Knock, knock—two knocks at the door. It was Jiang Li.
“Qiuyu-ge, can you open the door? It’s me, Jiang Li.”
“Okay, just a second.”
Song Qiuyu leaned back, disguising his voice to make it sound like he was far from the door.
Then he stepped forward, grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and opened the door.
Creak.
The moment the door swung open, she saw Jiang Xiao standing right next to Jiang Li. She froze for a moment.
He must have finished washing up already, right?
Unconsciously, she wanted to glance at the balcony, but in the end, she held herself back.
She only allowed herself a quick peek at Jiang Xiao’s broad, strong hands hanging at his sides, the long, slender fingers.
She held her breath.
It’s nothing, really, nothing at all. She’d helped Jiang Xiao wash before!
It was just washing his underwear, that’s all.
“Gege, you go in first,” Jiang Li suddenly said.
At those words, Song Qiuyu stared in a daze at Jiang Xiao as he walked toward her.
Her mind was still racing, but her body had already shifted back a step on its own.
“May I come in?”
Jiang Xiao lowered his eyes, looked at her, and tentatively spoke.
Song Qiuyu’s mind was still spinning.
Because she trusted Jiang Xiao, she nodded without thinking and moved aside to let him into the room.
Just as she thought Jiang Li might come in too, she saw Jiang Li outside grab the doorknob and—creak—close the door from outside.
The doorknob she’d been loosely holding was now gone.
She stared blankly, looked at her hand, and then at the closed door. ‘Huh?
What’s going on?
Song Qiuyu didn’t think Jiang Li just wanted to help her close the door, but for now, she couldn’t think of any other possibility.
She grabbed the doorknob again, twisted it, and tried to push the door open.
Eh?
Why won’t it budge…?
Uh…
No way, could it be?
“Jiang Xiao, do you think your little sister blocked the door?”
Something more fantastical than any novel was happening in real life—a little sister was actually shoving her own brother into another man’s room and then blocking the door shut!
Reality might not need logic, but does it have to be this surreal?
“I’ll give it a try.”
“Mm.”
Song Qiuyu immediately stepped aside.
She watched as Jiang Xiao tried pushing with his left hand, then with his right, then tried using both hands and his whole body—her pupils widened as she watched.
“Stop! Stop! Stop!”
She hurriedly stopped him.
“You can’t use your right arm for anything strenuous yet, you’re still recovering!”
“It’s fine, I’ll just use my left, maybe try to force it open.”
“Um…”
Looking at the blocked door, Song Qiuyu frowned in distress, thought for a while, then shook her head.
“Forget it, anyway, she’ll probably let us out tomorrow.”
“How do you know?”
Jiang Xiao tilted his head on purpose and asked.
Song Qiuyu bit her lip, sighed, took two steps back, leaned against the wall, hugged her arms, and said, “Don’t play dumb.”
At those words, Jiang Xiao looked at her for a moment and couldn’t hold back his laughter.
The more he laughed, the brighter his smile became.
“What are you laughing at?”
Song Qiuyu bared her teeth, pretending to dislike it.
“I just suddenly remembered a story you once told me.”
Jiang Xiao’s smile softened.
“It was about a room you can’t leave unless you do that kind of thing.”
He wasn’t trying to force her to do anything tonight.
He was just curious how she’d handle it.
“Didn’t you already read our old chat logs?”
“My memory’s not that good, I can’t remember that much!” Song Qiuyu tried to act calm, turning her face away.
“So what do we do now?”
Jiang Xiao let go of the doorknob.
Feeling his gaze, Song Qiuyu knew he was asking the obvious. She thought about it carefully.
This all started because of a mistake she made when she was younger, so she couldn’t blame anyone else.
Jiang Li had good intentions blocking the door, but her actions were a bit too decisive.
But Jiang Li would leave South Wind City tomorrow after another day anyway.
Maybe they could pretend something happened tonight, trick Jiang Li, and just get through tomorrow. The goal: turn big problems into small ones, and small ones into nothing!
Anyway, in six days, their romantic relationship would be over.
By then, Shen Xi would vanish without a trace, and Jiang Li wouldn’t need to try to get rid of Shen Xi or set up Jiang Xiao with her anymore.
So, she told Jiang Xiao her idea.
“You mean, leave a kiss mark somewhere obvious, like on my neck?” Jiang Xiao tilted his head and touched his neck.
“Yes, yes,” Song Qiuyu nodded, but then quickly shook her head, “No, wait, that’s not right!”
“So do you have another idea?”
Jiang Xiao gazed at her.
Song Qiuyu was stumped.
She stood there for a long time but couldn’t think of anything else.
Honestly, if they were tough about it and did nothing, Jiang Li couldn’t do anything to them anyway.
But she owed Jiang Xiao so much, and now she was truly his girlfriend—she just couldn’t find the courage or reason to refuse a kiss.
If she made Jiang Xiao angry, he’d only get more stubborn and bully her more, maybe even take revenge.
She had to make up for her mistakes properly!
“Xi’er?”
Jiang Xiao’s suddenly low and slow voice was like catnip; she felt like her whole body turned into a cat, tingling all over.
Her heart pounded violently, with a whole new meaning.
She realized she was actually looking forward to being entangled with Jiang Xiao’s breath, looking forward to him doing something to her.
She bit her lip, struggled, took a shallow breath, and proactively grabbed Jiang Xiao’s collar, yanking him toward her, and lightly bit his neck.
Jiang Xiao’s pupils shrank sharply, and for several seconds he forgot to breathe.
He was brought back to last night’s events on the hillside, but maybe because the setting had changed to her room, everything felt even more ambiguous. Thoughts he shouldn’t be having began to surface uncontrollably.
Song Qiuyu’s mind buzzed, she couldn’t think, she just remembered one thing—leave an obvious mark on Jiang Xiao’s neck!
She pressed her lips a bit harder, feeling as if the fire was about to consume her entirely. She unconsciously leaned in closer to the source of heat.
Jiang Xiao lowered his gaze, immersed in the moment, struggling to breathe.
Then, feeling it was about enough, Song Qiuyu was about to let go of Jiang Xiao’s collar, but in the next second, she was pinned tightly against the wall by him.
“My turn.”
Jiang Xiao’s voice was even lower than usual, already hoarse.
“Mm…”
Hot breath brushed against the most sensitive spot on her neck. Song Qiuyu bit her lip with her pearly teeth, accidentally catching sight of the mark she’d just made…
She was even more embarrassed.
Jiang Xiao was like a sharp-nosed hunter, finding the weakest spot on her neck right away and moving in.
As if to repay her for her mischievous hands last night, he raised a hand—only this time, the target was her butt, changing its shape under his touch.
Jiang Li might have blocked the door with the sofa and could very well be sitting right outside. Song Qiuyu didn’t dare make a sound and could only press her lips tightly together.
Jiang Xiao closed his eyes; for the first time, he didn’t look at her dazed, pleasure-filled expression, just focused on leaving his mark.
Or rather, he didn’t dare to look.
Just hearing and smelling her was enough to push him to his limit—he didn’t dare open his eyes at all.
He couldn’t trust himself, or the rebellious part of him inside.
It would scare his Xi’er.
It wasn’t time yet.
Song Qiuyu also closed her eyes, unable to deny the growing sense of satisfaction inside. It felt as if, the moment Jiang Xiao touched her, she’d collapse for him.
But it was fine.
As long as it only happened when he touched her.
“That should do it.”
With a mischievous nibble at her earlobe, Jiang Xiao finally let her go.
Only then did he dare open his eyes, taking in her trembling body, her bitten lips, the glistening wetness in her eyes.
And her neck, once spotless, now a mess from his bullying.
Sure enough, it was a terrible sight.
“Hoo…”
Song Qiuyu almost felt like she was going to die. The moment it ended, she even felt a little empty inside.
Great Compassion Mantra, save me! Quick, think of something else to distract yourself…
She tried hard to calm down, to get out of this soul-consuming state.
But Jiang Xiao wouldn’t let her: “But Xi’er, if the door stays shut tonight, where should I sleep?”
“Ah…”
Song Qiuyu froze.
“What should we do? Xi’er, you wouldn’t be heartless enough to make me sleep on the floor, would you? I couldn’t let you sleep on the floor either.”
Jiang Xiao was determined to challenge himself.
A girlfriend’s bed was dangerous, but if he got through this, her trust in him would only double!
Song Qiuyu glanced at her own bed from the corner of her eye.
Her vision was hazy.
She squinted, thought for a while, then slowly moved toward her bed.
“I really can’t do anything about you. Fine, you can sleep in my bed tonight!”
Her legs trembled as she spoke, lips pressed together, and she finally managed to make it to the bed and sit down. Seeing Jiang Xiao just standing there staring at her, she summoned her energy and patted the spot next to her.
“It’s late, go to sleep first.”
“Are you planning to chat with Aider now?”
Jiang Xiao came over, sat beside her, and looked at the phone she picked up. When he saw her open the QQ page, he said,
“Yeah, there’s a time difference. This is just right.”
Song Qiuyu took several deep breaths, trying again to calm down and focus on communicating with Aider.
Seeing this, Jiang Xiao didn’t disturb her, just quietly watched her chat with Aider. Soon, the details of their partnership were settled.
Both clients were generous—if they agreed to film the promo video, they’d get to play at the hot spring hotel and ski resort for free during the whole Short-term Holiday.
It was definitely a tempting offer.
“Your holiday is that open?”
Jiang Xiao raised a question about their chat.
“Yeah, I don’t have to visit relatives, and Mom’s not coming home this year, so I’ve got loads of free time!” Song Qiuyu replied lightly, then created a Group.
She added Aider, Jiang Xiao, Xie Zhuran, and Lin An into the Group. Then she stretched, about to put her phone down, but the next second picked it up again.
Her finger hovered over the account switch button. After a few seconds, she turned to look at the person next to her.
“Can I ask you something? About this sending time…”