“Are you an idiot? Why did you endure it and end up biting yourself?” After checking her hand, Zhu Qingjia finally noticed the tears hanging on her face. A wave of panic hit her, had she been too passionate just now and hurt her?
“Ruoling! ” Zhu Qingjia was just about to wipe away her tears when her neck was suddenly wrapped in an embrace, followed immediately by a dense, stinging pain.
She knit her brows in pain but held Gu Ruoling’s waist even tighter, pulling the entire girl into her arms.
When she finally let go, Zhu Qingjia coaxed her, asking why she did that, not even caring how bad the bite mark was.
“I clearly couldn’t take it anymore, but you still wanted to continue. Are you trying to kiss me to death?”
To be honest, Zhu Qingjia really wanted to do just that. Because she was simply too cute, the reactions her body gave, the soft whimpers from her throat, all made Zhu Qingjia want to claim even more.
But she couldn’t say that out loud. If she did, the eldest miss would get angry.
“How could I? You were squeezing my hand just now, so I thought you wanted to continue. Did I misinterpret your meaning?”
“Of course you did! I was telling you to stop!”
Zhu Qingjia planted a kiss on her cheek. “Alright, I’ll know better next time.”
The eldest miss looked at the teeth marks on the side of her neck, feeling a bit more satisfied. However, Zhu Qingjia was very trustworthy, apart from the kiss, her hands stayed completely behaved without any extra movements, leaving no opportunity to pick a fight.
When they arrived back home, the young mistress and Miss Zhu stepped out of the car one after the other. Both of their expressions looked a bit off. One kept her head down, walking faster than usual, while the other had a cold expression, with a highly noticeable bite mark newly added to her neck.
Auntie Zhang didn’t dare say a word, repeatedly exchanging meaningful glances with Old Li, though unfortunately, she didn’t get any useful information.
Gu Ruoling was truly exhausted. She went straight to bed after washing up, even locking the door from the inside before lying down, so much so that when Zhu Qingjia tried to go in, she found the door wouldn’t budge.
Oh well, looks like I’ve earned a night of solitary reflection.
Still worried, Auntie Zhang came up to bring some topical ointment for external wounds, only to find Miss Zhu shut out in the hallway.
Zhu Qingjia scratched her cheek and pointed at the door. “Um, I went to the wrong room. This side is the right one.”
Right before she walked into her own room, Auntie Zhang quickly and deftly shoved the medicine into her hands, insisting that she must use it.
That night, Gu Ruoling slept very deeply.
Meanwhile, in the adjacent room, Zhu Qingjia had a lot of indescribable dreams. When she woke up, she noticed a distinct scent of agarwood in the room.
It was heavy and rich, very much like a woody perfume.
But soon, she realized the source of the scent was herself. Reaching up to touch the back of her neck, she discovered that her suppressor patch had rubbed off at some point. That patch of skin had become much more fragile and sensitive than usual, and the fragrance was radiating from right there.
Feeling that her condition wasn’t quite right, she cleaned herself up and left for school before Gu Ruoling even woke up, skipping breakfast entirely.
At noon back in the dorm, Yinzi sharply caught sight of the red mark on the side of her neck. Since medicine had been applied, it wasn’t as obvious anymore, so Zhu Qingjia hadn’t bothered to hide it, simply letting her hair down to cover it slightly.
Yinzi handed her a bottle of milk. “Here, to replenish your energy. But Little Gu is only eighteen, aren’t you moving a bit too fast?”
“What are you thinking?” Zhu Qingjia unscrewed the cap and took a sip. “Clear out the dirty thoughts in your brain. Nothing happened.”
“Oh wow, the serious and proper Zhu Qingjia actually knows how to say ‘dirty thoughts’.” Yinzi patted her shoulder and said earnestly, “Treat her well. After all, you’re the older one. Don’t go breaking her heart.”
Zhu Qingjia didn’t say anything, only twisting the bottle cap back on tightly.
She opened WeChat. She hadn’t received a reply to the message she sent Gu Ruoling this morning. Was she angry?
A notification popped up in the class group chat. The instructor had rescheduled the classes, the third and fourth periods of the afternoon were moved up to the first and second periods, with the classroom to be determined.
After a moment of thought, she sent another message to Gu Ruoling. 【Are you coming to pick me up at 4:30 PM?】
This time, the reply came quickly. Gu Ruoling. 【Doesn’t your class finish at 6:00?】
The corners of Zhu Qingjia’s lips curved up. She actually kept track of her class schedule.
【Temporary schedule change.】 After sending it, there was a long pause from the other side.
Zhu Qingjia clutched her phone and waited for a good while, debating whether to place a voice call, when the reply finally came. 【Okay.】
She said okay. Zhu Qingjia scrolled through their chat history, her eyes ultimately landing on that word “okay.” The corners of her mouth tilted up involuntarily. It seemed she wasn’t that angry, she would have to coax her properly when they met this afternoon.
As soon as class ended, Zhu Qingjia couldn’t wait to run toward the school gate. By the time she got into the car, sweat was already gathering on her brow.
Gu Ruoling heard her panting. “Why are you running so fast? Is a ghost chasing you?”
Zhu Qingjia smiled, placing her backpack by her feet. “No, I just didn’t want to make you wait too long.”
Gu Ruoling glanced at her wristwatch. “4:28. You’re early.”
A tissue was handed over. Zhu Qingjia wiped away her sweat and leaned back against the seat. Her hands kept moving, but her gaze remained fixed entirely on Gu Ruoling.
Once her hands were completely wiped clean, she went to hold her hand, but Gu Ruoling reflexively hid her left hand away.
The long-awaited intimate contact fell through, and Zhu Qingjia’s smile froze on her face. “What’s wrong? Are you still angry about last night? I apologize, please don’t be mad anymore, okay?”
Mentioning last night, Gu Ruoling blinked. “You’re overthinking it. I’m not.”
“Then why… why won’t you let me hold your hand?” Even ordinary couples would take a step further into intimacy once they confirmed their relationship. They had literally kissed last night, so why were they acting like strangers today?
As soon as the words left her mouth, Gu Ruoling proactively took her hand and laced their fingers together. The turbulence in Zhu Qingjia’s heart settled slightly, yet she still felt something was off.
The next second, she shook off Gu Ruoling’s hand, crossed her arms, and remained silent.
Uncle Li silently glanced at the rearview mirror, chanting in his mind. Please don’t fight.
They drove halfway in this silence. The eldest miss looked at her several times, and finally, unable to bear it any longer, she pressed the button to raise the privacy partition. At the same time, she gently turned Zhu Qingjia’s face toward her, her voice very soft: “Are you angry?”
Zhu Qingjia looked at her. “You didn’t let me sleep with you last night, you didn’t reply to my message this morning, and just now you wouldn’t let me hold your hand.” She suppressed her breathing, trying her best to keep her voice from trembling. “Don’t tell me you regret it. It’s already too late.”
“I don’t.” Gu Ruoling pulled her arm back out and intertwined her fingers with hers. After a moment of hesitation, she said, “I was too tired last night and afraid you would continue. I hadn’t woken up yet when you messaged this morning. As for holding hands, I didn’t hide away on purpose.”
Saying this, she extended her left hand. On her pale back of the hand, there was a large, noticeable patch of bluish-purple bruising, clearly left behind by an IV needle.
“How did this happen?” The moment Zhu Qingjia saw the back of her hand, everything else was forgotten. “It was fine yesterday.”
“The family doctor came at noon to give me an IV drip to regulate my health. I got a little anxious when I saw your message, so I asked the doctor to speed up the flow rate.” She quickly explained before Zhu Qingjia could speak, “It was only a little bit faster, it doesn’t affect my health much.”
Zhu Qingjia couldn’t understand and frowned. “Why would you hide this kind of thing from me?”
Gu Ruoling lowered her head, her voice very faint. “I don’t want you to see my fragile side. It makes me look so useless.”
Whether it was her biological parents or her adoptive parents, every time they saw her on an IV or with tubes inserted, they would sigh heavily, as if looking at a dying person.
But they didn’t know that Gu Ruoling didn’t need that kind of pity. She would rather everyone treat her like a normal person.
Even if they just put on an act.
Ever since Zhu Qingjia appeared, Gu Ruoling had hidden it very well. The family doctor’s visits had never been caught by her, and all blood draws, injections, and IV drips were done well away from her sight.
The eldest miss could pretend to be a relatively healthy person in front of her.
Even if it was somewhat self-deceiving, she couldn’t help but do it.
“Where are you fragile? You’re clearly stubborner than me. When your temper flares up, no one can stop you.” Zhu Qingjia cradled her hand, unable to keep from complaining, “Is this doctor even qualified? How can their technique be so poor?”
Catching sight of the remaining mark on the side of her neck, the eldest miss brushed away her long hair. “Then next time, you can stay by my side and watch to see how the doctor’s injection skills actually are.”
Before Zhu Qingjia could respond, a cool fingertip poked the red mark on her neck, bringing a sharp, stinging pain.
Zhu Qingjia quickly caught her right hand and firmly squeezed her fingertips. “Do you not want this hand either?”
“It hurts a little, let go.” The eldest miss swayed her wrist, acting spoiled.
Zhu Qingjia let go right away and looked down to inspect it. Her fingers were slender and fair. Because she played the piano and painted, her nails weren’t kept long, they were neatly trimmed with a smooth curve. Looking at the reddened area, Zhu Qingjia gently brought it to the center of her lips and gave it a soft kiss.