li Wei Sa.

Picking a birthday gift was done in less than half an hour. Yan Xiaomi was a little taken aback.

“You should pick out a birthday gift too, just in case she asks you for one on a whim.”

Oh, that’s right. How could she go to someone’s birthday without bringing anything?

Yan Xiaomi searched the mall for a long time, unsure what to buy. Li Wei Sa’s bags and shoes looked quite high-end. She couldn’t afford anything too expensive, and she figured Li Wei Sa wouldn’t appreciate anything too cheap. Yan Xiaomi was quite troubled.

“Just pick something random to get by. Anyway, she receives many gifts every year. She won’t mind yours,” An Yao found her worried look quite amusing. If she had told Yan Xiaomi about her own birthday last time, would she have been stuck in the mall for an hour or two trying to decide?

“Then this one.” Yan Xiaomi pointed to an exquisite hair accessory.

An Yao looked at it and felt it was quite pretty. “It’s fine. She likes this kind of sparkly thing.”

With An Yao’s affirmation, Yan Xiaomi felt much more at ease. The hair accessory was simple but delicate and looked very beautiful. She wondered how An Yao would look wearing it.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Yan Xiaomi stopped the sales assistant, asking her to hand the hair accessory to her. Yan Xiaomi took it, looked at An Yao, and said with a smile, “CEO An, try it on to see if it looks good.”