Chapter 17 Can licking cover up your lousy hickeys?

"Oh my goodness, the typhoon had just subsided a little, why are you back already!"

The next day, after the typhoon had passed and the thunder and lightning had just subsided, Yuan Liangjing sat at the entrance of the dessert shop and saw the slender figure of a girl walking around the corner towards him.

Almost instantly, Yuan Liangjing sprang to his feet, complaining as he rushed to Ning Jiu's side like the wind.

He checked Ning Jiu's shoulders thoroughly and only felt relieved after confirming there were no problems.

Looking up, a black sedan sped past around the corner not far away.

“Yesterday you said you were staying at a classmate’s house downtown, and then you stopped replying when I asked,” Ning Jiu said as she changed her shoes and went upstairs, followed by Yuan Liangjing’s incessant nagging. “Don’t do that again, you know? How many times have I told you? You have to reply to every message you see. Next time there’s this kind of extreme weather, your uncle won’t listen to you anymore. Even if I get blown away, I’ll still go to pick you up…”

Okay.

The girl's slender, long legs stopped at the top of the steps, and she spoke her first words of the day.

"I'll listen to you from now on."

Ning Jiu's tone was very obedient.

Or perhaps, they're just too well-behaved.

This is not normal.

Yuan Liangjing keenly sensed that Ning Jiu was acting strangely, recalling the girl's mention of the classmate who had kindly taken her in yesterday.

"By the way, do you need your uncle to thank that person for you—"

"Need not."

Before he could finish speaking, Ning Jiu coldly interrupted him.

"I broke up with him."

"......"

Yuan Liangjing dragged me to eat lunch on the first floor, and then I lay back down on the hard bed on the second floor.

The twinkling fairy lights on the ceiling above my head are an eyesore no matter how I look at them.

Seemingly annoyed by the flashing lights, Ning simply closed her eyes and stopped looking.

But as soon as she closes her eyes, the memory of their confrontation in the bathroom on that stormy night once again inexplicably takes over her mind.

The sound of water, the sound of rain, and—

The wet sound of lips and tongue licking the skin.

Ningjiu firmly believes.

This time, she and Joe Bolin have completely broken up.

Thoroughly, without leaving any room for compromise.

Although the word "blasphemy" is too extreme, when her mind went blank and she could only see the boy's neck skin reddened from being sucked, and drops of warm water slowly dripping onto the ground along the lines of his soaked abdominal muscles.

That was the only word she could think of.

The water vapor and body heat intertwined to form a thin mist that gently swayed before her eyes.

Over an excessively prolonged period, the temperature gradually subsided.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the sound of their breathing as they drew near each other and the beating of their hearts.

It wasn't a violent, noisy impact, but a slow, decree-like thud in the ears—

She seems to be finished.

I don't remember how that day went by very clearly. No one spoke the next day. After we made sure the typhoon had passed, Qiao Bolin bought Xiao Bai a decent new home on the app. Ning Jiu said she wanted to take Xiao Bai to a shelter, but Qiao Bolin said no, he would call.

Overstepping boundaries of intimacy becomes an offense.

The tide receded suddenly, leaving only mud and sand exposed on the empty shore.

Their silence continued until Ning Jiu called a taxi, asking if she needed a ride, as if greeting a classmate she had just met. Ning Jiu refused, and the conversation ended completely.

If Ning Jiu's first reaction after doing all this was regret for kissing him, then now, after reviewing the whole incident, her attitude towards it is—

I regret not kissing him sooner.

His neck was fair, and the scent of agarwood was even stronger when you brought it closer, lingering around your nose and dispelling the dampness of the rain.

From the angle at which she kissed his Adam's apple, his thin lips were slightly pursed, his ears were flushed, and his taut chest rose and fell with his breath, making him look...

It's even more intimate now.

People like Joe Bolin, who have both family background and brains, are people that ordinary people might not be able to reach even after spending half their lives.

Instead of spending a lot of emotions and energy trying to get close to him and then trying to possess him, like everyone else, it seems like a much easier way to just kiss and touch him and then block him.

Besides, kissing the neck... well, rounding up, does that count as possession?

She didn't really want to take things any further with him.

Outside the window, one could still hear the pattering rain and the rustling of sycamore leaves. Ning Jiu covered her soft face with the blanket.

However, there was one thing she couldn't understand.

That night in the bathroom, she clearly only intended to expose Qiao Bolin and tease him, so how did it end up like that?

So when did the atmosphere start to feel off?

Was it when he entered the bathroom and held her to prevent her from getting wet, or when she broke free from his grasp and pinned him against the wall...?

Wait, if they're pressed against the wall, who's pressing whom down?

The overlooked details are like the steam rising from a summer downpour on a stone slab, dissipating in the scorching air in an instant.

Ning Jiu let out a devastating "Ah!", bit into the cup, and simply gave up.

Who cares?

Given his personality, he probably won't bring this up on his own initiative.

Once we're done, we block each other and go back to being just ordinary classmates. That's it.

-

After the typhoon holiday, everyone was reluctant to leave when they returned to the classroom.

After the English morning reading class ended, Li Mingyuan yawned and looked back to see if Tan Xinxin had left. Halfway back, he seemed to suddenly realize something, and even stopped yawning.

Chen Poyao noticed his distraction and looked back as well.

"What's wrong?"

Li Mingyuan: "Berlin...didn't he come today?"

Ning Jiu paused, her hand holding the pen still, when Chen Poyao's surprised voice came from behind her.

"It seems so, the desks are all empty," she frowned, perhaps finding this situation unusual. "Are they sick?"

During these past few days of typhoon weather, everyone has been staying at home, and the temperature hasn't changed significantly.

If it wasn't a cold, then it's most likely that he got sick from being caught in the rain.

However, Qiao Bolin didn't seem like the kind of person who would go out in a downpour, so Chen Po thought it best not to say anything.

Later, it was proven that Chen Poyao's conjecture was correct. Before the Chinese class, Lao Qin mentioned Qiao Bolin's absence with a sigh, and advised everyone not to go out aimlessly on rainy days.

“You kids, you just take advantage of your good health. You should at least listen to what I say in the group chat,” he said, looking around before fixing his gaze on a certain spot. “Oh, and you too, Li Mingyuan.”

Li Mingyuan's body trembled.

Weren't we criticizing Qiao Bolin? How did we end up involving him?

Old Qin: "What do you mean by submitting the physical education homework that the PE teacher assigned at home in a speed-up format? Are you taking advantage of my old and blurry eyes to think you can't see that this is slow motion speed-up? You're even slacking off when doing exercises."

"Pfft." The atmosphere in the class became lively.

Li Mingyuan slumped on his desk in frustration. Gao Hexin, who sat in front of him, seemed to have caught him red-handed and started mocking him as soon as the bell rang.

"Is Li Mingyuan any good? You even managed to slow down the recording of a gymnastics video. You're really something."

"Don't you think gymnastics is inherently flawed in human physiology? Can a person really perform those movements?" Li Mingyuan retorted, turning his gaze to Ning Jiu, who was doing her homework beside him. "Sister Jiu, you be the judge..."

"Sister Jiu? Ning Jiu?"

Ning Jiu seemed to have just heard what they were saying; she put down her pen and turned her head.

Take a deep breath and ask a serious question: "Can a person catch a cold if they take a shower while wearing clothes... or get splashed with water?"

"Um?"

"ah?"

Li Mingyuan and Gao Hexin were clearly taken aback by her sudden question, and even Chen Poyao, who was standing next to them, glanced at her slightly.

Ning Jiu explained, "After Lao Qin mentioned it, I felt a bit itchy in my throat. I suddenly remembered that when I was taking a shower before, I was splashed all over by the showerhead before I even got in."

Gao Hexin thought for a moment.

"This weather... I don't know if I'll catch a cold or not, but it's definitely going to be awful."

Li Mingyuan looked at Ning Jiu sympathetically: "Yeah, you'll feel sticky all over. If you deal with it in time, it'll be fine, but if you stay wet for a while, it'll be hard not to catch a cold."

"......"

Ning Jiu fell silent because of what the two were saying, her fingers clenching and unclenching, and Gao Hexin hugged her tightly.

"Waaah, Sweet Wine, please don't let anything happen to you," Gao Hexin whimpered, burying his face in Ning Jiu's neck and nuzzling her. "If Qiao Xueshen can't come, you're the only one left on our team."

Gao Hexin explained that this Wednesday is the joint community culture festival with Linjiang International. If Qiao Bolin, as the Model United Nations president, cannot participate in these simulation meetings, the president position may be taken over by someone from Linjiang International.

"Last year's club culture festival was chaired by that Julie girl, and her scoring was blatantly biased," she complained, her eyes wide and watery, as she looked up at Ning Jiu. "There's a mock meeting today, but the chairperson isn't here..."

Gao Hexin's implied meaning was already quite clear. Ning Jiu thought for a moment and said that she would go and help out today.

After a day of intense study, the final simulated meeting officially began in the Model United Nations conference room on the fifth floor.

Qiao Bolin was forced to watch the meeting online and provide guidance afterward. Ning Jiu remained in her previous position as assistant, but this time she had significantly more to do.

Qiao Bolin couldn't control the pace in real time online. Although the representatives seemed to be cooperating, some people went off-topic and others interrupted. Ning Jiu could only slowly adjust the pace by making quick judgments between the rules of the process and the speech.

She had to take notes on who said what and how, and also steer the conversation back on track whenever possible. It wasn't until the second phase of the meeting that Ning Jiu realized her voice was a little hoarse.

At first, Yuan Qi expressed his dissatisfaction with this sudden change, but later he somehow fell silent.

After the meeting ended, Qi Ruiheng exited the software's meeting mode and called Qiao Bolin to ask for his opinion.

Ning Jiu was still writing notes on the stage. From a distance, one could faintly hear his usually clear voice, now slightly hoarse, with occasional, slightly restrained coughs.

After a while, the sounds of people responding around him paused for a moment. Ning Jiu had just finished writing the last column when the tip of his pen stopped on the paper.

She turned her head and vaguely heard Yuan Qi chuckle softly. Then, everyone's eyes turned to her.

Gao Hexin had the happiest expression, his eyes sparkling as he waved to Ning Jiu, pulling her into the middle of the crowd as if he had seen the grand finale surprise.

"Hey hey, our hero of the day is here."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft "hmm," a voice that, despite its slightly hoarse tone, was still clear and pleasant to hear.

"Yes, he is indeed a great contributor."

Whether praising someone or pointing out their shortcomings, Qiao Bolin's voice seems to have a persuasive quality that makes people listen.

Just like now, he calmly uttered a seemingly self-evident decision, which, across the electric current, was like a pebble falling into water, creating slight ripples.

"Then let Ning Jiu be the Model UN chairman."

"......"

No one responded immediately, as if everyone was waiting for Ning Jiu's reaction, and even she herself was slightly taken aback.

Joel Berlin made it sound so natural.

It felt so natural, as if it were a decision that had been planned long ago.

However, she had no reason to refuse.

A good assistant is one who doesn't want to be the chairman's assistant.

Thinking this, Ning Jiu still felt a strange emotion welling up inside her, and said something meaningful.

Are you sure you're not using a reward and punishment system?

"Hmm?" The other end seemed to chuckle, replying in a hoarse voice.

"I guess so. The reward is for doing a good job, but the punishment... we'll talk about that later."

After hanging up the phone, Qiao Bolin sat on the soft sofa and stopped coughing.

Looking up, she bumped right into Xiao Xiye, who was coming downstairs.

"It's been a whole day."

He took a glass of ice water and leaned against the island counter, looking at the red marks on Qiao Bolin's neck, his tone revealing his irritation.

"Could you cover up that nasty hickey with a band-aid?"

Qiao Bolin paused in stroking Xiao Bai, and the little guy immediately let out a soft snort of dissatisfaction, tilted his head back, and nuzzled his palm with the tip of his nose, acting coquettishly.

His voice had lost all of the hoarseness he had on the phone.

"Ventilation can help the virus dissipate faster."

"Come on," Xiao Xiye sneered, slowing down the stroking of the cup with his thumb. "We grew up together, don't I know you?"

Whether it's because it's hard to cover up or because they don't want to, just think about it and you'll know.

He maintained his straightforward tone, as always.

"You know she's playing you."

"I know."

Perhaps it shouldn't be called "playing around," or as she put it...

It's called "play".

Even as an outsider, Xiao Xiye could see that Ning Jiu didn't like Qiao Bolin; she just liked teasing him.

Would Joel Berlin himself not know?

Red marks left by a deep kiss take five to seven days to fade. Rather than wearing a band-aid to school and causing unnecessary trouble, it's quicker and easier to take sick leave.

Ning Jiu probably overlooked this detail, assuming that what happened in the bathroom that day had caused him to catch a cold, and that his phone call just now was an unusually tentative expression of concern.

so.

Games require emotional investment, don't they?

Xiao Bai let out a soft moan, raised her round eyes, and looked at Qiao Bolin with a hint of inquiry.

Qiao Bolin looked down at it for a moment, then casually patted its head before walking slowly to the corner to pour out the dog food.

Seeing that he was being played with and yet still happy, Xiao Xiye secretly rolled his eyes.

He scolded himself for meddling, while saying something in a rather casual tone.

"She will continue to play you."

The air fell silent for a moment.

Qiao Bolin stood up, patted the creases on his pants that Xiao Bai had scratched, and turned to face him.

He remained calm, even with a faint smile, and nodded to Xiao Xiye.

"I know that too."

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Author's Note: Starting tomorrow, I will resume daily updates at 7:00 PM! [Thumbs up] Tangtang is super grateful for your support, my darlings!

The next chapter will make Xiao Qiao a little jealous [doge emoji]