Savage Kiss - Chapter 81

Her surprise lasted less than a second, only Shen Yanzhou’s touch didn’t instinctively make her want to pull away.

Sure enough, when she turned her head, she saw him standing beside her, tugging her backward.

Xu Qingyi stood still.

Shen Yanzhou continued to pull her.

“Let’s talk,” he said.

Xu Qingyi felt there was nothing to discuss with him, but he was stubborn, dragging her toward the back of the mountain.

The bonfire was at the front of the mountain, while the back sloped downward into a forest, and further down, a clear river flowed.

It didn’t take long after entering the woods for the chill to set in. She stopped and asked, “What do you want to say?”

Shen Yanzhou, as if out of nowhere, produced a rechargeable camping lamp and placed it on the ground. Now she could see his face.

It was slightly flushed, perhaps he really had drunk too much.

“You’re angry,” he said abruptly.

Xu Qingyi looked puzzled. “When was I angry? About what?”

“Just now,” he replied calmly, lowering his gaze to meet hers. “What that girl said.”

The girl who had just confessed her feelings to Shen Yanzhou, after Xu Qingyi left, had asked him if he knew her. Then, with certainty, she told him, “She’s jealous. Aren’t you going after her?”

Xu Qingyi almost laughed. “You believe whatever others say?”

Shen Yanzhou knew, of course. But he chose to believe it simply because he wanted to.

Xu Qingyi didn’t want to stay with him any longer. She was afraid she might waver.

…

Late last night, she had asked Shen Yuqiao whether the deal between them could be considered over.

Shen Yuqiao hadn’t replied, which she took as silent agreement, just waiting for Xu Chen’s surgery to conclude.

Shen Yanzhou reached out from behind, turning her around to face him.

At such close proximity, he looked down at her intently. “You clearly like me. Why won’t you admit it?”

Xu Qingyi opened her mouth but said nothing.

“If it’s because my actions that day were too abrupt, I apologize. It really wasn’t appropriate.”

Ma Xu had reminded him that many girls dislike such overt displays.

But at that moment, he had lost his composure. Her words had been too harsh, and he was terrified that if he blinked, she would vanish. He had no choice but to take that desperate gamble.

“If there’s a reason you can’t speak of, I won’t ask.”

The scent of alcohol was strong on him, but his voice was low and unusually clear. “But if it’s just because you claim to be tired of me…”

“I’ll work to keep things fresh for you. Can we try again?”

Xu Qingyi wanted to step back, but behind her was a tree. Unconsciously, she had already leaned against the trunk.

Shen Yanzhou shifted from holding her wrist to wrapping his arm around her waist.

Then, without her realizing, his hand moved up to cradle the back of her head, his fingers threading through her hair as he leaned in to kiss her.

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as consent,” he murmured softly.

Xu Qingyi’s mind felt like it was on fire, every nerve ending ablaze.

Instinctively, she parted her lips to refuse, but the moment a sliver of space appeared, he took advantage, kissing her with a seamless intensity, as if they had rehearsed it countless times.

Xu Qingyi truly wanted to push him away. She felt she was using all her strength, but her body’s response slowly eroded her resolve until nothing remained.

Shen Yanzhou took off his long cashmere coat and wrapped it around her.

Then he turned off the lamp on the ground.

In that final moment, she frantically gathered the shattered fragments of her rationality and tried to remind him that they were in the back mountains, in the wild, desolate outdoors.

But all that escaped her lips were fragmented, breathless words: “wild… wilderness.”

Shen Yanzhou responded in a low voice, “Mm, I know.”

Unable to resist any longer, she could only surrender.

Xu Qingyi thought to herself, since her deal with Shen Yuqiao was over, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little selfish and keep seeing him.

Her back pressed against the tree trunk, and Xu Qingyi sighed regretfully, his coat was probably stained with tree sap and unwearable now.

The mountains were clearly cold, but later, Xu Qingyi didn’t feel it at all.

Perhaps the atmosphere was just too intense.

They did everything, yet their clothes didn’t seem too disheveled.

Shen Yanzhou asked her for tissues, and she stammered, “…In my bag.”

Xu Qingyi was carried on Shen Yanzhou’s back as they left the back of the mountain.

He led her around the bustling bonfire area to a small grassy slope halfway up the mountain, placing her in front of a tent.

Xu Qingyi looked surprised. “Yours?”

“It’s cold outside,” Shen Yanzhou said, pulling her into the tent. “I’ll go get some things.”

It turned out he had also rented an off-road vehicle, driven it up the mountain, and parked it on the other side of the grass.

She watched him bring over quite a few items, it seemed he planned to stay the night.

But Xu Qingyi definitely had to go home.

Just as she was about to leave, Shen Yanzhou entered the tent and pulled her back.

His gaze fixed intently on her.

Xu Qingyi instinctively tried to look away, but he turned her face back toward him, domineeringly. “The first time, you did the same to me, stole my first kiss.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “First kiss?”

Who would believe that?

He looked at her sincerely. “As long as you don’t mind, I can save all my firsts for you.”

His words made Xu Qingyi’s cheeks burn. “…I have to go back.”

Shen Yanzhou pulled her onto his lap.

He’d even brought condoms.

Under her questioning gaze, he replied with unruffled honesty, “I bought too many things, they were a free gift.”

Oh, and the free gift just happened to be the large size he needed.

Xu Qingyi wasn’t sure exactly how many he used, but in the end, he took her to the car and then went back to pack up the tent.

After that, he drove her home.

Her grandmother was already asleep, and the two of them didn’t dare make a sound.

Afraid that something might happen if they shared a room, Xu Qingyi offered him her bedroom, figuring the sofa would be enough for her.

Shen Yanzhou stood at her bedroom door. “I’ll go back to the hotel. It’s not far.”

In truth, he just wanted to put her at ease and avoid neighbors’ gossip the next morning, something she definitely couldn’t handle.

Before leaving, he said, “I didn’t bring the medicine. If you feel uncomfortable…”

“Just go,” Xu Qingyi pushed him out.

Aside from the first night and the time she painted him, she wasn’t that fragile anymore. Using the ointment was more for maintenance now, it wouldn’t cause much discomfort.

The next day, Xu Qingyi woke up a little early and lay in bed, slowly coming to.

She picked up her phone and saw an email from President Ke.

Her upgraded product had passed the trial phase, but recent sales were unexpectedly poor, even worse than before the upgrade.

This was unusual.

Xu Qingyi frowned, thinking it over for a while.

Then she made a decision: President Ke, for the next product release, can we temporarily exclude the long-term trial users? Let’s proceed with regular trial users, list the product anonymously at first, and see how the sales go.

If that’s too difficult to arrange, I’ll cover the initial costs myself.

She had a strong intuition that the long-term trial user had blocked her previous design and even tampered with the sales figures.

Though Xu Qingyi wasn’t sure how they’d managed it.

Ke Yan had always favored her and didn’t ask many questions, replying with just one word: Okay.