Thunder kept rolling in, and the downpour only intensified.
The moment Xu Ye got her call, he’d bolted out of the dorm and ridden straight over on the electric scooter. He hadn’t brought an umbrella — you couldn’t really hold one while riding in a storm like this anyway.
Chen Qingqing was soaked through. Xu Ye was equally drenched by the time he arrived.
Once her breathing had steadied and the crying had subsided, he took hold of her cold little hand and said quietly, “This rain isn’t stopping anytime soon. Hold your jacket over your head — let me take you to a hotel first, okay?”
She nodded. The moment he turned to get back on the scooter, she quickly wiped her eyes dry.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d cried. She got on behind him, and as they rode out into the rain, she quietly pulled the front of her jacket forward, trying to use it to shield him too.
Xu Ye felt the movement and called back over the noise, “Just worry about yourself. I’m fine.”
She quietly pulled it back.
“Speed bump coming up — hold on!”
He was going fast, and the first bump jolted the scooter hard enough that her head nearly knocked into his back. She had one hand holding the jacket up; her other hand slipped around his side, and when the second bump hit, she grabbed on tight.
Xu Ye hadn’t exactly been going to the gym, but at this age, most guys who weren’t overweight still had something to show for it in that department. Chen Qingqing’s palm pressed flat against his stomach through a thin wet T-shirt, and she could feel the shape of his abs against her hand. She thought about letting go — then decided that would be too obvious — so she just pressed her lips together and pretended nothing was happening.
There were several hotels in the area, but Xu Ye found one a step above the rest in quality, and closer to campus.
He pulled up out front and walked Chen Qingqing into the lobby.
“Hi, one room please.”
“Twin or double?”
Xu Ye was about to answer when one of the front desk staff shot her colleague a look. “Obviously a double — do you have any read on a situation?”
The colleague smiled, quickly handed over a keycard. “Two hundred deposit, one-fifty per night.”
“We’ll be staying two nights.”
Xu Ye scanned to pay the five hundred, took the card, and headed upstairs.
He swiped them in. The room was reasonably clean. He looked at Chen Qingqing, still dripping, and said quickly, “Did you bring a change of clothes?”
She nodded.
“Then go take a hot shower right now, before you catch a cold.”
She made a small sound of agreement, took two items of clothing out of her bag, and went into the bathroom with her head down. She turned the showerhead on, and hot water came rushing out immediately, steam beginning to fill the air.
She peeled off her wet clothes. The hot water hitting her skin felt like relief.
And then, as her mind finally settled, she thought about the hug at the bus stop — and then about what the front desk staff had just said — and her face went completely red.
Was he really planning to stay tonight?
All sorts of things began unspooling in her head…
…
Chen Qingqing took nearly half an hour to emerge from the bathroom. She’d only brought one extra outfit, and it was on the thinner side.
Without the rain, the clothes would have been fine — but the downpour had dropped the temperature by several more degrees. Still, Xu Ye had already turned on the air conditioning’s heating mode while she was in there, so she didn’t actually feel cold.
“Come here.” Xu Ye beckoned her over and picked up the hairdryer he’d finished using on himself.
She remembered he’d dried her hair last time too. She walked over.
“Why’s your face so red? You’re not running a fever, are you?”
He reached over and pressed his palm against her forehead, then pulled it away and checked it against his own.
“The water was too hot~” she said quickly.
“Good, no fever. Just sit here.”
She turned and sat. Xu Ye stood behind her, lifted her long hair, and started working the dryer through it from the top down.
“Don’t do this again next time. I was out this morning — I’d only just gotten back when your call came through. If I hadn’t been back yet, it could’ve taken a while before I could even reach you. Your mom told me very specifically to take care of you, multiple times. If something happened to you because of me, she’d never let me hear the end of it.”
Chen Qingqing pouted. “You’re so nagging.”
“Stay in the hotel this afternoon — don’t go anywhere. I’ll head back to shower and grab you some food, and I’ll text you when I’m at the door. Don’t open it for anyone else.”
“Okay.”
He said a couple more things, then fell quiet and focused on drying her hair.
It took a good seven or eight minutes to get all of it — her waterfall of hair was not a quick job. When he finally unplugged the dryer and looked down, he promptly started in again: “Why are you still barefoot? Go put some socks on.”
“I’m not cold.”
Right on cue, her phone rang — Zhang Ruowei, calling to check whether she’d found Xu Ye after all that thunder.
Chen Qingqing sat down on the couch and answered.
Xu Ye drifted over to the bed and opened her bag. It had quite a bit in it — phone, wet wipes, tissues, makeup… He rummaged around until he found a pair of white ankle socks with a little lace trim. Soft. Nothing like his own socks, which no matter how many times he washed them and left them on the balcony, always came in stiff as cardboard the next day.
He took the socks and settled onto the couch beside her. While she was absorbed in her conversation with Zhang Ruowei, he reached out and closed his hand around her ankle.
Every muscle in her leg went taut instantly — pure reflex.
“What are you doing?”
“Putting your socks on. You’ll catch a cold.”
He didn’t let go. His hand was warm, and the warmth traveled straight through to her foot. Her heartbeat picked up. She looked down, voice low: “I… I can do it myself.”
“Don’t move. I’ve got it.”
He rested her foot on his thigh. It really was a nice foot — pink from the hot shower, small, soft, her toenails painted with a thin coat of clear polish, her toes tiny and delicate. Xu Ye looked for a long moment without doing anything with his hands.
Her face was burning. Under the embarrassed tension, her toes had curled up one by one, all on their own. When he still didn’t move, she said, flustered, “What are you looking at?”
“Hm~”
Xu Ye came back to himself and, gently and slowly, slipped the lace-trimmed white socks onto her feet.
“You’re still looking!”
“Can’t I look for two seconds? I almost kissed them just now.”
She landed a kick square in his stomach, face crimson, and snapped, “You absolute pervert! Get away from me!”
Xu Ye, immune to embarrassment, kept his gaze trained on her calves.
Chen Qingqing immediately tucked her legs underneath her and sat cross-legged, wrapping herself in a wall of pure suspicion — which was, objectively, adorable.
“Right. I’m heading back to shower and change. I’ll bring you food when I come back — I’ll text you when I’m at the door. Don’t open it for anyone else.”
“I know~”
“If you get cold, just turn the AC up.”
“I know~”
“I like you.”
“I know~”
Chen Qingqing’s brain caught up with her mouth about half a second too late. She turned red to the ears. “Xu Ye, you jerk.“
(End of Chapter 115)