CH 19

Hearing this, Ruan Nan’s face flamed. Seeing that Qin Juran wouldn’t let her go without choosing one of the two choices, she stomped her foot and raised her head, flicking her eyes away as she said without hesitation, “The motel.”

Qin Juran shrugged: “Sorry, I also forgot my identity card.”

“…..”

“So we’ve agreed on my home?” Qin Juran peaked at her, letting out an enigmatic laugh: “Good choice.”

“…..”

Ruan Nuan didn’t mention anything about driving herself and only looked at Qin Juran’s backseat. Once she tentatively got on, she seemed to be unsure of where to place her hands.

Seeing her uncertainty, Qin Juran laughed: “First time riding?”

“?”

“Don’t worry, it’s also my first time riding with someone else. Once we start speeding up, just hold on tight – if it’s too fast, you can shout at me to stop.”

“??? …”

Ruan Nan felt that there was a strange meaning behind the words, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

As Qin Juran started up her electric bike, she felt that Ruan Nan wasn’t properly hugging her waist, and made a sharp turn on purpose. Since this bike wasn’t very stable, Ruan Nan felt herself nearly toppling out of the seat and quickly latched her arms around Qin Juran’s waist.

Seeing that her little trick worked, Qin Juran couldn’t help laughing out loud. When Ruan Nan also realized that it was on purpose, she quickly let go of her hands.

“You won’t hold on to me?”

Her clear voice echoed along with the night breeze whistling past them.

“No,” Ruan Nan replied haughtily.

“You really won’t?” Qin Juran raised her eyebrows and gripped the handles tightly, preparing to give her another jolt. However, just as she drove out of a small alleyway, she was suddenly halted by a neon-vest-wearing traffic policeman, standing in front of her with his arms held out to the sides.

The policeman frowned as he walked over, calling out sternly, “Okay, little girl, are you trying to chase a Porsche with your little bike?”

Qin Juran and Ruan Nan obediently hopped off the bike. Despite his words, the policeman’s accent was so funny that Qin Juran couldn’t even maintain an angry face.

The traffic policeman inspected the bike then looked over to the two girls. He nodded his head at Qin Juran and asked, “How old are you?”

“26.”

Ruan Nan: ?

Qin Juran quickly corrected herself: “21, 21.”

The policeman’s frown deepened: “You don’t even know your own age?”

""

Qin Juran coughed, then raised her head and replied in her cutest voice: “Sorry, Mr. Police Officer. I must’ve gotten confused.”

“…..” The policeman eyed her suspiciously, but he saw that the two of them didn’t look like delinquents. He scolded them in a deep voice: “Make sure you drive slower from now on. It’s not just for your own sake, but you are also responsible for your passenger in the backseat. Got that?”

Qin Juran swiftly nodded her head: “I understand. I will take responsibility for her.”

Ruan Nan: “…..”

Seeing her honest attitude, the policeman let them go with a wave of his hands. As he watched the two girls steadily drive off, he rubbed his chin bewilderedly: “They seemed to be having more fun than the village fool at his wedding.”

The two soon reached the neighborhood of JuJu Tavern. It was indeed Ruan Nan’s first time riding a motorbike; despite her pride, her actions betrayed her throughout the drive, as she firmly grasped Qin Juran’s shirt whenever the bike made a turn. Soon, Qin Juran’s crisp, neat shirt had turned into a low-plunging v-neck from Ruan Nan’s tugging.

Thankfully, with Qin Juran’s inept driving skills, they were able to arrive safely.

Once they were close to her home, Ruan Tan suddenly tugged on the sleeve of Qin Juran’s shirt: “I need to buy clothes.”

Qin Juran didn’t fully comprehend her meaning, replying, “It’s already this late and you want to go shopping?”

Ruan Nan didn’t answer directly, and only reached a finger to press against the strap of Qin Juran’s bra through her shirt: “Do you get it now?”

Qin Juran shivered and grunted in agreement. This street was quite bustling even now, so they soon found a lingerie store nearby that was still open. Once Qin Juran stopped the bike, Ruan Nan glanced at her and asked, “You’re not coming inside?”

Qin Juran stretched out her legs and rested her feet on the ground. She forcibly coughed out, “I’ll pass.”

Seeing her awkward expression, Ruan Nan suddenly became more excited. She walked up to Qin Juran and asked in her face, wide-eyed and innocently, “I thought you liked picking out clothes for me?”

“Will you wear what I pick out?” The corner of Qin Juran’s lips curled in a teasing smile.

“The ones you picked – which of them did I not wear?” Ruan Nan seemed to have made certain that Qin Juran wasn’t coming along and inched even closer to provoke her.

Hiss…

Qin Juran reached a hand to pull her until Ruan Nan was standing right over, looming over Qin Juran as if she were looking down upon her in a high and mighty manner. Qin Juran raised her head to meet her eyes, steadily holding her stance until she finally gave in.

Qin Juran swallowed and spoke in a deep voice: “Come out once you’re done.”

If she knew what style of undergarments she was wearing, Qin Juran wasn’t sure how she’d manage to fall asleep on the same bed as her.

Of course, Miss Ruan must’ve not yet realized that her home only had one bed.

Soon, Ruan Nan came walking out with a large bag; she seemed to have also bought a pair of pajamas as well.

Just as they reached the front door of JuJu Tavern did Qin Juran suddenly realize that she didn’t even know which key was which. She hesitantly pulled out the bunch of keys and pretended to nonchalantly stick one of them in the keyhole. She tried to turn it, but the lock didn’t budge.

Qin Juran let out a light cough and tried once again with a different key.

Also no good.

Qin Juran coughed again. Under Ruan Nan’s scrutiny, Qin Juran had already moved on to the fourth key, when Ruan Nan blurted, “Is this your first time here, too?”

“…..”

With a click, the door finally opened.

Qin Juran laughed in embarrassment. By the time she and Qin Julai left, their parents had already been asleep. Without turning on the lights, Qin Juran turned on the flashlight of her phone and carefully led Ruan Nan up the stairs. Since the stairway was narrow, Qin Juran told Ruan Nan to go up first so she could protect her from the back.

Once they reached the second floor, Qin Juran pushed open the door to her room and flicked on the lights. Ruan Nan couldn’t see clearly before in the dark, but now the entire room came into full view. The hanging lamp cast a warm light over the small old-fashioned window and desk, neat bed sheets, and the vase of gypsophila flowers atop of the desk.

There was only one bed.

As the door shut with a thud, Ruan Nan didn’t even have time to say anything when suddenly, her phone began ringing. It was a call from Lin Wei.

“Sister Nan, did Qin Juran pick you up?”

“Mhm.”

“Where are you now?”

“With her.”

Lin Wei let out a breath: “You scared me to death! What the heck happened? Weren’t you going to Iceland to see the aurora lights? All of a sudden you’re back in A District, and you’re not even going to the reunion, so why…”

Lin Wei’s loud voice rang out from the phone, echoing through the otherwise quiet room so that Qin Juran could clearly hear him even from the side.

Ruan Nan quickly raised her head to peek at Qin Juran, then answered in a rushed manner: “I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up the call.

Qin Juran changed her shoes, then stepped closer to Ruan Nan, her eyes glistening with a playfulness. She asked with feigned innocence, “So you went out of your way to give me a ride home?”

Ruan Nan turned her head away, saying nothing.

But Qin Juran wasn’t ready to drop the subject. She took a step forward while Ruan Nan tried to step backward, ending up stumbling and falling into a sitting position atop of her bed. Qin Juran stood in front of her and bent down: “You sacrificed so much for this Big Sister, why didn’t you say anything?”

The temperature inside the room was already quite warm, but suddenly there seemed to be a wave of heat washing over them. From the corner of her eyes, Ruan Nan once again noticed the gypsophila flowers on the desk. She cleared her throat, answering, “What’s the point of telling you?”

“You want to see the aurora lights?”

“You’re going to show me?” Ruan Nan raised a brow.

Qin Juran rested a knee against Ruan Nan’s leg, one hand twirling a lock of hand around her finger, the other adeptly unhooking the top button of her shirt. She shamelessly jutted out her chin and replied, “Not the aurora.”

In a lazy, sultry voice, she continued:

“I can show you an even better sight.”