Chapter 38 Indulging Your Arrogance "Here?"

Xie Qingci couldn't sleep.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but her neck, which was resting on his arm, began to stiffen and ache. She quietly raised her head, intending to remove Liang Jingzhuo's arm.

Just as she propped herself up, a voice even clearer than hers came from behind her, "Can't sleep?"

So he wasn't actually asleep.

He resumed his movements, deliberately making them as soft as possible, pulled on a pillow, and lay down again.

"Yeah, it takes me a day or two to get used to a new environment."

Even if it's a place you've lived in for a long time, you'll still need to readjust if you go back after a while.

Liang Jingzhuo doesn't have a problem sleeping in a particular bed; after flying all over the world for so many years, he's long been used to different sleeping environments.

I've been working overtime a lot lately, and my biological clock isn't in a sleep state at this time.

He hadn't moved because he thought Xie Qingci was asleep.

In reality, they were both pretending to be asleep so as not to disturb each other's rest.

"So you can get up at 5:30 tomorrow?"

Previously, in Hong Kong Island and King Siu, he noticed that she usually got up around 8 a.m., so 5:30 a.m. was indeed much earlier.

In addition, she hasn't fallen asleep yet, and he's worried that she won't be able to get up tomorrow morning.

Xie Qingci picked up her phone and glanced at the time. It was 11 p.m. Based on last night's experience, she probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep until around 2 a.m. tonight.

I put down my phone, lay back down on my pillow, and said, "I should be asleep in three hours. Don't talk to me."

Three hours had passed, and it was already past midnight.

Liang Jingzhuo was silent for a moment before speaking, "Then I'll take you somewhere."

Xie Qingci paused, then turned to look at her. "Now?"

He replied, "Now."

She turned around. "Where are you going?"

He didn't say, "You'll know when you get there."

Xie Qingci thought for a moment, "The party downstairs shouldn't be over yet."

It doesn't seem right for them to just go out like this.

Since her student days, Hsieh Ching-Tzu had never left home in the middle of the night, which seemed like a rebellious act.

Liang Jingzhuo pondered for a moment and asked, "Is there a backyard?"

"Yes." Although she felt it wasn't right, Xie Qingci answered decisively and crisply.

As the night deepened and the dew grew heavy, Liang Jingzhuo reminded Xie Qingci to wear a thick coat before leaving the house. They walked out from the backyard and didn't encounter anyone along the way.

The car was parked in the parking lot outside the backyard, so I could leave quietly without being noticed.

Lu Li has already gone to the hotel to rest, and Liang Jingzhuo drove himself.

After getting into the car and starting it, Xie Qingci kept an eye out to see if anyone would notice that they had sneaked out.

Liang Jingzhuo shifted the gear, glanced at her, and asked, "Does your house have a curfew too?"

I remembered the last time we were on Hong Kong Island, he teased me by saying that there was a punishment in their family if you came home after 11 p.m.

After ensuring road safety, the car drove out of the parking lot. Xie Qingci sat down in the passenger seat. "Well, if you get caught going out after 11 p.m., you'll be kneeling in the study."

Liang Jingzhuo seemed to have never heard of this before, turning his head to look at him, "Still like this after you grow up?"

She calmly looked back and said seriously, "Yes, my grandfather cares a lot about these etiquettes."

Liang Jingzhuo withdrew his gaze and remained silent. After a long while, he said, "Then you should be careful on your way back."

-

We went to a 24-hour hot spring resort.

Although the temperature has dropped a lot recently, it doesn't seem to be the season for hot springs yet, right?

As Xie Qingci got out of the car in the parking lot, she asked twice, "Are we going to a hot spring?"

Liang Jingzhuo nodded in agreement.

"But I didn't bring a swimsuit."

"Just the two of us, we can even take a naked bath."

"..."

I'm afraid that won't work.

While taking the elevator upstairs, Hsieh Ching-Tzu checked her phone to see if there were any swimwear stores that could still deliver at this time.

We eventually found one ten kilometers away, but we had to pay extra for delivery.

She couldn't really bathe naked, so she felt she still had to buy something.

After choosing her style and size, she turned to Liang Jingzhuo and asked, "What's your size?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the person next to her slowly turned to look at her, their gaze lingering on her face for a long time without uttering a word.

Xie Qingci held up her phone, waiting for his answer so she could place the order; otherwise, she might not have enough time.

A few seconds later, he slowly spoke: "You don't know?"

?

How did she know?

He blinked and said honestly, "I don't know, I haven't seen it."

Liang Jingzhuo pursed his lips and remained silent for a moment, "It depends on the brand."

ha?

Do swimsuit sizes vary by brand?

Xie Qingci turned her head to look at her phone and saw which brand this was.

At this time, no major brand stores were open anymore. She clicked on the product details page to check the specific information.

"This doesn't seem to be a big brand, it's a niche Swiss brand. The sizes shouldn't be too different, right? What size do you usually wear?"

She turned her head to look again.

Liang Jingzhuo's expression froze for a moment, then his brows furrowed slightly. "Wear it?"

Xie Qingci didn't understand why there was anything to ask about the word "wearing," and nodded, saying, "Yes, what size swim trunks do you usually wear? I'll just buy some for you while I'm at it."

After saying that, he handed over the phone. "The styles of men's swim trunks are quite limited. Would you like to choose some more?"

Liang Jingzhuo lowered his eyes to look at the phone screen that was being handed to him, where a product image of a pair of men's swim trunks was enlarged in the center.

"……Need not."

Xie Qingci hummed in response, not understanding whether it meant he didn't need to choose a style or didn't need her to buy it for him.

But no matter what, naked soaking is absolutely out of the question!

For some reason, her face felt inexplicably hot.

The elevator had already reached the reception floor. Liang Jingzhuo didn't respond to her and walked out.

After registering at the front desk, Xie Qingci was politely handed a tablet by a staff member to choose her swimsuit style and size, which would then be delivered directly to her private room. It was only then that she realized she had been tricked again.

"..."

He took the tablet and glanced speechlessly at the person next to him.

Really...

Liang Jingzhuo looked back at her openly, then took the tablet and started choosing swim trunks.

The members-only private hot spring club offers top-notch service and facilities. After registration, the staff led them to the private hot spring room.

The suite is equipped with five-star amenities, including a hot spring room. It has two floors, separating the entertainment area from the rest area. The dessert table and bar are fully stocked, making it suitable for small-scale team building activities. However, the size of the suite is a bit of a waste for just the two of them.

Before changing her clothes, Liang Jingzhuo received a call from Ms. Zhuang.

Ask him if he's still working overtime at the company or already on his way home.

Xie Qingci picked up the women's swimsuits from the tray and decided to change herself first.

Liang Jingzhuo took off his trench coat and tossed it onto the sofa. He held his phone to his ear with one hand and raised the other to unbutton his shirt.

They don't even plan to go to the locker room.

As he took off half of his shirt with one hand, Xie Qingci turned around with her swimsuit in hand and went into the changing room.

He glanced at the fleeing figure, handed his phone to his other hand, took off the remaining half of his shirt sleeve, tossed it onto the sofa, and said, "I've arrived in Shanghai."

Ms. Zhuang thought she had misheard. "Huh?!" she exclaimed. "Aren't we going tomorrow?"

He replied, "Yes, Xie Qingci said there's a ceremony tomorrow morning, and I'll return to Hong Kong Island after it's over."

Ms. Zhuang responded knowingly, "Okay, this is your first time meeting Xiao Ci's maternal grandmother's relatives and friends, so behave appropriately, know your place, and don't embarrass her!"

"...Is this how you see me?"

Ms. Zhuang coughed and said, "I was just trying to be helpful."

"……thank you."

"Of course."

...

Xie Qingci took her swimsuit into the changing room. After changing, she stood in front of the vanity mirror tying her hair when she suddenly realized that she had thought she was asking about the size of something in the elevator.

Um?

? ? ?

After changing into her swimsuit, she came out of the changing room, only to find that Liang Jingzhuo was no longer outside. Her clothes were neatly hung in the closet.

She glanced at the signs, found the hot spring room, hung up her clothes, and walked over.

Pushing open the door, Liang Jingzhuo was already inside the hot spring pool. The water rippled and steam rose. He leaned against the edge of the pool, still on the phone, but it wasn't Ms. Zhuang calling anymore; it was him discussing work matters with his subordinates.

Working at this hour, they must be incredibly dedicated employees.

Seeing the door open, he glanced over and ended the call at the opportune moment.

Xie Qingci closed the door, walked to the edge of the pool, and stepped into the pool.

The rippling water reflected the starry sky on the rooftop, and she stood in the center of the pool, looking up at it.

The four sides are blue screens, like a deep blue ocean, accompanied by the sound of the tides.

Xie Qingci had traveled to and from Shanghai so many times, yet she had never heard of such a hot spring resort. She lowered her head, intending to walk to the stone steps by the pool and sit down, when Liang Jingzhuo stopped her.

"Wait a moment."

She stopped in her tracks. "What's wrong?"

"Wait there for a moment." He reached out and tapped a few times on the control panel behind him.

The starry sky above the rooftop began to change, gradually transforming into churning clouds, while the surrounding blue screen turned into a gray hue, as if a storm was brewing.

The next second, thunder rumbled, and at the same moment, a huge curtain of rain poured down from the roof.

The warm water washed over her, instantly soaking her. Xie Qingci was stunned for a moment. Raindrops hit the water, splashing out huge reflections, and the sound of rain was deafening.

The next moment, she understood what she was doing.

He had seen the diary she had left on the table.

During her senior year of high school, she wrote a sentence in her diary: "I want a torrential downpour to drench me."

She wasn't in a good state during that time, and she wrote this sentence down when she was at her lowest point emotionally.

Years later, she could still vividly recall those emotions, but she had long forgotten that sentence. She wouldn't even remember writing it unless she looked through her diary.

Through the dense, cascading rain, Liang Jingzhuo looked at her and said, "Does this count? Getting soaked like that really makes you sick. I think this is about right."

When she went to get him his pajamas, he saw her diary spread out on the table. The moment he saw that sentence, he thought of the hot spring resort.

I saw it on my cousin's Instagram before. She visited this place during her New Year's Day holiday when she came to Shanghai.

He simply swiped past the post, not particularly interested in brands that rely on various gimmicks to gain popularity.

Xie Qingci laughed, "Okay."

A small wish from a few years ago has been fulfilled across time and space in another form. How can that not count?

She sat down next to him and reached out to catch the falling water. "How did you know about this place?"

He doesn't seem like someone who would know anything about this kind of place.

Liang Jingzhuo helped her tuck the rain-stirred hair behind her ear. "A cousin of mine came by before, and I saw her post about it on social media."

"Cousin?" Xie Qingci recalled the Liang family relatives and friends she met at the Liang family mansion that day. It seemed that they were all elders, and she did not see any peers.

He nodded. "Yes, if you go to Hong Kong Island during your next winter break, you should be able to run into her. She's studying at the University of Hong Kong."

Xie Qingci nodded.

The still-falling rain, along with the ever-changing clouds and thunder, truly felt like being in a downpour that seemed to turn the world upside down.

She raised her head, closed her eyes, and felt the rain washing over her.

The continuous raindrops flowed across my face and skin, and the moisturized glow changed color with the screen display.

Liang Jingzhuo looked at the person next to her who was leaning against the edge of the pool, wearing a halter-neck one-piece swimsuit with a lace skirt that swayed in the water.

Her lips were pinkish-red, her face was fair, and her bare shoulders and neck reflected the light like smooth jade.

He slightly curved his lips into a smile.

In the moist water, Xie Qingci felt a warm sensation on her lips, then she sucked on her lips, her face being held up.

She quickly regained her composure, responded gently, and kissed him in the eye of the storm.

After not seeing each other for many days, the emotions and physical fluctuations triggered by their kiss in the shower were stirred up again.

Liang Jingzhuo pulled the person onto his lap, the smooth skin pressing against him, and his heart began to flutter.

As his breathing became rapid, the kiss on his lips shifted to one side, landing on her ear.

My thoughts hadn't quite settled; I was swaying and floating in mid-air, unable to land.

Liang Jingzhuo looked down at the person in front of him, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Xie Qingci knew what he was asking, and with her rosy cheeks slightly turned away, she said softly, "No..."

Although there were only a few instances of actual intimate contact, their bodies were indeed very compatible.

How could there not be?

Liang Jingzhuo kissed the tip of the nose of the person in his arms. "I'll help you."

Before I could even utter a response, my breath was once again stolen.

...

Xie Qingci grasped his wrist, her brows furrowed weakly, and said, "No..."

How could you do this?

The person who embraced her kissed her ear, just like that day in Fushun Hutong, and told her it was okay, she could do it.

The rain continued to patter down, and the hot steam in the pool billowed and churned.

The voice in my ear changed tone, becoming slightly hoarse, "Here?"

Her red lips were bitten until they lost their color.

He kissed her temple and chuckled softly, "Good girl."

...