Chapter 68 The Answer She was the unavoidable, mandatory question.
The man standing in front of the car, though he said nothing, spoke with far more power than any other voice.
Even after all this time, Su Ming still feels a strange hostility towards Qiao Bolin whenever he sees him.
At first, he thought it was just because he liked Ningjiu that he felt aversion towards his rival, but now that he thought he had let go of it, that indescribable vigilance only grew stronger.
At one point, he suddenly realized that it stemmed from the person of George Berlin himself.
The dessert shop bell rang again. Ning Jiu stood at the door, receiving a "good luck" look from Pei Yueli, and watched the man outside the door walk towards her step by step.
It's only a short distance from the door to the house, but his handsome features and tall stature still easily attracted the attention of many people.
Just as the tides follow the moon's gravity, people's gaze will always unconsciously fall on the center of the light source; this is a unique, innate magic that belongs to him.
I don't know if he found a flaw somewhere, or if he actually knew from the beginning that he was just testing her by texting her earlier.
Taking advantage of Qiao Bolin's lowered head, Ning Jiu decided to strike first.
Before he could speak, she tiptoed and wrapped her arms around his neck, gently kissing his chin, and then spoke as if surprised.
"Why are you here? I was just about to come looking for you."
The words Qiao Bolin wanted to say stuck in his throat, his gaze fixed on her with a deep intensity, his emotions unreadable.
"Senior, is he your...?" Lin Jing swallowed her surprise and said cautiously, "Anyway, it's still early, why don't we sit down together for a bit—"
"No."
Before Ning Jiu could speak, Qiao Bolin spoke first.
The girl's hand, which she had just lowered, was gripped tightly by him. Their shoulders were so close that they couldn't break free at all.
"We have other things to do, so we'll be leaving now."
In Su Ming and Lin Jing's eyes, Qiao Bolin's gesture of holding Ning Jiu was gentle and proper, leaving no room for criticism.
But only Ning Jiu himself knew that he had not given himself any room to escape.
No one spoke the moment the car door closed.
Uncle Tong didn't drive today. Qiao Bolin's fair and well-defined palm bones gripped the steering wheel, and the cuffs next to his watch reflected dappled sunlight.
Ning Jiu didn't forget to bring the bags and packages she bought while shopping earlier. Although she hadn't been shopping for long, she had bought quite a lot of things.
One person couldn't carry it all, so it was Qiao Bolin who carried most of it up. She was sitting in the passenger seat, rummaging through a pile of paper bags, when she suddenly heard a man call her name.
"Ning wine".
His voice was as steady as ever, without any discernible tone.
"arrive."
"Uh-huh?"
So fast?
Ning Jiu lifted his round head from the stack of paper bags and looked out the car window, only to find that Qiao Bolin had driven the car next to the company.
She asked, somewhat puzzled, "Aren't we going back?"
Qiao Bolin stepped on the brakes, turned to her and asked, "Do you still want to go back?"
"......"
Ning Jiu put the things in her pocket, looked at the calm face in front of her, and felt a headache coming on.
Qiao Bolin is a good person in every way, except that he doesn't show his emotions on his face, making it impossible for people to guess what he's thinking.
“I told you I came here specifically to see you,” she said, her voice softening as she realized how guilty she felt. “Do you…believe me?”
"letter."
? ? ?
Why doesn't he play by the rules?
Ning Jiu looked up at Qiao Bolin in surprise, and his gaze fell on her as well, his deep black eyes containing a power that was impossible to look away from.
Qiao Bailin asked her.
"If they came specifically to see me, what should we do now?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere inside the car suddenly became subtle.
Ning Jiu was bewitched by his gaze, feeling his warm breath gently caress her brows, eyes, and nose, until it touched her soft lips, and then—
The small mole next to the Adam's apple rolled slightly, as if it were a seductive gesture.
Ning Jiu unconsciously mimicked his action and swallowed, her body being pulled by a thin thread of fire, teetering on the edge as she waited for that spark to fall.
Joel Berlin leaned down and lit it.
His kisses, like him, were initially highly deceptive.
First, he gently pried open her lips and teeth, then lingered and kissed her tenderly. His high nose bridge brushed against the soft flesh of her cheeks, and his fingertips kneaded the back of her neck with varying pressure and speed. He then supported the back of her head, allowing her to respond to his kiss more naturally.
When Ning Jiu gradually lowered her guard because of the gentle kiss, and her whole body went limp and she became unconscious, this person gradually revealed his true colors.
The gentle and restrained kiss suddenly turned strange. The car became increasingly hot, with splashing sounds and saliva stretching into alluring silver threads. Ning Jiu was so overwhelmed by the kiss that she could hardly breathe, her cheeks flushed, and she struggled to push Qiao Bolin away.
"It's been too long..." She realized that pushing him wasn't enough to move him; instead, he led her hand to stroke his chest through his shirt. Ning Jiu's voice involuntarily trembled with a sob, "I still have something to give you..."
"Do you have something for me?"
Qiao Bolin repeated her words, probably trying to determine the truthfulness of her statement. His hot breath made her lips burn. Ning Jiu thought for a moment and changed her resistance into an embrace. Her slender forearms gently wrapped around his waist, and Qiao Bolin's kiss indeed loosened a little.
It seems there is still a way to deal with him.
"Really, I have something to give you."
Just as she was about to let go of his embrace, Qiao Bolin grabbed her wrist. Ning Jiu had no choice but to signal with her eyes that he should look in her pocket himself.
“I saw this while shopping. I thought it would suit you perfectly. It’s certainly not as expensive as yours, but I still trust my taste,” she said. She noticed that Qiao Bolin was looking down at the cufflinks in his hand, seemingly lost in thought. Curious, she leaned over to look at his expression. “Why aren’t you reacting? Don’t you like it? Hmm!”
The cold white cufflinks were suddenly gripped tightly in his palm. The man leaned down abruptly, and before Ning Jiu could react, he pressed her against the car window and kissed her passionately.
He swallowed the lipstick he had just kissed, his whole body felt like it was melting, and Qiao Bolin was half-holding his hand, guiding the cufflink toward his wrist.
He was angry, but he wouldn't admit it, and silently kept finding ways to torment her.
"Ning Jiu, sometimes you really are..."
The girl's hands trembled slightly from the kiss, and she held the two jade-white cufflinks in her palm. The pale pink of her fingertips and the cold white intertwined perfectly, and Qiao Bolin's eyes darkened.
The sudden ringing of the bell broke the restless atmosphere between the two. Ning Jiu seized the opportunity to catch his breath and fastened the two cufflinks. The subtle luster made the lines of his palm bones look even cleaner and more defined.
Qiao Bolin gently squeezed her palm, suppressing the fleeting displeasure between his brows, straightened up and answered the phone, and Lian Zhuoxun's voice came from the other end.
"Mr. Qiao?" Lian Zhuoxun's tone was tentative and uncertain. "There's only half an hour left in the meeting, and the directors all think it would be good for you to attend at the end and give your overall opinion. What do you think—"
"Okay, I'll be right there."
Ning Jiu didn't expect that Qiao Bolin's text message about an unfinished meeting was true.
The thought of him abandoning a room full of executives in the middle of a meeting to come find her made her feel helpless and amused. She reached out and pushed him out of the car, but he pulled her back into his arms.
"Didn't you come to see me?" Qiao Bolin asked her. "Won't you come up and sit for a while?"
Although she had visited the company a few times before, this was the first time Ning Jiu had come in with Qiao Bolin, so her feelings were naturally a little different.
The man's shirt, which had been disheveled from the kiss, was now neatly straightened. As he led Ning Jiu toward the elevator, the passing employees were all stunned, their expressions as if they had witnessed something extraordinary.
Recalling the scene from her last visit to the president's office, Ning Jiu's ears burned slightly.
Once inside the office, Qiao Bolin leaned down to kiss her again, but she gently turned her head away and whispered to him, "Go to your meeting."
The president's office was spacious and quiet. Ning Jiu wandered around aimlessly, and found a small room in the inner corner, which she guessed was where Qiao Bolin usually rested.
She clearly had so much to say to him, such as that it was perfectly normal for her to go out, and whether his reaction was too much, but as soon as she met his eyes, it was like falling into an endless night, and all words were left blank.
With a sigh, Ning Jiu's expression turned serious. She decided to wait until his meeting was over before discussing it properly.
A slender young woman sat in a spacious chair, looking languid, her fingers aimlessly fiddling with the documents on the table.
For some reason, a hint of interest flashed in his slightly raised eyes, and he reached out and picked up the silver-rimmed glasses that were placed to the side and began to play with them.
When Qiao Bolin returned from the conference room, this was the scene he saw.
His throat felt slightly warm. He entered the room silently. Ning Jiu was engrossed in trying on the Qiao Bolin glasses and didn't notice his approach.
Qiao Bolin's nearsightedness is not high, and he does not experience dizziness or discomfort when wearing glasses.
Ning Jiu actually liked the way he looked with glasses; it gave him a distant and restrained academic air, with a touch of cold asceticism.
For some reason, I imagined him wearing his glasses in bed. The frames on his nose would tilt slightly from the movement, and beads of hot sweat would slide down his forehead, creating a thin mist on the lenses.
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly felt a warmth on her wrist as she pressed down on the temple of her glasses. He then took off her glasses, and in his place, what fell on the corner of her eye was Qiao Bolin's burning lips.
In just half an hour, his kisses were so urgent, as if they hadn't seen each other for dozens of days.
Was it her imagination? Qiao Bolin saw her sitting here, looking very excited. Ning Jiu could feel his body suddenly heat up.
"Ouch, I'm burned..."
"That expression just now—" A soft chuckle came from beside her ear. Qiao Bolin put on his silver-rimmed glasses with one hand, the warm frames rubbing against her neck as he continued kissing her collarbone. "Baby, what do you want me to do, hmm?"
That person is awful.
"I do have a few questions for you." Ning Jiu bit her lip until it was bright red, her eyes glistening as she looked at him. "What's that room in the corner of your office for?"
"Sometimes when I work overtime too late, I just rest there."
Qiao Bolin paused in his kissing motion, then unusually brushed it off. Ning Jiu sensed something was wrong and hooked her little finger with his.
Meeting his gaze, she spoke slowly and deliberately.
"I want to go there and take a look."
The password to open the door was still her birthday.
Ning Jiu walked in. The room was decorated in Qiao Bolin's usual style, but the heavy curtains blocked out the light, and the spacious room exuded an indescribable sense of oppression.
Several packs of cigarettes lay quietly on the corner of the table, their seals clean, clearly untouched for a long time. Next to them was a stack of empty boxes, repeatedly crumpled, with cigarette butts neatly broken off at the edge of the ashtray, clean and grayish-white, burned out without a trace of color.
Just thinking about what Qiao Bolin had done day after day here made her heart ache with a bitter feeling she couldn't describe.
"How could you be so stupid—" She couldn't finish her sentence, as if her throat was choked up. Ning Jiu looked away slightly, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes. "You'd risk your life just to break up with him, huh?"
"There is no difference."
This is how George Berlin answered her.
"Ning wine, to me, there is no difference between the two."
During the worst periods of his illness, the smoke became the only thin veil that could envelop his heart. He had tried to numb himself with the pleasure of smoking, but that fleeting satisfaction was empty and false. On the contrary, the physiological burning sensation of the smoke penetrating his lungs gave him a sense of being truly alive.
Qiao Jialing said he was sick, and Wen Xi sobbed as she asked him how he could have become like this.
Amidst the cacophony, Joelin's world became quieter than ever before. All emotions were abruptly stripped away, leaving only one crystal-clear fact in his mind.
He couldn't leave Ningjiu.
Just like the null value in program settings, even if it has reached the point of being blank and untouchable, without it, even the most sophisticated code will lose its meaning.
Without Ning Jiu, his life could no longer function normally.
In Qiao Bailin's near-perfect life story, Ningjiu was the unavoidable, essential question.
Once erased, his entire life becomes a blank page.
-----------------------
Author's Note: The two will talk things out in the next chapter.
This chapter didn't cover office play; the next chapter will cover [yellow heart].
Hot nerd glasses Xiao Qiao is about to arrive on the battlefield...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
