Forbidden to Flirt and Run 39 p1

Chapter 39 p1

Xu Qingtang bent down to pick up the phone from the floor. The screen was fine. She could only reluctantly hang up the call and look at the living room, feeling worse than dead.

“Senior Sister…”

Everyone looked embarrassed, mainly because Xu Qingtang’s speech when she had just entered was too impassioned and full of ups and downs, making it impossible for them not to hear.

The atmosphere was silent for a moment. Her senior apprentice-sister gave an awkward laugh, a little unsure of how to save her junior apprentice-sister’s face. After a moment, she said, “Qingtang, happy birthday. We… um, prepared a surprise for you.”

Then her senior apprentice-sister hinted at the other colleagues, and they started to sing the birthday song.

After the birthday song, a colleague approached Xu Qingtang, watched her cut the cake, and hesitated to speak. In the end, he glanced around and retreated.

After the celebration, when her colleagues had all left, her senior apprentice-sister patted Xu Qingtang’s shoulder with pity. “Qingtang, I never thought you had such a fierce side in private.”

Xu Qingtang ate her cake and sighed wistfully. “Senior Sister, don’t tease me. I’m already considering which river is more suitable to jump into.”

Her senior apprentice-sister laughed heartily and went to take a shower while singing “A Fire in Winter.”

Xu Qingtang: …

Outside the window, small snowflakes were fluttering. Xu Qingtang tidied up the living room. Just as she closed the refrigerator door, she received a text message from Gu Yizhi: [Miss Xu, a pleasure to cooperate with you.]

Xu Qingtang: [?]

Gu Yizhi: [I’m downstairs from your dormitory.]

Xu Qingtang blinked, glanced at the falling snow outside the window, and felt it was very unreal. Just as she was about to get up and go downstairs, she thought for a moment, went back to her room to change her clothes, put on some lipstick, and then hurried downstairs.

The old, dim streetlights cast a faint halo on the snow.

In the fine, falling snow, Gu Yizhi was sitting in the car. The car’s dome light made her face clear. Xu Qingtang quickened her pace, came to the side of the car, patted the snowflakes off her body, opened the car door, her tone unable to hide her surprise. “Why did you suddenly come?”

Gu Yizhi stuffed a hot water bottle into Xu Qingtang’s hands and said softly, “Miss Xu’s conditions were too tempting, so I came.”

The warmth of the hot water bottle quickly dispelled the cold from Xu Qingtang’s body. Xu Qingtang watched the car drive out of the alley, the street scene flying past the window, and clicked her tongue. “And you said my dao heart wasn’t stable. Someone is no different.”

The road became wider and brighter. Xu Qingtang glanced outside again. “It’s a dark and windy night. Where are you planning to take me?”

Gu Yizhi: “Guess.”

Xu Qingtang blinked. “I can’t guess.”

Gu Yizhi: “You know too much about someone.” Gu Yizhi gave another short smile. “To seal your mouth.”

Xu Qingtang: “You’re making me unable to sleep at night.”

After joking, Xu Qingtang asked seriously, “Are you here for work? Or?”

Gu Yizhi said, “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Xu Qingtang rested her face in her palm and let out a long “ah.”

As the car was driving, Xu Qingtang was replying to her friends’ messages when she suddenly received a WeChat message from colleague A, who had just celebrated her birthday.

[Qingtang? I wanted to ask you, what did you mean by what you said when you came in just now?]

[I didn’t mean anything else. Alright, I wanted to ask you…]

This ellipsis, for anyone with a little curiosity, would probably reply to her. Unfortunately, Xu Qingtang was not very curious and could more or less guess what he meant.

She didn’t reply.

Then, a call came in.

Xu Qingtang took it out and saw it was colleague A.

After several attempts, Xu Qingtang answered. Colleague A said, “Did I wake you up?”

Xu Qingtang: “No. Is there something you need?”

Colleague A said, “Um… there were a lot of people just now, so it wasn’t convenient to ask. Qingtang, I wanted to know, do you have a boyfriend?”

Xu Qingtang: “No.”

Colleague A’s tone was a little excited. “What a coincidence.”

Xu Qingtang: “You don’t have a boyfriend either?”

Colleague A: “No, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not gay.”

Xu Qingtang: “Then it’s not a coincidence. I am.”

Colleague A: “…”

After hanging up, Xu Qingtang explained, “We’re just colleagues. We don’t have much contact.”

Gu Yizhi: “My girlfriend is too popular. I’m thinking about what to do.”

Xu Qingtang gave a sweet smile. “No need to think. Your girlfriend obviously only likes you.”

Gu Yizhi also smiled upon hearing this.

On the outskirts of City C, there was a birch forest. At this time, fine snow was falling, and the ground was white. Gu Yizhi parked the car on the side of the road and motioned for Xu Qingtang to get out. Xu Qingtang stepped on the thin snow and looked around. “What are we doing here?”

There were also many tourists or nearby residents in the distance. Gu Yizhi took Xu Qingtang’s hand, her palm warm. “Nothing. I just wanted to go for a walk with you.”

“To see all four seasons, not just today, and not just tomorrow.”

There were some unspoken words that Gu Yizhi didn’t tell her.

She wanted her to experience all four seasons in the future, and for any scenery, any matter, she would think of her.

Xu Qingtang saw the first snow of her life in City C, but because she was busy, she was happy for a while and then lost the novelty. But with Gu Yizhi by her side, even though she had seen heavy snow more than once, she still felt that everything was new and beautiful.

As they walked through the snow, the sound of snow falling from the roadside was very clear in the night. Xu Qingtang and Gu Yizhi walked to the lakeside. The lake had not yet frozen. In front of them were a few children running wildly with sparklers, setting off small fireworks in the dark night.

The two of them moved to the side. Xu Qingtang happened to lower her head to tidy her collar and shake off the snow on it.

Something suddenly flashed across the calm and smooth surface of the lake.

Xu Qingtang first subconsciously followed it with her eyes. Realizing it was a reflection, she looked up—only to see that the black jade-like sky was not only filled with falling snow, but also countless light points of different colors.

The light points slowly converged in the air, forming the shape of a whole bouquet of roses.

The roses remained in the snowy night for a few seconds, then slowly began to bloom. When they reached their fullest, they turned into sparkling fireworks and scattered in all directions, leaving a brief and brilliant display in the night sky.

Finally, they converged into a sentence.

Miss Xu, happy birthday.

There were a few gasps of admiration from the surroundings.

Xu Qingtang had seen a drone light show before. At first, she was still thinking about what day it was. When she saw the end, she couldn’t help but turn back and hold Gu Yizhi’s face with both hands, blinking. “Gu Zhizhi, you’re making me really want to kiss you.”

Gu Yizhi raised her hand and pinched her cheek, her voice gentle. “Happy birthday, Xu Tangtang.”

Xu Qingtang couldn’t help but smile and told her about the mix-up with her birthday. The light show in the sky was still going on. She also mimicked Gu Yizhi and pinched her cheek. “Gu Zhizhi, were you raised on romance?”

Gu Yizhi smiled. “I’m allergic to romance.”

Xu Qingtang: “You’re so vengeful. That’s not good.”

Xu Qingtang tilted her head and proposed a solution. “How about this? I’ll show you a magic trick. After you see it, you’ll be able to forget. Do you want to try?”

Gu Yizhi: “Alright.”

Xu Qingtang held out her left hand, her palm open. “Look where my hand is pointing, and follow it slowly. Got it?”

She held out her hand and slowly moved it up. As Gu Yizhi looked up as instructed, Xu Qingtang slowly leaned over, kissed her on the lips, then withdrew her hand and asked with a smile, “Still vengeful?”

Gu Yizhi said, “Why are you so cute?”

Xu Qingtang raised her chin a little. “Because I am the embodiment of cuteness.”

The two of them wandered around the birch forest for a while. Xu Qingtang stood under a tall, thin tree for a while, then squatted down and slowly made two round, chubby little snowmen. “This is Little Gu Zhi, and this is Little Xu Tang. I hope they won’t be covered by snow tomorrow, and won’t melt.”

These were things that Xu Qingtang had been very disdainful of doing in the past. For no other reason than that they seemed too childish. But when she was with Gu Yizhi, she couldn’t help but have these many strange thoughts.

She turned her head and asked, “How is it? Are they beautiful?”

Gu Yizhi commented, “They’re good. There’s a lot of room for improvement in your craftsmanship.”

So direct and yet so tactful…

Xu Qingtang chuckled. “You’re not being biased, are you?”

After the excitement of playing in the snow passed, Xu Qingtang found that her hands were already numb from the cold. It was getting late, so the two of them discussed heading back.

When they returned to the city, Xu Qingtang fiddled with her phone, her eyes secretly glancing at Gu Yizhi. She asked casually, “What time are you going back tomorrow?”

“Noon.”

Xu Qingtang nodded, originally worried that she would be too rushed and tired if she went back overnight.

These past few days, Xu Qingtang had roughly figured out the roads in City C. The scene on the roadside was clearly not the way back to the dormitory. “Did we take a wrong turn?”

Gu Yizhi nodded. “Yes.”

Finally, the car stopped in front of a hotel. Gu Yizhi turned her head, her beautiful and seductive eyes blinking gently. “I’m lost.”

Xu Qingtang felt a little hot all over.

*