This trick worked wonders. Zhao Qingyu scampered back to her room, changing clothes while packing her luggage.
Shen An finished changing too. Since he’d been “hospitalized” on short notice, his bags had been left behind.
He packed them up quickly, grabbed his small backpack, and headed straight to the Grand Hotel’s third floor.
As he sat there leisurely, marveling at the lavish breakfast spread, Zhao Qingyu appeared at the third-floor entrance, dragging her suitcase with a scowl.
She’d swapped her jeans for form-fitting shorts that showed off her long legs, paired with a loose gray knit sweater and black knee-high boots—a perfect autumn look.
With fall deepening, the weather had cooled nicely, so the outfit suited the season.
“Yo, you’re quick this time.”
Shen An grinned as she dragged her suitcase over, teasing her lightly.
Zhao Qingyu dumped the suitcase aside and crossed her arms, pursing her lips. “You done eating?”
“Almost. You not eating?”
“No need.”
Zhao Qingyu drawled lazily. “I don’t have a habit of eating breakfast.”
Shen An frowned slightly. “That’s no good. Go eat something now.”
“I don’t need to!”
Zhao Qingyu repeated firmly, face stern.
Shen An arched a brow, thinking she was definitely the type who responded to a gentle touch but not force.
He stood slowly and moved behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Just grab anything. It’s not good for your stomach otherwise.”
“I…”
“Come on~” Shen An’s tone was soft as he gently nudged her forward.
Eh~
Zhao Qingyu’s lips curved up slightly. “You’re hopeless. Studying English is such a waste of your talents. You should’ve gone into nursing or something—you’re always fussing over health.”
“I think so too.”
Shen An nodded in agreement.
“Heh, then why’d you pick English?”
“Sigh, let’s not dwell on the past.” Shen An sighed. Did she think he’d chosen it willingly?
With Shen An’s accompaniment, Zhao Qingyu reluctantly picked out a bowl of plain congee.
They ate and chatted for about half an hour until her phone rang.
She answered, then dabbed her mouth with a napkin and said softly to Shen An, “The car’s ready.”
Must’ve been the driver calling.
Shen An had finished eating and stood. “Great, let’s head out.”
“Wait a sec.”
Zhao Qingyu suddenly stopped him.
“Hm?”
He turned back to her, puzzled and a bit wary, fearing she’d pull some last-minute stunt.
“It’s easier to spot the speck in someone else’s eye than the beam in your own.”
“Look at you, not even wiping your mouth after eating?” But his worries were unfounded.
Zhao Qingyu had no ulterior motive. She grabbed a napkin and gently wiped the corner of his mouth.
Yet her words seemed to carry a deeper meaning.
Shen An narrowed his eyes and said softly, “Thanks for wiping my mouth, Senior Sister.”
“Hmph.”
Zhao Qingyu huffed lightly, tossed the napkin on the table, and strode ahead. “Let’s go.”
“Your luggage, Senior Sister.”
“Oh~”
Zhao Qingyu ignored him and kept walking toward the door.
Shen An’s mouth twitched. He dutifully picked up her suitcase, sighing helplessly. “So delicate, Young Lady.”
They walked from the Grand Hotel to the main entrance, back to where they’d started.
The car waited at the gate. Shen An went to the trunk to load the luggage while Zhao Qingyu slid right into the back seat.
By the time he finished, she was comfortably settled.
But he didn’t get in right away.
Shen An paused at the car door and glanced back gently—at the faintly visible Grand Hotel in the distance, and the Ferris wheel blurring even farther out.
Two days? No, two and a half.
A strange nostalgia washed over him. Was it the end of a pleasant vacation, or the events of those two and a half days?
The window rolled down slowly. Zhao Qingyu looked at him in confusion. “What’re you staring at? Get in already. Don’t wanna go back?”
Shen An turned, his smile warm.
Zhao Qingyu’s heart skipped. She murmured, “Hurry up and get in.”
“Do I have to sit up front again?” Shen An pointed at the passenger seat, his smile turning teasing.
Zhao Qingyu’s cheeks flushed faintly. He was clearly poking fun at her earlier reluctance to sit with him.
Maybe that was part of what he was nostalgic for.
“Get in or run back.”
Zhao Qingyu lifted her chin, feigning arrogance with a huff.
“Tsk~”
Shen An chuckled and opened the passenger door. Zhao Qingyu frowned instantly, tone sharp. “Trying to die?”
“Oh, sorry. Wrong door.”
Shen An’s apology lacked sincerity. He leisurely opened the back door instead and sat beside her.
Zhao Qingyu shot him an exasperated glare. “Funny? So childish!”
“Hey, I just wanted to test Senior Sister’s feelings for me.”
Shen An turned, grinning.
As if she had any feelings~ He’s just trying to rile me up.
Zhao Qingyu wrinkled her dainty nose and ignored him, turning to gaze out the other window.
“Alright, we can go. Thanks for the ride.”
Shen An politely said to the driver up front.
The driver nodded slightly, and the car pulled away smoothly.
“Phew~ Finally on the road home.” Shen An stretched lazily, leaning back in his seat.
Zhao Qingyu still ignored him.
Of course, with the driver up front, she couldn’t fully relax or be as gentle with Shen An as when they were alone.
But Shen An wouldn’t miss the chance.
The more restrained she was, the more fun he had teasing her.
He scooted closer. Zhao Qingyu panicked and shrank away to the other side.
He kept pushing until she was backed against the door with nowhere to go. Only then did she turn, her eyes flashing with warning and chill.
Shen An shamelessly batted his eyes and whined dramatically, “No room to sit, Senior Sister.”
Ugh~ Kinda gross.
Zhao Qingyu’s lips twitched. Glancing at the wide-open space on his side, she snarked, “What, you got four asses or something?”
“I don’t have four asses, but I wanna sit next to you, Senior Sister.”
Shen An grinned, flashing his white teeth.
Zhao Qingyu pursed her lips. She glanced meaningfully at the driver up front, then glared at Shen An—meaning: Someone’s watching. Behave.
Perfect.
Shen An ignored it. He kept scooting until she couldn’t even shift her legs.
Zhao Qingyu was speechless. She sat all cramped and uncomfortable, barely able to move.
She raised her little hand and thumped him hard.
Shen An didn’t budge.
Damn it…
Zhao Qingyu leaned to his ear, voice full of threat. “Scoot away!”
“I’m kinda sleepy, Senior Sister.”
Shen An said softly.
“Then go sleep over there! Plenty of room—you could even lie down!”
“I wanna sleep leaning on your lap, Senior Sister.”
“Shut up~” Zhao Qingyu lowered her voice.
Shen An pressed on with his utterly shameless coquetry. “Lap pillow!”
Zhao Qingyu felt a little numb.
It wasn’t that she disliked it. It was just… there was a driver up front, and this wasn’t just any ordinary driver…
So she felt a bit panicked.
It was like being in front of the elders at home—you always had to mind yourself a little.
That said, even though Shen An thought his own coquetry was “disgusting” and he was extremely unaccustomed to it, Zhao Qingyu didn’t find it disgusting at all.
Perhaps it was that beauty was in the eye of the beholder. To her, Shen An’s coquettish side was incredibly rare, and even his occasional childish moments left her utterly enchanted.
Especially when he was coquetry toward her.
Boys usually liked it when their girlfriends acted coquettish toward them, but from another angle, weren’t girls the same?
Girls even hoped their boyfriends could be more genuine and carefree around them, showing their true selves.
That kind of contrast was something both sides yearned for equally.
Moreover, Zhao Qingyu had always seen herself as the dominant one—the unbeatable big-sister type.
Shen An’s show of weakness had undoubtedly hit right at the “self-image” deep in her heart.
“Senior Sister~”
Shen An shook her little hand, his gentle swaying motion like he was also shaking the prim and proper heart within her.
After pondering for a moment, Zhao Qingyu raised her hand and pressed a button beside her.
And so, an amusing scene unfolded.
A partition gradually rose up from the back seat of the car, somewhat like the protective barrier in a taxi.
But unlike a taxi’s barrier, this one was fully enclosed.
Once it rose, it blocked the view between front and back—the driver couldn’t see the passengers, and the passengers couldn’t see the driver.
Shen An watched the partition rise, a bit surprised.
Zhao Qingyu, meanwhile, glanced at the rearview mirror inside the car. She could vaguely make out the driver flashing a smile that carried a hint of deeper meaning.
Oh no…
Zhao Qingyu felt a deep wave of embarrassment.
Shen An had only wanted to rest his head on her lap, and in her shyness, she’d activated this partition.
But in reality, once it was up, it tacitly implied all sorts of things.
After all, the driver couldn’t see what was happening in the back. Who knew what sneaky things the two of them might get up to?
In the driver’s imagination, would it really stop at just a lap pillow?
Wouldn’t it involve kissing, hugging, and cuddling?
“Senior Sister, this car has a feature like that?”
Shen An pointed at the fully raised partition, clicking his tongue in wonder. No wonder it was her personal ride—who knew if the windows were bulletproof.
Zhao Qingyu shot him an irritated glance. She had no time to answer his questions.
Only now did she realize, too late, that raising the partition was like saying, “Nothing to see here,” which only confirmed that their relationship was anything but ordinary.
It’s over…
Zhao Qingyu was still frantically thinking of how to play it off when Shen An’s hand had already wandered restlessly over her smooth, silky thigh.
Hiss.
Zhao Qingyu’s delicate body trembled. She snapped out of her thoughts and stared at him. “You… don’t get frisky!”
Not getting frisky was impossible.
Zhao Qingyu had already made it that much more obvious by raising the partition. Staying still would be idiotic.
Shen An’s hand grew even more restless, kneading and pinching her thigh as if he could never get enough, utterly reluctant to let go.
This infuriated Zhao Qingyu. She smacked his shoulder hard and snapped, “Are you going to sleep or not?”
“Sleep!”
Shen An quickly lay down, gently resting his head on her thigh.
His cheek pressed against her smooth skin, like pillowing on a slab of cold jade—faintly cool, with an indescribable silkiness.
Then, Shen An continued playing with her thigh.
Resting was resting; it didn’t get in the way.
Unfortunately, she was wearing long boots that covered her calves below the knee.
Zhao Qingyu was utterly speechless.
She could only shyly cover her face, trying to keep the flush on her cheeks from showing too much.
But Shen An wasn’t done. His other hand wrapped around her waist, rubbing between her curves, showing signs of slipping under the hem of her knit top and sneaking inside.
This, Zhao Qingyu could not tolerate.
She grabbed his ear and said coldly, “Why do you have so many fidgety little movements when you’re supposed to be sleeping?”
This guy was getting way too bold!
Shen An froze, then said sheepishly, “No, no, I’m sleeping right now.”
Hmph~
Seeing him back down, Zhao Qingyu secretly chuckled to herself.
Suddenly, a spark of heat flashed in her eyes.
After a moment’s thought, she pressed his hand down and took the initiative to lift the hem of her knit top.
With his head on her lap, Shen An could see the glimpse of fairness revealed beneath the lifted fabric from an incredibly close distance.
It was her lower abdomen, her navel plainly visible.
She lowered her head slightly and whispered, “It’s not that I won’t let you get handsy, but you need to think it through carefully.”
“After all, I’m not some roadside toy. If you touch, you have to pay the price.”
Shen An’s throat bobbed. “What price?”
Zhao Qingyu gave him a silky, seductive glance.
What price?
Did she really need to spell it out?
If you touch, you take responsibility.
Shen An shivered and promptly closed his eyes, behaving perfectly. “Going to sleep, going to sleep.”
The word “responsibility” was every man’s nightmare.
Zhao Qingyu: ???
She yanked his ear hard, grinding her teeth. “Get up! Get off me!”
She was furious now.
Shen An clung tightly to her waist, eyes shut, refusing to budge or speak—like he was playing dead.
And taking advantage of the lifted hem, he buried his face against her lower abdomen, his nose tip pressing right into her navel.
Zhao Qingyu grew even more embarrassed and annoyed, pulling harder.
But after tugging for a while, Shen An didn’t move an inch. Instead, she got tired.
Pursing her lips, she simply tugged lightly at her knit top, letting the hem drape over his head.
Like it that much, huh?
Suffocate in there!
After this little mental victory, Zhao Qingyu couldn’t help but sigh again.
Sigh~
She had no choice but to helplessly let him fool around, with no way to stop him.
Before long, she even began gently patting his back, as if coaxing him to sleep.
Their relationship was such a muddled mess.
Even Zhao Qingyu herself couldn’t put it into words.
A total jumble of accounts…
Zhao Qingyu looked up, a mix of distress and amusement in her expression.
Ambiguity was always so tormenting—on the verge of breaking through, yet so intoxicating.
Someone once said the best moment in a relationship was the ambiguous stage.
Because both sides tacitly played along, guarding that secret known only to each other with perfect harmony.
Unconsciously, Zhao Qingyu’s little hand had grown restless too.
Somehow, it slipped under his shirt from above, touching Shen An’s back.
Her palm gliding over the scars on his back only drew her deeper in.
Shen An, eyes closed, raised his brow slightly. He wondered if Zhao Qingyu had some kind of issue…
Why touch there of all places? Why the scars?
Or did men’s scars really hold that much appeal for women?
Shen An couldn’t speak now; he had to commit to playing dead.
So he just went along with whatever she did.
He wasn’t losing out anyway.
Her soft thigh made the perfect pillow, the faint fragrance of her skin the best lullaby.
And the knit top draped over him served as an eyemask, blocking the harsh daylight.
The corners of Shen An’s mouth curved up as he peacefully sought sleep.
