Chapter 27 Reward: Being kissed until suffocated.

Amidst the rustling of the autumn wind, the corridor was baked to a scorched yellow by the afternoon sun.

Ning Jiu stepped out of the teachers' office, took a deep breath, and realized that the world had never seemed so beautiful.

This midterm exam was a city-wide unified exam, which the school attached great importance to. Teacher Qin also changed his usual low-key style of only posting the top ten students' names at the back of the classroom, and specially chose a class meeting to focus on analyzing the current learning situation of Class 8 in the second year of high school.

When Lao Qin announced that Qiao Bolin was first in the city, almost no one in the class was surprised, but when he announced that Duan Chu was second, some people obviously couldn't sit still.

"What? The class monitor isn't second? I thought he was the perennial runner-up like Barak."

"Oh dear, please stop talking," someone quickly advised him. "Ruiheng is already very unhappy, don't add fuel to the fire and make things worse."

Old Qin circled the classroom once, and after the commotion subsided a bit, he made his announcement.

"Another student who made great progress this time was Ning Jiu. He ranked third in our class, third in the grade, and twenty-eighth in the city." He paused for a moment.

The classroom was silent for two seconds.

A few people in the front row subconsciously turned their heads to look at Ning Jiu, who was sitting by the window. Someone exclaimed "Wow!" and the classroom immediately became lively, with whispers and exclamations rising and falling.

Wow!

"Third?! Really?!"

"That's incredible..."

As soon as the school bell rang, Gao Hexin insisted on dragging Ning Jiu to Yinbinglou to celebrate. Li Mingyuan also said he wanted to celebrate for Ning Jiu, but it would be by playing games.

“Yinbinglou only serves desserts,” Li Mingyuan said with a grin. “It’s better to go to Tengyuege next door for something more upscale.”

Tengyue Pavilion is a high-end restaurant near Jianglan Experimental School, specializing in various exquisite Suzhou-style snacks. Compared to Yinbinglou's student-friendly dessert prices, Tengyue Pavilion's prices are prohibitive, and it's mostly parents who occasionally take their children there as a treat.

"I didn't realize you were so rich," Gao Hexin teased. "My dad took me there once at the end of last semester, and I was completely stunned when we paid the bill. Are you treating this time?"

"Damn, of course I'm not paying," Li Mingyuan rolled his eyes dismissively and glanced towards a corner. "If anyone should be paying, it should be the top student in the city."

At this point, the two looked around and realized that neither the third-ranked student in their grade nor the first-ranked student in the city were in their class.

-

"Shh-"

On the fifth floor, separated from the psychology classroom by only a wall, the soft laughter of a man and a woman could be heard from inside. Ning Jiu raised an eyebrow and glanced at the psychology classroom that had been taken by surprise. She didn't say anything, but simply used her pinky to lightly hook Qiao Bolin's fingertip, and a delicate, tingling sensation spread through her with the movement.

"What can we do? It seems there's no room for us there," she said, without a hint of regret in her voice. "We'll have to settle for second best..."

"Is this why we're in the bathroom now?"

Unlike other floors which are divided by gender, the restrooms on the fifth floor are a unified public facility with only a few available.

Just as Ning Jiu and Qiao Bolin were about to open the door to the psychology classroom, they heard the voices of a boy and a girl behind them. In a moment of panic, she took Qiao Bolin's hand and hid in the restroom next door.

“But the situation is urgent,” she turned her head, glancing at Qiao Bolin’s scrutinizing gaze, assuming he was annoyed by the crowded restroom, “but they can’t see us right now, you go out first, I’ll come back in a few minutes—”

Are you afraid of people seeing us together?

"Um?"

This time, Ningjiu's brain short-circuited.

The bathroom wasn't cramped, but the two of them were still too close together. His voice was lower than usual, and his expression remained calm and gentle, but his posture and gaze made no attempt to conceal an aggressive approach.

“What I mean is, now that we’re here,” he said clearly and calmly, as if he were reading a speech by the top student in the grade, “we can collect our reward here.”

Click.

It was the sound of the doorknob being locked.

She leaned against the door, her posture slightly backward, and her wrist accidentally touched his palm. She tried to escape, but he gently held her.

The subtle touch lingered on the skin, like a small flame being lit.

This situation seems familiar, but now, something seems to have quietly changed.

In the cramped space, a square mirror reflected their current posture.

Their breaths mingled, their shadows almost overlapped, Ning Jiu was trapped between his arms and the wall, her back pressed against the cold tiles, she could only tilt her head slightly to reach Qiao Bolin's eyes.

“If you do this,” she said pointedly, “I can’t accept my reward.”

As soon as Qiao Bailin took a half step back, the fox lurking in the shadows smiled, mimicked his action, grabbed his wrist, and pushed him toward the sink with a hint of provocation.

She took a step forward, and the boy followed suit by taking a step back. The whole process went surprisingly smoothly.

When the ends of his fluffy hair touched the cool, glassy texture, Ning Jiu had had enough fun. She let go of his hand and tapped Qiao Bolin's hot shoulder with her index finger, signaling him to lower his head.

"You're so tall, I can barely reach you."

When they finally looked at each other, she stretched out her thumb, wanting to touch his lips, but her hand was suddenly grabbed by the boy halfway through.

He wrapped his arms around her back with a bit of force, but his knuckles parted slightly, and the two almost intertwined their fingers.

"We don't cross the line," said Joel Bolton.

“Yes,” Ning Jiu repeated his words, probably meaning in agreement, “we won’t cross the line.”

This was the unspoken rule they agreed upon when they first decided to start this game.

But what constitutes crossing the line?

“In 1997, Dr. Arthur Aron conducted a psychology experiment,” she said. “He asked a couple to look into each other’s eyes for four minutes and then asked them a series of questions. As a result, some of the participants fell in love quickly after the experiment.”

"Similar experiments include the ten-second eye contact experiment. If you can look into the eyes of someone of the opposite sex for ten seconds without looking away, you will have the physiological urge to kiss them."

Ning Jiu smiled, her fingertips freeing themselves from his grasp. Her thumb gently pressed against his thin lower lip, slowly squeezing, the soft touch of her fingertip sending a shiver through her.

“We won’t cross the line, but the reward I want is for you to help me test the feasibility of this experiment.”

An experiment that everyone knew the truth about, a seemingly legitimate experiment.

The moment the girl approached, a faint, sweet fragrance wafted into his nostrils, enveloping him with her entire aura.

Qiao Bolin wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his tongue accidentally touched her fingertip. The wetness was fleeting, and the two of them were stunned at the same time.

“There’s no need to be nervous, it’s just a little test,” she said, unsure whether she was speaking to him or herself. “Besides, do you really believe that looking into each other’s eyes for ten seconds will give you the urge to kiss someone?”

The underlying meaning is that she doesn't believe it.

"and......"

She rubbed her thumb on her lips and pressed down a little harder.

"This is the red line."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Ning Jiu was initially staring into his eyes during the countdown.

She had said long ago that Qiao Bolin had eyes that could love. Compared to the calm and still eyes when they first met, his eyes now seemed like night rain falling into a glass sea, rippling in circles.

With the countdown down to the third second, her eyes flickered slightly, and her gaze suddenly fell on his handsome lips.

His lips were redder than normal, not from the glossy color of lipstick, but from a natural, radiant redness.

The first time I saw him, he pronounced her name with those lips, clearly and distinctly. Then, I remember him standing on the high podium several times, either giving an acceptance speech or reading a prepared speech.

Now, the same lips are being kneaded wantonly by her fingertips, with different shapes imprinted by the indentation of her thumb, the soft touch like jelly.

Tick-tock.

Night rain followed, dripping into my heart.

Ningjiu had to admit it.

She never intended to seriously carry out this experiment.

She said she wanted a reward.

Regardless of whether the experiment was reasonable, her desire to kiss Joelin had existed long before the experiment began.

In other words, what she lacked was not a fabricated experiment.

What she lacks is an opportunity.

As she counted down to two in a gentle tone, the cunning hidden in Ning Jiu's eyes finally surfaced. They were only a few centimeters apart, their noses almost touching. She only needed to slightly raise her chin so that her lips could feel the touch of his lips instead of her thumb.

Soft, fiery, his.

As the countdown ended, before Qiao Bolin could react, she suddenly stood on tiptoe, wanting to kiss him through her thumb, but unexpectedly, just one step away, her slender waist was suddenly grabbed.

"uh-huh."

Ning Jiu gave a soft snort and was forced to lower her head. The movement that was originally going to kiss his lips was forced to bend down, and her lips lightly touched his warm collarbone.

The wetness of his lips and tongue spread wildly across the thinnest part of his skin. Qiao Bolin lowered his eyes, concealing the dark turmoil within them, and straightened his body.

The height difference between the two, which had just disappeared, became obvious again.

"Joe, Bo, Lin!"

She didn't know when he saw through her, but Ning Jiu glanced at her collarbone, which was slowly bleeding from the bump, and then looked up at his calm black eyes, feeling unusually embarrassed and angry.

"If you don't want me to kiss, then you don't want me to kiss. You could have just told me from the beginning. What kind of person pushes me away at the last second when there were only ten seconds left on the countdown?!"

"No one is forbidden from kissing."

The boy was tall and upright. When he stood up straight, he cast a dark gray shadow over Ning Jiu.

In the mirror, Ning Jiu's figure was almost completely submerged by the boy.

She felt his footsteps approaching her and reflexively stepped back until she touched the cold tiles behind her. She then braced her right hand against his chest.

"Don't go any further," she said reluctantly, biting her lip slightly as she felt the boy's gaze on her face. "You said you'd agree to any reward."

"Yes, I did say I'd agree to any reward."

Qiao Bolin naturally took over, his tone still gentle, proper, and polite.

"So it wasn't you who kissed me, it was me who kissed you."

Wait...wait a minute.

What did he just say?

Ning Jiu looked up at him in surprise, but before she could say anything, her lips touched his hot touch.

He mimicked her gesture, pressing his thumb against her soft lips. Before she could even get angry, he leaned in and pressed his entire body against hers.

Even though they were only a finger's width apart, the boy's calm and collected aura quickly wafted over her, enveloping her completely.

He pressed her thigh against his knee, and she braced her hands against his chest, preventing him from getting any closer.

Qiao Bolin paused, and just as she thought he was about to back away, a sudden tickle came from her waist. The hand that was on her waist moved slightly, its pinky finger lightly scratching the most sensitive spot on her lower back.

Ning Jiu couldn't help but let out another muffled groan.

With only a brief moment of relaxation, he seized the opportunity to turn defense into offense.

The kiss through his thumb was much slower than she had expected, with a kind of compelling yet lingering patience. At this distance, she could almost see the fine hairs on his cheeks, and even the curves of his lips were clearly visible.

The most agonizing thing is that even though our lips didn't touch...

It's because the lips didn't touch.

She could see his lips so close, yet she couldn't feel the touch of his thumb that had just been there. This disconnect between touch and sight created a cognitive bias that nearly drove Ning Jiu to the brink of collapse.

"You...you can stop now."

Even though there was no kiss, Ning Jiu had the illusion of being kissed to the point of suffocation in a daze, and for a moment she couldn't tell whose reward this was.

This position lasted for a long time, until Ning Jiu's legs began to go weak. Qiao Bolin released his thumb, and she had just breathed a sigh of relief when she suddenly heard a girl's voice coming from outside the door.

"Wait, I need to use the restroom."

The footsteps grew closer, and Ning Jiu reflexively straightened her shoulders and neck, raising her eyes to say something to Qiao Bolin, only to find that his gaze had never left her lips.

Those once clear black eyes seemed stained with ink in the shadows, their clarity fading, leaving only a thick, dark darkness.

His thumb had somehow transformed into five fingers, covering her mouth. Ning Jiu realized what he was trying to do and was about to struggle when she felt a slow, gentle kneading sensation on the back of her neck, a tingling sensation spreading through her body from top to bottom—

Once again, I completely lost my strength.

The girl outside the door tried to open it, and just as her hand was about to touch the bathroom doorknob, the boy behind her grabbed her hand.

"Go downstairs first, the teachers just get off work at this time."

"That's true."

Before long, silence returned outside the door, but Ning Jiu's body began to tremble slightly.

Qiao Bolin's fingers were long and slender, with a faint sandalwood scent. His kisses landed on her palms, so delicate and frequent that she almost held her breath, her thoughts filled with the intense heat.

Once she was sure the two people outside had left, Ning Jiu sobered up a bit. She lowered her head and gently took his index finger into her mouth. Feeling the pause in his kiss, she pretended to whisper.

"They're gone."

"Hmm." His voice was much lower than usual.

"You should let me go."

"......"

A few seconds later, as Qiao Bolin released her grip, Ning Jiu immediately revealed her true colors, burying her soft cheek in the crook of his neck and biting him again along the wound she had just bumped.

He didn't hold back with that bite; it definitely left a mark on her collarbone. He didn't dodge; he just held her like that, letting her bite him as much as she wanted, as if to vent her anger.

"Are you crazy?" Ning Jiu said, her legs completely exhausted from the kisses, as she calmed down a bit. "It's just a simulated kiss, why are you making it sound so real, taking so long?"

Her face was buried in the crook of his neck, so she couldn't see Qiao Bolin's expression. She could only feel the soft and clingy kisses falling on her forehead and behind her ears, one after another, as if she were addicted to kissing.

Just as he was about to protest, he suddenly heard the boy's pleasant laughter. His voice was still clear and crisp, but the words he spoke were like the burning breath lingering on his neck, scalding his heart.

His tone was tinged with regret, but unfortunately, there was no remorse.

"Why is it still two months before I can really kiss you?"

-----------------------

Author's Note: Sweet Wine will be 18 in two months.

But actually, this is no different from a real marriage (to get it approved... whispering).

This man is gradually revealing his true nature. [doge emoji]