Zhu Qingjia thought to herself that the university campus was an unfamiliar place for her, giving her a natural advantage over Gu Ruoling, yet the environment itself was difficult to change.
So, why not just change the setting entirely?
If she and Gu Ruoling went to an unfamiliar place together, they would only have each other to rely on.
However, she had underestimated the sheer difficulty of securing concert tickets. Her entire four persons dorm room had joined the fray, only to finish with a grand total of zero tickets. They had sold out the exact second they went live.
“Qingjia, the Jincheng tickets are completely gone. Why don’t we look at other cities?” Jingjing suggested, scrolling through the tour dates.
“The Ancheng tickets go on sale tomorrow. If you need, I can ask a few more friends to help out,” Yinzi offered, ready to rally her connections.
“Oh my gosh, this is my first time trying to grab concert tickets. It’s actually harder than buying holiday train tickets,” Xiao Tong lamented, lying flat on her bed.
Jincheng was right next to Huajing, making for a short travel time and the absolute best option. Ancheng, on the other hand, was over 300 km away. The distance was a bit too far, and she worried Gu Ruoling’s body wouldn’t be able to handle the journey.
Before things had even officially begun, they were already messed up.
Zhu Qingjia bought her roommates some tangerines to show her appreciation, all the while pondering how she was going to break the news to Gu Ruoling. After all, she was the one who had brought up wanting to see the concert in the first place.
Once Friday’s classes wrapped up for the weekend, Zhu Qingjia had just stepped into the car when someone wrapped her in an embrace. She caught the arms clinging to her and instinctively glanced toward the front seat, the partition barrier had already been rolled down.
Before she could even speak, Gu Ruoling had already seated herself in her lap.
A sweet, fresh fragrance quickly filled Zhu Qingjia’s nose. Gripping her by the waist, Zhu Qingjia’s breathing deepened slightly. “This position is a bit dangerous.”
“Don’t care, the month is up.” Gu Ruoling kissed the corner of her lips, carrying a distinctly different hint of sweetness.
“You ate candy. What flavor is it?”
“Guess.” Having said that, Gu Ruoling made a move to pull away, but Zhu Qingjia refused to let go, watching her play hard to get.
With a swift pull of her arm, she yanked the girl right back.
Sliding her palm inward from the side of Gu Ruoling’s knee, she held her firmly and securely in her embrace. Zhu Qingjia wrapped her arms around her shoulders and kissed her, it was sour-sweet lemon flavor.
The eldest young lady partially looped her arms around her neck, bowing her head to meet her in a kiss, wanting to occupy every single one of her senses and every nerve. Because she was applying so much force, it elicited a sound. Unlike the soft whimpers and restrained breaths from the back of her throat, this was a passionate, urgent sucking and biting. Even though they were already close enough, it still felt nowhere near enough.
Zhu Qingjia couldn’t hold back either. Perhaps because she had exercised restraint for too long, she was a bit overeager, kissing her lips until they were red and swollen. By the time it ended, neither of their breaths were steady.
Gu Ruoling’s hand loosely draped to one side, tugging at the hem of Zhu Qingjia’s shirt as she lightly pressed her lips together. “My mouth hurts a bit.”
Looking at the person curled up in her lap, Zhu Qingjia touched her with her index finger, only for Gu Ruoling to hiss softly and dodge away.
“Why didn’t you pinch my hand? If you did, I wouldn’t have kissed you so hard.” This was the signal they had agreed upon last time.
Gu Ruoling nudged her head against Zhu Qingjia’s chest. “I didn’t want to. Besides, you don’t kiss me with this much force every time.”
Hearing this tone that sounded almost like a complaint, Zhu Qingjia found it incredibly endearing. “Then how does it compare to our previous kisses?”
Gu Ruoling began to hook her fingers around Zhu Qingjia’s, thinking it over before saying, “You used to be really gentle. Though that was also very nice, I prefer how you were just now.”
“Quirky.” Zhu Qingjia held her close, inhaling the fragrance in her hair. She called out, “Ruoling.”
“Hmm? Oh, right, didn’t you say before that you wanted to go to Sun Xihan’s concert? I managed to get tickets, so let’s go together when the time comes.” Gu Ruoling pulled out her phone and brought up the page to show her.
They were tickets for Jincheng, and better yet, they were VIP seats right in front of the stage.
“There’s also a meet and greet invitation. If you want to see Sun Xihan, we can go backstage.” Seeing that Zhu Qingjia remained silent, Gu Ruoling pinched her chin. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you want to go before?”
“I do want to go. I just think you’re amazing, way more amazing than me.” Zhu Qingjia kissed her fingers, suppressing the surprise and shock in her heart. “I was actually planning on giving you a surprise, but the tickets were too hard to buy. I was just thinking about how to tell you.”
“You tried to buy tickets?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t catch any. My hands were too slow.”
“You don’t need to do those things.” Gu Ruoling hugged her. “For something like this, all it takes is a phone call to Secretary Xu.”
So it was Secretary Xu.
A problem that was so incredibly difficult for Zhu Qingjia to resolve didn’t even qualify as a problem in front of Gu Ruoling, because there was always someone who could fix it for her, and even fix it better.
“Then let’s go watch it together when the time comes, okay? Should we stay a night in Jincheng? I’ve never stayed outside overnight before.” Gu Ruoling was visibly fascinated, already starting to plan out how they would spend the day.
Zhu Qingjia had originally intended to make it a round trip within the same day, but seeing her so bright and enthusiastic was a truly rare sight. She could only make the most thorough preparations for her.
That night, Zhu Qingjia mapped out the transportation routes, memorized the location of the hospital closest to the concert venue, and wrote down a checklist of things to pack on a piece of paper, most of which were items Gu Ruoling would need.
Before she could finish writing, Gu Ruoling’s phone rang, with the caller ID displaying “Secretary Xu.”
She picked up the phone and walked toward the bathroom. “Ruoling, Secretary Xu is calling you.”
“Answer it for me.” Separated by the door and the sound of the running shower, the voice from inside wasn’t very clear.
Zhu Qingjia walked over to the window and picked up. “Secretary Xu, Ruoling isn’t very available right now. How about you call back in a little bit?”
Secretary Xu replied, “It’s the same speaking with Miss Zhu. The itinerary for you and the eldest young lady to watch the concert in Jincheng has already been arranged. The hotel and restaurant have also been booked in advance. The Chairman’s meaning is to arrange for personal bodyguards to follow along. After all, it will be very crowded and chaotic that day, making it easy for accidents to happen.”
Zhu Qingjia was momentarily at a loss for words. She looked down at the useless effort she had put into her paper list, it felt somewhat ridiculous.
“I’ll let Ruoling know.”
After hanging up the phone, Zhu Qingjia stood by the window letting the breeze blow against her for a long time, so long that by the time Gu Ruoling hugged her from behind, she only then realized the girl had already finished washing up.
“What’s wrong? Thinking about something? I’ve been standing behind you for ages and you didn’t even notice.” The eldest young lady indicated she was a bit displeased.
A smile rippled into Zhu Qingjia’s eyes as she cupped Gu Ruoling’s face, which was flushed pink from the hot steam. “I was thinking about you. Secretary Xu just called to say she has arranged the hotel and restaurant for our concert trip, and she also mentioned arranging personal bodyguards.”
Gu Ruoling’s expression didn’t change much during the first half of the sentence, seemingly accustomed to it, but by the final clause, she visibly knit her brows.
“What kind of bodyguards do you bring to a concert? What are they going to do, enter a martial arts tournament?” Gu Ruoling grabbed her phone. “I’ll call her.”
Zhu Qingjia picked up her pajamas and went to take a shower. As she closed the door, she could hear Gu Ruoling’s dissatisfied voice.
She stood leaning against the wall for a moment, a sense of powerlessness coursing through her limbs, heavy enough to feel like it was dragging her into the mire.
She desperately wanted to do things for Gu Ruoling, to do things that involved only the two of them, so that when they looked back years later, their memories would only hold each other’s happiness.
Yet there was always someone who could do it better, easier, and more thoroughly, making her look like a fool who was merely wasting her energy.
Zhu Qingjia turned on the shower to wash up, forcing herself to sober up.
Her direction was still wrong. Aside from needing an unfamiliar environment, keeping others from interfering was also crucial. While she cared more about Gu Ruoling’s thoughts, she couldn’t simply ignore her own feelings either.
If either party felt uncomfortable, then the method was definitely wrong.
By the time she finished her shower and came out, Gu Ruoling was holding her tablet playing Fruit Ninja. Seeing her approach, she immediately discarded the game and leaned toward her with a smile. “I told Secretary Xu we don’t want bodyguards. When the time comes, you’ll protect me.”
“Me protecting you? Then I’ll go clear the way for you and shout, ‘The Eldest Young Lady has arrived, everyone scatter!'”
“What are you doing!” Gu Ruoling playfully smacked her with a laugh. “If you really do that, I won’t dare sit next to you. It’s too embarrassing.”
“That won’t do. I’m your personal bodyguard, I have to stay very close.”
Zhu Qingjia reached out to hold her, and Gu Ruoling naturally looped her arms around her neck as well, pressing her face against the side of her neck and nuzzling affectionately. “Zhu Qingjia, your body feels so comfortable. It’s warm and smells so good. Every time I’m held by you, it feels so nice.”
If it weren’t for the fact that lying down for too long made her body uncomfortable, Gu Ruoling truly wished she could hold her 24 hours a day. Zhu Qingjia seemed to possess a sort of magic, just pressing against her brought a sense of peace.
“You smell very good too.” As she spoke, Zhu Qingjia nuzzled her hair with her chin, deliberating as she said, “Your stomach feels very nice to touch, and the texture of your hips and thighs isn’t bad either.”
Gu Ruoling snapped her head up. She was actually evaluating her body’s texture with complete seriousness.
“Your chest is also… mph!”
Zhu Qingjia’s lips were pinched shut. After pinching them, the eldest young lady felt it was improper, so she switched to covering them with her palm.
“What nonsense are you spouting?” The young lady covered her lips, looking at her with a fierce glare. “I’m letting go now, you are not allowed to speak anymore. Nod if you understand.”
Zhu Qingjia nodded her head, and only then did Gu Ruoling release her.
Zhu Qingjia rubbed her lips and quickly added, “Aside from the parts mentioned above, everywhere else is too thin, and you lack exercise.”
“Zhu… Qing… Jia!” Gu Ruoling grabbed a nearby throw pillow and hurled it at her. The two of them quickly descended into a chaotic tussle, though unfortunately, the young lady lost due to a lack of stamina, otherwise she surely would have battled for another three hundred rounds.
That night they exercised restraint, more restraint than the last time.
Zhu Qingjia understood exactly what she liked and what kind of reactions she would give, when she frowned, Zhu Qingjia would gently kiss her to soothe her.
Gu Ruoling felt like she was having trouble breathing, yet she still didn’t want to stop. When the marking occurred, Zhu Qingjia was very gentle, but there was still a hint of pain mixed with a scalp-tingling sensation of pleasure.
The peach pheromones enveloped Zhu Qingjia’s eyes and sense of smell, making her feel as though she were drowning in them.
Zhu Qingjia kissed her eyes and reached out to touch the side of her neck, where red marks had inadvertently been left behind. She wondered how long they would take to fade.
She liked her so much, liked her enough to want to possess every drop of her pheromones so no one else could smell them, to want to see her expression of utter contentment, to leave her thoroughly satisfied.
By the time they finished, quite a few crumpled tissues had accumulated in the wastebasket, all of them completely soaked.
Zhu Qingjia carried her to the bathroom. Gu Ruoling felt as though she had been infected by her body temperature, actually feeling flushed and heated.
As water pooled in the bathtub, Gu Ruoling swirled it with her hand and looked at Zhu Qingjia, who was wearing her pajamas in a complete mess. Only two buttons were done up, and they were misaligned, revealing a distinct curvature and snowy white skin.
She scooped up some water and splashed her. Unprepared, the front of Zhu Qingjia’s clothes became soaked across a wide patch, revealing scattered faint traces underneath.
“Stop fooling around, I’m washing you.” Zhu Qingjia helped pin her hair up and brought over the body wash.
“Wash together with me, it saves more time.”
“If you don’t want to leave the bathroom, you can just say so directly. I don’t understand this kind of hinting.” Zhu Qingjia let her soak while she went to the side to rinse off.
The soap suds quickly slid down her calves. Gu Ruoling lowered her head, not daring to look directly, only venturing a few stolen glances. That back was as beautiful as a piece of art.
Fair, gentle, moist, and smooth. Even though they had just held each other not long ago, only a few hours had passed, yet a sense of yearning was already blooming again.
Zhu Qingjia moved quickly. She finished washing and threw on a bathrobe. Seeing that Gu Ruoling was still sitting in the tub without moving, she squatted down and used a towel to wipe her face. “Didn’t you say you were sleepy? Hurry up and wash so you can sleep.”