Chapter 19: Haven't You Ever Seen Grown-Ups Kiss?

Lu Yi was clearly unaware of what was happening, for while Ye Zixuan and Cheng Xingye whispered to each other, he sat across from them, waving impatiently and mouthing at Cheng Xingye to come over and help look after the little troublemaker.

Had it been any other child, Cheng Xingye might not have been willing to help. But as for Lu Qingyue, this mischievous imp, he found it rather amusing to tease her.

So, with a lazy air, Cheng Xingye retracted his long legs. Before getting up, he lowered his voice and said, “This is the last time I’m helping you. Don’t ask me for this kind of thing again.”

Ye Zixuan let out a teasing sound, the corners of her lips curling into a smile full of hidden meaning as she watched her childhood friend walk toward the little girl across the room.

Arriving late and with his sister in tow, Lu Yi had chosen a spot on the outer edge of the sofa near the door—a place that wasn’t particularly noticeable in the private room.

As Cheng Xingye walked over, quite a few girls in the room cast curious, admiring glances his way, following his movement, eager to see who he would sit with. He was already accustomed to such attention and, unfazed, took the empty seat beside Lu Qingyue as if no one else existed.

Seeing him sit next to a little girl, everyone assumed he was just going over to talk to Lu Yi. Their interest quickly waned, and the curious looks faded away.

The sofa beside her dipped under his weight. Busy peeling shrimp, Lu Qingyue didn’t look up, assuming someone else had come by, so she scooted over a bit.

Seeing her so absorbed in eating and paying him little mind, Cheng Xingye felt a bit exasperated and reminded her in a cool voice, “Lu Diandian.”

Recognizing the familiar voice, Lu Qingyue turned her head abruptly. She was surprised to find that the man who had just been whispering intimately with the beautiful girl across the table was now beside her. She greeted him with a cheerful, “Good evening, Xingye.”

Only then did Cheng Xingye nod in satisfaction and ask, “What brings you here?”

Her hands covered in shrimp oil, Lu Qingyue was busy searching for a wet wipe. She responded casually, “My brother brought me.”

Cheng Xingye found the box of wet wipes on the table and handed her one, then naturally began to clean the oil from her fingertips himself.

His movements were restrained and proper, but some contact was inevitable.

Lu Qingyue didn’t find anything strange about this. After all, he had peeled shrimp and wiped her mouth for her before. Now, wiping her hands was hardly worth fussing over. So, she let him clean each finger, utterly matter-of-fact.

Everyone else was busy playing games, paying no attention to what the two of them were doing. In fact, since Cheng Xingye had come over, Lu Yi had simply left his sister in his care and turned to chat with others.

Only Ye Zixuan, sitting across from them, watched the scene intently, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

After wiping Lu Qingyue’s hands, Cheng Xingye tossed the used wet wipe into the trash. At that moment, his phone lit up on the table.

He picked it up, saw it was a message from Ye Zixuan, and glanced over at her with a look of annoyance, silently demanding to know what she was up to.

Ye Zixuan gestured emphatically with her eyes, urging him to read the message.

She was clearly in the thick of her gossip. Fearing she’d blurt something out, Cheng Xingye unlocked his phone obediently and read—

[Ye Zixuan]: Still pretending you’re not up to something? You’re already holding her hand—next thing, you’ll be kissing her!

Cheng Xingye: “...”

Kiss your own sister! He wouldn’t dare even think of it—not with her own brother sitting right there!

Cheng Xingye held his phone, struck speechless.

Because they were sitting close, Lu Qingyue happened to glance at his screen. She caught a quick glimpse of a beautiful woman’s profile picture on his messaging app, but before she could read the message, Cheng Xingye had already locked the screen.

Thinking he minded her peeking, she quickly looked away and asked him sincerely, “Xingye, was it the lady across from us messaging you?”

Cheng Xingye replied, “Yeah. How did you know?”

Lu Qingyue pointed surreptitiously in that direction and whispered, “She keeps looking at you.”

He followed her finger and saw Ye Zixuan still making faces at him, leaving him at a loss for words.

Unaware that their exchanged glances had anything to do with her, Lu Qingyue asked in confusion, “Did you two have a fight? Don’t you need to sit with her?”

She’d noticed since she entered that the beautiful woman seemed to have a special relationship with Cheng Xingye. Among the dozen or so people in the room, both men and women, he had always sat beside Chen Shujie. Even when another girl invited him to join a game, he’d declined with indifference. But as soon as this woman arrived, she sat next to him, and not only did he not refuse her, they’d been whispering intimately.

By her limited understanding, Lu Qingyue figured they were either dating or at least involved in an ambiguous way.

Yet Cheng Xingye simply looked away, grabbed a milk candy from the table, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. “Just eat your candy. Why are you worrying about grown-ups’ business?”

With her cheeks stuffed, Lu Qingyue mumbled an “okay” and dropped the subject.

After a while, Lu Yi and his classmates started playing games—a version of Truth or Dare, but with much more daring punishments than the group next door: passing tissues mouth to mouth, kissing the person on your left, doing push-ups over a chosen member of the opposite sex...

Lu Qingyue, unaccustomed to such wild scenes, stared wide-eyed as the couple sitting diagonally across from her was punished and ended up kissing passionately, unable to break apart. From her angle, she could even see their lips coming apart in a string.

Shocked by the intensity of the scene, Lu Qingyue couldn’t help exclaiming, “Wow! Are all you college students this wild?!”

Before Cheng Xingye could reply, Lu Yi spun around, “Why are you still here?”

He’d thought the little rascal would have left long ago, not expecting her to still be watching such age-inappropriate scenes.

Lu Qingyue rolled her eyes. “...Shujie invited me for seafood. Where else would I be?”

Of course, Lu Yi remembered she’d come for the food. But the atmosphere here was different from next door—the group was all adults, and risqué talk was unavoidable. Worried his classmates would corrupt his little sister, he shifted his body to block her view, then turned back to continue his conversation.

Lu Yi was so tall that even sitting, he was half a head above her. With just a slight shift, he blocked most of Lu Qingyue’s sight.

But Lu Qingyue still wanted to watch people kissing.

So, she leaned over the back of the sofa, craning her curious little head over his other shoulder to keep watching the couple locked in their sticky embrace.

She was completely enthralled when a voice suddenly sounded behind her.

“Lu Diandian.”

The man’s deep, magnetic voice was unexpectedly clear amid the noisy room.

It was a voice that, even across mountains and seas, would make one feel at home.

“Hmm?” Lu Qingyue turned instinctively, meeting his dark, mischievous gaze.

Cheng Xingye was leaning against the back of the sofa. Because she’d turned around, their faces drew closer.

She was still half-crouched, staring straight into his bright, black eyes, blinking in confusion. “Why did you call me?”

Cheng Xingye was exasperated.

Anyone else, upon seeing people kiss, would at least avert their eyes after a glance. But she not only stared openly, she even searched for a better angle to watch—as if she could discover something new from a single kiss.

He pinched the back of her neck, drawing her over to his side to block her view.

His broad, slender palm covered the delicate skin at the nape of her neck. The touch sent tingles down her spine, and Lu Qingyue instinctively shrank her neck like a defenseless hamster, letting him turn her head away.

Cheng Xingye’s eyes, under the dim lights, were as clear as brown glass, as though they could see straight into her heart. He drawled lazily, “Haven’t you seen grown-ups kiss before?”

Lu Qingyue answered honestly, “I’ve seen it, just never with all that stringing.”

Cheng Xingye: “.....”