At the word “wife,” Chen Qingqing’s face — faintly pink only a moment before — went the color of a ripe red apple.
She stopped, waited for Xu Ye to catch up, and immediately pointed a finger at him, as though warning him not to say things like that. Then she noticed how many people nearby were looking at her, grabbed his hand and hurried off at a run.
Only once they were in the car did Chen Qingqing start punishing him. She raised both small fists and pounded his arm a dozen times or more, and finished with a small fierce warning. “If you ever shout that again, I am absolutely going to pretend I don’t know you!”
Xu Ye gave a little laugh and was soon driving toward the hotel.
Because Chen Qingqing had class that afternoon, Xu Ye had booked the room earlier in the day — the same place as always. He had stayed so often that even the hotel’s front desk knew him now, and when he checked in that afternoon the girl there had teased him. “No girlfriend with you today, handsome?”
Xu Ye laughed straight back. “Do me a favor, would you, beautiful?”
“What favor?”
“Next time we come, if my girlfriend asks for two rooms, tell her the others are all booked and there’s only a double left.”
The girl at the desk laughed at once. “You’re so bad~”
So when Xu Ye brought Chen Qingqing into the hotel lobby that evening, the girl at the desk immediately threw him a look loaded with meaning.
Xu Ye pretended not to see it and took Chen Qingqing’s hand into the elevator.
The enclosed space left Chen Qingqing feeling inexplicably hot. She glanced at Xu Ye, found he was standing too close, and pushed him away.
“What are you pushing me for?”
“You’re too close. It’s hot.”
Xu Ye rolled his eyes and leaned back against the side of the elevator, grinning. “I booked a twin room. How about you don’t go back to the dorm tonight?”
“Absolutely not.”
Chen Qingqing pouted and stated her limit firmly. “I’ll stay half an hour at the most. After half an hour I’m going back to school.”
“You still don’t trust me,” Xu Ye complained.
Chen Qingqing glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, saw that he seemed a little unhappy, and explained quickly. “If I don’t go back to the dorm they’ll definitely start saying things about me.”
Aha. There was a chance.
Xu Ye kept up the unhappy act. “Who cares what they say? Besides, it isn’t as if it’s the first time.”
Chen Qingqing: “I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”
Xu Ye: “I’ll drive over and get them.”
Chen Qingqing: “No. I want to go back to the dorm.”
The elevator doors opened just then. Xu Ye said nothing more, only walked Chen Qingqing along to the door of the room. He put the card in, opened it, pulled her inside and immediately locked it from the inside.
Before the lights were even on, he pulled her over to the corner and held her tightly.
Chen Qingqing was horribly nervous. She put both hands against his chest and asked, with a note of wheedling, “What are you doing? If you’re like this I won’t come to a hotel with you next time.”
It was the only threat she ever used on him.
Xu Ye kept his arms around her waist and said quietly, “I’ll take you back to the dorm in a bit. Just let me hold you a while — I’ve missed you so much~”
Chen Qingqing had been badly on edge, and hearing that she let out a small breath of relief, lowered her hands, and buried her head against his chest.
First put a condition to the other person that they cannot possibly agree to.
Once they refuse, put a second one that isn’t nearly so much to ask.
The probability of their agreeing then approaches one hundred percent.
This was a move Xu Ye used to handle Chen Qingqing, and it had never once failed.
Chen Qingqing’s small hands, with nowhere to settle, ended up around the small of his back as well. She didn’t dare move at all, lying quietly against his chest like a kitten.
Xu Ye set the key card on the cabinet. He could feel his heartbeat picking up speed, and as the hormones came fast his Adam’s apple was working up and down.
“You… you’re so hot~”
Chen Qingqing lifted her head to look at him, meaning only to point it out — but she had barely finished before Xu Ye covered her mouth roughly with his own.
Oh no.
Chen Qingqing’s eyes slowly went unfocused, and even though the room was dark she closed them at once anyway.
Two minutes later…
“Ah!”
Xu Ye suddenly lifted his head and drew a sharp breath. “Why do you always bite me?”
Chen Qingqing said pitifully, “I couldn’t breathe.”
“My fault, my fault. Let’s do it again.”
Chen Qingqing dodged away at once. She fished a tissue out of her pocket, wiped her mouth, and said with a whine, “Buzz off.”
Xu Ye gave a little laugh, and only then put the key card in the slot and turned the room lights on.
Chen Qingqing kept her head down, not daring to look at him.
Seeing her sit down on the bed, Xu Ye came over and sat down beside her — and the moment he did, she got up and moved to the other side.
“I’ll go take a shower, then, and I’ll run you back to the dorm afterward.”
Chen Qingqing said nothing, so Xu Ye stood up and started taking his clothes off — jacket, T-shirt, belt… She turned her head, found he had nearly everything off, and shot to her feet in agitation. “Go undress in the bathroom!”
Only then did Xu Ye hitch up his pants and go into the bathroom.
Chen Qingqing pouted and swore at him under her breath — dumb pig, rotten thing, menace, and the like. When she heard the showerhead running in the bathroom she got up, spread the clothes he had taken off out on the bed, and folded them neatly.
Once they were folded she sat quietly on the bed.
Somehow her mind went back to how the kiss had felt.
She was still lost in it…
Just then the phone Xu Ye had thrown on the bed suddenly started ringing.
The ringing pulled her back to reality. She got up at once, took the phone to the bathroom door and called, “Dumb pig, someone’s calling you.”
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know. You haven’t saved a name.”
“Answer it, then.”
Chen Qingqing saw there was no name saved and answered without thinking much about it.
She put the phone to her ear and said a soft “Hello.”
On the other end Xu Xiangdong jolted upright. He snatched up the remote and turned the television off, then put the call on speaker and set it down in front of Zhang Hong.
Getting no answer, Chen Qingqing asked again, “Who’s speaking?”
Zhang Hong’s eyes went wide. She snatched the phone up, took a deep breath, and said with a smile, “Is that Qingqing?”
Chen Qingqing froze too.
How does she know who I am?
She replied quietly, “It’s me. Who is this?”
Zhang Hong laughed. “I’m Xiao Ye’s mother. Just call me Auntie.”
Chen Qingqing: “Ah! Au… Auntie, hello.”
Her face went visibly red.
She had never imagined her first contact with Xu Ye’s parents would come about like this. She was caught completely off guard, and her words came out haltingly.
Zhang Hong said, “Where’s our Xiao Ye?”
It was out of Chen Qingqing’s mouth before she could stop it. “He’s showering.”
Zhang Hong: “Showering?”
Chen Qingqing clapped a hand over her mouth, ready to die of regret.
Of all the things I could have said, why did I have to say he’s showering? That’s as good as telling his mother the two of us are in a hotel room.
The thought made her more mortified still.
Zhang Hong was far too sharp for that. Hearing Chen Qingqing go quiet, she had a fair idea of the situation at the other end, and said quickly, “All right. I’ll call back later.”
Chen Qingqing said timidly, “Au… Auntie, goodbye.”
Zhang Hong’s face was all fond motherly smiles. “Goodbye~”
(End of Chapter 234)