The fellow was not home yet. Had he gone to the office to work overtime or was he out drinking with the group of goofballs?
Or… Was he visiting Xi Xia?
When Song Changwen picked up Xi Xia earlier, Xi Xia seemed to be in a terrible state. Gu Nianshen would probably have gone to see her.
If he did, would he perhaps not return home since it was already very late?
Lin Yiqian alternated between checking her phone and her watch as time passed second after second and minute after minute. Eventually, half an hour had gone by.
She entered Gu Nianshen’s number on her phone repeatedly.
However, she lacked the courage to make the call each time.
She was afraid that her guess might have been right. She was afraid that she would hear Xi Xia’s weak voice over the phone.
‘Nianshen is doing his homework.’
‘I’m going to hang up if you don’t speak.’
Lin Yiqian had tried everything she could to find out more about Gu Nianshen. She wanted to know everything he liked. However, she did not want to find out from Xi Xia who knew him the best.
After giving up on calling Gu Nianshen yet again, Lin Yiqian decided to lock her phone and put it away.
Just as she lied down, she unintentionally caught sight of the clock on the wall. It was already forty minutes past ten and would soon be eleven.
‘If you don’t come home by eleven o’clock, you can sleep on the couch.’ Lin Yiqian recalled Gu Nianshen’s warning that pissed her off.
How dare he?
How could he make such a request of her if he could not abide by it himself?
Lin Yiqian got up in a huff and headed for the door. Without hesitation, she locked it from inside.
As the spare key was in the room, there was no way Gu Nianshen could get in tonight.
Lin Yiqian stared at the doorknob after locking the door.
If he was going to force her to sleep on the couch for returning home late, he would have to sleep in the guest room, study, or even the corridor.
Lin Yiqian returned to the bed. After tossing and turning whilst waiting for Gu Nianshen to return, she finally fell asleep around half-past eleven.
Whilst sleeping, Lin Yiqian thought she heard noises by the door in her dream and decided to ignore it.
She turned to the other side and continued to sleep.
“Be careful. Stop climbing. I’ll get Little Yi to open the door.”
“Nianshen, it’s too dangerous. Stop climbing right now.”
What was going on?
In her sleep, Lin Yiqian could hear Aunt Zhou’s panicked voice. She immediately woke up out of fright as her eyes opened widely.
Her ears perked up as she tried to pay attention to the sound.
“Hey, child, slow down!”
It really was Aunt Zhou yelling outside. The sound was coming from the balcony. Lin Yiqian began to feel nervous.
‘God, what was this fellow doing?’
Lin Yiqian immediately removed the duvet and ran toward the balcony.
As soon as she opened the door, she was greeted by an ocean breeze. The curtain stuck onto the face as she frantically tried to push it away.
Right then, the man had made it onto the balcony. When his feet landed, his body leaned forward and nearly caused him to topple over.
Lin Yiqian instinctively rushed forward to keep him steady. A strong scent of alcohol immediately filled her nostrils. With her arms around his waist, she was still in shock. “You got drunk and even climbed the balcony. Are you trying to kill yourself?” She shouted out loudly.
Gu Nianshen was not able to stand straight. He seemed upset when Lin Yiqian yelled at him. “Lin Yiqian, why did you lock the door?”
He wrapped his arms around Lin Yiqian as he pushed her against the balcony’s glass door.
His body clung tightly to hers. Lin Yiqian could feel the heat from his body and his breath that stank of alcohol.
“You promised to return to the room by eleven. You failed to do so.” Lin Yiqian avoided his gaze.
“That rule was meant for you. It doesn’t work against me.” Gu Nianshen frowned.
