46 I love you

"Where are we, Zhou Qi? You can take the subway from Caoqiao." Yang Xiao casually reminded him, but in reality, she had a smile on her face, as if her plan was about to succeed. What was this called? Lure the tiger away from the mountain? Make a feint to the east and attack in the west? Besiege Wei to save Zhao? Sneak into Chencang? Escape?

"I just got a taxi." But the other party did not play by the rules and was able to get a taxi at the Capital Airport at this moment.

Yang Xiao's heart skipped a beat. Seeing that things were going badly, she had no choice but to tell him honestly that she was on the subway to Caoqiao, ready to pick him up. Well, her rapport with Zhou Qi was still lacking a little. Seeing the yellow rose in her hand suffocate a little from being wrapped in plastic, she used her hand to pry open the plastic to open it.

Oh, what does the yellow rose mean? Yang Xiao opened her phone and started searching, a complex expression on her face as she scrolled through the search results. Zhou Qi didn't think she was going to give him a "good guy" card, giving him a bouquet of flowers that symbolized pure friendship. But right now, weren't he and she allies? It seemed appropriate, wasn't it?

Besides, there is a mouth under the nose. If he is unhappy, just explain it clearly.

"See which subway exit is closest to you. I'll change the route and ask the driver to pick you up." Zhou Qi felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart as soon as he learned that she was coming. He no longer thought about the little trouble caused by her and him getting in the wrong way.

"It looks like Exit A. Then I'll wait for you at Exit A." Yang Xiao looked up at the direction arrow, turned around and went out to Exit A.

"Okay, the subway entrance is windy, so please stand inside. I'll call you when the driver says we're almost there." Zhou Qi felt as if he had completely forgotten the tiredness from working during the day. From the moment he boarded the plane to Beijing, his mind was filled with only a clock that measured in minutes and seconds, ticking away, counting down to their meeting.

As soon as they reached Caoqiao, the driver pulled over, flashing his hazard lights and waiting. The night was windy and still, ruffling Yang Xiao's hair. Her unbuttoned khaki trench coat slapped against her calves. When she bent down to gather her hair, Zhou Qi had already approached, his eyes brimming with smiles.

"Long time no see." Zhou Qi reached out and lifted the loose hair that was blowing in the wind, blocking her bright eyes, and gently tucked it behind her ear. The hair was soft and smooth, and had a faint fragrance. He then slid down her windbreaker and grabbed her left hand, "Get in the car, the wind is strong."

The car was warm and quiet, blocking out any sounds of the wind blowing backwards.

"I'm giving you a bouquet of friendship flowers." Yang Xiao took out the bouquet of yellow roses from behind her back and held it in front of him. The plastic wrapping paper rustled in the back seat. The driver turned his head to look at the rearview mirror, then looked away.

"Flower of Friendship? What are you going to say next? Am I a good person?" Zhou Qi tilted his head and met Yang Xiao's wet eyes, as if he wanted to glimpse what was beating in her chest between the black and white. "We are not friends." After saying that, he gently pulled the flower of friendship from Yang Xiao's hand, and his left hand passed over her waist and tightened towards himself.

All of Yang Xiao's words were immediately blocked in his stomach.

A clean scent belonging to Zhou Qi lingered around her nose and the corners of her mouth, carrying with it a certain dominance that brooked no room for questioning.

He kissed her in the taxi.

The humid and ambiguous atmosphere became hotter and hotter with the friction of the clothes. Yang Xiao felt that her cheekbones were about to burn.

Zhou Qi ignored her little movement to grab his collar, and didn't care about her burning cheeks. He held her chin with his slender fingers and kissed her neck again. With a few strands of hair tangled around her neck, he leaned into her ear and panted softly, "Is this what happens between friends?"

Yang Xiao hit his hand hard. When he let go, Yang Xiao turned her head away and said nothing.

She was angry. Yang Xiao really didn't want to talk to him at this moment. How could this man kiss her so carelessly in a taxi? Did she have no shame? Besides, she came out so late to pick him up, so at least she could remember to buy him a bouquet of flowers.

The shops outside the window were still brightly lit, but there were few pedestrians on the road. On the reflective glass of the car window, Yang Xiao could vaguely see her lips, which were slightly moist. Her cheeks, just as they were about to rest from the burning sensation, immediately began to flare up again. How annoying.

The taxi slowly pulled up to the hotel entrance. A faint floral scent drifted through the lobby's open and closed sensor doors. Yang Xiao got out of the car and turned to look at Zhou Qi. The wind blew her hair back, sending tiny drops of it brushing against her lips.

"Why didn't you ask me where I was going? So now you want to take me upstairs?" Yang Xiao said angrily.

"I won't do it next time." Zhou Qi took her cold hand and squeezed it tighter, wanting to transfer all the warmth from his hand to her. He also apologized for his directness and recklessness in the car just now. "I'm sorry. Let's get in first. It's too late. Don't mess around anymore."

Yang Xiao broke free from his hand and walked towards the lobby alone. Leaving him behind for a while, she thought to herself that the weekend they had, like stolen time, should be cherished.

So Yang Xiao stopped again and waited for Zhou Qi to catch up.

"Forget it. I shouldn't have bought yellow roses." Yang Xiao turned and looked at Zhou Qi, curling her lips. In that case, let's both take a step back.

"I have a bunch of everlasting flowers in my suitcase. They're red roses." Zhou Qi looked at Yang Xiao who had returned and continued, "I was planning to let you open the suitcase yourself, but now, if I don't explain clearly, I'm afraid you'll accuse me of something else."

"Then I'll have to get a new room later." Yang Xiao would not be fooled by him. They were a single man and a single woman, and they didn't even have a more formal relationship. She didn't want to stay in the same room with him in such an ambiguous way.

"I've already booked it. Let's go and see the flower of love."

"What about my friendship flower? You can't throw it away. There are twenty-one of them."

"Don't throw it away, buy a vase to keep it."

"That's more like it. Our friendship is so precious, it's worth at least four subway rides."

"Then thank you for giving me such an expensive gift?" Although Zhou Qi said some sarcastic words with a smile, his hand naturally held the elevator door for her.

"You're welcome." Yang Xiao grinned, sometimes it was quite fun to get something for nothing, after all, it was a case of eating and taking something away at the same time.

The room was spacious and simply furnished. A bright red rose sat on the wrinkle-free bed. For a moment, the scent of the rose, mixed with the hotel's delicate fragrance, drifted through the slow-moving air, leaving an indescribable ambiguity.

Yang Xiao glanced at Rose and raised her eyebrows at Zhou Qi. What did this mean?

"There are no other rooms. Don't think too much, just open the suitcase and take a look." Zhou Qi didn't have those strange habits. He dragged the suitcase in his hand, unlocked it and laid it flat on the ground. "Dear Miss Yang, open it."

Yang Xiao squatted down, gently lifted one side of the suitcase, and set it aside. The 28-inch suitcase was surprisingly empty of clothing, filled entirely with everlasting roses. Carefully arranged, one next to the other, their crimson velvet petals shone softly and romantically in the warm light of the room, like a silent yet surging crimson wave that suddenly swept through her heart.

For a moment, Yang Xiao felt like she was about to be speechless. The twenty yuan worth of friendship flowers she had bought on the street were firmly supported by the red roses in this suitcase.

It turned out that the loss and annoyance he felt when he heard the flower of friendship did not turn into a verbal argument, but were all violently sealed between her lips and teeth.

It turned out that when he saw her angry, he would apologize first, and then, in a clumsy but sincere way, he would concretely express the love he had accumulated for a long time in front of her and tell her once again, Yang Xiao, I love you.

Zhou Qi saw her squatting on the ground, neither speaking nor standing up. He bent down, held her arm, and pulled her up from the ground. "Don't you like it? Then next time..."

Yang Xiao suddenly stood on tiptoe, grasped the front of his shirt with both hands, and pulled it down. With a gentle and quick kiss, she ended all his uncertain words. The brief touch, not even as long as a butterfly lingered on the tip of a flower, carried with it all her feelings of emotion and apology.

She loosened her grip, her heels dropping back onto the soft carpet.

"I like it, I like it very much, I like it very much, I like it very much."

"Zhou Qi, bring some of your own clothes next time. The temperature difference in Beijing is huge, it will be cold."

Zhou Qi raised his hand and touched her lips, which seemed to still retain her warm touch. The tip of his nose still had a hint of Yang Xiao's citrus scent. "Okay, as long as you like it."

"Let's go on a date tomorrow."

"Okay, where do you want to go?" Zhou Qi looked at her bright and expectant eyes and thought to himself that no matter what Yang Xiao said at this moment, he would agree without hesitation.

"Let's go to Beihai Park and see the White Pagoda, swaying in the blues after sunset." Yang Xiao blurted out, as if she had rehearsed the conversation countless times. "I love it there the most. There are slender willow branches, a calm lake, and the occasional cheerful duck."

"Okay, let's go see the willow branches, the lake and the ducks." Zhou Qi repeated, knowing that she was going to take him to her favorite place. This kind of beauty was mixed with some private sharing, as if silently declaring: Yang Xiao wanted to bring him into her own world.

Realizing this, the smile in Zhou Qi's eyes became even brighter.

That night, he dreamed of his childhood self and Yang Xiao, a girl with pigtails, sitting on a bench by the lake, directly opposite the White Pagoda. They sang, "Let's row our oars, our little boat pushes through the waves." Then, Yang Xiao, a graceful adult, stood beneath the willow branches, looking back with a brilliant smile. She called him Zhou Qi, and he patiently answered.

When he woke up from his sweet dream, it was not even four o'clock.

Seeing the darkness outside the window, Zhou Qi felt like he was about to develop elementary school spring outing syndrome. His heart started beating fast at the thought of going to the park with Yang Xiao tomorrow, and he couldn't help but get excited.

Yang Xiao, who lived just across the wall, felt the same way. She had always found a stroll in the park incredibly romantic, something she'd always considered a part of her life's best experiences. Now, with Zhou Qi joining her, the romance had undoubtedly been enhanced.

She felt like her face was about to freeze from smiling.

But why does this night feel so long? She really wants a fast-forward button.

Skipping through the night, we fast forward to the moment when Zhou Qi knocked on the door and said with a smile, "Come on, let's go on a date."