After seeing Xu Yan off, Xu Qingqing returned to the room and found Lu Chuanbai still lying on the bed, looking at the photo album.
Xu Qingqing didn't disturb him. Instead, she went to take a shower first.
After taking a shower, Xu Qingqing came out of the bathroom, wiping her dripping hair. She found that Lu Chuanbai hadn't changed his position at all and was still staring at the photos, grinning foolishly.
"Go take a shower. Stop looking," Xu Qingqing reminded Lu Chuanbai.
Lu Chuanbai seemed not to hear. He reached out and stroked the two little babies in the photo. "Xu Qingqing, look how much these two kids resemble me."
"Of course they resemble you. They're your kids," Xu Qingqing said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Lu Chuanbai reached out and put his arm around her waist, then rolled over and rested his head on her lap.
"Xu Qingqing, thank you," Lu Chuanbai said.
Xu Qingqing stopped wiping her hair. "What are you thanking me for?"
"If you hadn't taken photos of these two kids, I'd never have seen what they looked like when they were little," Lu Chuanbai said, looking at the two kids in the photo who were holding Xu Qingqing's hand and learning to walk. His eyes were filled with pity.
"It must have been really hard for you to take care of the two kids back then. You were both a father and a mother," Lu Chuanbai said.
"Come on, stop talking," Xu Qingqing said, reaching out to smooth the crease between Lu Chuanbai's eyebrows. "The kids are mine too. Since I chose to give birth to them, I never wanted to complain about anyone."
"So stop blaming yourself. Go take a shower and get ready for bed," Xu Qingqing said.
Lu Chuanbai looked up and fell into Xu Qingqing's gentle eyes. Smelling the fragrance on Xu Qingqing's body, Lu Chuanbai felt so happy.
"I'll go take a shower. Wait for me," Lu Chuanbai said, sitting up and giving Xu Qingqing a kiss on the forehead. Then he got out of bed and went to take a shower.
Xu Qingqing was stunned for a moment and touched the place where she had been kissed.
What did Lu Chuanbai want her to wait for...
As a person who always loved to be clean, Lu Chuanbai just rinsed the dust off his body briefly and then came out in his bathrobe.
Lying in bed, Xu Qingqing heard his footsteps and couldn't help pulling the quilt tighter and closing her eyes.
Lu Chuanbai lifted the quilt and lay down beside Xu Qingqing. He reached out and put his arm around her slender waist.
The hand on her waist was very naughty and kept tickling Xu Qingqing.
Xu Qingqing couldn't bear it any longer and burst out laughing. She turned around to face Lu Chuanbai and caught his mischievous hand.
"Hahaha, stop tickling me," Xu Qingqing said.
"Who asked you to pretend to be asleep?" Lu Chuanbai leaned over and gently pecked Xu Qingqing's rosy lips.
It was like tasting a plump and ripe cherry, swallowing it bit by bit.
Xu Qingqing couldn't help reaching out and putting her arms around Lu Chuanbai's neck. Her voice was extremely charming. "Is the door locked?"
They had to be cautious when doing that kind of thing while the kids were at home. It would be embarrassing if the kids suddenly barged in.
Lu Chuanbai lifted Xu Qingqing's waist with both hands and breathed hot air into her ear. "Don't worry. The door is already locked."
Lu Chuanbai's breath tickled Xu Qingqing's neck and made her laugh involuntarily. "Hahaha, you've thought it through quite well. Um..."
The next morning, before Xu Qingqing's alarm went off, the phone rang like a death knell over and over again.
Xu Qingqing sat up with a messy head of hair, looking extremely exhausted. It was Xu Yan who was calling.
Oh no. What did he want calling so early?
"Hello, bro..." Xu Qingqing answered the phone. Only when she spoke did she realize that her voice was extremely hoarse. She quickly cleared her throat to make her voice sound softer.
Fortunately, Xu Yan didn't notice anything. He didn't seem to be aware that he was disturbing someone's sweet dream at all.
"Xu Qingqing, are you up yet? Aren't we going to Jing Zhen's place? Hurry up and get ready to go!" Xu Yan said.
Xu Qingqing rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. It was only 6:30 a.m. There were still more than two hours until the time Jing Zhen had made an appointment with her, which meant she could arrive at 8:30 a.m. at the latest.
"Oh, it's too early, isn't it?" Xu Qingqing complained helplessly.
"The early bird catches the worm. Hurry up. I'm waiting for you at your door," Xu Yan said, then hung up the phone impatiently.
Before they even set off, Xu Qingqing already regretted agreeing to let Xu Yan come with her.
She had to finish what she had started. Xu Qingqing had no choice but to get out of bed reluctantly, fighting back her sleepiness.
Lu Chuanbai's strong arm was firmly around her waist.
"Lu Chuanbai, take your hand away," Xu Qingqing said, patting Lu Chuanbai's face. Lu Chuanbai didn't wake up, so she had to lift Lu Chuanbai's arm herself.
It was as if Lu Chuanbai's arm was deliberately going against her. The harder she tried to lift it, the more forcefully it pressed down.
After struggling for a while, Xu Qingqing noticed something. The corner of Lu Chuanbai's mouth was curled up.
This guy was teasing her again!
Xu Qingqing angrily pinched Lu Chuanbai's arm. Only then did Lu Chuanbai pretend to wake up slowly.
"What's wrong? Why did you pinch me?" Lu Chuanbai asked.
"Who asked you to stop me on purpose?" Xu Qingqing said, patting Lu Chuanbai's arm and moving it to one side.
Xu Qingqing was about to get out of bed when she found that she was hardly wearing anything. She quickly wrapped the quilt around her body and got out of bed.
Xu Qingqing threw the bathrobe on the floor at Lu Chuanbai to barely cover his body.
Wrapping the quilt around her, she selected a knitted, beige dress from the closet and went into the bathroom to change.
After washing up, she put on a simple makeup.
"Where are you going?" Lu Chuanbai propped himself up on one hand and looked at Xu Qingqing as she came out of the bathroom.
"I'm going to help Sister Jing Zhen with my brother. Remember to take the two kids to school," Xu Qingqing said while applying lipstick in front of the mirror.
"Is there a reward if I take the kids to school?" Lu Chuanbai's voice was hoarse and magnetic just after waking up, like an old record full of graininess, nice and textured.
Xu Qingqing looked back at Lu Chuanbai, her red lips curving charmingly.
"What kind of reward do you want?" Xu Qingqing asked.
Lu Chuanbai didn't say a word. He just pointed at his cheek with his finger.
Such an obvious hint. How could Xu Qingqing not understand?
She deepened the color of her lips with the lipstick, then gently crawled onto the bed and left a red lip print on Lu Chuanbai's cheek.
"Are you satisfied now?" Xu Qingqing asked with a smile.
Lu Chuanbai looked at her, his tone a bit coquettish. He turned the other cheek. "It would be nice if it could be symmetrical."
"You're being greedy," Xu Qingqing said, but still kissed Lu Chuanbai on the other cheek.
"That's enough," Lu Chuanbai said, satisfied. "Should I return the favor?"
"No," Xu Qingqing refused. Worried that Xu Yan would get impatient waiting, she picked up her bag and left.
"I'm leaving. Bye," Xu Qingqing said.
"Bye," Lu Chuanbai said, raising his chin at Xu Qingqing to say goodbye.
Xu Qingqing opened the car door and got in. She saw Xu Yan wearing a neat black suit and a dark blue tie. His hair seemed to have a lot of hairspray on it, and his hairstyle looked really good.
It seemed that he had even used the makeup techniques that he disliked the most.
Xu Qingqing noticed that Xu Yan's eyebrows were neater than the day before, his dark circles were covered with concealer, and there seemed to be a thin layer of foundation on his face.
Xu Qingqing let out a soft sigh. She, as his sister, had told him to dress up nicely, but Xu Yan would never listen.
But for Sister Jing Zhen, Xu Yan was actually willing to go to such lengths.