Chapter 15 Get closer, I'll tell you a secret.

The not-so-soft touch made her skin itch a little. Her calloused fingertips unconsciously rubbed against her ankle. Zhou Jinqin's heart skipped a beat. She frantically tried to pull her foot back, but forgot to steady herself and fell down towards her feet.

The expected pain did not come. When Zhou Jinqin came to her senses, she found that her upper body was completely pressed against Liang Minghe's body. What's worse, she was straddling Liang Minghe's left thigh in an extremely ambiguous position.

The man who was hit precisely let out a muffled groan of pain, but made no extra movements. His hand, which had been holding Zhou Jinqin's foot, naturally slid down to the inside of her thigh as she fell.

Zhou Jinqin was terrified and didn't care which muscle of the man she had leaned on for support. She scrambled to her feet and tried to escape. In her haste and panic, she was inevitably clumsy and bumped her head against the bed rail.

Before she could react, Liang Minghe, who was lying on the ground, took the initiative and raised one hand to gently pat the back of her head.

"It's okay...it's okay." The man unconsciously lowered his voice and gently comforted her.

The pain that had been dormant suddenly surged up, and Zhou Jinqin felt inexplicably wronged. She remained seated on the man's lap, her long eyelashes drooping, and muttered a soft complaint, "It's all your fault..."

"Haha..." The man lying on the ground laughed so hard his chest was shaking. "Wouldn't you call this turning the tables on me?"

"Who told you to grab my foot!" Zhou Jinqin accused him, her face flushed.

“You stepped on mine first, it was just an instinctive reaction,” Liang Minghe retorted with a smile. “Besides, I wasn’t fully awake at the time, my mind wasn’t clear. I thought it was my cat. Is holding a cat’s paw considered inappropriate?”

Forget about kittens...

The man laughed incessantly, causing Zhou Jinqin, who was attached to him, to sway with his movements, like a child riding a rocking horse...

Afraid that she would overthink things, Zhou Jinqin quickly reached out and grabbed the man's shoulder to stop him. She gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, stop talking."

Because of her sudden movement, the two got closer. The room was dark, and Liang Minghe could see the blush on the woman's face. He smiled and softly replied, "Okay, I'll shut up."

No one spoke again; the only sounds in the room were the running air conditioner and the beating of their hearts.

Once it was really quiet, the awkwardness became even more pronounced.

Whether lying down or sitting up, Zhou Jinqin had to lean slightly forward because of the hand behind her head. In the darkness, she could feel a pair of eyes fixed on her.

Zhou Jinqin was on edge and finally gave in first, asking awkwardly, "Um... are you alright?"

The other person didn't speak, but I felt their long eyelashes flutter a few times, and their bright eyes flickered like twinkling stars.

Zhou Jinqin asked, puzzled, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Liang Minghe remained silent, but grabbed her index finger, pointed it at herself, and then pointed it at his own lips, implying that she was telling him not to speak.

The man's lips weren't very thin; Zhou Jinqin's fingertip poked a small indentation into them. They were soft and moist, accompanied by warm breath.

Zhou Jinqin was so startled by this action that she almost forgot what to say. She turned her head, coughed lightly, and waited until her voice was clearer before speaking: "I'm telling you not to talk nonsense, not that you're not allowed to speak..."

"What kind of talk counts as nonsense?" Liang Minghe asked innocently.

Knowing full well that he was faking it, Zhou Jinqin was utterly helpless. She glared at him and said, "What do you think?"

Gone was her usual seriousness and solemnity; at this moment, she was like a cat with its fur standing on end, her whole being becoming lively and energetic.

"Isn't it a bit late for you to only think about me now?" Liang Minghe smiled, his eyes crinkling. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

He asked curiously, "Do you think I'm frivolous?"

“A little,” Zhou Jinqin said after thinking for a moment. “But it’s normal, considering you went abroad when you were fourteen or fifteen. It’s normal to learn some sweet talk.”

"You mean I've adopted the British way of beating around the bush?" Liang Minghe raised an eyebrow. "I'm not just being polite with you."

"What?" Zhou Jinqin didn't understand what he meant for a moment.

Liang Minghe beckoned to her: "Come closer, I'll tell you a secret."

As if bewitched, Zhou Jinqin leaned on Liang Minghe's hand and fell back onto him, her ear pressed against the man's carotid artery, where it throbbed powerfully.

"It's okay if you think those words are sweet talk, but... I'm only saying them to you." The man's voice was deep and pleasant.

Zhou Jinqin suddenly thought of the "I love you" he said last night. Was it also a "sweet word" that he only said to her?

The air conditioner's low-temperature function seemed to have malfunctioned, and Zhou Jinqin felt a constant buzzing in her head, as if it had stopped working altogether.

Liang Minghe was still asking her, "What were you doing when you got up?"

Zhou Jinqin couldn't remember anything, and stared blankly at him, unable to say anything.

"Are you stupid?" Liang Minghe smiled helplessly. He helped her sit up. "Since you don't remember, why don't you go back to sleep?"

He touched her burning face with the back of his hand: "But before that, I think you need some water to cool down."

He carried Zhou Jinqin back to bed, and she gulped down two large glasses of water before her mind finally cleared, but she also lost sleep as a result.

The next day, one had back pain from sleeping on the floor, and the other had dark circles under his eyes from insomnia.

Grandma was secretly pleased to see this and exclaimed, "Young people are so energetic!"

It seemed like there was a misunderstanding, yet it also seemed like there was no misunderstanding at all; in any case, Zhou Jinqin couldn't say anything to refute it.

She casually went to help her grandmother prepare breakfast, but was pushed out of the kitchen and, by sheer coincidence, bumped into Liang Minghe's chest.

Grandma was secretly pleased with her accidental action. She smiled and said, "Grandpa and I are enough here. If you have nothing to do, go and water the fields."

"Let's go, I feel like you're going to get a fever if you stay in the house any longer," Liang Minghe teased, looking at her flushed face.

Zhou Jinqin forced herself to remain calm: "Yes, let's hurry, or it will be too late."

Summer temperatures are high, so watering crops should be avoided during the midday sun to prevent the large temperature difference between the soil and water from stimulating the plant roots, affecting water absorption, and potentially increasing the risk of dehydration, leading to wilting or even death.

In summer, morning watering should be controlled before 10 a.m., and even earlier in Guangdong where the temperature is even higher. It's getting late, and there are still a lot of fields that need watering. They must act quickly, otherwise it won't just be Zhou Jinqin who will be burned to death.

In the courtyard, Liang Minghe gestured to Zhou Jinqin to pick up the water pipe that had already been connected on the ground before slowly turning on the tap to turn on the water.

Water spinach, eggplant, cucumber, loofah... Zhou Jinqin watered them one by one.

Besides some vegetables, there are also a few fruit trees planted in the field, only one of which, a loquat tree, is currently in harvest season.

The ripening of loquats is greatly affected by the climate. In warmer regions like Guangdong, the ripening time is often earlier, with the peak season in March and April. The loquat we see now is most likely a local late-ripening variety, which usually ripens after June, so we can still see a field of bright yellow loquats in July.

The fruit tree wasn't very tall. Liang Minghe reached out and broke off a bunch, asking Zhou Jinqin if she wanted to try some.

Zhou Jinqin nodded. She usually loves to eat loquats, but the season is too short, so she can never eat them to her heart's content.

Liang Minghe peeled the skin and held it to her lips. Although Zhou Jinqin was a little shy, she didn't say much and just obediently ate it from his hand.

"How is it?" Liang Minghe asked her.

"Delicious!" Zhou Jinqin smiled, her eyes crinkling. "I didn't expect the fruit to be so big, yet the pit to be so small. It's incredibly sweet!"

Liang Minghe laughed: "Oh, is that so? Then you can eat the rest."

As a result, Zhou Jinqin watered the plants the whole way, and Liang Minghe fed them the whole way, with the two old people leaning against the window, laughing so hard they couldn't stop.

After watering the land, Liang Minghe's hands were stained with the color.

Zhou Jinqin told him to put his hands under the water pipe, and she washed his hands for him.

As luck would have it, the water, which had been flowing slowly, suddenly surged forth, soaking Liang Minghe, who was standing opposite, completely from the waist down.

Zhou Jinqin was startled and instinctively reached out to touch his soaked pants, her touch being particularly haphazard. Liang Minghe restrained himself for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist and reached out to grab her wrist to stop her from doing so.

He gave a half-smile, his words ambiguous: "Thank you for your concern, that's enough for now."

Where? Zhou Jinqin was about to ask blankly when she glanced at the man's pants and suddenly realized.

Oh, just a few more centimeters down and you'll reach the little bird...

This weather is still too hot. Zhou Jinqin turned her head away from him and stammered, "Okay, okay."

Seeing Zhou Jinqin's embarrassed expression, the grandfather, who was not heard on screen, comforted her, saying, "That's great! I've been wanting to get over his ripped jeans for a long time!"

Then, Liang Minghe changed to an even more worn-out one.

After breakfast, because Zhou Jinqin had an interview in the afternoon, her grandmother didn't try to keep her any longer.

Liang Minghe also had voice-over work today, so he couldn't be Zhou Jinqin's personal driver. He dropped her off at the company building and mentioned the domestic violence incident several times, both openly and subtly. Zhou Jinqin repeatedly assured him that he would leave just in time.

Although the initial interview was over, Zhou Jinqin did not plan to go to the pharmaceutical company in the suburbs.

It wasn't because of the remote location or inconvenient transportation; it was simply that she really disliked the interviewer's attitude. The interviewer constantly belittled her in every way because she was older, married, and childless, criticizing her salary and job contributions. If she were hired, the interviewer would likely exploit her in every way, so it was clearly not a good place to work.

Zhou Jinqin only had two other companies' interviews scheduled for the afternoon, and it was still early when they ended.

There was a message on her phone from Liang Minghe, saying that he would be working until nine or ten o'clock at night and that she should eat dinner by herself.

Zhou Jinqin isn't particularly fond of cooking, and she has no motivation to cook for one person. She plans to just buy a bento box from a convenience store and take it home to make do.

During the selection process, she noticed a man next to her who kept glancing at her, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally.

Zhou Jinqin frowned and turned to ask him, "Is there something you need?"

The other party quickly waved his hand: "No, no, don't worry, I didn't mean any harm."

He pointed to the black umbrella that Zhou Jinqin had propped up on the ground and said, "This umbrella looks familiar. It looks a bit like my friend's. I remember that his umbrella handle had the character '和' (he) engraved on it."

Zhou Jinqin nodded: "You mean Liang Minghe? This one is definitely his."

The weather forecast said it might rain in the evening, so Liang Minghe left her an umbrella.

"Yes!" The other person was pleasantly surprised. "How did his umbrella end up with you?"

Zhou Jinqin thought for a moment and said, "He sold it to me."

It cost her eighty-one yuan and thirty-seven cents.

"Don't you think that sentence sounds weird...?" the man laughed.

After his reminder, Zhou Jinqin realized that her words were ambiguous. She blushed and tried to explain, but the other party didn't seem to care at all.

The other person smiled and said, "You must be Zhou Jinqin? Liang Minghe has mentioned you to me several times, and I'm so glad to finally meet you."

Zhou Jinqin was somewhat surprised: "You know me?"

"Yes, of course, you are exactly as he described." The other person introduced himself, "My name is Kong Feifei, the one who comes to feed your cats."

Kong Feifei approached without any hesitation: "Um, can we take a photo together?"

Although she didn't know why they wanted to take a photo together, Zhou Jinqin didn't refuse.

As for the purpose of the group photo, Kong Feifei took it to Liang Minghe to show off.

Look, it's your wife!

When Liang Minghe saw this message, he thought the other person was sharing some weird picture with him again, and his first instinct was to reply, "Your wife."

Fortunately, he was cautious. Before typing, Liang Minghe glanced at the photo and realized it really was his wife.

In the photo, Zhou Jinqin smiles gently, showing none of the tension she displayed when they took their marriage certificate photo.

He doesn't even have a group photo like this...

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Author's note: Thank you everyone for the nutrient solution! [heart emoji]

When I start to get jealous, how long until I truly love you? [doge emoji with rose in hand]

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Bian Yue's boyfriend died, and her twin brother offered to take over taking care of her.

Looking at the almost identical face, Bian Yue nodded.

However, differences are inevitable: posture, strength, habits, possessiveness... Bian Yue would uncontrollably lose her composure and miss the person who had died.

Tan Xun occasionally loses his temper for no reason, pouncing on Bian Yue like a hunting dog, biting her lips and begging her not to think about her brother.

Bian Yue finally looked at him: "Why? Aren't you playing the role of your brother right now?"

Tan Xun's voice was hoarse: "I regret it. I want you to only look at me."

Bian Yue said calmly, "Then take off your brother's clothes first."