Chapter 21: 21

Her warm breath tickled Qin Juran’s ears, accompanied by a light scent of freesia, sending a jolt of electricity down Qin Juran’s spine. Her mind suddenly blanked, all of her thoughts replaced by a buzzing sensation.

Before she could react, Ruan Nan let out a giddy laugh from atop of her.

In her shock, Qin Juran immediately flipped over, pinning Ruan Nan down by her wrists: “What did you just call me?”

Seeing her stunned expression, Ruan Nan only found it harder and harder to contain her laughter. The moonlight poured through the window and shone upon her face, illuminating her pretty eyes, squinted in a crescent shape from laughing.

Once Ruan Nan finally calmed down, she answered, “Qin Juran, I didn’t know it would be this fun to tease you! No wonder you do it so much.”

“That’s the first time I’ve seen your eyes so wide open~” As she spoke, she drew a circle in the air with her free hand.

“So you’re just teasing me?”

“What else? I’m just giving you a taste of your own medicine.” Ruan Nan stuck out her tongue playfully.

“Then why did you just call me ‘President Qin’?”

Ruan Nan jutted her chin towards the desk: “Isn’t that what you wrote yourself? Your dream to become ‘President Qin.’ Was it that exciting being a president?”

To become President Qin again.

By “again,” Ruan Nan must’ve misinterpreted to mean roleplaying as President Qin “again,” which would explain why she suddenly let Qin Juran become the “President” in bed.

Qin Juran let out a breath, gradually coming back to her senses. She loosened her grip and peered at Ruan Nan, grunting through gritted teeth: “Naughty.”

Qin Juran rolled off from atop of Ruan Nan. As she began to process the fact that Ruan Nan had been joking all along, she felt her heart rate steadying. As she flipped her body over, her hands accidentally grazed the area of soft skin again.

But this time, Ruan Nan suddenly flinched away at the touch, curling into a ball like a small kitten.

Qin Juran let out a soft laugh, speaking lazily, “You were so bold a few minutes ago – why are you avoidant all of a sudden?”

“Qin Juran, you…”

Without waiting for her to finish, Qin Juran turned over and firmly wrapped her arms around Ruan Nan from behind her, drawing her into her bosom. Feeling Ruan Nan stiffen, Qin Juran brought her mouth close to Ruan Nan’s ears and muttered, “Also – you asked if I really liked you?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

Hearing the alluring voice against her ears while her back was pressed against Qin Juran’s chest, Ruan Nan felt her entire body slacken. It felt as if she’d been trapped by a fox. Her body temperature spiked, and her voice came out wavering: “Qin Juran, stop fooling around.”

“Fooling around? Is that what you think this is?”

As she said this, her hands grazed along Ruan Nuan’s cheek, traveling along the curve of her neck and slowly sliding further.

Before Ruan Nan could cover herself, Qin Juran hooked a leg around hers like she had earlier, poking a toe into her soft flesh, the warmth of her body burning where the skin touched.

It was like dipping her toes into soft cream, enticing her to go deeper and deeper.

A soft caress of her hand sent shivers down the both of them. Save for her breathing, Qin Juran felt the rest of her body go limp.

Ruan Nan tried to raise a hand to push Qin Juran away, but she suddenly felt all the strength leave her body. She struggled to break free from Qin Juran’s deft hands, and pleaded desperately, “Qin Juran, don’t…”

“Don’t what? Don’t stop?”

“This is your home!” Ruan Nan chided squeakily.

“Indeed. The place you yourself chose.”

As Ruan Nan attempted to roll out of the bed, Qin Juran reached a hand to pull her back in. Letting out a satisfied laugh, she whispered into her ear: “Okay, I won’t touch you until we’ve properly established our relationship.”

In an undecipherable tone of voice, she added, “And you only bought one pair, anyway – it would be uncomfortable if it got wet.”

Once Ruan Nan was released, she let out her breath and huffed a few times, her face flaming. It was just then that she realized the meaning of Qin Juran’s words. She twisted around and haughtily retorted, “Who would want to establish a relationship with you?!”

“Weirdo!”

Qin Juran didn’t argue anymore and only shifted herself to the side, leaving plenty of room for her to be comfortable. She laid flat on her back and shut her eyes, preparing to get a good night’s sleep.

After a while, the girl’s voice rang out from beside her: “Qin Juran, you’re not going to ask who that boy from before was?”

Qin Juran answered without opening her eyes, “If you don’t want to say, then I won’t pry.”

Ruan Nan paused for a moment, then continued, “He’s my father’s son.”

Qin Juran considered her words. “With a mistress?”

Ruan Nan’s voice lowered: “No.”

“My mother…left early on. That woman isn’t a mistress, but she supported my father throughout the lowest point of his career.”

Qin Juran’s birth mother had also passed away very early on, so she hardly had any recollection of her. Since the Qin family and company were widely known, her father, with his majestic appearance, was surrounded by women ever since she was little, but none lasted enough to bring back home.

So, Qin Juran never experienced the warmth of maternal love, but she also never dealt with the drama of a mistress stepmother.

She pondered for a moment: “So that’s the reason you didn’t want to fight with him?”

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Ruan Nan nodded silently, turning her face slightly: “When she first came into our home, I couldn’t accept it. She can’t swim, so one time when we were arguing by the pool, I pushed her in.”

“She almost died that day.”

“Then that whole scene was witnessed by your father and brother, and now that he’s grown up, he’s starting to get his revenge by messing with you?” Qin Juran asked.

“Mhm.” Knowing that it sounded just like the typical drama that occurred amongst rich aristocratic families, Ruan Nan didn’t even bother asking how Qin Juran guessed.

Qin Juran’s fingers gently stroked the blanket as she spoke pensively, “Did you ever think that…she purposely caused a scene knowing that the two of them were watching?”

“Or maybe – you suspected it, but you didn’t say anything for your father’s sake.”

Ruan Nan’s heart raced. As the tucked-away memory of that autumn day resurfaced, she felt as if she’d been plunged into an ice-cold pool; the sound of a woman screaming for help and a child’s cries rang in her ears, a cold and suffocating sensation washing over her entire body. And on top of that – her father’s piercing gaze.

“Ruan Nan.”

“Ruan Nan?”

“Hm?”

Qin Juran’s voice pulled Ruan Nan out from her dazed state. She heard her steady voice continue, “From now on, I’ll protect you, ok?”

Her tone sounded half joking, half serious. The words brought a scene from a Stephen Chow movie to Ruan Nan’s mind: the lead actor standing under the scorching sun, calling out to the woman in an attempt to beg for her to stay, “I’ll support your living!” 1

As her bout of distress quickly dispelled, Ruan Nan jutted her chin: “Worry about protecting yourself, first.”

She added in a small voice, “Stop letting yourself get bullied by me.”

Bullied by her?

Who was the one begging to stop just then?

Qin Juran curled her lips, pausing for a long moment before replying, “So – the reason you didn’t insist on driving your own car earlier was because you didn’t want your brat brother finding JuJu Tavern and coming to bother my family later on?”

Hearing that her suspicions were spot-on, Ruan Nan squirmed and spoke in a hard voice, “I’m not as kind as you think.”

Qin Juran didn’t refute her, but the corners of her lips tugged even higher in the dark. She turned until she was lying face-to-face with Ruan Nan: “Truthfully, you never liked Fan Chuan in the first place, am I right?”

Qin Juran thought back to a quote from the original novel. How did it go, again? Right, it was: “Truthfully, you never liked Fan Chuan in the first place – you only wanted to steal what’s mine?”

After saying this, she reached to hook her hand under Ruan Nan’s chin and continued in a soft voice, “Then why don’t you steal me instead?”

Ruan Nan froze, unable to come up with a retort. Finally, she replied stiffly, “Qin Juran, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned her body around.

Qin Juran pulled away the blanket separating the two of them and laid down in a not-so-stealthy manner beside her. In a playful voice, she answered, “Ruan Nan, actually, I know you better than you could imagine.”

Since she didn’t get a good night’s sleep at the KTV, and she’d been driving all afternoon the day before, Qin Juran soon began to hear Ruan Nan’s steady breathing from beside her.

The ash-colored hair glimmered in the cool moonlight, framing the young woman’s peaceful sleeping face.

No kitten will naturally bare its sharp claws, unless out of fear or to protect itself.

Of course, this was an especially cute stray kitten.

In the darkness, Qin Juran carefully crawled closer to Ruan Nan’s face and contentedly planted a light kiss on her cheek. In a low voice, she murmured, “Actually, I also like you a lot more than you could imagine.”

Meanwhile, Ruan Nan was in a deep slumber.

She never liked sharing a room with anyone else, and she certainly never would’ve thought that she would one day be sleeping on the same bed as Qin Juran.

As the bird calls chimed from outside the window, Ruan Nan hazily blinked open her eyes. When she realized the position that the two of them were currently in, her face reddened.

She was lying face-to-face with Qin Juran, and for some reason, she found herself tucked right in Qin Juran’s bosom. Underneath the blankets, below their nightgowns, the two pairs of smooth white legs were currently tangled together…

Ruan Nan blushed even harder. She thought that Qin Juran must’ve purposely done this, but soon realized that Qin Juran’s arms were pressed under her own pillow.

Suddenly, all the steam left her.

Since Qin Juran seemed to be sleeping still, Ruan Nan took advantage of the opportunity and gently turned her body, moving as slow as a sloth as she tried to disentangle herself from Qin Juran. Right before she was completely freed, a loud alarm sound rang from her phone on the bedstand.

Before Ruan Nan could answer the call, the half-asleep Qin Juran instinctively pulled her back into her chest and reached out a slender white arm across her to grab the phone.

“Hey, that’s not yours…” Before Ruan Nan could finish, Zhou Ziqing’s rapid-fire voice came screeching out from the receiver: “Hey, Sister Nan, are you alright? Yesterday I was out drinking and forgot to check my phone, but you didn’t reply to any of the messages I sent this morning.”

“Lin Wei told me that he called Qin Juran? That blockhead, what’s the point of telling that white lotus Qin Juran – I’d broadcast myself eating shit live before she’d go to help you.”

“Are you done yet?” Qin Juran’s cold voice sounded out.

“Qin Juran??? Why do you have Sister Nan’s phone? What did you do to her?”

“She’s in my bed.”

“You –” Without waiting for the other party to respond, Qin Juran cut him off: “Forget the live broadcast, just record a video and post it on the school forum.” And with this, she hung up.

Footnotes

Referencing Stephen Chow’s King of Comedy (1999)

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