Chapter 132: Why Are You Clinging So Tightly?
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When Fang Yang and Lin Min'er unexpectedly discovered that the heroine in the photograph was right beside them, they both had the bizarre feeling that the gossip they had been enjoying had somehow landed in their own laps.
The moment Lu Qingyue returned from the restroom, the two gossipmongers surrounded her.
Fang Yang was so excited that she could barely speak coherently. “Damn! Lu Qingyue, you’ve been hiding this incredibly well!”
Lu Qingyue: “???”
Before she could figure out what was going on, Lin Min'er thrust her phone right in front of her.
“This is you, right?! You’ve actually been secretly dating our senior without telling us?!”
Utterly baffled, Lu Qingyue leaned over for a look—and was instantly startled by the sight of her own back.
A candid photo was one thing, but could they at least have made her look a little better?!
She was clearly five foot four! So how had she ended up looking like a short-legged corgi beside Cheng Xingye?!
Speechless beyond words, Lu Qingyue immediately demanded, “Who posted this picture? Don’t people know they’re supposed to edit a girl’s photos before posting them?!”
The least they could have done was lengthen her legs a little!
Instead, Lin Min'er slapped her on the shoulder, saying with undisguised envy, jealousy, and resentment, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?!”
Lu Qingyue frowned and snapped unhappily, “How could I possibly not have told you about something worth showing off? The problem is, you didn’t believe me!”
Lin Min'er and Fang Yang: “???”
Lin Min'er and Fang Yang: “...”
It seemed that she really had told them.
Lu Qingyue appeared to have mentioned it two or three times before, but neither of them had taken her seriously. Eventually, she had stopped bringing it up altogether.
Having just devoured such earth-shattering gossip, the two girls were naturally unwilling to let Lu Qingyue off so easily.
They were about to seize the opportunity and interrogate her further when the class bell rang.
Lu Qingyue obediently returned to her seat, opened her book, and prepared to listen to the lecture. Lin Min'er and Fang Yang, however, refused to give up. They leaned close to her ears and continued whispering.
Fang Yang: “How long have you and our senior been dating? Tell us so we can be jealous.”
Lin Min'er: “You’ve kissed already, right? Of course you have! Wah, next time you two kiss, could you take a picture? I want to experience your love up close.”
Lu Qingyue: “...”
She lowered her head and took notes, turning a deaf ear to her roommates.
Lin Min'er and Fang Yang entertained themselves for quite a while. When they saw that Lu Qingyue remained unmoved, they could only sigh and return obediently to their own seats.
Right there and then, Lin Min'er posted a message to her WeChat Moments.
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[Lin Min'er]: Students these days are so impolite. They don’t even talk to me during class.
Less than a minute later, Fang Yang liked the post.
[Fang Yang]: I second that. @Lu Dot-Dot
...
Jiang University had a history spanning more than a century, and many of its buildings still retained the strong architectural style of the late Republican era.
The warm morning sunlight filtered through the gaps between the plane-tree leaves. Classical buildings stood amid the campus, while the autumn breeze stirred shifting fragments of light and shadow.
Clutching her textbooks, Lu Qingyue nimbly sprang off the desk and landed lightly with a crisp tap. In the blink of an eye, she slipped out of the classroom, refusing to give Lin Min'er and Fang Yang any further opportunity to gossip about her.
Unfortunately, the moment she escaped the classroom, someone suddenly seized her by the back of her collar.
Cheng Xingye had no idea when he had arrived. His white shirt was crisply ironed, falling smoothly over his frame, while his tailored trousers wrapped perfectly around a pair of long legs, making him look even more sturdy and upright.
With an amused smile, he caught the little rascal who had nearly flashed past him and pulled her back. “Why are you running? Is someone trying to kill you?”
It happened to be the long break between classes. There were three lecture halls on this floor of the academic building, and three or four hundred students were streaming out one after another.
Both of them were exceptionally attractive, and standing together naturally drew plenty of attention.
The moment Cheng Xingye caught her, Lu Qingyue froze.
She was just about to call his name when she suddenly noticed someone behind them discreetly raising a phone. The words “Cheng Xingye” had already reached her lips, but she swallowed them back.
“...Senior? What are you doing here?”
Cheng Xingye: “???”
Did she really need to distance herself from him so clearly?
There were probably only a handful of people at the vast Jiang University who did not know him. Even if she did not call him by name, everyone around them knew he was Cheng Xingye.
With a helpless, amused curve of his lips, he tugged her closer by the back of her collar.
“Senior? Is that some new sort of romantic kink?”
Lu Qingyue: “...”
She nervously glanced around and asked in a small voice, “What are you doing here?”
Most programs in the graduate school had only a dozen or so students, and never more than thirty. Their classes were generally held in small classrooms, whereas the undergraduate building was full of lecture halls capable of accommodating hundreds of students. In theory, Cheng Xingye had no reason to appear there at all.
Cheng Xingye gave her a lazy sidelong glance.
“Why else would I be here? If I didn’t come to pick you up, you probably wouldn’t even be planning to go home, would you?”
Lu Qingyue was startled and immediately protested, “I have class this afternoon...”
Although she was currently staying at Cheng Xingye’s place, she had only a few hours for her midday break. It was more convenient to return to the dormitory and sleep.
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Before she could finish, Cheng Xingye interrupted her. “Your class isn’t until three-thirty.”
This little rascal! If he had not personally come to drag her away, she probably would not even have remembered that she had a boyfriend!
The thought made Cheng Xingye give an icy snort. He wrapped an arm tightly around the little rascal, who was still trying to struggle and explain herself, and carried her away without accepting any argument.
...
At one in the afternoon, a gentle autumn breeze swept across the land.
After lunch, Lu Qingyue grew drowsy. With her eyes barely open, she lay on the large bed in the master bedroom, preparing to take a short nap.
Cheng Xingye had brought her back only so she could rest more comfortably at his place. He still had work to do, so after eating with her, he went to the study and did not return until half an hour later.
When he saw her in a daze, her eyes nearly closing, he let out a soft laugh. He lay down beside her, slipped one long arm around her, and lowered his head to kiss her eyes.
“Go to sleep, sweetheart.”
Lu Qingyue murmured an obedient acknowledgment. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, naturally snuggling against him.
A girl’s body was soft and delicate. With that casual little movement, Cheng Xingye’s body immediately went still.
Somewhat uncomfortably, he shifted his throat and leaned back slightly, intending to move the small hand resting on his waist back beneath the covers.
But the instant he grasped her wrist, Lu Qingyue assumed he was leaving. She immediately let out an unhappy whimper and stubbornly clung to him with both arms and legs.
Cheng Xingye: “...”
Damn it! How did this little rascal manage to set fires everywhere she went?
With Lu Qingyue’s arms around his waist and her legs tangled with his, he suddenly found himself in an awkward predicament.
He wanted to take advantage of the moment and hold her properly, but he was afraid things would spiral out of control. Yet if he did not hold her, he was afraid she would start pouting at him later.
After thinking it over, Cheng Xingye could not resist doing exactly what he wanted while pretending otherwise. He pulled her into his arms and deliberately tilted his head to nibble her little ear.
“Weren’t you just refusing to come home? Why are you clinging so tightly now?”
Lu Qingyue probably heard only the last few words. She answered with a vague hum, then obediently pressed herself against his chest and continued sleeping.
At that moment, Cheng Xingye genuinely felt that he might go mad.
How had the Lu family raised such an adorable daughter?
For a moment, Cheng Xingye’s thoughts raced far into the future. The way his sweetheart rubbed against him stirred an earnest impulse to exchange parenting advice with his future father-in-law.
It did not occur to him that, at present, he did not even have a daughter—indeed, he had never once had sex.
As he contentedly pulled her closer, he buried his face in the warm, soft hollow of her neck and let out a smug little laugh.
“You little rascal.”