Xu Ye drove to the hotel, picked Qin Zhiwei up, and headed for the school.

Zhang Ruowei and Jiang Yu didn't come down with Chen Qingqing and Shen Xinyi. For one thing the car wouldn't hold them all, and for another the two of them didn't want to be third wheels.

Once Chen Qingqing and Shen Xinyi were in, Xu Ye turned around. "Zhiwei, where do you want to go?"

"I don't know. Where were you planning to go?"

"If you two are out walking around, I'll take Qingqing to the hotel. If you two go to the hotel, then we'll go walk around."

Only then did Qin Zhiwei catch on. Xu Ye had put the question that way because he wanted time alone with Chen Qingqing.

Qin Zhiwei turned around at once to look at Shen Xinyi.

That startled her. She mumbled, "What… what are you looking at me for?"

Qin Zhiwei grinned like a fool. "Where should we go?"

Shen Xinyi gave a small huff. "I am certainly not going to a hotel with you."

That answer made the choice, in a roundabout way.

Xu Ye said, "I'll drop you at Xiangyang Park, then. We'll eat at the IAPM this evening — I'll message you when it's time."

"Okay."

As they talked, Xu Ye dropped the two of them at the south entrance of Xiangyang Park, and Qin Zhiwei handed him the key card.

Xu Ye put it in his pocket and drove to the hotel.

Card in. Door open. Door shut.

He tossed the key card onto the cabinet by the door, sat down on the bed and beckoned to Chen Qingqing. "Come here and let me hold you."

"No."

"Hurry up, or I'll misbehave."

Chen Qingqing blinked, apparently weighing something in her mind, and in the end went over anyway, self-conscious about it. One light pull from Xu Ye and she fell straight into his arms.

He put both arms around her waist, one from the front and one from behind, and sat her down on his lap, where she stayed obediently put.

"You're not allowed…