Ni Zijing drove steadily and quickly all the way home.
They arrived home shortly. Qiao Qiao took out the keys to open the door, while Ni Zijing stood quietly behind her. Along the way, Qiao Qiao had thought about many things, but what she thought about the most was the figure of Ni Zijing standing downstairs waiting for her.
Turns out, there really is someone who cares this much about me.
Qiao Qiao entered the door, brought out a pair of slippers for Ni Zijing, and awkwardly bit the corner of her lip: “Come in?”
“Mm.” Ni Zijing smiled, “I didn’t plan on going anywhere else.”
Reaching out to press the light switch, the living room instantly brightened up. Ni Zijing helped Qiao Qiao take off her coat: “You must be tired, hurry up and clean up so you can rest. Tomorrow we’ll head back home and tell Mom and Dad. As for getting our marriage certificate, we’ll have to wait until after the recording session the day after tomorrow afternoon; we can go a little earlier in the afternoon.”
Realizing this was about the decision the two of them made today to get married, Qiao Qiao lowered her head and murmured an “mm,” standing still.
Ni Zijing: “What’s wrong?”
Qiao Qiao raised her head: “Where are you sleeping tonight?”
“So this is what you were worrying about.” Ni Zijing chuckled, glancing at Qiao Qiao’s bedroom, “Don’t you have two bedrooms, or did you want me to stay with you?”
Qiao Qiao quickly denied it: “Don’t talk nonsense! I’ll make the bed for you in a moment.” Although she had agreed to get married, she certainly didn’t plan on sharing a bed with Ni Zijing right away.
Ni Zijing raised an eyebrow: “How could I bear to make you do it? I’ll do it myself. You go remove your makeup and take a shower, don’t worry about me.”
Feeling an emptiness in her stomach, Qiao Qiao suddenly remembered that since Ni Zijing had waited for her for so long, she definitely hadn’t eaten either.
She glanced toward the kitchen: “I’m hungry.”
Ni Zijing quickly took off her own coat, rolled up her sleeves, and walked as familiarly as ever to the refrigerator: “I’ll make you something to eat right away, you go sit down for a bit.”
Qiao Qiao leaned against the wall, watching Ni Zijing busy running back and forth in the kitchen. A bottle of yogurt was suddenly handed into her hand, with instructions to line her stomach with it first. Standing there watching for a long time, she suddenly curved her eyes and smiled: “Ni Zijing, whose house is this, yours or mine?”
How come Ni Zijing looked so familiar and natural here?
Ni Zijing was cutting chicken breast. Knowing that Qiao Qiao was afraid of gaining weight for the camera, she prepared to make a low-calorie salad. Hearing Qiao Qiao say that, she glanced over with a smile playing at the corners of her lips: “What nonsense are you talking about? Why are we splitting yours and mine?”
Qiao Qiao put on a serious face, crossed one arm over her chest, and said in a teasing tone: “Then we have to calculate this clearly: what’s yours is mine, but what’s mine is still mine.”
Ni Zijing turned on the faucet to wash the fruits, the water rushing loudly. Without the slightest hesitation, she nodded and said, “Alright, after we get married, all my cards will go to you. Actually, there’s another apartment prepared at my parents’ place, but it might not be very convenient. We can buy a new one in the city center.”
Qiao Qiao paused, her voice softening a bit: “Are you incapable of rejecting me?”
She turned around to rummage through her bag for things.
Ni Zijing replied while tossing the salad: “There’s nothing wrong with it, why would I reject you? Hurry up and wash your hands and come over, dinner is ready.”
By the time Ni Zijing carried the two salads to the dining table and stood up, a key was shoved into her hand by Qiao Qiao.
Qiao Qiao let out a breath: “Here for you. This is the key to my place. I was just joking with you earlier, don’t take it seriously.”
Ni Zijing really wanted to pull Qiao Qiao into her arms. Fearing she might startle her, she took the key, pulled Qiao Qiao down to sit at the table, and said with an exceptionally gentle expression: “I really have found a treasure.”
Qiao Qiao picked up her fork and frowned: “Are you treating me too well? I barely did anything and you’re treating me like a treasure.”
Ni Zijing poured a glass of warm water and handed it to Qiao Qiao, shaking her head slightly: “It’s still not good enough. And I won’t allow you to talk nonsense either. Everything I do is because you’re worth it, understand?”
Qiao Qiao lowered her head to eat bite by bite. It had to be a joke if anyone said Ni Zijing had never been in a relationship before, because how could she be so good with words?
She hadn’t fully processed the reality that she was going to marry Ni Zijing; only the wedding ring on her finger told her this was real. Sitting face to face with Ni Zijing at the dining table, Qiao Qiao felt for the first time that her apartment didn’t feel so empty anymore.
This feeling actually seemed pretty nice.
Once she was almost done eating, Qiao Qiao looked up: “I have something to tell you.”
Ni Zijing looked at her: “Mm, I am listening.”
Qiao Qiao hesitated about whether she should say it. After doing a mental buildup for a long time, she finally opened her mouth: “Regarding our marriage, I hope it won’t be made public in the early stages.” She had thought a lot about it in the car. Qiao Qiao wasn’t afraid of it affecting her career; rather, although many people on the internet currently liked her and Ni Zijing being together, there were also many negative voices. Just like Yu Huai, there were plenty of people assuming she got her position through Ni Zijing’s unspoken rules.
She didn’t want Ni Zijing to be slapped with this unfounded accusation because of her.
And since the two of them were about to participate in a show together, Qiao Qiao thought that the show would give them just the right buffer period to get along and try things out.
Ni Zijing listened quietly, only uttering an “mm” after a few seconds.
Qiao Qiao asked tentatively: “Are you mad?”
“No.” Ni Zijing snapped back to her senses. Hearing Qiao Qiao put it that way, she actually understood. Right, Qiao Qiao said she wanted to try things out with her first; if Qiao Qiao wanted to divorce her later on, she would have to let her go.
Making it public too early wouldn’t be good for Qiao Qiao’s future. Furthermore, Ni Zijing knew that the public reputation online wasn’t very good and might affect Qiao Qiao. She was the one who hadn’t thought of this point.
Qiao Qiao felt restless, feeling that what she did was wrong, yet not knowing how to explain it to Ni Zijing.
Ni Zijing silently cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks. Qiao Qiao muttered an exclamation of regret in her heart and simply ran over to the guest bedroom to make the bed for Ni Zijing. But just as she pulled out the bedsheets, Ni Zijing followed her inside.
Ni Zijing: “Didn’t I say I would do it? Leave it.”
She had just washed the dishes, and her hands were still wet without being dried.
Qiao Qiao pouted involuntarily. Clearly, she was the one who had upset the other person, yet now the other person was putting on airs. She just glanced at Ni Zijing and continued pulling the quilt and pillows out onto the bed.
Ni Zijing shook her hands dry, grabbed Qiao Qiao, and pressed her down to sit on the bed: “What are you mad about?”
Qiao Qiao turned her face away: “Not mad.” After a pause, she turned back to meet Ni Zijing’s eyes: “Besides, even if I told people we’re married, most wouldn’t believe it anyway.”
Ni Zijing suddenly laughed, squatting down in front of Qiao Qiao’s legs: “Who dares not believe it? If they don’t believe it, it’s only because they can’t believe I could land such a pretty wife, and that is just pure jealousy.”
Qiao Qiao instantly lost all words. Stunned for a few seconds, she gave Ni Zijing a pat on the shoulder: “How many girlfriends have you had in total?” Her sweet talk rolled off her tongue one after another, and her skill at coaxing a wife was way too strong. Her anger couldn’t even last three seconds.
Ni Zijing’s voice was low: “I told you, there has only been you.”
Qiao Qiao didn’t believe it at all and let out a few skeptical humphs.
Looking up, Ni Zijing said with complete sincerity: “I wasn’t really mad just now; I just felt that what you said made sense. I was only afraid, afraid that after trying it out with me, you wouldn’t like me anymore and would want a divorce. But keeping it private in the early stages is indeed fine. After all, you’re a public figure, and people need some time to accept it.”
Ni Zijing reached out to pat the back of Qiao Qiao’s hand to comfort her: “Talk to me about any problems you have, I am right here.”
That tiny bit of discomfort in Qiao Qiao’s heart had completely dissipated, and she even felt like stretching her legs out happily. Considering Ni Zijing was squatting right in front of her, she suppressed her inner joy, cleared her throat twice, and said: “It’s getting late. We’ll wash up and go to sleep in a bit, goodnight.”
Ni Zijing stood up: “Can I have a goodnight kiss?”
“Sure can. Sleep early and you’ll get one.” Qiao Qiao smiled, pinched Ni Zijing’s cheek, and blinked: “Dreams have everything in them, President Ni.”
With that, she walked out with light steps, leaving behind a laughing-yet-crying Ni Zijing.
Indeed, it was getting late. By the time Qiao Qiao and Ni Zijing entered their respective rooms and lay down, it was already close to 2 AM.
Tossing and turning under the blanket, Qiao Qiao simply couldn’t fall asleep. There was not a sound outside; Ni Zijing must have been exhausted today and was probably fast asleep. Suddenly, an idea popped into Qiao Qiao’s head: wasn’t the first episode of the show about choosing people and matching up?
It seemed to require some sort of chemistry test, ideal partner criteria, and all sorts of things before it was over. If it had been before, Qiao Qiao would have truly thought it was fine, that anyone would do. But now that she had made up her mind to marry Ni Zijing, the two of them absolutely had to be matched together.
However, chemistry or whatever, could she and Ni Zijing possibly have any?
Thinking about this made it even harder to sleep. Qiao Qiao simply turned on the bedside lamp, put on her shoes, got out of bed, and quietly opened Ni Zijing’s bedroom door.
Fast asleep?
Terrified of waking Ni Zijing, Qiao Qiao tiptoed inside. She didn’t understand why she was acting like a thief in her own home, and she didn’t even know why a sudden impulse had driven her to come check on Ni Zijing.
With the moonlight coming from outside, the room wasn’t very dark. Ni Zijing was lying on her side. Qiao Qiao slowly squatted down and whispered softly: “Hey?”
Ni Zijing didn’t react.
Only then did Qiao Qiao mutter: “She really is fast asleep.”
See, they had no chemistry when it came to sleeping. She couldn’t sleep, but this person was sleeping soundly.
Feeling somewhat disappointed, Qiao Qiao stood up to leave. The next second, the world spun as she was grabbed and dragged down, pulled straight into the blanket by Ni Zijing. Before she could let out a gasp, she looked up to see Ni Zijing’s eyes, with a triumphant, gentle smile hanging at the corners of her lips.
“You weren’t asleep?”
Ni Zijing had high vigilance and woke up the exact moment Qiao Qiao pushed the door open. She had thought this little hedgehog was planning to sneak in and sleep with her, and was just getting excited when she heard her mutter something and turn to leave.
Ni Zijing confessed honestly: “I was asleep.”
Her voice was a bit hoarse, truly having just woken up. Heard in the middle of the night like this, it carried an inexplicable magnetism.
Remembering why she came over, Qiao Qiao asked since the other person was awake now: “Let’s do a chemistry test to prepare for the show. I’ll ask questions, and we’ll answer them together, how about that?”
Ni Zijing agreed: “Go ahead.”
Qiao Qiao thought for a moment: “Since the people invited by the show crew are well-known internet-voted couples, they’re definitely going to ask couple-related questions, and if you get them wrong, there will be penalties. So a typical couple question should be about the place of our first kiss.”
Qiao Qiao: “The hospital.”
Ni Zijing: “The underground parking garage.”
Ni Zijing said with a straight face: “That was the second time. The first time was when I gave you artificial respiration.”
Qiao Qiao frowned: “Let’s redo that. What about the other person’s habitual action?”
Ni Zijing: “Pressing your index finger with your thumb when you’re nervous.”
Qiao Qiao: “I have no idea.”
A moment later, Qiao Qiao spoke again: “Are you a microscope? How did you notice this little habit of mine?”
Ni Zijing smiled without answering, raising her gaze: “You don’t know my habitual action? You clearly just saw it.”
Qiao Qiao was completely baffled as Ni Zijing’s arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her directly against her. Ni Zijing’s other hand circled behind Qiao Qiao’s neck, gently protecting the back of her head.
With a roll, Ni Zijing pinned Qiao Qiao underneath her. Smiling lips pressed down, and their breaths deepened. Within just a few seconds, Qiao Qiao was out of breath, her head spinning, while Ni Zijing’s voice right by her ear left her earlobes tingling and numb.
“This is my habitual action. Know it now?”