Chapter 50

Chapter 50 Rose x Kiss

…What little kid?

Mm, he said—

She was an expired little kid.

Winter was about to pass. At the tail end of the season, there were fresh green buds.

And that warmth that hadn’t truly spread across the land yet was shattered by Jiang Ji’s single sentence, broken into fragments and brought before her.

Ji Mingzhu lost the will to eat, just staring blankly at him.

Letting her heartbeat accelerate, faster and faster.

That annoying bastard!

His words were getting more and more likable!!

To cover up her distraction, Ji Mingzhu’s first reaction after snapping back was to turn her head and look behind her.

Luckily, the office door was tightly shut.

Assistant Ying probably hadn’t heard just now.

She turned back again, looking at Jiang Ji. Though her tone sounded complaining, she didn’t actually dislike it. “If you say it like that, then I don’t want it either.”

Benefits others received had to be measured in money, and had to be distributed layer by layer by the special assistant office before reaching their hands.

But for her, Ji Mingzhu could directly ride on Jiang Ji and pluck his feathers.

Wantonly, recklessly.

“I still have the privilege of directly swiping your card, right?”

Jiang Ji stared at her silently for a moment. “Of course.”

“However, using this privilege might require upgrading from little kid to another kind of friend.”

Ji Mingzhu looked at Jiang Ji, whose expression was languid and scattered.

His words made it impossible not to overthink.

Intentionally or not, they leaned toward the direction she was guessing.

If the identity of fiancée was affirmation for Ji Mingzhu in terms of status and family background,

Then the other half Jiang Ji truly sought was another kind of completeness, like full moon and blooming flowers.

And at this moment, Ji Mingzhu finally managed to pry a little of Jiang Ji’s thoughts about this from his mouth.

…

Going back to Park Hyatt at night, they naturally left together.

When the car stopped steadily in the garage, Ji Mingzhu had a sudden whim. She sat in the passenger seat without moving or getting out.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Ji raised his brows and looked over.

“Jiang Ji, I want you to carry me on your back.”

Like last time.

After Jiang Ji bent down in front of her, Ji Mingzhu swiftly climbed onto him.

The underground garage caught the wind of late winter and early spring from the entrance, threads of cool chill drilling into the bones.

Ji Mingzhu shrank and leaned closer onto Jiang Ji’s back.

“The compensation I said I’d give you last time hasn’t been given yet. Do you still want it now?” Ji Mingzhu liked this feeling of Jiang Ji obeying her completely, her voice soft as she spoke near his ear.

“If I say I want it, will you give it?” Jiang Ji entered the elevator, his slender fingers extending to input the fingerprint for the floor authentication of Park Hyatt.

“Of course, why not?” Ji Mingzhu’s playful mood rose. Her hand circled around his collar, deliberately messing it up, only stopping after making it look completely disordered.

Not knowing what she thought of, Ji Mingzhu swung her legs and didn’t mind Jiang Ji’s silence, just continuing to mutter to herself.

People were indeed social animals. After spending time together, some things would change subtly.

The former Ji Mingzhu was charmingly lazy and radiant; even when talking to good friends, she never had such a strong urge to confide like tonight.

In front of Jiang Ji, she always had many topics.

Perhaps it was because Jiang Ji was used to, and liked, quietly listening to her like this, or… accompanying her.

Yes, the word “accompany” was simple.

But it carried too much literal beauty.

“But do you know, the birthday gift I gave you wasn’t that easy to get.”

She stared at the pair of cufflinks on Jiang Ji’s cuffs. Ever since Ji Mingzhu saw him in Switzerland, she hadn’t seen him take them off.

“My original idea was that you had to dictate a thousand words praising me to get the birthday gift I prepared for you. But who knew it would be such a coincidence. President Jiang, you picked up a big treasure.”

Who could have known that Ji Mingzhu asking Ji Shaoyan to pass it along had actually given Jiang Ji a huge advantage.

At that time, she really had the mindset of breaking the jar and letting it shatter.

Jiang Ji’s walk all the way had not been steady.

The girl on his back had been chattering since the underground garage, warm breath mixing and surrounding his ear.

Besides the rose fragrance, there were also the two soft mounds pressed against him.

And the fingers moving around at his collarbone.

She probably thought she was safe, not knowing that Jiang Ji’s tolerance was only a thin line from the edge.

Crossing it would be heaven, and also hell.

Thinking like this, thoughts surged in his heart.

Then Jiang Ji felt his earlobe grow warm.

Ji Mingzhu, whether casually or unintentionally, rubbed against it a few times and slowly said, “President Jiang, when are you going to give me my thousand-word praise?”

At that moment, the elevator arrived.

The doors slowly opened.

Jiang Ji had no time to consider her words; his attention was completely focused on what she had just said earlier.

Seeing him seemingly stunned, clearly not listening seriously, Ji Mingzhu prepared to properly scold him. “Say something!”

Then Ji Mingzhu finally got Jiang Ji’s response.

“The compensation you mentioned just now, you still haven’t given it to me,” he said.

“…………”

So he had been thinking about that all along.

…

Wasn’t it just that he wanted it fulfilled.

Before, she had been taken advantage of so much, and he had gotten plenty of benefits. Now that Jiang Ji actively requested it… of course she would agree.

Ji Mingzhu lowered her head, deliberately pressing her soft breath, her voice carrying a faint hum—she teased and nibbled, lightly sucking near his ear a few times.

After that, she nimbly jumped down from Jiang Ji’s back and entered the apartment first.

She changed into slippers quickly.

“I keep my word. Are you satisfied now?” After saying that, Ji Mingzhu turned to look at him. “Just don’t pretend you didn’t hear what I said earlier—give and take… you must agree! I’ll give you three days to draft it~”

After she said that, there was no sound behind her.

She turned back in confusion and saw Jiang Ji standing at the entrance.

He lowered his eyes slightly, raising his arm to rest by his ear.

He stood motionless, his profile gentle.

As if savoring something, deeply immersed.

Ji Mingzhu admired the handsome-man picture in front of her for a while, and suddenly a descriptive word appeared in her mind.

Jiang Ji really was too pure.

…

Back home, someone Jiang still had to cook.

Ji Mingzhu sank into the long-missed sofa and suddenly felt this kind of small daily life wasn’t bad.

She had her own hobbies and things she liked to do.

Everything in the future was promising, and there was also a chicken that only she could knock around.

Ji Mingzhu looked at Jiang Ji’s slender figure busy in the kitchen, and for a moment her thoughts were countless.

Turning and wandering,

they returned to her earlier evaluation of Jiang Ji.

If Ji Mingzhu hadn’t seen wrong, everything she had doubted and suspected before

now all had traces to follow.

Every time she teased Jiang Ji a little, his ears would turn red enough to drip blood.

And…

Last time in Switzerland, she had also felt it.

In the car, the space was cramped.

Every movement seemed to gain deeper meaning, inviting speculation.

At that time he restrained himself, but couldn’t hide it from Ji Mingzhu.

She had only been sitting on his thigh, yet it felt like a volcano erupting.

After experiencing him, Ji Mingzhu felt the roots of her legs grow soft.

Yes, she was certain.

Jiang Ji, cold as snow, with an icy face like frost,

was losing his soul over her.

Thinking of this, Ji Mingzhu suddenly felt her charm was quite great. Unable to hold back, she let out a small “ah.”

Then something brushed against her leg.

Ticklish.

Ji Mingzhu looked down. Tomi, whom she hadn’t seen for more than ten days, was circling around her feet—

“Female owner~”

This familiar voice finally brought Ji Mingzhu back to her senses.

Just then Jiang Ji came around from the kitchen counter. Ji Mingzhu pinched the small robot’s arm that wanted to greet her and asked, “Jiang Ji, we’ve been gone for so many days, and it’s still alive?”

He followed over and squatted in front of the small robot.

“Mm, I told you before, it stores solar energy.”

Ji Mingzhu watched for a while and felt something was off. When she left, Tomi still looked cold and noble.

Now it had turned into a clingy little goblin again.

Thinking of this, she slowly spoke, her tone probing, actually seeking a kind of confirmation, “…you… did you turn on the couple mode for it again?”

Jiang Ji looked at her in response, eyelids half-lifted, raising his brows. “What, is there something wrong?”

His tone was certain, without the slightest guilt.

…

With the couple mode function activated, the small robot once again brought Ji Mingzhu into deep trouble over the next several days.

Not only did she serve Jiang Ji tirelessly at Jiang Corporation, but after returning home, if she wasn’t careful, she’d still be tricked by it.

When the weekend came again, Ji Mingzhu didn’t hesitate and went straight to Lise Street, beginning her path to make up for the yoga classes she had previously missed.

On one hand, she didn’t want to waste the flexibility she had built up earlier; on the other, she wanted to give herself a breather.

After the little robot became cunning, it tried to matchmake her and Jiang Ji to sleep in the same bed every day.

It was just short of locking the door.

Now that Ji Mingzhu had some free time, she comfortably hung upside down on the straps, chatting casually with Liu Xi.

“Teacher Liu, the place you recommended to me last time was really good.”

“As long as you like it. Is Switzerland beautiful?” Liu Xi was opposite her, smiling.

In her eyes, Ji Mingzhu was a pampered young lady with occasional complaints, but mostly quite likable.

“Super beautiful, but— you’re Chinese living there, when did you immigrate?” Ji Mingzhu couldn’t help being curious.

“My grandparents’ generation, I think. I’m not too sure. This time coming back to the country, I just accompanied them to visit relatives. My parents are still in Switzerland.”

“Ah… is that so.” It was the first time Ji Mingzhu and Liu Xi discussed such private topics. Perhaps because they had known each other for a long time and were familiar, it came up naturally. “If your parents are still there, does that mean you’ll go back too?”

“I think… I quite like this city.” Liu Xi smiled.

Ji Mingzhu nodded half-understanding. “Then your child— are they staying here with you too?”

“I don’t have children.”

“…Ah?”

This answer made Ji Mingzhu widen her eyes in surprise. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ask that.”

Liu Xi didn’t feel offended, her smile deepening. “It’s fine. I once suffered severe head trauma. Treatment delayed quite a long time, and it caused many stress reactions.”

Her tone was calm, as if she didn’t feel sad. “So I never built my own family. In terms of emotions, perhaps both innate and acquired factors together left a missing piece.”

Ji Mingzhu felt she had touched someone’s sore spot and didn’t continue the topic. “Sorry, Teacher Liu…”

“What’s there to be sorry about.” Liu Xi helped adjust her posture. “You seem in a good mood recently. Did something good happen?”

…Something good happened?

Did a big turnaround in romantic luck count?

“Something good… I guess there is.” She blinked her peach blossom eyes.

Ji Mingzhu remembered Jiang Ji’s special instruction before she went out, and somehow felt she should go back on time.

“Teacher Liu, after another hour of practice, let’s have a meal together, then I’ll go home.”

“Okay, no problem.”

…

After eating at a nearby restaurant with Liu Xi, Ji Mingzhu left Lise Street and drove straight to Park Hyatt.

All the way, she kept thinking about what Jiang Ji said to her that morning—

“After dinner, remember to come home.”

Oh ho.

That tone—even now, Ji Mingzhu felt it sounded like a resentful husband.

She seemed like a scumbag woman who stayed out all year and never went home.

Thinking about how Jiang Ji had obeyed her in everything lately, Ji Mingzhu only felt like her tail could rise to the sky.

While driving, she received a car phone call.

It was Xiao Yi, whom she hadn’t contacted for a long time.

“Little Eight, where are you?”

“Not going.” Ji Mingzhu thought he was asking her out, and decisively refused, “I’m on the way back to Park Hyatt.”

“Oh, then I’ll hang up.” After saying that, Xiao Yi really hung up.

“.........?”

While Ji Mingzhu was puzzled, Lian Tang’s call immediately cut in.

“What now?”

“Zhuzhu! Where are you!”

Ji Mingzhu sighed. “Say it, did you and Xiao Yi play truth or dare while drinking?”

“.........Yes! We’re at the bar right now. Nothing much, just calling to ask you. Hearing your unsatisfied, dry, dull tone, I can already imagine your current state!”

“............”

“Alright, I won’t say more. Hurry back to Park Hyatt and let Jiang Ji nourish you~~~”

What kind of way is that to talk! Ah!!

Hearing this, Ji Mingzhu couldn’t hold back and retorted directly, “Hmph, who nourishes who isn’t certain.”

“Okay, okay—” Lian Tang’s tone was extremely perfunctory. “Anyway, no more talking, I’m hanging up!”

Ji Mingzhu, once again forcibly cut off, frowned her delicate brows.

These two clearly had something wrong, acting strange. At a glance, nothing good—either deceitful or plotting!

She’d better be on guard later.

Thinking of this, when Ji Mingzhu returned to Park Hyatt, she opened her phone and directly tapped into the group called “Raising the Pig-Chicken Guarding Kingdom.”

Sure enough, something abnormal meant something fishy.

This group had gone quiet since a few days ago; no one spoke in it.

Ji Mingzhu never took the initiative to start topics in it.

And Jiang Ji—getting him to chat in it was even harder than ascending to heaven.

The two most active leaders, Xiao Yi and Lian Tang, had disappeared in succession. Combined with the two very nonsensical calls just now…

Ji Mingzhu decided to stay away from these two for the next few days.

She went all the way up the elevator and reached the floor.

Ji Mingzhu’s mind was filled entirely with Jiang Ji.

He was mysterious too—was something going on?

However, when she reached the entrance, that mystery still wasn’t revealed.

The house was pitch-black, not looking like anyone was there.

The previously automatic sensing lights also seemed to have lost control, not gradually lighting up with her entrance.

Ji Mingzhu felt puzzled, stepped in, and slightly raised her voice, “…Jiang Ji?”

There was no response.

Just as she was about to manually turn on the light switch, the crystal chandelier inside suddenly lit up.

For a moment, it was bright as day.

But because only this one chandelier was on, that brilliant halo blurred out, slowly diffusing in all directions.

Everything became hazy.

When it fell onto the floor, the shadows overlapped with the bustling traffic outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

At this moment, Ji Mingzhu finally took in the entire scene inside the room.

It was like walking into a sea of flowers.

Everywhere, layer upon layer, were bunches and clusters of flowers.

They were roses that provoked fiery kisses.

Blooming one by one in the entrance hall, the living room, beside the spiral staircase, and near the floor mirror. Some were scattered, some lay peacefully within bouquets.

At such a moment, Ji Mingzhu’s heartbeat nearly stopped, racing so fast it lost its rhythm.

She quietly watched, but her heart overturned like a surging tide.

These silent flowers, though unable to speak, quietly conveyed an extraordinary atmosphere.

The blazing red filling her vision was wrapped in exquisite luxurious satin— all high-end custom cinnabar roses.

Placed in the middle was a piglet made of fresh rose bouquets, like a Christmas tree, twice the height of a person.

The gramophone slowly rotated, playing familiar music.

This was the piano piece she had played in the school auditorium during high school.

Years blurred the sound, but could not erase the trace.

Ji Mingzhu crouched down halfway, surrounded by the sea of flowers, the scent of roses filling her nose.

Jiang Ji appeared at this moment. In his hands he held a chick made of roses in the same style, then crouched down beside her.

His gaze level with hers.

Jiang Ji’s cool features were hidden in the background, illuminated by the fiery sea of flowers.

“Do you still like it?” His tone was soft.

Jiang Ji asked whether she liked it.

If everything before had been stunned confusion, at this moment Ji Mingzhu finally understood.

No matter what, she could no longer hide the liking filling her heart and eyes.

Her emotions surged, as if hot oil had been poured over her heart.

This person she had liked since youth had long been engraved in those enchanting dreams.

“…Jiang Ji!”

Ji Mingzhu did not hesitate at all. She stretched out both arms and threw herself toward him.

In the movement, the two of them fell onto the floor together, like collapsing onto a mattress paved with roses, overlapping.

Petals splashed up around them, rising and falling.

Jiang Ji smiled as he caught her excitement, then wrapped his arm around her waist and turned, pressing her beneath him.

He casually pushed aside the bouquet in his hand and threw it away, his long clear fingers pinching her chin, and overwhelming kisses followed.

Unlike the previous brief tasting, this time he was unstoppable, fierce.

Her tongue was rolled up, lips and teeth clinging together.

Amid the exchange of breath, Ji Mingzhu whimpered, almost unable to bear it, yet boldly tried to respond.

Her lips were sucked until they glistened with moisture, her breathing disordered, letting his heated breath after his frenzy brush across her cheeks.

Their foreheads pressed together; Jiang Ji’s wet, bright black eyes seemed to gather a layer of mist at this moment, almost turning into water, about to drip onto her.

“You still haven’t answered me. Do you like it?”

“…I like it, Jiang Ji.” Saying this, Ji Mingzhu wrapped her arms around Jiang Ji’s narrow waist, her whole body lying against his chest.

“I prepared for a long time.” Jiang Ji smiled again, his voice no longer habitually cold, only light and gentle, so soft she was about to sink into it, not regretting this life.

Then he slowly added, “It’s good that you like it.”

The corners of Ji Mingzhu’s lips couldn’t help but curl up. “You said a long time— how long did you prepare?”

“Since I returned to the country, when I wanted to tie you to me.”

Jiang Ji sucked lightly at the corner of her lips.

After speaking, as if it wasn’t enough, he tried to hold her chin and start again, but Ji Mingzhu pressed both hands against his shoulders.

Stopped, Jiang Ji raised his brows.

Ji Mingzhu thought it would be around Switzerland, but she didn’t expect it to start that early.

But the preparation for these flowers—

“You responded so quickly… you look very practiced… did you use this on other girls too?” Ji Mingzhu hummed meaningfully.

Even though she felt like she was waiting for rain to stop in a stuffy summer, that thick heat still spread upward from her calves.

She wanted Jiang Ji’s exact answer, an exact response.

“Roseonly— flowers customized from this brand, when reserved, can only use one ID card.”

Jiang Ji spoke unhurriedly, “And with that one ID card, the flowers you can reserve in this lifetime— on the card— can only contain one girl’s name. It cannot be changed, and there’s no way to change it.”

Roseonly.

Only one person in a lifetime.

Only willing for one person in a lifetime.

Only love one person in a lifetime.

Close to the bloodline, engraved in the heart.

“Now, do you understand what I mean?”

Jiang Ji’s brows and eyes were filled with lingering affection. No one stays cold forever.

The iceberg melts, the snow clears— all in a single thought.

He looked at Ji Mingzhu beneath him, her proud expression like a little fox that had succeeded.

Ji Mingzhu, as if rewarding him, pressed a kiss onto his lips, her tone sly. “Then do you understand my meaning?”

“Mm.” Jiang Ji lowered his gaze to look at her. “I’ve waited for this day for a long time.”

To be precise, from the day he realized Ji Mingzhu also had feelings for him, he had already been silently longing in the dark, in late nights.

And now, he wanted more.

“Little princess, your knight bows in worship before you.”

Jiang Ji lowered his head, both hands braced on either side of her—

“So, are you willing to accept him?”

Author’s note: Bald Scallion: I’m willing I’m willing ahhh I’m willing!!!!! Thanks to the little angels who threw mines or irrigated nutrient solution between 2020-02-27 09:31:36 ~ 2020-02-28 08:32:21~

Thanks to the little angel who threw a landmine: Wang Ji Has Already Gone To Xian 1;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Little Nap. 25 bottles; Busy Growing Up, Falling Pupil Shock Empty Silence 20 bottles; I’m Still Me, I’ll Always Like Park Chan-yeol, baalaa, Stars Can Blink, Cha Cha Heart’s Favorite★ 10 bottles; Big Moon 7 bottles; Wutong Tall Tree, Confused, Li Yangyang mio 5 bottles; outlier, imagine~ 4 bottles; Above!, North Alley, Little Tian Huhu, Rice Cracker! 3 bottles; Little Little 2 bottles; Jiaying Baby, Jiujiang Good Moon., Winnie the Pooh, Qianqian, Wen Yexi, Peach of PCY, Ah Salt Too Salty, Fang Shihe I Want to Chase You, Hair Loss Girl, Maruko Without Cherries, Under the Lemon Tree You and Me, 41189419, ellana, Six-Yuan Little Fairy 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for everyone’s support, I will continue to work hard!