CH 61.1

The grand fireworks display lit up the night sky with bright lights amongst the fluttering snow, ushering in this New Year’s with a dream-like warmth.

Qin Juran led Ruan Nan by hand towards the street, where there were children playing in the snow. Many street vendors were taking advantage of the crowd rush to sell baked sweet potatoes, and some of the storefronts had small lights hanging upon the shop windows, glittering like shining stars that cast a warm glow upon the snowy scenery.

“Hungry?” Qin Juran asked.

Ruan Nan nodded.

“Cold?”

“A little.”

Qin Juran smiled, picking up her pace and skipping towards a food stall. She bought a baked sweet potato and placed it into Ruan Nan’s hands, then encircled her own arms around Ruan Nan.

“What did you wish for just then?” Ruan Nan asked as they walked along. At the moment when the bell rang, her first instinct was to kiss Qin Juran. But right when Qin Juran tried to deepen the kiss, probing her tongue inside, Ruan Nan suddenly pulled away.

While President Qin was at a loss, her young wife barely noticed the irony of her own behavior. At the chime of the bell, she hurriedly shook President Qin’s arm, pointing to the fireworks in the sky: “Quick, make a wish.”

As she spoke, she clapped her hands together in a praying stance and shut her eyes.

Qin Juran hugged her arms. Rather than making a wish, she was too busy looking upon Ruan Nan beside her, who was glowing from the stream of lights.

“If you say your wish out loud, will it still come true?” Qin Juran responded, holding onto Ruan Nan as they walked.

Ruan Nan paused, cocking her head: “Even if you don’t tell me, I think I can make a guess.”

Qin Juran laughed, disbelief flickering in her eyes. Seeing her expression, Ruan Nan was unconvinced: “Didn’t you write down your two wishes yourself before?”

“It’s definitely not ‘to become President Qin,’ so it has to be ‘to be with me.’” Perhaps feeling some embarrassment at her own words, the latter half of Ruan Nan’s sentence came out in a small voice.

Sensing her shyness, Qin Juran decided to pour oil on the fire by feigning surprise and shaking her head: “Ah-Ruan, how could you think that?”

“It’s not that?” Ruan Nan pouted, frowning.

“Of course not.” Qin Juran seemed to be stifling a laugh.

Ruan Nan suddenly felt embarrassed, thinking that she was the only one being presumptuous. The two of them had just made it over to the car, but Ruan Nan didn’t start up the car, instead shifting to face Qin Juran: “No, tell me.”

Qin Juran laughed in spite of herself. She pulled out a towel from her bag to dry her hair, replying: “Then how about let’s both share? If we both say it, then maybe they will still come true.”

Ruan Nan considered the fairness of this offer, and after a moment of thinking, she came to an agreement. “I would think so, too.”

“I wished that Qin Juran would take home the first-place prize in the national competition.”

Qin Juran’s eyes widened in surprise and she froze, not expecting that to be her wish. Seeing her startled expression, Ruan Nan immediately furrowed her brows: “Don’t tell me that we wished for the same thing?”

Qin Juran leaned back into her seat, smiling as she shook her head: “Nope.”

“Then what’s yours?”

Qin Juran pointed forwards: “I’ll tell you once we get back.” She relaxed into her seat and closed her eyes.

Despite her curiosity, Ruan Nan didn’t press any further. Qin Juran was always true to her word; if she said she would tell her later, then she definitely would.

It was already past midnight, so the dormitory doors would be locked by then. Without explicitly asking, Ruan Nan decided to take Qin Juran directly to her own apartment. Since the visibility during the nighttime was lower, the drive back took nearly an hour. The luxurious residential area was lined with fake trees, decked out with glittering lanterns that accentuated the New Year’s excitement.

Qin Juran appeared to have dozed off for a while. Only when the car came to a stop did she hazily blink her eyes open.

“Your dormitory is definitely locked by now, so you can stay over at my place tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll give you a ride back, or you can take another car back.”

“Mm.”

“That’s not necessary.”

Qin Juran nodded, then shook her head.

“What’s not?”

Qin Juran pointed to her suitcase in the backseat, replying nonchalantly: “No need to go back. There won’t be anyone at the dorm tomorrow.”

“What about Huang Ying?” Ruan Nan’s eyes widened.

“She finished her finals, so she went back home.”

“You can’t get inside your dorm?”

“The door’s locked.”

“And your keys?”

“Dropped them in the toilet.”

“And then?”

“I was just about to fish them out when I accidentally flushed them away.”

“……”

By the time Ruan Nan realized what this fox vixen’s plan was along, Qin Juran had already gotten out of the car and lugged out her suitcase. The train station, the packed suitcase – it was all coming together.

Was this her way of killing two birds with one stone?

Ruan Nan locked the car as they left to go inside. The heels that Qin Juran was wearing were rather tall, and her suitcase was clearly worn with wear, so the wheels did not rotate smoothly. Qin Juran seemed to wobble as she lugged her suitcase inside, and nearly tripped when she walked out of the elevator.

After opening the door, Ruan Nan rushed to pick up the suitcase, while Qin Juran tried to brush off her help. She meant to pull it directly inside, but with a push and a shove, the suitcase accidentally banged against the metal of the door hinge on the way in.

The old suitcase that was already hanging by a thread was easily knocked to the ground with the force of the blow. Ruan Nan and Qin Juran simultaneously moved to look: while Ruan Nan checked that there was no damage to the suitcase, Qin Juran looked towards the door frame to make sure that the paint hadn’t been chipped.

“Sorry, Qin Juran…..” Ruan Nan saw that some of the contents from within the suitcase had flown out, and quickly reached down to pick them up. The first piece was an article of clothing that appeared to be a shirt. Ruan Nan carefully zipped open the suitcase, meaning to place it back inside, but when she saw the contents inside, her face flamed.

There was a white shirt, a glasses case, a belt, and a polaroid of the two of them. Ruan Nan held up some thin strips of black fabric between her fingers, only to realize a little later that it was a thong.

In the corner was a box with a foreign label. On it was an image of what seemed to be fingers covered with rubber gloves.

No, not quite gloves. That would be if they covered the entire hand. But these rubber covers only covered the tips of the fingers, what were they called…..

Finger cots…..

From where she was squatted down, Ruan Nan’s head shot up to look at Qin Juran, who wore an indifferent look on her face. She leaned casually against the doorframe, her arms crossed against her proud bosom that was enveloped by her tight dress, staring steadily at Ruan Nan the entire time.

Upon seeing her expression, Ruan Nan’s eyes widened, looking like a small kitten who had just woken up from her sleep. She then immediately whipped her head back around, trying to pretend that she didn’t see anything as she continued to tidy the rest of her things.

“Is there anything you like?”

Qin Juran’s playful voice resounded.

“Qin Juran, you—”

As Ruan Nan squatted on the ground, the goods in her line of sight were shocking. All she could make out was a blur of orange colors.

“Ah-Ruan, didn’t you ask before what my New Year’s wish was?”

Qin Juran squatted down in her high heels, grabbing the thong from Ruan Nan’s hands. With a flick of her fingers, the tangled pieces of cloth morphed into an alluring shape.

Qin Juran tucked the underwear away, then turned to fix a lock of Ruan Nan’s hair. Leaning in close to her ear, she whispered: “My New Year’s wish is to make love with Ah-Ruan.”

On reflex, Ruan Nan tried to slip away like a scared kitten, but Qin Juran looped her arms around her back and pulled her up. Ruan Nan’s leg was numb at this point and she nearly fell forward, but Qin Juran adeptly wrapped one arm around her waist to steady her, while her other hand planted firmly against the wall beside them.

The tassels of her dress sleeves sparkled under the light, and Qin Juran’s long fingers looked especially delicate and beautiful.

She tapped lightly against the wall with a few fingers, then leaned in close to Ruan Nan’s ear: “So what do you say, Ah-Ruan, will my wish come true?”

Ruan Nan felt her warm breath against her ear, her eyes lingering upon Qin Juran’s fingers as her mind raced with the images of what she’d just found in her suitcase. She immediately shrunk away, silent for a long moment before responding shyly: “But—but we just made up. We haven’t even done anything yet, so I feel like there’s no reason to…..”

Qin Juran laughed softly. “Does making love require a reason behind it?”

Ruan Nan nodded firmly: “It’s just – I haven’t prepared yet…..”

Qin Juran let out a soft breath, then turned around and loosened her grip: “That’s true, since it’s the first time, you should make sure you’re ready. No pressure, Ah-Ruan –  since it’s my New Year’s wish, we have all year to make it happen.”

Ruan Nan still felt a little stunned. She was just beginning to wonder why Qin Juran was so gentle and understanding this time, when Qin Juran continued, “Ah-Ruan, I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of this saying before, but it’s something I believe in.”

“The anticipation of knowing that something is going to happen, but not at which exact moment, is rather thrilling.”

There were only ten days left until the competition finals. In the meantime, Qin Juran lived shamelessly and happily in Ruan Nan’s apartment.

Even if she couldn’t have her just yet, she was very content just being able to touch and flirt with her.

To Qin Juran, Ruan Nan was the cutest thing in the world. Despite never being able to out-tease her, Ruan Nan never failed to try, and when she ended up embarrassing herself, she would blush and shy away like a small cat.

On the other hand, to Ruan Nan, Qin Juran was the most inscrutable person she had met. They would be in the middle of a simple conversation when she would suddenly say something striking to catch her off guard.

Ruan Nan couldn’t help asking: “What did you study as a child, the Three Hundred Tang Poems?”

Qin Juran shrugged: “Nah, more like the Art of War.”

The final competition was to be recorded in S City. Beforehand, the school also wanted to meet with the group to recognize Qin Juran’s exceptional participation in the competition. In addition to the Global Innovation Center teachers, Secretary Yan from the Finance department would also accompany them to the competition.

The final question bank had already been distributed, so everyone was spending their days and nights studying for the final battle. Ever since Qin Juran came over, Ruan Nan hadn’t told her that she had also been secretly studying with her. In the mornings before Qin Juran had awoken, she would discreetly make copies of the new question bank and study it on her own.

The two of them also discussed the study abroad matter. Ruan Nan explained that she really did stay so that she could support Qin Juran in the finals, but she hadn’t completely given up the opportunity, and merely postponed it to spring break in the second half of the following semester. Although the spring break was longer than the winter break, the credits could still be transferred and the financial value was around the same.

“Just to see the competition, you’re going to stay abroad all by yourself for a whole other month. Is it really worth it?” Qin Juran asked as she helped curl Ruan Nan’s hair with a flat iron.

As the winter progressed, the layer of white frost on the window panes accumulated thicker and thicker, while the sunlight that poured into the room cast a hazy warmth. Ruan Nan was plopped against the sofa in her pajamas, allowing Qin Juran to play with her hair.

Her ash-colored hair from earlier had faded, and her hair was now a soft chestnut brown.

“Of course it’s worth it.” Ruan Nan replied without turning her head.

“And what if I lose in the end?”

Ruan Nan paused, then turned to look at Qin Juran: “Then wouldn’t that be all the more reason for me to be there for you?”