Blindness or a lack of heart

"Didn't I tell you to behave?! You!!!"

Jiang Songhe, who was ambushed at the best vantage point of the surveillance camera, stood frozen, glaring at Jonathan.

Jonathan remained unmoved, neither making eye contact nor responding. He slowly picked up another floret of broccoli, put the stem in his mouth, moved his chopsticks to the hand holding the lunchbox, took out his phone, turned it on, and opened the camera mode.

Jiang Songhe thought that Jonathan was just having a sudden urge to take funny selfies, and his anger, which felt like he had punched a cotton ball, dissipated in frustration.

Afraid of being photographed, he could only silently lift the hem of his suit jacket, put his hands on his hips, and take a step to the side.

Jiang Songhe dislikes taking photos, especially selfies. Subconsciously, she felt that staring at people while taking selfies was also quite strange, so she turned her gaze to the camera facing the front desk, trying to figure out how much of their position could be captured on camera.

He's taller than Jonah and... *crack*... *tsk*... and stronger... *crack crack*... He should be able to block... *crack crack crack*... He shouldn't be able to see what just happened... *crack crack crack crack*...

Unable to contain himself any longer, Jiang Songhe slammed his leather shoe heel against the ground, then twisted his neck in a fit of rage—

He snapped, "Showing off will upset your stomach!"

Before he could even see if the annoying shutter sound was going to stop, his tie was suddenly pulled down, and his smooth shoe soles scraped against the ground. The resistance couldn't overcome the inertia, and Jiang Songhe fell to the side and forward.

Jiang Songhe's first reaction was that Jonathan was about to crash into the sharp corner of the hard front desk. Startled, he arched his back, reached out one hand to catch the corner, and used the other hand to protect Jonathan's lumbar spine, bending him into an inverted C-shape.

The combined force of their weight was immense. Even though Jiang Songhe spread her fingers to cushion the impact, she was still struck hard by the palm, causing a sharp pain that made the nerves in her entire arm throb.

I've reminded you, and you've agreed, so why won't you listen?

Now look what's happened, everything's been captured clearly.

Jiang Songhe glanced down at his loosened tie, then at their undeniable posture, and a throbbing pain shot through his temple. He frowned and let go of Jonathan, but Jonathan still clung to him.

"Hand." Jiang Songhe, still hunched over and leaning on her spurs, said irritably, "Let go."

"Open your mouth." The broccoli was still in her mouth. Jonathan pulled Jiang Songhe down a little more and he could feel that there was no warmth left. "Open your mouth first, and I'll let go."

Food shouldn't be played with. Jiang Songhe saw that the raised phone's camera mode was still on, and her anger flared up again.

I shouldn't be something to play with.

"What are you trying to prove, hmm?" Jiang Songhe asked in a flat tone, her expression completely composed.

Ignoring Jiang Songhe's changing expression, Jonathan abandoned his tie and turned his hand to the back of his neck, his movements unrestrained and forceful, yet his tone was willful and seductive: "President Jiang was fine yesterday, why is she not good today?"

"Who exactly is being naughty?" A glint of cold light flashed in his narrow eyes.

"I'm working."

"I'm working for you."

That doesn't make sense.

Jiang Songhe doesn't like arguing, and she especially dislikes arguing for no reason.

The thought of "I paid for it, so it's a win-win collaboration" was on the tip of his tongue, but he hesitated, realizing that it would only provoke trouble and hurt others, so he kept quiet and swallowed his words.

Well, thinking about it carefully, as long as the company isn't robbed, I doubt anyone would be bored enough to watch the security camera footage.

Jiang Songhe finished speaking and calmed his anger. With his free hand, he reached around Jonathan and pulled a tissue from the outer table. He covered the culprit, the broccoli, pulled it out from his thin lips, crumpled it up, and held it in his hand.

"Stop making a fuss, okay?" Jiang Songhe wiped Jonathan's lips with her fingertip, trying to offer him a way out as gently as possible.

"No, that won't do."

Jonathan pressed down on the back of Jiang Songhe's neck, biting his lower lip and grinding his teeth with malicious force. Soon, a strong smell of blood filled his mouth.

"Hiss!" A layer of cold sweat suddenly appeared on Jiang Songhe's forehead. He reflexively dropped the paper ball and went to pry Jonathan's chin.

Jonathan placed the lunchbox on the table behind him, raised his hand to reinforce the pressure on the back of Jiang Songhe's neck, and pressed his back against Jiang Songhe's hand, thus Jiang Songhe lost half of his counterattack advantage.

The automatic door opened with a "whoosh".

Jiang Songhe hurriedly lifted his eyelids to look over, only to see Sister Zheng standing outside the door with her mouth agape, not daring to move.

With a sudden jolt in her head, her blood pressure and adrenaline surged simultaneously. Jiang Songhe grabbed Jonathan's jaw and shoved him into a blind spot. A clear tearing sensation immediately came from his lips, but he felt no pain whatsoever.

Jiang Songhe didn't bother to look down to see if she was bleeding more. She covered her mouth, straightened up, and said in a muffled voice towards the door, "Sister Zheng... uh! Did you... forget something?"

"Oh right!" Sister Zheng shook her head rapidly as if waking from a dream. "Uh, oh no! I, I... sigh, look at me, I'm getting senile! I was looking for my electric scooter keys, and then I remembered, the scooter is broken..."

"Oh no!" He slapped his forehead again, turned around and walked downstairs. "Well, I can take the bus back!"

Jiang Songhe waited until the echoes in the corridor completely subsided before remembering to breathe. He took his hand off his mouth, opened his palm, and saw that it was covered in blood.

For a moment my mind went blank, then it started working like crazy, and my senses were immediately overloaded.

The conspicuous electric scooter key hanging on the hook, the heart pounding like a drum in my ears, the cool, rusty taste of blood drying in my palm, the belated stinging and salty taste in my mouth...

I don't want to say a word, I can't say a word, but I urgently want to do something to keep my hands and feet busy.

Jiang Songhe felt his eyes throbbing, his hair standing on end, and his chest heaving violently and slowly twice. He bent down, picked up the crumpled paper wrapped around the broccoli from the ground, and threw it into the trash can with a thud.

"Songhe, you're bleeding..." someone said, their voice both ingratiating and tinged with fear.

How fresh is it?!

That feeling became even more urgent.

Jiang Songhe targeted the lunchbox on the front desk, grabbed it with outstretched fingers, and strode into the large conference room.

He stood the various devices on standby with one hand, and after a while, he still felt it wasn't enough, so he shoved the lunchbox into the bewildered Vasin's hands, then went around to the other side and pushed the fruit-cutting array that hadn't been moved much over as well.

"You ate it all." After saying these words, he turned and walked out, but stopped after a few steps. "Go to the break room and get some disposable tableware to eat with."

...

Jiang Songhe left the conference room and continued striding towards his office.

"Hey, that's what my aunt left for me!" Jonathan chased after him, protesting. "If you give it to him, what am I supposed to eat?"

Auntie, auntie, what do you want to eat? What will you eat if you're hungry?!

Jiang Songhe was sarcastic and unresponsive, never uttering a word.

"Is this how you treat your guests? Speak up, Jiang Songhe!"

Let whoever wants to entertain, entertain! Let whoever wants to talk, talk!

"I feel like you treat me like f*cking sh*t!"

Holy crap, is this even human language?!

If you're angry, then be angry. To keep fawning over someone makes you a dog, a lapdog!

When Jiang Songhe arrived at the office door, he was about to push it open when Jonathan squeezed in front of him and interfered.

"You've never said it!"

Jiang Songhe's path was blocked. There was still a camera directly in front of the office. It would be neither proper nor normal for the two of them to linger there in their current state. So he had no choice but to ask, "What did you say?"

“Say you lo…”

"Shut up!" Jiang Songhe was startled to realize that Jonathan was still wearing a microphone on his chest. He immediately covered Jonathan's mouth, pulled the microphone off, kicked the door open with his long legs, and pushed Jonathan into the office.

Jiang Songhe pressed Jonathan against the door while covering his mouth. He glanced at his other hand and noticed that the microphone indicator light was off. He quickly realized that he had already put the devices on standby, so even if they were on, the conversation wouldn't be picked up.

Looking at the reddened, trembling eyes in my palm, I suddenly felt that my behavior had been too extreme and regretted it.

This chaotic sense of loss of control was driving Jiang Songhe almost insane.

And the person who tormented him, who should have remained rational and calm at work but repeatedly exposed his private weaknesses, made him comment that he treated the other person like garbage, and even questioned his own feelings.

Does it really matter whether those three vague words are spoken or not? What good is it to just talk about something without doing anything?

Or did they do it but didn't say it, and then everything they did was simply wiped clean?

“Are you blind?” Jiang Songhe’s hand brushed against Jonathan’s eyelashes with her fingertips before moving down to press on the throbbing pulse on his fair neck. “Or do you have no heart?”

The person who was chattering away just now has fallen silent now that there's no hindrance.

"Tell me." Jiang Songhe picked up the drawstring of the blinds and slowly pulled it. "How else would you like to be entertained?"

How did I treat you like sh*t?

The last leaf closed, Jonathan's Adam's apple bobbed, and he ultimately couldn't answer a single question.

"Go ahead and say it, I'm listening." Jiang Songhe forced a humble smile onto his still-healing lips, afraid that even Jonathan, who couldn't discern his feelings, would think he wasn't sincere enough. He even showed Jonathan his dimples, which he rarely revealed. "If the answer is reasonable, I'll consider telling you what you want to hear."

Pretty words.

Before, I would force myself to smile more, and only smile at this one person. Now, I seem to be afraid, shrinking back, wanting to hide.

"Still want to talk?" Jiang Songhe gently stroked the smooth skin with his fingertips, his thumb and forefinger pressing against the increasingly frequent bodily peaks to make sure there was no more vibration or sound. He then tightened his grip, pinning the door like a collar. "Then don't fucking say anything!"

Jiang Songhe retaliated by biting down hard, forcing her thin lips shut and making sure they wouldn't open, even though the slight scabs on her lips stung even more after being violently broken open.

A warm, itchy sensation crept out from the gap, meandering down the contours of her chin. Jiang Songhe was so focused on her trembling pupils that she couldn't see anything else; it was just that the wound had broken open and was bleeding again.

Jonathan raised his hands, cupped Jiang Songhe's chin and wiped it, then moved them toward the back of his head.

Jiang Songhe tossed the microphone into the sofa not far away with her other hand, then quickly grabbed the two wrists with her fingers, breaking the attempt to hook and hug them, and instead pressed them against the chest that was beginning to slide down, covered by a thin black shirt.

So that they can also experience it and see if there is any heart involved.

"Cuties, huh?"

"Duole, Auntie, huh?"

...

“Hmm…” Jonathan shook his head, as if he finally had something to say.

Jiang Songhe loosened her teeth, releasing a piece of her lips, wanting to hear what Jonathan would say this time.

Jonathan tilted his head toward the door opening and closed, panting, "Ugh... Ah... Someone's here!"

Jonathan's credibility with Jiang Songhe is currently low. Jiang Songhe neither heard the knocking nor the third person's voice, assuming that Jonathan was frightened by his dark side and wanted to run away.

Don't even think about it.

"What a load of rubbish." Jiang Songhe punished the liar by sticking out his tongue and biting the tip.

"Ah! There really is someone!" Jonathan cried out in pain, his eyes widening, but his body remained still. His words were mumbled, yet he insisted on repeating them, which only added to the credibility of his statement.

Jiang Songhe listened with a skeptical look, holding a piece of food between his lips.

There was indeed movement on the door, but it didn't sound like a proper knock. It wasn't a loud thud, a gentle thud, or a clanging sound. Instead, it was like the buzzing of a mosquito, a soft, familiar, undulating sound.

Jiang Songhe's mind was buzzing.

He immediately let go of Jonathan, burying his head in the sand and pulling the man behind him, using his own body to block him. He straightened his tie, wiped his mouth, smoothed his hair, and with a snap of his fingers, opened the door.

What if no one is there?

It's impossible to get caught red-handed once or twice, right?

There is no "what if".

Lin Duole was right outside the door.

There is no such thing as "impossible".

Lin Duole opened the door and immediately stared straight ahead at a dotted point, perfectly embodying the act of being blind.

Jiang Songhe recalled the more direct scenes Lin Duole had witnessed at Renxing Hospital, and suddenly, in a state of detachment, he calmly and kindly asked, "What is it?"

"Reporting to Mr. Jiang! The time has been set for the screening with the platform and investors, Mr. Jiang!"

"when?"

"Mr. Jiang, everyone will be available at 10:00 AM tomorrow!"

"knew."

Five seconds later.

"What time did you say?!"