NOVEL NEXT Chapter Forty-Eight: The Backdoor to Leadership is Tough to Navigate
During dinner, Zhang Xiaoying noticed that Young Master Sang seemed particularly happy today.
“Did you encounter some good luck, Master?”
“Good luck? More like incredible luck!”
While pushing his rice around with glee, Young Master Sang couldn’t stop grinning: “I met a living Bodhisattva!”
Then came all sorts of perplexing phrases like “the obsession with managing people is really terrifying,” “the brain crystal powder is too fun,” and “the epitome of a sycophant,” which left Zhang Xiaoying blinking.
Honestly, there were many times she just didn’t get Young Master Sang’s sense of humor.
Sometimes, she couldn’t even comprehend a lot of what he said.
But there was one thing she knew for sure.
Young Master Sang was happy.
And that made her happy too.
Watching Young Master Sang share his amusing stories with such pure joy made Zhang Xiaoying feel quite at ease.
After they finished eating, while Zhang Xiaoying was busy clearing the bowls, Young Master Sang got ready to leave again.
“Hey? Are you working overtime tonight, Master?”
“Overtime… not really.” Young Master Sang scratched his head.
It was just the daily chore of cleaning the Sect Leader’s bedroom.
But he wasn’t quite sure how to explain “sneaking gifts to the boss through the backdoor” to Zhang Xiaoying.
It seemed too complicated, so he decided to drop it.
“I’ll be back soon. If you’re tired, just go ahead and sleep.”
Zhang Xiaoying obediently acknowledged him and set up her bed.
…
After winding through several turns, Young Master Sang arrived at Hua Jianglian’s little attic.
He had been here enough times to be quite familiar with the place.
It felt as comfortable as home.
As he reached Hua Jianglian’s room, he was about to knock on the door as usual.
But suddenly he noticed that today the door was slightly ajar.
Though puzzled, out of courtesy, Young Master Sang knocked anyway.
No one replied.
Feeling uneasy, he wondered if Hua Jianglian had fallen asleep while binge-reading comics and had suffered some kind of fate. Unable to resist, he pushed the door open.
The room was just as messy as ever.
Black capes and waist-cinching skirts were scattered on the floor and by the bedside, along with gloves and tall boots.
Hua Jianglian lay on the bed, breathing evenly in her sleep.
…What the heck?
So she just forgot to close the door while sleeping. That scared me!
Young Master Sang breathed a sigh of relief, then feeling somewhat helpless, started picking up her clothes.
Thanks to Young Master Sang’s daily tidying up, the room was much better than before. A quick cleanup, and it was back in order.
But looking at the clothes, they seemed like they had just been tossed off…
It appeared Hua Jianglian must have gone out.
And when she got home, she was so tired she simply took off her clothes and crashed.
Where did she go?
Young Master Sang didn’t dare to think too much. Best to stay out of the boss’s business.
After cleaning up, he was about to leave when he casually glanced back at the sleeping Hua Jianglian.
Her sleeping posture was quite poor.
The blanket was tangled into a mess, covering only half her body.
She lay there in just her underwear, completely unguarded, with half of her exposed to the cool air.
Her petite frame sank into the spacious bed, her loose straps sliding off and her long hair spread like a waterfall over the pillow.
Her rosy cheeks and the serene expression of sleep made her look like a delicate doll.
After thinking for a moment, Young Master Sang decided to walk over and gently pull the blanket up a bit.
Sigh.
Isn’t this little caretaker a bit too considerate?
But before he could bask in his own thoughts…
In the next moment, a massive force suddenly yanked him onto the bed.
“Ugh!”
Before Young Master Sang could process what had happened, a wave of sweet fragrance hit his nose.
It was Hua Jianglian’s soft, youthful scent.
In an instant, he found himself snatched up as though he were a bear being embraced by her like an octopus.
“Ugh… big teddy bear…”
He heard Hua Jianglian mumbling softly in her dreams.
Young Master Sang turned his head and saw the big teddy bear next to the bed.
Uh-oh.
This girl wouldn’t cuddle with a teddy every night, would she?
And now in her dream, she’s mistaking him for a bear?
But wait, he’s still an unmarried young man!
Isn’t this a form of workplace harassment?
Or… is it potential misconduct?
Attempting to move, Young Master Sang tried to quietly slip away from Hua Jianglian’s embrace.
But to his surprise, just a small struggle made her mumble in her sleep.
Her grip tightened a bit.
Hua Jianglian was a bona fide Crossing Tribulation Stage cultivator.
When she applied her strength, Young Master Sang’s eyes nearly popped out.
Crack.
He heard the sound of his rib breaking, his internal pressure rising.
And half a life force seemed to exit his body.
The situation turned into a stalemate.
Hua Jianglian was blissfully sleeping.
Especially after grabbing onto Young Master Sang, her expression became even softer and more content, almost like she was gently nuzzling a cuddly teddy bear.
But Young Master Sang looked like he was on the verge of dying.
He felt like he was a breath away from meeting the King of Hell.
But this wasn’t going to end well.
Besides the risk of being flipped over and literally broken in half…
Even if he managed to survive until tomorrow morning, waking up to see a man cuddling a half-clad woman in bed would be pretty much the same as being dead.
It was just a matter of being shot on the spot versus a later execution.
In this life-and-death crisis, Young Master Sang couldn’t worry too much.
Sect Leader, I’m terribly sorry. He mentally whispered.
Then, he gently placed his hand on Hua Jianglian’s waist and tickled her a bit.
“Ugh~”
Hua Jianglian seemed to respond in her dreams, her body slightly shifting.
Taking this as encouragement, Young Master Sang ramped it up a notch, tickling her more.
Subtle sensations made her body involuntarily react as she lay in deep sleep.
Her cheeks flushed slightly, and it seemed like she wanted to scratch the itch but was hesitant to let go.
Forced to take things up a notch, Young Master Sang reached to her armpit and tickled there.
“Mmm… heehee, don’t mess with me~”
Hua Jianglian laughed softly in her sleep, lightly pushing Young Master Sang.
But that push was strong, propelling him off the bed and onto the floor with a thud.
Crack.
Young Master Sang heard what remained of his life force departing.
Without any more tickling, Hua Jianglian tried to hug her pillow again but found nothing there, her little face drooping.
In a panic, Young Master Sang could only force himself to endure the pain and quickly placed the stuffed bear back in her arms.
Only then did Hua Jianglian smile like a child who had just received candy.
Meanwhile, Young Master Sang limped out of the room, clutching what was left of his life.
Until he left Hua Jianglian’s little attic, he was still puzzled.
It was just a regular cleaning job, right?
How did he almost lose his life over it?
…Indeed, the backdoor of leadership is quite treacherous.
(monthly tickets, hee hee, so many monthly tickets…)