Chapter 71 This bed is quite big, I can divide it...

Chapter 71

When Wang Cuihua heard the news and rushed over, Jiang Mingxu and the other two had already left Pingcun.

The continuous torrential rain made the roads difficult to travel, so the car drove rather slowly.

It was already 4 p.m. when they arrived in town. Jin Ran thought she would go straight to the airport, but Jiang Mingxu said she would stay for two more days.

"I have something to take care of."

Upon hearing this, Jin Ran had some guesses in her mind, but she didn't say anything and readily agreed.

The three of them first found a hotel in the small county town to stay in.

It's called a hotel, but it's actually more like a guesthouse; the environment is nowhere near as good as the places I've stayed before.

Pushing open the door, a wave of musty, damp wood smell wafted out, mixed with the odor of cheap cleaning agents, making it feel like stepping into an old warehouse. The room was only a dozen square meters, with a double bed and two sets of tables and chairs in the middle. The bathroom had an old-fashioned shower head; its only redeeming quality was that it was clean.

And this is already the most expensive hotel in the vicinity.

Jiang Mingxu frowned, seemingly not expecting this kind of environment either.

Perhaps sensing their extraordinary demeanor, the owner patiently explained, "These are the conditions here. If you want to stay in a better hotel, you'll have to go to Yushan City."

That would mean the journey would take at least another hour.

Jin Ran considered that Jiang Mingxu had already driven for five hours straight, and had been busy teaching her to swim in Pingcun without any rest time. She really didn't dare let him drive while he was tired, so she couldn't help but say, "Actually... I think it's okay."

As soon as he finished speaking, the other two people immediately turned their gazes toward him.

Jin Ran paused for a moment, but still insisted on her point of view: "Everyone is tired today, so let's get some rest. As for the environment, I think this place is quite clean. We're only staying for one night, so there's nothing to complain about."

Of the three, Jiang Mingxu came from Yushan. He suffered a lot when he was young. Later, he founded Mingji Technology and often traveled to various countries for work, sometimes with even worse conditions.

Jiang Xuli was a little disgusted, but the boy believed that he could endure any hardship his father could endure, so he didn't say anything.

The reason for the hesitation is probably because I am also in the group.

Upon hearing Jin Ran's words, Jiang Mingxu stared at her intently: "There is a house in Yushan. We can go there."

"No." Jin Ran was adamant. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, she quietly grabbed Jiang Mingxu's wrist and shook it coquettishly. "That house has been uninhabited for a long time. We'll definitely have to clean it when we get there. I feel so tired right now. I just want to sleep. Let's rest here."

Jiang Mingxu's sleeves were all askew from being shaken by her. He reached out to straighten them and nodded helplessly, "Okay."

Jin Ran laughed.

He turned around and pulled Jiang Xuli to the car to move their luggage.

There was quite a lot of luggage, but fortunately Jin Ran wasn't some weak little girl. In her previous life, she could carry suitcases up to the sixth floor by hand during her university years, so this weight was nothing to her.

Just as I unloaded all the stuff from the trunk, I turned around and saw Jiang Xuli carrying two large suitcases in each hand, striding forward. His slender back looked particularly tall and straight in the lingering evening light, like a proud green bamboo.

Meeting Jin Ran's surprised gaze, the boy deliberately frowned and complained, "So slow!"

Jin Ran couldn't help but roll her eyes.

He's really stubborn as a mule.

Jiang Mingxu took care of the rest of the luggage, and for the first time in his life, he was empty-handed, feeling quite relaxed and carefree.

The room was on the second floor. After all the luggage was moved, Jiang Mingxu went out to find a place to park, while Jin Ran followed him upstairs. Then, she belatedly realized that there was a problem.

The front desk only gave them two rooms.

Moreover, the number of tourists visiting Yushan has surged recently, making it difficult to find rooms even in small hotels like theirs. These two rooms are currently available because someone cancelled their reservation at the last minute.

When asked, the receptionist seemed a little surprised, as they were a family of three and two rooms would have been enough.

Jin Ran had no way to explain it.

You can't exactly say that she and Jiang Mingxu had a marriage of convenience and never slept in the same bed, can you?

There were three of them, two men and one woman. Jin Ran's first thought was that Jiang Xuli and his son Jiang Mingxu would share a room, while she would sleep in a single room.

Before she could even speak, Jiang Xuli had already quickly pushed her luggage into the next room.

In his view, one is his biological father and the other is his stepmother. They are a legitimate married couple, and no matter what happens at home, they will definitely sleep in the same room when they are out.

Jin Ran: "..."

One step behind leads to another.

Now that things have come to this, she couldn't just drag the person out. She sighed inwardly, but pretended to be nonchalant as she pushed open the door and went inside. The double room had a large bed and was by the window. The fishy, ​​damp sea breeze blew in, and the humidity in the air felt like a thin film clinging to her skin.

Jin Ran's gaze unconsciously fell on the large bed, then quickly shifted away; even so, her ears felt a little hot.

If there's only one bed, will they sleep together tonight?

Jin Ran wasn't against it; the ambiguity between men and women is a back-and-forth of testing, and the back-and-forth of words only adds to the fun.

But if a man only flirts with her verbally, she would probably kick him out long ago—if he doesn't even dare to take any real action, he's either a coward or incompetent.

Besides, after getting drunk that night, they had already crossed that invisible boundary.

Looking back, Jin Ran not only didn't regret it, but was even somewhat satisfied.

Now that we've come this far, we naturally won't resist taking it a step further.

Jin Ran sorted out her thoughts, stepped inside, and accidentally bumped her head on the corner of the bed—though she was mentally prepared, she was still a little nervous about suddenly having to share a bed with someone.

Just then, the sound of a door opening came from behind, and Jiang Mingxu walked in from outside.

Jin Ran quickly picked up the Yushan brochure on the table and flipped through it. Her gaze seemed to be focused on the colorful pages, but her peripheral vision kept following Jiang Mingxu's figure. She saw him change his leather shoes, open his suitcase, take out a change of clothes, and walk into the bathroom.

The sound of running water began, a gentle patter. Less than ten minutes later, the man came out again, water still dripping from his hair. He casually wiped it with a towel, leaving behind a refreshing scent of shower gel.

At that moment, Jin Ran was already sitting on her half of the bed. The brochure had been replaced by a mobile phone, and the bizarre laughter of a comedy blogger came from the receiver, filling the quiet room with an unreal liveliness.

Her beautiful eyes were fixed on her, as if she were completely absorbed. Her upper body leaned against the pillow, the neckline of her white nightgown slightly open, revealing a section of her jade-like neck. Strands of hair fell to the hollow of her collarbone, rising and falling gently with her breath.

If you ignore the awkward, curled-up position on one side of the bed, almost falling off, it can barely be considered relaxed.

Seeing this, Jiang Mingxu smiled and said, "There's still some time before dinner, why don't you rest for a while?" He pointed to the sofa and said, "You sleep on the bed, I'll just make do here."

Jin Ran, whose mind was filled with random thoughts, was stunned by what she heard.

She hadn't expected Jiang Mingxu to make that suggestion.

But she wasn't surprised at all, as if subconsciously she knew that he was the kind of person who would do this. And because of Jiang Mingxu's restraint, Jin Ran felt that this man was very gentlemanly. She already had some goodwill towards him, and now, like bubbling water, her impression of him was even better.

A person who is powerful and decisive in the business world can be polite and respectful to women in private; this is a truly rare and admirable quality.

And so it was. When she looked in the direction he was pointing, she saw that the sofa was only 1.2 meters long, barely long enough for a child to lie down, let alone a grown man who was over 1.8 meters tall.

"How about we sleep in the same bed?"

She finally chose to speak from the heart, glancing in another direction. As she blinked, her curled eyelashes fluttered like tiny fans. "I'm serious, this bed is quite big. I can share half with you."

Jiang Mingxu paused, then quietly raised his eyes.

Once the words were out, everything became easier. Jin Ran smiled generously and said, "Didn't you say you had things to do? If you get a stiff neck on the sofa, it might delay things. I haven't gotten my driver's license yet, and Xiao Li can only drive a motorcycle. If you're not feeling well, we won't be able to leave."

Jiang Mingxu rubbed his brow, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger: "You've thought of everything quite comprehensively."

"Of course." Jin Ran took it as a compliment, and even found it increasingly reasonable, jokingly adding, "If you don't go back soon, be careful Assistant Wang might try to seize power!"

"Okay, that reason convinces me."

Jiang Mingxu stood up from the sofa helplessly. As a man, he was in a dominant position in the relationship, so he would take the initiative to give way.

But Jin Ran didn't mind, and he didn't feel the need to insist on squeezing onto the sofa. He put down the towel he had used to dry his hair and walked to the other side of the double bed.

After a day and a half of continuous work, Jiang Mingxu was indeed quite tired. He had been forcing himself to keep going, but now that there was nothing else to do, the fatigue on his face was impossible to hide.

The bed was indeed much more comfortable than the sofa. When he lay down fully clothed on the other side, his tall body caused the soft mattress to sink slightly, and Jin Ran also sank a little along with him.

The two maintained just the right distance, neither too close to appear ambiguous, nor too far to seem deliberate.

Jin Ran subtly moved her slightly numb legs, the scent of another person lingering around her nose, cool and refreshing, making her body involuntarily tense: "Just a heads up, I have a bad sleeping posture, I might kick you off the bed."

After a while, there was no response. Turning his head, he saw that Jiang Mingxu had closed his eyes and was breathing steadily and slowly.

"..."

Jin Ran shut her mouth and stared at the man's handsome face for a while.

Her gaze slid from his slightly furrowed brows to his somewhat tired profile, and finally she sighed softly, gently pulling the blanket next to her over him and carefully covering him with it.

Fine, considering he came all this way to pick them up, I'll take pity on him and not kick him out of bed.