CH 17

Peijin’s eyes widened in surprise, she hastily waved her hands, “That won’t do.”

He Xun thoughtfully smiled, “Why not?”

Peijin pursed her lips, “Your life is too much for me to bear.” The person before her eyes was the boss that was far bigger than the novel’s male lead, how could she ask for his life?

He Xun clicked his tongue and briskly commented, “Coward.”

At that moment, Fatty came over, holding an armful of snacks. He gasped for breath as he sat in the seat next to He Xun and tore open a bar of chocolate.. However, he hadn’t bought food for himself only, but also for He Xun and Peijin too.

Peijin teared open a sausage stick, slowly eating as she watched the heavy rains and blowing winds outside the window.

They hadn’t gone out to sea.

For He Xun, this calamity should have passed, right? He Xun should be fine now, right?

Just then, Fatty’s phone suddenly started to ring.

As soon as he picked it up, a blaring voice at the other side of the phone arose.

“Son, where are you? Are you alright?”

Fatty scratched his head and bluntly replied, “Mom, I’m fine.”

“Oh my, mom just saw the news, they said that a boat had gotten into an accident at sea. Mom thought, weren’t you also going out to sea, so I hurried to call you.”

Fatty took a bite out of his chocolate, munching as he comforted her, “Mom, don’t worry, I didn’t go out on the water today.”

“That’s good, that is good. Where are you right now?”

“I’m taking cover from the rain at a convenience store by the shore.”

“Then you just wait patiently, mom is coming to pick you up.”

Fatty was about to tell her there was no need, but his mother didn’t give him a chance to refuse. She went straight to the point and hung up.

After Fatty, Zheng Li and Zheng Chen also received successive calls from their family members. They all expressed how worried they were and wanted them to come home as quickly as they could.

Of the five people, three of them received concerned calls from their families.

He Xun nonchalantly waved his hand, “You all go first, don’t make your families worry.”

Fatty hesitated for a few seconds and anxiously said, “Brother Xun, what about you?”

There was a touch of indifference in He Xun’s voice, “From how it’s raining so hard, I don’t want to go home just yet, I’ll wait until after it stops.”

Fatty wanted to try and keep coaxing him, but Zheng Li gently pulled him along. Zheng Li looked at Peijin, “Little five, then you keep He Xun company. See you tomorrow.”

Peijin made an ‘ah’ of reply.

There had been five of them when they arrived, so how come all of a sudden only she and He Xun were left?

Fatty, Zheng li, and even Zhang Chen had left. They went home, only He Xun and she remained.

He Xun’s eyes flicked over to her, “Didn’t you tell your family you’d be going out today?”

Peijin hummed in response. In the end, she wasn’t the original character, and wasn’t close to Father Pei either. If she ever encountered a problem that she didn’t have to contact Father Pei for, then she wouldn’t interact with him. As a result, Father Pei knew nothing about her going to the seaside today, let alone that she had even planned to go out to sea.

He Xun gestured with his chin, “Aren’t you going to call home to tell them you’re safe?”

Peijin finished her sausage and tossed the wrapper into a nearby garbage can. She softly shook her head, “There’s no need. Nothing happened anyways, if I called my dad would only get worried instead.”

After she finished talking, the two fell silent. From what Peijin had seen, He Xun’s relationship with his family seemed to be somewhat strained and they rarely contacted one another. So of course she didn’t question it any further as to not set off a bomb.

After a while, He Xun stood up and stretched, “We won’t be going home tonight.”

“Okay.”

The two found a, relatively speaking, comparatively cleaner hotel to stay at. However when they were renting a room, the hotel reception told them they only had a one king suite left. (1)

(1) King suite = one king-sized bed in a room

Peijin gave a start and quickly asked, “What, you only have one king suite? Are there really no more standard rooms? It’s fine if it’s a bit more expensive!”

The receptionist shook their head and clearly enunciated it once again, “There are no more, we are a popular tourist destination, so there is always a short supply of rooms. You two are rather lucky, this room was just cancelled by another customer, or else there wouldn’t even have been a king suite.”

He Xun didn’t seem to mind at all, he took out his ID and credit card, casually saying, “Book it for one night.”

Just as the receptionist was about to take these two items, Peijin got to it first. She thoroughly discussed this with He Xun, “Brother Xun, since they don’t have any rooms here, how about we go look somewhere else?”

Before He Xun could say something, the receptionist spoke out, “The other hotels are in just about the same situation we are in. In general, if you planned to stay here overnight, at the very least you would have to book three days in advance. There typically wouldn’t be any rooms if you hadn’t booked ahead of time and were a walk-in.”

Peijin asked doubtfully, “Then do impromptu customers have to sleep outside on the ground at night?”

The receptionist shrugged, “Of course it wouldn’t go to that extent. There is certainly somewhere you can stay at. However, would you be willing to stay at a small, run-down, unsafe and dirty inn for 50 yuan a night?” Once they finished, they went on to say, “Although our hotel can’t compare to a grand, five-star hotel, at least we’re one of the better ones in the area. Safety and cleanliness are guaranteed, and we also sell items like disposable cups, bed covers, and toilet seat covers. Guests can set their minds to ease when staying here.”

He Xun took his ID and credit card from Peijin’s hands and gave it to the receptionist, “Alright, king suite, one night.”

The receptionist quickly moved to enter their information, “The charge is 298 Yuan for a king suite. Please sign here.”

He Xun elegantly signed his full name with a sweep of his hand.

When Peijin saw this, she was crestfallen. In the end, it would be useless for her to say anything else. It seems tonight, she could only share a king suite with He Xun.

After taking the room card, He Xun started walking towards their room.

He walked a few steps and found that Peijin wasn’t following him, so he turned and looked back at her, “What’s wrong? Still not coming?”

Peijin heaved a heavy sigh, her steps faltering one after another as she caught up to him.

The king-sized suite was well-cleaned and managed, with clear and tidy duvet covers, and floors scrubbed spick and span. The initial image of it alone made one feel quite pleased. Fifty yuan at a small inn would certainly never be able to beat this.

He Xun took out his phone and ordered takeout from nearby, “We can only order takeout for dinner in this tight situation.”

Peijin ‘hm’ed’.

After he finished ordering takeout, he sat on the bed, lying down after he made himself comfortable.

He glanced at Peijin sitting stiffly on the couch and beckoned at her, “Come here. What are you sitting there by yourself for?”

Peijin’s blood instantly froze.

She was currently sitting in a single sofa chair. In the entirety of the room, aside from one bed, a TV set, and a small coffee table, there was only one single sofa chair, truly making it simple and crude.

From the very start she had felt that it was fine if the hotel was plain as long as it was clean. But right now it was so primitive that it only had one large bed to sleep on and she was once again dissatisfied.

Peijin heard He Xun and hesitatingly said, “This sofa is really comfortable.”

He Xun sneered, “How can a sofa be more comfortable than a bed? Come here.”

Peijin feigned deafness and acted as if she hadn’t heard him.

He Xun raised an eyebrow, “Come here. You are a big man, what are you being shy for?”

Since He Xun had put it this way, Peijin really couldn’t keep being self-conscious. She couldn’t do anything but slowly move towards He Xun.

He Xun patted the spot next to him. Peijin took off her shoes and obediently got onto the bed and sat by his side. With her legs criss-crossed and hands over them, her posture could not be any more formal.

Although there was a gap between the two of them, they were still on the same bed so Peijin couldn’t stop the uneasy feeling in her heart.

She warily raised her eyes to glance at He Xun.

He Xun was reclining on the bed and looking at his phone. The side of his deep-seated eyes, long, curled eyelashes, and high, straight nose, just one side of his face was handsome enough to bewitch anyone. This angle should be the legendary “girlfriend angle”! (1)

(1) Popular picture taking angle at which many female celebrities will take pictures of their boyfriends, the kind where the camera makes you feel like you’re looking at them from the girlfriend’s perspective.

Peijin still refused to give up and made one last, desperate stand, “Brother Xun, are we really sleeping on the same bed tonight?”

He Xun hummed and briefly glanced at her, “Why? Aren’t you straight?”

She was straight, but in the sense she was straight for boys.

What was she going to do now!

He Xun didn’t take sleeping together with Peijin as something serious and breezily said, “Then it’s fine.”

Seeing that it wasn’t negotiable, Peijin listlessly replied, “Okay.”

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(Author) The melon eating masses (1): They’re sleeping together already, how blessed.