Water and Fire~Chapter 104.1: Is the Cake Sweet?

 

Chapter 104.1: Is the Cake Sweet?

Chu Qianmiao, held in Ren Yan's arms, watched the elevator ascend floor by floor, her heart pounding.

She tried to suppress her blushing and shortness of breath, looking up at Ren Yan. "Please put me down. Don't let anyone see me. Those three people live on my floor."

She saw that Ren Yan's expression was calm, with a hint of a smile in his eyes.

The elevator reached the target floor, dinged, and the door slowly opened. Chu Qianmiao was terrified, fearing that the three would witness their adulterous behavior.

Ren Yan, however, carried her out of the elevator with confidence, asked her room number, and followed the signs to find her way.

Her room was at the end of the corridor, and he reassured her as he carried her forward.

"Don't hold yourself so tight. I've confirmed they're all out."

Chu Qianmiao's tense muscles relaxed at the sound, and she took a breath. Then she asked, "How did you confirm that?"

Ren Yan glanced down at her, raised his lip, and said, "I called Li Si to get his word out. He first praised you to me, then said that others weren't as capable as you. For example, tonight they went out for a bath and a foot massage and wouldn't be back before eleven."

Chu Qianmiao glanced at him, lowered her head, and blinked, thinking, he's such a meticulous old fox. He even tried to sneak in a secret and sounded out the details beforehand.

They entered the room, and Chu Qianmiao unpacked another pair of disposable slippers and put them on. She asked Ren Yan to sit in the leather chair in front of the desk so he could rest for a while.

She stood by the desk, unwrapping the cake, as happy as if it were a birthday present.

After unwrapping it, she slumped over the table and ate with a fork. She beamed from ear to ear from the first bite.

Ren Yan watched from the side. The pale yellow light in the room made her pretty face appear even softer and smoother. She ate with delight, her eyebrows curved, her eyelashes long and curled, gently fluttering. From time to time, she extended her tongue to lick the cream on her lips. The cream was swept away by her pink tongue, leaving a light, wet mark on her rosy lips.

His Adam's apple rolled silently.

He whispered, "Is it delicious?"

She immediately turned and smiled at him, her eyes gleaming with "Delicious!"

She lowered her head to scoop a piece of cake and offered it to him, "Senior, try it."

He looked at her and raised his lip, "I'm not going to eat anymore. You have it."

She smiled at him, and without hesitation, with a twist of her wrist, she placed the cake in her own mouth.

She looked so charming and alluring, his heart pounding.

He called her "Qian Miao."

She sighed, biting her fork and tilting her head to look at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Don't let Li Tang know we're together. If she finds out, one of us will have to resign immediately," he warned sternly.

She was startled by his words, then agreed sternly.

"Don't let Tan Shen know either," he added.

Chu Qianmiao agreed again, saying, "He's working on a project overseas. We can't see him or talk about this." Then he added casually, "But Tan Shen isn't the type to report our relationship out of jealousy, is he?"

Ren Yan raised an eyebrow and uttered a rhetorical question, "Do you know him that well?" His tone was a little different than usual.

Chu Qianmiao savored the difference. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she looked at Ren Yan and asked, "Senior, are you jealous?"

Ren Yan glanced at her and said coldly, "Jealousy is a child's thing."

"Oh."

He refused to admit it, and she continued to eat her cake.

Suddenly, he called her "Qian Miao."

"Hmm," she turned to look at him.

He leaned back in his chair, patted his legs, and said, "Come over here, senior."

Chu Qian Miao's face flushed.

Blushing, she put down her fork and walked over to Ren Yan. He pulled her and sat on his lap. He put one arm around her and, with the other, pinched her chin, lifting her face to face him.

"Is the cake sweet?" he asked softly, looking at her.

She blushed uncontrollably and said, "Sweet."

He said hoarsely, "Let me taste it and see if it's sweet." The words died between her lips.

He grasped her chin and kissed her thoroughly, curling his tongue around hers to lick the lingering fragrance of her milk.

Chu Qianmiao's vision paled, her body softened, and her heart pounded. Her hands gripped his shoulders tightly, then gradually shifted to hugging his neck.

At the end of the long kiss, her chest heaved and she gasped softly. She felt her lips swell from his sucking, almost swollen.

After finishing half a piece of cake with Chu Qianmiao, Ren Yan checked his watch and said, "I have to go."

Chu Qianmiao called out "Senior" softly, almost reluctantly, startling herself.

He'd only been there for half an hour. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl could still spend a whole day together. She was indeed reluctant to leave.

"Can't we reschedule to tomorrow morning?" she thought for a moment and asked.

"Then where should I stay tonight?" He looked at her, his gaze burning.

"I'll go down and get you a room."

Ren Yan smiled, his lips curled. "No, I've asked."

"Then, then, then you can go back," Chu Qianmiao said, steeling her heart.

"Is it okay for me to stay with you tonight?" Ren Yan teased her deliberately.

Chu Qianmiao's face burned so hot it felt like it was about to combust. "No, no. I doubt we'll be able to control ourselves and do something unruly," she said with difficulty.

Ren Yan wanted to tease her even more. He narrowed his eyes, looked at her, and asked, "Can't we do something else?"

Chu Qianmiao swallowed hard, then raised her hand to cover her face. "Don't look at me anymore, but we're doing this too quickly."

Seeing her growing anxious, Ren Yan stopped teasing her.

He took her hand, squeezed it, and said, "Okay, I have to go. Take me downstairs."

"Wait for me."

Chu Qianmiao stood up, drank half a bottle of mineral water to cool herself down, and walked Ren Yan downstairs.

Taxis were waiting outside the hotel. Ren Yan walked to the door and waved, and an empty car drove up.

Before getting in, he turned and looked at Chu Qianmiao, raised his hand to touch her face, and urged, "Call me if you need anything."

Chu Qianmiao blushed and nodded.

"Let's go." He opened the car door and touched her head again before getting in.

The taxi sped away, carrying him away in a cloud of dust. Chu Qianmiao raised her hands to her cheeks, breathing heavily to cool herself down.

As she went upstairs, she wondered angrily, "Why did he just touch her head like a beggar?" She was, after all, a woman in her thirties, mature, steady, and well-mannered, yet he had touched her like a little girl.

After a brief, passionate half-hour, Chu Qianmiao and her boyfriend began their separate lives again. From the time they established their relationship in October to now, November, they had been lovers for quite some time, yet they had only spent two days and a half hours together face-to-face.

At first, Chu Qianmiao had assumed that they weren't separated enough to feel like a lifetime apart. But she soon overturned that assumption.

Her longing for Ren Yan was growing deeper, little by little, without her realizing it.

At first, it felt like an ant crawling, only a subtle, not intense, tingling, itchy feeling. But then, the crawling of ants turned into a roaring tsunami. Those tiny tingles of longing unnoticed swelled into a vast expanse, and those tingling sensations transformed into a lingering, secret sweetness and subtle pain.

Only then did she realize what the ultimate love felt like: unconditional love, yearning without question, without trying to convince herself or compromise that he was a good person, so she should also treat him wholeheartedly.

Her longing for him was instinctive. She supposed the most fundamental human emotions were instinctive.

Ever since their half-hour reunion, if she missed him, she would go out and buy a cake, the same style he'd bought her that day. As she melted the buttercream in her mouth with the tip of her tongue, she would savor the taste of his kiss, and she would smile uncontrollably.

She and Qin Qianyu would chat on WeChat from time to time, checking in on each other. Qin Qianyu told her, "The boss's been acting a bit strange lately. I wonder if something's going on at home. He's constantly checking his phone, like he's waiting for some news."

She thought, after all, he wasn't quite so calm even when he was waiting for her news.