Yan rushed back to her room in a single breath. After she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it, panting heavily. She bit down on her lower lip in annoyance, then covered her face in her hands. Why did I react so agitatedly? If she had answered the questions calmly, she could have pretended that nothing happened. Rather, she had done it now. By reacting so strongly in front of Han Qing, she indicated that she was very conscious about it.
Sobs, what a cowardly and shameful person I am. How am I going to go downstairs later? Moreover, just what did he mean by doing what he did last night? Should I… simply act as if nothing had happened after all? As the thought crossed her mind, she praised her own wit. As long as she pretended nothing happened, they could go back to their normal state and there would not be a problem.
Taking a deep breath, she silently fired herself up. Then, she opened the door again. She was about to go downstairs when she saw Han Qing standing in front of her. Jumping in fright, her eyes widened in shock and her body took several steps back in reflex. “W-Why are you here?” Wasn’t he supposed to be downstairs having a discussion with Su Jiu? Why did he suddenly appear here even though not much time had passed?
“Are you only going to eat so little?” Han Qing couldn’t forget the thought of her eating so little while they were downstairs just now, so he asked her the question the moment he saw her. Stunned, she woodenly nodded her head. “I-I’m already full; I can’t take another bite.”
“Eat a bit more. I’ll send you home after that.” After staying out the whole night, her parents must be worried sick. After an incident like last night’s had occurred, I should have sent her to the hospital, then sent her home. But, she probably did not want to worry her parents, so she asked me to send her to a hotel. Even so, how could I possibly allow a young lady to stay at a hotel by herself? Besides, she was… His thoughts trailed off as his gaze landed on the injury on her face. Although he had applied medicine on the spot where she was hit yesterday, a faint shadow of it remained even after one night had passed.
“Does your face still hurt?” His voice subconsciously softened considerably. His hand reached out to cover the wound on her face, his thumb brushing against it lightly. Yan shuddered, and his brows furrowed in response. “Is it very painful? Let’s apply the ointment again.”
In truth, Yan did not feel pain. Although the slap to her face had hurt, the ointment he applied to her injury was anti-inflammatory. After a night’s rest, the wound was more or less healed, but it hurt when it was touched. It was just that when his cold fingertips had brushed against her, she was unable to control the shudder of excitement that ran through her. She became nervous and she stuttered, “N-No, it doesn’t hurt. It’s much better now.”
“Where’s the medicine?” he asked.
“I-Inside; shall I go and take it?”
“Yeah.”
Thus, she turned around and went to take the ointment. She had left it in the bathroom after applying it last night. After picking up the ointment, she brought it back to him and unwittingly handed it to him. After she handed it over to him, she suddenly realized that her wounds were on her face. She could have applied it herself while she was in the bathroom just now. Right now, she had chosen the longer route by handing the ointment over to him. Isn’t this indicating that I want him to put it on for me? She reached out awkwardly. “I-I can do it myself.”
However, he had opened the cover of the ointment and was already helping her to spread it on. Lowering her eyes uncomfortably, she tried to avoid it.
“Don’t move.” His breath blew against her face next to her cheeks. In response, she nervously blinked her eyes quickly. She could feel his slightly warm fingers sliding across her face, inch by inch, until he was done with the application. By then, she was so nervous that her toes had curled up.
“I’m done. You should head down and eat a little bit more. I’ll send you back later.”
“Oh, okay. G-Good…” Yan nodded her head frantically as she followed him downstairs. Sky, who had been sitting on the sofa, ran away silently when it saw her walking behind Han Qing.
She watched it quietly. Is that necessary? Can’t you give me some face in front of Han Qing? Fleeing so hastily, it was as if she had abused it in private.
“Um, Sky doesn’t seem to like me anymore…”
“Yeah,” he replied faintly, “Sky doesn’t like being disturbed during its mealtime. You were holding onto it for too long this morning. Perhaps it thinks that you were trying to snatch its food from it.”
She remained quiet. How can I possibly snatch a cat’s food? “I thought it was because I scared it away with my petting. By the way… Why do you keep a cat here? I’ve never heard you mention this before…” She thought that after being by Muzi’s side for so long, she had seen the truest side of him most of the time. It never crossed her mind that this man had a house like this, nor that he would own a pet cat here. Perhaps, she had always had the wrong idea about him, or perhaps, he had many secrets hidden away in his heart that nobody knew about.
She wanted to know, but at the same time, she did not dare to ask. After all, it was part of his private life, and she was in no position to ask. Although they had shared a kiss last night, how could she be sure that he didn’t kiss her simply to calm her down?
“The cat…” he began, then paused. After that, he did not continue his sentence.
Yan became curious. Don’t tell me there’s a story behind the cat? Is it an ex-girlfriend’s? Or, is it something else? That’s not right; I’ve not heard of him being in a relationship before, so it shouldn’t be from an ex-girlfriend. While her imagination ran wild in her heart, her phone rang suddenly—it was Luo Huimei calling. She quickly answered the call. “Mom?”
“Yan, didn’t you say that you’re coming home today? Look at what time it is now; why have you not returned? Are you trying to worry your parents to death?”
She glanced at the time—it was nearly 8:30am. It was neither early nor late. Considering her parents usually woke up at 6:30am or earlier, combined with the events last night, they must not have had a good night’s sleep. They must have passed the night anxiously, waiting for dawn to break as they watched the hours tick by fretfully.
Feeling guilty, she quickly replied, “Mom, I was just about to head back. Don’t worry. Have you had your breakfast? Please eat something first. I will explain everything when I get back home later.”
“Is that so? Then hurry back as soon as possible; don’t let us wait for too long.”
After ending the call, she looked at him. “Um… My mom is urging me to go home, I…”
“Let’s go.” Han Qing went back to his room for the house keys. When he came back out, he had put on a coat and held another one in his hands. “Put this on; the weather is still quite cold.”
Yan accepted the coat from him and noticed that it was a short jacket. After putting it on, she found that it was not too big on her. As she approached the door, she saw an extra pair of female white slippers on the shoe rack—it looked similar to what she usually wore.
“Did you buy this for me?”
“Who else would I buy it for?” Han Qing had finished putting on his coat as he stood by the door, waiting for her with the car keys in his hand.
