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Chapter 42 : Promise to Date
“But Auntie has been so tired from taking care of Uncle Yanxing in the hospital these days that she hasn’t slept well. I’m really exhausted and don’t have the energy to draw with you. How about you come find me after lunch this afternoon?”
Liang Qingqing quickly came up with this excuse, and to make it more convincing, she pretended to be tired and rubbed her forehead.
As soon as she finished speaking, Songzi understood and agreed to let her rest, though she pouted and muttered, “Doesn’t Uncle have hands? Why does Auntie have to take care of him?”
The surroundings were very quiet, and Songzi’s comment reached Liang Qingqing’s ears. She stiffened and instinctively glanced towards her room. The door was open, but she didn’t see Fan Yanxing’s figure he was probably still crouching.
She wondered if he had heard.
Strangely, she felt a pang of guilt and unease for using Fan Yanxing as an excuse to get rid of Songzi.
“Uncle Yanxing is injured, so of course he needs someone to take care of him. Think about when you were little and had a fever, didn’t your mother take care of you?”
Songzi thought for a moment and realized it was indeed the case, so he nodded.
Seeing this, Liang Qingqing sighed with relief and urged again, “Go play now, I need to sleep.”
“Then I’ll go find Huto.” Songzi remembered that Huto had invited him to go up the mountain to look for wild fruit. If he found any and brought some back for Auntie, he would likely get praised. With this thought, Songzi’s eyes brightened, and he quickly ran out with his short legs.
Liang Qingqing reminded him a few times to be safe and after Songzi disappeared around the corner, she closed the courtyard door. However, closing it made her feel like it was too obvious, as if she was hiding something, so she opened it again.
After all the commotion in the sun, Liang Qingqing was starting to sweat. She discreetly sniffed herself and, not detecting any unpleasant odor, made her way back to her room.
After entering the door and locking it, she turned to see Fan Yanxing standing by the table, looking down at something.
“What are you looking at?” Liang Qingqing asked curiously as she moved closer and saw that the table was covered with a drawing book she used to teach Songzi. The open page showed an incomplete airplane, with only the basic outline sketched in black and white, lacking any details.
Fan Yanxing, seeing her approach, snapped out of his thoughts and smiled, “Is this your drawing?”
Liang Qingqing instinctively nodded, “Yes.”
“It’s really well done.”
Fan Yanxing didn’t hide his admiration. His eyes looked at Liang Qingqing as if he had discovered a rare treasure. He hadn’t realized she had such a hidden talent, which seemed to be revealed gradually as they got to know each other better.
He had also learned a bit about drawing from his elders when he was young. Although he never mastered it due to other commitments, he could tell that Liang Qingqing had a solid foundation and talent for it. It even seemed like she might have studied it systematically.
But considering Liang’s family background, where did Qingqing learn such skills? With this thought, Fan Yanxing’s gaze fell on Liang Qingqing, and he directly asked.
Upon hearing this, Liang Qingqing’s hand, which was reaching for the notebook, trembled slightly. Her heart, which had calmed down, began to race again. She lowered her eyes to hide her emotions, smiled faintly, and said vaguely, “ I used to like sneaking over to the cattle barn when I was young… My parents don’t know about it.”
Fan Yanxing was initially taken aback, but he didn’t press further.
He was aware of the turbulence of that era, with many prominent figures being sent to cattle barns around the country and not allowed to be approached by outsiders. Qingqing might have had a chance to secretly learn for a while by coincidence, which was why she developed such a skill.
However…
“Don’t mention to anyone that i went to the cattle barn when i were young.”
“I’m not stupid of course, I won’t tell anyone.”
Seeing that he didn’t doubt the truthfulness of her words, Liang Qingqing secretly sighed in relief. She felt a pang of regret—how had she forgotten about this? To appease Songzi back then, she had drawn a few small cats and dogs. When her family didn’t react particularly, only praising her talent, and Songzi kept wanting to learn more, she had let her guard down.
She never expected that Fan Yanxing would see her drawings today. He was not someone easy to deceive like the Liang family.
Fortunately, she had reacted quickly and provided a reason difficult to trace, and Fan Yanxing didn’t question her further. Otherwise, no amount of explanation would suffice, and it seemed she would need to keep such matters hidden in the future.
While Liang Qingqing was still immersed in the relief of narrowly escaping, Fan Yanxing placed his hands on the table, trapping her in his embrace. The distance between them became intimate once more, with her waist pressed against the edge of the table and her upper body leaning back.
She realized that her words had come across as overly ambiguous, especially with how they had rolled off his tongue. Although she hadn’t meant it that way, it now seemed like she was deliberately teasing him.
Liang Qingqing’s face flushed red with embarrassment.
Before she could figure out how to respond, Fan Yanxing leaned in, his nose brushing against her cheek. His deep eyes locked onto her, and he asked, “Qingqing, who am I?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Liang Qingqing’s long lashes trembled. She hadn’t expected Fan Yanxing to still be focused on her giving him a proper title. Their earlier conversation interrupted by Songzi had resurfaced, and she knew that if she didn’t give him a clear answer today, she wouldn’t be leaving this room.
“How would I know?” In the end, she decided to play dumb.
Fan Yanxing was almost amused to the point of anger, raising his eyebrows and speaking in a, without showing any discernible emotion, “Who was it who said they hadn’t slept well taking care of me just now? Now you’re pretending not to know me?”
So he did hear!
Liang Qingqing bit her lip, her gaze drifting. Tired of playing coy, she decided to face it and mumbled with some embarrassment, “Alright, I’ll promise you, okay?”
The room fell into an intense silence. She knew he had definitely heard her.
After a long pause without a response, Liang Qingqing cautiously lifted her head, intending to see his reaction. Instead, she unexpectedly collided with his deep, intense gaze, which seemed to swirl with a turbulent tide, bright and captivating like the stars on a summer night.
He suddenly smiled and gave the answer: “Qingqing, what did you promise me?”
His deep, husky voice carried an irresistible allure, tugging at her heartstrings over and over again.
She only felt a heat drilling deep into her ears, her brain went blank instantly, and it seemed as if a dancer was dancing on the tip of her heart. For some reason, she couldn’t bear to say anything to disappoint him. After thinking for a moment, she finally lifted her hand to rest on his back and softened her tone, saying, “What else could it be? Of course, it’s… agreeing to be in a relationship with you.”
The sweet, almost coquettish words seemed to ignite the last line of defense in Fan Yanxing’s heart. His eyes glimmered with a faint blush, and his breathing grew erratic. The burning intensity of the words “be in a relationship” consumed his reason. He leaned in and kissed the flushed tip of her ear.
Liang Qingqing didn’t expect him to act so suddenly. The ear is one of the most sensitive parts of the body, and she shivered all over. Instinctively, she raised her hand to touch it, but he held her wrist firmly.
“Relationship.”
He murmured the word as he lifted his head, his handsome face radiant with a joy she had never seen before. His deep features shone brightly with excitement.
It was the first time Liang Qingqing had seen him smile so joyfully. The sight of his charming face made her swallow hard, and she couldn’t help but smile as well. However, she soon found it hard to keep smiling.
Fan Yanxing started by cupping her flushed cheeks, his lips lingering on her forehead, then her nose, and finally landing on her lips. His breath was intensely warm, mingling with hers in an inseparable embrace. Unlike the previous confusion and awkwardness, this time he seemed to have found a rhythm. He kissed her lips slowly and deliberately, his movements creating a soft friction that made her unable to resist grabbing onto his clothes.
His lips continued their movements, while one hand cupped the back of her head, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss. His other hand tightly encircled her waist, pressing their bodies together. If he hadn’t been supporting her, she would have probably slipped to the ground.
She tried to move sideways to escape, but he pulled her back. In the next moment, her lips parted involuntarily due to his movements, and the sound only made the hormones in the air spread more recklessly.
An unusual sensation fluttered in her heart. Her fingers clung to the fabric of his clothes, slowly forming a fist, but it didn’t take long for her to crumble.
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, as if she was struggling to breathe. She could only attempt to move back, her long, fair neck arching elegantly. He took advantage of this and kissed her, giving her a brief respite. But soon, he straightened her up again and kissed her slightly swollen lips.
Damn man!
—-
As the sky grew darker, the Liang family members returned home one by one after a long day. Ma Xiuzhi, as usual, went straight to the kitchen to busy herself with cooking. When she came out to get some water, she happened to run into Liang Qingqing, who had just come out of her room.
“Mom, do you need any help?” Liang Qingqing’s cheeks were still flushed, and her voice was soft and somewhat awkward, as if she felt uneasy.
Ma Xiuzhi, busy with preparing dishes, didn’t notice Liang Qingqing’s unusual behavior and shook her head, “Just cooking a few simple dishes, I can manage it myself.”
Liang Qingqing nodded and took a seat on a wooden chair. She noticed two figures not far away and immediately clenched her teeth, her eyes filled with anger as she stared at the back of the man talking to Liang Junqiang.
Facing Liang Qingqing’s sharp gaze, even though it wasn’t directed at him, Liang Junqiang felt uncomfortable and fidgety. He glanced between her and Fan Yanxing, who was looking refreshed and smiling.
The contrast between the two men was striking.
After a moment’s hesitation, Liang Junqiang couldn’t help but ask quietly, “Did you upset Qingqing?”
Upon hearing this, Fan Yanxing glanced at Liang Qingqing. She, noticing his look, turned away huffily, as if she didn’t want to see him.
Still in a mood, then.
“No,” Fan Yanxing was reluctant to disclose their personal matters to anyone, even Liang Junqiang.
“…”
Liang Junqiang didn’t believe Fan Yanxing’s denial, but he wasn’t one to pry excessively. After all, Liang Qingqing wasn’t mad at him, so it wasn’t his problem.
Changing the subject, Liang Junqiang grew serious. “I heard from the team leader that there’s some sort of science conference being held in the county tomorrow. We won’t need to work in the afternoon.”
Fan Yanxing’s eyes flickered, and he smiled slightly, “Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah, and I remember you wanted me to accompany you to Taoshan. If the conference ends early, shall we go tomorrow?” Not having to work and still earning work points was indeed a good deal.
Realizing something, Liang Junqiang felt a bit awkward and explained, “We had originally planned to go on our day off, but my wife reminded me at noon that I need to accompany her to her family’s place this time, so I probably won’t have time then.”
If it hadn’t been for the unexpected weather, he would have already gone with Huang Shumin to her family home. But life is unpredictable, and who could have foreseen such a change?
“Alright, then let’s go to the mountains together after the meeting tomorrow,” Fan Yanxing thought of how Liang Qingqing liked peaches and wanted to resolve the issue with the peaches from Daping Village as soon as possible.
After chatting a bit longer, Liang Junqiang went back to his room, while Fan Yanxing turned his attention to the young girl who was in bad mood.
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