Chapter 315: They Kissed
Red walls, white snow.
One handsome man.
Two little ladies peeping at him.
Gu Shanshan looked at the black-clad Jiang Yeqian, her chubby little face completely flushed. She clenched her fists in excitement and said admiringly, “Head Grand Secretariat sir, you are really good looking.”
Jiang Yeqian, “…” He knew that!
Qi Qingyao, meanwhile, was quiet.
Jiang Yeqian swept a glance at her and looked at Gu Shanshan again. “Why are you with her?” he asked.
Qi Qingyao frowned and answered innocently, “We’re friends who went to the kitchen to sneak some snacks!”
He was really speechless. “The weather is cold, you should both go back and sleep,” he said.
With those words…
He turned around to leave.
Qi Qingyao was about to follow his suggestion and head back to bed when Gu Shanshan grabbed Jiang Yeqian’s sleeve. Her eyes were bulging like eggs when she spoke.
“Sir, wait!”
Jiang Yeqian turned back.
Starry-eyed, Gu Shanshan said, “Do you have a fiancée? If you don’t have a fiancée, do you have someone you like? If there is no one you like, what do you think of me?”
Qi Qingyao, “…” Oh God!
Jiang Yeqian’s expression had turned dark and he said straightforwardly, “I’m not interested in you.”
“But I’m interested in you.” Gu Shanshan held onto the corner of Jiang Yeqian’s clothes, looking like she was not going to let him leave no matter what. “Don’t be in such a hurry to leave.”
Qi Qingyao watched, confused. She decided to retreat.
She did not want to get mixed up in the dispute between Gu Shanshan and Jiang Yeqian. Alas, Jiang Yeqian noticed her intentions and immediately grabbed her arm. Qi Qingyao happened to be stepping on the accumulated snow at that moment, so she slipped and went tumbling into the garden.
Jiang Yeqian was momentarily negligent but he could not let go of her hand as he looked on helplessly at the situation.
His only choice of action was to slide to the ground faster than she was and—thump!—he was lying on the ground with her pressed on top of his body.
As for Gu Shanshan, she had fallen onto the patch of grass at the side.
Qi Qingyao never in her life had thought that a melodramatic thing like this would ever happen to her.
Her fall onto Jiang Yeqian looked like something straight out of a novel or television series. Never mind that, what was more important was that her lips… had touched his! This… was an unprecedented awkwardness.
After coming back to her senses, Qi Qingyao hurriedly stood up.
She stood to the side, pretending as if nothing had happened as she patted off the snow on her body.
Gu Shanshan had a lot of meat on her bones and was perfectly fine even after she fell to the ground. After she got up, she hurriedly asked, “Qingyao, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Qi Qingyao replied.
Jiang Yeqian was the last to get up.
He was still wrapped up in his own thoughts, the thoughts of the young woman’s soft wet lips that had just been pressed tightly to his own. Were those the lips of a woman? It was so soft! As soft as cotton candy.
It made his heart pound uncontrollably.
His heartbeat was like the beating of drums.
Jiang Yeqian pressed on his heart forcefully.
His heart, however, continued pounding rapidly despite his command.
‘What is wrong with me? Why am I acting like some childish boy who just experienced his first love? Just because I haven’t embraced a woman before, it shouldn’t be this… this shameful!’
Jiang Yeqian was somewhat indignant at his abnormal emotional reaction and rushed at Qi Qingyao furiously, saying, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“On purpose?” Qi Qingyao repeated, dumbfounded.
Gu Shanshan hurriedly defended her. “Sir, how could you accuse Qi Qingyao like that? It was just a careless slip, you’re really going too far.” She had no idea the extent of what happened—she only thought that Qi Qingyao had slipped and fallen onto Jiang Yeqian!
Qi Qingyao was a little upset as well. “I haven’t even begun to accuse you of taking advantage of me.”
Jiang Yeqian was embarrassed, but also angry. He said offhandedly, “Who’s actually taking advantage of who? I, the Head Grand Secretariat, going out of my way to take advantage of a widow? I haven’t fallen to that level!”
“…”
Qi Qingyao was silent for a moment. She took out a banknote and immediately pressed it into Jiang Yeqian’s bosom. “A hundred taels.”
Jiang Yeqian, “…”
Gu Shanshan was dumbfounded when she saw this. “Why did you give him money?”
Qi Qingyao replied coolly, “Since the Head Grand Secretariat thinks I’ve taken advantage of him, then he can take that as compensation!”
Jiang Yeqian, “…”
Gu Shanshan was stunned for a moment before she looked at Qi Qingyao with an expression of worship. She had all but taken her as her new idol now.
“Even if I was out searching for a gigolo, this amount should be adequate for a kiss from a man, yes?” Qi Qingyao said before she left.
Jiang Yeqian, “…” A gigolo!
Gu Shanshan, “??”
So it turned out that she had accidentally kissed the Head Grand Secretariat when she slipped just now.
To give him money though…
Gu Shanshan suddenly burst into laughter. “Hahaha, Qi Qingyao’s right.”
“Let’s go.” Qi Qingyao pulled Gu Shanshan and they left.
Gu Shanshan grabbed both of their copper lanterns, leaving happily with Qi Qingyao, even saying as she walked, “I didn’t think the Head Grand Secretariat was so petty. You only kissed him by accident, it’s obvious that the woman has more to lose yet he’s the one who was being calculative with you.”
Qi Qingyao smiled faintly. “I’ve paid him, so there’s no need to bring that up again. Let’s just assume I hired him for that service, isn’t that all fine now?”
Gu Shanshan laughed. “Hahahahaha!”
The two walked back to Haitang Pavilion. When they were about to go their separate ways, Gu Shanshan said with a smile, “Qingyao, I quite like you.”
“I like you too,” replied Qi Qingyao as well.
“I’ll head back to my room and sleep, but let’s meet again tomorrow morning.”
“See you tomorrow!”
Qi Qingyao turned around and also headed for her own room.
She did not know that from afar, Jiang Yeqian was watching her back from the darkness as she entered her room, before eventually returning to his room alone.
After entering his room.
He fell into a stupor.
Closing the door behind him, he walked to his bed absent-mindedly, even forgetting to take off his cloak before sitting down in a daze. The snow coating his cloak immediately fell onto the bed.
However, he did not even realize it.
A silly smile suddenly appeared on his face.
That was an expression that would never appear on his face on any usual day.
He smiled like that for a while.
Jiang Yeqian lifted his hand and could not resist touching his lips.
Were a woman’s lips that soft? Or was it just hers that were exceptionally soft?
Soft and wet, on a winter’s day…
How would it feel if he were to kiss them even more firmly?
All sorts of emotions were interlocking in his mind. After Jiang Yeqian returned to his senses, he realized that he was immersed in frenzied wishful thinking about something inexplicable. He pinched his thigh hard, forcing himself to get a hold of himself.
He unclasped his cloak and threw it to one side.
Next, he dusted the bed. Ignoring the faint moisture of the sheets, he took off his outer garments and laid down on the bed. The light of the next day was approaching soon but Jiang Yeqian was not at all sleepy.
He had been in a bad mood when he played the flute to ease his emotions.
However, his mood had somehow improved.
It was really good now, in fact.
Hold on, he seemed to recall her compared him to a gigolo just now… this word was really too much! She was asking for a ruthless smacking.
Jiang Yeqian suddenly recalled Tan Xiangdie’s words from the other day.
‘You like her…’
At this moment, he thought, just maybe, he… really… did… like… her.