Forbidden to Flirt and Run 37p2

Chapter 37 p2

It was the first time Xu Qingtang had experienced an earthquake firsthand. She grabbed Gu Yizhi’s wrist, took out her phone and looked at it. The signal was not good. She sighed. “How come I ran into this as soon as I came?”

“There are often earthquakes here, but they’re not particularly strong. This one should be fine too,” Gu Yizhi moved the things on the sink to the shelf. With her back to her, her voice was soft. “You stand still. Don’t move.”

Xu Qingtang nodded. Just as she was about to ask about Zhou Jiaran’s situation on WeChat, she noticed a storage box on the shelf falling down. She immediately rushed over and blocked it with her hand.

Fortunately, it was a false alarm in the end. The tremors soon disappeared.

After coming out of the bathroom, some things had fallen onto the carpet. As Gu Yizhi was cleaning up, Xu Qingtang found that her arm was a little swollen and sore.

As she poked it with her finger, Gu Yizhi happened to see it, stopped her actions, took out some ointment and walked over, her voice gentle. “Does it hurt?”

Xu Qingtang hadn’t felt much pain at first, but when Gu Yizhi’s gentle and water-like gaze fell on her, she felt that the pain and grievance were infinitely magnified.

She nodded. “It hurts a lot.”

Gu Yizhi squeezed out the ointment and spread it on Xu Qingtang’s arm, her movements gentle, her tone a little reproachful. “Don’t be so reckless in the future. It might not have hit me.”

Xu Qingtang didn’t agree. “Whether it would have hit you or not is one thing. I can’t just watch you get hurt.”

Xu Qingtang added, “If it were you, would you just stand by and watch?”

Gu Yizhi smiled happily. “Alright, my fault.”

Xu Qingtang said, “That’s right.” She stretched her arm forward a little, hooked Gu Yizhi’s collar, and her voice softened. “It hurts so much. Why don’t you kiss me?”

She was serious. “Research shows that kissing can relieve pain.”

Gu Yizhi put down the ointment and pinched her cheek. “Whose research?”

Xu Qingtang: “Expert Xu’s.”

The earthquake in City C quickly became a hot topic. The two of them received many messages and calls. Tang Gui’s flight was canceled due to the earthquake. It was the first time she had encountered such a thing, and Xu Qingtang didn’t sleep well all night.

After returning to Lin City, Xu Qingtang received greetings from various friends. One of them was from Youling, asking if she was free and wanted to go out with her.

For various reasons, the two of them couldn’t find a time to meet. In the end, they met at the theater entrance. That day, Youling happened to be socializing nearby.

Youling smiled at her and said, “Long time no see, Qingtang. Shall we go for a walk?”

Youling seemed to be in a good mood recently. Xu Qingtang had no objection and said, “Alright.”

“You weren’t injured in the earthquake last time, were you?” Youling said. “I was so scared when I couldn’t get through to you on your first few calls.”

Xu Qingtang smiled and said, “It’s fine. My phone had no signal at first, but it got better later.”

The two of them walked along the street. Halfway through, Youling mentioned that Lin Huaijia had been having a hard time recently, and Su Mengyu had also moved to another company. Seeing that Xu Qingtang didn’t seem interested, Youling told her that she had also withdrawn her shares from Fenghé and had started her own business.

Xu Qingtang was a little surprised. If anyone was the most reluctant to part with Fenghé, it was Youling. But she had no intention of finding out more and just said, “That’s good.”

When they passed a coffee shop, they turned in. After ordering coffee and dessert, Youling laughed. “I thought you would… hmm, not approve.”

Xu Qingtang: “How could I? As long as you’ve thought it through.” As she spoke, she took out her phone and glanced at WeChat. Usually at this time, she and Gu Yizhi would be on a voice call.

[Out with a friend. I’ll call you when I get back.]

Youling fiddled with her fingers and asked, as if unintentionally, “Girlfriend?”

Xu Qingtang was a little surprised. “Yes.”

Youling explained, “I called you on the night of the earthquake in City C. She answered.”

Xu Qingtang didn’t seem to care. “I was sleeping too soundly and didn’t hear it.”

Youling pursed her lips, smiled after a long while, and said, “I’m so envious of you two.”

Xu Qingtang: “What’s wrong?”

Youling said, “It’s nothing. I just thought of a friend of mine.”

Xu Qingtang found that all her curiosity was on Gu Yizhi. She would rather go around in a big circle just to ask what Gu Yizhi liked about her, but the meaning in Youling’s words was obviously hiding gossip, and she had little interest.

But Youling continued to talk to herself. “She really likes a girl, but unfortunately, by the time she realized her feelings, the girl was already with her friend.”

Xu Qingtang let out a sympathetic sigh.

Youling’s voice continued, “But in fact, even if the girl wasn’t with someone else, she wouldn’t have had a chance. Her family wouldn’t have allowed her to do so.”

This was a realistic social problem. Xu Qingtang did not express her opinion. She looked out the window, and the blurry and hazy reflection on the glass made her dazed for a moment.

She thought of the agreement she had made with Teacher Qi.

Youling’s story ended here. She glanced at Xu Qingtang and said, “It’s time to go. I still have things to do. I hope you can be luckier than my friend, Qingtang.”

*

Lin City’s autumn seemed to be longer than summer. It wasn’t until early December that the weather gradually turned cold, and the streets became deserted and desolate.

In two days, Xu Qingtang and her senior apprentice-sister would be going to City C.

After coming out of the theater at night, her senior apprentice-sister was looking at her phone’s memo and asked her, “Have you packed everything? Oh, right, your winter clothes should be thicker. I heard it’s already snowing in City C.”

Xu Qingtang nodded. “I’m almost ready.”

The two of them walked to the steps. Just as Xu Qingtang was thinking about what she had prepared, her elbow was suddenly bumped by her senior apprentice-sister. “Look, your family is here.”

In the distance, Gu Yizhi’s car was parked by the roadside.

It was a complete accident that her senior apprentice-sister found out about them. One time, Xu Qingtang was suffering from severe menstrual cramps and was in the changing room, sending a voice message and pouting, calling Gu Yizhi “wifey” over and over again. As a result, her senior apprentice-sister came back, holding a cup of brown sugar water for her…

Now, whenever her senior apprentice-sister saw Gu Yizhi, she would tease her with the word “family.”

Xu Qingtang asked her why she wasn’t surprised. Her senior apprentice-sister’s eyes were full of pity. “Qingtang, it’s not like you can just cover your head with a handful of dirt and pretend nothing happened.”

Xu Qingtang said goodbye to her senior apprentice-sister, bought some sugar-fried chestnuts on the roadside, and then turned to walk towards Gu Yizhi’s car.

The car’s heater was on. Xu Qingtang took off her heavy padded jacket and said, “It’s so cold outside.” She then chattered on about her daily routine at the theater.

Gu Yizhi listened quietly. Xu Qingtang paused for a moment, tilted her head, and said, “By the way, let me tell you a story I just heard.”

“Alright.”

Xu Qingtang said, “Once upon a time, there was a little snake that accidentally entered a fairy’s temple. It was winter at that time, and it was shivering from the cold. Just as it was about to die—”

She dragged out her voice, deliberately creating suspense.

Gu Yizhi had always been very cooperative with her. “And then?”

“A magical thing happened. A fairy suddenly appeared. She brought a lot of chestnuts and peeled them for the little snake one by one.”

“Later, the little snake came back to life and found that it was not a fairy at all, but a fox that was doing good deeds everywhere.”

Ever since she had started telling Gu Yizhi stories, Xu Qingtang had created many strange stories about little snakes and foxes.

Gu Yizhi was still very cooperative. “And then? What happened to the fox?”

“Later, the fairy felt that the fox was very kind, so she helped it become a real fairy,” Xu Qingtang stuffed the sugar-fried chestnuts into Gu Yizhi’s hand and blinked. “Fairy Gu, do you desire power?”

The fairy peeled a chestnut, handed it to Xu Qingtang, and said in a fairy-like manner, “Then what about the little snake? Why weren’t they together this time?”

The sweet and glutinous chestnuts stimulated Xu Qingtang’s creative passion. She said, “I’m not done yet. Later, the little snake also became a fairy, and they naturally got together. You ask why? Because the fairy’s chestnuts also had a fairy aura, so of course the little snake also became a fairy.”

Xu Qingtang had always known that she had no talent in this area, but every time she told a story, Gu Yizhi would seriously and solemnly praise her for telling it well, which caused her confidence to gradually swell.

Love really makes people blind.

After the chestnuts were finished, Gu Yizhi drove Xu Qingtang home.

Late at night, the cold wind raged on the streets. The moment Xu Qingtang got out of the car, her face was flushed red from the cold. Gu Yizhi untied her own scarf and wrapped it around Xu Qingtang’s neck. As she was tying the knot, Xu Qingtang stood on her tiptoes and kissed her on the lips. The soft touch aroused her amorous thoughts. “It’s so cold. Why don’t you stay tonight?”

“I have a social engagement later that I can’t get out of,” Gu Yizhi adjusted the scarf, looked at Xu Qingtang’s fair face, and smiled faintly. “I’ll come again tomorrow morning.”

Xu Qingtang said, “Ah. Then you’re still coming to see me.”

“It’s getting cold today, so I wanted to see you.”

Xu Qingtang smiled. “What does that have to do with it?”

“Nothing,” Gu Yizhi chuckled. “Do I need a reason to miss you?”

Under the streetlight, the orange light swayed, shining on their straight figures. Xu Qingtang tilted her head up again and kissed Gu Yizhi.

The gentle and moist kiss in the cold night was like a space station for them to warm each other, giving each other infinite warmth and comfort in the cold wind.

After the kiss, Xu Qingtang heard a car horn beside her. She glanced in that direction and saw a taxi parked not far away.

Beside the car, Teacher Qi was being supported by Auntie Zhou, her face gloomy as she stared at them.