Chapter 191 - 159: A Nervous Jiang Xueli

Chapter 191: Chapter 159: A Nervous Jiang Xueli

Lin Zhengran looked down at her.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Xueli heard nothing and quietly looked up at Lin Zhengran.

Their eyes met.

He stared until Jiang Xueli’s face grew redder and redder. She jumped to her feet, flailing her arms about as she frantically tried to explain:

"No, that’s not what I meant! I wasn’t saying I plan on doing... *that kind of thing* with you tonight. I mean... I just wanted to..." She looked away. "I’ve been busy all day, too. I want to take a shower and all that, get clean and have a comfortable night’s sleep. If I go back to the dorm, I won’t be able to shower."

"’That kind of thing’? What kind of thing is ’that kind of thing’?" Lin Zhengran deliberately zeroed in on her words.

Jiang Xueli was at a loss for words. She bit her trembling lip, her embarrassment reaching a breaking point as she burst into tears. Squatting back down, she covered her face with her hands. "BOO HOO HOO... Stop asking! Anyway, that’s not what I meant!"

In between sobs, she started shouting:

"You big idiot, why are you always bullying me! You know exactly what I mean! I just thought, it’s so late, and you’re not going back to the dorm, so why should I go back all by myself?! That would make it seem like I’m intentionally kicking you out! Can’t we just find a place to sleep?! Just a normal rest! I just want to stay with you."

This girl really made Lin Zhengran laugh.

He patted her on the head.

Jiang Xueli was still sobbing away.

"Lili," he called out.

Jiang Xueli slowly raised her head. Her eyes were just glistening with tears; she hadn’t actually been crying her eyes out. "What do you want, you big idiot!"

Lin Zhengran held out his hand. "Get up. Since you want to stay with me and not go back, then come with me. That is, if you’re not afraid."

Jiang Xueli looked up at Lin Zhengran’s handsome, gentle expression.

She stubbornly reached out her hand, hesitating for a moment as it hovered over his palm before slowly clasping it.

"What would I be afraid of?" she said as he pulled her up. "I’ve known you for so many years. If I was even afraid of you, there’d be nothing in the world I’m not afraid of."

Lin Zhengran let out a soft snort and, holding her hand, started walking toward a nearby hotel.

Although Jiang Xueli said she wasn’t afraid, being led so directly to spend the night out by a boy...

Even if it was her childhood sweetheart, it still felt a little strange.

Besides, she was very curious about what Zhengran had meant. What did he mean by ’if she was afraid’?

And so, on their way to the hotel, they passed by an adult novelty shop.

Biting her lip, her face beet red, Jiang Xueli stopped in her tracks. "Zhen... Zhengran..."

"Hm? What is it?"

Jiang Xueli didn’t even know how to say it. She just carefully pointed a finger at the automated, unmanned store. "Maybe we should... buy a box of those... just in case. You know, that kind of thing..."

Lin Zhengran followed her gaze, and unsurprisingly, a certain someone received a flick on the head.

Jiang Xueli didn’t understand. "What was that for?! You’re hitting me for this, too?!"

Lin Zhengran was speechless. "What are you thinking about? Didn’t you say we were just going to sleep? If we’re just sleeping, why buy those?"

Jiang Xueli glanced at Lin Zhengran, then averted her eyes in shame, muttering to herself, ’I said it was just in case...’

’Zhengran doesn’t want to buy any? If he doesn’t, that means he really has no intention of...’

But who would have known that Lin Zhengran would then utter, "They have them in the room."

"Huh?" Her gaze trembled as she looked up.

Lin Zhengran grabbed her and started walking again.

This scared Jiang Xueli to death. She was in a complete panic.

"Zhengran! Zhengran! You... I... you..."

Another flick on the head. "I’m just messing with you! What’s going on in that head of yours? Does sleeping together have to mean doing *that*? Don’t you have things to do tomorrow? Are you forgetting about your responsibilities?"

Jiang Xueli clutched her head. "How is this my fault? Doesn’t everyone say that teenage boys only have one thing on their minds...?"

Dirty thoughts.

Speechless, Lin Zhengran pulled her along, continuing forward. The main thing was, Lin Zhengran’s mindset was already past puberty. Although hormones still had an effect, he was an adult, after all.

"That may be true, but I care a lot about you girls. Still, I’m guessing what you’re thinking right now is that if I wanted to do... ’that’... you would just have to go along with it, right?"

Jiang Xueli was too shy to know how to answer.

That was indeed what she was thinking. She felt it was a sort of girlfriend’s duty, even if it was a bit early.

But it seemed like a lot of her classmates were already...

So if Zhengran really insisted on doing that sort of thing, she wouldn’t have any major objections...

Lin Zhengran didn’t look back at her, simply explaining:

"Other things don’t matter, but for something this important, especially the first time, don’t agree just because you want to go along with me. Wait until you’re completely ready, until you’re the one coming to me."

"Huh? Come to you... to do *that kind of thing*?!" she said, both incredulous and mortified. "How is that possible! I would never initiate something like that!"

"You think it’s impossible?"

"I... Now that you ask..."

Lin Zhengran glanced back at her. "What were you going to say? What are you really thinking?"

Jiang Xueli lowered her head, wondering how they had even started discussing this topic. She blushed and mumbled to herself:

"Maybe there will be a day like that. In my heart, I want to take things slow, you know, holding hands, hugging... and then... just taking it one step at a time. If we get to the point where it’s time for that kind of thing, maybe I would take the initiative. But... I’m afraid you don’t feel the same way. After all, we’ve only just gotten to the hand-holding stage. The next steps are still a long way off..."

Lin Zhengran looked forward again.

Jiang Xueli’s voice grew even quieter. "Actually, I was thinking we could go to step two tonight..."

"Oh. Then let’s go to step two tonight."

"Huh?! R-Really?"

"This time, it’s for real. While *that kind of thing* is too soon, step two is fine."

Jiang Xueli looked up, a panicked realization dawning on her. ’Step two is hugging...’

’But is it okay to just hug in a place like this?!’

He picked a decent-looking hotel.

Since it was located just outside the university, the owner seemed used to this sort of thing. "IDs."

Lin Zhengran took out his and Jiang Xueli’s.

The owner entered them into the system.

He gave them the room number. "Three-oh-seven."

Lin Zhengran took the key card and led the beet-red Jiang Xueli upstairs.

This was the first time in her life that Jiang Xueli had ever been to a place like this, and with Zhengran, no less. Looking at the surroundings, she felt there was a bit of a gap between this and what she’d seen on TV dramas.

It was such a strange feeling. Even though she knew Zhengran wouldn’t do *that kind of thing* to her...

...her heart was still pounding.

It felt like it was about to leap out of her throat.

With a BEEP, he swiped the card and they entered the room.

Jiang Xueli suddenly remarked, "Zhengran, how did you know how to get a room? You’re so practiced."

Lin Zhengran: "I stayed in one with my parents before."

It was a casual excuse, but Jiang Xueli didn’t give it a second thought. Her trust in a certain someone was far too high.

He went into the room, inserted the key card into the slot, and turned on the lights.

Before them was a room with a large bed covered by a white comforter.

When Lin Zhengran closed the door, she jumped in fright.

Seeing how timid the girl was, Lin Zhengran changed into a pair of slippers.

"Didn’t you want to take a shower? You go first. I’ll go after you’re done."

Jiang Xueli watched Lin Zhengran take off his jacket and sit on the bed.

She blinked, her heart still beating incredibly fast.

"Okay."

She curiously walked into the bathroom and found that it was quite nice. The bathroom was very clean, much fancier than the ones at school.

But after looking around, she poked half her body out of the bathroom. "Zhengran, there’s no shampoo or body wash or anything in here. How am I supposed to wash up?"

Sitting on the bed, Lin Zhengran took out his phone. "There must be disposable ones. They should be somewhere on the wall. Have a look."

Jiang Xueli went back into the bathroom, but in her flustered state, she couldn’t find them anywhere.

She had no choice but to poke her head out again. "You big idiot..."

Lin Zhengran looked up at her.

She covered her mouth, having subconsciously used the wrong name for him. "Zhengran, can you help me look? I can’t find them... I’ve never been to a place like this before."

Lin Zhengran let out a long breath. He could tell Jiang Xueli was really nervous. "You’re hopeless. I’ll find them for you."