21 Chapter 21
◎They were secretly together behind our backs◎
When walking out of the KTV, Sang Xinqi's pace slowed down unconsciously.
She tightened and loosened her grip on the hem of her clothes, and finally couldn't help but whispered, "Liao Yishen."
The young man walking in front turned around when he heard the sound, "What's wrong?" His voice was a little lower than usual.
Sang Xinqi bit her lower lip. "Didn't Jiang Xun... tell you anything?"
"What?" Liao Yishen tilted his head slightly and looked at her intently.
"Nothing," she lowered her eyelashes to hide the disappointment in her eyes.
Did Jiang Xun really not say that?
There was a sudden silence between the two of them. Liao Yishen looked at her lost profile and felt sorry for her. His desire to tease her faded away.
Suddenly, she heard his clear voice, "Have you ever thought about premature love?"
Sang Xinqi raised her head suddenly and met his deep eyes.
She felt her heart skip a beat, and her ears felt hot. "You..." Her voice trembled slightly. "Do you want to?"
Liao Yishen stared at her quietly, his eyes gentle.
After a while, he whispered, "If it were with you, I'd thought about it."
These words melted like a piece of candy in her heart, so sweet that her eyes became hot.
She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled, "Me too."
The boy raised the corner of his mouth in a nice arc, quietly shortening the distance between them. They walked into the convenience store side by side, and when they shuttled between the shelves, their arms touched and separated inadvertently, like two butterflies tentatively approaching each other.
While paying the bill, Sang Xinqi mustered up the courage to ask quietly, "So we are... boyfriend and girlfriend now?"
"Well," he took the shopping bag and brushed his fingertips lightly across the back of her hand, "girlfriend."
On the way back to the KTV, neither of them spoke, but the air seemed to be filled with honey. Sang Xinqi secretly glanced at the person next to her and found that his ears were very red.
When I walked into the KTV box, I heard Jiang Xun singing at the top of his lungs.
He came over immediately upon seeing them coming back, "Where have you been? It took so long!"
Liao Yishen put the bag of snacks on the coffee table and sat down next to Sang Xinqi naturally. She smelled the faint sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance on him and couldn't help but lean towards him again.
"Ouch~" Jiang Xun squinted his eyes and looked at them. "Is there something wrong with you two?"
Sang Xinqi smiled without saying a word, while Liao Yishen bent down to help her unscrew the cap of the mineral water bottle, his movements were unspeakably gentle.
Jiang Xun leaned over to Sang Xinqi's ear and asked for credit, "I had a heart-to-heart talk with Brother Liao for a long time yesterday. You can feel free to confess your feelings today. I promise..."
"Who wants to confess?" Sang Xinqi interrupted him with a red face, and caught a glimpse of Liao Yishen smirking out of the corner of her eye.
"Didn't you say..." Jiang Xun looked confused.
"Cancel your plan," she shook her head proudly, "We already..."
After he finished speaking, Jiang Xun cried out, "Fuck, is this true?"
Sang Xinqi pulled him aside and asked, "Why are you shouting so loudly?"
Tao Wen and the others stopped singing upon hearing this and looked towards them. Meng Qixiang asked, "What's true or false?"
Sang Xinqi looked at everyone a little embarrassedly. She was really impressed by Jiang Xun's loud voice.
At this moment, Liao Yishen suddenly said, "Sangsang and I are together."
As soon as the voice fell, Tao Wen and the others immediately put down their microphones and gathered around. Meng Qixiang's eyes widened, "When did it happen?"
Tao Wen then pressed on, "Didn't you agree that you needed our help? Why are you suddenly together?"
Chen Yanyan stood aside, watching them silently, feeling a pang of bitterness in her heart, but she never said a word.
Under everyone's scorching gazes, Sang Xinqi blushed and explained, "Just now when I went out to buy snacks..."
Everyone: “…”
"Okay, okay," Jiang Xun said, spreading his hands exaggeratedly. "Wouldn't it be that we've all worked in vain? The plans we prepared won't be used anymore."
Sang Xinqi smiled and tried to smooth things over, "It's good that the intention is there. How about we confess our feelings again?"
Jiang Xun snorted, "You wish. I won't let you use it."
Tao Wen puffed up her cheeks and agreed, "That's right, they were secretly together without telling us."
Sang Xinqi smiled helplessly.
Unexpectedly, they really did what they said. Until they finished singing and were about to go back, Sang Xinqi was unable to find out their original plan.
"Are you really not going to tell me?" When they arrived at the community, Sang Xinqi asked again without giving up.
Jiang Xun was annoyed by her questions. "It's nothing, actually. I just plan to play Truth or Dare. I'm going to make you lose all the time. Then I'm going to design a few questions, like having Liao Yishen confess his feelings to you, or you confessing your feelings to him. I'm going to use the game as a pretext to help you break that window paper."
Sang Xinqi, “….”
“It’s really well-intentioned.”
Jiang Xun raised his eyebrows, "Why? Unsatisfied?"
Sang Xinqi quickly said seriously, "I am very satisfied."
Jiang Xun walked into the elevator lazily, "You don't look like it."
Sang Xinqi suddenly remembered something and lowered her voice, "By the way, don't tell my mom about my relationship."
Jiang Xun said, "Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped."
"That's good," Sang Xinqi's eyes curved into crescents. "When spring comes, I'll use the sewing machine you gave me to make you a few sweatshirts."
When the elevator reached the floor, Jiang Xun made an OK gesture and walked towards the corridor without looking back.
-
Sang Xinqi found that the days after they got together didn't seem any different from before. They were both busy with their studies, so they saw each other very rarely. The only time they spent together walking home after school became the most cherished time for the newly-formed couple.
In the blink of an eye, it was the day for Sang Xinqi to participate in the finals.
The night before leaving for the capital, the two made an appointment to meet at the entrance of the community.
The December wind was biting cold. Sang Xinqi wrapped her scarf tightly, and the tip of her nose was red from the cold. Looking at her like this, Liao Yishen wanted to stay with her for a while longer, but he also felt sorry for her suffering from the cold outside.
"Tomorrow's train ticket?" Liao Yishen asked softly, the white breath he exhaled dissipating in the cold air.
Sang Xinqi nodded, her hair swaying gently in the wind, "Yeah, the high-speed train at 8 o'clock in the morning."
"How are the preparations going?"
"Not bad," Sang Xinqi said with a confident smile, "I've been very well prepared during this period."
She paused, looking at him with sparkling eyes, "After the competition is over the day after tomorrow, I'll bring you some specialties from the capital."
Liao Yishen raised the corners of his lips slightly, "Okay."
A brief silence stretched between the two.
Sang Xinqi put her hands behind her back, tapped the ground lightly with her toes, and suddenly looked up, "Liao Yishen, don't you want to say a few auspicious words?"
Liao Yi stared at her with deep eyes, his Adam's apple moving slightly, "What do you want to hear?"
Sang Xinqi didn't say anything, but just looked at him with her lips pursed. Her eyes seemed to be saying: If you don't say anything, I will keep looking at you like this.
"Wait for you to come back," Liao Yishen's voice was soft but extremely serious.
Sang Xinqi suddenly smiled widely, her eyebrows and eyes curved into crescents.
Liao Yishen looked at her red nose tip and said distressedly, "It's getting late, go back quickly."
Sang Xinqi felt a little disappointed, but she nodded obediently, "Okay, be careful on the road."
But neither of them moved.
Sang Xinqi's eyes unconsciously fell on his lips, the well-defined lip shape looked particularly attractive under the street light.
She pursed her lips quietly - they had been together for more than ten days, but their first kiss had yet to come.
Liao Yishen suddenly took her hand, and the moment their fingers intertwined, Sang Xinqi felt her heart skip a beat.
She looked down at their clasped hands, the warmth from his palms gradually warming her cold fingers.
"I'll take you to the door of your unit," said Liao Yishen.
"Okay," Sang Xinqi's voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible.
On weekdays, she always complained that the distance from the community gate to the apartment building was too far, but tonight she felt that the distance was too short. Before Liao Yishen could completely warm her hands, it was time to say goodbye.
"Then I'll go upstairs," Sang Xinqi stood in front of the unit door, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the place where he had just held her hand.
Liao Yishen let go of his hand, his eyes gentle, "Well, be careful on the road."
"You too," Sang Xinqi looked up at him and added, "Wait for my good news."
Liao Yishen nodded solemnly, "See you in three days."
At the moment of turning around, Sang Xinqi suddenly remembered something and turned back.
She plucked up her courage, quickly kissed Liao Yishen on the cheek, then ran into the unit door without looking back, leaving Liao Yishen standing there, touching his hot cheek, and did not leave for a long time.
-
The moment the high-speed train slowly started to move, Sang Xinqi suddenly felt a palpitation.
She unconsciously clenched the armrest, her knuckles turning slightly white. The rapidly receding scenery outside the window blurred in her eyes, and the only sound in her ears was her own rapid heartbeat.
"Mom, I'm a little nervous," she whispered, with a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.
Mother Sang turned to look at her and noticed that her daughter's face was a little pale. She couldn't help but smile and patted her shoulder, "Why are you so nervous? Even if you didn't get first place, I, your mother, wouldn't eat you."
Sang Xinqi: “….”
This way of comforting is undoubtedly that of a real mother!
The high-speed rail journey from Qingcheng to the capital takes only two hours.
Along the way, Sang Xinqi sometimes looked through the design drafts, and sometimes stared out the window in a daze. When the train announced the station, she was surprised to realize that they had arrived at the station.
After getting off the high-speed train, the cold wind from the north hit me in the face.
Sang Xinqi wrapped her scarf tightly and took a taxi with her mother to the hotel they had booked in advance. As soon as she entered the room, she couldn't wait to open her suitcase and carefully took out the carefully designed entry.
"Is there a thread coming off here... Is this fold not perfect..." She muttered to herself as she inspected, her slender fingers gently stroking every detail.
Mother Sang looked at her daughter and couldn't help laughing. "Alright, alright! If we check again, you'll find a hole. Come on, let me take you out for a walk."
Sang Xinqi's eyes were still glued to her work. "But if I leave, what if..."
"Don't worry," Mother Sang pulled her up directly, "The hotel is very safe, your precious work will be fine."
Sang Xinqi then stood up reluctantly, and looked back several times before leaving.
Walking along the bustling streets of the capital, Mother Sang put her arm around her daughter's shoulders and said, "Relax today so you can perform at your best tomorrow."
The warm sunlight shone on her face. Sang Xinqi took a deep breath. Her mother's words seemed to have magic, slowly relaxing her tense nerves.
They went to famous scenic spots in the capital, strolled through the snack streets, and tried all kinds of special snacks. Sang Xinqi held a candied haws and looked at the corner tower of the Forbidden City in the sunset. Suddenly, she felt that the competition didn't seem so scary after all.
It was already ten o'clock in the evening when she returned to the hotel. Sang Xinqi thought she would toss and turn in bed, but unexpectedly she fell into a deep sleep as soon as she touched the pillow, without even a dream.
The next morning, when the sunlight came in through the gaps in the curtains, Sang Xinqi had already woken up. She washed up quietly and carefully adjusted her collar in front of the mirror.
"Are you ready?" Mother Sang handed her a cup of hot milk.
Sang Xinqi took the cup, the warmth passing through her palm. She took a deep breath, her eyes firm, "Well, let's go."
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