Chapter 193: If I stay, you won't sleep with me

After finishing their meal, Xie Qin washed the dishes by the sink, while Shen Li stood beside him, drying the bowls and chopsticks with a napkin before placing them into the cabinet.

"The dishes are done, shall I leave the rest to you?" Xie Qin shook the water off his hands. "I'm going to take a shower."

Shen Li nodded in response: "Okay." It was only a few dishes anyway; she didn't need his help.

After Xie Qin left the kitchen and returned to his room, he didn't come back out for a while; he must have been showering in the bathroom inside the master bedroom. There was a bathroom in the master bedroom and a shared one outside; yesterday, both of them had been soaked, and Xie Qin had showered in the outer one.

Shen Li put the dried bowls back into the disinfection cabinet under the stove, then went to wipe the table clean.

After finishing these tasks, she glanced at the time on her phone; it wasn't even seven o'clock in the evening yet.

There was still half a basket of strawberries left on the tea table, and the television had been left on; it was already playing the fourth episode.

Shen Li opened the chat box with Zhang Zixin, pursing her lips, brewing in her heart, thinking about how to tell her.

After hesitating for over ten seconds, she took the initiative to send her a message: 【He has changed a bit.】

Zhang Zixin was still out on a date with Xu Zhouyuan. When her phone vibrated, she picked it up, took a look, and her fingers tapped on the keyboard, replying instantly: 【Xie Qin?】

Shen Li replied: 【Yeah. I can't say what's strange about it, it's like he's changed, but also like he hasn't. In short... compared to when he was at Chengde University, he's become quite different.】

【We went out for lunch today, and he suddenly said thank you to me.】

Zhang Zixin on the other end frowned: 【It's quite normal for people to change, isn't it? Not everyone can stay the same forever. The Xie Qin of now is no longer the eighteen or nineteen-year-old Xie Qin. But he really has changed quite a bit over these years; he's matured a lot.】

【You have to think about it this way: you and Xie Qin haven't seen each other for six days or six months! It's been six years!】

【Having not seen each other for so long, so... a bit rusty?】

Shen Li stared quietly at the phone screen, watching the text Zhang Zixin sent. Zhang Zixin was right, but there was still a clear sense of sadness and loss in her heart: 【I want him to be like he was before. Now, I just feel that Xie Qin is too quiet; he's not as talkative as he used to be.】

Zhang Zixin: 【Relationships need to be cultivated step by step; try to find that familiar feeling of dating from before.】

【Didn't you always say Xie Qin was too childish before? Isn't it good that he's mature and steady now?】

Shen Li didn't know how to reply for a moment. She couldn't put her finger on this feeling. Six years of blank space was indeed enough to change a person; she just felt like something was missing.

But she didn't know what exactly was missing.

Zhang Zixin didn't receive a message from Shen Li for two minutes, so she didn't reply again. In matters of the heart, outsiders really couldn't interfere; they had to handle it themselves.

Shen Li stared at her phone, lost in thought for a while. She didn't dwell on the things she couldn't figure out.

She remembered what Zhang Zixin had asked her two and a half hours ago.

Shen Li told her: 【That phone call I made to Xie Qin six years ago was answered by Zhao Zhouyuan. Because of this, Xie Qin fired her.】

In a high-end French restaurant, Xu Zhouyuan had just finished paying the bill and sat back down.

The person opposite him slammed a palm directly onto the table, startling Xu Zhouyuan so much that he stood up immediately. "Damn, honey, what are you doing? You scared me!"

Zhang Zixin was stunned for a long while before she reacted. Then, a wave of anger surged up, and she was so angry she laughed.

Her fingers swiped rapidly across the screen, finding Zhao Zhouyuan's WeChat directly from her contacts. Without even hesitating, she unleashed a barrage of messages: 【Zhao Zhouyuan, do you have any shame left?】

【You're truly disgusting, playing such underhanded tricks behind people's backs! Staying by Xie Qin's side all these years, it's a pity you still have the nerve to act innocent!】

【Now that you've been exposed, does your face hurt? Doesn't your conscience ache? How can you sleep at night? Even animals have boundaries and bottom lines; you, damn it, are worse than an animal.】

【Thinking all day about interfering in other people's relationships, doing these shady little things.】

【How cheap.】

Shen Li sat for a while, feeling that Zhang Zixin was right; relationships do need to be cultivated slowly.

It was just that there were still some things she hadn't figured out, and she didn't know how to continue getting along with the current Xie Qin. Xie Qin had changed, and she wondered if she should make some changes herself. In this relationship, she didn't want Xie Qin to be the only one always giving; she also wanted to be more proactive.

Being proactive without disturbing him, giving each other enough space.

They both needed a process of adjustment.

Shen Li hadn't thought about going back after coming to Wuchuan; there would be plenty of time in the future.

About ten or twenty minutes later,

Xie Qin walked out from the mist of water, wearing loose black loungewear. His damp, messy hair hung softly over his brow, making him look a little less cold and hard, and a little more gentle.

He wiped his hair, habitually lifting his eyes to look toward the living room.

It was empty.

The television screen was black.

Her figure was not on the sofa.

She was not by the coffee table.

His gaze swept around; it was quiet and empty.

At that moment, a familiar panic of being abandoned gripped him tightly.

The shadows of six years surged up instantly.

His fingertips tightened.

The gentleness from just having showered faded completely from his eyes, leaving only a layer of deeply suppressed dark anger and unease.

Xie Qin turned and returned to the room, unplugged the charger from the bedside, unlocked his phone screen, and opened WeChat.

Ten minutes ago, Shen Li had sent an unread message: 【I've returned to the school apartment. I won't disturb you tonight. Thank you for the dinner you made today; it tasted very good (smile)】

Xie Qin's eyes darkened, all emotions were restrained, and only an aura of displeasure was spreading.

She... once again, left without saying goodbye.

Xie Qin's gaze was sharp, he frowned, opened the familiar contact, and dialed the number.

On the other side, Shen Li had just arrived at the apartment, swiped open the smart lock with her school card, pushed the door open, felt for the switch on the wall, and turned on the lights. Suddenly, her phone rang. She took it out of her bag and saw it was a call from Xie Qin. She hesitated, closed the door behind her, answered the call, and put it to her ear: "Xie Qin? Is something the matter?"

A low, cold laugh came from the other end of the phone: "What are you running for? Would I eat you?"

Shen Li's brain didn't quite process it for a moment; his tone, which had suddenly become devoid of emotion, sounded like he was angry.

Why was he angry?

Because she left without telling him?

But didn't she leave a message saying she had gone back first?

Shen Li stood there holding her phone, stunned. After a moment of silence, she said softly: "No, I just felt it was getting late and it really wasn't convenient to disturb you, so I thought I'd come find you tomorrow."

There was continued silence on the other end.

Xie Qin's inexplicable emotions made her feel she should coax him, or say something to ease the atmosphere between them so it wouldn't seem so cold and hard. She spoke a sentence, not knowing if it counted as a joke: "If I stay, you won't sleep with me..." ===== CHAPTER 194 =====