Chapter 194: So it's still my fault?

"Pack up your things in the dorm, and I'll come pick you up in ten minutes."

Xie Qin dropped just that one sentence and hung up the phone.

Shen Li: "..."

Her brain was still in a state of crashing.

Time stood still for a few seconds.

It felt like a century had passed.

Just now... she was only joking.

Was it... too much?

However, Shen Li still packed her things. It was just one suitcase; she hadn't even had time to unpack the things the school had prepared for her, and she hadn't even laid on this bed yet.

Downstairs at the school apartment building, watching that familiar car driving toward her, Shen Li still had a sense of surreal trance.

It wasn't until Xie Qin's car stopped steadily beside her that he pushed the door open and got out. His aura was cold and sharp, his eyes dark, and without a word, he grabbed the suitcase from her hand and stuffed it into the trunk with clean, decisive movements.

Then he grabbed her wrist, shoved her into the passenger seat, and 'bang' closed the car door. He walked back to the driver's seat, sat down, gripped the steering wheel, and with a press of the accelerator, the car drove away from the campus.

It took less than fifteen minutes.

Shen Li followed him into the elevator and went upstairs, returning once again to the place where Xie Qin lived.

Xie Qin dragged her suitcase with one hand, while his other hand remained locked on her wrist until they reached the door. He entered the password to unlock it and pushed the door open to enter.

Shen Li followed him silently, walking in slowly.

He stood still in the center of the living room and lifted his chin slightly: "Are you going to pack it yourself, or should I help you?"

Shen Li subconsciously avoided his gaze, her heart tightening slightly. At this moment, she felt as if she saw the Xie Qin from before at Chengde University, the one with the not-so-good temper.

"I... am I sleeping in your room?"

Xie Qin glanced at her indifferently: "Otherwise?"

Shen Li spoke slowly and softly: "If I sleep in your room and make you sleep on the sofa, that wouldn't be very good."

The corners of his lips curved, and he spoke in a tone that was neither cold nor indifferent: "Who told you I was going to sleep on the sofa?"

Shen Li looked up at him, didn't answer for a moment, and just remained quietly silent.

"Didn't you want to sleep with me? Now I'm satisfying you."

"..."

"Lost your nerve?"

Shen Li didn't know how to react for a moment and lowered her eyes gently. This matter seemed to have already exceeded the scope of what she had originally anticipated.

She thought to herself, would it be a bit too fast?

But then she thought again, if they were together in the future, they would probably sleep together anyway. And besides Xie Qin, she wouldn't date anyone else, or have such intimate entanglements with others. Since they were going to reach this step sooner or later, a little earlier didn't seem to matter.

Xie Qin kept staring at her without speaking, quietly waiting for her next move.

Shen Li slowly raised her hand, gripped the handle of the suitcase, looked up at him, and said in a slow tone: "Then... I'll go put my things away."

After saying that, Shen Li dragged the suitcase into the room filled with his scent.

She laid the suitcase on the floor, pulled the zipper, and took out the clothes inside one by one. There were extra hangers in the closet, so she carefully hung the clothes up and put them into the cabinet. Her gaze swept over Xie Qin's clothes hanging to the side, and she lingered on them for a few extra moments. A subtle, indescribable emotion suddenly surged in her heart, her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably, and her cheeks quietly grew hot.

Xie Qin leaned against the door frame, his gaze falling heavily on her, quietly watching her get everything organized.

Shen Li zipped up the suitcase and moved it to the corner. Only after doing all this did she somewhat nervously meet his gaze: "Us doing this... won't the progress be too fast?"

"Want to go back on it?" Xie Qin's eyes darkened.

She shook her head, "It's just that... it feels a bit sudden."

"Sudden?" He raised an eyebrow, "Weren't you quite enthusiastic on the phone just now?"

Shen Li: "..."

She was just joking with him earlier.

She didn't expect Xie Qin to take it seriously.

She didn't dare to explain this 'joke' to him.

"I'm still pursuing you right now, and it seems like... you haven't agreed to date me yet. And now that we're living together like this, isn't it... a bit not good?"

Xie Qin didn't wait for her to finish, interrupting directly in a light tone: "Oh, then you've succeeded in the pursuit now."

Shen Li: "..."

After the words fell, Xie Qin didn't say anything more. He straightened up, left, walked to the kitchen, took a bottle of ice beer from the refrigerator, popped the tab with one hand, tilted his head back, and took a drink, his Adam's apple rolling.

In the room, Shen Li's mind was blank, and she hadn't quite reacted yet.

It wasn't until the sound of the television rang out in the living room that Shen Li came back to her senses. She moved her feet slowly, walked out of the room, and saw the back of the person sitting on the sofa.

When Xie Qin was pursuing her before, she... hadn't agreed so quickly.

Now that he had agreed so readily, it made her feel at a loss for a moment.

And then, what next?

Should she do something else?

Chat?

Just chatting about anything should be fine.

Shen Li walked toward the person on the sofa and sat down at a distance neither too near nor too far from him. Xie Qin was looking down, his legs crossed on the coffee table, playing a game.

The news was playing on the TV, which was a bit boring.

Shen Li tentatively spoke up: "Can I... change the channel?"

Xie Qin replied without looking up: "Mm."

Shen Li flipped through a few channels, not knowing what to watch, so she just found a variety show and left it on. She wasn't in the mood to watch it, but her gaze would occasionally glance at the man beside her.

The silence was a bit awkward for a moment.

"Xie Qin..." Shen Li said slowly, not very sure: "So, are we boyfriend and girlfriend now?"

"Mm." Xie Qin didn't look up, picked up the can of beer, and took another sip, his tone revealing no particular emotion.

Hearing this affirmative answer, Shen Li should have been happy, but her heart felt inexplicably empty.

Shen Li pursed her lips lightly, staring at him as if her gaze were fixed, and after hesitating for a long while, she spoke: "Have we... been apart for too long, and you don't like me as much as before?"

Xie Qin hadn't heard clearly just now, but now that he remembered and processed the sentence in his mind, he looked at her with an absurd expression: "What did you say?!"

"I've discovered that you seem a bit cold toward me..." Shen Li shifted her gaze away from his eyes, lowered her eyes, and her voice grew weaker: "You weren't... like this before."

Just now, she seemed to have finally understood what had changed in these six years.

It was Xie Qin... who had become less clingy to her than before.

He wouldn't be as silent as he was now, and he spoke less.

Xie Qin looked at the grievance in her eyes, his fingertips paused slightly, and he tossed his phone onto the sofa beside him. He curled his lips into a slightly cynical smile, then forcibly pulled her over and pressed her into his arms, "Shen Li... can you be reasonable! I was even planning to change the bed sheets and quilt covers for you, and then... in the time it took me to take a shower, you left without saying a word."

"You said you wanted to sleep with me on the phone, didn't I give you the chance to move over and sleep with me!"

"And you say I'm cold to you? How am I cold to you."

Still blaming him?

Shen Li rested her hand on his waist, looked at him seriously, and continued to express her dissatisfaction: "You didn't take the initiative to hug me just now."

Xie Qin chuckled: "If you want me to hug you, why don't you be bolder and come over yourself? I wouldn't push you away."

Shen Li's voice gradually grew weaker: "Before, you were always the one to take the initiative in these things."

Xie Qin doubted himself: "So it's still my fault?"

She nodded: "Mm." ===== CHAPTER 195 =====