Chapter 9, Why are you so cowardly?

 

The moment she turned around, the university student look she was going for was half-gone.

That was what made Su Yi special – when she put on makeup, she became stunning, but even without any makeup on, she was still attractive. Quirk her lips and curve her eyes and she’d be the picture of a flirt.

“No,” Chu Ying stepped on the gas. “I just arrived.”

Liu Xi stood there staring at the back of the rover, only managing after a long while, “…Damn, it really is Su Yi!”

Tu Jinglan had to put in plenty of effort to disguise the hatred on her face. She tugged on the edges of her lips, exaggeratedly saying, “So you know Director Chu, that’s really impressive.”

“What’s so impressive about that?” Tu Jinglan’s attempt at flattery clearly hit the wrong spot, causing Liu Xi to scrunch up his brows as he gave her a glance.

Tu Jinglan shut up.

A few steps later, Liu Xi stopped. “Right, you know who was on his car just now?”

“Of course,” Tu Jinglan smiled forcefully. “Yi-jie.”

Liu Xi asked, “You know her?”

“Yeah,” Tu Jinglan said. “We’re pretty close.”

Liu Xi didn’t entirely buy that. “Then why didn’t you greet each other just now?”

“Wasn’t it that you guys were talking and it’s not good for us to interrupt?” Tu Jinglan made sure to sound cute.

Liu Xi rolled his eyes in his mind. What’s wrong with this person’s IQ?

Nevermind, when the lights are off, they’re all the same, Liu Xi turned around and asked, “Then do you have her contact number?”

Tu Jinglan asked, “Huh?”

“Yes or no?” Liu Xi cut her off. “Didn’t you say that you’re close?”

Tu Jinglan was still struggling for an excuse. “Yi-jie doesn’t really like giving away her contact number…”

“What do you know,” Liu Xi said. “The car she just got onto was my best buddy’s car, if I asked for a contact she wouldn’t say anything.” He upturned his hand, making a taking gesture. “Give me.”

Tu Jinglan bit her teeth. “…Give me a second.”

She was fuming, and yet she still had to use WeChat to find her agent Lin-jie to ask for Su Yi’s contact number.

….

It was after they’d left the parking lot that Chu Ying asked, “Where are we going?”

“What do you want to eat?” Su Yi was holding her phone and scrolling through the restaurants on the app.

“Anything’s fine,” Chu Ying said. “The shoe’s by your feet.”

Su Yi lowered her head and glanced at it. The red heel contrasted with the black carpet, giving a sort of lingering charm.

“Anything you don’t eat?”

As she spoke, she glanced at Chu Ying’s arm, her heart pumping away.

Chu Ying’s arm muscles had beautiful lines, not the exaggerated kind, but the white sleeves barely contained his arms and he appeared infused with power.

Chu Ying looked at her askance. “No.”

Su Yi already had an idea before. Bending forward, she entered the address and the navigator immediately started searching for a route there.

She was close to him, the smell of her body wash covering Chu Ying’s soap smell.

The fragrance stole into his nose and Chu Ying couldn’t help wondering, do all women live this exquisitely?

Su Yi chose a shop that specialized in Mala soup.

It was the sort of shop where the shopkeepers only needed to drag the metal doors up to open up the business. A few big fans worked noisily on the walls, the paint peeling off. The only praise this place could get was that it looked quite clean.

Chu Ying was a little surprised, he’d originally thought that Su Yi was going to pick some kind of French restaurant, or at least somewhere that was air-conditioned.

“I found this shop by chance, it may have a really small storefront but the soup served tastes amazing.” Su Yi walked in front, turning around to smile at him when she finished speaking. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“No.” When he used to go on assignments, instant noodles could be considered delicacies.

Su Yi had slung a small pouch over, as to how small it was – after putting in a single spectacles case, it was full, she had to hold her phone in her hand.

Chu Ying looked at the lady wearing black-rimmed glasses, unable to understand the point of the bag.

Su Yi picked up two small baskets and handed one to Chu Ying. “Let’s go and pick the ingredients.”

The shop’s rule was to pay before they cooked. Su Yi’s portion was only ten dollars.

“So about that mall, how did you settle it in the end?” Su Yi pried apart the chopsticks and gave it to him.

Chu Ying said, “We let her return the clothes.”

“Oh,” Su Yi thought for a moment and said, “I’m actually really cowardly, as for this afternoon… it was just an impulse, at the moment, I’m really regretting it now.”

Chu Ying refrained from laughing, nodding twice.

Su Yi looked at the curve of his lips and halted her hands. “Are you laughing?”

“What,?” Chu Ying raised his head, the curve even more obvious now. “I’m not allowed to?”

“No,” Su Yi said. “Just that it’s the first time I’m seeing you smile.”

Chu Ying stopped looking at her. “We haven’t met more than a few times.”

Su Yi swallowed the cabbage in her mouth, “You’re working at Chu Corporation? Your surname is also Chu… you’re the boss’s relative?”

Chu Ying nodded. “About there.”

The conversation proceeded so sluggishly that Su Yi almost looked down on herself in her heart.

Why are you such a coward!?

Just go ahead and ask if he has a girlfriend or not!!!

Miss this chance and next time wouldn’t she have to think of a way to lose another shoe?! She was not Cinderella!

Chu Ying looked at her bowl. “Is that enough?”

“No,” Su Yi said honestly. “If I eat until I’m full I’d need to go to the gym and stay there for three days.”

Chu Ying followed what she said and looked at her figure, before concluding, “You’re not fat.”

Su Yi opened her mouth, deciding to say something when the phone between her legs rang.

The screen indicated that the incoming call was from Old Witch. Su Yi immediately got up and said, “I need to go take this call.”

On her way out Chu Ying could faintly hear a few sentences.

“I’m at home.”

“Liang Bo is having a party, so it’s a little noisy.”

“Not eating, I’m controlling myself, relax… I’m really not eating anything.”

Chu Ying found himself a little speechless, “…”

Su Yi hung up, letting out a relieved sigh. There was a magazine photoshoot next week and there was an interview section in it, a live-stream one, so these few days Wu Xue was very strict on controlling her diet.

Just as she was returning to the shop, she heard two girls whispering to each other.

They were sitting on the table right at the front, one of them saying, “Really handsome, if you don’t believe it you can pretend to look at the menu, just walk to the front and take a look.”

The other girl immediately stood up and went around the front, her eyes glued to Chu Ying.

“Aaah, he’s really handsome!”

“Right! And his nose arch is really high, and he’s really well-toned!”

“No, I need to take another walk and see if I can sneak a shot.”

Su Yi made her move then, calmly sitting down across from Chu Ying.

This guy was too attractive, she needed to be the first.

Su Yi started, “Chu Ying, you-”

“Bitch!” A cold, heartless voice sounded from somewhere to the left and above. “Pretending to be delicate and charming every day to get the king’s favour, do you really think me to be dead?!”

This line was said in a gritting-the-teeth manner. Chu Ying instinctively looked to the side.

On the shelf, in the small TV, that woman with a venomous expression and really heavy makeup was the Su Yi sitting opposite him munching on her cabbage.

It was only after Su Yi’s scene was over that Chu Ying looked back.

He said, “You act pretty well.”

“Heavens, we’re just eating out and we get to see Su Yi, it’s so annoying.” Beside them sat a couple, the girl setting her chopsticks down. “I see her and I feel sick.”

The boy said, “What’s wrong, doesn’t she look quite nice?”

“Nice?” The girl glared. “If she’s nice you can go date her!”

Su Yi found herself speechless, thinking, ‘No thank you.’

The boy immediately tried to calm her down, “Don’t get angry, she’s going to be fodder at the end anyway, she’d die.”

“Even if she dies I’m not happy,” the girl said. “We’re not eating anymore!”

This couple left arguing.

Su Yi turned around in time to catch a glimpse of Chu Ying’s faint, half-smile. 

Chu Ying asked, “What were you about to say?”

“…” Su Yi savagely swallowed the food in her mouth. “Nothing, I’ve forgotten.”

Turning around and asking if Chu Ying had a girlfriend after listening to a personal attack was simply too strange! Nevermind!

After the meal of Mala soup, on the way back to the condominium, Su Yi was worrying.

After this meal, if she wished to ask him out again it’d probably be harder still.

She leant against the car window, brazenly staring at Chu Ying.

Chu Ying asked, “What is it?”

“How did you manage to catch that egg so accurately last time?” Su Yi asked whatever she managed to think about.

“I didn’t catch it,” Chu Ying said. “It hit my wrist and broke on its own.”

Su Yi couldn’t help it and laughed out loud. She wasn’t very loud, but it was rather enticing.

Chu Ying found it pleasant to the ears and said nothing, but there was laughter in his eyes too.

They were reaching the condominium soon. Su Yi sneaked a glance at the person beside her, wondering what excuse she could use to ask him out next time.

The car drove into the underground parking lot and something gently hit her white sports shoes, bringing her back to earth.

Su Yi’s eyes brightened instantly.

Just as Chu Ying finished parking, the person beside him hurriedly unbuckled her safety belt, saying, “I’ll go then.”

“Okay,” Chu Ying said. “Good-”

Bang!

The passenger door was slammed shut.

Su Yi had left in a rush, two hands on her bag, not even looking back once as she entered the lift.

She was so diligent in asking him out and completely unhesitant about leaving.

Chu Ying stopped looking at her, but in his peripheral vision he caught sight of something under the shotgun seat.

On the black carpet, the corner of the red heel was rather conspicuous.

Chu Ying first raised his brow, before quirking up his lips and driving off.

 

this chapter was edited by Anne and further by Larkspur