Chen Qingqing woke up past seven in the evening.
Outside, the sky had long since gone dark.
She blinked herself awake, eyes unfocused at first, then gradually clearing. She turned her head and looked at the couch beside the bed — Xu Ye was still there, sitting exactly where he’d been, looking a little worn out himself. The corner of her mouth curved upward.
“What time is it?”
Xu Ye’s phone had died a while ago. He’d been sitting in a quiet daze and snapped to attention at the sound of her voice. “Should be six or seven — my phone’s been dead for a while.”
Chen Qingqing pushed the blanket back and sat up. “I have a charger in my bag.”
“I know.”
“It’s already charging. Staring at the screen too long was making my eyes hurt.” A pause. “Are you hungry?”
“Not really.” She pulled her hair tie out and held it between her teeth while she gathered her hair back, then wrapped it into a ponytail.
Xu Ye nodded toward the window. “Rain stopped. Want to go wander around, grab something to eat?”
“Sure~”
She put her shoes on, and the two of them left the hotel together. This part of Pudong wasn’t as lively as the Xuhui side of the city, and after a full day of rain the streets were quiet, with very few people out.
They walked side by side along the pavement, and after a bit Xu Ye said, curious, “What made you decide to come find me today?”
Chen Qingqing hesitated, then stumbled through an answer. “I just… I mean… I just… felt like coming.”
“Next time, don’t show up without telling me first. You can’t find your way out of a paper bag — if you got properly lost, I wouldn’t even know where to start looking.”
“I would not get lost.”
“Next time you come, you have to let me know in advance. That’s final.”
She wanted very much to say: I was trying to surprise you, that’s the whole point — but she couldn’t quite get the words out.
Instead, she deliberately slowed her steps by half a beat and quietly set her foot down on Xu Ye’s shadow, grinding it under her sole as a small, private act of protest.
“Want some egg-stuffed flatbread?” [TL: 鸡蛋灌饼, a popular Chinese street snack — a thin crispy flatbread with egg cooked inside, usually stuffed with fillings like hot dog slices, chicken strips, pickled vegetables, and sauce]
She yanked her foot back and looked where he was pointing. “Yes!”
“Two egg flatbreads, boss — add hot dog and chicken strips. Light on the potatoes for one, extra potatoes for the other.”
“Coming right up!”
The vendor worked fast, and had two wrapped portions ready in no time. Xu Ye took the lighter one and handed it to Chen Qingqing.
She watched him bite straight in, then took a small bite of her own.
“How is it?”
“Good.”
“You haven’t had one before?”
She shook her head. “My mom never let me eat street food.”
“Your mom really does keep close tabs on everything~”
The streetlights stretched their shadows long behind them. The moon had come out from behind the clouds and fallen into the little puddles left by the rain, becoming dozens of small moons scattered across the pavement — and as people walked past, each puddle rippled the reflection into soft, trembling rings.
The night was very quiet.
Xu Ye wandered without any particular direction, and when they reached the end of the block, the two of them turned back the way they came without needing to discuss it.
“Careful~”
He spotted her about to step into a puddle and grabbed her in time, pulling her to the side. She looked down, stepped around it — but Xu Ye didn’t let go. The hand that had caught her wrist slowly slid downward until it found her hand. Then his fingers shifted, interlaced with hers, and closed.
Chen Qingqing’s face went pink. Her hand went rigid.
Neither of them said anything. Palm against palm, fingers fitted together, they walked on.
…
After sleeping the entire afternoon away, Chen Qingqing had no sleepiness left in her when they got back to the hotel. On top of that, she’d been holding his hand the whole walk back, and her nerves were buzzing, her whole system wide awake.
Xu Ye checked his phone. Past eight already. He looked at her. “It’s getting late — I should head back. I’ll come find you first thing in the morning.”
Chen Qingqing felt a small, quiet drop in her chest at that.
Because once he left, she’d be alone.
The thought of spending the night by herself in a hotel room brought with it a low current of unease.
“Don’t use the electric kettle — they’re never really clean in hotels. Just drink the bottled water.”
“Once I’m gone, lock the deadbolt. You can hang a glass on the door handle too, so if anything shifts you’ll hear it.”
“If someone slides a card under the door late at night, ignore it — just toss it.” [TL: a reference to the small promotional cards for various services that are sometimes pushed under hotel room doors late at night — a common occurrence in Chinese budget and mid-range hotels]
“If anything comes up, call me immediately.”
“Hey, I’m talking to you — where’d you go?”
Chen Qingqing gave a small nod but didn’t say anything.
Xu Ye caught it. He smiled. “You don’t want me to leave, do you?”
She still didn’t say anything.
He knew her well enough by now. With someone like her, silence at a moment like this meant yes.
“Thing is,” Xu Ye said, “this is a double room. One bed. The couch seats two but it’s not a pullout. It’s not like we can sleep in the same bed.”
“We cannot!”
He hadn’t even finished the sentence before she cut in, face flaming.
“Then I could get another room?”
“…Up to you.”
Up to you = yes.
Xu Ye didn’t think twice about the money — he was downstairs in no time flat, and came back waving a new keycard. “Got a room. Right across the hall.”
“Oh.”
“Just an ‘oh’? That room cost a hundred and fifty yuan for the night, you know.”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
Xu Ye grinned. “A little reward would be nice.”
Chen Qingqing had his playbook memorized by now. She knew perfectly well that the moment she asked what kind of reward he had in mind, he’d take that as an opening for something shameless.
So she just shook her head. “No reward.”
With that, she changed into her slippers and headed for the bathroom to soak her feet and put on a foot mask.
“What are you doing?”
“Washing my feet.”
“I could help?”
“Get out of here, you creep.”
She’d barely finished saying it before she disappeared into the bathroom. Xu Ye was just about to follow when his phone went off at the worst possible moment.
He couldn’t not answer it, either. It was his mom.
He sat back down on the bed and picked up.
“Son, have you eaten?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s raining back home, and there’s a big cold front coming — what’s the weather like there?”
“Getting colder here too the last couple of days.”
“When you came home for Golden Week I told you to bring more warm clothes and you never listen.”
“Mom, I can buy my own warm clothes — don’t worry about it.”
“Is Dad around?”
“Hiding in the bathroom smoking. Your father, honestly — today he went into my wallet and took money for cigarettes again, and he still thinks I don’t notice.”
“He’s been smoking for over ten years, he’s never going to quit now. Just let him.”
“I gave up trying to manage him ages ago.”
“Hmm~”
A pause.
“Wait — where are you right now? That doesn’t look like your dorm.”
“I’m at a hotel.”
He’d barely gotten the words out when the bathroom door swung open and Chen Qingqing stuck her head out. “Xu Ye — can you come adjust the hot water? It’s freezing in here.”
Zhang Hong sat bolt upright on the other end of the video call, eyes going wide, staring at Xu Ye.
Xu Ye dropped the phone face-down on the bed and went into the bathroom.
Zhang Hong sat there for a stunned second, then quickly ended the call herself. Old Xu came shuffling out of the bathroom at that exact moment, took one look at her expression, and asked, baffled, “What’s wrong with you? I thought I heard you on the phone with our son just now.”
“Old Xu.”
“Yeah?”
“Our son took his girlfriend to a hotel.”
“WHAT!!!”
(End of Chapter 117)