Sunlight squeezed through the gaps in the curtains, drawing a golden line across the bedsheets.
Jiang Cheng was awakened by the sound of a phone alarm.
Drowsily, he reached out and felt around the nightstand several times until his fingers touched a phone.
It wasn't his; the screen was lit up, showing 6:30 AM.
The alarm was still ringing.
He picked up the phone and was about to turn it off when a hand suddenly reached out from beside him and quickly snatched it away.
Jiang Cheng turned his head.
Qiu Yihe's back was to him, her whole body huddled under the covers, leaving only a small section of her shoulder and her messy hair exposed.
When the phone screen went dark, she stopped moving as well.
She stayed that way, back turned to him, motionless, even making her breathing shallow.
It was as if as long as she didn't move, he could go back to sleep, and she could pretend nothing had happened.
Jiang Cheng watched her for two seconds, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.
He turned on his side, placed his hand on her smooth, tender waist, and gave it a gentle pinch. "What should I do now that you've woken me up?"
With that touch, he could clearly feel Qiu Yihe's body stiffen for a moment.
However, she still didn't move.
"Pretending to be asleep?"
Still no movement. Jiang Cheng's hand instantly moved upward and grabbed her firmly.
Mmh~
Big!
Soft!
Refreshing!
With that grab, she sprang up as if she'd been electrocuted.
She snatched the clothes next to her and held them to her chest, retreating a good distance toward the edge of the bed.
"What are you doing?" Her voice was hoarse and tight, as if someone were squeezing her throat.
Jiang Cheng leaned against the pillow and looked at her.
She kept her head down, not daring to look at him. Her hair was as messy as a bird's nest, and the flush on her face burned from her ears down to her neck; even the exposed part of her shoulder was pink.
"I'm waking you up. You're the one who woke me..."
Qiu Yihe gave him a fierce glare. "So what if I woke you up? Just go back to sleep..."
"I could sleep, but my 'brother' can't..."
She had lifted a corner of the quilt just now, and looking at it now...
Qiu Yihe's face instantly burned red.
"I have to go," she whispered.
But even as she said it, the corner of her eye remained fixed on the gap in the covers.
On the side of her face Jiang Cheng couldn't see, the corner of her mouth even curled up slightly.
"Where to?"
"To... to work."
"You have to work at 6:30 AM?"
Qiu Yihe rolled her eyes at Jiang Cheng. "I'm an intern; I have to be early..."
After saying that, she pulled her clothes on, her movements as fast as if she were fleeing for her life.
Jiang Cheng didn't move, just leaned against the pillow and watched her scramble to get dressed.
Only after she had pulled them on did he pull out a purple bra from under the pillow.
"So you usually don't wear a bra..."
Seeing Jiang Cheng dangling her intimate apparel in his hand with an appreciative look, Qiu Yihe's face turned several shades redder.
She reached out and snatched it back. "I... I just forgot..."
Seeing her frantically looking for something, Jiang Cheng pulled out another piece of pitifully skimpy intimate wear from under the pillow. "Hmm. It would be quite obvious if you didn't wear this bra, but this three-strapped thing doesn't seem to make much of a difference whether you wear it or not..."
"Ah! You... pervert! Why did you put that under the pillow?"
Jiang Cheng stared at her with an innocent expression. "Think about it again. Didn't you stuff it there yourself after taking it off last night?"
With that reminder, Qiu Yihe did remember.
Last night, Jiang Cheng had been staring at her for a long time.
In the end, she really couldn't stand being stared at.
After all, she wasn't a Victoria's Secret Angel.
It was truly embarrassing to have someone staring at and studying the fabric from such close range.
To stop Jiang Cheng from teasing her and to get the upper hand, she had impulsively stripped herself bare in her desperation.
Recalling this, Qiu Yihe just wanted to leave immediately.
After gritting her teeth and glancing at Jiang Cheng, she turned to get out of bed.
But before her feet could touch the floor, her wrist was seized.
She was pulled back, her back crashing into Jiang Cheng's chest.
"You..."
"You want to run before putting my 'brother' to sleep?" Jiang Cheng's voice came from above her head, laced with the raspiness of someone who had just woken up.
Qiu Yihe's heart skipped a beat.
She struggled a bit but couldn't break free. "I really have to go... Uncle Zhou will be getting up soon."
"It's still early."
"It's not early! It's 6:30!"
"6:30 is early."
"You..." Qiu Yihe bit her lip, her voice getting smaller and smaller. "Let me go."
Jiang Cheng didn't let go.
His hand rested on her waist and began to move upward. "You said it yourself last night; I haven't finished the job yet...?"
Qiu Yihe stopped moving, her breathing instantly becoming erratic. "You've... done it ten thousand times, how are you not finished?"
Jiang Cheng's tone was full of amusement. "What? So easily worn out?"
"Who... who said that?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a surge of regret.
Ugh, this damn competitive streak!
"I... I didn't lose to you today," she insisted stubbornly.
"Then how about another round?"
"Round your head!" She glared at him, but her eyes lacked any real sting; they were watery, like a bullied little animal.
Jiang Cheng looked down at her and smiled. "Then what do you say? You can't back out since the job isn't finished..."
The warmth from Jiang Cheng's breath as he spoke into her ear was cozy.
Such an intimate gesture instantly made her body go soft.
Biting her lip, her fingers gripped the corner of the quilt so hard her knuckles turned white.
She could no longer voice a refusal, and instead suddenly whispered, "Just once."
"What?"
"Only... one more time." After saying that, Qiu Yihe immediately buried her face in the quilt.
Jiang Cheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed and reached out to pull her out of the quilt.
"What are you laughing at!" She glared at him, her face so red it looked like it might explode.
"I'm not laughing."
"You clearly are!"
"Then you saw wrong."
"You..."
The rest of her words were cut off.
At noon, when Jiang Cheng got up, it was already nearly eleven o'clock.
When Jiang Cheng came downstairs, Zhou Guanshan was standing in the courtyard of the old mansion, taking a call.
His back was to the main hall, one hand in his pants pocket and the other holding the phone to his ear.
He stood as still as an iron post driven into the ground.
Seeing Jiang Cheng come downstairs, Wang Sheng stepped forward and whispered, "Young Master Jiang, he's been standing there for almost ten minutes."
Jiang Cheng said nothing and sat down at the Eight Immortals Table.
As soon as he sat down, Xia Li immediately turned and went into the kitchen.
"Young Master Jiang, these are Yunnan rice noodles. You said yesterday you wanted to try some..."
Hearing the movement, Zhou Guanshan turned around.
Seeing it was Jiang Cheng, he immediately walked into the house.
He then sat down beside Jiang Cheng and turned on the speakerphone.
From the receiver, Kun Tui's voice leaked out.
Although he was speaking Mandarin, it had the distinct accent of Northern Myanmar.
"...Brother Zhou, I'll really hand over the person. But it truly must be face-to-face."
Zhou Guanshan didn't speak, but glanced at Jiang Cheng.
Kun Tui seemed to get anxious, his voice rising a bit. "Brother Zhou, you've been on the border for thirty years; you know the rules of this road better than I do. If something changes hands three times, how many things can go wrong in between? I, Kun Tui, have been in Northern Myanmar for over twenty years, and the reason I've survived until today is because of the word 'caution.' If I hand the person over to a middleman and they get intercepted by some armed group on the way, or the person escapes, or some other mishap occurs..."
He paused, his voice lowering, but every word sounded like it was being squeezed through his teeth:
"When the Jiang Family comes to blame someone, will it be me who bears it, or the middleman?"