Coveted for a Long Time 43

Chapter 43

Those marks were left last night. The ones from the previous two times were made when Qiao Xi couldn’t handle it. Fu Bei never stopped her, letting her be. When passions ran high, Qiao Xi also had no scruples. Only in such moments were the two most compatible, turning their usual indifference into fiery eagerness.

Because she came to the school as soon as she left the residential complex, she hadn’t had time to tidy up carefully. She had tried to cover them as much as possible, but a little bit was still visible. Fortunately, Director Qiu didn’t notice.

A new teacher taking office had many miscellaneous things to do, going through various procedures. Public institutions were like this, having to follow regulations. Fu Bei came today to get a stamp and had to submit documents later. Unexpectedly, she ran into Qin Si.

Qin Si was also a Jiang University alumna, preparing to donate to her alma mater, and was invited by Director Qiu for a face-to-face talk.

Director Qiu was amiable, smiling at everyone. Knowing he couldn’t offend either of the two in front of him, he even brewed a pot of high-quality Longjing tea, greeting them while saying, “Teacher Fu, sit here.”

Then he introduced them to each other.

Qin Si’s face was cold. Lifting her eyelids, she didn’t even stand up, clearly not giving face.

Fu Bei was polite in public, calling out in a cool voice, “Miss Qin.”

Director Qiu was a bit awkward. Seeing at a glance that the two didn’t get along, he didn’t know how to ease the atmosphere. He laughed dryly twice, pushing the hot tea in front of them, repeatedly saying, “Drink tea, drink tea. The weather is cool lately; drink something hot.”

Sitting opposite, Director Qiu still couldn’t see Fu Bei’s collarbone covered by clothes. But Qin Si, sitting next to her, could see the ambiguous marks under the clothes just by turning her head slightly, enough to reveal last night’s situation. Someone like Fu Bei clearly wasn’t promiscuous, too disciplined and restrained. The partner was obvious; Qin Si could guess without thinking. Besides, Qiao Xi still hadn’t replied to the message she sent last night.

Gripping the armrest of the chair, Qin Si’s knuckles turned white, holding back her anger. Her expression was gloomy, ready to explode at any moment. Whatever Director Qiu said, she ignored completely, only occasionally giving a hum.

Qin Si was just like Qiao Xi, too proud, even more so. Her nature was too aloof and unrestrained, not caring about people or things around her, thinking she could control everything. So in the few years of interaction, even if she had different feelings for Qiao Xi, she never showed them. She didn’t care about Qiao Xi, nor did she know Qiao Xi had someone in her heart before. It wasn’t until she met Fu Bei at the bubble tea shop last time that she lost her footing.

Qiao Xi wasn’t like that with anyone else, only revealing her emotions to Fu Bei, too frankly.

Facing two grim reapers, one white and one black, Director Qiu spoke almost bracing himself. Seeing Qin Si ignoring him, he gradually turned to talk to Fu Bei, stamping the seal quickly.

Fu Bei wasn’t in the mood for small talk. After getting the stamp, she politely excused herself and left first.

Only two people remained in the office.

Qin Si glanced at the tall retreating figure. Her slender fingers rubbed the porcelain-white teacup, the gloom in her eyes deepening. Lifting her eyelids to look at Director Qiu, she asked in a hard voice, “Director Qiu, which grade and subject does that Teacher Fu teach?”

Seeing her finally speak actively, Director Qiu breathed a sigh of relief, praying the donation wouldn’t be ruined in his hands.

“Teacher Fu teaches freshman advanced mathematics now. She just arrived, so the school hasn’t assigned many teaching tasks.”

Qin Si nodded thoughtfully, not asking too much about Fu Bei’s situation, steering the conversation to the donation matters in a few words.

**

Qijing Street.

Being a workday, coupled with the continuous light-to-heavy rain last night, the foot traffic on the street today was lower than usual. Qiao Xi went out slowly, ate something casually at a nearby shop, and then returned to her shop.

Last night was too indulgent; now her inner thighs were sore, and her lower back ached. She felt a bit exhausted and weary. Returning to the shop, she took a half-hour nap. After waking up, she washed her face with cold water to refresh herself.

In the mirror, although her eyes showed fatigue, her complexion was ruddy, especially her lips, red as if inflamed, moist and shiny. She patted her face. Somehow, she suddenly remembered waking up in the morning to wash and tidy up, standing in front of the mirror just like this. Naked at the time, the marks on her chest were simply shocking—large patches everywhere, not a single spot untouched.

Fu Bei wouldn’t leave these marks where they could be seen at a glance, keeping them all in hidden places. The first two nights were relatively restrained, but last night she went crazy for some unknown reason, doing this deliberately.

At that time, Qiao Xi didn’t care, thinking it wouldn’t be too obvious, so she didn’t stop her. Who knew it would turn out like this? secretly cursing the other party in her heart, unappeased and helpless, she calmed down for half a minute and lowered her head to wash her face again.

There was no business in the shop today, so she processed previous orders first. The sky was gloomy, sunless all day long. Dark clouds covered the sky, looking like it would rain again at any moment.

The wind was strong and cool, blowing leaves flying everywhere on the street.

After working for two or three hours, a takeout order was delivered to the shop—hot porridge. It was obvious who bought it. Qiao Xi found her annoying but drank the porridge anyway, too lazy to go out and buy food. Scrolling through her phone in her spare time, remembering she had already blacklisted the other party, she put the phone down.

Before finishing the porridge, Zhao Shihuan sent a message asking if she was free for dinner tonight, with some acquaintances joining.

Zhao Shihuan knew when to advance and retreat best. Remembering Qiao Xi only after finishing her busy period, afraid of rejection when asking her out, she always included a few so-called mutual acquaintances. However, Qiao Xi disliked those so-called “friends” from the compound, not close to them at all. Thinking for a moment, she politely refused, saying she had no time tonight and had a pile of things to do at the shop.

The other party didn’t reply for a long time, replying about an hour later: [Then eat next time when free.]

Qiao Xi exchanged a few symbolic pleasantries, asking roughly about recent situations.

Zhao Shihuan seemed very busy, so busy she didn’t even have time to reply to messages. After chatting simply for two minutes, there was no more movement. Qiao Xi knew she was busy with work recently, hearing she was socializing every day, so busy her shadow couldn’t be seen, so she tactfully didn’t disturb her.

From childhood to adulthood, among the three, Zhao Shihuan was the most roundabout one. She was good to everyone, with a generous personality. Precisely because of this, she should have become the most unrestrained one, but growing up, she was the exact opposite. Whatever she did followed established social norms, her thoughts introverted.

Qiao Xi didn’t mind at all. After replying to the message, she busied herself with her own affairs. Unexpectedly, before evening came, Qin Si arrived.

Qin Si was no different from usual, still the same old way. Seeing her head down drawing seriously upon arrival, she didn’t disturb immediately but went straight to the break room to get a drink, bringing out a can of cola for Qiao Xi when she came out.

“Why come over again? Is something wrong?” Qiao Xi asked, still looking down at her drawing.

Her gaze sweeping over her neck and collarbone, Qin Si opened the can with one hand, finding a stool to sit next to her. “Can’t come over if nothing’s wrong?”

“You can.” Qiao Xi replied, smiling. She opened the drink and took a sip, moving it further away to avoid accidentally knocking it over and wetting the drawing. Looking at the person beside her, she asked, “Nothing to do yourself? Coming over all the time these days. Winter is coming soon; not going skiing?”

One of Qin Si’s hobbies was skiing. Usually at this time of year, she would be preparing to go to Switzerland or Japan. This year, she seemed to have no intention of going out at all. Qiao Xi was inevitably curious; in the past, she would go even if the sky fell.

“You want to go?” Qin Si asked instead.

She blinked, tilting her head to look. “I don’t really know how; would be miserable if I fell.”

“I can teach you.” Qin Si said without hesitation.

Stunned, Qiao Xi felt she was weird today, like a different person. She had never been this nice to her before.

Perhaps sensing her own abnormality, Qin Si composed her emotions and explained, “Haven’t found anyone to go with this year. If you want to go, that’s fine too. I can teach you tattooing; adding skiing is just incidental. Since you’re so clumsy anyway.”

Her tone was truly reluctant, carrying a hint of unwillingness.

This was her usual self. Qiao Xi scoffed, “Forget it. Have to get a visa to go abroad; too troublesome.”

This sentence seemed to hit a sore spot. Qin Si’s eyes darkened, then recovered immediately. “Just submit the materials; what’s so troublesome?”

Qiao Xi focused on drawing, ignoring her and not discussing this further. Still unwilling to go; she didn’t like skiing anyway, let alone going abroad. Besides, she had already promised Tang Yi to have dinner together for New Year. And traveling with Qin Si—dared not imagine what it would be like. With the other party’s explosive temper, she would probably be angry the whole way. Felt unsuitable to travel together. If it were Tang Yi, she might consider it, as she got along well with Tang Yi.

Qin Si didn’t give up, asking, “Really not going?”

She declined politely: “We’ll see.”

Qin Si fell silent, her eyes changing several times. After standing up, in an inadvertent moment, her face turned extremely ugly. Qiao Xi was wearing a loose-collared shirt. While leaning over the table to draw, she inevitably lowered her head and bent over. Standing beside her, one could see a bit of the scenery inside the collar. On that fair, soft skin, dense marks were truly eye-catching.

Fu Bei left quite a few things behind; the traces of possession and invasion were almost carved into the bones.

The light on a cloudy day wasn’t bright enough. Qiao Xi turned on the lamp casually, unaware of the abnormality of the person beside her.

Until Qin Si asked with suppressed emotions, “Where did you go last night? Not at home?”

Mentioning last night, Qiao Xi inevitably felt a bit shy, but didn’t show it on her face. Her hand paused, subconsciously explaining: “At home. Raining so heavily last night; where else could I go if not home?”

Hearing the words “at home,” Qin Si gripped the can tightly, her eyes dark and unclear, her face somewhat indifferent. “Then why didn’t you reply to my messages later? Didn’t reply all day today. What were you busy with at home?”

Asking so detailedly…

Qin Si had sent messages after that reply, but Qiao Xi couldn’t reply.

Remembering the scene last night, Qiao Xi tightened her hands, banishing those distracting thoughts, and replied dryly, “Nothing to do, so slept early. What else could I do?”

When saying these words, she never looked up at Qin Si from beginning to end, let alone meeting Qin Si’s eyes. She had this problem; feeling guilty, she dared not look directly at others.

The person beside her didn’t make a sound for a long time, long enough for her to come back to her senses.

Just as she was about to turn her head to look, Qin Si raised her hand to tidy her loose hair, saying very softly and low, “Draw.”

She involuntarily wanted to dodge, not letting her touch, but was held by the shoulder.

**

Time reached evening. Dark clouds in the sky rolled and churned several times. Gloom shrouded the entire earth. Before long, intermittent light rain struck.

Because it was raining, there were few people on the streets everywhere; not many students wandered outside in the university town. Getting off work, Fu Bei went back immediately, dealing with matters facing the computer in the study. She was always efficient, but since the rain started falling, she was somewhat distracted.

Perhaps remembering those tender past events from last night, her heart was a bit irritable, doing things without a clue. Unconsciously, she lit a cigarette.

Before taking two puffs, half the cigarette burned away. Holding the cigarette body with two fingers, tapping it, shaking off the ash. In the crimson embers, her thoughts suddenly drifted far away, always thinking of Qiao Xi.

Last night was happy yet unhappy. Both were enjoying and indulging, but never truly opened up to each other.

The second time, Qiao Xi rested on her shoulder, half-kneeling, hugging her tightly all the time. Fu Bei coaxed her like a child, full of patience: “Relax a bit…”

Qiao Xi pressed into the crook of her neck, calling softly, “Fu Bei—”

“Mmh.”

“Fu Bei…” She kept calling her name incessantly.

The air was like flowing water, engulfing the two of them. Fu Bei wanted to open Qiao Xi’s heart, but to no avail. Qiao Xi was unwilling, wrapping herself tightly, not allowing touch.

The rain then was heavier than now, pattering endlessly. Qiao Xi definitely had feelings; otherwise, she wouldn’t be like that. But Fu Bei could no longer figure out her thoughts. She was no longer the little girl who would show all her emotions on her face back then, not so obedient and well-behaved, unfolding herself completely because of a little intimate touch, revealing the deepest and softest place in her heart.

The cigarette almost burned her fingers; the temperature was scorching hot. Snapping out of her daze, Fu Bei shook off the ash again, then extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray.

The computer interface in front of her hadn’t changed; it was the same as when opened. She wasn’t in the mood to care about these now. Leaning back against the chair to relax her spirit, she closed her eyes, resting for a while.

When body and mind were temporarily relaxed, inexplicably, she remembered a rainy night like this that year. No one was at the Qiao house; Qiao Xi was left alone. It was about this time of year. She had just finished washing up in her room. Standing at the window, she saw the lit room diagonally opposite.

Qiao Xi stood at the window, dressed thinly, lying on the windowsill staring straight at her.

She was stunned. Before she could react, the little girl suddenly ran into the room. Then the light went out. Before long, a figure running fast appeared on the road between the two houses.