I Want to Be Your Mrs. Jiang - Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Whether it was thanks to the bowl of brown sugar ginger tea Jiang Yi had personally brewed for her or not, when Su Xiaomi woke up the next morning, she was pleasantly surprised to find that although she had broken out in a sweat, her cold was indeed much better than before.
Her steps were notably lighter than the day before as she walked over to the west gate of the complex to pick up breakfast.
Just as he had mentioned on WeChat, Jiang Yi had prepared scallion pancakes and fresh soy milk. Su Xiaomi accepted them with a look of pure delight, thanked him sincerely, and turned to leave for the morning rush-hour subway with her breakfast in hand.
Seeing her turn around without a hint of reluctance, Jiang Yi couldn’t help but call after her.
“…Hey, why aren’t you taking my car? I’m heading to the office anyway, so isn’t it right on the way?”
Su Xiaomi waved the breakfast in her hand.
“Are you sure you want to invite me into your car? Don’t regret it!”
Although Jiang Yi didn’t quite understand why she said that, he subconsciously nodded. “I’m sure!”
He quickly realized why she had double-checked with him, though. The moment she got in the car, Su Xiaomi pulled out a scallion pancake from the bag and started munching on it.
Aside from the aroma of the pancake constantly swirling around Jiang Yi’s nose—making his already empty stomach growl in unbearable hunger—the non-stop, loud crunch-crunch of her chewing right in his ear was absolute torture for him.
Furthermore, Jiang Yi was somewhat of a neat freak. He never ate in his car and strictly forbade anyone else from doing so.
Even though Su Xiaomi thoughtfully spread the plastic bag over her lap to catch any falling crumbs, his eyes couldn’t help but drift toward her again and again.
In short, it thoroughly derailed his driving focus.
Noticing his distraction, Su Xiaomi assumed he disliked people eating in his car and immediately said with thoughtful consideration, “Am I bothering you? How about you just drop me off at any nearby subway station? I can take the train to work myself.”
Jiang Yi remained silent for a long moment before suggesting, “Actually, you could just eat breakfast once we get to the office. It’s very close anyway—about ten minutes max.”
Su Xiaomi rejected his suggestion without a second thought.
“How could I do that? If the pancake sits in the bag for too long, it won’t be crispy anymore! A pancake that isn’t crispy is a pancake without a soul.”
“…”
Fine, you’re the foodie, so you call the shots.
Enduring the hardship, Jiang Yi said, “Then keep eating!”
Su Xiaomi paused for a moment.
“You don’t mind? It’s fine, if you mind, just say so. Even my own dad complains when I eat in his car.”
Jiang Yi replied in a low voice, “Of course I mind, but what choice do I have? I’ll just treat it as getting used to it in advance.”
Because he spoke so quietly, coupled with a passing car honking its horn, Su Xiaomi didn’t catch a single word.
She asked while munching on her pancake, “…What did you say, President Jiang?”
Jiang Yi replied, “I said, eat it while it still has a soul!”
So for the rest of the drive, Su Xiaomi focused entirely on devouring her pancake. She was so absorbed in eating that she didn’t even notice when Jiang Yi pulled into the company’s underground parking lot.
It was only after Jiang Yi parked the car and reminded her they had arrived that she belatedly looked out the window and let out a startled cry, “Oh no! President Jiang, why did you drive straight into the parking lot? You should have dropped me off a block earlier!”
Jiang Yi turned to look at her expressionlessly, his tone devoid of sincerity, “Is that so? Then how about you walk back to the last intersection yourself?”
Su Xiaomi: “…” Was she crazy?
Comforting herself with the thought that she might as well make the best of it now that she was here, Su Xiaomi cautiously followed behind Jiang Yi as they got out of the car. The short walk from the parking space to the elevator lobby was probably the most nerve-wracking walk of her life. She wasn’t afraid of anything else—she was just terrified that an employee from Yihang Media might pop out of nowhere, see her stepping out of Jiang Yi’s car first thing in the morning, and start over-imagining things.
Whether it was her good luck or simply because they had arrived early, she and Jiang Yi reached the elevator without bumping into anyone she knew.
Just as Su Xiaomi was about to exhale a sigh of relief, a deep, resonant voice suddenly boomed from behind her.
“Good morning, President Jiang! Morning, Xiaomi!”
Jiang Yi nodded faintly.
“Morning.”
Su Xiaomi turned around to see Brother He, who had materialized out of nowhere, and mechanically nodded along.
“Morning, morning, morning…”
Brother He raised the bag of buns in his hand.
“The meat buns near my complex are super popular. I bought a couple extra this morning—President Jiang, Xiaomi, do you two want to try one?”
Jiang Yi shook his head. “No thanks, I made my own.”
Su Xiaomi shook her head as well. “No thanks, I’ve already eaten.”
Brother He’s eyes darted back and forth between the bag in Jiang Yi’s hand and the bag in Su Xiaomi’s. Suddenly, he leaned into Su Xiaomi’s ear and whispered, “…Even though I feel like my guess is a bit bold, I still want to ask… You and President Jiang… aren’t living together, are you?”
Su Xiaomi almost jumped out of her skin in shock.
“Of course not! How could that be? Don’t talk nonsense!”
Thinking it over, Brother He felt it was quite impossible himself. After all, President Jiang was a man who had turned down the daughter of a listed company’s CEO. Su Xiaomi had only been at Yihang Media for a few short months—how could she have won over President Jiang so quickly, let alone moved in with him?
Ah, he must be overthinking it.
Even if he had seen Su Xiaomi get out of President Jiang’s car with his own eyes… and even if one had said he made his own breakfast while the other said she had already eaten when asked about the buns… and even if the bags in their hands happened to be completely identical… in the end, it was still just him overthinking.
Having rationalized and answered his own suspicion, Brother He promptly tossed the absurd thought aside.
Su Xiaomi, on the other hand, was so spooked by him that she no longer dared to wait for the elevator alongside Jiang Yi. Inventing an excuse about taking the stairs for exercise, she hastily fled into the stairwell.
—
Su Xiaomi spent the entire morning busy organizing her interview notes and photos from her business trip, and her afternoon writing up articles. Fortunately, being so occupied meant she had no time to dwell on Brother He’s “living together” comment, nor did she have time to think about Jiang Yi.
It wasn’t until after work, when she received a call from Jiang Yi saying he had to stay late at the office to work overtime and that she should handle dinner herself, that she couldn’t help but think: Forget Brother He misunderstanding—if a hundred people heard their interactions, every single one of them would assume she and Jiang Yi were living together.
Living together… how wonderful would it be if it were true!
Indulging in a daydream about cohabitating with Jiang Yi, Su Xiaomi packed up her things and clocked out on time. Since there wasn’t much to eat back at her dorm, she decided to find a quick bite at a fast-food joint near the office. However, perhaps because Jiang Yi had spoiled her palate recently, the fast food she usually enjoyed tasted strangely bland tonight. Unable to stomach it, she sent a message to her best friend, Xiao Luo. Upon confirming that Xiao Luo was at home, she immediately paid the bill and headed over to crash dinner at her place.
Knowing Su Xiaomi was coming over, Xiao Luo had specially cooked two extra dishes. By sheer coincidence, one of them was the sweet and sour fish Jiang Yi had made for Su Xiaomi the night before.
Staring at the sweet and sour fish, Su Xiaomi found herself thinking about Jiang Yi again. Having a crush on someone meant that even the most ordinary things, as long as they were somehow linked to the person you liked, would somehow lead your thoughts back to them through endless mental detours.
Because her mind was occupied with Jiang Yi, Su Xiaomi’s eating speed noticeably slowed down. As her best friend, Xiao Luo naturally picked up on her unusual behavior and couldn’t help asking, “What are you thinking about?”
Poking at the rice in her bowl, Su Xiaomi hesitated before asking tentatively, “Do you remember I told you before that when I went to interview at Yihang Media, I ran into my high school crush?”
Xiao Luo replied, “I remember! What about him?”
Su Xiaomi said, “I think… I might still have feelings for him.”
Xiao Luo wasn’t surprised in the slightest. “Then go after him!”
Su Xiaomi sighed.
“That’s where the problem lies. I tried pursuing him in the past and failed. I went from having a secret crush to an open confession, and neither worked. As the saying goes, ‘third time’s a charm or it’s over.’ I’m worried that if I fail again this time, we won’t even be able to stay normal friends…”
Xiao Luo looked at her in confusion.
“Why do you want to be normal friends with someone you like? Are you short on friends? Since he’s the person you like, you should naturally do everything you can to be with him. If it really doesn’t work out, then just become strangers! What’s the point of being ‘friends’?”
Su Xiaomi thought about it for a moment and realized—hey, that actually made a lot of sense!
Who cared about being normal friends with Jiang Yi? Her actual goal was to sleep with him!
Having cleared her mind, Su Xiaomi was instantly filled with morale and drive, even regaining her appetite.
After dinner, Su Xiaomi and Xiao Luo sat on the sofa to research how to pursue a guy.
Xiao Luo had no experience herself, so she could only offer guesses.
“I feel like you need a mix of theory and practice? How about you find some time to go to a bookstore and pick up a couple of books to study?”
Su Xiaomi looked at her blankly. “…What kind of books? Erotic Chronicles? Secret Diagrams of the Mandarin Ducks? Erotic Art?”
Xiao Luo threw a throw pillow straight at her.
“Not those kinds of 18+ explicit books! I mean books that specifically teach girls how to pursue their crush!”
Su Xiaomi thought for a moment and said, “No need, I have my own methods.”
Xiao Luo eyed her sideways. “Explicit books won’t do, and explicit comics definitely won’t do either!!!”
Su Xiaomi: “…”
