After resting at home for one more day, Liu Zhaoran reported back from leave and returned to the company. On her way upstairs, she deliberately detoured to the Planning Department on the 21st floor. Exactly as she had expected, Song Nanyin hadn’t come to work and had gone ahead and requested a full three days of leave. Of course, claiming to feel unwell was a pretext; the real reason was almost certainly to avoid her.

Liu Zhaoran had been mentally prepared for this all along. This style of running away and hiding was indeed the kind of thing Song Nanyin would do. She handed the two sets of souvenirs she’d brought back to her assistant to distribute, saying they were gifts that she and Song Nanyin had bought for everyone.

Liu Zhaoran leaned back in her chair, the fountain pen in her hand spinning fluidly between her fingers. She glanced at the steaming coffee, then looked out at the clear sky.

Nice weather. The kind of day suited to spending time with someone pleasant, chatting and drinking tea; even doing nothing at all would lift the mood. Unfortunately, Liu Zhaoran’s wish probably wasn’t going to come true, because Zhang Kai’s arrival spoiled the atmosphere.

The door was pushed open, and the sound of the man’s leather shoes treading the floor spread into the room along with his cologne. The scent of Azure Parfun wasn’t actually unpleasant; admittedly, Zhang Kai had decent taste. It was just that Liu Zhaoran couldn’t muster any interest in him at the moment.

The orange scent on Song Nanyin was clearly far more appealing.

“Why did you come back to work so early? I talked with General Manager Sheng, and he was very satisfied with this cooperation. I thought you and Nan… Team Leader Song would rest a few more days.”

Zhang Kai walked over with a smile and stopped at a distance that was neither too remote nor too presumptuous. Hearing him almost blurt out Song Nanyin’s name, Liu Zhaoran felt a flicker of disdain.

She felt that choosing to come to WCRR in the first place had been a good decision; otherwise, the Foolish Lion might have been rooted by a rotten pig.

“Nothing much. I was just idle at home with nothing to do, so I came in early. Quite a few documents have piled up over these past days that I need to go through.” Liu Zhaoran lowered her head to sort through her papers, clearly not giving Zhang Kai a chance to keep talking.

Seeing Liu Zhaoran raise a hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her profile fair and flawless, Zhang Kai stared blankly. Subconsciously he reached out a hand, wanting to touch, but just before actually making contact, he snapped back to his senses and quickly withdrew it.

“Um… why are you wearing a silk scarf today?” Zhang Kai changed the subject with a hint of guilt, inwardly relieved that Liu Zhaoran hadn’t noticed his move. In truth, Liu Zhaoran had of course noticed his little gesture; even if Zhang Kai hadn’t withdrawn his hand, she would have dodged on her own.

“It’s just that my neck has been hurting lately. I’m afraid of the draft.”

“I see. Then make sure you rest more. I still have a meeting, so I’ll be going.”

Zhang Kai left, and the room finally returned to silence. Liu Zhaoran put away the faint smile on her face. She walked over to the balcony, slid open the floor-to-ceiling window to disperse the scent left behind in the office, took a cigarette from her bag, and put it between her lips.

How boring. Gazing down at the traffic coming and going below, Liu Zhaoran blew out a smoke ring, thinking to herself.

Three days pass in a flash for someone on leave, and they weren’t all that hard to endure for Liu Zhaoran either. After all, there was plenty of work she had to do herself, and her research on Song Nanyin wasn’t finished either.

Moreover, just thinking that after three days Song Nanyin would have no choice but to face her, what expression she would put on, whether evasion or playing dumb, any reaction was worth picturing in Liu Zhaoran’s mind, so she could then calculate an amusing way to respond.

That day at noon, as if she had calculated it all in advance, Liu Zhaoran bought coffee for everyone in the company, plus one extra cup, and paced around the Planning Department floor. She leaned against the window at one end of the corridor, her black suit hidden in the shadows, her presence not easy to notice.

And it was then that she heard the elevator doors open and saw the person stepping out.

After three days apart, this woman hadn’t changed much. The pheromones on her were a little fainter, smelling like an orange with just a small patch of its peel pulled away. She wore a rose-colored floral long dress with a cinched waist, a delicate little round monogram bag slung casually over her shoulder. She looked to be in good spirits, seemingly completely unaffected by what had happened that day.

Holding her coffee, Liu Zhaoran watched Song Nanyin emerge from the elevator with an enigmatic half-smile. The other woman didn’t seem to see her, nor would she have guessed that Liu Zhaoran was lurking in the darkness, waiting for her to come out.

Just as Song Nanyin was about to step into her office, Liu Zhaoran seized the moment to grab her wrist and pulled her straight into the changing room next door.

“What are you doing? Liu Zhaoran, have you lost your mind?” Startled by this sudden “kidnapping,” and especially after seeing that the person “attacking” her was Liu Zhaoran, Song Nanyin’s fright was mixed with confusion and bewilderment, along with a hint of awkwardness that wasn’t easy to hide.

Liu Zhaoran was very pleased with Song Nanyin’s reaction. She knew that, just like every time, the Foolish Lion would always, after running away, sneak over during the lunch break. As if she were the only clever one, as if no one could see through her routine.

“Team Leader Song, after three days apart, your talent for throwing the blame back on me has really grown. I’ve missed you these past few days.” Liu Zhaoran spoke softly, her tone gentle as a cloud, yet the force in her hands was the complete opposite.

She pressed Song Nanyin against the door, cutting off her escape route, and deliberately pushed a knee between the other woman’s legs, blocking any chance of slipping away to either side.

She drew close, carrying the scent Song Nanyin knew well, mingled with the rich aroma of coffee. For a moment, Song Nanyin forgot to retort right away; her mind simply kept echoing those words from the other’s lips: “I missed you.”

Liu Zhaoran wasn’t lying. Over those three boring days, she really had thought of Song Nanyin countless times. The house was missing a person, yet she’d forgotten to cook one serving less. During the dull free time at the company, she also lacked someone to bicker with.

A single person’s existence occupies so many places, let alone someone like Song Nanyin, who was never transparent to begin with. Liu Zhaoran had looked forward to the scene of meeting Song Nanyin again, very curious about what manner and expression this person would use when she saw her.

And now, she had seen it.

“What nonsense are you talking now? Black-Hearted Lotus, if you’re sick, go get treated. It’s the middle of the day. Don’t tell me you came all the way here just to corner me.”

Song Nanyin said it irritably, never having imagined that Liu Zhaoran, the goddess in everyone else’s mouth, would do something so childish. In fact, the more she interacted with her, the more she discovered that Liu Zhaoran was absolutely not the gentle, elegant person most people described.

This Black-Hearted Lotus had plenty of bad ideas, deep cunning, and a particularly wicked sense of humor. Song Nanyin felt that if Liu Zhaoran went into one of those harem dramas, she would definitely be that scheming woman who survives to the very end…

“Team Leader Song is exactly right. Me, I really did come to find you. It’s just that you weren’t here, so looking for you became waiting. I bought you a coffee, and I wanted to give it to you the moment you arrived.”

Liu Zhaoran said it with a radiant smile. When she finished, she saw Song Nanyin looking at her like she was an idiot. Yes, waiting nearly half an hour for someone who might come at who knows when really was a bit foolish.

But Song Nanyin’s amusing reaction right now proved that her waiting hadn’t been in vain.

“I don’t even want coffee. Besides, I never asked you to wait for me. Move away, stop pressing on me.” Hearing the breathy whisper Liu Zhaoran blew against her ear, along with her ambiguous words, the roots of Song Nanyin’s ears turned slightly red.

She felt she was becoming strange too. During those three days at home, she had forced herself to forget Liu Zhaoran’s deeds, to forget the trashy things this Black-Hearted Lotus had done. But the more she wanted to forget, the more clearly those things were branded into her mind.

If she could, Song Nanyin would keep running forever; it would be best to just keep hiding from Liu Zhaoran. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a capitalist but an ordinary office worker. If she didn’t go to work, where would the money to support herself come from?

“Then, since you won’t drink the coffee, how about we talk about how Team Leader Song bullied me?” Liu Zhaoran ignored Song Nanyin’s shoving and pressed in even more eagerly instead. She raised her knee, gently rubbing against the soft place between the other woman’s legs.

Everything there was soft, including the adorable extra little thing, which was just as pliant and yielding.

“What… bullied you… where did I ever bully you? Liu Zhaoran, stop it.” Song Nanyin had never imagined things would develop to such a point. Before she had even digested the events of three days ago, she had run into another heavy blow.

It felt like being struck on the head by a heavy hammer; before she could come to her senses, another blow landed on her crown. If she’d had any initial thought of trying to pull herself together, now she was crushed by the second heavy blow, and even the will to struggle was nearly dissolved into nothing.

“Team Leader Song is the first person to sleep with me and then run away. Doesn’t that count as bullying?” Liu Zhaoran declared with perfect righteousness, using the word “sleep” so easily to describe what had happened between them that day.

At the word “sleep,” Song Nanyin’s whole face flushed crimson. She wished she could find something to stuff into Liu Zhaoran’s mouth. What sleep? There was no sleeping! What they had done that day was, at most… at most just a bit of teasing. Where was there any sleeping in it?

“What are you babbling about? When did I ever sleep with you? I’m a straight woman.” Song Nanyin felt that something was off with Liu Zhaoran, and that something seemed off with herself too.

“But… Team Leader Song licked every inch of my body, bit my neck and my chest until the skin broke. Bullying me like that, isn’t that sleeping with me? Ah, I know. The only difference, I suppose, is that you didn’t give me an orgasm.”

Liu Zhaoran thought for a moment, then said that last line as though the light had suddenly dawned on her. Song Nanyin listened as she made the matter sound worse and worse. In Liu Zhaoran’s words, she was like someone who had slept with a person but hadn’t quite, a sexually incompetent person who, because her technique was poor, hadn’t managed to give her partner an orgasm.

“Black-Hearted Lotus, can you… pay a little attention to your wording? It’s not like you didn’t bully me first. I only… only did it because of that. Let go of me first.”

Song Nanyin still felt the current position was improper, so she tried to break free from Liu Zhaoran’s embrace. As the two of them stirred, she felt Liu Zhaoran rub against her lower body again and again. Song Nanyin found it tingling and unbearable, and her eyes gradually reddened.

“Black-Hearted Lotus, let me go. Can’t we just talk normally?” Song Nanyin found Liu Zhaoran utterly hateful for using this kind of method to trap her. Seeing that Song Nanyin genuinely wanted to pull away, and also afraid that if she stirred her into feeling something, it would be hard to bring to a clean end, Liu Zhaoran raised an eyebrow, nodded, then moved back a few steps.

Seeing her concede, Song Nanyin wanted to flee outright. However, just then, an employee happened to push the door open from outside. She stared blankly at Song Nanyin and Liu Zhaoran, who had inexplicably appeared in the changing room. No matter how you looked at it, this combination was strange.

“Director Liu, Team Leader Song? You two, this is…”

“I bought Team Leader Song a coffee. I heard she was here, so I came looking for her.”

“I see. You two seem to get along quite well. Oh, right. General Manager Zhang just sent out a notice. There’s a company gathering tonight, and it’s already booked at the clubhouse.”

The employee spoke softly, and Song Nanyin took the chance to slip out through the opened door. Watching her leave just like that, Liu Zhaoran smiled and followed, pressing the coffee into her hand.

“Team Leader Song, it’s still hot. Remember to drink it while it’s warm. See you at the gathering tonight.”