Chapter 51: 49

 49 - Planting Strawberries

The winter morning sun spilled through the gap between the curtains into the room. Qin Juran turned over lazily on the large, comfy bed, stretching out her body. When she opened her eyes to the empty left side of the bed, she shut them again and smiled into the pillow, the aftertaste of last night still in her mouth.

After laying down for another few minutes, Qin Juran finally changed into a nightgown, tied her hair into a messy ponytail, and drew the curtains. The contrast between the warm heat inside the apartment and the cold winter air outside cast a white fog on the windowpanes.

Qin Juran stretched out a hand in an attempt to press a handprint on the glass.

But of course, the high-end French windows didn’t permit such a thing.

Qin Juran circled around the window, admiring the reflection of her figure in the glass. Her eye caught on the clothesline outside, where two pairs of damp underwear were hanging to dry.

One pair was white, the other gray. The gray pair even had pink muslin bowtie detailing.

Some people were just like that – proud and distant on the outside when underneath it all, they secretly wore pink bowtie underwear.

The corners of Qin Juran’s lips twitched, and she turned to go to the bathroom to wash up.

After she finished getting ready, she walked into the living room to see plates of waffles and pancakes, along with various jams, laid out neatly on the dining table. Meanwhile, Ruan Nan was still busy in the kitchen scrambling eggs.

Qin Juran walked over, casually leaning against the door to greet her: “Morning, Ah-Ruan.”

Ruan Nan raised her head in response. Qin Juran was wearing the nightgown that Ruan Nan prepared for her last night, but perhaps because it was chilly, she had draped one of Ruan Nan’s white shirts over it.

Meanwhile, Ruan Nan was dressed neatly, with a long, light pink sweater that reached her knees, her hair tied into a bun on the top of her head. When she saw Qin Juran walk over, her first instinct was to look away, but then she replied awkwardly: “Morning.”

Qin Juran flicked her gaze over to the scrambled eggs, furrowing her brows: “Ah-Ruan, you should’ve woken me up. I shouldn’t be making you cook breakfast while I was sleeping in.”

Ruan Nan raised her head and met Qin Juran’s eyes, an amused expression on her face: “I tried, but you wouldn’t get up.”

“……”

Qin Juran didn’t feel any shame at being exposed. Instead, she stepped forward and replied innocently, “Is that so, Ah-Ruan? I didn’t hear you at all.” Qin Juran reached out to take the plate from Ruan Nan’s hands, continuing, “I guess it must be because I was too tired from last night. What do you think, Ah-Ruan?”

As she spoke, her shirt glided off her left shoulder smoothly, revealing the mark on the bare skin by her shoulder.

A small, pink “strawberry.” 1

As if her eyes had been pricked, Ruan Nan flicked her head away immediately, her face flaming.

Qin Juran’s smile only grew wider, knowing that she had accomplished her goal. After bringing the plate over to the table, she returned to the kitchen and looped her arms around Ruan Nan’s waist.

The winter sunshine poured into the western-style apartment. Qin Juran embraced Ruan Nan, nuzzling her face in her shoulder and sighing: “Ah-Ruan, I feel so happy, being here with you like this.”

The clean and tidy apartment was lit up by the warm sunshine. Right before her eyes was a table prepared with breakfast, and in her arms was the person she liked.

Ruan Nan also seemed to soak in the moment for a while, relishing in Qin Juran’s embrace. When she felt Qin Juran’s arms loosen around her, Ruan Nan reached out a hand to pick up a glass of milk. However, she didn’t know that Qin Juran was thinking of doing the same thing, and ended up sloshing the glass of milk onto Qin Juran as she turned.

“Tch….”

The liquid spilled onto Qin Juran’s shirt and nightgown, causing Ruan Nan to yelp in surprise. She quickly put down the glass and grabbed some paper towels to help wipe her down. After a few wipes, she saw a visible change in the thin nightgown fabric.

“You..…” Ruan Nan raised her head, blushing. “Why aren’t you wearing any undergarments…”

Qin Juran laughed, a hint of exasperation in her voice: “Even if I wore them, wouldn’t you just have gotten them wet?”

Ruan Nan didn’t reply, only moving to go look for another change of clothes. But before she could go, Qin Juran pulled her back by the arm and pressed her against the kitchen counter. She barricaded her with both her arms, speaking in a playful voice, “Ah-Ruan, you’re just gonna run away after getting me wet?”

As she leaned down, the neckline of her nightgown revealed the ‘V’ dip of her chest, still dotted with drops of milk that hadn’t been properly wiped off. Ruan Nan turned her head, deliberately trying to avert her eyes, and stretched out a hand to push her away: “Let’s go eat, Qin Juran.”

“Ah-Ruan, we already slept together and you’re still calling me ‘Qin Juran.’ I feel a bit offended.”

“Who slept with who now?” Ruan Nan raised her head, flustered. She seemed to reconsider for a moment, then continued: “Then, then what should I call you from now on? ‘Juju?’”

Qin Juran considered her words. “’Juju’ is pretty cute, but that’s what Huang Ying calls me. Even Lin Wei might start calling me ‘Juju’ once we get closer.” Her point was that the name didn’t have any exclusivity to it.

Ruan Nan didn’t want to share a nickname with anyone else either. She tilted her head and continued thoughtfully, “Young President Qin? Little fox Qin? Campus flower?”

Qin Juran couldn’t resist her adorable expression. She pursed her lips and replied, “Ah-Ruan, how about you just call me ‘babe’?”

Ruan Nan was about to turn away in embarrassment, but then she looked up and pouted: “Qin Juran, aren’t you supposed to be chasing me?”

“Mhm.”

""

“Yet you’re insisting that I call you ‘babe’ first?”

Qin Juran hesitated, noticing that she mentioned the word “first.” Her face lit up with a playful smile: “You’re right, Ah-Ruan. I should be saying it first.”

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She leaned her head closer as she spoke. Ruan Nan was already backed against the kitchen counter such that she was practically sitting atop of it. Qin Juran used one hand to pull her closer as she lowered her head: “Babe, do you know what the most important step to learning is?”

Noticing the glint in Qin Juran’s eyes, Ruan Nan shook her head in response. Qin Juran continued: “Practicing over and over. Big sister taught you how to kiss last night, so come on now, you should review what you learned.”

“…..Let’s eat first, Qin Juran…..”

“Then no more practicing? But last night in bed you were so –”

“Stop talking, Qin Juran!”

Ruan Nan covered Qin Juran’s mouth with her hands, but even so, she couldn’t hide the teasing look in her eyes. Seeing the overconfident look on her face, Ruan Nan knew that she wouldn’t be able to escape from Qin Juran’s shackles, so she gave in. Anyways, with how coquettish Qin Juran was, there was no reason for her to be so reserved herself.

Ruan Nan straightened her back and met her eyes: “Close your eyes.”

Qin Juran’s eyes shut obediently.

After a moment’s wait, an innocent “good morning” kiss landed upon the tip of her tongue. It probed deeper in a clumsy, bashful manner.

The kiss carried her sweet taste along with it.

After they broke free, Qin Juran released her arms, satisfied. She pointedly grazed a finger over the mark by her chest, then finally placed the glass of milk back onto the table and left to the bathroom to change her clothes.

Ruan Nan proceeded to tidy up the kitchen and prepared some fruit.

Last night, Qin Juran really was quite drunk from the alcohol. When she carried Ruan Nan from the bathroom onto the bed, the fierce desire in her eyes was almost frightening. Ruan Nan had been pressed against the bed and kissed by her for a long time until she lost all her strength. Right when all her defenses were about to come crashing down, Qin Juran seemed to have a moment of soberness and told her, “Don’t worry, I’ll wait until you’re ready,” then released her.

Later on, Qin Juran told her that she wasn’t kissing her back properly, so “Professor Qin” would teach her some kissing skills.

But Ruan Nan refused to address her by that, which only prompted Qin Juran to threaten to “plant strawberries” on her. They continued kissing for a long time, but there were still no “strawberries” yet.

Ruan Nan couldn’t help laughing at her efforts. In a small voice, she suggested that she try instead. In one shot, she planted a small red mark on Qin Juran’s neck.

What was this…..

Ruan Nan waved her hands in front of her face, as if trying to dispel the flashbacks from her mind. However, she couldn’t help the silly grin on her face.

Meanwhile, Qin Juran had finished changing. She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture to capture the entirety of the bright living room, with the table full of delicious-looking dishes. The picture focused on the bread and milk neatly placed on the table, and in the background behind the glass door was the silhouette of Ruan Nan, still busy in the kitchen.

Her face wasn’t shown.

After Qin Juran took the picture, she began creating a public post on her social media account with the tagline: “My heartfelt breakfast.”

Attached was the photo she’d just taken.

As soon as it was sent, her phone began chiming with notifications. She swiped it open to see that the first message was from Huang Ying:

【Juju, tell me that my ship has sailed!】

Qin Juran replied with an “OK” emoji.

Ignoring the rest of Huang Ying’s excited squealing, she read the next message from Lin Wei: 【Qin Juran, I can see that Sister Nan has been completely taken by you. If you dare hurt her in the future…】

Before he could finish his threat, Qin Juran replied first:【Then you’d broadcast me eating shit?】

Just as Lin Wei was looking for the “poop” emoji to send, he read her message and asked suspiciously: 【? How’d you know? 】

“……”

Soon after, she received a message from Zhou Ziqing, the contents of which were similar to Lin Wei’s. Ever since she added him as a contact the other day, the only chat history between them were two money transfer records. She replied curtly: 【Just make up what you owed last time. 】

Qin Juran was just about to shut off her phone when she saw a message from Qin Haotian, who seemed to be on a break from work: 【Ranran, where is this? It doesn’t look like your school dormitory. 】

Qin Juran paused for a second, then answered honestly: 【Ruan Nan’s apartment. 】

As she hit send, a slight sense of nervousness filled Qin Juran. There was no other explanation for the fact that she was here, eating a “heartfelt breakfast,” than that they’d slept together last night.

Or that they were living together.

There was no response from the other end for a long moment. Qin Juran tried to keep a blank expression on her face, but she couldn’t help gripping the phone tightly with her fingers.

The second that her phone shook with a notification, Qin Juran opened Qin Haotian’s text to see what looked like a recipe attached. The picture listed a bunch of ingredients along with the corresponding steps. Underneath was the message:

【Don’t make her do all the work; make sure you cook lunch.】

 

T/N: This chapter was too sweet, I think I got diabetes trying to translate it >///<

Footnotes

a.k.a a hickey 

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