Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The light had already gone out in the cinema, but Lou Cheng’s heart was still thumping, driving him to take a constant glance at Yan Zheke. He was waiting for Fantastic Wizard’s plot to slow down so that he would be able to give the girl a gift and kiss her without disturbing her mood.
Everything went as expected up until this point: There were very few people sitting in the two rows behind and around them, so they wouldn’t need to worry about odd looks that would cause the girl to feel embarrassed. The movie also had a great plot with well-designed warm and humorous details here and there, which greatly amused the girl. Moreover, a dark and closed environment was suited for brewing a feeling of closeness...
In other words, everything was set and there was only one thing left to do!
As his thoughts ran, Lou Cheng’s mouth felt a little dry. Puckering his lips, Lou Cheng reached into his pocket to check the gift, an act that he had repeated again and again throughout the day.
It was a colored gold bracelet!
Having chosen and integrated those he thought reasonable ones from all the tips he read on the Internet, for the first time Lou Cheng developed his own idea about choosing and sending of first gifts between lovers.
It was a time when the lovers had just started dating and knew little about each other. So their aesthetic conception, hobbies, and interests remained secrets, which couldn’t provide a reference for those anxious boyfriends and girlfriends.
Under such condition, for those who had known each other for a long time before falling in love, gifts that could recall all those good memories would naturally be the first choice.
While one could show affection to his or her lover with such kind of gifts that recalled their shared memories, Lou Cheng found it unsuitable for his relationship with Yan Zheke since they had just met again half a year ago and put their relationship on a more formal footing for ten days. But he did think about recording all their romantic conversations and experience in a little notebook and editing them into a special gift for Yan Zheke in their anniversary.
When the boys were still unfamiliar with their lovers’ aesthetic, it was not suggested to buy something special or unique in their eyes, since most of the boys’ awful aesthetic couldn’t meet their girlfriends’ standards. When receiving those “special” gifts, those girlfriends would usually have no choice but forever hide them somewhere as a souvenir.
As a result, it was suggested to buy your lover something classic but not old-fashioned as the first gift, which would at least a pleasant surprise instead of a shock. Besides, the gift should be a little expensive as long as you could afford it—you could choose those cheap but distinctive ones in the future, while the first gift should be memorable.
Thinking it over and over again, Lou Cheng realized he didn’t know the size of Yan Zheke’s finger, which made sending a ring impossible. Besides, since ring was usually a symbol of marriage, it was more proper for them to buy a pair in the future. Finally, Lou Cheng chose a bracelet with adjustable size.
While gold was too vulgar and didn’t suit young people, platinum with diamond was too expensive for Lou Cheng. So finally he bought a fashionable bracelet made of colored gold with pink as the main color, which strung six heart-shaped pieces of colored gold on it and looked very beautiful. Its price was nearly one thousand yuan, Lou Cheng could afford it.
Though Lou Cheng had scanned the other buyer’s comments on the Internet and drew a conclusion that this bracelet was pretty, whether Yang Zheke would like it still remained unsure. But Lou Cheng knew she wouldn’t feel it ugly.
Lou Cheng put down the bracelet and again turned to look at Yan Zheke. The girl’s pretty outline of lips and body shape couldn’t be seen clearly in the dim screen light, which showed Lou Cheng another kind of beauty.
Yan Zheke’s lip line was curved for smiling. Lou Cheng took a deep breath and slowly leaned towards the girl, getting ready to take out the gift.
Suddenly, Yan Zheke approached him and whispered, “What a funny plot, that owl was goofy but so cute.”
Lou Cheng was startled and immediately put the gift back. He noticed the girl had been watching the film with full attention and thus decided not to bother her.
Just wait a few more minutes till the plot wasn’t that funny... Lou Cheng determined his mind and answered, “Yeah, the owl was silly but happy.”
The girl was so close at hand that Lou Cheng could even smell her fragrance and feel her hair brushing his face. He soon got addicted to the closeness.
As they whispered to exchange idea about the plot, Lou Cheng again couldn’t help but want to take the gift out.
“I’m worried about him, will he be killed...” Yan Zheke grasped Lou Cheng’s right hand while fixing her eyes on the screen nervously.
“How could I bother her?” Lou Cheng felt so helpless and again put back the bracelet.
“Oh, that’s good.” After a while, Yan Zheke exhaled and turned to Lou Cheng. “Cheng, you look so weird.”
“I’m worried about him, too.” Lou Cheng wanted to cry actually.
“Yeah, I’m so nervous...” Yan Zheke agreed with him.
While enjoying the communication, Lou Cheng kept looking for chances to send the gift. However, the film was so great that Yan Zheke was absorbed in it from the beginning to the end.
I’ll never select such a high-quality film next time! Giving up his plan to kiss the girl, Lou Cheng began to enjoy the feeling of being ear to ear and temple to temple with the girl.
When the ending song started, Yan Zheke tried to sit straight and wait for the lights to be turned on.
Then she felt Lou Cheng’s right hand, which had been clasping hers, hold her back.
Concerning that her sitting straight might affect Lou Cheng’s wound, Yan Zheke gave up and looked at Lou Cheng confusingly.
Lou Cheng took a deep breath and finally said the lines he had practiced so many times.
“Beautiful lady, you’ve dropped something.”
“What?” Yan Zheke’s confused expression was so cute and attractive that Lou Cheng almost forgot to take out the gift.
At this moment, all lights were turned on in the cinema. Lou Cheng stretched out his left hand and smiled.
“You dropped a bracelet.”
Saying like that, he grasped the girl’s wrist and put the bracelet on it with great effort.
Yan Zheke was stunned. When she saw the gift clearly, she suddenly raised right hand to cover her mouth in surprise and excitement.
Noticing Lou Cheng’s clumsy action because of his injured right hand, she put on a warm smile.
“So beautiful...” She withdrew her hand and took a clear look at it. Her face lit up with joy.
Being infected by the girl’s emotion, Lou Cheng smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”
Yan Zheke blurted. “Why do you send me a bracelet?”
She felt regret as soon as the voice came out. There was no need for lovers to ask or explain the motivation of their sending gifts to each other, or they would lose the faint happiness.
What shall I do? I’m so stupid...
I must have been affected by Lou Cheng!
Different environments provide different influence!
Lou Cheng was at a loss how to reply. “Just say it’s nice and suit her well?”
Then suddenly an idea occurred to him.
“When I’m not with you, it could still grasp your hand.”
Yan Zheke rolled her eyes at Lou Cheng with shame and vexation, and then took his hand in hers. “Let go for a meal, I’m hungry!”
Noticing the other audience was about to leave, Lou Cheng totally gave up his plan as kissing Yan Zheke. Then he took the girl to a nearby restaurant named Stone Fish.
This restaurant was quite distinctive. The cooker here would at first flake a fish and cook the bone with seasonings such as pickled vegetable in some water to make soup. Then, he would serve each table a wooden barrel with well-chosen clean cobbles padding its bottom. Next, the cooker would burn the cobbles hot before pouring fish soup into the barrel, which could soon be ready to eat after a few minutes. The fish meat was fresh and smooth, and the soup was palatable yet a bit sour, which could work up an appetite.
The special cooking process greatly attracted Yan Zheke. She took the first chopsticks of fish, and then had a sip of soup. “Nice soup.” She showed off to Lou Cheng. “Are you hungry? But you can’t help yourself with your left hand. Beg me if you want my help~!”
Lou Cheng immediately pretended to feel so sorry for himself.
“Coach Yan, help me for goodness’ sake. I’m starving, please!”
Yan Zheke nodded jauntily. She put lots of fish meat into Lou Cheng’s bowl and then gave him a full bowl of soup. After all these, she sat back and began to feed herself.
After a while, Lou Cheng raised his head and said, “I want some rice to mix with the soup, and it must be delicious.”
“I think so!” Yan Zheke was so happy since they were kindred spirits.
The two of them didn’t slow down until they had consumed three wooden barrels of rice, and then they began to chat and exchange ideas about all sorts of things.
“You still don’t know Coach Shi’s name, right?” Yan Zheke asked with a smile.
She would occasionally rub the bracelet, which showed she liked it very much. Was it because the gift was so beautiful, or it was sent by her Mr. Right?
Lou Cheng felt so happy to see it since all his efforts paid off. He shook head and answered, “I don’t know. I got injured that day and thus missed the chance to buy a ticket for Coach Shi with his ID card.”
“I’ve volunteered to do so, but he refused. There may be something wrong with his full name!” Yan Zheke acted as if she was the famous detective Conan, an animated character.
“Should Coach Shi be a fugitive?” Lou Cheng blurted out.
“How could that be? Have you seen any fugitives having such a good rapport with the police?” Yan Zheke soon overturned such assumption, and then guessed. “I’m afraid that his full name was so vulgar or funny, so he didn’t want us to know!”
“Quite reasonable, maybe it is Shi Erniu?” Lou Cheng was amused by this assumption.
They kept chatting and laughing, and left the restaurant until 20 o’clock. This meal had only taken Lou Cheng 200 yuan since dishes here were inexpensive and of high-quality, which was quite friendly with Lou Cheng’s wallet.
Lou Cheng didn’t suggest going for a walk since they must catch the last bus and go back to the new school campus. Now he was waiting by the roadside with the girl for their hailed online car to arrive.
Suddenly, something occurred to him as he saw there was a flower store not far away.
Besides the gift, a bunch of flowers was absolutely necessary for an appointment... Finding that because of a traffic jam, there were still six or seven minutes remained before their online car’s arrival, Lou Cheng pointed at a grocery behind them and asked the girl, “Do you want some snacks? I’ll go for them.”
He was sure Yan Zheke wasn’t allergic to pollen through their daily communications.
“Don’t bother to do that, I still have a pile of them in my dorm, which were all your gifts!” Yan Zheke shook her head.
Lou Cheng did buy her lots of snacks through online shopping, but he felt they were not normal gifts.
“Uh, I’m a little thirsty. Just stand here waiting for the online car, I’ll go for some water.” Lou Cheng suggested purposely.
“Okay, hurry up.” Yan Zheke nodded with a smile.
Following by the girl’s eyes, Lou Cheng went into a store, bought a bottle of water, and then took a glance back. Seeing Yan Zheke was focusing on the online car, he rushed to the flower store tens of meters away at an extremely fast speed.
“Eleven roses!” Lou Cheng shouted as he took out his wallet, “simple packaging is OK!Please hurry up!”
As long as he got the bunch of roses in time!
After paying for the roses, Lou Cheng hid the bouquet behind his back and ran back to where the girl was waiting for the online car. Yan Zheke was now staring at the grocery questioningly, realizing that Lou Cheng was too slow as if he really went to choose some snacks...
“You, why did you come back from that direction?” The girl asked in surprise.
Lou Cheng slowed down his breath and then smiled.
“Beauty, you’ve dropped something again.”
“Your flowers!”
Leaving Yan Zheke no chance to guess, he immediately stretched out his left hand.
Yan Zheke was stunned. Her eyes twinkled as she burst out laughing.
“It seems that I’ve dropped quite a lot of things today...”
Stretching out both hands to take the bouquet, she showed with pleasure and happiness on her face.
Lou Cheng answered with a smirk.
“Yeah, you’ve also dropped a boyfriend. Do you want to take him back?”
Saying like this, he gave his left hand to the girl.
“Humph, what a bore.” Yan Zheke held the bouquet with her left hand, and then grasped Lou Cheng’s palm with the right one.
It was the first time she clasped Lou Cheng’s hand proactively.
...
The two of them managed to catch the last bus at 20:45. Noticing the beautiful girl was holding a bunch of roses, quite a few boys kept gazing at them with mixed emotions as Lou Cheng took the girl by the hand and went to the back row, among which the two sitting in the same row even turned pale.
Keeping their appearance in mind, Lou Cheng led Yan Zheke, who was looking out of the window, to sit down in the second row from the back, and then asked with lowered voice,
“Have the two guys once tried to date you?”
Yan Zheke gave him a thumb, feeling annoyed but funny. “Dare you refer to it!”
Thinking for a while, the girl whispered, “We’re in the same college. I’ve once refused one of them. He is a nice boy, but not my cup of tea.”
“I’m your cup of tea...” Lou Cheng said to himself proudly, and then smiled. “It seems that you’re the unrequited love of the other guy, too.”
“I don’t know. He never mentioned it to me...That’s OK anyway as they see us together. May they find their right ones.” Yan Zheke whispered.
On the other side, the two boys exchanged looks and heaved a sigh.
...
When coming back to the new school campus, they were greeted by the night breeze, cool and refreshing.
It was not yet half past nine, and Lou Cheng was still unwilling to give up his plan as getting the first kiss.
“It’s still early. How about going for a walk around the lake?”
How he wanted to swallow the suggestion. What an awful excuse! They had already finished dinner and there was no need to go for a walk! Besides, was it still too early now?
Lou Cheng felt quite embarrassed and dared not to look at the girl. Through her hand that was still in his, Lou Cheng felt the girl’s pulse quicken as she was trembling slightly.
“Are you cold?” He asked with concern.
Yan Zheke twisted her head and looked down, answering in a soft and faint voice, “I’m not cold... Em, taking a walk is fine with me...”
“Okay!” Lou Cheng felt pleasantly surprised. He never expected the girl would go with him!
It seemed she was satisfied with the date and wanted to stay a little longer with him.
Keeping the girl’s hand in his, Lou Cheng turned onto the road to the lakeside. They chatted and walked around the lake until there was no one else in the surroundings.
Lou Cheng’s heart was thumping wildly. What excuse could he make for creating such an opportunity?
Feeling his mouth dry, Lou Cheng was at a loss what to say and lapsed into abnormal silence.
Yan Zheke didn’t say a word, either, as if she was enjoying the silence and peace.
While Lou Cheng’s heart was beating faster and faster, he heard the same beating sound came from Yan Zheke. He also “heard” the girl was still trembling.
Is she afraid that I’ll act inappropriately? Or our appointment in the dark night made her sick?
Lou Cheng swallowed and turned to look at Yan Zheke. He heard himself asking in tensely, “Is it too dark here?”
Again he wanted to swallow the question since there were streetlights everywhere!
Yan Zheke lowered her head in embarrassment, trying to hide her flushing face in the bright light. “Hmm,” the girl murmured, which was like a cat scratching Lou Cheng’s heart.
Holding his breath, Lou Cheng was attracted by the girl’s beauty and could not help pulling her into his arms.
Will she be annoyed by the hug? I’ve done so before...
Resting in Lou Cheng’s arms with struggling, Yan Zheke sheltered her eyes with eyelashes. Her lips quivered as if she wanted to say something, but she remained silence finally.
Enjoying the fragrance of flowers and the girl’s hair, Lou Cheng felt his blood boiling as he touched the girl soft body, which drove him to slowly bend down his head and approach the girl’s lips.
“Don’t refuse me, please...” He prayed
Yan Zheke blinked her eyes and then slowly closed them. Her face was still flushing.
Feeling the girl’s smooth skin and soft mouth, Lou Cheng felt so excited and hurried to take the lips into his and sucked them awkwardly.
Yan Zheke made a faint groan in her throat and gradually relaxed her tightened body in Lou Cheng’s arms. The bouquet she had been holding dropped on the ground.
Licking the two lips alternately, Lou Cheng felt as if he was sucking a jelly, which was more delicious than any other delicacy. It was such kind of a fantastic feeling beyond description.
Kissing for a while, Lou Cheng imitated what he had seen in those novels as forcing Yan Zheke’s mouth open and getting his tongue in, where he licked the girl’s teeth, trying to knock in.
Having been clenching her teeth, Yan Zheke was still trembling but didn’t push Lou Cheng away.
Having failed several times, Lou Cheng simply used Delicate Force and soon knocked the teeth open. When his tongue slid in, he caught something sweet and soft.
Yan Zheke groaned and withdrew her tongue in an electric shock. At the same time, she pushed Lou Cheng away with great force, gasping quickly for air.
Being attracted by the girl’s flushing face and watery eyes, Lou Cheng again wanted to hug and kiss her. However, he saw the girl throw herself into his arms and bury her face into his shoulder.
“You pervert!” Yan Zheke was too shy to raise her head. She could only thump Lou Cheng between his chest and shoulder.
Lou Cheng was also painting, feeling it more tired than defeating Wei Shengtian. He was now smiling and enjoying the girl’s bashful reaction, feeling much satisfied and excited like a cat who had just stolen a fish.
Hey hey, the first kiss was so great!
After a long while, Yan Zheke calmed down but still dared not to raise her head.
“Let’s go back.”
“Wait for a minute. I want to hold you in my arms for a little more time.” Lou Cheng answered gently, but his embarrassed expression gave him out.
It was actually because the kiss had provoked his physiological reaction, which couldn’t be relieved for the moment. If they went back now, Yan Zheke would soon notice it and regarded him as a hooligan.
Worrying about it, Lou Cheng felt himself innocent and poor. He had been focusing on the taste of Yan Zheke’s lips without thinking about any other things! He had no dirty thoughts at all!
As an energetic young man, who was even more vigorous because of long-term martial arts training, Lou Cheng’s physiological reaction was so easy to be provoked by only one kiss...
He bent, pulled his stomach in, and arched his bottom, trying to hide his lower body’s reaction. Meanwhile, he recalled a sentence he had once seen in somewhere:
Just cherish the period when even a kiss could provoke strong physiological reaction...
In order to avoid the girl’s suspicion, Lou Cheng silently prayed and then went into the state known as concealment of spirit and qi with the help of Jindan, visualizing a picture as freezing water to ice in his mind.
But it was boiling water this time!
...
In Yan Zheke’s dorm, Li Liantong, Zong Yanru and Shi Xiangyang had just come back. They had watched the Fantastic Wizard in the cinema and been discussing the plot all the way back to campus.
“Well, Ke hasn’t come back yet?” Shi Xiangyang felt surprised.
Li Liantong giggled. “She’s dating and there must be lots of things to do besides watching film and having a meal. Yesterday I told her that those boys like to invite girls to go sighting around the lake or in the woodland, where they’re able to kiss and touch the girls since no one else is there.”
“Having taken my advice, she must be more alert and won’t let that guy succeed easily. He deserves it. Dare he not fawn over us!”
While they were chatting, Yan Zheke entered the dorm with a bouquet in her hands, and her face lit up with happiness.
Noticing her flushing face and watery eyes, Li Liantong asked worriedly, “Ke, has that guy taken you to the lakeside or woodland for sightseeing?”
Dare you not live up to my instruction!
Yan Zheke’s face colored deeper. She turned to avoid Li’s sight while answering without any doubt,
“Of course not!”
Definitely not! We just took a walk there, not sightseeing!
Li Liantong looked at her in doubt, but was soon attracted by the bracelet on her wrist. “I remember that you didn’t wear a bracelet when you went out. So it’s his gift?”
“Yeah.” Yan Zheke breathed in relief and looked down at the bracelet, laughter appeared in her face and eyes.
“Just so so,” Li Liantong commented, “but it’s rare to see a straight boy has such aesthetic standard, really something.”
Yan Zheke rubbed the heart-shaped decoration in the bracelet and nodded with a smile.
“Well, I like it.”
Then she said to herself, “Anyway I love it, it’s his affection that matters...”
Zong Yanru also smiled. “At least it was not ugly. You can gradually help him with his aesthetic standard from now on.”
Yan Zheke kept smiling without any answer. Then she touched her lips unconsciously as recalling what she had experienced just now, which made her face flush again as if getting drunk.
As for Lou Cheng, he sent Yan Zheke a happy emoji after sending the girl to her dorm. Then he went back through the pedestrian walkway at a brisk pace.
Life is wonderful!