Indulgence - Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Yao Ran took half a step back, putting some distance between them in time.
Jiang Nian's gaze also moved away from her lips. The little ambiguous interlude was enough to make one's heart race so early in the morning, making one wish for something to happen.
"Let me drive you to your company." Jiang Nian didn't wait for Yao Ran to refuse, continuing, "You can treat me to breakfast today, and I'll give you a ride to work. We'll be even. Otherwise, I'll have to treat you to a meal next time to return the favor."
Yao Ran was speechless for a moment.
Jiang Nian thought for a moment and added, "If you'd rather have a meal together next time, then I won't drive you today."
Speechless, Yao Ran also frowned.
Jiang Nian chuckled to herself. "I'm kidding," she said with a smile.
Shameless and improper. Yao Ran shot her a slightly disdainful glance but didn't refuse. She had been drinking last night, so it wasn't convenient for her to drive this early. Besides, she didn't want to argue with someone so thick-skinned.
Returning a favor. What a great excuse.
Following the navigation, Jiang Nian drove Yao Ran to her destination. It wasn't far from Yao Ran's residential complex, but the morning rush hour traffic was a bit congested.
"Thank you for the trouble."
Before getting out of the car, Yao Ran still offered a polite word of thanks.
Jiang Nian turned her head and stared intently at her face, a look of delight on her own. "No trouble at all."
Always staring at people so directly, without a hint of shyness. Yao Ran had never met anyone more thick-skinned than Jiang Nian. She turned her face away and prepared to open the car door.
"Yao Ran."
Jiang Nian called out quickly.
"Is there something else?"
Jiang Nian gripped the steering wheel, her eyes still on Yao Ran's as she asked tentatively in a low voice, "Can you not avoid me?"
The words were loaded with hidden meaning. Yao Ran remained silent. Things were getting even more ambiguous...
They were both quiet for a while.
Jiang Nian didn't expect the woman before her to give a straightforward reply. Her voice and eyes were smiling. "Goodbye, Director Yao."
Yao Ran's gaze swept over, her eyes reflecting that familiar smile—charming and sunny, and today, it held an extra touch of sweet playfulness.
Jiang Nian was in a great mood today. After dropping Yao Ran off at work, she hummed a little tune all the way back to the studio. Thinking about last night and this morning, she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
The stoic woman clearly cared about her.
It was still early, and there were no clients scheduled for the morning, so Jiang Nian stayed in her office to draw designs.
Qiu Lan was surprised to find Jiang Nian at the studio in the morning. Thinking she'd misseen, she leaned against the office doorway and said, "Suddenly working so hard. Did you get dumped?"
Jiang Nian replied, "If you don't have anything nice to say, you can shut up."
The two greeted each other with their usual banter. Qiu Lan took the opportunity to remind her of her work schedule for the next few days, telling her not to forget. Jiang Nian had a very casual personality and was also quite forgetful.
"Oh, right," Qiu Lan remembered something and asked Jiang Nian, "There's nothing going on between you and Cheng Qian now, right?"
"I made things clear with her a long time ago. Why?"
Cheng Qian was the person who had been pursuing her before. Qiu Lan had introduced them, and they had seen each other for a period. But when Cheng Qian suddenly asked to make their relationship official, Jiang Nian had rejected her without hesitation.
"As long as you've made it clear," Qiu Lan explained. "She mentioned yesterday that she wanted to get a tattoo from you. Maybe I was overthinking it."
Qiu Lan felt that Jiang Nian was both a "player" and "innocent." She loved meeting beautiful women and would talk about having a crush at the drop of a hat, but when it came to a serious relationship, she was unwilling, saying she didn't seem to like them that much.
This was Jiang Nian's thinking: once you were in a relationship, with another person by your side, you lost some of your freedom. If she were to decide to be with someone, that person had to be someone she was head over heels in love with.
A few days later, Jiang Nian received a WeChat message from the veterinary hospital, saying that Si Mao's injuries had mostly healed and he could be discharged.
Jiang Nian had thought about it over the past few days and decided to adopt Si Mao. Although the little guy had bitten her that day, it felt like fate. She had always wanted a dog, and adopting one would give the little stray a home.
Jiang Nian brought Si Mao back to the studio. Everyone there liked dogs anyway, so they could all take care of him together. After a period of treatment, Si Mao's spirits had recovered. It was just that his leg had been too severely injured, and he was still a bit unsteady when he walked.
Dogs are intuitive. After being brought back, Si Mao was particularly clingy with Jiang Nian. When Jiang Nian was drawing in her office, he would wander around inside. When he got tired, he would lie down by Jiang Nian's feet to rest.
In the evening, Si Mao ran over to act cute again. Jiang Nian took a few photos and a short video. Then, she sent the photos and video to Yao Ran, followed by a few messages.
Then she started waiting for a reply.
Jiang Nian absentmindedly stroked Si Mao's head, unsure if Yao Ran would even respond...
She clearly cared, yet she always avoided her. Jiang Nian couldn't figure her out.
Yao Ran was very busy in the evening. After a project meeting, her assistant ran into her office to report that the contract with SL Group hadn't been signed. "They said our quote was too high and they aren't considering it for now. From their attitude, it seems they've found a new partner."
Although it wasn't stated outright, Yao Ran knew. SL had close ties with the Lin family, so this was most likely affected by the fallout from her divorce. She told her assistant, "It's fine. I'll contact their upper management. We can still negotiate."
The first person Yao Ran thought of was Ruan Xin, who had connections at SL.
Ruan Xin had also been groomed by her family to be their successor. However, after a falling out with her family over coming out and refusing to compromise on marriage, she no longer managed the family business. She now ran a small, quiet business of her own, but she still had her network of contacts.
After her assistant left, Yao Ran dialed Ruan Xin's number. It rang for a long time with no answer. She waited a few minutes and tried again, but still, no one picked up.
Maybe she was busy. Just as Yao Ran was about to hang up, the call connected.
"Hello?"
Ruan Xin's voice on the other end was very soft, almost like a sigh.
Yao Ran asked her, "Do you know anyone in upper management at SL?"
"Mm... SL's... upper management? Let me think..." Ruan Xin was lying in bed, her face flushed, her hips trembling. Halfway through her sentence, she moved the phone away and said to the girl on top of her, "Gently."
Xu Xia's face was completely red. She obediently hummed in agreement.
Ruan Xin brought the phone back to her ear and, after catching her breath, said, "Yao Ran, I'll call you back later."
Yao Ran's voice was calm on the other end. "Okay, no rush."
Ruan Xin tossed her phone aside. She opened her mouth to say something, but her lips were captured again in a heavy kiss. The unrestrained plunder of her mouth left her breathless.
"Mm." Her head was spinning, and she was falling apart in seconds. She wrapped her arms around Xu Xia's neck, unable to speak, her hips trembling uncontrollably. She just couldn't understand how the girl, usually as meek and gentle as a lamb, could turn into a little wolf cub in bed. Also, youth really did have its stamina...
Yao Ran quickly ended the call, feeling awkward. She could tell Ruan Xin was "busy"—the kind of busy where it was very inconvenient to answer the phone. In the past, she wouldn't have been so sensitive, but just now, she had recognized immediately the kind of situation that would produce such a sigh.
Ruan Xin probably wouldn't be free tonight. Yao Ran checked the time; it was about time to get off work.
Yao Ran sat in her car with her eyes closed for a while, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. Tonight, she would go home, take a bath, and listen to some music. Her ways of unwinding were always the same.
She opened her eyes. As she was about to start the car, a WeChat notification popped up on her phone screen. She thought it was Ruan Xin, but when she opened it, she saw it was from Jiang Nian.
It was photos and a video of Si Mao.
Yao Ran opened the video. Si Mao was rolling around and acting cute on screen; his injuries seemed to have healed. Watching the adorable little guy, she suddenly broke into a knowing smile.
【Jiang Nian】I picked Si Mao up from the hospital. His injuries are mostly healed, though his leg is still a bit lame. I've adopted him. From now on, Si Mao is our studio's mascot.
Yao Ran scrolled through the photos, looking at them one by one. Soon, two new messages popped up in the chat:
【Jiang Nian】Isn't he cute?
【Jiang Nian】Want to come see him? To celebrate him being discharged.
Yao Ran looked at the messages for a long time but didn't reply.
She put her phone down and drove out of the underground garage.
Just like any other day, she drove home along the familiar streets, the same instrumental music playing in the car, as if caught in a calm, day-after-day cycle.
Yao Ran had never thought there was anything wrong with this calmness before, but now... she sometimes wondered if her life was too bland.
Next to Spring Breeze Lane, there was a pet supply store with a conspicuous and cute yellow cartoon sign. Yao Ran noticed it. She gradually slowed down, then pulled over to the side of the road. Finally, she got out of the car and walked into the store.
"Hello, can I help you with anything?"
Yao Ran looked at the snacks and toys on the shelves and picked out a few items.
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