Chapter 22 (1)

  Zhou Yueyue and Yue Laiyi came one after another to visit me. I had just woken up, the water was about to be hung up, while Qin Mo was nowhere to be found.

  Zhou Yue's hands were bandaged, his hair was disheveled, and his jeans had a large hole in them. He limped to the foot of my bed and sat down, not speaking for a long time. Such a shocking visual effect could only be achieved by being trampled by many people at once.

  I asked Yue Lai: "What's wrong with her?"

  Yue Lai scratched his head: "I don't know either, I came over to the hospital after attending a lecture to pick up some medicine for my cold, and happened to run into her. She said you fell into the water and are staying in the hospital, so I came to take a look at you. How did you fall into the water?"

  I think this is a long story, to put it simply, during our conversation, Zhou Yueyue was unusually silent, and we couldn't help but look at her. I tentatively asked: "Are you performing behavioral art? The theme is not talking to strangers?"

  She finally came to, gritted her teeth and said: "I wasn't paying attention and fell halfway." She stared at the hospital room door for two seconds, then said: "Isn't it said that Porsche is fast? You say why did he also drive a Porsche, but when I fell from the stairs and called him, he didn't show up for half a day? Damn, not even as good as a Chery QQ."

  I and Yue were both startled, I was lying in bed and couldn't move, so I could only show my concern with my eyes. Yue quickly jumped up to check the place where she had fallen, but it was already tightly bandaged, making it hard to see the full extent of the injury. Zhou Yueyue waved her hand: "It's nothing, it's nothing." While muttering to herself: "I waited for him at the foot of the stairs for twenty minutes, damn it, Porsche, twenty minutes, from their house to school, he actually took twenty minutes and still hadn't arrived..."

  "I exclaimed in surprise: 'So you know the Porsche brand?'"

  Zhou Yueyue also wondered: "Our family has been using their company's products since we were young, I must know them."

  My wife and I looked at her in shock, those must have been two pairs of frightened eyes. Unexpectedly, a living Hao Men had been lurking beside us, and it had been two years without being discovered by us, for a moment, we didn't know what to say.

  Zhou Yueyue scratched her hair with difficulty under our gaze: "Procter & Gamble, you guys use it too, right?" Two seconds later, she said uncertainly: "Isn't Procter & Gamble and Porsche the same company?"

  Zhou Yueyue's injury was indeed not serious, but He Bi never showed up from start to finish, and no one could figure out what was going on between them. Zhou Yueyue had been acting very depressed all along. Just when we thought she would sneak into He Bi's house tonight and puncture his car tires to vent her anger, she suddenly came to her senses: "I must have had a brain short circuit to call that little brat He Bi, why did I call him? I should have called 110!"

  Yue Lai looked at her with a sorrowful expression, after a long while, he said: "110 is for police reports, your situation requires calling the emergency rescue center 120."

  I think Yuelai shouldn't have had too high hopes for Zhou Yueyue, she didn't call 114 and that's already good enough. After Zhou Yueyue got hurt, immediately calling He Dashao is essentially throwing a tantrum at him. The difference between a bad woman and a good woman lies in the fact that bad women are used to throwing tantrums at multiple men, while good women usually throw tantrums at one man. Zhou Yueyue is obviously a good woman who doesn't easily throw tantrums, from this perspective, He Dashao still has a chance.

  The water in the big bottle was finished, and the nurse came over to replace it with a small one. During this time, Yue Lai mentioned Qin Mo's lecture in the afternoon, and since I and Zhou Yueyue were not present at the scene, it was difficult to understand what had happened, so I couldn't help but lean in and listen carefully.

  Yue Lai said, "Fortunately, you two didn't go. There were so many people, it was like a sea of heads, the auditorium was packed inside and out. Master Qin is usually handsome enough, but when he's lecturing, his charm is unmatched. Every gesture, every movement, is elegant and humorously cold, leaving all the girls in the audience enchanted. In the last half hour of free Q&A, some bold girls even stood up to ask him what kind of girl he likes, who was his dream girl, and so on. Truly daring! The principal's face turned green from sitting below."

  Zhou Yue said with a hateful tone: "If the professor hadn't suddenly gone crazy and called me over, I would have missed this lecture." Heng then curiously leaned in: "So how did Master Qin respond?"

  Yue Lai's expression turned nostalgic: "A master is a master, not revealing even half a word, but saying 'Before I answer your question, I need to see if my girlfriend has come to listen to this lecture.' It was a clever move, and as soon as he finished speaking, the audience erupted in an uproar. They didn't dare make a scene openly, so they all suffered in silence, their hearts shattered into pieces. The entire auditorium was filled with people trying to figure out who the master's girlfriend was. After that, no one dared ask similar questions again.

  Later, not long after, the master received an urgent phone call and ended the lecture early, before the scheduled time. Yue Lai sighed regretfully: "I don't know who made that call, it was really inconsiderate. Why did they have to call at that moment? It's really too much, couldn't they just let the master interact with us a bit longer? How heartless, I'd like to...!"

  Zhou Yu hesitated for half a day, finally couldn't help but cut off the conversation: "That careless phone call... might have been made by me..." After saying that, he probably felt like something was missing, pointed at me and turned around: "But it's not my fault, she accidentally dropped it in water, I didn't do anything wrong, I was just anxious, so I made the call. Your curse can't be applied to me."

  I quickly made my position clear: "This has nothing to do with me, I didn't even have time to be in the know, that retribution can't fall on me, I think..." Before I could finish speaking, a voice interrupted me: "If it has nothing to do with you, then who does it have to do with?"

  I turned around to look, and Qin Mo was standing at the door with a thermos in his hand. Yue Lai was stunned for a moment, then understood what had happened and smiled knowingly.

  Qin Mo sat beside the thermos and said, "Just now it seemed like you were talking about some kind of retribution, wanting to take revenge on Song Song?"

  The air was still for five seconds, and Zhou Yue made a bitter face: "No, I mean that the retribution came to me just in time."

  Qin Mo raised an eyebrow.

  "Then good luck with that."

  Qin Mo laughed out loud and bent down to help me pull up the quilt: "You still have a lot to learn."

  Yue Lai covered her mouth and laughed on the side, I felt my face a bit hot, looking at Qin Mo's slender fingers fiddling with the quilt, it got even hotter. Just thinking of saying something else, but was interrupted by Zhou Yueyue, who said: "Lin Jiao?" My heart skipped a beat, this is really a lingering ghost.

  I didn't actually see him, Qin Mo was blocking my view, and I couldn't push Qin Mo aside just to catch a glimpse of him. All I heard was his voice echoing emptily at the door: "I'm on night shift tonight, so I came over to see if Yan Song is doing any better."

  Qin Mo grasped my hand, turned around and nodded: "Thanks for your hard work, Dr. Lao Lin."

  Lin Qiao nodded and didn't say anything else.

  From the doorway to the corridor, a hollow footsteps gradually sounded, Qin Mo grasped my hand tightly and turned his head after a while, saying: "How did your hand grow so small?"

  After crying and sleeping, I suddenly felt much lighter, and as soon as I saw Qin Mo, a warm current surged in my heart. Although it was different from the sour taste of unrequited love in high school, after studying so many ancient and modern love stories, I inferred that this feeling was also a kind of love, maybe still in its budding stage, but with time, it would grow into a towering tree. I thought I still had many doubts, but Qin Mo said he wouldn't let me go. He appeared at my most embarrassing moment, dropping his work to save the scene, which meant a lot to me, and was no longer just moving. Liking him to loving him was a transformation from quantity to quality; I originally liked him quite a bit, maybe I already had many feelings for him, and after being stirred up by Han Meimei, it finally transformed into love. I thought that my relationship with Qin Mo could be considered officially starting now. However, on this evening, after thinking all this through, I didn't plan to immediately confess to him; mainly because his birthday was in four days, and I couldn't afford an expensive gift, so I decided to save the most precious words for his birthday. This is the philosophy of ordinary people.

  The trees in the residential area have generally shed their leaves, and winter is slowly deepening, with the temperature also getting lower.

  As I was thinking about how to celebrate Qin Mo's birthday, the selection activity for the student union's volunteer teaching in mountainous areas ended quietly. We were completely unaware of it, but received a notification from above that afternoon, saying that I and Zhou Yueyue had both passed the selection with high scores, standing out from over 200 registered candidates, becoming two glorious volunteer teachers. This volunteer teaching activity lasted for one week, during which the organization arranged for me to teach Chinese and Zhou Yueyue to teach history. After learning the news, I was confused for a long time, while Zhou Yueyue sighed and said: "There's no way, competition is cruel, this is an era of survival of the fittest." Qin Mo's view on this was: "You going to teach Chinese is fine, but Zhou Yueyue going to teach history... aren't you two actually going to harm the mountain children?" Zhou Yueyue heard Qin Mo's comment and sat sadly under Chairman Mao's statue in the square for a long time.

  The departure date for the volunteer teaching was set on the second day of Qin Mo's birthday. On his birthday, he accompanied me to buy daily necessities and didn't mention that it was his own birthday at all.

  I sent Yan Lang away to Zhou Yuejue's house, thinking it was a wise decision, but when stir-frying, I painfully discovered that there was no soy sauce. Only then did I deeply realize the importance of Yan Lang's existence. I wanted to call Qin Mo to bring a bottle back, but when I took out my phone, I remembered that this meal was a birthday gift for him and I wanted to give him a surprise. After considering it for a while, I quietly put my phone away and changed clothes to go out myself. By around 7:30, I finally finished preparing the dishes.

  I was anxiously waiting for Qin Mo, feeling uneasy like a nail house facing the housing administration. After waiting for half a day without seeing him return, I got a bit hungry and decided to run downstairs to buy a bowl of wonton noodles back to calm my nerves while eating. As I ate halfway through the wontons, I heard what sounded like the opening of a door next door, thinking that Qin Mo had probably returned home, so I quickly opened the door. The lines had been swirling in my head for a long time, and just as I was about to say them, I froze when my eyes met those of the blonde beauty standing in front of me. She was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreign girl.

  Qin Mo was about to step into the house when he saw me stop in my tracks. He looked me up and down, then raised his hand to glance at his watch: "It's already 9 o'clock, where are you still going out so late?"

  I was stunned for a while, and then I muttered, "Yeah, I'm a bit full, I'll go out for a walk." After finishing speaking, I turned around with a cold expression, went back into the house, closed the door behind me, and leaned against the door to be stunned again. I didn't know whether to wash the dishes first or take a bath first. I was dazed for a while, and suddenly I remembered that I had said I wanted to go out for a walk earlier? Yan Lang wasn't there, and the 130-square-meter house suddenly felt cold and empty. It was only nine o'clock, which wasn't late at all. I tidied up and prepared to go out, searching everywhere for my wallet and keys. Just as I heard the door lock click open, Qin Mo walked in leisurely, closed the door behind him, and looked at me with a calm expression.

  Tonight, it seemed like there was always a thread in my mind that couldn't be connected. After a long time, I finally reacted and exclaimed in shock: "I clearly closed the door..."

  He weighed the keys in his hand with a hint of a smile: "Have you forgotten that I'm the landlord? How could the landlord possibly not have the key?"

  I thought so too, but I just encountered an unexpected situation and the first line of dialogue didn't come out smoothly, which greatly affected my subsequent thinking. After thinking for five seconds, I asked him: "You haven't eaten yet, have you? There's something to eat on the table in the dining hall, or would you like to have a little?"

  Qin Mo didn't say a word and still maintained that expression: "The one just now was my secretary Vanshirlely, who came over with me to pick up two important documents..."

  My face turned red, interrupting his words: "Do you think I'm eating vinegar? I didn't eat vinegar, I didn't misunderstand you, really not. I just was a bit surprised, mainly because I had something to say to you and saw a stranger suddenly without reacting. My thoughts were disrupted, feeling a bit tense."

  He smiled and shook his head, walking past me to the dining hall, saying as he went: "I'm really hungry, good thing you saved dinner. What did you want to talk about? We can discuss it while we eat..." His words trailed off abruptly, and after a moment, he said in a low voice: "So many dishes."

  I dragged on for half a day, awkwardly saying: "Isn't today your birthday?" After speaking, I remembered and followed him to the dining hall, pointing at several cold dishes: "You eat these first, the others I'll go heat up, they were made early and are almost all cold now."

  He didn't respond to the second half of my sentence and softly asked: "How did you know today is my birthday?"

  "I'm not stupid, I've seen your ID before, it's not that hard to remember your birthday."

  As soon as the words were spoken, I was suddenly pulled into his arms. He had always been warm and gentle like a spring breeze, but this time his strength was unprecedented, holding me so tightly that I couldn't move. To save electricity, I only left one small lamp on, making the dining room dimly lit, which was particularly suitable for committing crimes. His eyes curved slightly upwards, shining brightly as he looked at me: "Song Song, you still dare to say that I'm not in your heart."

  I instinctively retorted with great momentum: "Who says you're not in my heart?" After finishing, I felt it wasn't right and explained: "I meant to say that I never said you weren't in my heart." Thinking again, still feeling it wasn't right, I continued explaining: "What I wanted to say is that I've never even mentioned the words 'you're not in my heart'."

  Qin Mo's head was buried in my shoulder, and he chuckled: "Alright alright, you don't need to emphasize it, I know you have me in your heart."

  I thought for half a day before I realized that I had been tricked by him. I struggled to get out of his arms or pull him out of mine. He rubbed my head: "Don't move, if you don't want any accidents to happen, just stand still and let me hold you for a while."

  I swallowed hard and stood up straight to let him hold me. Hesitating about when to say that precious sentence I had been holding for a long time.

  We stuck together tightly, I said: "Qin Mo."

  He grunted in response.

  I called his name again.

  He still responded lazily.

  Although the development of tonight's situation is almost completely beyond my expectation, which makes most of the previously thought-out lines unspeakable, this line must be spoken out loud, it's a birthday gift I gave to him.

  I slowly raised my hand to wrap around his waist, fortunately I couldn't see his expression, so it wasn't that embarrassing. I said: "Qin Mo, I... you... and... happy birthday."

  Suddenly, my waist was tightly wrapped around, and I was lifted up by him before I could react. He stood between my legs, with a smile in his eyes, slightly tilted his head, and softly said: "What did you just say? I didn't hear it clearly."

  I leaned back slightly: "Happy birthday."

  He shook his head: "No, the previous sentence. What about you?"

  I looked around and said: "I have nothing to do with you, didn't hear that?" His expression clearly showed he understood, but he still wanted me to say it again, how shameless.

  He didn't say a word, just smiled and gazed at me quietly, with a glint in his dark eyes. I pretended to be calm, pushing him away with my hand: "Take a step back, I'll get down."

  He didn't back away, but instead seemed to find it entertaining and leaned in closer. I watched as his lips descended, but not onto mine, instead landing scorching hot on my neck. Pausing for two seconds, unlike before, there was no gentle transition, immediately followed by fierce sucking and biting, I tilted my head back and let out a pained moan, my body suddenly engulfed in flames.

  His hand slipped into my sweater, skin touching, fingertips carrying a scorching temperature, lips and tongue had bitten down to the chin, then to the corner of the mouth, inch by inch kissing, I felt my heart racing, wanting to face each other head-on, but couldn't. He bit my lower lip, his voice low and husky: "Want me?"

  My mind was a complete muddle, instinctively clinging to his shoulder: "Want...", until he undid the buttons on my back with both hands, and I suddenly came to my senses, hastily shaking my head: "Don't."

  He ignored me, his hands still in motion. I got anxious: "I've already said no, why don't you respect me?" He comfortingly kissed my earlobe: "Don't be afraid." His hands cooperated to gently massage my back.

  I almost cried: "I'm not afraid, the key is that my aunt has arrived, you don't want to fight to the death, do you......"

  Qin Mo stopped in his tracks, paused for a moment, and said with a hint of reproach: "You really are an unreasonable aunt."