The Vicious, Vain Stepsister (12)

Su Jiu arrived at Jiang Huaiyu's office with a meal. Instead of knocking, she walked straight in.

The man behind the desk was studying a document. Hearing the sound, he frowned and snapped without looking up, "I said I'm not eating. Get out."

The smile froze on Su Jiu's face. They had known each other for five years and been together for three, but she had never seen him lose his temper so badly, not even during the hardest days when the company was just starting out.

His emotions had always been steady. Who had made him so angry?

"Huaiyu? Did something happen?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Huaiyu looked up in surprise. He apparently hadn't expected it to be her.

"It's nothing. I was just in a bad mood. Sorry I frightened you."

Su Jiu nodded in understanding. She wanted to ask more, but seeing his dark expression, she thought better of it.

"Yang Shen said you hadn't eaten yet. Here, I brought you a meal."

Jiang Huaiyu composed himself and forced himself to stop thinking about that alluring, seductive figure.

"Thank you, Xiao Jiu. Have you eaten?" In front of the woman he loved, the familiar smile returned to his face.

"No. I came all this way especially to eat with you."

Su Jiu had made the meal herself. Jiang Huaiyu was easygoing and free-spirited in other respects, but especially particular about food.

He wouldn't eat scallions, ginger, garlic, or anything else with a pungent flavor. As for fish and lamb, he would only eat them if they were cooked without the slightest trace of a fishy or gamey taste.

Su Jiu had gone to great lengths to get him to eat more.

The two set out the meal on a table to the side and began chatting on and off.

Su Jiu noticed that he seemed a little distracted as he ate today. He had barely touched even his favorite dishes.

"Did you see Jiang Xuefu today? I didn't expect her to suddenly come back to the country."

She had only meant to find something to talk about, but somehow the conversation had turned to Jiang Xuefu.

The man gave a soft murmur of assent. But where she couldn't see, Jiang Huaiyu's eating paused, and a flash of disgust passed through his eyes, along with other emotions he didn't dare examine too closely.

So they did meet. Su Jiu felt a trace of bitterness. Given how loud and ostentatious Jiang Xuefu was, always wishing the whole world would put her on a pedestal, it would have been strange if the two hadn't met after she came here.

Knowing they had met, Su Jiu couldn't resist asking tentatively, "Then what do you think of her?"

What did he think? Jiang Huaiyu recalled the woman who had barged into his office dozens of minutes ago.

So captivating and seductive, and so shameless.

The woman had leaned forward slightly, bracing both hands on his desk, her stunningly beautiful face magnified before him. Because she wore a camisole, he could clearly see her collarbones and the snowy curve beneath them.

"Hey, Jiang Huaiyu, how about breaking up with Su Jiu and falling for me instead?"

She had said something so morally twisted as if it were only natural, even using a coquettish tone, as though every man ought to love her.

Jiang Huaiyu had merely sneered. "You're a little too confident, Miss Jiang."

"You really don't want to?" She leaned closer still, until the scent of gardenias filled his nostrils.

He turned his head away, refusing to look at her, and barked in the fiercest tone he had ever used, "Have some self-respect, Miss Jiang."

As Su Jiu's high school classmate, he naturally knew how vile and self-centered Jiang Xuefu was in private. So all he felt for her was disgust!

Being rejected twice in a row only piqued Jiang Xuefu's interest further.

This time, she didn't stop at the desk. She got up and walked around behind it.

Her hand had just reached out to touch him when the man, who had been restraining himself all along, suddenly stood and strode several meters away from her.

As though she were some ferocious beast or raging flood.

"Miss Jiang, if I remember correctly, I still have Senior Lu's number. If you don't mind, I can call him right now."

Tsk. Why bring up Lu Zhiyan when we were just talking?

Jiang Xuefu pursed her lips. The thrill of sneaking around vanished completely.

"Forget it, then. I'm leaving."

When she reached the door, she couldn't resist asking, "You really won't reconsider?"

Jiang Huaiyu's temple throbbed, and his handsome face darkened. "I won't."

"It's fine. I left my business card on your desk. Find me anytime if you change your mind. Mwah~"

She had finally left. Jiang Huaiyu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

With the woman gone, the office finally returned to its former quiet.

But as Jiang Huaiyu looked at the document in his hands, the enticing scent of gardenias seemed to linger around his nose, disturbing his peace.

Half an hour passed, and the man hadn't turned a single page of the document.

His thoughts gradually returned to the present. Meeting Su Jiu's gaze, Jiang Huaiyu showed an expression of disgust.

"What could I feel for a selfish, vicious, wanton, and frivolous woman like her but dislike?"

Seeing that her boyfriend hadn't been bewitched like other men, Su Jiu finally let go of the worry that had kept her heart in her throat. At the same time, her love for Jiang Huaiyu deepened.

She felt that this time, she hadn't given her heart to the wrong person.

"All right, let's not talk about her. Eat up. Why have you eaten so little today? Was the food not to your taste?"

"No. Maybe the weather's been too hot lately, so I haven't had much appetite."

"Then I'll make you some cold dishes tomorrow, and some mung bean soup to help with the heat."

"Thanks for the effort, Xiao Jiu."

Su Jiu had thought Jiang Xuefu's visit to the company was just a passing whim, and that if she ignored her, Jiang Xuefu would naturally get bored and leave.

Unexpectedly, for the next week, Jiang Xuefu showed up at the office every noon without fail.

Fortunately, Su Jiu didn't see her have any contact with Jiang Huaiyu, and whenever Jiang Huaiyu mentioned her, he wore the same expression of utter disgust.

Only Yang Shen looked at Su Jiu more strangely with each passing day, as though she had committed some unforgivable wrong.

Su Jiu knew Jiang Xuefu must have been talking nonsense behind her back again. That woman had always been good at showing one face to someone and another behind their back.

But she happened to be a little busy these past few days and had no time to explain. She would clear things up with Yang Shen when she had time later.

The days passed like this, one busy day after another.

Then one day, Su Jiu arrived ten minutes late and saw Jiang Xuefu sitting in Jiang Huaiyu's office, eating.

The two were eating the meal Jiang Xuefu had brought. Su Jiu didn't know what they had been talking about, but Jiang Huaiyu's face was actually full of smiles.

Alarm bells immediately rang in Su Jiu's heart. She pushed open the office door, her voice edged with accusation and unease. "What are you doing?"

"Dear sister, can't you see? We're eating."

Jiang Huaiyu glared at the affected woman in front of him and warned, "Speak normally."

"Oh~"

Jiang Xuefu poked aggrievedly at the food in her hand and answered reluctantly.