Chapter 55
Ning Xueqing’s voice was like moonlight rippling through a clear spring, flowing gently over Ming Nuo’s heart.
Ming Nuo looked up at the wooden bridge across the stream, where a soft, graceful figure raised an arm and waved at her.
The summer night was hot, and just walking a few steps left a layer of sweat that made their thin clothes cling to their skin. As Ming Nuo drew closer to her, she could smell her own scent hanging in the warm air.
Along with it came the faint scent of lime from Ning Xueqing.
Ning Xueqing showed Ming Nuo the heavy cooler bag in her hand. “Aren’t you going to ask how I got in?”
Security at the villa hotel was very strict. Not only were deliveries barred from entering, but if a visitor arrived, the front desk had to call the guest and confirm before letting them in.
Ming Nuo hurriedly took the heavy bag from her hands. “Are you staying here?”
Ning Xueqing sighed. “I don’t have an annual membership, how could I book a spot here?”
Ming Nuo guessed again, “Is there an event with the hotel?” Like inviting Ning Xueqing to be an ambassador or shoot a commercial?
Ning Xueqing: “No.”
Ming Nuo surrendered and asked honestly, “How did you get in?”
Ning Xueqing smiled, leaning close to whisper, “I told the lobby manager that I was Ning Xueqing and asked where Ming Nuo was staying, so she brought me in.”
Ming Nuo was completely astonished. “Just like that?”
Ning Xueqing nodded with a serious look. “Yep.”
“Maybe after watching a few episodes of Miraculous Journey, some people just assume we aren’t exactly outsiders to each other.”
Ming Nuo listened quietly, curling her lips into a smile. She didn’t dare casually carry on the topic of “insiders” and “outsiders.” She lifted the cooler bag to check it. “Food?”
“Yes, we strolled through the ancient town this afternoon, and Mengmeng picked it out for you.” Ning Xueqing peeked into the villa courtyard. “Is Auntie Ming inside?”
Ning Xueqing had only learned why Ming Nuo came to Lanyu after watching the video of Ming Yan confronting Ji Suxin. If Ming Yan was around, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to enter. It didn’t matter, though; as long as the food was delivered, it was fine, and she even got to chat with Ming Nuo for a bit.
Seeing her movements, Ming Nuo guessed what she was thinking and said, “My mom is already asleep, and she has a friend here too.”
“Oh…” If Auntie Ming was asleep, they could chat a bit longer.
There were many mosquitoes in the summer. Ming Nuo wore a mosquito repellent bracelet and essential oil patches, which she shared with Ning Xueqing. Standing still for too long made it easy to get bitten, so they strolled along the stream.
The stream water flowed down from the melting snow on the mountains. The running water was biting cold, meaning there were fewer mosquitoes, and it was harder to get bitten while moving around.
“Coming over this late, Auntie Ning will be worried. Shall I walk you back?”
“It’s fine, Mom told me to come.”
Yes, at this late hour, Ning Zhixuan had actually told Ning Xueqing to drive over alone. Ning Xueqing suspected that Ning Zhixuan didn’t even plan to wait up for her return tonight.
Ming Nuo was surprised. Didn’t Ning Zhixuan just tell Mengmeng to play less with her a while ago? Why had her attitude changed now?
Ning Xueqing stopped and faced Ming Nuo, her fine bangs swaying gently with the movement of her head as she looked down. “Mom saw the video of Auntie Ming online.”
Ming Nuo’s heart instantly leaped into her throat. “Ah… I’m sorry, my Mammy was too impulsive. Did she cause you trouble again?”
“Not at all!” Under the moonlight, Ning Xueqing’s bright eyes flashed. “We need to thank Auntie Ming properly. My mom said she had been bullied by Ji Suxin for so many years and tried every method, but none worked. In the end, Auntie Ming practically drowned her with a few spits. My mom has never felt this vindicated.”
Ming Nuo’s eyes widened. “Re-really?”
Ming Nuo didn’t know that Ning Zhixuan’s attitude toward Ming Yan had improved. She only remembered that Ming Yan had caused a stir at the Ning house. No matter what Ming Yan did, interfering in Ning Zhixuan’s affairs without permission always made Ming Nuo feel very worried.
Ning Xueqing nodded heavily. “Really.”
She told Ming Nuo how exaggeratingly Ning Zhixuan had laughed while watching the video of Ji Suxin suffering a setback, emphasizing the words Ning Zhixuan had said. However, she omitted the first half of the sentence about being a “crude person,” only saying that Ning Zhixuan saw integrity and courage in Ming Yan.
Hearing such praise made Ming Nuo feel embarrassed. She could imagine that if Ming Yan heard this, her hair would flip up to the sky. Ming Yan was very prone to pride, which was also the source of her self-confidence.
They walked to a rest stop where there were vending machines, tables, and chairs behind automatic glass doors.
Ming Nuo found a spot near the mosquito repellent lamp to sit down and unzipped the cooler bag. “It’s wonderful that Auntie Ning can be happy… Let me see what Mengmeng picked out for me.”
Ning Xueqing sat opposite her, resting her chin on one hand, a faint pink flush appearing on her smiling cheeks. “She picked a lot. Mengmeng especially recommended this—crispy po-shu baba.”
“Did you eat it in the ancient town?”
Ming Nuo unwrapped the oil paper, and the aroma of the pastry wafted up. She took a large bite, her voice muffled as she said, “No, I just ate at the hotel, I didn’t go out on the street.”
Ning Xueqing watched her chew without blinking. “You’re that busy? Here’s some pear water, don’t choke.”
“Mmm, thanks.”
Ming Nuo ate half of the pastry, wiped the corners of her mouth with a tissue, and asked, “Are Mengmeng and Auntie Ning together?”
Mengmeng hadn’t come, and she missed her a bit.
Ning Xueqing slowly lowered her hand from her chin, her eyelashes fluttering.
As for this, she had originally intended to bring Mengmeng along, but she was stopped by Ning Zhixuan before leaving the room.
Ning Zhixuan had said: Mengmeng needs to sleep at nine. Can you make it back before nine?
Of course she couldn’t. Even without counting the time spent staying there, just the round trip alone would take three or four hours. So, she didn’t bring Mengmeng.
Ning Xueqing said, “Yes, she’s asleep by this time.”
Ming Nuo: “True, Mengmeng needs to rest at nine.”
She glanced at her phone; it was already past eleven. “Thank you for bringing me snacks so late. It’s almost midnight, I’ll walk you—”
Ming Nuo spoke to herself, but halfway through, she suddenly turned her eyes and realized that the person opposite her had been staring at her intently without looking away.
Ning Xueqing’s gaze covered a wide area, making it impossible for Ming Nuo to tell whether she was looking at her face, her eyebrows, the bridge of her nose, her lips, or somewhere else.
Why does she keep looking at me…
Realizing this after the fact, Ming Nuo touched her cheek uncomfortably.
Ning Xueqing aimlessly swiped her phone screen with one hand. She moved her gaze away and looked at her phone. “The day before yesterday, I saw that this hotel couldn’t be booked.”
“My mom said that annual members have a chance.”
“Does your card still have the privilege?”
Ming Nuo reacted for a moment and raised her hand. “Yes.”
Ning Xueqing thought for a bit and said, “Never mind.”
Ming Nuo quickly said, “They have vacant rooms, they just don’t list them publicly. I can just make a call to the room service manager.”
Ning Xueqing lifted her face, her brows knitted as she stared. “But the lobby manager already let me in to find you. If I stay overnight in a room with you again, what will others think?”
Was Ning Xueqing worried about this?
Ming Nuo looked at the mischief hidden in the corners of her mouth and didn’t think so at all. If she were truly worried, would she have frankly stated her identity to the lobby manager at the beginning? She simply wanted to see the other person take the initiative.
Ming Nuo very cooperatively comforted Ning Xueqing, “But the lobby manager already knows you came to find me alone. In the past half hour, what have others thought? To them, there’s no essential difference between half an hour and a whole night.”
What else could an Alpha and an Omega be doing when meeting at night? Half an hour or a whole night would at most change the imaginary duration of their activities. In the minds of those with impure thoughts, nothing that should be done would be missed.
Ning Xueqing smiled and ran a hand through her long hair, brushing away the fluffy strands and letting them fall one by one. “Let them think whatever they want.”
Ming Nuo raised an eyebrow and used her phone to send a message to the room manager.
Ning Xueqing leaned onto the table and let out a large yawn. Spending the day with Ning Zhixuan and Mengmeng and driving around the lake at night made her sleepy.
Noticing Ning Xueqing’s fatigue, Ming Nuo reached out toward the top of her head. Ning Xueqing opened her eyelids slightly but didn’t move, quietly letting Ming Nuo remove a jacaranda leaf caught in her hair.
“Why didn’t you call me?” When Ming Nuo’s voice was deep, her tone was like coffee laced with wine—mellow and intoxicating.
Ning Xueqing rested her face on her arm, looking at her with hazy eyes. “About what?”
Ming Nuo lowered her eyes, her gaze falling into her pupils. “You took Mengmeng to Yangshui Town this afternoon and bought so many snacks. If you had called, I would have come out. Instead, you made a special trip tonight.”
Ning Xueqing let out a muffled laugh from her throat. “Am I not welcome at night?”
“No.” Ming Nuo spread her fingers to comb through Ning Xueqing’s cascading long hair. “I wanted to spend time with Mengmeng, and I also wanted you to get some good rest.”
The hand placed under the table touched warmth. Ming Nuo looked down. Ning Xueqing had hooked her pinky finger around hers from under the table, her eyes crystalline. “Tonight, Mengmeng has Grandma to keep her company.”
“I don’t.”
Ming Nuo kept her hand where it was. Sitting on opposite sides of each other in the quiet night, their interlocking fingers felt like a lock.
One.
Two.
Ming Nuo listened to her own heartbeat. She turned her hand over and gripped Ning Xueqing’s entire hand.
On the tabletop, Ming Nuo looked at the reply message from the room manager on her phone, while Ning Xueqing swiped through a beauty video on hers. As long as their eyes didn’t meet, they could pretend they didn’t know their hands were tightly clasped.
The newly opened suite could be accessed directly by scanning her face. All rooms had undergone turn-down service, and eleven red roses were placed on the large bed in the master bedroom.
Ning Xueqing dropped her bag and lay straight into the soft, grand bed. She turned her head as Ming Nuo removed her earrings in front of the mirror.
Ning Xueqing picked up the card underneath the roses: “I’m sweet on you.”
She turned over with a smile, holding the card between her index and middle fingers, raising it up. “Does the Maers suite even offer this kind of thoughtful service?”
Seeing Ning Xueqing’s meaningful smile in the mirror, Ming Nuo placed her earrings onto the jewelry tray. “I don’t know. Rooms are tight, so we just stay in whatever they provide.”
Ning Xueqing stared at Ming Nuo in the mirror for a while longer, smiling without speaking. She stood up, slipped into her slippers, and walked into the bathroom while unzipping her dress. “I’ll take a shower first.”
“Okay, message me when you’re done. I’ll go back to grab some things.”
Hiding behind the door, Ning Xueqing revealed half a shoulder and blinked her peach-blossom eyes. “Got it.”
Ming Nuo left the suite, using her phone flashlight to light the path. This suite was a single-level unit in the lakeside area, usually reserved for top-tier members and not easily booked for check-in. Walking from the suite to the villa area took some time. Ming Nuo went back to grab some medicine and clothes, moving with light steps for fear of waking the sleeping Ming Yan.
Returning to the outside of the suite, Ning Xueqing hadn’t messaged her yet, so she sat in the outdoor entryway and scrolled through her WeChat Moments for a bit.
Xing Cai: 【First time attending her class, and I fell asleep. After class, a group of college students surrounded me and called me ‘Mistress.’ Such a subtle experience [dazed]】
Xiao Qian: 【Concocting a new drama. Although everyone calls me a melodramatic mind, I want to say: this market needs boutique productions, but doesn’t it also need ‘digital pickles’ (popcorn entertainment)?】
Ji Lang: 【How to handle the old man’s birthday? So hard [dozing]】
Chi Shu commented on Ji Lang: 【You still need to be polite to your elders…】
Ji Lang replied to Chi Shu: 【He doesn’t count as my elder [smile]】
Ming Nuo curled the corners of her mouth, taking a random photo of the shadow of the trees under the light. This time, it wasn’t visible to only one person. It was visible to everyone.
Ming Nuo posted the photo: 【Summer is here.】
—And you’re here too.
Ning Xueqing saw Ming Nuo’s new update as soon as she opened her phone. As usual, it had zero comments and zero likes.
Sighed. Does Ming Nuo not have friends added to this private account? After all these years, she had never seen a friend give her a like. They were both in the entertainment industry and knew many people, so it was impossible not to have mutual friends. It couldn’t be that there wasn’t a single mutual friend in Ming Nuo’s visible friend group.
Thoughtful, Ning Xueqing curled her lips into a smile and commented on Ming Nuo’s update, breaking the zero-comment streak.
Ning Xueqing commented on Ming Nuo: 【Come inside quickly~】
Receiving the message notification, Ming Nuo hesitated for a moment but didn’t delete the update, entering the suite directly.
The bedroom was filled with mist, carrying the soothing scent of body wash along with a faint scent of pheromones. Ning Xueqing was wearing a satin camisole dress, gathering half of her long hair as she applied eye cream in front of the mirror, the lower part of her back curving into an enchanting line.
“I saw this in the wardrobe drawer.” Ning Xueqing saw Ming Nuo’s reflection walking over and tapped a piece of paper on the table.
Ming Nuo glanced at the vanity table, secretly crying foul. After all her careful calculations, a single oversight had still allowed her to be caught red-handed.
Ning Xueqing turned around gracefully, an essence stick still held delicately between her fingers, her gaze shining. “An added ‘lovers’ sweet words’ goodnight service: eleven flowers for two hundred yuan. It turns out it wasn’t a complimentary gift, but had to be purchased.”
Ming Nuo reached out to take the charging price list on the vanity table. “Premium members have it included as a gift.”
Ning Xueqing pressed her hand over the form. “Is that so? I thought these flowers were beautiful and just checked the box for tomorrow night. Since it’s a gift, shall I cancel it?”
Ming Nuo fell silent, their eyes meeting.
Flowers. Tomorrow night. Ning Xueqing wanted to send her roses tomorrow night. Ming Nuo couldn’t help but turn the corners of her mouth upward.
Ring-dong, ring-dong, ring-dong—
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz—
The two phones at the bedside clamored simultaneously. Ming Nuo paused, calmly opening her phone to look. Ning Xueqing wondered how their message notifications were so synchronized—was it a group message from the show?
Opening the WeChat Moments interaction notifications, Ning Xueqing’s fair face turned instantly beet-red.
Ming Nuo: 【Summer is here.】
Ning Xueqing commented: 【Come inside quickly~】
Xing Cai replied to Ning Xueqing: 【=0=】
Ouyang Yu: 【At twelve midnight, you two are together wow (ouo)】
Ji Lang: 【Quickly, go inside where?】
Ning Xueqing suddenly looked at Ming Nuo, whose mouth was slightly turned upward, and tightened her fingers.
You.
Didn’t you say you have very few friends?
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