28 Interesting
"Teacher Qi, if you really can't stand it, I can do it on the bus."
Song Chiyu thought she had misheard and wanted to confirm with him again, but Yinghong and the driver had already returned.
Yinghong was full of surprise at his appearance: "Second brother, what are you doing here?"
"I'll switch seats with you; you can sit in the front."
Yinghong didn't know why, but she still got into the car in front. Afterwards, Qi Yanzhou didn't bring up the topic again with Song Chiyu. Song Chiyu thought he was just teasing her and didn't take it to heart.
The Qi family's ancestral home was even more remote than Song Chiyu had imagined, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with winding mountain roads along the way. After arriving in the village, one could see the mountains opposite and the tranquil, jewel-like lake below in the distance.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as a place with excellent feng shui.
Before the convoy even reached the village entrance, villagers were already waiting. Seeing the car enter, they expertly gestured for them to stop. Knowing they were returning to the village, Song Chiyu had changed into a black stand-up collar shirt before setting off, adorned with a string of green jade pendants at the collar. An embroidered horse-face skirt was tied around her waist, accentuating her slender and tall figure. She wore a dark green cashmere coat over it, and her long, jet-black hair was neatly styled in a low bun behind her head. Even with minimal makeup, her elegance was undeniable.
Qi Yanzhou took her hand and put it into his coat pocket.
His stern expression exuded an awe-inspiring authority.
Even Song Chiyu, who was standing to the side, became imposing. Those who had originally wanted to intimidate Song Chiyu fell silent and said to Qi Yanzhou, "Second Brother, Second Grandfather and Third Grandfather have been waiting at the ancestral home for a long time."
"Waiting for what?" Qi Yanzhou asked her without any hesitation.
The person who spoke hesitated, glancing at Song Chiyu beside him. Only after confirming that Qi Yanzhou hadn't asked her to leave did she lower her voice and say, "They have a lot of complaints about you removing Qi Si's family from the Qi family. Today, Fourth Uncle and Qi Si's family are also here. It seems that Second Grandfather and Third Grandfather are here to seek justice for Fourth Uncle's family."
If Song Chiyu remembered correctly, her fourth uncle had delivered something to Qi Qingfang yesterday, and then wanted to send Qi Yanzhou to the ancestral home for a "chair ceremony".
Song Chiyu glanced at him unconsciously.
Qi Yanzhou didn't turn around, but he felt her gaze. He turned his head and whispered in her ear, "I'll have Zhan Nan and Ying Hong accompany you around the village later. I'll be back later."
Is there anything I can do for you?
"No." Qi Yanzhou shook his head.
The Qi family's ancestral home was indeed larger, a seven-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house). This house alone occupied almost a third of the village. Song Chiyu and Qi Yanzhou's room was in the first courtyard entered through the hanging flower gate, while the main hall was in the back. Qi Yanzhou entered first, followed closely by Qi Qingfang and Qi Jianguo. Seeing that he wasn't alone, Song Chiyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Qi Zhannan also wanted to go in but was refused entry.
They tried several times without success before reluctantly giving up. Yinghong was curious about what they were doing in the main hall and kept asking Qi Zhannan, but Qi Zhannan naturally wouldn't answer.
Knowing that the villagers were hostile towards her, Song Chiyu stopped wandering around and stayed in her room alone.
Midway through the meal, Li Li called to ask about the situation. Song Chiyu knew she was worried, so she didn't say much, only chatting briefly. That evening, everyone gathered in the dining room to eat, but still didn't see Qi Yanzhou or the others come out. Just as they were getting worried, Yinghong invited her to sit with her. Song Chiyu glanced at the old lady next to her and silently walked to the empty seat next to Qi Zhannan.
Qi Zhannan was still looking at the reception room in the central hall.
"Second Aunt, what do you think they're talking about inside?"
"About your fourth uncle's family being expelled from the Party," Song Chiyu replied.
Qi Zhannan was startled: "You knew?"
Song Chiyu nodded.
"Damn it, my second uncle talks to you but not to me." Qi Zhannan muttered to himself, "Those old bastards are just bullying me because my great-grandfather died early. Otherwise, how could they have the right to point fingers at me? No wonder they wouldn't let me in. If they had let me in, I would have flipped the table over."
"Stop bragging. You can't even get through the door, and you want to flip the table?" Song Chiyu said mercilessly, exposing his lies.
"They're only preventing me from going in because they're afraid I'll flip the table. Only my second uncle, a respectable man, treats those old folks like elders. My family pays for the annual maintenance of this courtyard, and now they're helping others out." Qi Zhannan grew angrier the more he thought about it: "I'm not eating."
They turned around and disappeared in a flash.
Song Chiyu held a mouthful of water and waved to him repeatedly. By the time she swallowed it, Qi Zhannan had already walked far away.
After waiting for about half an hour, someone finally announced that they could eat. Song Chiyu ate very quickly, finishing a bowl of rice before all the dishes were served. While the others were still chatting, she had already left the table. Aunt Ning, sitting at the next table, watched her, wanting to speak several times, but swallowing her words back.
This is the person Qi Yanzhou chose himself.
Aside from his appearance, he's utterly unpresentable. How could he leave before his elders had even left the table?
After dinner, Aunt Ning asked Yinghong to go to Song Chiyu's room, but Song Chiyu not only didn't come but had also gone to sleep. Aunt Ning, unusually losing her composure, shouted, "How can she sleep?"
Her cherry-red ears turned slightly red. "Miss Song said that she might be pregnant, which is why she's so sleepy. She asked you to bear with her."
"Who wears such high heels while pregnant?" Aunt Ning almost cursed, but she held back and said, fiddled with the prayer beads in her hand, "Okay, I'll go ask Yanzhou later if she's really pregnant."
Instead of Yanzhou, she received news that Qi Zhannan was arguing with the fourth son's family and several grandfathers in the main hall. Aunt Ning, who always respected her elders, nearly fainted upon hearing this. She rushed to the main hall and could hear Qi Zhannan arguing with the fourth son: "Your men went to rob tombs and my second uncle found out, and you still think you're right? It was your father who said you wanted to leave this family, and now you're blaming my second uncle?"
"He forced my father to do it! Second Master, Third Master, do you know? I was almost killed by Qi Yanzhou back then, and my father had no choice but to say those words about severing ties with the family in order to save me—"
"Go to hell with your bullshit—" Qi Zhannan punched Qi Si in the mouth.
"Qi Zhannan!" Aunt Ning shouted, her legs giving way and she collapsed to the ground. "Qi Yanzhou, your nephew has no respect for his elders, and you didn't even stop him!"
Qi Yanzhou glanced at her, standing in the hazy night like a jade tree, exuding the gentle elegance of someone well-read: "You know your grandson well, if you really start fighting, who can stop you?"
"So you're just going to ignore it?" Aunt Ning exclaimed.
Who said he doesn't care anymore?
"Isn't he still watching?" he replied calmly. "He'll stop when he gets tired of hitting me. Let's wait a bit."
**
Song Chiyu was awakened by the sound of an ambulance.
She had initially intended to go see what had happened, but upon learning that Qi Si and his son had been beaten, she immediately returned to her own courtyard, pretending nothing had occurred.
Not long after they were carried away, Qi Yanzhou returned. Song Chiyu pretended to have just woken up, stretched, and said, "You're back?"
Her voice was sweet and gentle. She didn't seem like the instigator of this "war" at all.
Qi Yanzhou couldn't help but chuckle, but he didn't show it in front of her. He quickly composed himself and asked, "Have you eaten?"
"kindness."
Are you still hungry?
"What?" Song Chiyu remembered that he hadn't eaten yet. "Do you want me to have another meal with you?"
“Hmm,” he lowered his eyelids and pondered briefly, “After all, you’re eating with two people now, so it’s normal to have an extra meal.”
This old lady.
They filed a complaint against him so quickly.
She said that there wasn't a single person in the Qi family who was easy to deal with.
Qi Yanzhou could tell that she understood what he was talking about, and he subtly raised the corners of his lips: "I heard you're pregnant?"
Song Chiyu: "..."
With a determined look, she grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the bed, saying, "It's not too late to get pregnant now."
Qi Yanzhou hadn't expected her to be so direct, and stood frozen in place, saying, "Miss Song."
"kindness."
"Let's eat first." He didn't refuse.
Song Chiyu couldn't see through him.
He does follow the rules and etiquette, but beneath this gentlemanly exterior, there's always a sense of unconventionality.
"Wait a minute, I'm going to change my clothes." She had just gotten out of bed and was still wearing a thin nightgown.
Qi Yanzhou took off his coat, picked up the down jacket draped beside him, and went straight out.
There wasn't much food in the village, so the two drove to the nearest town at the foot of the mountain. After driving around, they found only one hot pot restaurant still open. As soon as Song Chiyu sat down, she remembered the day they got their marriage certificate and couldn't help but smile.
He took off his coat and asked, "What came to mind?"
“Thinking back to when we first got our marriage certificate,” Song Chiyu sighed, looking at the fogged French windows, “it’s been so fast, almost two years already.”
It turns out they've been married for almost two years.
But he always felt like it happened yesterday.
Qi Yanzhou rested one hand on the back of the chair next to him, pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "Miss Song."
"kindness?"
"Actually, there's something I've always wanted to ask you."
"Go ahead and ask."
He licked his lips, clearly still hesitant, but still asked the question.
"I know there's a saying that when I'm hesitant about whether to ask a question, the best thing to do is not to ask. But I still want to know, what were you thinking when you suggested that we could sleep together?"
Song Chiyu looked completely bewildered.
He remained calm: "You probably only have a good impression of me, not love me. Then why are you willing to have the kind of intimacy that only lovers have with me?"
"Professor Qi, am I your research topic?" Song Chiyu was criticizing him for making the topic too formal.
"No, it's just that I don't understand." He stared straight at her. "I've always felt that love should be the prerequisite for love."
Song Chiyu shook her head.
"Living together requires immense courage, while [something else] only requires desire. Teacher Qi, you may not understand yourself well; you inspire a lot of desire in others."
"Whose turn?"
"Let me have it," Song Chiyu readily admitted.
Qi Yanzhou stared at her without saying a word.
Just then, the waiter brought over the cooked casserole. Song Chiyu waited for the waiter to leave before continuing, "Besides, didn't you tell me that you never thought about divorcing me? I never thought about it either. That 'sex' was just normal married life. What's there to not understand?"
"But you don't love me," Qi Yanzhou emphasized, staring intently at her.
Song Chiyu didn't answer immediately, but he continued, "You once loved another person so vividly, and now you've spent your whole life with me. Don't you feel any regret?"
Song Chiyu couldn't help but laugh when she saw his serious expression.
She rested her chin on her hand, hooking the straight trouser leg under his desk with the tip of her shoe, and asked, "Teacher Qi, are you jealous?"
He opened his mouth, about to deny it, when her velvet shoes were already pressed against his calf through his trousers: "Who told me that if I wasn't interested in him, I could be Teacher Qi, who's always been a respectful friend to me? And now you're asking me if I have any regrets?"
Her voice lowered even further, her soft and alluring voice seeming to emanate from the depths of her chest.
"Teacher Qi, you really wanted to do this, didn't you?"
Qi Yanzhou did not answer.
His deep eyes showed no emotion.
"You just haven't figured out why I can accept such intimate things with you even though I don't like you that much? Because I think you're really something." Song Chiyu winked at him mischievously.
His prominent Adam's apple slid involuntarily.
“Ms. Song, I’m asking you this very seriously, I’m not joking with you.”
Song Chiyu rested her chin on her hand and looked at him without saying a word.
Her eyes were full of gentle mischief, as if she could see right through him. She looked especially captivating in the misty atmosphere.
"Miss Song," Qi Yanzhou reminded her.
"So, do you still want to eat tonight?" Song Chiyu didn't even blink.
He knew she was teasing him.
But he just looked at her, his face solemn, and he had no way to refute her.
Song Chiyu was clearly certain that he wouldn't be able to refuse.
She picked up her own chopsticks, opened the package, and handed it to him, saying, "Then hurry up and finish your meal so you can go home."
He didn't answer.
Song Chiyu gently pushed him away, not caring, and picked some more food from the pot. "If you can't wait, I can wait in the car."
"Song Chiyu," Qi Yanzhou reminded her, unable to contain himself any longer.
Song Chiyu suppressed a laugh, "What are you doing? I'm a girl and I don't mind, what are you afraid of?"
Qi Yanzhou had nothing to say.
Some even regretted their earlier frankness.
He lowered his head and stopped looking at her.
Song Chiyu, however, did not let him off so easily, and suddenly said, "Teacher Qi, you don't look at me on the surface, but you're actually secretly imagining that scene, aren't you?"
"Hmm." He realized he had piqued her interest and had no choice but to reply.
Song Chiyu found that Teacher Qi was really interesting now.
He continued tracing the lines of his calf muscles with the back of his foot: "So what are you thinking?"
Qi Yanzhou had no choice but to raise his head and give her a warning look, telling her to stop.
However, the faint blush rising from her ears greatly diminished the oppressive feeling, and Song Chiyu said coquettishly, "I'm just curious."
"Then you'll find out when we get back later, won't you?" His deep-set eyes quickly regained their usual composure, and he stopped letting her lead him by the nose.
Song Chiyu has probably figured out his personality a bit.
She has a rebellious streak, but not much. Deep down, she's still a rule-abiding person.
“Then don’t disappoint me,” she said, her instep sliding down his knee to his thigh, “Master Qi.”
Qi Yanzhou stared intently at her, subtly shifting his position to the side to increase the distance between them.
Song Chiyu wasn't in a hurry, so she put down her raised leg and stopped teasing him.
**
The black jeep drove along the mountain road back home. The silhouettes of the rolling mountains were revealed in the moonlight through the shadows of the roadside trees. Song Chiyu, sitting in the passenger seat, asked, "Uncle Qi, you don't want to drive all the way to your house and then tell me it's too crowded today, maybe next time?"
Qi Yanzhou couldn't understand how a girl who usually seemed so gentle and reserved could say such a thing so openly. He couldn't tell if she was teasing him or genuinely thinking it, so he had to confirm with her, "You really want it?"
"What do you mean I want it? Didn't you say it smelled delicious and we'd eat it tonight?" Song Chiyu tilted her head and asked, "Besides, it's not like you haven't tried it in the car before. Didn't you let me rub my thigh against yours in front of so many people?"
“There weren’t that many people, and no one saw anything,” Qi Yanzhou corrected, making herself sound like a villain after hearing her description. “It wasn’t the same last time either.”
"What's different?"
His prominent Adam's apple swayed slightly.
He explained, rather embarrassed, "That time I was asking if you wanted it, not asking you for it."
What's the difference?
Qi Yanzhou felt that his words at the restaurant had been wasted, and he took a deep breath: "I would feel that forcing you to endure my desires when you don't like me is a kind of... violation."
He used the word "violation".
Song Chiyu stared at him blankly.
No wonder he wanted her to admit to wanting him.
So that's what it meant.
He swallowed again, his Adam's apple bobbing, his cool and upright face full of sincerity and seriousness, without a trace of pretense.
Her mischievous gaze softened, like a handful of spring water reflecting the moonlight. "Teacher Qi, park the car over there."
"What are you doing?" he asked, looking at the fork in the road she was pointing to.
"I have something to do, you can stop here."
Qi Yanzhou turned the steering wheel with one hand.
The car stopped, the lights went out, and everything around was obscured, except for a vaguely visible abandoned, low-lying house. Song Chiyu unbuckled her seatbelt, reached over the center console, knelt on the driver's side, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
She was hugging him.
Qi Yanzhou hesitated for a moment before placing a hand on her waist.
Before he could even warm her hands, she sat up again and, by the bright moonlight, slowly unbuttoned her collar. He grabbed her hand. "What are you doing?"
“I want to try.” She took his hand and placed it on the embroidery on her shirt.
His eyes were deep and unfathomable. "Do you know where this is?"
"Isn't it just by the roadside?" Song Chiyu's eyes lit up as she carefully unbuttoned her shirt from the second button to the fifth button on her skirt.
The stand-up collar was still buttoned up tightly, but the white lace-trimmed bra underneath was completely visible.
She braced herself on the back of the chair behind his head with one hand, lifted her half-open shirt with the other, and leaned close to his face. "Teacher Qi, this is my limit. If you still think it's improper, there's nothing I can do."
"It's not about whether it's in accordance with etiquette or not..."
Seeing that he was about to reject her, Song Chiyu deliberately thrust her lace bosom towards his lips: "You promised not to disappoint me, Master Qi."
[Author's Note]
Mini-theater:
Qi Yanzhou: I'm not jealous, I'm just asking if you have any regrets?
Song Chiyu: You say you care about me so much, then I'll divorce you and live with someone you think won't make me regret it?
Master Qi (angry): You dare—
Jealousy is a way of asking if you want love, not asking if you want a divorce. [Cracking emojis]
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