Chapter 133: Chapter 133: A Gentle Kiss Late at Night

Night fell.

Jiang Qingli was curled up on the sofa, using her terminal to look over the study materials Yuan Shimo had given her. Every so often, she would switch over to chat with her friends, swiping through a social media chat window.

Time ticked by, and drowsiness gradually washed over her. Jiang Qingli turned off the lights, hugged a sofa pillow, and drifted into a light sleep.

In her daze, Jiang Qingli felt herself being lifted. A cool, slick sensation wrapped around her calves.

"Stop it..."

Jiang Qingli furrowed her brow and gave a light kick. The force coiling around her loosened its grip.

Her body was placed on something soft, but it felt different from what she had been resting on earlier.

A moment later, the soft patter of running water sounded.

Though the sound was faint, Jiang Qingli realized something. Her fingers twitched as she gradually woke up.

She sat up and found herself lying in bed.

Just then, the sound of water stopped.

The bathroom door opened, and a gloomy young man with black hair and golden eyes, backlit by the light, walked toward her.

The mattress beside her dipped slightly. Ye Linyuan sat down next to Jiang Qingli, his snake tail, still wreathed in steam, coiling around her waist and pulling her into his lap.

Before she could even steady herself, he wrapped his arms around her slender waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

He loved doing this. Much of the time, Jiang Qingli felt like he treated her as a life-sized pillow.

But she was used to it. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Jiang Qingli simply leaned back against his chest and turned her head to look at him.

Perhaps because of the dim, warm glow of the table lamp, the sharp lines of his profile seemed much softer than usual, making him look approachable.

Jiang Qingli was suddenly struck by the impulse to stroke his cheek.

Her fingers had barely twitched when his half-lidded, golden vertical pupils shifted, capturing her gaze.

Like a student caught misbehaving, Jiang Qingli’s body instantly went rigid. Her pupils trembled slightly before she averted her gaze, annoyance bubbling up inside her.

’Heavens, what was I thinking?’

’This is a vicious villain, the kind who could crush me to death on a whim. How could he possibly let me pet him like some obedient little animal?’

’I must have been petting that puppy too much lately. It’s giving me delusions.’

Thinking of Qin Muye, Jiang Qingli felt a little troubled again.

’I promised to save some time for him this weekend, but where should we go...?’

Ye Linyuan grabbed her chin and turned her head back to face him.

His serpentine, golden vertical pupils narrowed, seemingly displeased with her distraction. "What are you thinking about?"

Catching sight of the sofa out of the corner of her eye, Jiang Qingli slapped his hand away, her tone faintly complaining, "What time is it? You took your sweet time coming back. I already fell asleep..."

The girl was wearing a misty blue slip dress tonight. Under the warm light, her skin looked fairer than snow.

The thin straps hung precariously on the edge of her shoulders.

The snake tail pressed against her waist twitched lightly.

Ye Linyuan said in a low voice, "I told you I wasn’t coming back today."

"So the one with his tail wrapped around me right now isn’t Ye Linyuan, but Sun Linyuan?" Jiang Qingli raised an eyebrow.

Ye Linyuan: "..."

Seeing his somewhat speechless expression, Jiang Qingli couldn’t help but want to laugh.

"You did send me a text, but I also texted you to say I was in your room." Her gaze fell on his profile again. "It’s your turn today. If I didn’t come here, they would have come looking for me. At least here I have time to study."

But that wasn’t the only reason.

After Ye Linyuan sent that text hours ago saying he wouldn’t be back, Jiang Qingli had felt a little uneasy.

They had always been the "intimate in bed, strangers out of it" type, so Jiang Qingli knew very little about the great villain’s daily life.

She just had a faint feeling that he would come back tonight, so she had come over.

Besides, she could study anywhere.

Ye Linyuan gave a low "mhm," and it was unclear if he had even been listening.

The arm around her tightened, and the snake tail under the thin silk duvet coiled around her ankle, as if wanting to press against every inch of her skin.

The young man’s eyes were downcast, the space between his brows unconsciously knitting together.

The next second, the girl’s slender fingers hesitantly and gently pressed against the spot between his brows.

Her warmth gently smoothed his knitted brow.

Having just woken up, the girl’s sweet voice was a little husky as she said softly, "You’re always frowning. You’ll get old fast."

Ye Linyuan: "..."

Before she could pull her hand back, Ye Linyuan raised his own to grasp it. His forked tongue flicked out, winding around the slender fingers that had just touched him.

The crimson red slithered between her fingers. As if unable to bear it, Jiang Qingli tried to shrink her hand back.

This time, however, Ye Linyuan wasn’t as forceful. He let her pull her hand back and burrow under the covers.

Jiang Qingli had already pulled the thin duvet over her face, but after a few seconds, she pulled it down, revealing her shimmering dark eyes. "Are you going to... do it tonight?"

Ye Linyuan glanced at the time. It was two in the morning.

She had class tomorrow.

The young man said in a low voice, "No."

"Oh. Then I’m going to sleep."

Jiang Qingli replied and closed her eyes.

But a strange thought crossed her mind.

’When did this guy get so frigid? He’s usually like an addict...’

’Then again, maybe it’s because he isn’t injured today, so he doesn’t need to heal.’

The conclusion was obvious, yet for some reason, Jiang Qingli felt a little unhappy about it.

Just as she was pondering this, she felt a cool breath on her lips.

Her lips were captured.

What began as a tentative taste quickly turned into an intensely possessive kiss.

His unique, cool scent was all-pervasive, overwhelming her senses and enveloping her completely.

Time seemed to slow in that moment, the silent room filled only with the echo of ragged breaths.

But before things could go any further, Ye Linyuan released her.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. "Go to sleep," he said, his voice hoarse.

Jiang Qingli was dazed from the kiss. It took her a few seconds to slowly nod and close her eyes to sleep.

The lamp was turned off, and her vision returned to darkness.

Ye Linyuan held Jiang Qingli from behind, but he didn’t feel the slightest bit sleepy.

’He hadn’t finished his business. He shouldn’t have come back.’

’When he saw Jiang Qingli’s text, his car had already passed through the neighborhood, but as if possessed, he had the driver turn around.’

’He had only planned to tell her he was leaving and then go.’

However, when the car stopped downstairs, Ye Linyuan looked up at the fifth floor and saw a faint light glowing from the window of his room.

A warm, yellow glow.

Ye Linyuan thought that perhaps a maid had forgotten to turn off the light.

But a faint suspicion made his heart beat a little faster.

When he pushed open the door, he saw the girl hugging a pillow, curled up on the sofa, facing the entrance.

It was clearly a posture of waiting.

In that instant, Ye Linyuan didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling.

’For as long as he could remember, he had been alone.’

’Jiang Qingli was the first person to leave a light on for him, to wait for him to return somewhere.’

’And perhaps, the only one.’

The totem marking on his chest grew faintly hot.

In the darkness, Ye Linyuan looked down at the girl’s profile.

In the utter silence, he brushed aside a stray strand of hair on her face and leaned down, his lips gently touching hers.

The movement was so gentle, he himself was unaware of it.

...

After her class on Wednesday, Jiang Qingli received a text from Qin Shu asking to talk.

Jiang Qingli had intended to go alone, but when Qin Muye heard about it, he insisted on coming along, so she had to take him with her.

As they walked through the main entrance of the Melt Star Association, a few females walked toward them.

Several of the high-ranking members already recognized her and greeted her enthusiastically. Only the purple-haired female in the lead merely glanced at her, her attitude rather distant.

Jiang Qingli remembered this female. She was the Secretary-General of the Melt Star Association, Qiao Lan. Qin Shu had praised her several times for being serious and responsible.

She smiled at Qiao Lan. The latter seemed surprised that she would take the initiative to greet her. After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded and averted her gaze.

After bidding farewell to the females, Jiang Qingli pushed open the door to the president’s office.