Chapter 33: A Petal of Snow-White

When Chen Nuo carried Xia Yehe inside, he had imagined many scenarios and pre-set many responses.

But he hadn't expected the auntie at the hotel front desk to just glance at him, seemingly accustomed to his situation, and say indifferently: "Only one queen room left, 200 for the night, 200 deposit, check out before 12 noon. If there's blood on the sheets, the deposit won't be refunded." Then she continued to look down and knit.

"Uh, okay, but I didn't bring my ID..."

"Add 50."

Alright, since it was so assembly-line, Chen Nuo stopped feeling anxious, paid the 450 yuan directly, took the room card, and carried Xia Yehe upstairs.

Because there was an elevator, this time was much easier than the last.

Chen Nuo carried Xia Yehe into the room on the 5th floor, first placed her on that soft, fluffy bed, then turned back to insert the power card, turned on the air conditioner, and prepared to cover her with the quilt and leave.

Turning his face, he discovered that Xia Yehe had opened her eyes at some point and was staring at him without blinking.

Chen Nuo let out a sigh of relief and said: "You're awake? Perfect, you can cover yourself with the quilt, I'm leaving. The car is downstairs, the keys are here. You can drive the car back yourself tomorrow."

Chen Nuo waited for a while, and seeing that Xia Yehe still hadn't spoken, he said: "Then I'm leaving. Bye."

Turning around, having only walked two steps, he heard Xia Yehe's drunken voice from behind: "To be honest, are you really gay?"

Chen Nuo was stunned and turned his head back.

Xia Yehe had indeed drunk quite a lot; her fair cheeks were flushed with a peach-red hue, and her eyes were half-open and half-closed, as if she would fall back asleep in the next second, making her gaze look hazy and somewhat blurred. She maintained the side-lying posture from when she got on the bed, her long legs slightly bent and overlapping, and from Chen Nuo's perspective, he could see the rounded curve of her hips. Her top was a bit messy, the neckline pulled down to her collarbone, revealing a patch of snow-white, translucent neck.

Chen Nuo coughed lightly and said: "I'm not."

The very, very bad Chen Nuo began to stand up, standing proudly and defiantly between heaven and earth.

"Then... do you look down on me?"

"Even less likely."

Xia Yehe's gaze wandered over his face, as if trying to distinguish whether he was telling the truth or not. "Do you know? What Li Hongying said is true; I went to her office and begged her to let me perform in this movie of yours. Otherwise, there are too many people who want to dance with you, and it wouldn't have been my turn at all."

She finally adjusted her posture, lying flat on the bed, looking at the ceiling, and smiled with the corners of her mouth, "Chen Kexin's movie, who wouldn't want to act in it? What if I get noticed? If you invite me to be a supporting role in the next play, I'll have entered the entertainment industry. Although the chance is small, you can't say it's non-existent, right?"

Chen Nuo nodded, "Mm."

Xia Yehe murmured: "I also want to be like Zhou Xun, acting, becoming famous, and making lots and lots of money." As she spoke, she rolled over again, lying on her stomach on the bed, looking at Chen Nuo and asking: "How did you start acting? Can you tell me?"

"I can." Chen Nuo rubbed his nose and said, "I just had better luck; I was walking on the road and was spotted by someone, who asked me to go film a movie."

"Spotted by Chen Kexin? Is it this one?"

"No. It was another one, a small production; the director was a graduate student at the Beijing Film Academy named Zhang Yi. We filmed for about a month or so, and later Director Zhang introduced me to a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy, letting me follow her to learn acting. Later, the teacher recommended me to Director Chen."

Xia Yehe's eyes were full of envy: "You're really lucky."

Chen Nuo nodded and said: "Yeah, my dad says I've met noble people all along the way. I think so too. Actually, I didn't have any interest in acting at the beginning. Why did I come to Jingcheng? It's because my grades were too bad, I couldn't get into any other school, so my dad told me to go take the exam for the Film Academy."

Xia Yehe laughed out loud: "Exactly the same as me, I also hated studying, so my parents made me learn to dance since I was little." "When did you start dancing?"

"Second grade of elementary school. At first, I practiced with our elementary school music teacher, and later when I was a bit older, my dad and the others specifically went to the city to sign me up for an interest class, going to learn two days a week. At that time, my dad fished, and my mom sold the catch; our family's situation was quite good..."

"And then?"

Xia Yehe said indifferently: "Later my mom got lung cancer and died. Two years later my dad took a new wife, but not many years later he himself got uremia and had to go for dialysis every week, so the family savings were emptied out bit by bit. To earn money, my brother worked two jobs, but one night on his way home, he was hit by a car. The driver ran away and wasn't found, and since then, my brother's brain hasn't been working too well."

Xia Yehe said it lightly, and there was no expression on her face.

Chen Nuo carefully scrutinized the expression on the girl's face.

In his past life, whether in KTVs or bars, he could say he had heard countless people say similar things countless times, until his ears were calloused.

And those women said these things to him, of course, for his money.

What about her? Would this dancer be the same?

Or was it...

Xia Yehe looked at him and suddenly smiled: "Why talk about this, let's not talk about it, anyway, I'm still getting by. Ah, my head is so dizzy, those crazy women like Liu Jiaojiao poured so much alcohol into me today, luckily I didn't throw up, otherwise it would be so embarrassing. Come over and help me, I want to go to the bathroom."

Chen Nuo didn't act coy, walked over directly, and helped her up from the bed.

Xia Yehe leaned half her body against him, seemingly without any strength at all, her small face resting against his chest, the hot air she exhaled passing through his clothes onto his skin, hot and itchy.

Chen Nuo helped her all the way into the bathroom and sat her on the toilet before letting go.

Whether it was the alcohol rising or what, Xia Yehe's face was so red it looked like it would drip blood, and her voice was soft and weak: "Thank you."

"It's nothing, call me when you're done."

Chen Nuo bowed his waist slightly, walked out of the bathroom, and stood at the door.

Soon he heard a rustling sound of water from inside the door, and only then realized that this hotel had such poor soundproofing. He felt that in a moment he might not just need to bow his waist, but to squat down.

Just as he was preparing to move further away from the door, he suddenly heard Xia Yehe scream.

Chen Nuo didn't think at all, grabbed the doorknob with his backhand, and pushed the door open.

He saw Xia Yehe leaning forward, her legs slightly bent in a half-squatting posture, both hands stuck at the waist of her pants, while the pants hadn't been pulled up yet, stuck at the base of her thighs. From Chen Nuo's angle, he had a full view of a petal of white, tender, and rounded flesh.

Chen Nuo stood frozen in place, neither entering nor retreating.

Xia Yehe's brain didn't seem to be turning either; she maintained that posture, turned her head, and said in a hoarse voice: "There was a cockroach just now."

"Oh." Chen Nuo nodded, his eyes meeting Xia Yehe's, and the two of them just stared at each other like that, neither looking away.

Afterward, he walked into the bathroom, slowly approaching Xia Yehe step by step, saying softly: "Cockroaches are very bad, don't move, I'll help you hit it."

(End of chapter)