Chapter 179: Chapter 178: For Anitaqing - Celestial Blossom Fate + Update 10
Zhang Xin leaned over, watching him rummage around, "What are you doing?"
Qu Chaozong didn’t lift his head or open his eyes, "Looking for my ID card."
Zhang Xin was puzzled, "Why are you looking for your ID card?"
Qu Chaozong: "To change rooms."
Zhang Xin: "Why?"
Qu Chaozong paused for a moment, looked up at her, his smooth forehead creasing with deep lines from the action.
"Didn’t you notice there’s only one bed in this room!"
Zhang Xin shrugged indifferently, "It’s pretty big, enough to sleep on."
Qu Chaozong shot her a look, as if saying, "What are you up to!"
Zhang Xin lowered her head slightly, her long, dyed ash-blond waves slipping down her shoulders, and looked at Qu Chaozong provocatively, "I’m not afraid of what you might do to me." Then her tone changed, "Or are you afraid of me because you can’t handle it?"
Qu Chaozong kept a straight face and pointed at Zhang Xin, "Whether I can handle it or not, I don’t need to prove it to you."
Qu Chaozong found his ID card and stood up.
Zhang Xin followed behind, muttering, "Then why bother changing rooms?"
Qu Chaozong threw down a line without turning his head, "Because I’m afraid you won’t be able to control yourself and do something to me, okay?"
Zhang Xin watched the door slam shut in front of her with a bang and let out a chuckle, her mischievous gaze softened.
The room was a mess, the quilt pulled up to rest against the headboard with the remote thrown on it, cigarettes, a lighter, and two empty mineral water bottles stacked on the cabinet under the TV, the bottles crushed out of shape.
The suitcase tossed on the floor had just survived a catastrophe, with everything scattered chaotically in it, forming a small mountain of clothes.
Zhang Xin’s sharp eyes caught sight of the deep blue plaid fabric stacked inside. She leaned over, reached out, and pulled it out, shaking it twice in the air before laying it flat. Upon closer inspection, she burst out laughing.
A pair of loose boxer shorts, probably loved by only someone in their seventies or eighties, dangled from her hand, made of pure cotton, the size was fine but the waistband was a little slack.
Qu Chaozong stormed back from outside full of anger, just in time to see Zhang Xin admiringly staring at the unfolded shorts in her hand.
The shorts were very familiar. He had washed them himself the night he arrived in the provincial city, dried them, and then carelessly tossed them into the suitcase, and now Zhang Xin was holding them up to admire.
Qu Chaozong snatched the shorts back and tossed them into the suitcase, kicking the lid over to roughly cover most of the mess.
Zhang Xin felt no embarrassment or panic at being caught peeking into someone’s personal belongings. She examined Qu Chaozong’s grim expression and asked, "What’s wrong?"
Qu Chaozong let out a cold laugh, "Congratulations, you’ve gotten your wish, it looks like we’ll have to share a bed tonight."
"Oh?" Zhang Xin raised a corner of her mouth, smiling like a cat who got the cream, "Really? Tell me all about it so I can be happy."
Qu Chaozong snorted and said, "The hotel was booked by a friend for me, using his ID, and the deposit was paid by him too. My own ID is no help, the receipts are all with him."
Qu Chaozong spat out his grievances in one go, looked up, and met Zhang Xin’s beautiful eyes with a hidden smile, causing all his irritation to boil down into a sentiment that perfectly represented his mood: "Just my luck!"
Zhang Xin reached for the bathroom’s glass door, glanced back at Qu Chaozong sulking on the bed, and teased, "Hey, don’t peek at me later!"
Qu Chaozong glared at Zhang Xin from the corner of his eye: "Enough, why take a bath in the middle of the night? Looking for trouble, huh?"
Zhang Xin was amused, her tongue slowly gliding over her lips, then looked at Qu Chaozong squinting, casting her a threatening gnashing glare.
Zhang Xin giggled twice, cheekily, irking Qu Chaozong into a stomachache.
Zhang Xin gathered her hair, tucked it into a hotel-provided shower cap, lathered up simply, rinsed off, and as she dried herself, she pressed herself against the frosted glass, swiveling her hips playfully, knowing how the thought of Qu Chaozong grinding his teeth would make her want to laugh, and eventually, unable to hold it any longer, she burst out laughing.
After putting on her underwear, she slipped on a large comfortable short-sleeved T-shirt she’d found in Qu Chaozong’s suitcase, walked out of the shower room, and was surprised to find Qu Chaozong already asleep on the bed.
Qu Chaozong lay directly on the bed in his clothes, taking up half the space, curled up like a shrimp, while the other half was prepared for her with the covers arranged neatly, a barrier of his quilt marking a clear divide.
Zhang Xin chuckled softly, covering her mouth to muffle the sound. She moved quietly to the side of the bed where Qu Chaozong lay, squatted down, and for the first time observed this sleeping man up close.
From his dense eyebrows, tightly shut eyelids, to the short tuft of black stubble lashes, her gaze softened as she looked, unable to resist reaching out gently to touch his face.
Zhang Xin squatted there, under the hotel’s orange light, watching Qu Chaozong sleep, unblinking, for most of the night, her heart sinking little by little, as if caught in a whirlpool by the man before her...
Qu Chaozong woke abruptly to the pressure on his chest. He murmured unconsciously, groggily transitioning to wakefulness, blinking open his eyes and turning his head to meet Zhang Xin’s ink-like serene face.
Qu Chaozong lay sprawled on the bed, Zhang Xin with half her body pressing on him, her arm draped across his chest, her head resting on his pillow, two people squeezed onto a double bed, leaving surprisingly much space.
Qu Chaozong squinted, clearing his head, the events of the previous night slowly coming back to him. With a groan, he gingerly removed Zhang Xin from atop him, sitting up.
Zhang Xin, wearing his shirt, displayed long, fair legs. The shirt, due to her restless sleeping posture, rolled up to her chest, revealing a flat, smooth stomach.
Qu Chaozong glanced at the lace panties barely covering her round buttocks, momentarily unable to look away, until his usual morning routine occurred with a firm thud, protesting vigorously, causing him to jolt, like touching electricity, quickly averting his gaze, leaping off the bed, and heading to the bathroom.
Summer sunlight streamed through the transparent glass windows into the room, the rising temperature spilling across the bed.
Zhang Xin woke drowsily, turned over, saw the empty half of the large bed, her gaze trailing down to the blanket covering her up to her chin, her face showing bewilderment.
She lifted the blanket, glanced at the shirt rolled up to her chest, blinked, suddenly finding it amusing.
In the height of summer under a heavy blanket, she hadn’t felt hot, she noticed the air conditioner mounted on the wall reading a clear temperature: 10 degrees.
Zhang Xin paused for two seconds, her expression gradually changing: "...Puhahaha..."