Honey, Open The Door. I Want To Give You The Room Key - Chapter 19

Lou Qingshuang held the tender stir-fried beef, watching Liu Yu wave her hand with a lazy, casual air before stepping into her own house…

Lou Qingshuang watched Liu Yu’s nonchalant wave as she entered her home. Returning to her own apartment with the fragrant stir-fried beef, she felt a twinge of melancholy; Liu Yu was pursuing her far too closely.

Had that talisman lost its power after severing one connection? Did she need to go and request a new one?

Lou Qingshuang carried the dish to the table. Seeing her daughter lost in thought, Shen Qiao found it strange. “Shuangshuang, where did this tender stir-fried beef come from? It smells wonderful, and the aroma is quite authentic.”

Lou Qingshuang placed the beef in front of her mother. “This is a housewarming gift from the neighbor next door.”

“Someone is already living next door? I saw people coming and going frequently before, but I didn’t expect them to move in so soon,” Shen Qiao remarked. She picked up a piece of the tender, spicy beef. The smoothness of the meat, combined with the juices and the fresh, spicy fragrance, instantly set her taste buds alight.

“This flavor is too authentic! You two must try some.” As Shen Qiao ate the food she liked, the quiet stillness brought on by her long illness vanished, and her entire being seemed to become much more vibrant.

Seeing Shen Qiao happy made Aunt Wu happy as well. She picked up a piece, her eyes widening with bliss. “Madam, it truly is very authentic.”

“Right? Here, Shuangshuang, you have some too.” Shen Qiao placed a piece in Lou Qingshuang’s bowl. Because of this single dish of beef, the family atmosphere became lively.

Meanwhile, having delivered the food, Liu Yu sat at her table enjoying four dishes and a soup alone.

At the expansive table, there was only her and a glass of red wine; it was quite lonely. Liu Yu ate her dinner with elegant decorum; there was no sound of clashing cutlery, only a profound silence.

Liu Yu tasted every dish to understand Lou Qingshuang’s preferences. As she sipped her wine, her eyes held nothing but a sense of “victory is inevitable.” Once Lou Qingshuang grew accustomed to her presence, she could skip ahead a couple of steps in her plan.

After finishing her wine, Liu Yu went to take a bath. On the other side, Lou Qingshuang was also bathing.

With a self-developed face mask on, Lou Qingshuang leaned back in the tub, thinking about Liu Yu’s behavior.

“This is too much,” she whispered with her eyes closed. Is her next step going to be introducing herself to my mother? At that thought, Lou Qingshuang sat up abruptly, causing water to splash out of the tub.

“This won’t do.” Lou Qingshuang quickly rinsed off, threw on a lace nightgown and a bathrobe, slipped into her fuzzy slippers, and headed out the door.

Liu Yu, who had just changed into her own robe and was preparing for bed, suddenly heard a thumping at the door.

“Chairman, it is Miss Lou,” the bodyguard’s voice came through the bedside intercom.

“Understood.”

Liu Yu arched an eyebrow and checked the time. It was 10:30 PM. A smile curled onto her lips, curious as to why Lou Qingshuang was knocking at this hour.

When Liu Yu opened the door, she saw Lou Qingshuang with her hair lazily pinned up, wearing a white lace nightgown with exquisite embroidery.

Liu Yu’s gaze drifted downward, taking in the legs visible beneath the swaying hem of the robe. She swallowed hard and looked up at Lou Qingshuang, who had her arms crossed.

“You came over dressed like this?”

Hearing this, Lou Qingshuang instinctively checked her clothes—they were perfectly normal. She raised a finger to stop whatever Liu Yu was about to say next. “You are not allowed to meet my mother. Her health is not good.”

Liu Yu raised her brows at those words. With a quick movement, she reached out and pulled Lou Qingshuang into her embrace.

Two silhouettes, one black and one white, pressed together.

Lou Qingshuang’s eyes widened, her body stiffening as she was pulled into the hug. The sudden scent of cold, bracing roses made her head spin for a moment. With a thud, Liu Yu’s front door swung shut.

Liu Yu pinned Lou Qingshuang against the door. “What are you doing? I’m telling you, we live in a society ruled by law!” Lou Qingshuang tried to shrink back, her hand fumbling behind her for the doorknob. A hand reached over and covered the back of her hand.

The scorching heat of Liu Yu’s palm enveloped Lou Qingshuang’s slightly cool hand. “I’m not doing anything. It’s just cold outside, so I brought you in to escape the chill.” Liu Yu leaned in close, her hair brushing against Lou Qingshuang’s body.

Her breath hitched at the touch. Lou Qingshuang extended a finger to push against Liu Yu. “If you want to talk, just talk. You don’t need to be this close.”

Standing beside her, Liu Yu looked at the woman who turned her face away, not daring to make eye contact. Tonight’s rose is shy.

Lou Qingshuang was still trying to press down on the handle to open the door. The black silk of Liu Yu’s sleeve draped over her fingers—it felt slippery. She could also see Liu Yu’s long, shapely legs peeking through her own robe.

Lou Qingshuang felt the proximity was far too ambiguous. She didn’t want to look at Liu Yu’s long, straight legs, which indeed looked like those of a supermodel.

Liu Yu took a step forward until the distance between them was only five centimeters. Just as Lou Qingshuang was about to speak, the door clicked open. Liu Yu leaned into her ear and whispered, “I won’t disturb your mother without reason.”

The hot breath fanned against the sensitive skin of Lou Qingshuang’s ear. She instinctively looked up at Liu Yu. “Thank you.”

“You can let go of my hand now,” Lou Qingshuang said softly, looking at Liu Yu’s hand still covering hers.

Seeing the flush spreading across Lou Qingshuang’s face, Liu Yu’s eyes filled with a playful joy. “Alright.”

The moment Liu Yu released her, Lou Qingshuang fled immediately, closing the door behind her in a hurry. Liu Yu watched her flustered silhouette and let out a light chuckle before closing her own door.

She felt she would sleep well tonight.

Running back home, Lou Qingshuang stood by her door and caught her breath. She looked down at her robe and bit her lip. “If I had known, I would have changed my clothes. I look like a delinquent.”

Muttering to herself, she went back to the bathroom, stripped off the robe, and changed into a clean set of pajamas.

When she raised her arms, she could still faintly smell the scent of roses on a glacier. She brought her wrist to her nose and sniffed. “This scent really is wonderful. I wonder which perfume it is.”

This rose fragrance was different from her own. This one was more like a queen’s—strong and sharp. The thought that Liu Yu’s perfume smelled like her own pheromones made Lou Qingshuang’s face burn.

It was almost as if she were telling anyone who knew her pheromones that she had already “marked” Liu Yu.

Lou Qingshuang’s eyelashes fluttered, her face red. “Fortunately, almost no one knows.”

After her mother passed away, Lou Qingshuang had started taking suppression shots once a year. Even Shen Yue didn’t know what her pheromones smelled like. She suspected Liu Yu had only found out by investigating her at the hospital.

Thinking of Liu Yu made her feel weary. She couldn’t seem to reject this person. When will that ‘severing ill-fated relationships’ talisman finally work?

Liu Yu pulled back her covers. She rested the hand that had held Lou Qingshuang’s on top of the quilt, breathing in the lingering scent. Deep in her eyes was a dark, obscured desire.

Lou Qingshuang tossed and turned for another half hour before falling asleep, sincerely wishing she wouldn’t run into Liu Yu the next morning.

Yet, first thing the next morning, she saw Liu Yu waiting by the elevator.

“Come along, I’ll drive you to work.” Hearing this, Lou Qingshuang’s first instinct was to go back inside and shut the door.

“I don’t think you want me knocking on your door,” Liu Yu said nonchalantly. The sentence forced Lou Qingshuang to step out. “You’re something else.”

With a smile, Liu Yu led Lou Qingshuang and her bodyguards into the elevator. The bodyguards stood behind them, eyes forward, professionally protective.

Once again, Lou Qingshuang found herself in Liu Yu’s car. She said helplessly, “I can drive myself. If you drop me off every morning, I have to take a taxi home at night. It’s very inconvenient.”

Liu Yu nodded. “It is indeed inconvenient. Xiao Wang, starting today, you will also pick up Miss Lou from work.”

“Yes, Chairman,” Xiao Wang replied.

Lou Qingshuang felt a lump in her throat. “That’s not what I meant. I can drive myself, thank you.”

“Driving yourself wastes gas and energy. You can just take my car,” Liu Yu said intentionally.

“No need. I can afford the gas,” Lou Qingshuang rejected.

“Alright then,” Liu Yu finally agreed.

Lou Qingshuang breathed a sigh of relief. If she were sent to work like this many more times, she would end up on the trending headlines.