Chapter 28: Twenty-Eight p1
The bedroom, which had been plunged into darkness not long ago, was soon illuminated in one corner by the warm yellow light of the bedside lamp, which had been turned on again.
With a whoosh, Yu Jiang threw off the blanket and got out of bed.
She stood against the light, her expression hidden in the deep shadows, making it obscure.
The temperature in the room was too low. Yu Jiang was only wearing a thin nightdress and soon sneezed.
She rubbed her nose, not bothering to look for a jacket, and hurried out of the room in her slippers.
Tonight’s moon was exceptionally bright.
The gentle moonlight climbed into the room along the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the slender figure lying on its side on the sofa, making it look particularly lonely.
Yu Jiang pressed the switch, bringing a light that could dispel all darkness to this living room filled with silent desolation.
Only then did Chu Qingzi know of her arrival. When the light came on, she slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Yu Jiang.
“Baby, how did you—”
The moment she saw Yu Jiang’s appearance, she stopped speaking, and the gentle expression on her face also froze.
Yu Jiang was frightened by her unusual reaction. Thinking she had seen something that only dared to appear at night, she trembled and said, “You… you… you see—ah! What are you doing?”
Suddenly being picked up from the front, the intense feeling of weightlessness forced Yu Jiang to subconsciously raise her hands and tightly grip the slender yet powerful arm in front of her.
Chu Qingzi remained silent, carrying her all the way back to her own bedroom.
After putting her on the bed, her long hand grabbed the blanket that was casually piled to the side. In a short while, she had wrapped her tightly into a cocoon.
“Didn’t you just promise me that in the future, even if you’re in a hurry to find me, you’ll put on a jacket first if the temperature is too low?” Chu Qingzi sighed, her tone full of helplessness at her inability to do anything about her.
Yu Jiang was almost completely covered by the blanket. All that was exposed were her round, bright eyes and a delicate, small nose.
Hearing her say this, the hand hidden under the blanket pulled the blanket down a little. After freeing her mouth, she said stubbornly, “I was just going to call you back to the room. I won’t be staying for too long like just now. At most, it’ll be a minute or two. How could my constitution be that bad!”
The consequence of her stubbornness was that the second after she had finished speaking, she couldn’t help but let out a second sneeze in a short period of time, right in front of Chu Qingzi.
Yu Jiang chickened out. She sheepishly stole a glance at the other person and happened to see the smile on her lips disappear completely.
Ten minutes later.
Yu Jiang was nestled in the blanket, looking with a resistant expression at the cup of ginger soup in Chu Qingzi’s hand, which she had personally boiled with ginger slices.
“I’m not drinking it. I hate such a strong ginger taste!”
Yu Jiang’s name had a “Jiang” in it, mainly because of her mother.
It wasn’t because her mother’s surname was Jiang—she had always taken her mother’s surname.
The reason Yu Jiang was called “Jiang” was purely because her mother particularly liked to eat ginger.
Before the third grade of elementary school, Yu Jiang had always thought her name was a combination of her “parents’ names.” Because her mother’s surname was Jiang and her father’s surname was Yu, she was named “Yu Jiang.”
But one day, she accidentally learned the origin of her name.
At that time, she was still very naive and innocent. After knowing that her name was not romantic at all, she buried herself in her blanket and cried for a whole day.
It was useless for Ms. Yu Mianying to coax her with various toys and snacks. In the end, it was Jiang Chengzhi, who taught Chinese, also known as Yu Jiang’s father, who made up a sufficiently romantic set of words specifically for coaxing children.
“The reason why Daddy and Mommy used ‘Jiang’ to name little Jiang is because ‘Jiang’ is one of the most important things in the world to Mommy. We put it in little Jiang’s name, which means that little Jiang is one of the most precious treasures in the world to us, just like the ginger that Mommy likes.”
Yu Jiang, who was still a simple child, was immediately coaxed.
She started to eat the hamburger that Ms. Yu had bought for her with red eyes. After taking two bites, she stopped and asked her dear mother.
“Then if what you liked wasn’t ginger, but garlic, would I have been called Yu Dasuan?”
Ms. Yu: “What are you thinking, baby? Am I that tasteless of a person? How could I give you such a funny name?”
Before Yu Jiang could breathe a sigh of relief, she heard her add, “If we had to, it would be Yu Suan. That sounds much better than Dasuan, doesn’t it, baby?”
Yu Jiang blinked and was made to cry again.
From that day on, she hated every piece of ginger and every clove of garlic in the world.
After she grew up, she also knew that it was quite unfair to them to hate these two things for this reason, so slowly, she gradually tried to accept them again.
It was just a pity that she had hated them for too long, and until now, she still hadn’t been able to completely accept them.
So including scallions, they became the only three things that Yu Jiang could accept a little of to add flavor, but could not actually eat.
Chu Qingzi knew that Yu Jiang hated scallions to the point where she couldn’t eat a single bite.
She had thought that Yu Jiang only hated it, and as for ginger and garlic, she could accept them but didn’t like them enough to eat them on purpose.
Now, after hearing her interesting childhood memory, she understood that their ranking of disgust in her heart was the same.
Chu Qingzi apologized for this and at the same time made a mental note of it.
Hearing this, Yu Jiang tilted her head back so that her nose, which could smell the ginger, could be as far away as possible from this bowl of ginger soup that was emitting the smell.
“You still say I always make unnecessary apologies. Don’t you often do the same? Double standards!”
She huffed, “I also don’t like you verbally apologizing to me every day. From now on, you’re not allowed to do that either.”
Chu Qingzi pondered for a moment, then nodded and said okay.
“Since you don’t like to drink it, then I’ll go pour it out.”
She left with the ginger soup and came back with a bowl not long after.
From a distance, Yu Jiang smelled a rather familiar scent.
She frowned. “999?”
“Yes. You just sneezed. Just in case, you should still drink some medicine.”
This time, Yu Jiang didn’t refuse. She took the bowl from her hand and gulped down the cold medicine.
After swallowing the last mouthful, Yu Jiang, as expected, quickly turned her head to the side and successfully dodged Chu Qingzi’s finger, which was about to reach out and wipe the residual liquid from the corner of her lips.
“Baby?” Chu Qingzi, who had been rejected for the first time, her voice sounded very sad.
Yu Jiang’s expression was unnatural as she persuaded her to “mend her ways.”
“Every time you help me wipe my mouth, you have to put… put your hand.” A similar scene appeared in her mind, causing her cheeks to flush. “In your own mouth. Don’t… don’t you think that’s strange?”
Chu Qingzi was still sad. “Baby, we’ve even kissed. Are you still going to say such distant things to me?”
Yu Jiang: …
She rebuked with shame and anger, “That’s that, and this is this. Can they be lumped together! Even if we’re the best of friends, there’s… there’s no need to do what you do, right!”
Let alone simple good friends, even between a couple, it might not be like this.
Chu Qingzi, did she even know where the line between a friend and a lover was!
This stupid, straight girl who didn’t understand social safety distance at all!
Chu Qingzi said “oh,” as if she finally understood her words. “So what you mind is the action of me eating my fingers, right? Then can I still wipe your mouth for you in the future?”
Yu Jiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, although this person was a social idiot, she was at least an idiot who could understand human language.
“It’s fine, but can you use a tissue to wipe it for me? You use your hand. Don’t you think it’s dirty?”
Chu Qingzi: “Of course you’re not dirty, baby. The cleanest thing in the world is you.”
Yu Jiang: “…”
Alright, as long as she doesn’t swallow her fingers in front of me, I’ll just let this person be.
It wasn’t that Yu Jiang really thought it was that dirty. To take a step back, even if it was really dirty, it should be Chu Qingzi who thought it was dirty, not her, who had suffered no loss.
The reason she didn’t let her do it was entirely because…
Chu Qingzi, when she put her fingers in her mouth in front of her, really had a very lustful and erotic feel to her.
She was an adult, after all. Watching this every day was really unbearable.
Yu Jiang pushed these thoughts aside and asked her a more private question.
“Before me, did you not have any other good friends?”
If you did, did you also do these intimate things you’ve done to me to your other good friends?
You’re already so old. Didn’t your other good friends tell this person that some things are not what simple good friends should do?
Chu Qingzi, understanding something, quickly explained herself.
“Baby, it was my first kiss. Before you, I had definitely never kissed anyone else, nor had I hugged anyone else. I hadn’t even held hands.”
Yu Jiang: …
She burst out, “Who wasn’t a first kiss! That was my first kiss too, okay!”
After speaking, Yu Jiang realized her train of thought had been derailed and glared at her.
“I meant it literally. Just answer me directly.”
Chu Qingzi’s answer was crisp. “No.”
Yu Jiang was skeptical of this, her eyes filled with deep distrust.
“You’re such a nice person. If you just randomly grabbed people at school, there should be a whole bunch who want to be your friend, right?”
“Having you is enough for me, baby. Besides, what you asked was about the past.”
Yu Jiang: “You didn’t know me in the past. In all those years of elementary, middle, and high school, it’s impossible that you didn’t have a single good friend, right?”
Chu Qingzi: “Baby, I’m not lying to you. I really didn’t. Making friends also depends on fate. In all these years, haven’t you also only made one good friend, Chi Jing?”
“I’ve never had many friends to begin with. It’s already very lucky to meet one true good friend. You’re different. So many people like being friends with you, you—”
Chu Qingzi interrupted her with a smile.
“Baby, I really didn’t have any good friends before you. What exactly are you trying to ask by asking me all this?”
Being asked by her, Yu Jiang was instantly at a loss for words.
She didn’t care if Chu Qingzi had any good friends besides herself. She was asking all this just to confirm one thing.
That was, was Chu Qingzi so ignorant of social boundaries because she hadn’t made any deep friendships before meeting her, which led to her being so insensitive in this area?
Now the result was very clear. She had guessed right.
Yu Jiang sighed.
What can I do? I can only indulge this person a little more, within a reasonable range.
After all, thinking about it carefully from Chu Qingzi’s perspective, she was quite pitiful.
After growing up for so long and finally making a good friend who could enter her heart, it turned out that the other person didn’t actually see her as just a simple good friend.
How did that saying go again?
I see you as a sister, but you want to X me?
It was a good thing she had no intention of confessing in this lifetime. Otherwise, Chu Qingzi, upon learning the truth, would probably not dare to make a second good friend for a long time.
Yu Jiang composed herself and put an end to this question.
“It’s nothing. I was just curious. If you haven’t made any, then you haven’t. You’re still young, and you have such a charming personality. You’ll definitely be able to make other good friends in the future.”
As for her, she would definitely part ways with Chu Qingzi after graduation. At that time, she would no longer occupy her “good friend” spot.
Chu Qingzi looked at her very seriously and said, word by word.
“Having you is enough for me, baby.”
Yu Jiang didn’t take her words to heart.
Verbal promises had always been the cheapest things in this world.
“Alright, hurry up and put the bowl back. If we don’t go to sleep soon, the sun will be up.”
We still have class tomorrow morning. Don’t tell me we have to lie and ask for leave.
“Okay, but you haven’t wiped your mouth yet.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the finger that had been rejected once before reached out towards Yu Jiang again.
This time, Yu Jiang didn’t dodge. She obediently tilted her chin up slightly and let her wipe the corners of her lips, which were almost dry.
Chu Qingzi was also very obedient.
After wiping, she didn’t put her finger in her mouth again.
Under Yu Jiang’s approving gaze, Chu Qingzi walked out with the bowl.
After leaving the room and entering the hallway, the moment she turned to close the door, she unhesitatingly lifted the slightly moist finger and put it into her mouth again.
In the bedroom.
Yu Jiang, who had turned off the light and lain down, sat up again with a carp-like flip.
She still hadn’t sent the video to that damn pervert.
Yu Jiang turned on the light again, unplugged her charging phone, and began to lean against the headboard, preparing to edit the French kiss video.
Just as she opened the editing app, the door was pushed open again.
“Do you need something else?”
Chu Qingzi was even more confused than she was. “Didn’t you personally go to the living room and invite me to come sleep?”
Yu Jiang: …
“When I said go back to the room, I meant my bedroom. Didn’t you tell me to sleep here tonight?”
“Can’t I sleep here with you?”
Yu Jiang didn’t even think about it. “Of course not.”
Chu Qingzi asked again in that pitiful tone, “Why? Will I faint if I sleep with you?”
Yu Jiang: “…”
What’s with this feeling of powerlessness, like my weakness has been precisely targeted!
She began to try to use her eyes to force back this person who was pushing her luck. “Even if I don’t faint, it’s still not okay!”
After speaking, she gave her a final ultimatum. “Of course, it’s no problem if you want to sleep in your own room. Then you can choose for yourself. Either I sleep here, or you sleep here. How do you want to choose?”
Of course, Chu Qingzi knew that when she said “sleep,” she meant sleeping alone. Seeing that she really had no intention of agreeing to her request, she had no choice but to leave, aggrieved.
After the door was closed and she confirmed that Chu Qingzi had really left, Yu Jiang patted her chest and let out a big breath.
That was close!
I almost nodded and agreed!
She definitely couldn’t sleep with Chu Qingzi.
Because sleeping with the person you like is addictive!
If they really slept together until graduation, when they separated, it would be difficult for her to get used to sleeping alone again!
So she must stick to her principles. In order not to become a pitiful office worker who suffers from insomnia because she lost her sleeping partner, she must resolutely not agree to Chu Qingzi’s request to share a bed!
As Yu Jiang thought, she also casually grabbed the pillow next to her and took two light sniffs.
The familiar scent, the addictive fragrance, filled her nasal cavity.
She thought with a red face.
Chu Qingzi’s scent is really intoxicating.
It seems I can’t sleep in Chu Qingzi’s room anymore either. If this continues, I’ll become the second damn pervert!
Like a cat on catnip, she couldn’t help but sniff for nearly a minute. Only then did the red-faced Yu Jiang reluctantly put down the pillow and continue with her business.
When she saw the high-definition, uncensored French kiss video, she rolled her eyes halfway, almost stimulated to the point of fainting again.
Oh my god! This… this is too much…
Did Chu Qingzi really not lie to her?
A… a kiss with such a visual impact, was it really… really her first time kissing someone?
This scene, to use Chi Xiaojing’s words to describe it, would definitely be some kind of indecent teasing.
