novelraw Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Chapter 59 Before Qin Qing could recover from her earlier confusion, she was stunned by the boy’s casual mention of “200 push-ups.”
Two hundred…
The young girl standing there frowned.
It seemed like she had just startled him, which led Wen Yufeng to react that way. Now he had to take the punishment on her behalf.
But if she were to share the punishment, considering the results of her regular physical training… she could probably only manage five push-ups at most.
With that thought, Qin Qing looked at Wen Yufeng with a mix of innocence and guilt.
As she glanced over, she, like everyone else in the room, was taken aback.
The boy’s body was taut from his shoulders to his ankles, forming a perfectly straight line. His movements were precise and effortless, with no sign of strain. Each set of push-ups was executed flawlessly, his gaze remaining calm and composed; his steady rhythm showed no signs of slowing down, as if these exercises were as easy for him as drinking water or eating…
About two minutes later, Qi Miao, with a blank stare, called out, “One hundred ninety-nine… two… two hundred…”
As soon as the last “two hundred” was said, Wen Yufeng’s elbows tightened, and with a burst of strength, he sprang up.
Before the onlookers could even see clearly, he was already standing upright from a parallel position with the floor, without them noticing any supporting movement.
All eyes were filled with surprise and admiration.
For these students, whose daily routine mostly involved commuting between school and home, being able to do two hundred push-ups in one go was already impressive. But after Wen Yufeng finished, there wasn’t even a hint of sweat on his forehead—showing just how extraordinary his physical condition was.
Among the crowd, Qin Qing, who knew Wen Yufeng the best, also stared at the boy with wide almond-shaped eyes as he approached.
It wasn’t until Wen Yufeng picked up his jacket that was draped nearby and stopped in front of her that Qin Qing snapped out of it.
“You can actually do two hundred push-ups at once, that’s amazing…”
“……”
Wen Yufeng, who had been indifferent to the admiring gazes of others, couldn’t help but have his eyes flicker slightly at Qin Qing’s words.
He turned his face slightly away and cleared his throat awkwardly.
Qin Qing didn’t notice and continued, “My second brother did two hundred thirteen push-ups once, and it took him nearly ten minutes. He bragged about it to me for a long time…”
As soon as Wen Yufeng heard the name Qin Hao, he couldn’t hold back his unease any longer and turned his gaze back to her.
“In a non-stop state, my record is 2700. But that was last year, it should be more now.”
“…………”
This time, the girl’s eyes were wide open.
Seeing her shocked expression, like a startled kitten, Wen Yufeng’s heart softened. At the same time, he couldn’t help but reflect on how impulsively he had blurted out that earlier boast.
So childish…
The boy lowered his eyes, looking at the girl, a trace of helplessness mixed with a smile.
——
But somehow, he couldn’t suppress it.
The gathering ended at around two o’clock.
Four tables of people walked out of the private room together and headed downstairs, creating quite a spectacle, drawing the attention of the remaining diners in the restaurant.
At the entrance of the restaurant, as the group was about to say their goodbyes, the valet who had been informed earlier had already driven Wen Yufeng’s car to the front.
Except for Wen Yufeng, none of them were over eighteen yet, and naturally, none of them had properly driven a car before.
But the more unattainable something was, the more they desired it. Especially a few of the boys, who, upon seeing the SUV, looked like their eyes were about to light up.
“Yufeng, is this the car your family got for you?”
Finally, someone in the class couldn’t hold back their curiosity and asked.
This question immediately drew countless envious glances toward Wen Yufeng.
Only Qin Qing, standing next to the boy, noticed the sudden drop in temperature in Wen Yufeng’s expression when the question was asked.
After a two-second pause, Wen Yufeng took the car keys from the valet.
“No.”
He walked forward, opened the car door, and motioned for Qin Qing to get in.
After the girl got in, he closed the door and added the second half of his sentence—
“It’s mine.”
“……”
Hearing this, everyone present was left puzzled.
In their current environment, it was hard to imagine anyone achieving so-called “financial independence” before adulthood.
But Wen Yufeng didn’t expect them to understand.
After answering politely, he headed straight for the driver’s seat.
Inside the car, with the outside noises faintly reaching her ears, Qin Qing’s expression was a mix of complexity and confusion.
She truly couldn’t imagine how this person, who was so different from all of them, had gone through what should have been a time of being a child or a teenager all on his own.
Just then, the car door on the driver’s side opened, and Wen Yufeng got in.
Before the door closed, the voice of class monitor Qi Miao came through clearly—
“We’re all heading in the same direction, let’s share a ride. There’s still some money left from the dinner, I’ll cover the cost.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the door shut, cutting off all the sounds outside.
Qin Qing was left in a daze.
The dark blue SUV drove off, and unlike before, the car interior was now silent.
At first, Wen Yufeng didn’t notice, but after driving for a while, he glanced thoughtfully at the passenger seat.
The girl sitting there still had a troubled look on her face.
“What are you thinking about?” Wen Yufeng asked, returning his gaze to the road ahead.
Qin Qing didn’t answer immediately.
She hesitated, then turned her gaze towards the boy and watched him for a moment before slowly speaking.
When she finally spoke, her cheeks seemed to flush slightly.
“Does that 20-yuan bill… have something to do with me?”
“……”
Wen Yufeng suddenly froze.
Time inside the car seemed to stretch out, each second dragging slowly, almost to a standstill.
Just before the suffocating silence could overwhelm Qin Qing, the boy in the driver’s seat finally reacted.
Wen Yufeng let out a low chuckle.
“You shouldn’t ask me this kind of question while I’m driving.”
Qin Qing was startled. “Why?”
“The driver might lose focus, and that could cause an accident.”
“…Oh.”
The girl obediently agreed.
She turned back in her seat. “It won’t happen again.”
Wen Yufeng found himself oddly pleased by her mention of a “next time.”
As a result, the smile on his lips became harder to suppress.
“You guessed right.”
“……”
Qin Qing turned to look at him.
“It really is the ‘taxi fare’ you gave me when we first met.”
Although she got the answer she had expected, Qin Qing felt her cheeks suddenly heat up. The uncontrollable warmth made her a bit annoyed at herself for asking such a question in this enclosed space.
But she quickly thought of a way to shift both of their attention.
“Well, all bills look the same. You might have accidentally swapped it out for another one already… Maybe you should put something else in your wallet, like a good luck charm or something.”
“……” Wen Yufeng didn’t reply immediately but turned his gaze back toward her.
As if he had noticed her slight embarrassment, he let out a soft laugh. “No, I wouldn’t have made that mistake.”
Qin Qing responded, “You never know…”
“BT78444703.”
Wen Yufeng suddenly recited a series of characters.
Qin Qing was puzzled. “What?”
“The serial number on that bill.”
The boy looked ahead, a faint smile playing on his lips, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes—
“I’ve looked at it so many times, I memorized it without even trying.”
Qin Qing silently turned back around.
For the rest of the drive, she didn’t say another word.
She was too busy trying to cool her burning cheeks through sheer willpower.
…
Yishi High School traditionally has a late start for the winter holiday, typically letting students go home only seven or eight days before the Lunar New Year.
Qin Qing’s year was no exception.
So, only a few days into the break, before the students could fully enjoy the relaxed feeling of “everything can wait until after the New Year,” the holiday was already upon them.
This year’s New Year at the Qin family was different from previous ones.
Qin Qing’s father, Qin Jingguo, was an only child. In the past, they had always brought Grandma Qin to their house to celebrate the New Year.
But this year, since both Qin Jingguo and Li Jinghe were working out of province, and Qin Qing had moved to Grandma Qin’s house, their original home was left unoccupied.
Moreover, because of Qin Jingguo and Li Jinghe’s busy work schedules, they barely made it back home by New Year’s Eve, leaving them no time to prepare their quiet, empty house. So, at Grandma Qin’s request, the four of them decided to spend the New Year at her place.
When she first heard this decision, Qin Qing, who had been feeling a bit down, suddenly lit up like a firework going off early, almost wanting to tell Wen Yufeng about it right away.
But when she turned around and saw Qin Jingguo and Li Jinghe still sitting nearby, she couldn’t act rashly.
After holding back her excitement for a long time, Qin Qing finally found an opportunity—
“I’ll go buy the New Year supplies!” Qin Qing interrupted the adults’ conversation, “I just want to go out for a bit, and I can pick up some snacks from the supermarket.”
“You can’t carry everything by yourself; let your dad go with you,” Li Jinghe suggested.
“No need—”
Qin Qing quickly waved her hand but realized her reaction was too strong, so she immediately put her hand down.
“There are only four of us, so we don’t need much. I can handle it myself.”
Li Jinghe, noticing Qin Qing’s earlier reaction, looked at her with slight suspicion.
Under her gaze, Qin Qing tried hard to suppress her guilty feelings and lowered her voice, “I just… want to buy some snacks.”
Li Jinghe, instinctively opposed to the idea of snacks, which she classified as “junk food,” was about to refuse. But before she could speak, she remembered the argument from a few months ago.
So, Li Jinghe remained silent for a couple of seconds before nodding.
“All right… But try to avoid pickled, smoked, or deep-fried snacks, as well as those with high sugar content.”
“Okay, I know.”
Having gotten her way, Qin Qing felt so happy she could practically fly, though she only let a bit of her joy show on her face.
Using the excuse of putting on her coat, she returned to her room and quickly sent a text message to a number that had been saved in her contacts for a long time.
“I’m coming to wish you a Happy New Year later…”
Qin Qing typed each word carefully, but when she reached the end, she hesitated.
After a few seconds of blushing, she deleted the message and typed a new one—
“I’m coming over later to check on the kitten. I’ll just use the key you gave me to let myself in so I don’t disturb my family.”
After sending the message, she heard Grandma Qin calling from the living room:
“Tian Tian, are you ready yet?”
“Coming, coming.”
Qin Qing quickly shoved her phone into her pocket and hurried out the door.
A few minutes later, after quietly waiting in the T-shaped corridor and confirming that everything was quiet at home, Qin Qing tiptoed to Wen Yufeng’s front door.
She swiftly unlocked the door with her key and slipped inside.
Once the door closed with a “thud,” Qin Qing finally released the breath she had been holding.
However, to be cautious, she tiptoed to the peephole and peeked outside for a while. After making sure everything was still quiet, she relaxed her stance.
Then, she noticed something odd.
——
Normally, even if he hadn’t seen the message, Wen Yufeng, with his almost superhuman senses, should have already noticed her arrival.
But even though she had been inside for quite a while, there was still no sign of him in the living room.
“……”
Qin Qing suddenly remembered a news story she had seen a few days ago about a “lonely elderly person dying of gas poisoning at home, unnoticed by anyone,” and her heart sank.
Her face turned pale, and she hurriedly walked toward the master bedroom.
Just then, she heard footsteps coming from the direction of the master bedroom.
Qin Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
But before her heart could fully return to its normal rhythm, she was startled by a low, somewhat irritated voice—
“Tian Tian!”
“……”
Qin Qing froze in her tracks, innocently widening her almond-shaped eyes.
At the same time, a soaking wet white cat burst out of the master bedroom, shaking off water droplets as it darted around happily.
Chasing after it was a boy in light gray loungewear.
His handsome face was dark with frustration, and he looked utterly disheveled.
Even his soft black hair was covered in soap suds.
Qin Qing stood there, stunned by the scene.
Then, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.