Chapter 39 39 Can you hold my hand for a moment?

Qin Jixiu put on a coat. To look fashionable and good-looking, he did not wear long johns underneath his trousers. At this moment, he did not care about whether he would get cold legs due to his old age.

He walked into the back garden of the hotel. At first glance, he didn't see Shi Rui. Just as he was about to frown because the other party broke the appointment, he suddenly heard a burst of hurried footsteps behind him. Qin Jixiu turned around sharply and saw Shi Rui holding a small snowball in his hand and throwing it at him with a big laugh.

Fortunately, Shi Rui was not stupid enough to make a solid snowball. On the contrary, it was barely formed and broke into snowflakes when it hit Qin Jixiu's expensive coat. The force was like a tickle.

Qin Jixiu narrowed his eyes.

Shi Rui saw his serious expression and slowly stopped smiling. He called out honestly, "Boss Qin."

"I'm just kidding." Shi Rui added.

Qin Jixiu was indeed not as childish as him, but he would not get angry just because a snowball was thrown at him. In order to ease the atmosphere, he bent over and quickly rolled up a round little snowball, and threw it at Shi Rui in front of his astonished eyes.

Shi Rui quickly turned sideways to dodge, but Qin Jixiu had already anticipated his action, and the snowball turned and hit Shi Rui's butt squarely.

Shi Rui then realized that Qin Jixiu was playing with him, so he ran and jumped boldly, attacking from time to time. Qin Jixiu watched him circling around him. He was just like the Border Collie that his grandfather used to raise, playful but would read his owner's mood.

The two adults, in their twenties, played a dumb version of a snowball fight for a while, neither willing to admit defeat. Finally, they were sweating profusely. Qin Jixiu held his knees and announced that the fight was over: "I'm tired, let's take a break."

Shi Rui stopped immediately and looked around until he found a wooden bench under the eaves. He walked over, touched it first, then flicked the dust off his fingertips. After a moment's thought, he took off his coat and spread it on the bench.

"Boss Qin, come and sit down."

Qin Jixiu followed his instructions and walked over, but he didn't choose to sit on Shi Rui's clothes. He lifted the clothes and handed them to him while sitting down: "Put them on, or you'll catch a cold later."

Shi Rui listened to him and put his clothes on again.

The two of them sat side by side, both crossing their legs unconsciously.

Outside the eaves, the snowflakes floating under the yellow light were beautiful. Qin Jixiu stretched out his hand, and a snowflake swirled and finally fell into his palm.

Shi Rui was attracted by his actions and his eyes fell on his hands.

Qin Jixiu's hands are very beautiful, with long fingers, jade-like skin, and a smooth and stylish look.

Shi Rui couldn't help but stretch out his hand and put it next to his, saying the classic line men say on a date: "Your hands are so small, smaller than mine."

It was the first time Qin Jixiu heard someone say that his hands were small. He immediately grabbed Shi Rui's wrist in disbelief, aligned them from the base of the wrist, and put his palms against each other.

Shi Rui's hand was indeed bigger than his, but only by a small margin.

After Qin Jixiu finished a series of actions, he suddenly realized that he was a little impulsive and was about to withdraw his hand, but Shi Rui refused and randomly grabbed a few of his fingers. The two pressed their fingertips tightly together, feeling each other's pulses with different rhythms but both very strong.

"Why are your hands so cold?" Shi Rui unconsciously leaned towards him and tried to wrap his entire right hand in his palm. Qin Jixiu realized that something was wrong and immediately pulled his hand out.

Shi Rui's thoughts were discovered, but he didn't feel embarrassed. He twitched his nose and changed the subject: "Did you drink just now?"

"Had a glass of wine."

"No wonder it smells like alcohol. And you even put on perfume? It smells so good."

Qin Jixiu gritted his teeth and refused to admit it, "No, it smells like hand sanitizer."

"They're just staying at this hotel for work convenience, right? Not for me, right?" Shi Rui didn't wait for his answer and continued, "They all have companions. Some are visiting the ice exhibition, some are soaking in the hot springs, and some just went to see someone propose. I had nothing to do, so I went to the garage and took a look, and I unexpectedly found your car. I didn't mean to check your location."

Qin Jixiu sighed inwardly and said, "I know."

"You know?" Shi Rui looked over.

Qin Jixiu commented bluntly: "You don't have that kind of heart."

Shi Rui understood that this was saying that he was stupid, but he was not stupid, he just went to see it on purpose.

Just now he secretly inquired about the price of the presidential suite in this hotel so that he could consider how to price his own hotel when he returned to Lincheng. As a result, the front desk told him that it had been booked. Shi Rui guessed that the guest of the presidential suite was most likely Qin Jixiu.

Shi Rui didn't respond, hid the smile on his face, and stretched slowly. When he put down his left hand, he didn't let it fall back to its original place. Instead, he strategically placed his arm across the back of the chair and behind Qin Jixiu's shoulder.

Qin Jixiu glanced to the side, and after realizing his intention, he sat down next to him.

Shi Rui also moved his butt to the left.

Qin Jixiu: "Tsk."

But at this moment, Shi Rui seemed to be unable to read people's expressions. He looked at him normally and said in a bright and clear manner, "I'm just protecting your Dazhui acupoint to prevent you from catching a cold."

Qin Jixiu laughed and said, "Stop talking nonsense like you're pure and innocent. How could I not know what you're trying to do?"

Shi Rui stared at me with a pair of innocent eyes, leaned over and asked, "What do I want to do?"

Qin Jixiu was choked. He couldn't say that Shi Rui wanted to put his arm around his shoulders or even hug him, right? They were all men, so who didn't know who?

Qin Jixiu dodged to the side while reaching out and gently pushing his head. The force was so gentle that some reckless young people who were just beginning to fall in love would think it was flirting.

So Shi Rui was only slightly startled before he became excited. He put his big hand on Qin Jixiu's shoulder and pushed him back. Qin Jixiu felt that Shi Rui's behavior and words tonight were a bit presumptuous. He wanted to indulge him, but his reasoning made him raise his hand, grab the other person's arm and throw him down.

"Don't touch me." Qin Jixiu said word by word.

Shi Rui said, "I understand."

He agreed readily, but still reached out and tapped Qin Jixiu's hand a few times without giving up.

At first Qin Jixiu ignored him.

Shi Rui knocked a few more times.

Qin Jixiu: "What do you mean? Morse code?"

Shi Rui didn't move his fingers away, but stroked the skin on the back of Qin Jixiu's hand meaningfully, and Qin Jixiu immediately got goose bumps all over his body.

"There's no one here," Shi Rui lowered his voice, "Can you hold my hand for a moment?"

Qin Jixiu immediately said, "No."

"Why?"

Qin Jixiu asked calmly, "I'm the one asking you why. What kind of people should hold hands? And what is the relationship between you and me?"

Shi Rui calmed down and seriously considered Qin Jixiu's words. He'd thought they were in love, but it turned out Qin Jixiu wasn't feeling the same way. So what constituted love? He heard a crowd of people joking nearby. Proposals should be ritualistic, and so should love.

Qin Jixiu meant that he wanted a formal courtship.

"I understand." Shi Rui said.

Qin Jixiu expressed doubt: "Do you really understand?"

"I will prepare well."

“…Preparing for what?”

Shi Rui began to feel confused: "What do you want me to prepare?"

"You don't know what I want you to prepare, so what do you want to prepare?"

“…”

The two of them exchanged tongue twisters for a while. After the booing subsided, Qin Jixiu heard someone begin playing the piano and singing. The piano was melodious, and the singing was a bit less impressive, but it was more sincere. He suddenly realized something, then shook his head firmly: "No, you're wrong."

Shi Rui humbly asked: "Then what is the right way?"

"We can make a bet, for example..." Qin Jixiu suddenly looked towards the side door of the back garden.

Shi Rui followed his gaze and suddenly an idea struck him: "For example, we can make a bet. If the first person who comes in from outside is wearing green clothes, you have to agree to one of my requests."

As Shi Rui was speaking, someone actually walked in from the side door. They were clearly hotel staff, carrying two huge black garbage bags and wearing dark green overalls.

Qin Jixiu's heart beat violently.

Shi Rui excitedly said to him, "She really is wearing green clothes!"

Qin Jixiu blinked rapidly, cleared his throat, and said, "This time doesn't count. We were just giving examples, and I didn't officially announce the start."

A hint of regret appeared in Shi Rui's eyes, but he soon cheered up because the aunt threw away the garbage, went out the side door, and came back after a few seconds.

Qin Jixiu swallowed his saliva.

Shi Rui asked, "Let's forget it this time, shall we?"

Green happens to be his favorite color. Qin Jixiu thought, since that’s the case, then let’s leave everything to fate. If God agrees, this will happen for the third time.

He said to Shi Rui, "Please tell me the whole story again. Let's officially start now."

Shi Rui clenched his hands, almost making a wish: "If the next person who walks into this small garden wears green clothes, Qin Jixiu must agree to one of my requests."

After he finished speaking, they both stared nervously at the side door.

However, there was no one there.

I waited with bated breath when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind me: "Boss Qin, Xiao Xiao, why are you guys here?"

Qin Jixiu turned around and saw Minister Chen appear with his hands in his pockets. He stared at him in disbelief. Minister Chen saw that the two of them looked strange and were looking at his clothes. He said a little embarrassedly, "I didn't bring enough clothes. It suddenly snowed today, so I asked the front desk for a cotton jacket. How is it? Have you successfully integrated into the local community?"

Minister Chen was wearing a green cotton jacket.

Qin Jixiu was the first to react and said that he now had the temperament to be a comedian. It was unclear whether he was praising him or criticizing him. Then he suddenly stood up and said he had something to do and had to leave.

After Qin Jixiu left, Shi Rui slowly said goodbye to Minister Chen and chased in the direction Qin Jixiu left.

Minister Chen saw the two men leave in perfect sync, and he became increasingly convinced that what he had heard at the company was not just a rumor. He wondered if he had suddenly appeared and become a third wheel, right? Minister Chen chuckled.

Qin Jixiu walked out of the hotel, passed by the couple who were surrounded by the crowd, and walked to the door of a cafe. He opened the door and walked in.

Less than a minute later, Shi Rui also pushed the door open and came in.

When the two looked at each other, they could see some discomfort on each other's faces.

Shi Rui sat across from Qin Jixiu, who, adhering to the principle of keeping his word and not lying to children, said, "Tell me what you want to ask."

Shi Rui curled up the fingers on the table, stretched out a finger and poked the back of Qin Jixiu's hand. He whispered, "Hold hands."

Qin Jixiu: ...

You bet three times and got it right, and now you just want to hold my hand. You are quite innocent.

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The author has something to say: [laughing] No update tomorrow, see you on Tuesday