She believed she had blocked every possible way for Jiang Xiao to crawl in, but before she could start feeling happy, she already began to feel a little short of breath.
“Xi’er, am I really that scary?”
Seeing that she had learned her lesson from the last time he crawled under the covers and was now pressed against the wall, Jiang Xiao contemplated for a brief moment, sighed, and spoke.
“Sorry about that. My body just reacted on its own. It’s not my fault!”
Song Qiuyu peered out from the covers with only her eyes visible, looking at Jiang Xiao, who was sitting by the bed and watching her.
She blinked at him.
‘She can’t exactly say it’s because she just had a dream about him proposing, can she?’
“Yeah, I know.”
Jiang Xiao, of course, did not miss any of the expressions on her face. He had quite a few thoughts about her extreme reaction.
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu was about to roll back and spread the covers out.
“Regarding the request you made last night, I’ve already decided how to respond to you.” Jiang Xiao smiled.
“Last night?” Song Qiuyu was stunned.
“Yeah, many things happened last night.” Jiang Xiao guided her to remember.
“Oh, it does seem like a lot happened.” Song Qiuyu recalled for a moment, and the expression on her face slowly collapsed.
After speaking, she pressed a hand to her forehead. “Jiang Xiao, I think I might need a bowl of Hangover Soup. Can you help me…”
Hearing this, Jiang Xiao was slightly taken-back, then agreed without a second thought. However, he didn’t go immediately. Instead, he grabbed the blanket and pulled her toward him.
“Ugh!”
Pulled before Jiang Xiao without warning, Song Qiuyu was forced to look him in the eye from a close distance.
Her heartbeat instantly accelerated frantically.
“Xi’er, I promise you!” Jiang Xiao narrowed his eyes with a smile.
“Huh?”
Song Qiuyu’s heart pounded. Suppressed by the pressure Jiang Xiao occasionally radiated, she felt a bit dazed while looking at his bright, harmless smile.
“From now on, I will only look at yours, only touch yours, and only think of yours.” Jiang Xiao stared into her eyes with utmost seriousness.
“However, to ensure that the validity of my words lasts a lifetime, you have to work hard too. Cherish yourself more and take good care of your chest.”
Song Qiuyu froze for a moment as some memories of last night quickly resurfaced.
‘I don’t know if it’s lucky or unlucky that I didn’t black out from drinking this time. I even remember the things I least want to remember with perfect clarity…’
Her neck turned red, and her entire face quickly flushed.
She bit her lip in shame and then instinctively hugged her chest. However, since she was wrapped in a chest binder, she mostly just hugged air.
Seeing that the hedgehog had raised her quills, Jiang Xiao simply gave a light chuckle and rubbed her head, habitually smoothing her hair.
Once he finished, he immediately got up to go get her the Hangover Soup.
After Jiang Xiao left, Song Qiuyu stared in the direction he had gone for a long time.
Then, she lay flat on the bed, her soft black hair spreading across the pillow.
She stretched out an arm, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
She then looked at the spot by the bed where his body heat and scent still lingered and took a deep breath.
‘Things I originally planned to keep hidden in my heart were all spilled out once I drank! Forget it, forget it. Haven’t I basically been “streaking” in front of Jiang Xiao already anyway? What’s one more thing? But is this guy Jiang Xiao really okay? Although I said I would grow, it’s not a certainty. Fetishes aren’t something that can be changed overnight.’
She closed her eyes, tentatively placing her hands over her heart.
‘Besides, I’m part of the Little Thunder Faction.
The Big Thunder Faction and the Little Thunder Faction are sworn enemies, just like the Coca-Cola Faction and the Pepsi-Cola Faction!’
Thinking of this, she rubbed her chest a few times. As she rubbed, she reached into her clothes to take off the chest binder.
‘I slept like that last night. I should let the Xiao Long Bao out to breathe a bit. It wouldn’t be good if they became unsightly.’
Suddenly, with a creak, the door opened. The person who entered was, naturally, Jiang Xiao.
“Uh…”
Song Qiuyu was hit by a massive wave of shock.
She stiffly withdrew her hand, trying her best to act as if nothing was wrong. She swallowed hard and then sat up firmly.
“It seems I’ve returned at a bad time?” Jiang Xiao looked at her and asked.
“Not at all.”
Song Qiuyu gritted her teeth. She then grabbed the hem of her clothes with both hands. Feeling like she had nothing left to lose, she intended to take off the chest binder right there.
“Wait a minute,” Jiang Xiao called out.
Song Qiuyu pouted, a bit annoyed. She gave Jiang Xiao a huffy look but didn’t speak.
“Drink the Hangover Soup first. Leave the task of taking off the chest binder to me,” Jiang Xiao said seriously.
Song Qiuyu was stunned and looked at Jiang Xiao in astonishment. However, she didn’t see even a hint of teasing or mischief on the other party’s face, causing her lips to pout even harder. Her heart was racing violently. She couldn’t deny that she wasn’t at all resistant to such a thing — she was just extremely shy.
‘Ever since we stopped being friends, our relationship has become stranger and more distorted the more I look at it.’
“Then… I’ll have to trouble you to help me, Jiang Xiao.”
The warm Hangover Soup had already been handed over by Jiang Xiao. Song Qiuyu bit her lip, hesitated, and finally spoke. She held the bowl of Hangover Soup with both hands, absentmindedly stirring it with a spoon.
“Mmh…”
The wrinkles in her outer clothing increased as Jiang Xiao’s large hands brushed past her waist. Song Qiuyu’s hands, which were holding the bowl, trembled slightly.
Jiang Xiao suppressed the thoughts he shouldn’t be having at this time and did his best to calmly unbind it for her.
As the slightly protruding skin was exposed, Song Qiuyu’s breath hitched. She could only take deep breaths and drink the Hangover Soup as calmly as possible.
“When the Promotional Video editing is finished and you go home, you probably won’t have to wear this every day anymore…” Jiang Xiao looked down at the chest binder in his hand, which still held lingering warmth and fragrance.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Song Qiuyu’s brain was a mess. She drank the Hangover Soup mechanically and responded stiffly.
‘I can’t control my thoughts.’
The only thing clear was their current situation; if she showed even the slightest inappropriate reaction, things would spiral out of control.
“Then…” Jiang Xiao paused.
He still lacked some confidence regarding whether he would get a positive answer if he invited her to spend the New Year at his home.
Even if she went home, she would just be alone. But if he said it directly now, given Xi’er’s personality, the choice she would make was obvious.
If he was too direct, it would definitely hurt her.
‘Aider and his team are helping with the editing for this Promotional Video, so it might not even take two days to finish. There are still seventeen days until the New Year, but the time left for me should be two or three days at most.’
“Don’t worry, I know how to take care of my own body!” Song Qiuyu’s stalled brain managed to think in the wrong direction.
She looked down at her slightly protruding chest and let out a soft huff. “Maybe after the Short-term Holiday, I’ll return very different!”
“Very different?” Jiang Xiao was startled.
Song Qiuyu didn’t want to continue the conversation and finished the rest of the Hangover Soup in one go.
After resting for a while longer, she put the chest binder back on, straightened her clothes, and prepared to take her computer to meet the others.
Editing the Promotional Video was a major task that required all of them to gather and work together. Even the two representatives of Party A were quite free and would watch them edit.
“Oh right, Jiang Xiao, did you sleep on the floor last night?” Song Qiuyu asked, as if just remembering, before they headed out the door.
“…”
Jiang Xiao thought about it carefully and still honestly admitted that he had sat on the floor, leaning against the bed to sleep last night.
“What?!” As expected, Song Qiuyu’s eyes widened, her face full of worry and panic.
“Don’t worry, my body is very…” Jiang Xiao began to laugh.
While he was still speaking, the person who had already stepped out immediately turned back in his field of vision.
Then, she stood on her tiptoes, pressed her hands against his shoulders, and leaned her forehead against his.
The meaning of this gesture was too obvious.
She was clearly worried he was sick and had specifically come back to check his temperature.
It was the same thing he had done before. Jiang Xiao was briefly dazed.
“At least your forehead isn’t hot. You shouldn’t have a fever!” Feeling the temperature of Jiang Xiao’s forehead, Song Qiuyu closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly as she let out a long breath.
Jiang Xiao also felt the warmth coming from her forehead and couldn’t help but be moved.
“You can’t sit on the floor anymore!” Song Qiuyu opened her eyes, her tone intentionally a bit fierce.
“Then where should I sleep?” Jiang Xiao’s voice was low.
“Well…”
Song Qiuyu was extremely helpless.
When she thought about how she had punished Jiang Xiao last night by not letting him go back and forcing him to sleep on the floor, she immediately felt guilty and self-reproachful.
Speaking of which, when Jiang Xiao had moved into her room to take care of her before, he had also slept on a pallet on the floor.
She couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. But such emotions only stayed in her mind for a short while.
She pointed to her own bed. “In the future, if this happens, wake me up and just sleep in my bed!”
Clearly, he could have just accepted it, but Jiang Xiao did the opposite. “But we aren’t friends anymore.”
Upon hearing this, Song Qiuyu was choked up.
‘He really had to bring up exactly what shouldn’t be mentioned!’
Although it wasn’t that she couldn’t understand — for a boy of this age, let alone someone in Jiang Xiao’s situation, there would probably be something wrong with his body if he didn’t think about that sort of thing. But to intentionally bring it up at this moment… he really wasn’t even pretending anymore.