Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was what it was. Resisting a man like him was futile and she would have capitulated to him sooner or later.
There was no escape from a man who chased after her and seduced her out of his own accord. For once, she was brave and followed her own heart. His broad chest gave her such a sense of belonging: it was robust and safe.
“Qi Chengzhi…”‘Don’t you hurt me and make me regret the decisions I’ve made today.’
He hugged her tightly and lowered his head ever so slightly all while maintaining direct eye contact with her. There was a blazing flame in his eyes, but the feeling he got when he saw her was that of purity and genuineness, which had no hint of avoidance.
Qi Chengzhi’s thoughts lit up. He knew what she meant. She was not the type who took things lightly, and because of that, her decision was one that was not made lightly.
He knew that in making such a decision, for her to be in his arms that day, represented her resolution to trust in him. It also signified that she was serious with her feelings, and would no longer have her guard up against him.
He looked at her solemnly with a stern, clear expression in his eyes. Although he was silent, Song Yu knew that he knew what she meant.
Qi Chengzhi tensed up his shoulders and kissed her lips with force. She clung to his neck subconsciously, like a vine wrapping itself around a tree trunk.
“Wait…” In between her erratic breaths, she pushed him.
Qi Chengzhi was not very happy whenever she stopped him in the heat of such moments. His thick, black brows knit themselves in a frown.
“Protection…” Song Yu mumbled and blushed.
Qi Chengzhi scoffed lightly at her. His lips rubbed against her ears and his warm breath caressed them as he said, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a kid? Are you still afraid that I’ll leave you if we have one?”
“I’m being serious.” Song Yu did not let him move. She remained insistent. “If it really came to that point in time and you really do want one, I’ll let you have one, of course. But I don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped because of an unexpected pregnancy.”
After all, they had not been together for long, so bringing the topic up would make her seem unashamed, as though she was the one who could not wait. That was the reason why she felt like her ears were burning when she said those words. Even so, she still raised her head and looked at him in all seriousness.
At that time, Qi Chengzhi’s mind was filled only with Song Yu words. ‘If you want one, I’ll let you have one, of course.’
That one sentence nearly made him surrender himself to her.
“If I want one, you’ll let me have one?” His buttery voice turned hoarse and his insistent gaze nearly made Song Yu feel sore.
Embarrassed, she did not know how she could ever say those words out loud. Perhaps those sentences that seem like a slip-of-the-tongue were actually words that came from the heart. Her affection and care toward him were far more than she had imagined.
A gentle, charming chuckle resounded from his throat. She wondered if he was laughing at her for being so thick-faced?
“What if I want one now? Would you let me have one?” he asked again. His voice was hoarse but there was a hint of glee. As the words escaped his lips, they rubbed against the outer edges of her eyebrows, burning her temples.
Song Yu kept silent and felt that it was better off to bury her head into his neck.
Qi Chengzhi did not force the issue, considering everything that he had achieved that day.
Regardless, he was certainly in no rush to have a kid. Not that he did not want to have one with her, but he did not want one too early for fear that the kid would come between them and take away the time they had with each other.
He kissed the corner of her lips and pulled himself back somewhat unwillingly. His long arms stretched to the bedhead and pulled out a drawer from the bedside cabinet. He rummaged inside and found a box of Okamoto condoms that the hotel had prepared.
…
Qi Chengzhi kissed her forehead, the corner of her eyes, and the corner of her lips. Subconsciously, his actions showed how much he cherished and treasured her. She dared not look at him. Recalling their actions of intimacy and how well they fit together, she felt that it was completely unimaginable. How was she able to do such a brave thing? Even until then, she could not comprehend it at all, and she felt as though it was not real.
To think that back then, she was still a student of Jixia High School while he was already Jixia’s headmaster.
Fast forward, however…
Song Yu’s face felt hot when she thought about it, she was still in disbelief. She buried her face in his chest with all of her might.
“Hungry?” Qi Chengzhi’s voice was still hoarse, but on that occasion, it was due to satisfaction.
After he mentioned it, she realized she was a bit hungry. She looked out the window and discovered that it was already dark.
Remembering that they were in Hong Kong, she thought of the street food that was always seen in Hong Kong movies. They were all must-haves.
“I want to eat fish roe curry, beef entrails, wonton noodles, rice noodle rolls, and egg waffles.” With one breath, Song Yu listed out a few of the dishes she saw in Hong Kong movies.
Qi Chengzhi’s eyebrow twitched. He was half-smiling and appeared to be laughing at her childishness. He slid down the bed without saying anything making Song Yu feel slightly hollow. Looking at him getting up to make a phone call, she frowned ever so slightly and suppressed a groan that nearly escaped her mouth.
Without his hugs, she felt cold. Her whole body was uncomfortable, and it only felt slightly better after she used her blanket to cover herself tightly.
Qi Chengzhi was still naked, and he was displaying his handsome, muscular back blatantly to her. He was tall, with a height of one hundred and eighty-eight centimeters, as compared to her height of one hundred and sixty-five. She could only manage to reach his chest. Since his back was facing her and was not able to see her, she admired his back openly.
His body shape was like a standard inverted triangle: the muscles of his shoulder blades appeared to form the shape of wings as a result of his workouts, while his waist was constricted. He had a pair of long legs that were not typical of most men. She could not help but remember the time where she saw the muscles of his abdomen when inside the room of a restaurant. They were strong and beautiful. He was the typical example of a person who looked fit when shirtless but slim with clothing.
At times that he wore a shirt, his body was slender, like that of a model. Perhaps no one knew how intoxicatingly seductive he was under all those clothes. She looked and looked, and smiled unknowingly in satisfaction, and in that smile, there was a possessiveness in her that she herself failed to notice.
He was a man with a body so capable of turning one into a sinner, and he belonged to her.
While Song Yu was in the midst of spacing out, Qi Chengzhi had finished his call with room service. He turned around and walked toward her, catching her in the act. Song Yu’s face turned red and she covered her face nervously under the pillow.
A flash of amusement flickered in Qi Chengzhi’s enigmatic eyes. He once again returned to her side, but she turned her back toward him. He held her hair on her nape and brushed them in the direction of the pillow. It caused Song Yu to tremble lightly, but she refused to look up.
“One more round?” His voice was intoxicating from the beginning, but at that moment, it was deliberately seducing her.
Song Yu felt embarrassed. She trembled to the point of losing herself and was red from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet.
…
Eventually, he carried her into the bathtub. She barely managed to steady herself when Qi Chengzhi lifted up his long legs and entered too. He did not seem to care that the water in the tub was overflowing because of him.
Qi Chengzhi did not add any soap to the water. Everything underneath the water was crystal-clear, and she did not dare to let her eyes roam around.
A simple movement led to ripples forming in the water. Through those ripples, she saw her toes submerged in the water, and they seemed to be melting in the undulating waves.
He never understood why olden texts such as << Water Margin >> and the like were so fond of writing about women’s feet, but right there and then, he realized he liked Song Yu’s.
She was poking at his calf with her toes when he grabbed her leg abruptly and pulled her into his embrace.
“Are you doing this to shoo me or to seduce me?” His head was inclined to one side as he brushed his lips against her ears and uttered his words in a thick, low voice.
Her face heated up and her brain froze, rendering her unable to reply him. Her saving grace was the doorbell and the sound of the intercom, with the hotel staff saying, “Room service.”
Qi Chengzhi gazed down at her blank face and kissed her forcefully on the lips. He then got out of the bathtub, grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapped it around his waist, then went to get the door.
Song Yu seized the moment by getting herself cleaned up as fast as possible before wearing a bathrobe.
By the time she got out the hotel staff had left. An array of street food was displayed on the table, including some that she did not request for, such as a platter of barbecued and braised meats.
The wonton noodles were from a famous old shop at Central 1 , the noodles they used were the rare Jook-sing noodles [2]. Their hotel, though, was at Causeway Bay, and it seemed as though the staff expended all that effort and searched everywhere just to fulfill Qi Chengzhi’s requests.
Although it was street food, Qi Chengzhi sat opposite her and ate with the most graceful mannerism possible.
Halfway through the meal, Song Yu received a call from home.
As soon as she picked up, she heard Yu Qianying’s voice. “Where are you? Why didn’t you come back after you left in the afternoon? What time will you be home?”
Song Yu looked at the time and saw that it was already nine. She then looked at the man staring at her while she was on a call, and it was obvious that she would not be able to return home that night.
She blushed under his gaze and there was no choice but to bite the bullet and lie blatantly to Yu Qianying. “After paying the new year’s visit, Director Zhao and his wife treated me to dinner and karaoke. It wouldn’t be very nice to decline. It hasn’t ended yet, and I think it’ll end quite late. You and dad should go to bed first. Don’t wait for me. I worry that I might be a disturbance if I came home late, so I’ll go back to my rental house for the night. I’ll be home tomorrow.”
“In that case, don’t drink! If you drink too much, a girl like you will easily be taken advantage of.” Upon finding out that the boss and his wife were treating her, Yu Qianying knew that it was certainly impolite to refuse them. In light of that, she did not say much, save for a few words of advice.
“Mm.” Song Yu was unable to focus her thoughts and simply replied absent-mindedly. In the end she could not take it anymore so she stood up, although her legs became soft and she nearly could not steady herself. She held the chair and ensured she could stand properly before slowly walking to the window. Looking at the bustling and rather stifling nightscape, she felt that Hong Kong’s vibrancy was a bit too overwhelming. Rows upon rows of buildings made her feel as though there was no space for her to take a breath.
Yu Qianying nagged for a bit longer on the phone, only to be met with Song Yu’s constant ‘Mms’. Eventually, the call ended, and when Song Yu returned, she noticed that her wonton noodles were gone. In front of Qi Chengzhi, there were two empty bowls.
Before she could ask why he ate all her noodles, Qi Chengzhi tossed his chopsticks and uttered coldly, “So, I’m your boss and the boss’ wife, hm?”
“…”‘Did he really eat all my noodles because of that?’
Never did she meet such a short-tempered man. Song Yu took the bowl of fish roe curry and ate them slowly.
“We should go back earlier tomorrow.” Song Yu held the yellowish-orange fish roe with her chopsticks, and noticing that Qi Chengzhi was looking at her without saying a word, she explained. “I’m worried my mom will go to my place and look for me. If she notices I’m not home, she’ll be even more worried.”
“When we go back, you should move to my place.” Qi Chengzhi felt for a cigarette subconsciously. His fingers had touched the cigarette box, but they paused. He retracted his hand and resisted from smoking.
If he could abstain from it previously, resisting for a while would not hurt.
Song Yu paused. All the while, she was the passive force, and because of that, he had always led her blindly. He did not even give her a chance to pause and think about things in detail.
Song Yu felt that living with him was a step too fast.
“My lease isn’t due yet, and if I don’t stay there, it’ll be a waste.” Song Yu lowered her head and took a bite of the fish roe. She concentrated on eating it and did not look at him, because his eyes were so skilled that they were able to see through a person with one glance.
Even though she was not lying, at the end of the day, what she said was simply an excuse.
In the short moment when Qi Chengzhi did not reply, her heart began beating wildly.
The one disadvantage she had was being with a man whom she had such a disparity in age and experience. She will always be disadvantaged, and she would never be an equal adversary to him.
After a while, she finally heard Qi Chengzhi’s low voice. “How long till it’s due?”
“Three months, I think.” Song Yu looked up and paid close attention to his reaction.
He simply nodded and said nothing further.
Later on, Qi Chengzhi’s phone rang. He went to the balcony to answer it and smoked a cigarette while he was at it.
Song Yu was also nearing the end of her meal, and she promptly went into the bathroom to wash her face as well as rinse her mouth.
When Qi Chengzhi finished his call, Song Yu was still inside the bathroom. He wondered why she was taking so long.
He did not rush to put out the cigarette in between his lips. He walked past the living room and glanced at the coffee table. The notification light on Song Yu’s phone was blinking.
He picked it up and saw a message from WeChat. He then squinted his eyes, because the message was from Jian Yi.
With the cigarette still in his mouth, he took the phone into the bedroom and checked the blacklist. Jian Yi’s number nested firmly within the list.
In fact, a name that was blacklisted from one’s contacts will not affect the status of a friend in WeChat. Jian Yi was never one to use WeChat, so Song Yu forgot that he was on WeChat. She simply blacklisted her name on her phone, but in WeChat, she and Jian Yi still remained friends.
Obviously, Jian Yi knew that she blocked her number, and changing SIM cards repeatedly was not a sensible option. On that day, he remembered all of a sudden that he had WeChat. He was surprised to find that he was still friends with Song Yu when he logged into his WeChat.
Qi Chengzhi read Jian Yi’s text. “Happy New Year.”
He tsk-ed and held Song Yu’s phone as he got off the bed. He walked to the window and pointed the camera on her phone toward the scenery below. He noticed that his figure was reflected from the glare in the window.
He frowned, and with the cigarette still between his lips, he shifted his angle and pulled the window curtain about halfway so he could hide behind it. The hand that held her phone then stretched out from behind the curtain. Coincidentally, a display of fireworks illuminated the sky. He took a picture of the fireworks and the ensuing night scenery from inside of the window.
He opened the picture, looked at it, and felt incredibly pleased to see that the glare had reflected the room behind him. Most notably, the disorderly bed could be seen, and the messy clothes belonging to both sexes could faintly be made out.
Just one look was enough to spur one’s imagination, and Qi Chengzhi could not resist praising his own photography skills.
After that, he uploaded the photo to her Moments with the following caption, “As long as it’s the right time and with the right person, your feelings will become as bright as the fireworks.”
The location was attached below the photo, and it read: Hong Kong.
Seconds after the photo was uploaded, an unknown number called her.
Qi Chengzhi sneered and declined the call firmly. He then conveniently added the number to the blacklist.
As a result of the phone call, Qi Chengzhi was certain that Jian Yi saw the photo that was uploaded. Qi Chengzhi went back into WeChat and blacklisted Jian Yi’s WeChat number.
He placed the phone back on the bedside cabinet and put out his cigarette.
When Song Yu was done, she saw Qi Chengzhi sitting on the bed with a pleased look on his face. It seemed he was in a particularly good mood.
Oddly enough, she noticed that her phone was lying on the bedside cabinet, when in actual fact, it should have been on the coffee table. It was no wonder, then, that she was unable to locate it, despite remembering clearly that she placed it on the coffee table.
As she walked over to the bedside, her heart skipped a couple of beats. Qi Chengzhi was just beside her, and simply sleeping with him so intimately made her heart beat much faster. However, she did not feel uneasy. It was only a moment of nervousness, and after it passed, she covered herself in the blanket and aligned herself with him. Her actions were gentle and careful, but she could not halt the feeling of nervousness as her heartbeats began quickening. With both hands holding the blanket, the smell of tobacco began emanating from the blanket and from Qi Chengzhi’s body.
Qi Chengzhi did not turn to look at her but under the covers, his hand quietly went over to hold hers. His slightly coarse palm was dry and warm, and it enveloped her hand firmly.
Song Yu held his hand gently in return. Her heart was thumping at a quickened pace as she moved toward his body. Her other hand wrapped around his arm and he gently leaned on his shoulder.
Qi Chengzhi turned his head slightly and kissed the corner of her eyes.
Song Yu’s two hands trembled as she cupped his face. Previously she felt embarrassed to look him directly in the eye, but at that moment, she saw his aroused face up close. It used to be clean and handsome, but at that point in time, it was covered with a layer of wild unruliness, and his warm breaths brushed over her face. She caressed his thick brows and gazed into his enigmatic eyes; they were usually so cold, but they now contained a burning fire of emotion. Her feelings were made to feel unrestrained, and she promptly kissed his eyes.
When she was done kissing, her cheeks were flush.
Song Yu gulped, and her toes curled up.
…
…
The next day, they rushed and took the earliest flight back to B City. Qi Chengzhi initial plan was to have some fun around Hong Kong for the whole day, before returning home only at night. Song Yu’s request, however, disrupted those plans, and because of that, his expression was not very pleased.
Song Yu meanwhile, was rather happy. When he did not answer her yesterday, she thought he had ignored her question, but as it turned out, he woke her up very early in the morning. “Didn’t you say you wanted to head back early?” He then entered the bathroom.
On the plane, Qi Chengzhi asked the flight stewardess for a blanket right after they took their seat.
“I don’t feel like sleeping,” Song Yu said as she prepared to tuck the blanket away. However, Qi Chengzhi placed his hands firmly on her shoulder and said, “Just lay it out. You woke up very early this morning. At least you’ll have some time to sleep.”
Song Yu did not decline any further. She thought that, since the blanket has already been laid out, she might as well let her sleepiness take over her.
Nevertheless, she felt that something was not right once she closed her eyes. There was a rustling noise on her lower person, as though a hand had been stretched over. She opened her eyes abruptly and turned to look at him.
Since they were in the first-class cabin, the whole row had only two seats. No one else could possibly be there, other than herself and Qi Chengzhi. She saw how proper he was seated, how unchanging his expression was, and how dignified he was in carrying himself.
Song Yu inhaled intensely. No wonder he insisted on the blanket, he did not intend on preparing it for her to sleep, he had other thoughts in mind!
“Qi Chengzhi!” Song Yu warned softly.
His expression remained unflinching and he pulled the blanket over to himself. Both of them were covered under the one blanket, and he pulled her hand toward himself.
“Sir, would you like another blanket?” the stewardess walked over and asked as she saw how pitiful they were under that one blanket.
Song Yu’s face turned red, and although it appeared as though the stewardess saw nothing, her heart was feeling flustered.
Qi Chengzhi maintained his indifferent look and with a poker-face, he said, “That won’t be necessary.”
…
…
Chang Lai stood in front of the Range Rover, watching as Qi Chengzhi walked out while holding Song Yu’s hand. Qi Chengzhi looked invigorated and replenished with energy, while Song Yu blushed and stole glances at Qi Chengzhi once in a while.
Qi Chengzhi’s Range Rover was fully repaired, but then again, the accident was not a serious one. Moreover, the car belonged to Qi Chengzhi, so the 4S Automobile shop would surely have taken care of his car before all others.
In the car, Song Yu received a call from Ruan Danchen.
Before Song Yu could even say anything, Ruan Danchen asked excitedly, “You went to Hong Kong with Qi Chengzhi? Things are progressing really fast eh! All those clothes on the ground, you’re quite bold aren’t you!”
Song Yu blinked a few times. As smart as Ruan Danchen was, she could not have possibly known that Song Yu went to Hong Kong. Song Yu was left stupefied by those words. After a few more blinks, Song Yu then asked confusedly, “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, keep pretending!” Ruan Danchen’s voice became slightly higher. “You were the one who took the picture! Although, you didn’t check properly before uploading it, because the windows managed to reflect the bed behind you, and the clothes too. It’s so obvious what you did together!”
“What picture? Where?” At that point, Song Yu’s suspicious eyes shifted over to Qi Chengzhi.
Her cell phone was rather loud, and Qi Chengzhi could hear every single thing Ruan Danchen said. He looked askance at Song Yu, then turned facing outside.
“On WeChat. Maybe you uploaded it when you were drunk last night?” Ruan Danchen remarked. From Song Yu’s words, it appeared as though she had no idea what was going on.
“Okay, enough. I’ll take a look myself,” Song Yu said and hung up. She entered WeChat and saw the picture that was uploaded, as well as the cringe-filled caption accompanying it.
She checked the time of upload and realized it was at the same time she rinsed her mouth in the bathroom.
Clicking into the picture, she saw exactly what Ruan Danchen mentioned. There was a reflection of the messy bed and the clothes that Qi Chengzhi simply tossed about.
Their winter clothing was thrown in a pile over the floor, and it was very much eye-catching.
Looking again at the picture, it was easy to understand what had actually transpired: two adults of the opposite sex would not simply take off their clothes and do nothing.
When she looked at the time it was uploaded, it was obvious who the culprit was.
Song Yu looked at Qi Chengzhi, but was unable to wrap her mind around the fact that such a cringey sentence originated from the hands of such a serious-looking man.
“…” Qi Chengzhi continued looking outside and keeping silent.
“…” In the end, Song Yu did not ask about it. Although she was unable to guess his thoughts completely, she was still able to guess part of it correctly. Thus, she chose not to bring it up and ruin the moment, so she kept her phone back silently.
After that, her gaze once again landed on the handsome figure of the man beside her: she looked at him from the neat, short hair on his nape, to the large, fair hand placed on top of his knee.
Thinking about his crazy antics made her smile. She inched slowly toward him, and her timid hands crossed through his arms like a silent thief. Her soft, fair hand went in between his palm and knee. Her fingers subsequently tunneled through the gaps between his fingers, and her hand interlocked gently with his.
Her hands were exceptionally small in comparison to his. Like five buddies who never grew up, it was as if only the tips of her fingers appeared in between the gaps of his fingers.
Qi Chengzhi did not shift his gaze away from the mirror, but in complete silence, he gripped her hand tighter.
Song Yu smiled and rested herself on his shoulder.
Perhaps it was because their intimate relationship had become a definitive one and their relationship as a couple was in complete harmony, but she just felt like both their souls were melding together.
Perhaps, it was also because he was her first, and women often take such things very seriously.
Therefore, she had formed an indescribable reliance and closeness toward him by then.
