Chapter 56. Yanmi is starving, my good girl. ...

Ning Jiu felt like a small boat being swept away by the surging tide, drifting further and further away, her whole body churning in the waves, feeling like it was about to fall apart.

The tide receded, her lungs nearly empty, his temperature was much higher than usual, and she was completely unprepared. The hand that was holding his hair gradually loosened. After the storm, the small boat finally found a harbor to dock. His movements calmed down, and he used his lips to soothe the lingering afterglow.

As she exhaled, a soreness accompanied by an indescribable pleasure spread through her. Qiao Bolin straightened his body, and hot sweat mixed with water dripped from the tip of his nose onto his snow-white, sunken collarbone. Ning Jiu retained her last bit of rationality and stopped him in a trembling voice.

"I have a boyfriend, are you sure—"

Should we do that?

It took them so long to break up completely, but who would have thought that after only a few meetings, they would repeat the same mistakes?

Ning Jiu didn't want to lose her mind in the emotional turmoil of separation and reunion, but where exactly did she go wrong? He had coaxed her so much that she lost her senses, and now things had turned out like this.

She even regretted not bringing the custom-made ring with her today.

“There’s still a chance to salvage things if we pause now,” she said, unsure whether she was speaking to him or to herself. “Joe Bolin, we’re not kids anymore. If we’re doing this now, we’re either boyfriend and girlfriend or friends with benefits.”

The implication is, are you really willing to just be a sex partner?

Ning Jiu knew she had said some very harsh things, but Qiao Bolin just looked at her quietly without saying a word.

She felt a chill run down her spine as he stared into her dark eyes, and for a moment she felt as if she had returned to the days when he hid her in the apartment.

The hot, bare skin rubbed together, and she panicked, trying to escape, but he grabbed her ankle and dragged her back without mercy.

"Ning Jiu, you really know how to provoke me."

The room temperature was gradually evaporating and rising, and he was conveying his fervent emotions to her in every detail through his body temperature.

“Friends with benefits? It’s not impossible,” he leaned closer, his tone still clear and upright, “However, if we don’t do it a few times, it’ll be hard to live up to that name.”

The expected dissuasion seemed to have the opposite effect. The pain that had not been touched for many years, along with the pleasure caused by the stimulation of nerve endings, reached the cerebral cortex at the same time. Ning Jiu felt a stinging sensation in the corners of her eyes, and the tears that had just flowed were sucked clean by Qiao Bolin.

"Has he been here?" His wet hair obscured his prominent brow bone, his voice husky and sexy. "Hiss, don't bite, you naughty baby."

Her long, slender, fair fingers complemented her body; the suit jacket in the corner of the sofa was damp and wrinkled.

"Looks like there's none left. Look how hungry you are, my good girl."

From the sofa to the bed, and from the bed to the bathroom.

Scalding water droplets flowed down her temples and into her hair. Ning Jiu could no longer distinguish between sweat and water, and could only dazedly let him pinch her chin and kiss her deeply.

"No...don't come again." She had lost count of how many times this had happened; she was going crazy.

"Shh, baby, we're having an affair, keep it down."

Qiao Bolin made her hug him tighter, then he pulled Ning Jiu against the bathroom glass. Ning Jiu whimpered and completely surrendered.

She knew better than he did about the baseless accusations, so why was she the only one truly suffering?

Morality abandoned Qiao Bolin and embraced her instead. Ning Jiu was almost breathless from his embrace as he nibbled at her earlobe.

"It's so hot, let...let go," she stretched out her wet hand to cover Qiao Bolin's lips, but he sucked on the base of her fingers. "Stop saying all that, okay? Just focus on what you're doing..."

The man seemed not to hear her and intensified his advances. Helpless, Ning Jiu could only take the initiative to kiss him, silencing the embarrassing words he was about to say.

“That’s wonderful, baby,” he said in a muffled voice, his sweaty hair burying in the crook of her neck, “Let’s keep doing this, until we die, okay?”

A body temperature of 38.7 degrees Celsius.

He had a temperature of 38.7 degrees Celsius.

For a moment, Ning Jiu was in a daze, wondering if Qiao Bolin was joking.

She is really going to die.

Ning Jiu's body, which hadn't been used for a long time, was so sore and weak that she couldn't lift a single finger. She let Qiao Bolin carry her from the bathroom to the big bed.

The familiar scent on the bed quickly relaxed her nerves. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she vaguely felt Qiao Bolin lift her hair and gently stroke it.

She frowned slightly, about to tell him to stop fooling around, when a cool liquid touched her lips. She reflexively took a sip, finding it sweet with a hint of bitterness.

"Drink it, or you'll catch a cold."

In this matter, he cared for her far more than he cared for himself.

Ning Jiu doesn't like bitter things, so she naturally doesn't like taking medicine. But whether it was her imagination or not, the medicine in her mouth tasted sweeter than usual, and it wasn't too bad.

He coaxed her into swallowing it all, and she heard a soft laugh in her ear, praising her for being so good.

A cool sensation swept across her lips for a moment, as if he had kissed her. Ning Jiu finally fell into a deep sleep.

The next day.

The work on the USB drive wasn't finished yet, and no matter how sleepy he was, Ningjiu's biological clock still woke him up on time.

My whole body, especially my waist and other indescribable areas, aches terribly with the slightest movement, and I can feel the hickeys all over my body just by bending my head down.

......

How many places did he kiss yesterday?

Ning Jiu's face flushed instantly. She glanced at the man who was still fast asleep behind her. She had just moved her foot to get out of bed when she was suddenly grabbed tightly around the waist.

"Don't go."

Even though his eyes were still closed, the sound came out of his throat almost unconsciously.

The person who spoke crudely yesterday, donned a cloak of civility as soon as dawn broke, and like a large dog with separation anxiety, buried his face in her collarbone and gently sucked.

Ning Jiu was startled, feeling a strong, powerful hand grip her waist and pull her towards him. She could almost feel his lean, well-defined abdominal muscles gently rising and falling against her slender lower back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see bright red scratches on his thin forearms; if I wasn't mistaken, his back must be even worse.

Memories from last night surfaced at an inopportune moment, and her face seemed to burn even hotter.

"I have to go to work today..." Ning Jiu's voice softened involuntarily, then she suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, where's Xiao Bai?"

Qiao Bolin clearly said that someone would bring Xiao Bai over yesterday, so why didn't she hear the doorbell ring?

“I told Lien Cho-hsun in advance that I have something ‘important’ tonight.”

He lingered on the word "important" in an ambiguous way, clearly indicating that he had been planning this for a long time.

"Don't worry, he'll bring it over today. Let's wait for Xiao Bai to arrive before we leave."

Qiao Bailin always found a way to keep her.

After washing up with disposable toiletries, Ning Jiu neatly tied her hair into a bun. She originally planned to work at the coffee table in the living room, but her back was so sore that she simply lay down on the bed and watched as Qiao Bolin brought over a small table.

After a night of exhaustion, she was too tired to even get out of bed, while he seemed to have recovered from his fever overnight, full of energy and enjoying himself immensely.

Ning Jiu couldn't stand his behavior, so when he brought over the small table, she pinched his abs with all her might. Qiao Bolin pretended to cry out in pain, grabbed Ning Jiu's twisting waist, and bit his collarbone, which already had a hickey.

"I'll have Lian Zhuoxun buy breakfast along with the food later. What would you like to eat?"

"Joe Bolin!"

Ning Jiu didn't hear what he was saying. Her eyes were drawn to the dense hickeys on her collarbone and chest. The old marks hadn't faded before new ones appeared. She felt like she couldn't face anyone all day.

"Are you a dog? This is your first time in twenty-four years, never seen a woman before?" She shoved him in utter frustration. "How come I never noticed you were like this before? If I let you get your way again, I'll be the dog—"

“Okay, then it’s your favorite cherry pudding,” Qiao Bolin took her complaints as flirtation and took out his phone to text Lian Zhuoxun, “How about fruit salad? Do you still like blueberries? I’ll have him add some.”

"......"

Ningjiu simply gave up on communicating with Qiao Bolin.

Sulking in anger resulted in sulking while eating. Ning ate more than usual for breakfast, partly because the fruit salad was just too delicious...

What are you thinking about? Ning Jiu shook her head.

It's because I'm angry! I'm turning my resentment into appetite!

Xiao Bai was brought over by Lian Zhuoxun. It had been five years since they last met, and Ning Jiu's initial statement that she wasn't nervous was a lie.

The little guy has grown into a big dog. At first, he seemed a bit unfamiliar with Ning Jiu, his ears perked up. After his eyes met Ning Jiu's for a few seconds, his tail stiffened for a moment, then he wagged it sharply and pounced forward, placing his front paws on Ning Jiu's knees, as if to confirm that the person in front of him was real.

Looking into Xiao Bai's moist and bright eyes, Ning Jiu felt a sudden lump in her throat.

Reaching out to stroke its fluffy head, Xiao Bai immediately buried its face in her palm, just like when it was a child, its breathing rapid, its big tail wagging so hard that the whole sofa shook.

After I organized the data on the USB drive and yesterday's interview and handed it over to the agency I was working with, before I could get any feedback in the group chat, Li Mingyuan sent me a message first.

[Li Mingyuan] Sister Jiu, are you free lately? How about we get together?

[Ningjiu] Or is it just the three of us?

[Li Mingyuan] Yes, Hezi is in Shanghai on a business trip and is free this weekend. It would be great if Qiuzhe was free too.

Gu Qiuzhe went to study in the UK after completing his undergraduate studies at Peking University, and we haven't heard from him for a long time.

After submitting the results, there was still a waiting period before the next stage. Ning Jiu hadn't seen Gao Hexin for a long time and missed her very much, so she quickly made a date with Li Mingyuan to meet at a barbecue bar in the suburbs this weekend.

I was having a great time chatting with them in the group when someone gave me a light pinch on my waist.

Ning Jiu looked up angrily, meeting Qiao Bolin's dark eyes, which revealed no emotion.

"Who are you chatting with? You seem so happy."

Although he tried his best to suppress it, his words still revealed an almost overflowing possessiveness.

Ning Jiu only frowned slightly before feeling the hand around her waist tighten its grip.

It seems that Joel Bolton's possessiveness has become even more pronounced than before.

She felt something was off, but had no time to think about it deeply, and just gave him a perfunctory response.

"It's with Mingyuan Hezi and the others. Hezi recently came to Shanghai, and we arranged to have dinner together." Noticing that he seemed to be jealous even of Gao Hexin, Ning Jiu quickly changed the subject, "By the way, when did your company come to Shanghai?"

"This is a newly established branch office in Shanghai. The headquarters is in Beijing, and Xiao Xiye is in charge of managing it." Qiao Bolin glossed over this, clearly not wanting to mention anyone else's name at this point. "Is there a lot of work this afternoon? Are there any plans?"

"The work has been successfully completed, now we just wait—"

Ning Jiu was halfway through her sentence when she suddenly remembered something. She raised her beautiful eyes slightly and looked at him warily.

"We're all adults, what happened yesterday can be considered..." Actually, he didn't believe it himself, saying it was just drunken misconduct. Qiao Bolin also had the excuse that he had a high fever and was confused yesterday, but Ning Jiu knew better than anyone else, "It was just hormones."

She found a suitable excuse for both of them; she couldn't very well say that she committed the act because she couldn't resist his seduction yesterday.

"I don't need you to take responsibility, and you don't need me to take responsibility either. Just treat it as an accident."

After Ning Jiu finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence. Xiao Bai sensed that something was wrong, looked at both sides in a somewhat ingratiating manner, and finally chose to walk over to Ning Jiu, licking her palm to soothe her emotions.

Qiao Bolin just watched her quietly, without saying a word.

Just when Ning Jiu thought he would definitely lose his temper and turn to leave, the latter suddenly spoke up.

"It seems you really love your boyfriend."

Unexpectedly, the other party suddenly mentioned Su Ming again, and she felt her temples throbbing. She forced herself to speak.

"Of course! You're only just finding out? Hey, where's my engagement ring?" Ning Jiu said, rummaging through her bag, conveniently avoiding Qiao Bolin's scrutinizing gaze, portraying herself as a heartless man. "By the way, don't tell him about this. I just acted on impulse—"

Qiao Bailin asked, "Not friends with benefits anymore?"

"......"

"Friends with benefits"? That's just empty talk on her part.

The more he tested her, the less Ning Jiu satisfied him.

The girl paused her rummaging through the bag, raised an eyebrow, hooked the man's light gray silk tie around his neck, and pulled him into her arms. Qiao Bolin squatted down and was pulled close by her.

"I have high requirements for my sexual partners' skills. Mr. Qiao, you can improve your skills before applying."

Qiao Bolin gazed at her lips, which were even more radiant and moist even without lipstick, and restrained her fingertips that were teasing him with one hand.

"Who was the person who kept calling my name and praising me last night?"

Why is this person bringing up old grievances?

Ning Jiu blinked guiltily, trying to pull her hand back, but he gripped it tighter.

"Ning wine".

When Qiao Bailin called her name, she instinctively looked at him.

His amber eyes unexpectedly reflected a serious and calm expression, completely opposite to his previous tone.

The moment their eyes met, he bent down, his tie peeking out from between their clothes, looking exceptionally alluring.

As she was being kissed until she was dizzy and disoriented, she felt her lips being bitten hard, and the taste of blood spread between them.

He soothed her wounds with his lips and tongue while speaking softly in a gentle voice.

"You are a truly wicked woman who turns her back on everyone the moment she puts on a dress."

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Author's Note: Feverish Play√Get

Mr. Qiao is really good at sweet talk! [sunglasses]