“Of course, I don’t mean I’m afraid or hate it. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before. I’m not scared!”
Song Qiuyu worried that Jiang Xiao might have misunderstood, thinking she had a bad experience. she quickly added, “On the contrary, actually, I… I quite liked it.”
Jiang Xiao closed his eyes and sighed.
‘She’s bluffing again.’
‘Should I say Qia’er is cute, or…?’
“So, it’s okay. You don’t need to worry about it too much because I don’t hate it. I really don’t hate it at all!”
Seeing that Jiang Xiao remained silent, Song Qiuyu panicked slightly and continued.
Besides, this was what she deserved—a full six years’ worth. She even felt that Jiang Xiao had held back.
‘That debt probably hasn’t even been one-tenth repaid yet.’
She wondered if Jiang Xiao had actually taken her words about the installment to heart.
Jiang Xiao frowned and said nothing.
“Fine, fine. Just pretend I didn’t say anything. From now on, just do whatever you want—”
“…”
At those words, Jiang Xiao opened his eyes and uncontrollably grabbed her small hand, which was pressed against his lips. He turned his face to look at her.
“How can it be okay to just accommodate me, Xi’er? A real couple should have mutual compromise and help each other grow.”
“Ah.”
Their eyes met. Song Qiuyu’s eyes widened, and she could only let out a dazed sound. Her brain couldn’t process anything anymore.
“It seems we’re both a long way from becoming ‘official’!”
Jiang Xiao lightly pinched the tip of her small nose. “But at least it proves I’m no worse than the Azure Dragon, right, Xi’er?”
Suddenly, she had a feeling.
‘I might be nagged by him like this for the rest of my life.’
Unable to answer him, Song Qiuyu acted spoiled and rubbed her face against Jiang Xiao’s. “Hurry up and help me get dressed—”
“As you wish.”
Jiang Xiao laughed.
However, after Song Qiuyu finished getting dressed and tried her best to walk steadily in her slippers to open the room door, she saw Xia Qi sitting on the sofa. Xia Qi was holding a box in her hand.
The more Song Qiuyu looked at the box, the more familiar it seemed, and the more she panicked.
Huh?
Why was it in the living room?
Song Qiuyu felt like she had taken a massive blow.
Jiang Xiao was equally shocked. He thought he had cleaned up thoroughly. Could it be—that it fell under the sofa?
He could probably deduce the entire process of how Xia Qi found the box.
In fact, that was exactly what happened.
Xia Qi hadn’t intended to look for anything.
After sitting down and shifting her position, she saw a corner of the box poking out from a crack in the sofa.
She reached out and grabbed it.
The sight gave her quite a shock.
Wasn’t this a box of Couple Umbrellas?
“Xia Qi!”
Song Qiuyu braced herself and took the initiative to say hello.
“Eh? I thought you two were going to chat for a while longer!”
As she spoke, Xia Qi turned her head to look. She stared at Song Qiuyu, her brow furrowing slightly. She felt as though something was different about her friend.
After a few brief exchanges to catch up, they quickly got to the point since there wasn’t much else to say.
Song Qiuyu cleared her throat.
She first tried to discourage Xia Qi using the logic of the differences between men and women.
After all, her Dad and Mom were currently out playing. From Lin An’s perspective, his girlfriend had run off to live with two boys.
Both of those boys were his roommates.
Setting Lin An aside, Xia Qi herself should be more careful.
As a boyfriend, he probably wouldn’t like his girlfriend having such a weak sense of boundaries.
“I think it’s great here! You like each other, and to me, you’re like two female best friends!”
Xia Qi didn’t seem to care at all. “I’ve completely stopped viewing you two as the opposite sex.”
‘She completely stopped seeing us as the opposite sex…?’
Song Qiuyu looked shocked.
She could understand herself, but even Jiang Xiao?
However, if someone already had a partner, they shouldn’t covet others even if they were outstanding. So, not seeing them as the opposite sex wasn’t entirely wrong.
“And we have so many common topics. We can play games and read shoujo manga together. It’s wonderful!”
Xia Qi became more excited as she spoke.
“…”
Song Qiuyu’s lips twitched. She was already imagining how her roommate, Lin An, looked right now.
“But speaking of which, this box… did you two use it last night?”
Just as Song Qiuyu was about to smoothly shift the topic to Xia Qi and Lin An, she saw the other girl pick up the box and speak.
At those words, Song Qiuyu stiffened. She tried her best to maintain a calm expression as her mind raced, trying to think of a solution.
Before she could come up with anything, her small hand was enveloped in warmth. Jiang Xiao had grabbed her hand!
Just by having her hand held, she felt a warm current flowing through her body. Her panicking, nervous heart miraculously and gradually calmed down.
Actually, it wasn’t a big deal if they were caught. It was just a matter of being embarrassed.
As long as they were thick-skinned enough, nothing could defeat them!
“Did you also play with water balloons?”
Xia Qi said with a pleasantly surprised expression.
“Huh?”
Song Qiuyu was stunned.
Jiang Xiao was also stunned.
But he reacted faster than her. He nodded and said, “Ah, yes, yes, yes! We played with water balloons all night long!”
This was something Xi’er had taught him. In such situations, saying “ah, yes, yes, yes” would definitely allow him to get away with it.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu blinked and glanced at Jiang Xiao out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze said everything.
Jiang Xiao also turned to look at her.
He answered her with his eyes.
Then, *whoosh*, a boomerang hit the right side of Song Qiuyu’s brain. She immediately forced a stiff smile.
She said, “Yes, we played with water balloons.”
“Let me tell you, I also played with water balloons all night long.”
Xia Qi had a “just as I thought” look on her face and started talking to herself.
“It was quite fresh at first. After all, it was my first time playing with this kind of water balloon.”
She suddenly paused. With tears in her eyes, her tone shifted and became distressed. “I… I played with Lin An.”
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu was stunned for a moment before realizing what had happened.
‘Did Lao Lin reject her?’
Jiang Xiao narrowed his eyes.
This was something Lin An would do.
“Actually, there’s another reason why I came to you guys for help. As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. I want you to help me…”
Halfway through, Xia Qi pursed her lips and took a deep breath. Her freckled face turned red.
She was a bit hesitant but not by much. She said in one breath, “Help me get Lin An to agree to do it with me!”
Silence.
Then, Song Qiuyu gasped. This girl really didn’t treat them as outsiders. She could even say such things to two boys.
Well, she had encountered girls like this in elementary, middle, and high school.
That’s just how social terrorists with straightforward and extroverted personalities are.
Fortunately, she could barely be considered half of one herself.
“So.”
Song Qiuyu tilted her head. “Is that the real reason you and Lin An fought?”
“Exactly. That guy Lin An is a smiling tiger. On the surface, he seems like a warm man, but he’s actually cold on the inside!”
Xia Qi nodded, speaking with great emotion. “Did you know? We’ve clearly been dating for a while, but how he was before we dated is exactly how he is now. There might be some differences, but not many.”
Hearing this, both Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao, as Lin An’s two roommates, fell into a long period of deep thought.
That was a fairly accurate summary. Although Lin An looked warm and always greeted people with a smile, he was truly cunning.
As for whether he was cold on the inside, they couldn’t quite say. Just from the perspective of being roommates, the four of them got along very harmoniously.
Thinking of this, Song Qiuyu recalled the time they made rabbit apples together in the rental apartment. She couldn’t help but feel moved. Although she didn’t know why Xia Qi felt that way, she believed that Lin An probably wasn’t a cold person.
A cold person wouldn’t always peel rabbit apples for his younger brother and sister. Rabbit apples were difficult to make and wasted a lot of apples.
Jiang Xiao happened to think of this point as well, and he had some thoughts of his own.
“He only thinks of himself. He clearly knows that when a girl is on her period, she wants to kiss and hug her boyfriend the most. But in the end, he wouldn’t even let me touch him!”
Xia Qi looked exhausted and shook her head.
“Is that so?”
Feeling Jiang Xiao’s sudden gaze, Song Qiuyu frowned. She thought back to when she was on her period and felt conflicted.
‘No wonder I suddenly wanted to be close to Jiang Xiao during those days. So it was because of my period!’
She couldn’t help but complain. What a strange combination—wanting it but not being able to actually have it.
Being a girl is so hard.
“That’s exactly it! I’m not a loose person. It’s because I really wanted to and I like him, plus we’re already in a relationship, that I took the initiative to take him to a hotel. But look at his attitude!”