A beautiful summer night

"Confirm again."

Xia Wanzhi had a kind of resolute look of facing death, and she cupped Xie Qiyan's face in her hands and kissed his cool, moist lips.

Xie Qiyan rarely showed such leniency.

After kissing him haphazardly several times, Xia Wanzhi pouted and slumped against Xie Qiyan, sobbing, "Oh no, how did I fall for you?"

Xie Qiyan suppressed the undercurrent in his eyes. Being teased repeatedly while pinned down was truly agonizing.

Her heart was pounding wildly. Xie Qiyan rubbed her head and said, "I've cast a spell on you."

"Ah, no wonder." Xia Wanzhi said in a muffled voice, pursing her smiling lips, and remained silent for a long, long time.

Once she calmed down, Xia Wanzhi slowly came to her senses and realized that her current posture of throwing herself into someone's arms was not very demure, so she propped herself up and tried to climb back onto the bed.

"Where are we going?" Xie Qiyan grabbed her waist, preventing her from moving.

Xia Wanzhi shuddered: "I...I...I'm going back to bed."

Xie Qiyan chuckled, his lazy tone teasing her: "I thought at this rate, Teacher Wanzi, we could be consummating our marriage tonight."

First, she threw herself into his arms, then lay on top of him, gazing at him affectionately in the dim light, and finally politely returned his passionate kiss.

That's not all.

Judging from those teasing moments just now, if he had any less self-control, he would have been unable to resist pulling her into his bed and making her feel dizzy.

Then we turned off the lights and explored a more exciting, daring, and intimate life together.

Xia Wanzhi's heart, which had just calmed down, started pounding again.

"No...not that fast." Xia Wanzhi forced a stiff smile.

Before tonight, she didn't know she had such a proactive side.

They were throwing themselves into each other's arms and kissing passionately.

Help.

She wasn't drunk.

"Teacher Xia." Xie Qiyan's fingertips caressed her cheek, forcefully making her look into his eyes.

Xia Wanzhi seemed to have subconsciously adapted to his various ways of addressing her.

When she's serious, I call her Xia Wanzhi; when she's gentle and proper, I call her Teacher Xia; when I'm teasing and flirting, I call her Little Sister Xia; and when I'm in a good mood, I call her Teacher Wanzi.

"What are you doing?" Xia Wanzhi said reproachfully, her nostrils filled with the faint scent of fir trees emanating from him. Perhaps she really was under a spell, her heart fluttering repeatedly.

"This was my first kiss," Xie Qiyan sighed, then said seriously, "You took my first kiss, so you have to take responsibility."

Xia Wanzhi's heart tightened: "..."

I understand, he's asking her for recognition and status.

"You're making it sound like I didn't have my first kiss." Xia Wanzhi pouted and snorted unconvinced. "After that cruise ship dinner, everyone in the industry said I was yours, even though I was the one who got the short end of the stick."

Xie Qiyan was stunned.

He seemed not to hear what Xia Wanzhi said afterward; his mind stopped thinking and was completely focused on the sentence that it was also her first kiss.

The affected grievance in her eyes vanished, replaced by surprise in an instant, then excitement, and finally relief and satisfaction.

That felt great.

Suppressing a smug smile, Xie Qiyan no longer restrained himself and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her closer to him like a cookie: "Ah, my first kiss."

Xia Wanzhi hurriedly reached out and pressed his mouth, which was about to touch her ear, to her lips.

Through the palm of his hand, Xie Qiyan parted his lips and bit down slightly.

Xia Wanzhi was so frightened that she let go of him, staring at him in shock with her two round eyes.

"Mamako-sensei is such a proactive girl, but she hasn't made a move on him even after being with him for so long. It seems he's not up to the task." Xie Qiyan said with a hint of sarcasm.

Xia Wanzhi: "..."

It goes without saying who this "he" is.

“It wasn’t him; I also had my own problems.” Xia Wanzhi lowered her eyelashes, recalling the past and realizing that many things had a pattern.

It turns out that she wasn't just indifferent and quiet when it came to relationships.

Slow to warm up has become a synonym for dislike.

She thought she was naturally slow to warm up in relationships.

It wasn't until today that I realized that in front of someone she likes, she can be noisy, cry, laugh, get angry, act unreasonably, and freely express her emotions.

It will be like tonight.

Passionate, proactive, and unrestrained.

She and Zhou Yu were complete opposites.

Zhou Yu always accommodated her in everything, from childhood to adulthood, which made her feel countless feelings of guilt and gratitude towards him.

It gives her the feeling that if they don't end up together, things will be unmanageable.

"We didn't spend much time together. After the confession, our families made a verbal engagement. We didn't even have an engagement banquet before the Zhou family spread the news. The second week after the engagement, my family went bankrupt. The second week after the bankruptcy, I moved to the Zhou family's house. You should know what happened after that," Xia Wanzhi recounted calmly.

Relationships are the most vulnerable to test.

The Xia family's bankruptcy meant that her relationship with Zhou Yu was over as soon as it began.

Mentioning Zhou Yu at this moment was really a mood killer. Xie Qiyan thought he should slap himself, so in order to make up for his bad behavior, he sat up with a jolt and kissed Xia Wanzhi's eyes.

As he stood up, Xia Wanzhi straddled his lap.

Her breathing quickened, and she forgot everything she had just said. A blank space opened up in Xia Wanzhi's mind, and fireworks began to light up the sky again.

After losing the initiative, Xia Wanzhi began to panic.

"What does this prove?" Xie Qiyan asked, his voice slightly deep as he gently rubbed the corner of her eye with his fingertips. "It proves that he is not your good match, but I am."

Xia Wanzhi was amused by his narcissism and burst out laughing.

"Hmm..." Xia Wanzhi belatedly felt shy and gave a vague reply before changing the subject, "Aren't you going to work tomorrow?"

Xie Qiyan raised an eyebrow slightly: "You don't want me to go?"

Xia Wanzhi was wronged: "I..."

“That won’t do, unless you support me,” Xie Qiyan said tactfully.

Xia Wanzhi: "..."

Xia Wanzhi slapped him on the shoulder and scolded, "Then hurry up and go to sleep! It's already two or three in the morning, stop getting so worked up."

After cursing, she leaned on Xie Qiyan's shoulder to stand up and flipped back onto her bed with lightning speed. Her right leg was still dangling over the edge of the bed. Afraid that Xie Qiyan would reach out and grab her, she sullenly shrank back into the quilt.

Xie Qiyan was so angry that he burst out laughing when he saw her roll over twice after lying back down, from one side of the bed to the other.

The closer they were just now, the farther apart the Chu River and Han border are now.

Never mind, I need to give her some time to process this.

There's plenty of time; we can't rush things.

Furthermore, he himself needed to calm his racing heart.

The night was still long. Xia Wanzhi lay down and slowly fell asleep. Hearing her even breathing, Xie Qiyan blinked for the hundred and first time.

How could he possibly fall asleep at a time like this?

At four in the morning, Xie Qiyan, still wide awake, struggled with the decision before finally climbing from his makeshift bed on the floor to Xia Wanzhi's bed.

My primary task tonight is to keep you company while you sleep.

As the princess's boyfriend, he must practice what he preaches, stay by her side at all times, and fulfill his responsibilities.

A faint fragrance of hair wafted into my nose, and I slept soundly through the rest of the night. (Next chapter later)