Today was the day the new students reported for enrollment.
Qiu Xiaoyue got up bright and early and made herself look absolutely beautiful.
She wore a navy-blue pleated skirt from Miu Miu, paired with a white polo shirt from the same brand, and a pair of Gi loafers. Her hair was tied up in a bun.
When she stood in front of the mirror, she looked youthful, radiant, and dazzling. Even Qiu Xiaoyue herself was startled by how beautiful she looked.
She bounced down the stairs.
Although she was quite excited, she felt a little empty inside.
Grandpa was raising cattle back home and couldn’t come. Yang Zhaodi’s noodle shop was too busy, and her boss wouldn’t give her time off, so she couldn’t come either.
Once again, Qiu Xiaoyue had to go report in alone.
Actually, it was nothing.
Her father had died young, and her mother had run away. Grandpa was old and couldn’t travel far. Most of the time, she had been on her own—attending parent-teacher meetings by herself, earning her own tuition, taking the college entrance exam alone…
It wasn’t as if this were her first time.
She had to take two buses from Rose Mansion to Jingbei Normal University. Qiu Xiaoyue tucked away her change and opened the door—
Someone was standing outside.
Backlit by the sun, he was tall and slender.
His black shirt stretched across his broad chest, with two buttons undone at the collar, revealing fair skin and clearly defined collarbones.
There were faint bluish shadows beneath his eyes, making him look somewhat tired.
Qi Sen.
Qiu Xiaoyue looked up at him, too surprised to speak.
He had still been in the United States yesterday. He’d said he had something to deal with and wouldn’t be able to return for another half a month.
Qi Sen lowered his head. His gaze fell on the faint redness at the corners of her eyes, and he reached out to tuck the hair beside her cheek behind her ear.
“Good. I made it in time.”
His hand was long and slender, with clearly defined knuckles. Bluish veins showed beneath his pale skin, and when his fingers brushed across her face, it felt like a feather teasing the very core of her heart.
Qiu Xiaoyue’s heart gave two uncooperative, rapid beats.
On the drive to the university.
Qi Sen was so sleepy that he kept yawning.
Qiu Xiaoyue asked if he hadn’t slept well. The Assistant in the passenger seat blurted out, “President Qi stayed up all night so he could clear his schedule for today. He even handled business on the plane.”
Qiu Xiaoyue felt a little uncomfortable after hearing that.
Qi Sen shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m used to staying up late. I’ll be fine after resting my eyes for a while.”
Qiu Xiaoyue thought about it, then shifted toward the car door and patted her bare thigh beneath the pleated skirt.
“Lie down and sleep. It’ll be more comfortable.”
Qi Sen said nothing. He simply looked at her.
Qiu Xiaoyue’s face grew warm. “Aren’t we husband and wife? Physical contact like this… should be normal, right?”
Qi Sen smiled. “It is.”
He rested his head on her thigh and lay down on his side.
His breathing was even, brushing against her leg and making her feel itchy.
Qiu Xiaoyue held his head, afraid he might roll off.
But this position…
It looked a little too much like a certain position from that night at the hotel.
Images from that night began popping into her mind frame by frame.
His thin lips, moving over her…
Her snow-white ankle, caught in his grip and lifted high…
The more she thought about it, the hotter Qiu Xiaoyue grew. Her heart pounded loudly.
The Driver and the Assistant were right up front!
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it!
But her mind refused to listen. Those images only became clearer and clearer.
At that moment, Qi Sen turned over and lazily lifted his eyelids.
Their eyes met.
Qiu Xiaoyue didn’t dare move, afraid he might discover what she was thinking.
Qi Sen’s hand slid down from her face and pressed against the left side of her chest.
This was no good!
Under his palm, her heart was practically trying to leap out.
“What are you thinking about? Why is your heart beating so fast?”
His voice still carried the hoarseness of someone who had just woken up. It made her ears tingle.
“Thinking about you.”
Qiu Xiaoyue answered honestly.
Sometimes, a straightforward confession was the most seductive love talk of all.
She really wasn’t lying. She truly had been thinking about him… thinking about how he had devoured her that night.
Qi Sen looked at her, his gaze deepening.
He sat up and slipped an arm behind her waist. Qiu Xiaoyue’s polo shirt was rather short, and when she sat down, half of her slender waist was exposed.
Qi Sen rubbed that patch of skin, as though his hand had sunk into a soft mass of warm milk. The smooth, slippery sensation made it impossible to let go.
“Come sit on my lap.”
Qiu Xiaoyue glanced toward the front row.
The Driver and the Assistant seemed to have gone deaf and blind. They stared straight ahead at the road.
She hesitated for a moment, then obediently sat down on his lap.
“Why were you crying last night?”
“Who? Who was crying? I wasn’t.”
“The Steward told me you cried on the terrace for a long time.”
“That couldn’t have been me, could it? I slept pretty well last night…”
Qi Sen frowned as he looked at her bewildered expression.
He recalled the strange incident the Steward had described: “I spoke to the Young Madam, but she acted as if she couldn’t see me. After crying, she went straight back to the bedroom.”
Qi Sen was silent for a moment. “Then the Steward must have seen wrong.”
Qiu Xiaoyue blinked. “So… you heard that I was crying and rushed back from the United States overnight?”
The corner of Qi Sen’s mouth curved up in a faintly self-mocking smile. “I thought you were crying because you missed me. Turns out I was just flattering myself.”
Qiu Xiaoyue quickly shook her head. “That’s not it…”
“Not what?”
“I… I did miss you. I even dreamed about you.”
She wanted to comfort him a little.
Qi Sen tightened his arms around her and looked at her rosy lips, thoughtful. “What did you dream about?”
Qiu Xiaoyue lowered her head without speaking, her face burning fiercely.
How could she tell him what she had dreamed about?
That she had dreamed of him kissing her, touching her, dreaming of him…
Qi Sen smiled and kissed her slowly, asking between kisses, “Did you dream of me kissing you like this? Hmm?”
He clearly already knew, yet insisted on making her say it herself.
Qiu Xiaoyue squirmed uncomfortably. “Someone’s here…”
The moment she finished speaking, the partition between the front and back seats rose.
Qiu Xiaoyue: “…”
The Driver was way too perceptive!!!
Qi Sen gripped her chin and tilted her face up. The next second, he kissed her.
His kiss was no longer as gentle as before. It was domineering.
He pressed her waist into his arms, and Qiu Xiaoyue’s chest collided with his hard, solid torso.
She felt a faint ache.
His embrace gave her no room to escape. The rich, heated scent of male hormones surrounded her.
Her lips were crushed beneath his. The temperature gradually rose.
Her brain began to run out of oxygen, her thoughts drifting away. Her brows drew tightly together as both hands instinctively clutched the lapels of Qi Sen’s shirt.
Just as she was about to suffocate and faint, she heard a soft laugh.
Qi Sen murmured, “Breathe.”
Qiu Xiaoyue lay against his shoulder, her eyes brimming with tears as she worked to steady her breathing.
The sound of his breathing beside her ear was especially pronounced, inexplicably sensual.
Qiu Xiaoyue lifted her eyes. Their gazes met, and dry tinder met raging flames, ready to set the whole wilderness ablaze.
Qi Sen leaned toward her again. Qiu Xiaoyue closed her eyes and obediently parted her lips, letting him in.
“President Qi, we’ve arrived.”
The Driver stepped on the brakes.
Qi Sen stopped. When their lips parted, Qiu Xiaoyue still felt a little reluctant to end it.
Kissing Qi Sen was like drinking milk tea—once she’d had some, she wanted more. She simply couldn’t stop.
After spending a while calming down in the car, they got out. Aside from her slightly swollen lips, there was basically no sign of what had happened.
Qiu Xiaoyue went to complete the enrollment procedures, while Qi Sen remained in the car to rest.
A bespectacled young man in a blue-green plaid shirt over a white T-shirt stared at Qiu Xiaoyue for a long time.
His eyes were like a supermarket barcode scanner, sweeping over Qiu Xiaoyue from head to toe.
“Hair clip, 3,850 yuan. Skirt, 12,700 yuan. Shoes, 9,800 yuan…”
A glint flashed behind his glasses, and he ran toward Qiu Xiaoyue.
“Hey, classmate, wait!”
Qiu Xiaoyue stopped.
“Hello, my name is Fang Xiaohang. I’m in charge of assigning dorm rooms. What’s your name? Which department are you in? I can look up your dorm number for you.”
“Qiu Xiaoyue, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Class Two.”
“Oh, we’re family! I’m in mathematics too, junior! Where’s your luggage? I’ll help you take it to your dorm.”
“She doesn’t live on campus.”
A deep male voice sounded from behind Qiu Xiaoyue.