Chapter 57 Strategy: Is the Fifty-Seventh Day Really That Pink?

She truly lives up to her reputation.

Bai Jiangxin chuckled inwardly. Having known her for so long, he wasn't surprised at all by her outrageous words now.

This is her true self, a lecherous groundhog whose mind is always on the go.

Unfortunately, her ideas were bold, but reality was harsh. She should have learned how to speak up first before thinking about these things.

Xiang Di felt like she was taking an exam. She thought she had reviewed thoroughly, but on the day of the exam, her breathing became labored, her heart pounded, and her mind went blank. When she looked at the exam paper, she realized she had forgotten all the knowledge points.

Bai Jiangxin clearly felt her body tremble violently; she was nervous, and so was he.

If Xiang Di had opened his eyes even slightly at this moment, you could have seen how violently his eyelashes were trembling.

They were both nervous, but someone had to overcome this awkwardness and learn to control their heartbeat before they could move on to the next step.

Some people only think about it, but when the arrow is actually on the bowstring, their useless brains go on strike. Bai Jiangxin is not as experienced as her, having read so many erotic books, and can only rely on her kissing instincts to test the waters.

Xiang Di's lips and teeth were closed so tightly that Bai Jiangxin tried to pry them open with the tip of his tongue.

"?!!"

Xiang Di felt his wet tongue trying to enter her mouth, sending a lingering invitation, and a warm, tingling sensation immediately surged through her body.

All the senses of the world focused on the lips at this moment; the other four senses disappeared, leaving only the heart pounding wildly in the chest cavity.

Instead of obediently opening her mouth to cooperate, she activated her automatic defense mode, her upper and lower teeth seemingly glued together, her eyes tightly closed, afraid to open them.

Her moist tongue withdrew, and Xiang Di felt him gently peck at her lips, and then the kiss seemed to end.

Bai Jiangxin restrained herself and ended the kiss. She couldn't help it; she was just too nervous.

Waaaaah, zero points.

The moment their lips parted, Xiang Di gave herself a zero in frustration.

It's definitely a zero.

However, Bai Jiangxin felt it was alright. Although she was willing to reveal her feelings partly because he had pushed her into it, at least she had spoken up, which was already a great step forward.

Bai Jiangxin simply patted her head gently, as if to comfort her, but also as if he was helpless.

As for the biological connection created through saliva, the moment he kissed her, he never even considered that he wanted to kiss her to hear her thoughts; he simply had the idea to kiss her, so he did it.

As for her true feelings, they are no longer so important to Bai Jiangxin, who now feels relieved.

Then let's give her back all the little schemes she's been harboring.

The kiss ended, and Xiang Di finally dared to open her eyes. She lowered her eyelids, her gaze still unfocused, and could only continue to stare at her hands.

Bai Jiangxin remained silent. In the stillness, Xiang Di only knew that kissing was exciting, but she didn't know that it would be so awkward and... speechless afterward.

She always pretended to be quiet in front of Bai Jiangxin, and Bai Jiangxin wasn't a talkative person either. The two of them, who weren't good at chatting with each other to begin with, had even less to say in the current situation.

Xiang Di mustered her courage, looked up, and wanted to say something to him naturally. Bai Jiangxin was already looking at her, and their eyes met for only a second before they recoiled as if scalded by boiling water.

Xiang Di wondered, "Are they really going to stay in the car like this forever?"

Anyway, she has no objections.

Although she was still embarrassed and didn't know what to say to him, she actually enjoyed the awkwardness that followed the kiss.

She suddenly realized that sitting in a Rolls-Royce didn't necessarily mean doing something inappropriate for children to be happy. Just being together with Bai Jiangxin in a pure and innocent way was quite blissful.

The ringing of the phone finally broke the awkward silence between them. Xiang Di looked up and saw that it was her phone that she had left on the seat next to her.

“Um…” Xiang Di finally spoke, “Someone called me…”

So now, she might have to get off his lap.

She carefully lifted her buttocks, but as soon as she did, she was pushed back down.

Bai Jiangxin didn't say anything. He put one hand on her waist, turned slightly to the side, and reached over the central armrest between the two seats with the other hand to take her phone.

“Take it,” he said.

Xiang Di: "..."

Does that mean he wants her to sit on his lap while he answers the phone?

What a domineering CEO! I love him.

However, she still maintained a rather reserved demeanor, cleared her throat, and answered the phone.

The call was from Ye Minjia. As soon as Xiang Di answered, she heard Ye Minjia's helpless voice: "Miss, the parent-teacher conference has already started, and your aunt is back. Where are you? Didn't you promise to help me call Bai Jiangxin back? You didn't elope with him, did you?"

Xiang Di quickly denied it: "I didn't!"

"So where are you now?" Ye Minjia said. "Anyway, this isn't the first time Bai Jiangxin has stood me up. I don't care. If he insists on not going, why should you care?"

Because they were so close, Bai Jiangxin heard Ye Minjia's words clearly. Xiang Di looked at him cautiously and asked in lip-reading, "Are you going?"

Bai Jiangxin pursed his lips. His words were like water spilled on the ground; he had already clearly rejected Ye Minjia and didn't want to contradict himself.

Ye Minjia: "Hello? Xiang Di? Are you listening to me?"

"I'm listening, I'm listening, the signal is not very good." Xiang Di said, clutching her school uniform skirt. "Class monitor, don't say that. I know you really want Bai Jiangxin to come and play with us."

Ye Minjia scoffed, "I don't want to. He can go or not, it's up to him."

After saying that, he added, "The widowed king deserves to have no friends."

Bai Jiangxin frowned slightly but remained silent.

Xiang Di quickly tried to defend Ye Minjia: "What do you mean you don't have any friends? Aren't you Bai Jiangxin's best friend? You're just saying things out of anger. Actually, class monitor, you still care about Bai Jiangxin, right?"

"I don't care about him at all," Ye Minjia said irritably.

Bai Jiangxin silently curled his lips.

Xiang Di thought to herself, "Oh no!" Just as her misunderstanding with Bai Jiangxin had ended, the class monitor and Bai Jiangxin were about to have another falling out. She thought she should quickly say something to explain for Bai Jiangxin, but Ye Minjia spoke up again.

“I care about him, but has he ever cared about me?” Ye Minjia muttered. “All I wanted was for him to be happy, but he never appreciates it… If he doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t have to go. It makes me feel like I’m his lapdog.”

Without waiting for Xiang Di to speak, Ye Minjia began to complain: "Hey, it's no use telling you. You definitely wouldn't understand me. After all, he treats you specially, so he definitely won't give you a hard time. But I'm miserable. I've been in the same class as him for three years. Do you know what kind of miserable life I've lived for these three years?"

"Tell me about the hardships you endured."

Xiang Di stared wide-eyed at Bai Jiangxin. "Why did you suddenly speak?"

Ye Minjia on the phone suddenly fell silent.

After a long while, he cautiously asked, "...Who's speaking?"

Bai Jiangxin took Xiang Di's phone and said, "The person who made you suffer for three years."

After a few more seconds of silence, Ye Minjia forced a laugh: "Hahaha, Xiang Di, where did you buy your Conan voice changer? It's so realistic! Can you give me a link?"

Bai Jiangxin said leisurely, "Okay, I'll give it to you when we meet later."

"...You want to come with us?" Ye Minjia's voice trembled. "Didn't you say you weren't going? Bai Jiangxin, a gentleman's word is his bond. You can't go back on your word."

"You've got the wrong name. I'm Xiang Di with a different voice," Bai Jiangxin said calmly. "Besides, Xiang Di didn't say she wouldn't go, so why are you slapping her in the face?"

Ye Minjia: "..."

This guy is really something else; his ability to turn the tables on you is unparalleled.

After hanging up the phone, Bai Jiangxin returned the phone to Xiang Di.

Xiang Di chuckled as she looked at him, her face a picture of suppressed laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Bai Jiangxin asked, raising an eyebrow.

With this unexpected phone call, the two started talking. Xiang Di whispered, "I was laughing at how funny you were when you were talking to the class monitor."

Where's the humor?

"Is it just a kind of subtle, dry humor?" Xiang Di said with a smile. "You guys have a really good relationship."

Bai Jiangxin retorted, "Is that good? He said he went through three years of hardship with me."

"He must be joking. If you really had three years of hardship, you would have broken off your friendship long ago."

Although it's unknown how they got along in their first and second years of high school, Xiang Di could tell from their senior year that Bai Jiangxin always had Ye Minjia by his side.

It seemed like the class monitor was always clinging to him, and was always the first to think of teaming up with Bai Jiangxin for any class activity. But in fact, she remembered very clearly that last year on the class monitor's birthday, everyone specially prepared a surprise for him and sang "Happy Birthday" to him during evening self-study.

Bai Jiangxin was away participating in a competition that evening, so he wasn't there. A girl asked the class monitor if he felt a little disappointed that Bai Jiangxin wasn't there and they couldn't celebrate his birthday.

Ye Minjia said no, and everyone joked that their friendship was fake.

Ye Minjia smiled, lifted his foot, swung his ankle, and showed off his new shoes to everyone, saying that they were a birthday gift from Bai Jiangxin, and that they arrived a day early because the efficiency of customs could not be controlled.

Ye Minjia had always wanted these shoes, but because they were too expensive, he never dared to ask his parents to buy them for him. He had never told anyone, and had been keeping them in his shopping cart as a last resort.

To show off their friendship, Ye Minjia even called Bai Jiangxin in front of the whole class to ask how he knew he wanted the shoes.

"These shoes have been lying in your shopping cart for ages, anyone could guess that," Bai Jiangxin said slowly. "...Since the gift arrived a day early, I'll say my birthday wishes in advance: Happy Birthday."

Ye Minjia was moved to tears: "I love you, brother!"

Bai Jiangxin: "Okay, I'm hanging up."

Xiang Di, as one of the onlookers, always remembered this incident; she was so envious of the class monitor back then.

Moreover, judging from their conversation just now, she was worrying unnecessarily. Bai Jiangxin wasn't angry at all when faced with the class monitor's complaints, and the class monitor didn't really have any issues with Bai Jiangxin either.

"Anyway, I know you're really good to the class monitor," Xiang Di said confidently.

Bai Jiangxin chuckled slightly: "Aren't you exaggerating a bit?"

“It’s not an exaggeration.” She paused slightly and whispered to Di, “…To be honest, sometimes I envy the class monitor.”

If only she and he could have conversations as naturally as he and the class monitor.

There's no need to be so polite, nor to carefully choose every word. You can joke around without worrying about saying anything that might upset the other person.

But this will take time, we have to take it slowly, she knows that.

Bai Jiangxin looked at her and said, "You don't need to envy him."

Xiang Di winked: "Hmm?"

“I will treat you well in the future,” Bai Jiangxin said.

Xiang Di paused for a moment, then curled her clasped fingers and nodded slightly.

"Um."

Although they are not very comfortable with each other now, she believes that one day, she and Bai Jiangxin will be just as good.

-

After waiting quietly for another two minutes, Xiang Di's heartbeat gradually calmed down. Now she really had to go find the class monitor and the others, otherwise the parent-teacher conference would be over by then.

The thought of her aunt sitting in the classroom, attending a parent-teacher conference for her, probably yawning with boredom, while she was sitting in a Rolls-Royce enjoying a sweet moment of mutual affection with the boy she had a crush on, made Xiang Di feel that she was a really incompetent nephew.

Xiang Di asked, "Shall we get off the bus and find the squad leader and the others to meet up?"

Bai Jiangxin: "Wait a minute."

Xiang Di: "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer, but instead reached for the control panel, manipulated it with his fingertips, and turned off the headlights again.

Then, the overhead light source dimly illuminated the entire carriage.

Looking up at the flute, the light source turned out to be the legendary starry sky ceiling.

The dreamlike starry sky headliner has always been one of Rolls-Royce's brand hallmarks. The installation depth and angle of each fiber optic cable in the interior sky are different, in order to more closely resemble the distribution of the natural starry sky. The stars are bright and dim, large and small, and the "stars" in the car are also like that, as if they were really constellations under the vast sky.

Before seeing it, Xiang Di often imagined how beautiful the Starry Sky Dome would be, but now that she has actually seen it, she suddenly doesn't know how to describe it.

Inside the quiet carriage, the Mugello's red interior was illuminated by the starlight ceiling, and the faint scent of rosewood wafted in the air. Xiang Di knew that the other side of the ceiling must be made of optical fibers, but that didn't stop her from genuinely appreciating the beauty of this artificially created physical starry sky.

Xiang Di asked, "...Why are you suddenly showing me this?"

Bai Jiangxin said, "It's what I want to see."

Although he had already watched it before, Bai Jiangxin suddenly wanted to watch it again.

Let's see if the starry sky dome she's been longing for is really that beautiful, perfect for doing what she wants under this starry sky.

Xiang Di tilted his head back, watching intently.

Bai Jiangxin suddenly asked her, "Is it pretty?"

"Beautiful!" Xiang Di looked away, smiled at him, her face filled with simple joy and envy. "It's so good to be rich. You can see the stars anytime you sit in your car."

After saying that, she looked up again, determined to see the starry sky to her heart's content.

Not knowing when she would see it again, Xiang Di was reluctant to leave this starry sky, so she asked him, "May I take a picture?"

Bai Jiangxin nodded: "Do as you please."

She picked up her phone, took two pictures of the starry sky, and then wanted to take a selfie, so she got off Bai Jiangxin and sat back down in her seat.

As a result, the selfie camera was turned on, and she was too embarrassed to pose in front of Bai Jiangxin.

I was too embarrassed to wink or pout, so I just made a silly peace sign with my hand and took two pictures with a serious expression.

"How many years do you get for smiling in a selfie when you're in your area?" Bai Jiangxin suddenly asked her.

"ah?"

Xiang Di didn't react at first, but when she did, her face immediately flushed.

Good heavens, Bai Jiangxin is actually making jokes with her.

Xiang Di deliberately said, "I'm just not a naturally cheerful person."

Bai Jiangxin: "Was that dog who just laughed and said it's good to be rich?"

"..."

He actually called her a dog!

Xiang Di turned her head and gave him a slight glare before shoving the phone into his hand.

"Then take the picture, and show me a smile."

Bai Jiangxin said, "I can film, but I won't film alone."

As he spoke, he pulled her onto his lap.

Why does he have to squeeze two people into one seat when there's so much space? I can't stand him.

Xiang Di suppressed the urge to smile, secretly gloating inwardly.

Bai Jiangxin raised the camera and pointed it at the two people's faces.

This was the first time Xiang Di had seen herself and him appear in the same frame. She looked down, somewhat embarrassed to look at the camera.

She's perfectly natural when taking selfies by herself, and can make all sorts of funny faces, but when she takes pictures with others, she suddenly develops camera phobia.

Bai Jiangxin: "Look at the camera, I'm about to film."

Xiang Di cheered herself up in her heart.

You'll take lots and lots of couple photos in the future, and maybe even wedding photos. Today is your first step, so don't be afraid, go for it!

She looked up, smiled, and in that one second the camera captured her face, she was suddenly touched by a soft, gentle touch.

She turned her head blankly to look at him: "...What are you doing?"

"Take a picture." Bai Jiangxin said naturally, handing her the phone. "All done."

Xiang Di took a look and saw that the lighting and atmosphere were perfect. Bai Jiangxin's profile was particularly beautiful. The only imperfection was that her expression was blank and stiff.

This was her first selfie with Bai Jiangxin, and she couldn't stand the way she looked at herself.

So she said, "This one won't do, take another one. I'm holding my phone. Also, don't do surprise attacks."

It's made her unable to smile anymore.

Bai Jiangxin: "Okay, then sit down."

He adjusted his position, wrapping his arms around her waist so that her back was pressed against his body.

Xiang Di thought to himself, "You can't suddenly attack me, but there's no rule that says I can't suddenly attack you."

Hmph, I'm going to catch that moment when your expression freezes too.

Then she followed his example and, just as her finger pressed the shutter button, she suddenly leaned in and kissed him.

As if sensing something, Bai Jiangxin didn't move away from the camera; instead, he turned his head towards her.

Strange? How did he know what she was up to?

Their lips collided, and Xiang Di froze, her hand still on the button. The second they separated, her hand unconsciously pressed the record button again.

So, without realizing it, two photos were taken in quick succession. Even Xiang Di herself didn't notice until she opened the camera app and discovered that two photos had been taken.

The first one was a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead. Xiang Di didn't want to look at it, nor was he embarrassed to, so he just swiped past it right in front of him.

The second picture shows her realizing she had accidentally kissed him on the lips. The instant she pulled away, she instinctively covered her mouth, her almond-shaped eyes widening in the upper half of her profile.

She had expected Bai Jiangxin to have a blank expression, but upon closer inspection, she could tell from his profile that he was smiling.

Their pursed lips turned up, their eyes curved upwards, and a smile appeared in their dark eyes, seemingly brighter than the starry sky above them.

Xiang Di was completely stunned, and Bai Jiangxin only then realized that she had actually caught his expression, and asked with a slight sneer, "Why did you take two pictures?"

Xiang Di whispered, "I pressed it by accident."

Bai Jiangxin: "Then delete it."

Xiang Di refused: "...I won't delete it."

"...Deleted."

This was the first time Xiang Di had been so assertive in front of Bai Jiangxin: "I won't delete it."

Bai Jiangxin clicked his tongue and reached out to take it, but Xiang Di quickly dodged it. Then she got off him and moved to the seat next to her.

The car doors were still locked, and it was futile for her to hide anywhere. When Bai Jiangxin pressed her down in the seat again, Xiang Di knew she couldn't escape. But she really didn't want to delete that photo. Bai Jiangxin in the photo was smiling so gently and beautifully that she wanted to cherish it forever.

There was no other way; extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Xiang Di didn't have time to think and simply shoved the phone under her buttocks.

When Bai Jiangxin saw that she had deliberately hidden her phone under a sensitive area again, he knew that she was betting on his gentlemanly conduct and that he wouldn't dare to take it.

At this moment, my mind is quite sharp.

Bai Jiangxin found it amusing, his gaze falling on her school uniform skirt. After all that commotion, her skirt was already wrinkled, but because she was wearing safety shorts, Xiang Di wasn't worried.

Bai Jiangxin remained calm until he noticed the mole on her left leg, at which point he suddenly paused in surprise.

Under the starlight, the skin on her thighs was fair and delicate, making the mole stand out even more.

This time, I didn't just imagine what I was seeing; I saw it with my own eyes.

She actually had that mole on her leg, so the body parts she imagined in her fantasies were all her real body parts.

That……

He had seen Xiang Di in her complete form, ten years later, now twenty-eight years old. That body was imagined based on her current body, so the physical characteristics were the same.

The parts he had sucked on in her fantasies—the bulge below her collarbone, the area around her flat stomach, and the indentation between her thighs—were all real.

Is she really that popular?

The dryness in his throat returned, and Bai Jiangxin's brows furrowed. He quickly released her, then deftly unlocked the car, opened the door, and got out.

Xiang Di remained seated, still in the position he had restrained, the cool breeze blowing in from outside the car causing her bangs to flutter.

She blinked, looking confused.

What happened? Why did he suddenly get off the bus?