Chapter 122: The Sanitary Pad That Fell

Song Qiuyu’s drowsy mind responded slowly, very slowly.

She kept her stiff body in the same position, lying on the bed, afraid to even breathe.

The warm touch on her lips withdrew, followed immediately by the sound of Jiang Xiao getting off the bed and leaving.

Although it was an unusually quiet, careful step, it entered Song Qiuyu’s ears with an exceptional clarity and loudness.

Each sound stirred huge ripples in her heart, impossible to calm.

Hmm?

What just… happened?

Only after Jiang Xiao went out onto the balcony did Song Qiuyu stop holding her breath, taking a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes.

Her eyelids felt heavy—she was truly sleepy.

Yet the sudden ambiguous imagination, combined with the lingering sensation on her lips and Jiang Xiao’s unique, pleasant scent, was like a thunderbolt, jolting her awake.

At once, both her drunkenness and drowsiness faded significantly.

Her beautiful apricot-shaped eyes snapped wide open.

The misty moisture in her eye sockets shattered into tiny droplets, clinging to her thick, curled dark lashes.

The intoxicated flush on her delicate face had not diminished.

Now it deepened with a rosy tint, adding a hint of shyness and even more allure.

“Uh.” She instinctively touched her soft lips with both hands, her heartbeat accelerating.

The ambiguous image of Jiang Xiao leaning down to steal a kiss sprang back into her mind.

Her small hands hastily withdrew from her lips and, along with her feet, found no place to settle under the blanket. Eventually, she hugged herself tightly, curling into a ball.

Sometimes, when she imagined Jiang Xiao teasing her, her muddled mind couldn’t quite tell the difference anymore.

Did Jiang Xiao really kiss her? Did he steal a kiss while she was asleep?

Or was it purely her imagination? In her fantasies, Jiang Xiao had not only kissed her but done much more…

She lowered her eyelashes and bit her lip with her pearly teeth.

Suddenly, she deeply regretted not opening even one eye earlier to peek and confirm.

Looking toward Jiang Xiao’s direction with a complicated expression, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clenching her fists.

It’s not real…

It definitely isn’t real. How could Jiang Xiao steal a kiss? That must have been—just her imagination!

The realistic sensation was only because she was drunk, her brain fuzzy, and her judgment impaired!

Her lips curved faintly. Song Qiuyu forced herself to believe that and calmed down. As the unease faded, her curled-up body also slowly stretched out.

But that scare left her sweating all over. She shakily sat up and took off the heavy coat she was wearing.

Suddenly, with a swish, something white flew out from her shirt sleeve and landed under the bed.

“Hmm?”

Song Qiuyu blinked drowsily a couple of times.

Puzzled, she grabbed the bed railing with both small hands, lowered her head, and looked toward where the object had fallen.

That’s…

Uh, isn’t that her sanitary pad?

Her pupils contracted sharply.

The white pad lay on the floor by the stairs, seemingly moments away from being spotted by Jiang Xiao returning from the balcony.

Realizing this, Song Qiuyu’s face turned deathly pale, and she instantly sobered up.

She hurriedly lifted the bed curtain and crawled down the stairs, too rushed to put on shoes.

Her small feet clad in white socks stepped onto the floor as she squatted to pick it up.

Fortunately, she retrieved it safely.

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief—

“Song Qiuyu?”

Jiang Xiao suddenly appeared behind her, evidently confused by her sudden movement to squat down off the bed.

Song Qiuyu stiffened and quickly stuffed the sanitary pad back into her shirt sleeve.

Then she feigned calm and turned around, only to accidentally catch sight of Jiang Xiao’s lips.

The ambiguous image from before flickered through her mind, causing her neck and ears to flush faintly.

“Hmm?”

She unconsciously took a half step back, feeling guilty and embarrassed.

But then she thought that was inappropriate and immediately stepped forward half a step.

Despite being nervous enough to die, she forced herself to stand calmly in her original spot.

A slender finger lightly scratched her burning cheeks.

She inhaled softly, summoned her courage, and looked up at Jiang Xiao. Without waiting for him to ask, she took the initiative to explain,

“Oh, I… dropped something, so I came down to pick it up.”

“I see.”

Jiang Xiao looked down at her feet on the floor, thoughtful.

“Yes, exactly!” Song Qiuyu quickly emphasized once more.

After speaking, she started to climb the stairs again, clutching the pad, intent on returning to bed.

“Wait.”

Jiang Xiao paused.

“What?”

Song Qiuyu swallowed nervously and turned to look at him warily.

“You should take off your socks before getting on the bed. Even if the floor looks clean, once socks have touched it, it’s better not to wear them back onto the bed.”

Jiang Xiao said.

“Oh—that makes sense!”

Song Qiuyu breathed a quiet sigh of relief and sat back down, still flushed but clearly mostly sober.

She pulled off her white socks. Her milk-white, soft feet only stayed inside her slippers for a few seconds before stepping onto the stairs. Step by step, she climbed back up and finally disappeared behind the bed curtain.

Jiang Xiao glanced at the white socks she casually tossed on the floor but said nothing.

A moment later, a phone call summoned Jiang Xiao outside. When he returned, he was supporting two drunken companions who were utterly wasted.

The once quiet dormitory suddenly became extremely noisy.

At first, Song Qiuyu planned to wash her hands of it, just lie in bed and sleep. After all, she really didn’t want to face Jiang Xiao’s face again right now. She figured she’d just let Jiang Xiao handle it alone.

But hearing the sounds of the two drunkards vomiting and Jiang Xiao’s busy voice, she opened her eyes and turned over to sit up.

“Jiang Xiao, I’ll help you!”

Saying that, she crawled down the stairs.

As she helped Jiang Xiao while confirming details, she roughly understood their roommates’ situation.

They had drunk with Cool Sister, Sweet Girl, and Delicate Girl.

Unfortunately, they lost miserably, and in the end, the three guys were in this drunken mess, while the three girls were still fine—only slightly tipsy.

This round? This round was a huge embarrassment.

“Next time, just admit defeat if you can’t win. Seriously, I’m done with you guys!”

After finishing, Song Qiuyu sat back down, wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead, and exhaled.

Her sharp eye had been right—Cool Sister and Sweet Girl were definitely not easy opponents. But Delicate Girl being a tough one, that was a bit unexpected.

Hopefully, the girl Jiang Xiao liked was one of the other two.

The remaining girls were Sang Tian and Xue Qi, with Xue Qi known for writing fanfics about her and Jiang Xiao.

By the way, that call which summoned Jiang Xiao earlier was from Sang Tian.

Could it be that Jiang Xiao’s crush was…?

Just then, Jiang Xiao returned from the balcony and sat down at his spot.

Xie Zhuran and Lin An had already fallen asleep, and the dormitory was quiet again.

Despite there being four people, Jiang Xiao’s strong presence made it feel like just two, which made Song Qiuyu feel a little uneasy.

Jiang Xiao picked up his water cup, lips parting as he took a sip. His Adam’s apple bobbed a few times as he swallowed.

“Jiang Xiao, it’s late. Let’s go to sleep. Good night!”

Song Qiuyu couldn’t bear it anymore.

Saying that, she stood up to climb the stairs to bed.

At that moment, Jiang Xiao unexpectedly turned his face and called out to her.