Chapter 172: Prepare to be Choked

He hadn't thought Sun Li would be shameless enough to not even consider herself Qian Meng's parent.

How apt.

"Oh. You should have told your stepmother before… isn't she supposed to help plan the wedding?"

Qian Meng sighed. "We're not having a grand wedding."

Sun Li looked confused. Even more so. "Are you pregnant?" she asked tentatively. "You shouldn't make the same mistake—"

"No. I am not." Qian Meng stopped her short. She didn't want to hear any of this. "That's not the only reason people get married without a party," she ground out through her teeth.

"Great! Well, I can't say that I have an opinion on this matter. I don't know Mo Qingchen well enough but I will support Qian Meng in her choice. She is almost never wrong." Sun Li shrugged.

"Yes, Qian Meng is a good kid. She has thought this through and I know you will make her happy. That's all that matters, right?" Daniel said, looking at Mo Qingchen with a smile. "Well, welcome to the family, son. Please don't give us a reason to regret it!"

Mo Qingchen looked at this step-father for a while before nodding. "I won't. I sincerely appreciate your open-mindedness."

Before they could cut the call, they heard Daniel ask one of the kids, "I'm a pretty cool dude, right?"

"Yes, dad. You're very cool."

Qian Meng hung up and threw the phone aside. "Well, that was interesting," she commented blandly.

"It went better than I anticipated. I was sure she wouldn't even pick up the phone," he said frankly.

Qian Meng was surprised too. "I thought the same. The great Sun Li has a day off and she spoke to us for so long. At least Daniel pretended to care."

"Points to him for that." Mo Qingchen was dispassionate otherwise. "Get in bed. You have work tomorrow," he ordered.

Slid into the covers and peered from underneath at him.

"Like what you see?" he chuckled.

"Very much," she breathed. "I wanna snuggle!" she claimed. "At least then you can complain you didn't get any sleep because of my octopus limbs."

Mo Qingchen chuckled. "Always so eloquent." He tapped her nose. He slid down and circled her waist. "Okay, octopus hands. Do your worst," he challenged.

"Prepare to be choked," she warned.

Mo Qingchen laughed before nodding. He pressed her head into his chest. His hand drew lazy and absent-minded circles on her back. Soon enough, her breathing evened out and her hands slackened on his body.

He was wrapped in her warmth, tethered to the universe. If he fell asleep, maybe she would hold him back from going to another world. As he thought about this, he slowly fell asleep.

- - - - -

All the procedures were done by twelve the next morning. Qian Meng belatedly remembered that she needed to move in with Mo Qingchen and she had a lot of packing to do. Therefore, she let Li Min know she was headed to the hotel.

She was halfway through packing (mostly because she was clinical in keeping everything organized) when she felt her eyes droop. She wanted to sleep.

The happenings of the past weeks were coming back to her and as it was finally ending, she really wanted to sleep.

She woke up to the annoying ringing of her cell phone. She ignored it twice and even tried muffling it under her pillow before she gave up and decided to just take care of the situation. Keeping her eyes closed, she stuck the phone to her face.

"Shut up and let me sleep," she mumbled into it. It was Mo Qingchen's number, so she didn't feel bad doing this. She had a special ringtone set for him.

"Well, that's no way to speak to your fiancé."

Qian Meng groaned. "What do you want? I just need to sleep a little longer!"

"I'm outside your hotel room." Qian Meng felt her sleep evaporate.

"What?" she asked, opening her eyes immediately. "You're at the hotel? How do you even know where I was? I never told you where I was…"

"You think I can't find out where my own fiancé is?" he asked in an amused tone.

"Are you stalking me?" she asked petulantly.

"No, I am marrying you." Qian Meng almost choked. "I called Li Min and she told me you went to the hotel to pack." Qian Meng sighed.

"Why are you here? I thought we weren't seeing each other today."

"My plans for today were canceled and I figured we might as well be productive," he said calmly into the phone.

"What is that supposed to mean? I'm too tired to be any more productive." She groaned once again.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, sounding amused.

"Yes, I feel terrible," she answered, irritated.

"Okay. I thought I would help you pack up and move but if you're too tired then I'll jus—"

She cut him off immediately. "Wait. What?" She was already sitting up on the bed. "You want to help me?"

"I did. But no—"

"Give me two minutes. I just have to put some clothes on."

He became silent. "You're naked?"

"Two minutes!" she yelled into the phone before hanging up and tossing it down onto the bed. She shot out of bed so fast she was surprised she didn't pull a muscle. If Mo Qingchen wanted to help her pack, she wouldn't hold back. She could be exhausted later on.

She put on some decent clothes and literally ran over to the door where Mo Qingchen was standing. She flung herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck as she squealed happily. For helping her pack, he deserved a hug.

"Have you showered? Packing did a number of on you," he said, his eyebrows furrowed together.

Good mood gone.

She let go of him and put her hands up against his chest to push him away from her for a bit.

"Well, you smell bad too," she responded petulantly. Actually, he smelled like he always did. But he insulted her scent, so of course, she had to insult his.