Maybe because of the rain, the subway wasn’t very crowded today.
After Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing boarded, there were actually plenty of empty seats. Chen Qingqing sat down first, and Xu Ye came right after, settling in beside her.
She shot him a look of pure disdain and scooted a little further away. He scooted right along with her. She scooted again; he stayed glued to her side the whole way, until she was finally backed into the corner of the seat with nowhere left to go — only then did she give up the fight.
Xu Ye spoke up. “You cold?”
“No.”
“Good. I’m a little cold, honestly.”
The words had barely left his mouth before he sneezed, unable to hold it back.
She turned to look at him — soaked hair, soaked clothes — and dug two more facial tissues out of her bag to hand him.
About ten minutes into the ride, Chen Qingqing got a WeChat message from Shen Xinyi: “Qingqing, are you guys back yet?”
Chen Qingqing: “On the subway right now.”
Shen Xinyi: “We just got back to the dorm, but there’s no hot water.”
Chen Qingqing: “So what do we do?”
Shen Xinyi: “No idea. Asked the dorm auntie, even she doesn’t know when the hot water’s coming back.”
Xu Ye had been peeking at the conversation the whole time, and since Chen Qingqing hadn’t replied yet, he offered up a suggestion. “Just tell them to come shower at the hotel we stayed at last night — they’ll definitely have hot water there. I haven’t checked out of my room yet. All three of them shared one umbrella, so they probably got a little wet too — easy to catch a cold with the weather turning like this.”
She accepted the suggestion almost instantly. Partly because it made sense — but also because if her roommates came along, it would erase any awkwardness about the two of them being alone together in one room again.
She sent Shen Xinyi the hotel address, then typed: “Xu Ye’s staying at the hotel again tonight too. Bring a change of clothes and come to this hotel — Xu Ye and I will wait for you there. Grab me a clean outfit from my closet while you’re at it.”
Shen Xinyi: “On it.”
The second she sent that, Shen Xinyi turned to the other two. “Ruowei, Jiang Yu — let’s head to Chief Residence. Xu Ye’s got a room there, we’re going to shower at his place.”
Jiang Yu blinked. “Isn’t that a five-star hotel?”
Zhang Ruowei was already moving. “What are you standing around for? Grab your clothes, let’s go!”
“Right, right, let’s go.”
The three of them left the dorm and headed straight for Chief Residence.
By the time Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing came out of the subway and made their way to the hotel, the other three arrived almost right on their heels.
“Xu Ye, you look like a drowned rat.”
“Traffic jam, we ended up taking the subway.”
“Then how come Qingqing’s completely dry?”
“I held my jacket over her head, blocked all the rain for her.”
“Ooooh~”
At that, Chen Qingqing immediately turned and headed for the elevators without another word. Xu Ye shot the other three a look and quickly herded them along after her.
The two young women at the front desk were staring, dumbstruck. Working at a hotel, they’d seen plenty of strange things — but this was the first time they’d watched one guy walk in with four girls in tow at once.
Jiang Meilin had already checked out of her own room first thing that morning. When Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing left earlier in the day, they’d checked out her room too — which left only Xu Ye’s room still active.
He swiped the card and opened the door; Zhang Ruowei and the others didn’t stand on ceremony at all, kicking off their shoes at the entrance and padding in barefoot.
“Whoever wants to shower first, go ahead,” Xu Ye said politely.
Jiang Yu was about to head for the bathroom when Chen Qingqing, glancing at Xu Ye and unable to stand the sight of him drenched like that any longer, said quietly, “Jiang Yu, let him go first — he’s soaked through.”
“Oh, right.” Jiang Yu looked a little sheepish. “Go ahead then.”
Xu Ye grinned and nodded, heading in to shower first.
Guys, of course, shower much faster than girls — basically just body wash on the upper half and… the essentials — so he was out again before long.
The suite had a living room out front, with the bedroom and bathroom connected. The bathroom door was frosted glass, so neither side could see through — but to avoid any awkwardness anyway, Xu Ye still took the hairdryer out to the living room to dry his hair.
While he was drying it, Zhang Ruowei suddenly clutched her stomach on the couch, wincing. “Ugh, my stomach’s acting up again.”
Xu Ye, puzzled by her pained expression, asked, “What’s wrong, why’s your stomach hurting all of a sudden?”
She shot him a look. “Period cramps.”
“Period cramps? Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Women are meant to be doted on.” [TL: a play on words — “女人是用来疼的” can mean both “women are meant to be cherished/doted on” and, more bluntly, “women are meant to hurt,” depending on which sense of 疼 (téng) you take — pain or tenderness. Xu Ye’s deliberately leaning into the ambiguous, slightly cheeky double meaning.]
“You—!” Zhang Ruowei pointed an accusing finger at him, appealing to Chen Qingqing. “Did you hear what he just said?!”
Chen Qingqing had nothing to say to that.
Seeing her get no backup, Zhang Ruowei turned back to Xu Ye. “Qingqing and I are basically on the same cycle. We’ll see if you’re still talking like that when it’s her turn to be in pain.”
“Wouldn’t dream of saying anything different,” Xu Ye said with a smile, quietly filing the date away in his head. Once his hair was dry, he found the couch fully occupied by the three of them, so he just sat down cross-legged on the carpet.
Shen Xinyi checked the time. “Are we heading back soon?”
“Tomorrow’s the weekend, why rush back this early?”
“So what do we do after showers, then?”
“How about… we play cards? Nothing else to do tonight anyway.”
“Do we even have a deck?”
“There’s a convenience store downstairs.”
“Someone’s gotta go buy it.”
Swish swish swish — three pairs of eyes landed on Xu Ye almost in unison.
He groaned. “What kind of cards are we even playing? You guys actually know how?”
“Who doesn’t know how to play Fight the Landlord?” [TL: 斗地主, a hugely popular Chinese card game]
“And what happens if you lose?”
“Sticky notes on the face.”
“Fine by me.” Xu Ye got right up and headed downstairs.
Jiang Yu came out of the bathroom after her shower, glancing around in confusion. “Where’s Xu Ye?”
“Went out to buy cards.”
“Ha — you guys really love bossing him around.”
…
“Boss, you guys sell playing cards?”
“Yep, how many decks?”
“One’s enough.”
Just as Xu Ye was about to scan to pay, he remembered what Zhang Ruowei had said earlier and asked, “Boss, you guys sell brown sugar by any chance?”
“No,” the shop owner said, “but the pharmacy next door sells those instant brown sugar ginger tea packets.”
“Got it, payment’s going through now.”
He pocketed the deck of cards and headed next door, where he spent twenty-nine yuan ninety on a box of instant brown sugar ginger tea before heading back to the hotel.
The moment he walked in, he tossed the cards onto the coffee table, then set the box of ginger tea down in front of Chen Qingqing and Zhang Ruowei. “Zhang Ruowei, just so we’re clear, I didn’t buy this for you. You’re only getting the benefit because you’re my girlfriend’s roommate.”
Zhang Ruowei hadn’t expected him to actually come back with something like that. Her face lit up. “Aww, I know, I know — Xu Ye, my opinion of you just went way up. Didn’t realize you could be this thoughtful.”
“I’m a famously thoughtful guy.”
Chen Qingqing’s face had gone pink.
Because once again, Xu Ye had just called her his girlfriend.
(End of Chapter 105)