novelraw Chapter 85
Chapter 85
Chapter 85 Perhaps it was because Qin Qing’s words touched Li Jinghe and Qin Jingguo, or perhaps Grandma Qin’s authority played a role, but until the rich array of dishes was served at the table, the atmosphere at home remained light and pleasant.
Qin Qing felt relieved as the tension that had been hanging in her chest dissipated.
Grandma Qin set the table in the dining room while Wen Yufeng stood by the sink in the kitchen, rinsing his hands.
As Qin Qing walked from the living room to the dining room, she couldn’t help but recall similar scenes from her high school days.
A faint smile appeared in her eyes as she turned and entered the kitchen.
Wen Yufeng didn’t need to turn around; he could tell who was coming by the rhythm of the footsteps behind him.
As he gently manipulated the foam from the hand soap between his long fingers, he chuckled softly without facing Qin Qing.
“Why aren’t you waiting obediently in the dining room?”
Qin Qing knew Wen Yufeng was referring to her old habit of waiting to be served, and she wasn’t annoyed. She smiled and walked over, standing behind him.
As Wen Yufeng finished rinsing the soap off his hands and was about to turn around, Qin Qing called out, “Don’t move.”
Although Wen Yufeng didn’t understand the reason, he instinctively stopped.
Qin Qing smiled gently, her eyes lowered, and reached up to untie the deep blue apron around his waist.
She leaned slightly forward and untied the apron strap with one hand.
“Okay,” Qin Qing said, pulling her hand away.
However, just as she withdrew halfway, her hand was enveloped in his still-wet one.
“Don’t play around,” Qin Qing said softly, her eyes and brows smiling, “Your hands are so cold, let go.”
“I can’t let go. If I do, you’ll run away.”
“……”
In the dining room, Li Jinghe, who was tidying the table with Grandma Qin, looked at the kitchen with a complex expression.
Grandma Qin followed her gaze and then smiled back at her.
“How is it?”
“……Hmm?” Li Jinghe turned back.
Grandma Qin, still arranging the dishes with a smile, seemed to have a lot of warmth in her wrinkled face.
“Seeing these two together, and seeing how happily Qing Qing smiles, don’t you think you’ve softened a bit?”
“……”
Li Jinghe didn’t answer immediately.
After a long pause, she sighed silently.
“Mom, don’t worry. I won’t interfere with her wishes anymore. Let her do what she wants and love whoever she wants.”
“……”
Before long, the two people from the kitchen came out one after the other, and Qin Jingguo had also retrieved a bottle of his treasured liquor from the wine cabinet and put it on the table.
Qin Qing furrowed her brows and looked at her father with a hint of helplessness before she had even sat down.
“Dad, he drove here today, he can’t drink.”
“What’s the big deal? We can call a chauffeur,” Qin Dad said dismissively.
He then turned to Wen Yufeng, “Xiao Yu, I heard you say earlier that you drink when it’s the right occasion—how about having a couple of drinks with Uncle?”
Standing next to Wen Yufeng, Qin Qing subtly tugged at him.
Then she leaned slightly and whispered, “Don’t listen to my dad’s tricks. He just wants to get you drunk.”
Qin Qing was all too familiar with her father’s methods—over the years, he had always adhered to the principle of “observing people in their inebriated state.”
With Wen Yufeng visiting today, Qin Jingguo clearly couldn’t observe him in such a manner, so he had evidently turned his attention to the alcohol.
The volume of her words was not loud, but in the dining room, it was clear enough for the other three to hear.
Qin Jingguo shot Qin Qing an annoyed glance, then turned to Wen Yufeng. “Xiao Yu, you wouldn’t consider today’s occasion as not suitable for drinking, would you?”
With Qin Jingguo’s question, Wen Yufeng had no choice but to agree.
He nodded and gently held Qin Qing’s small hand, reassuring her,
“Listen to Uncle.”
“……”
Qin Qing tugged, unable to free her hand, and looked at Wen Yufeng with mild annoyance.
As Qin Jingguo, satisfied, turned away, Wen Yufeng quickly leaned in and whispered with a suppressed laugh, “Qing Qing, I’ll try not to get drunk.”
Qin Qing, blushing and irritated, pushed him away with her eyes and went to sit at the table first.
…………
About an hour later, looking at her father, who was flushed and endlessly recounting stories from his youth, Qin Qing just wanted to bury her face in her hands.
——
Trying to get someone drunk, only to find the other person still calm and composed at the table while she ended up tipsy herself…… How embarrassing.
Thinking this, Qin Qing looked at Wen Yufeng with a touch of curiosity.
It wasn’t just Qin Qing who was surprised; Li Jinghe and Grandma Qin were equally amazed.
They knew well how much alcohol Qin Jingguo could handle, and it was rare to see anyone who could match his capacity.
Let alone the current one-on-one drinking situation.
But given the circumstances, even if they were curious, Grandma Qin and Li Jinghe were too polite to ask.
Li Jinghe engaged in a few more exchanges with Wen Yufeng, then helped Qin Jingguo back to his room.
Seeing them leave, Grandma Qin tidied the dishes and told Qin Qing,
“Send Xiao Yu back.”
Qin Qing hesitated for a moment. “Shouldn’t we say goodbye properly?”
“No need,” Grandma Qin said with a smile. “Now that this hurdle is crossed, just take care of yourselves from now on.”
Qin Qing stared for two seconds, then blinked, her curled eyelashes seeming to sparkle with a bright smile—
“Really? Did Mom say that?”
“Hmm.”
Grandma Qin nodded with a smile.
“……Thank you, Grandma!”
Qin Qing exclaimed softly, smiling as she hugged Grandma Qin warmly.
“All right, stop with the sentimentality. Go send Xiao Yu back.”
Grandma Qin pretended to be annoyed as she pushed Qin Qing away.
“Mm!”
Qin Qing, in a good mood and unconcerned, saw Grandma Qin enter the kitchen and smiled as she approached Wen Yufeng.
“Let’s go, I’ll give you a ride.”
Wen Yufeng, as if just hearing her voice, slowly raised his gaze.
Qin Qing paused.
……Could it be that he’s drunk now?
But when she met Wen Yufeng’s gaze and saw that his eyes were still clear, she assumed she was overthinking it.
She said goodbye to Grandma Qin and went out the door with Wen Yufeng, both putting on their jackets.
Once outside, Qin Qing’s mind was still lingering on Grandma Qin’s last words, and her smile couldn’t be suppressed.
It wasn’t until they were in the elevator, and the doors were about to close, that Qin Qing noticed that Wen Yufeng seemed unusually quiet.
She turned around in surprise to look at him.
As soon as she turned, she was met with a shadow.
Before Qin Qing could react, she was pressed against the elevator wall with a thud.
“……Wen, Wen Yufeng?”
Dazed by the height and long legs of the man, Qin Qing took several seconds to come to her senses and tried to peek out.
Sensing her restlessness, the man’s handsome face darkened slightly as he leaned down, his breath, tinged with alcohol, brushing against her neck.
Qin Qing froze, feeling goosebumps all over.
And the hot breath so close—
It was frighteningly hot.
For some reason, it reminded her of a pot of boiling water ready for steaming rabbits.
Before she could shake off this ridiculous thought, the man, with a hoarse voice tinted by alcohol, suddenly laughed.
Playful, lazy, and sensual… the tone was varied.
Qin Qing’s cheeks burned as she instinctively pushed against his chest—
“Wen Yufeng… get up, I haven’t pressed the floor button yet.”
As she spoke, she struggled to reach out from between Wen Yufeng’s pressure and the elevator wall, trying to find the button.
But before her fingertips could reach their destination, her hand was pressed against the cold metal wall.
At the same time, the voice came again—
“Qing Qing…”
The two words from him were drawn out deliberately in a low and languid tone; in the confined space of the elevator, they were especially tantalizing.
“……”
Qin Qing now strongly suspected that the clear eyes Wen Yufeng had displayed at her home were just a facade and that he had been pretending all along.
—Otherwise, why would just his breath make her feel like he was drunk?
While Qin Qing was lost in thought, the person in front of her frowned, apparently displeased with her distraction.
His breath came closer again.
“Ah—”
Qin Qing’s eyes widened in surprise, and after a while, she turned to look at Wen Yufeng, instinctively reaching for her neck.
……Did he just—bite me??
But before she could touch the tingling spot, she felt the hot breath near her neck shift direction and move to kiss her fingertips.
After kissing, Wen Yufeng chuckled quietly in her ear.
The voice carried a sense of satisfaction.
Qin Qing: “…………”
She had no idea that Wen Yufeng, when drunk, would turn into a little dog that just bites people.
And in this state, let alone taking him back, even getting to the parking lot would be difficult.
“Sweetie…”
Before Qin Qing could come up with a plan, the person next to her spoke in a coaxing tone—
“How old are you… Sweetie?”
“…”
Qin Qing felt that, given the situation, it would be more appropriate for her to ask this question. But she still spoke up: “Let me press the floor button first. I’ll tell you when we’re downstairs.”
“…”
Wen Yufeng fell silent for a moment after hearing this. After a period of quiet standoff, he actually released the hand he was using to hold her wrist.
Qin Qing quickly turned to the side and pressed the button for the basement floor.
As the elevator began its descent, she felt her heart gradually relax.
However, the person in front of her remained persistent, once again compressing the space she had gained to nothing—
“Sweetie… how old are you… Sweetie…”
He seemed determined to get an answer, not willing to give up.
Qin Qing sighed inwardly.
“…Twenty-four.”
She could only be thankful that Wen Yufeng’s behavior wasn’t seen by her three elders at home.
After she spoke, the small elevator cabin suddenly fell silent. Only the sound of the elevator machinery operating remained. The person in front was so quiet he seemed to have fallen asleep.
Moments later, the elevator doors opened, and Qin Qing helped him into the parking lot, heading to the parking spot she had asked about earlier. She unlocked the car with the remote, laboriously helped him into the middle row of the SUV.
“Finally…”
The person cooperated almost obediently, lying back into the rear seat, and a faint sound of relief could be heard.
“What?” Qin Qing asked instinctively.
“…”
Before she could get an answer, a sudden strong pull on her wrist yanked her into the car, causing her to awkwardly fall into the man’s embrace.
A deep, hoarse voice echoed in the car—
“Finally, you’ve grown up, Sweetie.”