Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

At four in the afternoon in Qinghe, the sun was already setting in the winter sky. Despite the darkening

sky, it was still brilliant everywhere as people continued to burn more firecrackers and light up lanterns.

At four in the afternoon in Qinghe, the sun was already setting in the winter sky. Despite the darkening

sky, it was still brilliant everywhere as people continued to burn more firecrackers and light up lanterns.

Xinghe held Jiahe’s hand and they were strolling the streets casually. Jiahe now had Xinghe’s black

cashmere scarf wrapped around her neck, so even if the bone-chilling wind swept across her, she

would not feel the chill.

There was not much to do in Qinghe, in fact. After getting their lunch at a restaurant in the town, they

went back to the hotel to just chill for the afternoon.

Jiahe was thinking about something. Should she go home soon?

As she continued to mull over that, her phone began to ring.

The incoming caller ID indicated that it was her mother.

“Hello, Mum.”

“Honey, you’re not done with your gathering yet? Your uncle is still around and we are waiting for you to

come home for dinner. Where is your gathering? Should I ask Dad to go get you?”

Jiahe immediately dismissed her kindness, “No need for that. I will come back home soon.”

Xinghe naturally overheard their conversation. He purposely toned down his voice as if he was upset,

“Is it an embarrassment to say that you’re with me? You’re even lying that you are in some gathering.”

“But my mum still thinks that I am dating Chi Jun. Now that we are officially a thing, I don’t want her to

misunderstand. I am going to find time to talk to my parents about this.”

After saying that, Jiahe gaped at her while making a girly face. However, Xinghe continued to maintain

a cool facade. Jiahe thought that she was good at reading the situation. She immediately poked

Xinghe’s huge hands, but her hand was grabbed by him abruptly.

Xinghe stared at her coldly, “What are you doing?”

Jiahe looked up at him and winked, “I am being lovey-dovey with you.”

Xinghe was speechless.

However, Jiahe’s face was naturally adorable, so even if she was being clingy and it felt quite cringe,

he did not feel that she was disgusting at all.

Jiahe had caught his attention. He gazed at her intensely and barked, “Do you think this is enough?”

At that moment, Jiahe felt that she had gotten together with a difficult boyfriend!

She let her eyes dart around as if she was a lively little hamster. After making sure there was no one

around who she knew, she took his neck in an attempt to kiss him.

However, Xinghe was really tall. She could not even reach his face, especially given that he was being

stubborn right now.

Jiahe tried a few times on her tiptoe but to no avail. Xinghe continued to be stubborn, so she finally lost

her patience. She let go of him and turned around while fuming, “Now I’m getting angry!”

A smile sprung to Xinghe’s lips as he pulled her back into his arms. Then, with his hand lightly perching

up her head, he planted a kiss on her.

Jiahe was looking up for such a period of time that her neck began to feel sore. She shut her eyes, and

her uncomfortable expression told him that she did not really enjoy the kiss.

She was lamenting in her heart, Xinghe is really tall.

Only when Jiahe began to have difficulty breathing that he finally removed his lips from hers. However,

he was still holding her head when he spoke, “Spend the night with me, will you?”

Jiahe’s face was red hot, “But I told my mum that I would go back. My uncle visited us too…”

“I am going back to North City first thing tomorrow morning, you know.”

Jiahe could not bring herself to cleanly reject him as she was captivated by his magnetic voice.

However, if she did not return home tonight, what could she tell her parents?

“What about letting me visit you in North City after the Lunar New Year? Don’t you think that’s a better

idea?”

Xinghe’s eyes had a newfound disappointment in them, “I am going back to North City tomorrow, and I

will depart for Italy the day after tomorrow.”

“You’re going to Italy? Why are you going there? When are you coming back, then?”

“I am going to do research there. I reckon that I would stay at least for two weeks.”

Jiahe muttered, “That’s quite long…”

“Yeah,” He pinched her chubby face, “Let’s go, let me send you home.”

Although he still wanted to spend more time with her, he could not promise that he would not touch her

if they really spent the night together.

He did not want to do over-the-top things yet while their relationship was just budding.

She was hugging him from behind, and in her timid voice, she braced herself, “What about… I lie to my

mum?”

A warmth began to spread in his heart.

Since yesterday when he first reached Qinghe, all Xinghe could think about was seeing her face. In the

subsequent days, he could not see her for a long time, and there was no way for them to contact each

other…

However, now that he was with her, his heart yearned for more.

Jiahe rubbed her head against her body and asked in a coquettish voice, “Let me tell my mum that the

class gathering is going to last the whole night since we are at the karaoke, alright?”

The moment she finished her sentence, a middle-aged man suddenly called out–

“Jiahe? You’re Jiahe, right?”

Jiahe jolted in shock and she let go of Xinghe’s body.

She turned around and greeted that man, “Mr. Chen, nice to see you.”

Mr. Che could not stop grinning, “Happy Lunar New Year to you. You are getting prettier as you grow

up, Jiahe!”

Jiahe was full of smiles, “Thank you. Mr. Chen, if there’s nothing else, I’ll need to go now.”

“Is this your boyfriend?”

“Ah… Not at all, he’s just a friend. A normal friend.”

Jiahe immediately fled with Xinghe.

When they reached an alley that was out of sight, Jiahe could not stop swiveling her head around,

“Luckily he did not come after us. Things would be bad if he goes and runs his mouth to my family.”

Mr. Chen was her neighbor upstairs, and he liked to gossip about the shenanigans in their area. He

was especially fond of romantic gossip.

“Normal friend? Who do you think is your normal friend?”

Xinghe pushed her against the wall and he was probing her.

Jiahe felt her scalp go numb, “I am just afraid that he would run his mouth to my parents. It did not

mean that I was dismissing you.”

Her phone rang once again. Her mother was surely calling again to urge her to come back home.

Jiahe sucked in a deep breath and took the call–

“Honey, why are you still not back yet? When are you coming back? I am going to the kitchen to cook

now.”

“Mum, I… My friends and I are at the karaoke right now, and they plan to have fun here the whole

night. I don’t think I am coming back tonight.”

After saying that, she stole a glance at Xinghe’s face. However, his face was unperturbed. It was as if

this was not something he cared about.

“Why are you not coming back tonight? Your uncle is still here. Tell your friends that you have a guest

to attend to…”

Jiahe covered her ears while distancing her phone from her ears, “Hello…? Mum, can you hear me? I

can’t hear you… It’s too noisy at the karaoke… The signal is bad… I’m hanging up now.”

Xinghe glanced at her and teased her, “You’re so good at lying. You never lied to me when you applied

for leaves of absence back then, did you?”

Jiahe felt wronged as she pouted, “I’m lying for your sake so that I can keep you company. If you don’t

like me lying that much, I will leave now.”

“Where are you going?” Xinghe stopped her from leaving as he once again took her into his embrace.

“I want to go home.”

He frowned, “You just made up a lie so that you could avoid going home. Didn’t your teacher teach you

that you shouldn’t give up on things halfway?”

Jiahe looked up and met his eyes. She thought that Xinghe was actually quite cunning.

Xinghe immediately swept her off her feet, “Considering that you are looking forward to spending the

night with me so much, I will make sure to fulfill your fantasy.”

Jiahe punched his back playfully, “Hey, who are you talking about? Let me down! Xinghe, I’m regretting

my decision, you jerk! I don’t want to accompany you anymore!”