Chapter 84 : Tooth Marks

Because Liang Qingqing had a matching hair tie on her wrist a pink ribbon with a black moon decoration it perfectly paired with his.

An inexplicable pleasure rippled through him, causing his eyes and brows to shine with barely concealed pride. Fan Yanxing carefully reached out and held her hand, their wrists touching. The two small moons clinked together with a faint, crisp sound, similar to the subtle beating of his heart discreet but unmistakable.

He looked at her with a tenderness that seemed capable of melting everything. This familiar gaze made Liang Qingqing instinctively swallow and slowly close her eyes. Just as their lips were about to meet, the distant sounds of children playing interrupted the perfectly poised atmosphere.

Both of them, like startled birds, instinctively took several steps back.

Almost instantly, a few children ran into the alley. They seemed surprised to see people there and their laughter quieted down. Out of curiosity about the strangers, they glanced around and then pushed each other, quickly running off.

Seeing them disappear, Liang Qingqing exhaled, moved her lips and was about to speak when she met Fan Yanxing’s dark and troubled eyes. His face was serious, brows furrowed and he rubbed his forehead in frustration. “It’s really inconvenient out here.”

Inconvenient for what…

The meaning was clear.

Liang Qingqing, pretending not to understand, started walking ahead. “Let’s go.”

After a few steps, noticing Fan Yanxing hadn’t followed, Liang Qingqing turned around to find him still standing there, looking at her with a hurt expression, as if she had wronged him.

Liang Qingqing gritted her teeth, feeling she might have spoiled him too much, allowing him to use this trick to make her compromise. But if she hadn’t been so indulgent, he wouldn’t dare use the same trick repeatedly.

After a brief standoff, she clenched her fists and broke the silence, her face stern as she waved at him. “If you don’t come, I’ll just leave by myself.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Fan Yanxing reluctantly moved a few steps in her direction. Seeing this, Liang Qingqing couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him for the second time that day, feeling he was being more affected than usual.

She then stepped forward, stood on her toes, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She planted several kisses on his lips and finally, in a burst of irritation, bit down on his lip, leaving a shallow mark.

“Okay? Can we go now?” Liang Qingqing pursed her lips, letting go of him with a huff. The next moment, he pulled her close by the waist. His sudden proximity made her heart race, and she instinctively grabbed his shirt, her breathing becoming uneven. She was far from the calm demeanor she was trying to project.

The kiss was both fierce and commanding, as if he wanted to pull her into himself.

The fabric of his shirt was twisted into a bunch, creased beyond measure. The constant tension of potentially being discovered made her breaths grow heavier, and as time went on, she was left unable to muster any strength, forced to tilt her head back and endure his passionate kiss.

When his tongue had finally left her slightly aching lips, he loosened his hold, pinched the soft flesh of her waist, and smiled with a lazy, satisfied grin, his voice filled with contentment, “Now we can go.”

The two of them finally emerged from the hidden, narrow alley.

Following the route provided by Sister Feng, they quickly found the river. It was unclear when it had been built, but due to long periods of neglect, the riverbanks were covered in moss. However, the river water was clear and transparent, and the shimmering surface reflected the silhouettes of willow trees. The gentle breeze made it seem like a group of graceful young girls were dancing.

The pebbles in the sunlight sparkled brilliantly, smooth and beautiful. The group of children they had seen earlier were crouched by the bank, picking up stones, chasing each other and ignoring the fact that their pant legs were soaked. Their tinkling laughter was extremely infectious.

“Was you as mischievous as this when you were a child?”

Liang Qingqing touched her still flushed cheeks and couldn’t help but glance at Fan Yanxing. She couldn’t imagine what he was like as a child lively and cheerful? Calm and quiet? Or a combination of both?

Seeing her curious expression, Fan Yanxing pursed his lips and murmured ambiguously, “Pretty much like them.”

“Pretty much? Be more specific,” Liang Qingqing sensed there was more to the story and became interested, insisting on getting a clear answer from Fan Yanxing. Her mouth kept chattering, and he was left with no choice but to reveal everything.

Liang Qingqing couldn’t help but cover her red lips, laughing as she learned that he was so mischievous that even dogs would avoid him.

During the years Fan Yanxing spent living with his grandfather in the military district, he learned some self-defense skills. Although he was unbeatable among his peers, he was still often overpowered by older kids.

So, he was relatively restrained at that time, but upon returning to Beijing, he found that the pampered “young masters” there were no match for him. As a result, over time, he became more unruly and dared to cause all sorts of trouble.

For instance, today he kicked a soccer ball through a window, tomorrow he would make another child cry, and the day after that, he would leave caterpillars in front of someone else’s door…

He created all sorts of laughable and absurd situations. It could be said that in the entire compound, no one dared to provoke him.

It wasn’t until he entered junior high school that he gradually became more mature. The change was swift, he transformed from the troublesome child everyone disliked into the well-behaved child everyone envied.

“What are you laughing at?” Fan Yanxing noticed Liang Qingqing was laughing non-stop while covering her lips and felt a hint of embarrassment. “I was just telling the truth about what you asked. Why are you making fun of me? It’s normal for a boy to be a bit mischievous.”

“I just think it’s so different from your current personality,” Liang Qingqing said, still laughing, “It’s novel and cute.”

Seeing Fan Yanxing defending himself as if he might get upset any moment, Liang Qingqing quickly adopted a serious expression. However, her beautiful eyes were still curved in a smile, and her face was lit up with unhidden amusement.

Hearing her words, Fan Yanxing suddenly turned his head away, clearing his throat. His chest visibly rose and fell more quickly, and a flush of red spread from his face to his ears, a rare sight of shyness for him.

Noticing this, Liang Qingqing watched him with curiosity. Wherever he turned, she followed, until she saw the blush deepening before she finally compassionately averted her gaze.

In this era, leisure activities were very limited. They didn’t want to waste time wandering around, so they found a shady spot to chat, planning to eat at the state-run restaurant when mealtime came, and then…

Send Fan Yanxing off to the village.

The two of them sat down casually on the ground, with a half-arm’s distance between them. Not far off was the river, with a gentle breeze blowing. Liang Qingqing rested her hands on her legs, relaxed her whole body, and closed her eyes to enjoy the rare tranquility.

Seeing her like this, Fan Yanxing’s lips curled up. His resolve to live a peaceful life with her forever grew stronger. He wanted to grow old together, reminiscing about the moments they had shared.

But before that, he needed to clear away any potential obstacles.

With this thought, the smile on Fan Yanxing’s lips faded slightly.

—

Three days after parting with Fan Yanxing, Liang Qingqing finally reunited with her family.

It was a full family outing everyone came to the county town to see her. Because Songzi was so young, it was his first time in the city. He was so excited that he couldn’t contain himself until he finally saw his favorite aunt. He immediately threw himself into her arms.

Liang Qingqing reached out to catch him, smiling as she pinched his chubby cheeks. “Do you miss your aunt?”

“I miss her, here and here,” Songzi replied, pointing to his head and chest, with a smile full of flattery.

Liang Qingqing was stunned, instinctively glancing at Liang Shuqiang’s direction, her face filled with disbelief. Could it be? Did he learn sweet talk from somewhere?

Not just Liang Qingqing, but everyone else also looked at Liang Shuqiang in unison, their expressions reflecting the same surprise.

Liang Shuqiang, feeling uncomfortable under their gaze, blushed and shot a secretive glare at his son. When did this little rascal learn such things? To embarrass his father like this at a time like this!

Fortunately, Liang Qingqing knew to save face for her older brother. She quickly changed the topic to discuss her daily life at the broadcasting station. Every day consisted of similar training, with the most special thing being that yesterday, Teacher Lin had followed up on her promise from the first day and made everyone take turns reading tongue twisters in front of her.

To avoid the terrifying punishment from Lin Qin, Liang Qingqing had put a lot of effort into practicing this over the past few days. Many others had done the same, so most people passed the assessment smoothly, but a few did not.

What surprised Liang Qingqing the most was that Hu Peiyun had stumbled several times during the test. Even Teacher Lin was astonished and gave her a severe reprimand in public, criticizing her for making such basic mistakes as an experienced member of the broadcasting station.

When it came to causing trouble for them, Liang Qingqing felt that Hu Peiyun was deliberately avoiding her. Even when they occasionally made eye contact in the crowd, Hu Peiyun would quickly look away, as if afraid to interact with her.

It wasn’t just Liang Qingqing who felt this way Huang Yali mentioned that Hu Peiyun, who had previously enjoyed boasting and forming cliques with the newly arrived announcers from the countryside, had recently barely left the dormitory except for training and meals.

It was as if she had run into bad luck.

Thinking of this, Liang Qingqing glanced over at Fan Yanxing not far away. He had his eyes lowered and did not notice her gaze, his expression unchanged and giving no hint of anything.

She remembered what he had said last time about handling everything himself. Could it be that he had already taken action quietly? Was he so swift? It had only been a few days!

“What are you looking at? Why did you stop mid-sentence?” Ma Xiuzhi, who was engrossed in the conversation, noticed that Liang Qingqing seemed lost in thought and had zoned out. “What exactly was the punishment your teacher mentioned?”