The Lost Lamb's Trap - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Stars

Friday, the last workday. Duan Jiayang woke up in the morning without rushing to the office. She ate at home and didn’t see Duan Litian at the dining table. All the tricks Lin Ke taught her were completely useless.

The housekeeper brought two steamed buns and freshly ground soy milk to the table. Duan Jiayang curled her fingers and pressed her temples with her knuckles. She tore a piece of steamed bun and put it in her mouth. She tasted the sweetness and asked, “Where’s my dad?”

The housekeeper whispered, “He went to a big project in Tashan yesterday afternoon.”

Duan Jiayang tore another piece of steamed bun. She paused as she was about to put it in her mouth, looked up, and said, “I have acute gastroenteritis. I can’t drink soy milk.”

“Ah?”

Her anger came on suddenly. Duan Jiayang slapped the steamed bun back onto the plate, picked up the soy milk, and chugged it down. She pulled out a tissue, wiped her mouth, and got up to leave.

The housekeeper was startled and chased after her, trying to console her. “Jiayang, Jiayang, don’t be angry. I’ll have the family doctor come over and take a look…”

Duan Jiayang didn’t reply. She took a car and drove away. The housekeeper and chef were worried. Previously, Duan Jiayang never ate breakfast at home. Since Duan Litian wasn’t home these past two days, they hadn’t prepared a meal. Just now, when Duan Jiayang was eating at home, the chef was afraid she would be hungry, so she took out the buns she had made in her own small kitchen. She was afraid she would choke, so she ground some soy milk for her. She felt bad for her, but she also hadn’t really been paying attention.

She rolled down the car window, and the wind rushed in. Duan Jiayang was very frustrated. She called He Xiao, who was on the subway. The signal was on and off, and after saying a few words, she hung up. He Xiao sent her a message, but she couldn’t read it while driving.

Duan Jiayang drove aimlessly around the city. The nearby shops had just opened, and the goods weren’t all on the shelves yet.

When she got to the office, Duan Jiayang set up her makeup mirror and reapplied her lipstick. Then she used her phone to order something. The other day, she had worn a set of light luxury clothes from Lin Ke. It wasn’t nice to just return them, so she decided to buy her a new one.

A moment later, she looked up, sensing something. Lin Ke was standing at the door, smiling at her, her eyes gentle. “Morning.”

Duan Jiayang’s hand trembled, and she got lipstick on the back of her hand. She put the lipstick down and used a makeup remover wipe to rub it off the back of her hand. She didn’t understand what she meant.

After she finished her makeup, her colleagues started arriving. Yang Ruiqi sat down and asked her how her body was. Before Duan Jiayang could reply, it was time for the meeting. The group of people moved to the conference room.

Lin Ke was in charge. The department had to work with the R&D department to design the exterior. Before, Duan Jiayang would just sit in on the meetings. While others worked, she would count her fingers. Her role was just to be a pretty face.

Duan Jiayang felt like it had nothing to do with her. She lowered her head and doodled.

Lin Ke said, “The new SUV model must be both stylish and practical. You need to consider the aesthetic curves of the car body and the effect of aerodynamics. It’s going to be a tough few days, so please come up with a few design proposals.”

Lin Ke looked at Duan Jiayang. Duan Jiayang stiffened. Whenever Lin Ke looked at her in this kind of setting, she couldn’t handle it. It was like being called on in class, and her heart would start racing. She flipped her paper over.

“I told you to learn last time. You design a wheel hub first.”

“Me?”

Lin Ke nodded and continued to talk to the others about the car’s body lines and interior requirements, making sure to improve the car’s exterior and comfort.

Duan Jiayang looked around and nodded with them. When the meeting was over, she got up with the others.

“Duan Jiayang, stay behind.”

Duan Jiayang looked at her blankly. The others had already left. She stood there alone, leaning against the conference table. Lin Ke said, “Lift your head.”

Duan Jiayang bit her lip. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. Being ordered around in this place was so embarrassing.

“Give me what you just wrote.”

Duan Jiayang didn’t move.

“Then lift your head.”

Given the choice, Duan Jiayang pushed the paper in her hand toward her.

Lin Ke took it and looked at it. She asked, “Why did you stop studying art after college?”

Duan Jiayang’s high school grades weren’t good. After she transferred to a public school, she enrolled in art. She was an art student. Duan Jiayang said, “It’s disgusting. I don’t want to study it anymore.”

Lin Ke was still looking at the drawing, a slight smile on her lips.

She had drawn a dog holding a stick and waving it around on a blackboard. Lin Ke’s lips curved into a smile. She laughed at Duan Jiayang. Was it a pig or a dog?

Duan Jiayang was even more embarrassed. She clenched her fingers, and a sudden malice rose in her. “Do you really want to know?”

“Because of your mom. I saw that kind of person being glorified, and I felt that the whole art world was rotten. The more rotten a person’s character is, the higher their artistic achievement. I can’t understand that kind of atmosphere. It’s truly disgusting.”

The two of them were talking face to face. Duan Jiayang was being difficult, with a hidden meaning in her words, venting the anger she had from the morning.

Lin Ke looked at her and smiled. “Then it’s a good thing, Little Lamb, that you didn’t continue to study art.”

The words were like a gust of wind, sweeping past Duan Jiayang and blowing away all her frustration, both from now and from the past. The curve on Lin Ke’s lips was the same as the smile from the morning, as gentle as a spring breeze.

Duan Jiayang didn’t want to look at her. She turned her head and saw that the conference room door wasn’t closed tightly. There was a small gap, and a few people were squatting outside, eavesdropping. Their eyes were shifty.

“If there’s anything you don’t understand, come and ask me. If they don’t teach you, I will. We’ll take it one step at a time,” Lin Ke said.

Duan Jiayang’s body went numb. She turned around and pulled the conference room door open and went out. Lin Ke was behind her, her hands in the pockets of her white trousers. She called a few people to the general manager’s office. Each person stayed for an hour.

Yang Ruiqi went too. She came back and complained, “…The general manager didn’t say a word. She just picked out a detail and left it there, smiling without showing her teeth. It gave me goosebumps. I just stood there for an hour…”

“Oh,” Duan Jiayang thought to herself, a little amused.

It’s what you get for eavesdropping.

After being disciplined by Lin Ke like that, the entire morning was very quiet. Duan Jiayang’s task was very simple, just to design a wheel. She opened the software and worked on it slowly.

Yang Ruiqi was chatting with the R&D department, her fingers clicking on the keyboard.

At 11:30, Yang Ruiqi rubbed her sore fingers and looked at Duan Jiayang’s design. She instinctively wanted to shake her head and laugh. Duan Jiayang was a complete novice in this field, like she had just learned 3D Max and was following a tutorial to make a spoon and a teapot. Her spoon had two ends, and her teapot had no bottom.

Yang Ruiqi saved her files and was about to leave work. She turned to Yu Xiao and asked her where she was going to eat.

At 11:50, the WeChat icon in the bottom right corner of her computer started blinking.

LK: “Come to my office.”

Duan Jiayang was still setting the parameters, racking her brain trying to figure out how to make the wheel smoother. It looked like a deformed rectangle right now. She herself thought it was horrible. She typed on the keyboard: “What’s up?”

LK: “I’ll come to you.”

Duan Jiayang hit the space bar hard with her thumb, a small release of her anger. Duan Jiayang closed all the software and took her phone to go find her.

Lin Ke was sitting behind her desk, her expression calm. “No matter how busy you are, remember to eat.”

“Eat?”

Lin Ke tilted her chin toward the table where a lunch box was placed. There were a few dishes that Duan Jiayang could eat to nourish her stomach, but she had made them into a variety of dishes.

Duan Jiayang stared at the food, but her mouth refused. “I’ve already booked a restaurant. I’ll go straight there this afternoon.”

“Are you going to feast again? Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?”

“I…” Duan Jiayang wanted to retort, but she really didn’t know what to eat. She sat on the sofa and opened the lunch box. She was curious but kept her mouth shut, not asking when she had made the food.

Lin Ke said, “Especially when you go out with Lan Yao. You two have different tastes. She just orders randomly without considering what you can eat.”

“Not only are our tastes different, but she also put something in my food.” Duan Jiayang said.

Duan Jiayang was a picky eater and had a sensitive nose. She could tell that Lin Ke had made the food with just a sniff. She had basically tasted all the food in the city, and she was tired of the delicious ones. Eating Lin Ke’s cooking, on the other hand, felt new and fresh.

She had made fish, vegetables, and soup.

Today, it was rice, which was soft and mushy.

She thought of the glass of soy milk from this morning. She put a spoonful of rice in her mouth.

Lin Ke asked, “Do you have any plans for Saturday?”

Duan Jiayang thought for a moment and said, “I’m not sure.”

She added, “I’m going out with friends.”

“He Xiao? I’m surprised you and He Xiao have been friends for so long.”

Of course. He Xiao was a very good friend, sunny and cheerful, and had been with her through many dark times. Duan Jiayang also knew her own personality. She had a severe case of being a drama queen, was very wealthy, had a bad temper and a poisonous tongue, and loved to show off. No one could stand her.

Lin Ke said, “I remember a lot of people liked He Xiao. At the time, everyone thought she would get married after graduation, saying she was the perfect wife and mother.”

“Why would she? She has her own ideals. She’s working at the pet hospital now, the biggest one in the city. She got her promotion a long time ago. She’s a very good doctor. Men are all dogs. They want all women to be perfect wives and mothers.”

Lin Ke hummed in response, lowered her head, and typed on her keyboard. She was typing fast and seemed very busy. She asked her, “What about Sunday? Are you free on Sunday?”

“No.”

Lin Ke was still trying. “Not even a little bit of time?”

“Why do you keep asking about this?”

“I want us to spend time together, to get to know each other more.”

“No,” Duan Jiayang said. “I’m very busy.”

Lin Ke’s typing speed slowed down. “Really?”

She pressed the space bar: “Is Dr. He Xiao there?”

The pet hospital customer service replied quickly: “Please wait. I’ll check for you.”

This big client had just placed a large order offline, so the customer service replied quickly after checking: “Yes, she is. What service would you like for your pet?”

Lin Ke: “A checkup. Can you give me her schedule?”

Customer service: “This is Dr. He’s schedule, and her WeChat. I can help you make an appointment in advance~”

Lin Ke clicked on the schedule. She was on duty on both Saturday and Sunday.

Duan Jiayang said, “I’m super busy. I don’t have time for you.”

Lin Ke: “Are you sure she’s on duty on Saturday and Sunday?”

Customer service: “Yes, if you’re not sure, you can call tomorrow to ask. We haven’t received any notice about a shift change.”

After the chat, Lin Ke exited the software. She looked at Duan Jiayang, who was eating her porridge. Her eyes were very calm. “Aren’t you going to take your clothes? Aren’t you afraid of them being at my house?”

Duan Jiayang looked up at her, remembering the picture she had sent. Her body shivered. “You’re not that perverted, are you?”

“If you don’t take them, I’ll sleep with them or wear them as pajamas…”

“You said it out loud!” Duan Jiayang bit her lip and whispered, “Saturday night… I’ll get them after work today.”

“Okay.” Lin Ke agreed immediately. Her eyes were fixed on her. Duan Jiayang felt very uncomfortable, and her body started to itch. She looked up at her and said, “What’s with that look? You didn’t put something in the porridge, did you?”

Duan Jiayang just said it casually, but Lin Ke replied. She said, “An aphrodisiac.”

Duan Jiayang coughed, put down her spoon, and the porridge almost went down her windpipe. Lin Ke held the mug next to her and drank her tea. The skin between her eyebrows was tense, and her gaze became serious.

Lin Ke said, “You believe that?”

Her lips were usually not a very dark shade, a matte nude color. When her hair was down, it looked like rose curls. The sunlight from the front made her eyes bright and dark. She looked at her, her gaze extremely persistent.

Yes, she believed it.

Duan Jiayang licked her lips.

Lin Ke said, “I’m a little sad. You actually think I would do something like that.”

Duan Jiayang lowered her head and stirred the porridge. She was silent and didn’t dare to speak.

Lin Ke’s lips moved slightly. “Eat properly. Don’t chew on the tip of the chopsticks.”

Duan Jiayang took the chopsticks out of her mouth, stopped overthinking, and no longer replied to her. She ate her meal quietly.

After she finished eating, she put the things away. She glanced at her, who was leaning tiredly on the sofa. It was very tempting, making it impossible to ignore her.

The office had a balcony, and a lot of sunlight was pouring in. She rested her head on the armrest, and her skirt was above her knees. Her toes were outlined in a soft pink glow by the golden light.

Sensing Lin Ke’s gaze, she changed her direction and tugged at her skirt. Lin Ke was still looking. Duan Jiayang curled her toes and got off the sofa.

Lin Ke asked, “Aren’t you going to take a nap here?”

The sofa in her office was very comfortable, especially the little sheep pillow on it. It was soft and fluffy when she held it, making Duan Jiayang feel drowsy.

“No.”

“If you like it, you can take the little sheep.”

Duan Jiayang left without looking back.

A few minutes later, Duan Jiayang was drinking water from her cup, and her eyes looked at the general manager’s office. She was confused, trying hard to see if the person inside was looking at her.

Lin Ke looked at her through the glass. She was watching her, always watching. Watching her get sleepy and fall asleep, then watching her wake up with a headache after her nap, and then watching her lick her dry lips and rest her chin on her hand in a daze. She then saw the chat on her computer showing that she had time but wouldn’t give her a single second of it.

Finally, when it was time to leave, Duan Jiayang packed up her things and left.

Not many people worked overtime on Friday, so the elevator was packed. Duan Jiayang went to take her dad’s elevator. When she got to the first floor, the front desk stopped her and said there was a bouquet of flowers for her.

“Why are they sending them now?” Duan Jiayang walked over to look. The flowers were fresh and not wilted. They must have been delivered in the evening. She squeezed the flowers and took out the card inside.

Duan Jiayang held the card and read the handwritten words on it. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

It was a line from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18.

Usually, many people would send her flowers to get her dad to do something for them or to collaborate with him. They would take an unconventional approach and send them to her, saying things like, “Hope you have a good day,” or “You’re getting more and more beautiful.”

“How cheesy.” Duan Jiayang hugged the flowers. She walked out and turned the card over. There was more on the back. “Feeling better? Lan Yao?”

Her mouth twitched. She turned to look at the elevator. People were coming out of the company in waves. Duan Jiayang took a chance and quickly walked out of the company with the flowers. When she got to the door, she was still scared. She thought about going to the parking lot and hiding the flowers in her car’s trunk.

Then she thought, what’s there to be afraid of? It’s just a bouquet of flowers she received.

She turned around again and saw a person standing at the door holding a phone, waiting for her. Duan Jiayang took a half-step back with the flowers in her arms.

Lin Ke looked at her and the flowers in her arms with a pensive look. “Are you leaving?”

Duan Jiayang bit her lip. She felt that the flowers were a bit of an eyesore.

Lin Ke held the car keys and pressed a button. She turned her head, and the roses in her arms were impossible to ignore. She opened the car door and said, “I’ll give you a ride to get your clothes.”

“Maybe next time.”

“That’s fine, too. I can either drive you home or bring them to the company.”

Duan Jiayang turned and got into the car. The flowers were in the passenger seat. The navigation was set to Lin Ke’s home. Duan Jiayang rolled down the window.

“Are you two still in contact?”

A simple argument was meaningless. Duan Jiayang didn’t want to get into this topic. She didn’t respond. Lin Ke didn’t continue either. She got into the driver’s seat and changed the subject, asking gently, “Do you know what a sheep eats?”

Duan Jiayang said without thinking, “Grass.”

As she said it, her throat constricted. She swallowed, not daring to look at her. She reached for the car door.

“Right?”

Lin Ke’s voice was gentle, and her expression was still as soft. Her tone was deep as she asked her, “Then, Little Lamb, have you two broken up now?”