Chapter 69: Let’s Sleep First

“I just realized you haven’t really posted any photos of me on your WeChat Moments.” Tan Qingya lowered her long eyes slightly, her gaze landing on Zhou Jianghao’s face.

The sudden accusation caught Zhou Jianghao off guard. She coughed lightly. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“If you’re really sorry, you should post a gorgeous photo of me right now and let the whole world know this is your wife.” Tan Qingya had no intention of letting her off easily, but she also couldn’t bear to push too hard. “You can set it to specific groups, but Doctor Liu and that sister of yours have to be able to see it.”

That way, they could feel ashamed of their own inferiority and face reality.

With such a beautiful wife, how could Zhou Jianghao possibly be interested in them?

“Okay.” Zhou Jianghao gave an amused but exasperated smile and lowered her head to pick out photos. She had taken quite a few beautiful shots of Tan Qingya today—each one so stunning it took her breath away. She simply couldn’t decide which was the most beautiful.

They dazzled her eyes.

Tan Qingya simply pulled her onto the sofa, wrapping Zhou Jianghao in her arms as they sat together. She gazed at the images of herself on the phone and couldn’t help praising her. “Little Doctor Zhou, your photography skills are amazing. You made me look like a fairy.”

Zhou Jianghao felt a little embarrassed by the compliment. “It’s because you’re so beautiful.”

Her finger subconsciously scrolled down, and suddenly a photo of a baby appeared on the screen.

Tan Qingya’s gaze fell on it. She had no particular feelings about children and simply stared at it quietly for a moment before realization dawned. “What’s her name?”

Although she had stayed quite a while yesterday to back up Zhou Jianghao, she hadn’t paid attention to the child’s name.

But Zhou Jianghao seemed to care about the little one.

“I think it’s Yangyang.” Zhou Jianghao touched her nose. She hadn’t noted the child’s formal name, but she seemed to recall the Old Madam and Li Tongan calling her Yangyang a few times.

She couldn’t tell if it was the formal name or a nickname.

Tan Qingya didn’t press further. The uncertainty in Zhou Jianghao’s tone meant she wasn’t as invested in the child as she’d imagined.

Since Zhou Jianghao didn’t care, she had no interest in learning more.

Zhou Jianghao continued carefully selecting photos while Tan Qingya idly pinched her soft cheek. “How was the banquet today? Did anyone bully you?”

“No.” Zhou Jianghao shook her head. “They wouldn’t dare bully me, and I won’t let them anyway.”

Tan Qingya loved hearing that last part. She leaned down and kissed Zhou Jianghao’s ear, praising her generously. “Good girl.”

“…”

She wasn’t a child—why did she always praise her like this?

The phone screen dimmed automatically. As Zhou Jianghao moved to light it up again, she suddenly caught sight of her own reflection on the dark surface and froze.

Was she… smiling?

The corners of her mouth curved up slightly, and the joy in her eyes was impossible to hide, like a child who had just eaten candy.

“Are you tired?” Seeing Zhou Jianghao freeze for so long, Tan Qingya gripped her shoulder. “We can do this next time. Let’s go to sleep first.”

“No.”

Zhou Jianghao snapped back to reality and frowned instinctively, unable to believe her reaction to Tan Qingya’s childlike praise.

Tan Qingya leaned over to peer at her expression and saw her brows furrowed like a mountain ridge. She couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch them. “That look on your face doesn’t exactly say ‘no.'”

Zhou Jianghao didn’t want to admit she’d been stunned by her own silliness, so she quickly changed the subject. “All these photos are beautiful. Can I post them all?”

Zhou Jianghao’s blunt topic shift was almost comically straightforward. Tan Qingya sighed inwardly but played along. “Of course.”

What could she do if the little one didn’t want to talk about it?

The Tan Family’s full moon feast wasn’t grand, but it clearly sent a message. Almost everyone in their circle knew that Old Madam Tan had gained a mysterious new great-grandchild. More intriguingly, they were all talking about Tan Qingya’s legendary wife.

During the day, Zhou Jianghao had worn a custom Chinese-style down jacket dress set that Tan Qingya had made for her. It gave her an air of refined elegance, like a cool beauty from a wealthy family, foiling the plans of those who had hoped to see her make a fool of herself.

At the banquet, Old Madam Tan had made a point of introducing Zhou Jianghao, and even Tan Qingya—who usually only made brief appearances—had stayed by her side for most of the event.

Everyone instantly understood.

The Tan Family wasn’t hosting this full moon feast for the baby. It was an excuse to invite all the influential people in their circle and show them just how much they valued Zhou Jianghao.

After this banquet, who would dare look down on her?

When the time came for Tan Qingya and Zhou Jianghao’s wedding, everyone would know exactly what to say and what gifts to bring.

That evening, Zhou Jianghao had given out her WeChat to quite a few people and been added to several elite ladies’ group chats.

So when she posted her nine-photo grid, it wasn’t long before likes poured in. The comments were full of praise for Tan Qingya’s beauty. Amid all the over-the-top flattery, Zhou Qiaoqiao’s stood out awkwardly:

—Sis, you went to a banquet? Looks so fancy! How come there’s no photo of you? Why does your girlfriend always make you take photos? Poor sis, I feel bad for you. If I went out with sis, I’d make sure to take tons of pretty pics of her~ But work was so tiring today. I wanna recharge by soaking in sis’s stunning beauty!

Tan Qingya happened to lean over and see it. She let out a cold chuckle inside and looked at Zhou Jianghao. “Your sister’s got quite the way with words.”

Her tone carried a hint of sarcasm.

“Did she get full marks on her college entrance essay?”

Look at that—it criticized her subtly while sneaking in some self-promotion, then played pitiful with a side of flattery. She covered every base, good and bad.

Zhou Jianghao replied leisurely:

—.

“Just a period?” Tan Qingya raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t deny the spark of delight in her heart.

Zhou Jianghao looked up. “How many characters do you want?”

Tan Qingya burst out laughing. “One period is plenty.”

Compared to just reading and not replying, nothing hit harder than sending a single period. It was pure dismissal. Just imagining the other person’s frustrated face at that little dot was satisfying.

“Won’t your sister get mad if you send that?” After calming down a bit, Tan Qingya started up her passive-aggressive remarks again.

“Yeah, I want her to.” Zhou Jianghao’s expression didn’t change.

“You want her to get mad?” Tan Qingya was stunned. “You’re doing this on purpose?”

Had the little one learned to be naughty?

Zhou Jianghao was concise. “She mentioned you.”

On the surface, it seemed harmless, but something about those words felt off—like a subtle dig at Tan Qingya. Her earlier reaction had confirmed Zhou Jianghao’s suspicions.

“Are you backing me up, Little Doctor Zhou?” Tan Qingya’s heart melted into a puddle. She pulled Zhou Jianghao into a hug and planted a hard kiss on her cheek. “Looks like I didn’t dote on you for nothing.”

With that, her eyes darkened. “We haven’t done it here yet.”

The banquet had ended late, and the two of them were staying at the Old Mansion tonight.

Zhou Jianghao couldn’t help glaring at her. “Why are you thinking about that again?”

“It’s your first time in my room. We should do something memorable.” Tan Qingya was utterly unashamed.

“It’s not my first time today.” Zhou Jianghao countered.

“Hm?” Tan Qingya blinked in surprise. “Have you been here before?”

Zhou Jianghao nodded. “Yeah.”

Her deepest memory of Tan Qingya’s room was from that time when she had burst through the door reeking of herring.

She had been terrified back then.

The culprits who started it all had been scared half to death too, fleeing faster than anyone and leaving her alone to face Tan Qingya.

Tan Qingya had been truly frightening at that time.

In her memory, whenever any of the younger generation threw a tantrum, Tan Yanxi would say, “Keep it up, and I’ll call your Little Aunt to deal with you!”

It worked like a charm, curing every kind of misbehavior.

She had no idea how Tan Qingya, who was just a kid herself back then, had such powerful authority.

But thinking back now, Tan Qingya had actually been gentle deep down. Otherwise, when the stinky, fallen girl crashed into her room, she wouldn’t have put on gloves and tossed over two blankets to wrap her up—instead of just kicking her straight out.

“Oh, I remember now.” Tan Qingya racked her brain for a while before vaguely recalling something. “You did come once before.”

Zhou Jianghao was pleasantly surprised. “You remember?”

“Yeah.”

“You got drunk at a young age, sat at my door crying after you got wasted.”

Zhou Jianghao: ???

When was that?!

“Wasn’t it that time?” Seeing Zhou Jianghao’s blank look, Tan Qingya grew confused too. “Which time was it then?”

“…You tell me about the one you remember first.”

“It was probably right after your college entrance exams. That was around the Old Madam’s birthday. I came back from abroad, and you came back from your graduation party.”

Hearing that, Zhou Jianghao’s face instantly flushed hot.

She remembered now. It was the school-organized graduation dinner after the exams, with teachers and students from every class attending.

She had thought the wine on the table was sweet and tasty, so she drank several glasses.

After that, everything was a blur. She only remembered getting into the car that picked up Li Zhenyu. Li Zhenyu was either too drunk or too tired and stayed quiet the whole ride.

When they arrived at the Tan Family home, she got out and headed to her own room.

She woke up in her own room too.

So when had she gone to Tan Qingya’s? And sat crying at her door… She couldn’t help struggling. “Are you sure you remember right? I didn’t go to your room crying. I remember coming straight back to my room.”

“Baby, it’s just something from a few years ago. The chance of me remembering it wrong is very low.” Tan Qingya let out a faint sigh. After all, no one would dare get drunk and cause a ruckus right outside her room door.

She had been twenty-three at the time, a mature adult woman, while Zhou Jianghao was still young—wearing an oversized school uniform, green and beautiful.

She had been sitting on the ground, her face streaked with tears.

The moment Tan Qingya opened the door, she had scrambled up like a startled little animal and tried to run.

“I even remember giving you a little cloth doll that looked just like you.”

Seeing that Zhou Jianghao had no memory of it at all, Tan Qingya touched her nose sheepishly. She didn’t mention that she’d actually been annoyed by the crying and had opened the door intending to chew the girl out. But the sight of the pitiful little thing sobbing at her doorstep, eyes all puffy and swollen, had made her grab the girl’s collar on a whim and drag her inside.

Her tone might have been a bit harsh back then. With a cold expression, she’d demanded to know why she was crying—meaning to help solve the problem—but she’d come off so intimidating that the girl’s face had gone deathly pale.

“No matter how I asked, you wouldn’t say a word, and you reeked of alcohol. I figured you’d been studying too hard for exams and had let loose with some drinking to blow off steam.”

Sensing it wasn’t anything serious, and with Zhou Jianghao too scared to cry anymore, Tan Qingya had been about to grab her collar again and toss her back out.

Then she’d spotted the little cloth doll on the table by chance. It really did resemble the girl, so she’d casually stuffed it into Zhou Jianghao’s arms.

“You must have seen the doll when you woke up, right?” Tan Qingya couldn’t help asking.

That doll had actually been one her friend had asked her to bring back from abroad. Seeing how pitiful Zhou Jianghao looked, she’d given it away on impulse, and her friend had nagged her about it for ages afterward.

“Ah…” Zhou Jianghao guiltily averted her gaze from Tan Qingya. “I thought it was a graduation gift from the teacher.”

“…”

What teacher hands out a graduation gift as exquisite and pricey as that? If she remembered correctly, that doll had cost two hundred thousand.

But it was all in the past now. Not wanting to burden Zhou Jianghao with it, Tan Qingya dropped the subject and steered the conversation back. “That’s the scene I remember—your first time in my room. What about you? Which time are you referring to?”

She had racked her brains for a long time but still couldn’t recall any other occasion.

Zhou Jianghao said earnestly, “The time you’re talking about, I forgot because I blacked out from drinking. But the time I’m thinking of, we were both completely sober.”

At those words, a bad premonition stirred in Tan Qingya. Sure enough, the next moment, Zhou Jianghao said with dead seriousness, “So I can’t tell you. You have to figure it out yourself.”

“…You’re playing dirty?”

Tan Qingya could hardly believe it. Was this really the Zhou Jianghao she remembered?

“I think that time must have left a pretty deep impression on you.” Zhou Jianghao sighed. Even she hadn’t been able to stand the stench—let alone Tan Qingya.

It was one of their rare moments of interaction. If Tan Qingya remembered it on her own, it would mean more that way, wouldn’t it?

Still, her behavior was a bit cheeky.

Feeling guilty, she tilted her head up and planted a kiss on Tan Qingya’s chin. “To make it up to you, how about I make you feel good tonight?”

“Feel good?” Tan Qingya arched a brow. “How good, exactly?”

“I’ll pleasure you.” Zhou Jianghao explained.

Ah, so tempting.

Tan Qingya couldn’t refuse. She lifted her chin slightly, a touch of arrogance in her voice. “Just this once. No next time.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Zhou Jianghao suddenly stood up from her embrace. As she leaned down, Tan Qingya’s heart skipped a beat—don’t tell me…

The next instant, her body lifted into the air.

It was the first time she’d ever been princess-carried. Flailing in panic, she hurriedly wrapped her arms around Zhou Jianghao’s neck, her voice nearly cracking in fright. “Put me down! Don’t strain your back!”

“It’s fine.” Zhou Jianghao didn’t bat an eye. She dipped her head and brushed her lips against Tan Qingya’s in a soothing kiss. “You’re light.”

With that, she carried Tan Qingya toward the bed.

It was the first time in Tan Qingya’s life that she’d seen the world from this angle, and she couldn’t help marveling at it. What was going on? Zhou Jianghao was turning so dominant.

Ah, this side of her was utterly captivating.

Her body sank into the soft bedding, hot breaths cascading down after.

The little cat pinned her plush toy beneath her, patiently licking every inch of it, marking the toy with her scent from head to tail until she was satisfied.

Her paw accidentally hooked somewhere, and she playfully delved inside. It was stuffed full of soft cotton—warm and snug. The little cat worked diligently, rummaging through the filling in search of the spot that would bring the toy the most pleasure.

And she succeeded, drawing an expression of unprecedented bliss from the toy. Satisfied, the little cat didn’t give it time to recover before embarking on another round of exploration.

That night was a mix of shame and exhilaration for Tan Qingya—shame at the coquettish sounds escaping her lips, even greater shame that she couldn’t hold out in the end, clutching Zhou Jianghao’s arm and begging for mercy.

Remembering how she’d even shed tears later on, she buried her face in the sheets, flushing from head to toe.

Of course, she had to admit Zhou Jianghao knew her stuff. True to her word, she’d delivered unprecedented pleasure.

This girl always came up with clever ways—using hands and mouth to devastating effect. No toys needed; Tan Qingya melted into a puddle, swept away in waves of ecstasy.

It wasn’t that her willpower was weak. Zhou Jianghao was just too quick a study, too thorough a researcher, with stamina to match.

Little Dog’s energy was boundless; she never tired of it—lying down, sitting up, even standing. The more she played, the more excited she got. Little Dog didn’t wear out, but she, the “dog walker,” was left exhausted, every muscle aching, her legs so weak by the end that she could barely stand.