Qiao Yimian managed to force a smile and greeted him. “Hello, Governor.”
She closed the car door and hadn’t even settled into her seat when the governor leisurely asked, “It’s not your first time riding in this car. What are you afraid of?”
Qiao Yimian gave an awkward smile.
“…Nothing, nothing.”
Who was afraid?
She was afraid he’d try to set her up with someone. Even more, she was afraid that if she refused, he might retaliate against her afterward…
But she didn’t dare argue. His status and position were right there, after all.
While fastening her seat belt, Qiao Yimian secretly rolled her eyes.
Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that his question just now had been rather strange. She replayed his words in her mind.
Yeah, it really was strange.
But with such a serious, solemn expression on his face, the governor probably wouldn’t deliberately say anything weird…
Right?
On the way, Qiao Yimian pretended to close her eyes and doze off, hoping to avoid being “interrogated” by the governor.
She had been going to bed late lately, and she’d gotten up early that morning to leave the hotel. Now that everything had finally quieted down, she actually fell asleep.
As the car continued down the road, Qiao Yimian sank deeper and deeper into sleep.
The slight bumps in the road made her head wobble from side to side against the neck pillow, until it gradually tilted toward one side.
Li Yao watched the young woman slowly leaning toward him, and his heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat. He quickly reached out to steady her head.
But she was sleeping so deeply that she simply took advantage of his hand as a pillow, resting her head in his large palm and leaving her entire weight there as she continued sleeping soundly.
Li Yao shook his head helplessly. He held her head suspended in midair for a few seconds before slowly lowering his hand and carefully placing her head on his lap.
As the distance between them narrowed, a faint fragrance drifted into his nose. It wasn’t perfume, but it smelled very pleasant.
Even her warm breath seemed to penetrate the thin fabric of his trousers, raising the temperature of the skin on his leg by several degrees.
Li Yao lowered his eyes to her profile, and his expression gradually softened.
Her fair, tender skin was as delicate as lychee flesh; her thick, curled black lashes framed her eyes; her soft, rosy lips…
Together, they formed a delicate and beautiful picture.
Her high ponytail had become slightly messy from rubbing against him, and a few wisps of long hair had fallen across her cheek, giving her a charmingly disheveled beauty.
After hesitating for a moment, Li Yao reached out and tucked the mischievous strands of hair back into place.
Her peaceful sleeping face was reflected in his long, dark eyes, and the corners of his lips lifted slightly.
Wu Song, sitting in the passenger seat, caught sight of the scene from the corner of his eye. His eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t dare turn around.
After hesitating again and again, he finally couldn’t resist. He secretly sent Zhou Heng a WeChat message:
“Secretary Zhou, are the governor and Reporter Qiao…”
Zhou Heng replied with a shushing emoji, followed by a message:
“Keep it to yourself, and learn to read the room.”
Wu Song immediately sent back a military-salute emoji to show how seriously and solemnly he was taking the matter.
When Qiao Yimian woke up, she was a little dazed. She opened her sleepy eyes and was greeted by the black back of a car seat.
She stared at it for a few seconds before belatedly realizing that she was in the governor’s car.
She jolted fully awake.
Qiao Yimian sat up and discovered that she’d apparently been lying across the entire back seat. There was no one else in the car.
Looking out the window, she saw that the car had stopped at a service area.
Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and open the door.
Cool, refreshing air rushed over her, sweeping away the last traces of sleepiness.
Qiao Yimian stretched luxuriously. The moment she lowered her arms, she spotted Li Yao standing diagonally in front of the car.
The yawn she was halfway through immediately died in her throat. Embarrassed, Qiao Yimian rubbed her nose.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she felt that there was something rather subtle about the way Li Yao was looking at her. He seemed to avert his gaze for a few seconds before finally turning back to her.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Mm.” Qiao Yimian nodded. Then she looked at the name of the service area and exclaimed, “We’ve already reached the Chucheng Service Area! I actually slept that long!”
Li Yao smiled helplessly.
Indeed.
She had slept for a full three hours…
And his leg had gone completely numb.
Qiao Yimian, however, felt refreshed. She took a deep breath and felt that even the air here was much fresher than in Linchuan.
She quickly went to the restroom. When she came back out, she found that the governor was still standing outside the car.
Without thinking, she asked, “Aren’t you getting in?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she belatedly realized that perhaps he’d been standing there all this time because she’d been lying in his seat.
How awkward…
A strange flicker passed through Li Yao’s eyes. He deftly avoided the point.
“The car’s a little warm. I came outside for some fresh air.”
Qiao Yimian thought about it. The engine was still running, and the air conditioning hadn’t been turned off. It really would be quite warm inside.
Just then, Wu Song came hurrying over with a bag of food. Grinning, he handed it to Qiao Yimian.
“Reporter Qiao, are you hungry? There’s bread and snacks in here. Have something to tide you over. We’re heading to Xichu Town, and it’s still quite a distance from the city.”
As he spoke, he put the shopping bag into her hands.
“I can’t eat all this.”
Qiao Yimian tried to give some of it back to him, but Wu Song hurriedly waved his hands.
“I’m not hungry. I had a big breakfast. All of this was bought for you at the governor’s request.”
He deliberately emphasized the words *the governor*, making Qiao Yimian’s ears heat up. She quickly glanced at Li Yao.
His expression unchanged, he nodded at her.
“Eat in the car. It’s chilly outside.”
Qiao Yimian had left the hotel in such a hurry that she hadn’t had breakfast there. She’d only had a packet of breakfast milk, so she was indeed a little hungry now.
But the bag in her hands felt heavy, almost like the large stone weighing on her heart. It carried a certain weight.
She thought about it and decided she would just take things one step at a time. Resisting too much would only make her seem overly fussy.
So she politely said to Li Yao, “Thank you, Governor!”
Then she quickly hugged the food and got back into the car, obediently returning to her original seat this time.
Li Yao watched her respectful manner. Hearing her call him “Governor” over and over again, he couldn’t help feeling as though the two of them were separated by mountains and rivers.
He sighed silently before getting back into the car as well.
Inside, Qiao Yimian felt too embarrassed to eat chips or anything like that, so she took only a piece of bread and nibbled at it in small bites.
Li Yao watched her calmly.
The way she held the bag of bread in both hands, keeping her mouth closed as she chewed carefully, reminded him very much of a little squirrel he’d once fed.
Cute and amusing.
Qiao Yimian sensed the man’s gaze beside her and immediately turned her head, catching his soft gaze before he had time to withdraw it.
She lowered her eyes to the shopping bag in her arms and asked tentatively,
“Would you like something to eat?”
The words *No* had already rolled onto the tip of his tongue, but for some inexplicable reason, he changed his answer.
“Give me a piece of bread.”
Qiao Yimian lowered her head and rummaged through the bag. There were only chips, crispy rice snacks, yogurt, and things like that.
“There isn’t any bread left.”
Apparently, they’d only bought the one piece.
Qiao Yimian thought for a moment. Then she tore off a large piece from the untouched side of her bread and hesitantly held it out to him.
“Um… would you like half?”