Chapter 83
Jiang Siyi had been distraught since the appearance of her rival, even suffering from insomnia.
So she asked Shen Shiwu, “Are you hiring?”
She needed to be with her all the time.
Shen Shiwu replied casually, “We need a cleaner.”
Jiang Siyi slapped her thigh. “Perfect, I’ll do it!”
Her sudden movement made the bowls on the dining table rattle precariously. Shen Shiwu, seeing her excitement, shook her head helplessly.
“Not writing anymore?”
Jiang Siyi quickly steadied the bowls and replied, “I’ll find time to write.”
She hummed softly. “My girlfriend is about to be stolen, I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
Seeing Shen Shiwu’s gaze on her, she touched her nose. “An ex-girlfriend is still a girlfriend, right?”
“A… a female friend.”
Having accidentally revealed her true intentions, she quickly changed the subject. “So, will you let me? I’m going stir-crazy staying at home all the time, it would be nice to get out and do something.”
Shen Shiwu seemed to be thinking, not replying immediately. Jiang Siyi pouted and picked up her chopsticks, continuing her meal. An awkward silence filled the villa.
Until a fluffy white shadow darted down the stairs.
Jiang Siyi, seeing Eleven, put down her chopsticks and was about to go over to it,
When Shen Shiwu finally spoke, just as she was about to stand up. “Okay.”
Jiang Siyi immediately sat back down.
Shen Shiwu, seeing her reaction, smiled faintly, then glanced at the rabbit.
As if understanding, Eleven quickly hopped back upstairs.
Jiang Siyi, oblivious, was too focused on her “new job.” Afraid that Shen Shiwu would change her mind, she took out her phone, opened the voice recorder, and said, “Come on.”
Shen Shiwu: “…”
“I always keep my promises, you don’t have to worry.”
“I know,” Jiang Siyi nodded, “but you have to promise you won’t fire me.”
Realizing her tone was a bit too demanding, she softened her voice. “Okay? Promise?”
A bunny acting cute, there was no way to refuse.
Shen Shiwu, after enjoying the sight for a moment, finally replied, her voice slow and deliberate, “Mm-hmm, I promise.”
Jiang Siyi’s eyes crinkled with a smile, but she didn’t stop the recording.
She continued, her voice monotonous, like reciting a scripture, “Okay, Ms. Shen Shiwu has promised that even if I slack off at work, arrive late and leave early, gossip with my colleagues, etc., she will never fire me.”
After listing a long string of offenses, five minutes later, Jiang Siyi was finally satisfied.
She turned off the recorder, put her phone aside, and looked at Shen Shiwu, her expression smug.
“The evidence is here, no going back on your word.”
Seeing that she couldn’t suppress her smile any longer, Shen Shiwu took her dishes and went to the kitchen. Jiang Siyi, seeing her leave, repeated her earlier words.
“No going back,” Shen Shiwu said, her voice laced with amusement,
“Do you think I’m like you?”
Jiang Siyi leaned back in her chair, her arms crossed. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said.” The sound of running water masked Shen Shiwu’s laughter as she washed the dishes. Returning to the dining table, she flicked the water from her hands.
A few drops landed on Jiang Siyi’s face. She wiped them away, thinking Shen Shiwu had done it on purpose.
“Finished eating?” Shen Shiwu extended her hand. “Give me your dishes.”
The housekeeper would be coming tomorrow morning, and there was a dishwasher.
There was no need for Shen Shiwu to wash the dishes herself.
So Jiang Siyi asked, puzzled, “Why are you suddenly washing the dishes?”
Shen Shiwu, of course, wouldn’t say it was to hide her smile. She took the dishes and turned around, then, after a moment of thought, she said, “Children shouldn’t worry about adult matters.”
Jiang Siyi, almost twenty-three years old, almost stormed into the kitchen.
But rationality and laziness kept her glued to her chair.
A full stomach made her sleepy, and she yawned, still managing a loud retort, “I’m not a child anymore!”
Shen Shiwu’s smile faded slightly, her lips pursed.
Worried about the unknown rival, Jiang Siyi hadn’t slept well, and now, hearing Shen Shiwu’s words, she didn’t wait for a reply, her eyes slowly closing, the sound of running water lulling her to sleep.
When Shen Shiwu returned from the kitchen, the girl’s head was tilted back, her face turned up, fast asleep.
This time, she carefully dried her hands before approaching Jiang Siyi.
Feeling a touch on her cheek, Jiang Siyi stirred slightly. But she was too sleepy, and after opening her eyes halfway, she closed them again.
Shen Shiwu looked at her sleeping face, wanting to just sit there and watch her.
But it was just a fleeting thought.
After a moment, she looked away and gently carried Jiang Siyi to her room.
When she was younger, her classmates had often talked about their parents.
“My mom can do magic. Every time I fall asleep in the car, I wake up in my bed.”
“Hmph, my mom can do that too.”
Jiang Siyi would always sit quietly in the corner, listening to their stories, a sense of alienation washing over her.
Because she had never experienced that.
So, when she woke up, Jiang Siyi was in a daze for a while. She stared at the ceiling, then turned to the side.
After fumbling for her phone on the nightstand, she saw Shen Shiwu’s message and, startled, jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to wash up, almost forgetting to put on her slippers.
“It’s your first day of work, report to my office before nine.”
Jiang Siyi glanced at the time as she brushed her teeth, realizing it was already past eight. She spent twenty minutes getting dressed and putting on light makeup, then hurried downstairs.
Shen Shiwu had already left for work, and Auntie Wang wasn’t there either.
Taking the subway or bus would take too long, so after some thought, Jiang Siyi decided to,
Rent a shared bike.
The temperature in Qinan had dropped drastically as soon as winter arrived, and now, in December, it was freezing. The cold wind made her hands and feet numb as she rode through the morning rush hour traffic, her head slightly dizzy.
The price of not wanting to pay for a taxi was that she was late on her first day of work. Parking her bike, Jiang Siyi glanced at the time, then slowed down her pace.
She was already late.
There was no point in rushing.
By the time she leisurely arrived at Shen Shiwu’s office on the top floor, Shen Shiwu had already left for a meeting. Seeing that the office was empty, Jiang Siyi sat down and played on her phone.
Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Shen Shiwu’s assistant entered, and Jiang Siyi greeted her.
“Ms. Jiang, the boss asked me to show you around.”
Having nothing else to do, Jiang Siyi stood up and followed her. But as soon as they stepped out of the office, the assistant stopped. “Ms. Jiang, we’re here.”
“Here?”
The assistant smiled and nodded. “Yes, this entire floor is your cleaning area.”
“The boss also said that you’re not allowed to leave your post during working hours, or your pay will be docked.”
Jiang Siyi had originally planned on wandering around the different departments, listening to gossip and gathering information, but now she was like a caged bird.
Her designated area was just this small section.
Hearing the words “dock your pay,” Jiang Siyi wasn’t fazed.
She hadn’t expected to get paid anyway.
So she simply nodded, already planning how to sneak downstairs.
After the assistant left, Jiang Siyi grabbed a mop and broom and started working diligently. At first, determined to impress Shen Shiwu, she mopped the floor until it sparkled, even wiping the walls.
But half an hour later, finding a blind spot in the security cameras, she started… slacking off and playing on her phone.
The elevator doors opened just as she was sending Xu Yuan a message.
The expensive, soft carpet muffled the footsteps, making them almost inaudible. Jiang Siyi, still explaining her plan to win back Shen Shiwu, whispered into her phone, “I’m working as a cleaner at her company… don’t laugh, I’m serious.”
“Why aren’t you in a hurry? Your wife has an admirer, aren’t you worried?”
“What do you mean ‘ex-girlfriend’? An ex-girlfriend is still a wife!”
She was finally feeling a sense of crisis.
Shen Shiwu stood behind her, listening quietly, thinking that her plan was working perfectly.
“I haven’t even seen this admirer…” Jiang Siyi’s voice trailed off, and she felt a sudden chill run down her spine.
As if sensing something, she slowly turned around.
“When did you get back?” she asked, shoving her phone into her pocket, pretending to be calm, “I’m working, see how clean the floor is? I did it all by myself.”
Seeing that Shen Shiwu didn’t react, she pointed at the wall. “I wiped that too.”
“Being late and slacking off, your pay will be docked,” Shen Shiwu said ruthlessly.
Jiang Siyi nodded and responded with an “oh,” not caring at all.
Seeing her indifferent attitude, a mischievous glint appeared in Shen Shiwu’s eyes.
“If I catch you again, you’re going back to your own apartment.”
“No way!” Jiang Siyi immediately grabbed her mop and started working. “Don’t worry, Boss, as long as you’re alive, I won’t slack off!”
“…”
Shen Shiwu, after a moment of silence, turned and went back to her office.
Little Jiang pretended to be diligent for a while, then, seeing that Shen Shiwu wasn’t coming out again, she resumed her slacking-off activities. Just as she was quietly replying to messages on her phone, the elevator doors opened again.
This time, she noticed immediately and turned around, then froze.
The assistant was leading a girl towards Shen Shiwu’s office.
Her mop clattered to the floor, the sound attracting their attention. The assistant called out politely, “Ms. Jiang.”
Jiang Siyi didn’t reply, her gaze fixed on the girl.
The girl looked strikingly similar to her, both in figure and appearance.
Even her slightly surprised expression was familiar.
Jiang Siyi was stunned.
After a knock on the door, she heard Shen Shiwu say, “Come in.”
The two figures disappeared behind the closing door.
Jiang Siyi frowned, kicked the mop aside, and walked towards the office, wanting to eavesdrop.
But the soundproofing was excellent, and she could only hear her own heartbeat.
She lowered her eyes and went back to her designated area, waiting quietly.
About ten minutes later, the assistant finally emerged from the office, the girl following behind her. Almost instantly, Jiang Siyi pushed open the door and entered Shen Shiwu’s office.
Shen Shiwu was still sitting at her desk, looking through some documents. Seeing Jiang Siyi barge in, she wasn’t surprised.
She simply looked up and said, “Why didn’t you knock?”
“I didn’t want to,” Jiang Siyi said, tossing her mop aside, her demeanor aggressive, as if ready to pick a fight.
“Who is she?”
Shen Shiwu, still flipping through the documents, said casually, “Didn’t I tell you?”
“She’s the one who wrote you the love letter?”
The woman hummed in affirmation.
Jiang Siyi’s blood boiled.
She scanned Shen Shiwu’s desk, spotted the letter, and immediately snatched it.
“Confiscated.”
Shen Shiwu tapped her pen against the desk, her expression lazy. “Confiscated?”
“Yes,” Jiang Siyi said, as if ready to explode, “why, are you the only one allowed to confiscate things?”
Shen Shiwu loved it when she was jealous.
So, she smiled faintly, amused.
But in Jiang Siyi’s eyes, it was a sign of provocation and disdain.
She suppressed her tears, her voice filled with anger, and walked towards the desk, looking directly into Shen Shiwu’s eyes, her words sharp and deliberate:
“Shen Shiwu, I won’t allow you to find someone new.”
“Your only option is to get back together with me.”
After saying this, she almost lost her composure, her eyes reddening, tears threatening to spill. Shen Shiwu simply smiled, not saying anything, and only after a long moment did she finally ask, “Why?”
“Because I won’t allow it.”
Two tears rolled down Jiang Siyi’s cheeks.
Embarrassed, she quickly wiped them away and repeated,
“I. Won’t. Allow. It.”
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