Chapter 32 Chapter 32 She’s such a good kisser.
After Ye Peixiu left, the group of people present remained silent and motionless for a long time, all subtly observing Xia Qingwan's expression.
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet and weird.
Qiao Yingxue slumped back down, her face alternating between pale and flushed. She found an excuse to launch into a tirade against Jiang Mia.
Lin Xiangyu, the host, was also a lively person. He encouraged everyone to play games, which quickly warmed up the atmosphere.
Around ten o'clock, Qiao Yingxue stood up first and said, "Drinking here is no fun, who wants to go to a bar?"
Several people stood up and echoed, and so a large group of people left. Among those who remained, some had been brought in to make up the numbers, and they took this opportunity to stand up, say goodbye, and go home.
Only Lin Xiangyu, Xia Qingwan, and two other girls remained.
Lin Xiangyu and Xia Qingwan nestled together on the same single sofa, whispering to each other.
After a while, several men came out of the box in the middle hall, talking as they walked along the Holly Trail towards the open reception area in the other direction.
Lin Xiangyu also noticed the commotion and said with a knowing smile, "They've finished their business and come out for drinks."
Just now, Xia Qingwan vaguely saw Ye Peixiu among those men, so she looked over following the low voices of conversation. Unfortunately, she couldn't see him clearly through the flower stand and couldn't tell where he had sat down.
Looking around, I saw Ye Peixiu sitting in a round-backed chair on the far left of my line of sight, a cigarette between his lips. He took a puff, then took it off, a nonchalant smile playing on his lips.
Her gaze was fixed on his profile.
He also tilted his head to look over.
Separated by low holly bushes, sparse flower trellises, and a tenacious, still-blooming Spectrum rose among the holly bushes, their eyes met.
Ye Peixiu raised her hand, as if pouring something to her lips. Xia Qingwan was a little confused: What did he mean? Was he asking her to drink? Or was he asking her not to drink?
She took out her phone, opened her chat with him, and asked:
"What's the meaning?"
After sending the message, she waved her phone at Ye Peixiu.
Then, she saw Ye Peixiu looking down at his phone and typing.
After three to five seconds, a message came in:
"Did you have a good drink?"
She typed a reply, and as she tapped on the screen, Lin Xiangyu chuckled and teased, "Such a short time, and you're still sending messages?" She leaned closer and whispered with a laugh, "In the honeymoon phase, huh?"
Before Xia Qingwan could answer, a man walked over to Ye Peixiu and started talking to him.
It's Sheng Junchi.
Lin Xiangyu immediately retracted his head, pretending nothing had happened, and took out his mobile phone to look through it randomly.
Xia Qingwan smiled and asked, "What exactly happened between you and Mr. Sheng?"
"Nothing much," Lin Xiangyu said nonchalantly, "I just slept."
Xia Qingwan's eyes widened in shock.
This time, Lin Xiangyu burst into laughter. She said, "Why are you so surprised? Neither he nor I are serious people. We were just playing around. Nobody took it seriously."
However, in Xia Qingwan's cognition, Lin Xiangyu is a serious person.
People who are not familiar with her will think she is cold and arrogant, but those who are familiar with her know that she is free and easy and cheerful, laughing all day long, as if she never has any worries. However, she is serious and loyal to her friends and lovers.
The confrontation with Xia Mingzhou started so cautiously and ended so hastily. Xia Qingwan thought that it wasn't completely over between her and Xia Mingzhou, but that some misunderstandings hadn't been resolved.
But right now...
Lin Xiangyu seemed to have a general idea of what she was thinking, so she shrugged and said, "I think this whole thing with Mingzhou was a complete waste." Then she smiled and said, "...I started dating a long time ago, and I've had one boyfriend after another. Later, Mingzhou pursued me so earnestly, and I felt that I should have a serious relationship with him too. So, I observed him for a long time, and after we got together, I tried my best to help him. If there were any problems, I would talk about them immediately, and we didn't argue or have any conflicts..."
"...But, there was still no good result, so I thought, why not enjoy life while I can."
Xia Qingwan quietly looked at her profile. Lin Xiangyu pressed the rim of her wine glass to her lips, her beautiful, sharp eyes blinking, wondering what she was thinking.
After a moment, she turned her head, smiled at Xia Qingwan, and bumped her shoulder.
In the silence between the two, Lin Xiangyu remembered something and said, "I'm dying of laughter. The day I slept with him, it was at his house. Afterwards, we were drinking in the living room. I was still wearing his shirt at the time, with nothing underneath. Then a woman came to see him, and guess what? The three of us even sat down and talked for a while, hahaha."
Although she was laughing so heartily, Xia Qingwan couldn't tell if she was truly happy, so she remained silent.
While the two were chatting, Ye Peixiu and Sheng Junchi came over to find them.
They each said, "I'll take you."
Lin Xiangyu jumped up first, "Great!"
On the way back to the Xia family's old house, Xia Qingwan quietly gazed out the car window.
For some reason, I thought of Mr. Ye's mother, whom I met at lunch.
-
Before this, although there had been rumors about Xia Qingwan and Mr. Ye, they were just "rumors" after all, and no one had ever witnessed them being so close.
That time under the flower stand in the club was the real first time.
Afterwards, with a basis and a story, the rumors became even more vivid, describing how Mr. Ye drank a glass of wine for Xia Qingwan and how he gently patted her head.
Everyone embellished and recounted this secret and ambiguous affair, repeating it over and over again in their mouths.
No one knew that the love between Xia Qingwan and Mr. Ye was deep, fresh and clear from the beginning to the end.
-
At the end of November, before Professor You of Columbia University's Department of Comparative Literature left Beijing, the department held a farewell party for him.
Xia Qingwan was also invited to participate as a representative of student volunteers.
Professor You is from the south, so the department catered to his preferences by choosing a famous Huaiyang cuisine restaurant as the dining location.
The restaurant is located in a venture capital park with a high level of greenery. Looking out from the window of the private room, you can see lush green cypress trees.
During the toast at the banquet, Professor You enthusiastically suggested that she go to Columbia University to study comparative literature.
"You're good-looking and have a great presence, so you're sure to be popular. You'd be perfect for studying comparative literature."
Xia Qingwan didn't understand how appearance and temperament could be related to the major she chose to study. This wasn't a beauty pageant. She smiled slightly, but before she could say anything, Professor You poured her a glass of wine and said, "Come, have a drink with me."
As soon as he finished speaking, the dean pushed past two colleagues and squeezed over, took Xia Qingwan's wine glass, and said to Professor You with a smile, "My student doesn't drink alcohol. She just took cefuroxime yesterday. I'll drink it for her."
Professor You was about to protest when the dean feigned anger, raising his chin and saying, "What? Am I not qualified?"
Just then, Xia Qingwan felt her wrist being tugged. She turned her head and saw it was her senior, Xiao Zhu. Xiao Zhu was giving her a meaningful look. Xia Qingwan realized what was happening and quickly took the opportunity to leave, walking out of the private room with Xiao Zhu.
"I heard that this old You is a repeat offender," Xiao Zhu said with a smile. "But I didn't expect our dean to be so considerate."
The thoughtfulness didn't stop there. After the banquet, the professors helped Professor You into his car, while Xia Qingwan and Xiao Zhu waited nearby. The dean came over and asked, "Qingwan, how are you getting home? Do you need me to give you a ride?"
"No, I—"
As they were talking, a Maybach drove into view and stopped on the opposite side of the road. The rear window rolled down, revealing a handsome face.
The dean followed his gaze and exchanged a knowing look with Mr. Ye. He then smiled and said, "Someone has picked it up, so I won't see you off."
Xia Qingwan said goodbye to the dean and senior students, crossed the road and got into the car.
"Did you speak with the director and ask him to take care of me?"
Ye Peixiu chuckled lightly and said, "Why the accusatory tone?"
Xia Qingwan remained silent, waiting for his answer.
She wasn't accusing him, of course; she just wanted to establish clear boundaries with him. He held a high position of power, and anyone he gave an order would be eager to do it for him. To put it bluntly, even if he didn't say a word, just letting people know about her relationship with him would prompt people to rush to give her the green light, and her future would be smooth sailing without any obstacles.
Academic misconduct and infringement of official authority are serious crimes.
She waited anxiously, while Ye Peixiu chuckled, "What are you thinking? I'm just asking him to do his job, help the student restore his reputation, and shield him from unwanted drinks. Isn't that what he should do?"
A flash of lightning flashed through Xia Qingwan's mind, "...Before, it was you who asked the dean to..."
Ye Peixiu smiled at her but said nothing.
He had asked someone to take care of her so early on.
A bittersweet feeling welled up in Xia Qingwan's heart, and she whispered, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you."
Ye Peixiu's expression remained unchanged. He looked at her deeply and asked, "Where's the compensation?"
Xia Qingwan moved closer and kissed his face.
He pulled her onto his lap and settled her down. Their physical intimacy was immense, but his expression was serious and earnest. "If I were as you think, doing whatever I want and bullying others, I don't know how many charges I would have been fabricated against me."
Xia Qingwan chuckled and deliberately said, "I don't believe it. Who would dare to touch you?"
Ye Peixiu also pretended to be profound, "Kids don't understand, do they? The higher your position, the more careful you have to be and keep yourself clean. So many eyes are watching you."
"So everyone is still so afraid of you?"
Xia Qingwan had a lively, mischievous look on her face as she giggled and said, "So, according to you, you're not a paper tiger, are you?"
"You should know best what I am."
"I have no idea."
She stared at him with sparkling eyes, loving this lighthearted and playful moment.
Ye Peixiu nodded, his expression calm and composed, and said, "That's right, it should be a while. Until Miss Xia does the honor of letting us stay overnight—"
Before he could finish speaking, Xia Qingwan pounced on him and covered his mouth.
I knew it all along; he's a scoundrel, and the more I get to know him, the worse he gets.
Her face flushed red, and she threatened in a low voice, "If you keep talking nonsense, I'm going home right now and I'm not going to your house."
Ye Peixiu leaned back, smiling broadly.
Because of this incident, the car stopped steadily in the Yeyuan parking lot. Xia Qingwan opened the car door by herself and walked forward. Ye Peixiu caught up with her, grabbed her waist from behind, and picked her up sideways.
Through the moon gate, I could see a servant in uniform sweeping leaves on the opposite bank of the pond. The wooden steps on the other side had indeed been renovated.
Upon reaching the main house, Ye Peixiu said, "Open the door."
Xia Qingwan put one arm around his neck and raised the other hand to enter the password.
The password has been changed to her birthday.
She even had the illusion that this was her own home.
Upon entering the entryway, she instinctively looked down to find slippers, at which point Ye Peixiu placed them on the entryway cabinet.
He leaned closer, as if a parent checking if their child had done something wrong, asking, "You didn't drink a drop of alcohol?"
"……No."
The sudden approaching breath and fragrance made her nervous, and she spoke the two words as softly as a mosquito's hum.
"good."
As he said that, he kissed her.
The kiss wasn't forceful; it drew closer slowly, savoring each touch, lingering and entwining. In this delicate, tender contact, breaths quickened, colliding in bursts. Knowing full well that the other's mouth was a place of thin air, they still relentlessly sought it, like a lost wolf, determined to die.
She thought he was too good a kisser.
The adjustment of the angle, the slight pause during the delicate licking, the hot and moist breath that escaped during the pause, the depth and strength of the sucking...
Finally, she couldn't close her mouth completely, and saliva slid down from the corner of her lips, highlighting her delicate, flushed face, making her look incredibly beautiful.
Ye Peixiu rubbed the corner of her lips with his fingertips, held her lower back with one hand, and pulled her closer to his waist.
There is not a single gap.
She gasped in surprise.
It was scalding hot even through several layers of fabric. She felt as if she had a high fever, and she trembled and backed away.
Xia Qingwan fully expected him to loosen his grip naturally, but to her surprise, he grabbed her lower back and pressed her back down.
She was wearing jeans today and a soft sweater on top. Her heart was beating wildly. In the chaos, the collar of the sweater slipped down from her shoulders a little, revealing the white suspenders underneath.
Ye Peixiu's hand, the back of his fingers scraped against the thin strap, occasionally lifting it up gently, and stroking the smooth skin of her shoulder with his fingers.
Xia Qingwan felt that the precious rosewood entryway cabinet seemed to be on the verge of collapse, and her vision was like the surface of water under the scorching sun, trembling and jumping in wisps.
She instinctively tried to grab his hand, but when she raised it, he grabbed it and twisted it behind her back, forcing her to straighten her chest and raise her head. Her neck was about to ache from looking up so much as she had to endure his kiss.
At this moment when every inch of her body and mind was being heated to the highest point, amidst the intense heartbeat and breathing, she felt Ye Peixiu's hand sliding down from the back of her shoulder...
His throat tightened suddenly, and his breathing softened and relaxed, like a gentle spring breeze.
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