Chapter Sixty-Two: The Era of Living Together

By the time I finally brought Luo Qing home, I was already exhausted, barely alive. This girl was determined to make trouble for me—no matter what I said, no matter how I tried to scare her, it was all useless. In the end, I had no choice but to give in to her wishes and carry her all the way back.

“My dear lady, we’ve finally made it. Luckily my place is in the west of the city—if it were in the south, I’d probably be dead by now,” I grumbled, collapsing spread-eagle onto my stiff wooden bed.

Luo Qing propped herself against the wall with one hand, the other covering her mouth as she laughed. She seemed to find great delight in my misery.

Hearing her barely suppressed laughter, I began to suspect this child had a sadistic streak—did other people’s suffering really bring her so much joy? Why were the children of rich families always a bit off? They always seemed to find strange new games to play…

My thoughts grew wicked, but I dared not let a hint of them show on my face. Instead, I said lightly, “Heroine Luo, I’ll go buy you some medicine for the swelling and pain in a bit. Just don’t go running off… Of course, if some handsome guy in a fancy car comes to pick you up, you can always leave me a note.”

The moment I brought up the past, Luo Qing’s smile vanished. She limped toward the bed, grumbling, “Yang Chen, you just won’t let it go, will you?”

As she wobbled over, clearly intending mischief, I rolled to the other side of the bed, dodging her, then dashed to the door and called back, “Remember, it’s the age of technology—if you want to leave, just make a call, ok?”

With her curses echoing down the stairwell, I fled the building and rushed to the nearest pharmacy, buying two bottles of Yunnan Baiyao spray. On my way home, I passed a cold drinks shop and picked up two boxes of ice cream for her, but this time, my only thought was to give her a treat—nothing more.

When I got home and opened the door, Luo Qing wasn’t lying obediently in bed as I’d hoped—instead, she was sitting there, fiddling with my guitar and strumming nonsense.

“Heroine, you’re in quite the mood. Come, it’s time for your medicine.” I set the ice cream on the table, took out the spray, and approached.

“Wow, what do I see?” Luo Qing pointed at the table, then looked at me with delight.

“You see nothing. Let’s get the medicine on first,” I teased, slowly opening the spray’s packaging. Greedy little cat—no treat for you yet.

“Hurry up, hurry up!” Luo Qing wriggled her snowy white toes impatiently.

If I gave in so easily, what fun would there be in teasing you? I grinned wickedly and fiddled with the spray. “Huh? Why won’t this cap open?”

“Give it to me, idiot!” Luo Qing reached out, annoyed that I was wasting her time.

“No way. You’re the patient—you need to rest and recover!” I made excuses.

Luo Qing finally caught on that I was playing with her and shouted angrily, “You jerk, you’re doing this on purpose!” She actually tried to kick me with her injured foot, but I dodged quickly.

She wouldn’t let it go, though, hopping on one leg to pounce on me. Fearing she’d hurt herself again, I scooped her up and tossed her gently back onto the bed, then quickly handed her the ice cream, putting on a pitiful look, “Please, Heroine, spare the foolish commoner’s humble offering.”

Usually, whenever Luo Qing and I messed around, I was the first to surrender. First, because she was a girl and I, as the man, should let her win a bit. Second, this wild girl truly had no sense of restraint—if she hurt someone else, so be it, but she always managed to hurt herself!

Sure enough, once Luo Qing had the ice cream, she quieted down considerably, eating it in small, dainty bites.

“Put your foot up!”

“There.”

I gently held her soft, pale foot, seeing the large, swollen bruise around her ankle. Not daring to hesitate, I quickly sprayed the medicine onto the injured spot.

I wasn’t sure if she was teasing me on purpose, but every time I sprayed the medicine, she’d reflexively pull her foot back. After several rounds of this, I looked up at her in annoyance.

At that moment, Luo Qing, with ice cream stuck to the corner of her mouth and cheeks flushed red, was gazing at me, her eyes flickering away shyly.

“Please, big sister, can we pick a better time to play around? I’m spraying medicine on you, not washing your feet! Can you hold still for just a second?” I said loudly, voicing my frustration. Luo Qing obediently nodded, promising to cooperate.

“Yang Chen…” Luo Qing placed her empty ice cream cup on the nightstand and called softly.

“What is it?”

“Why are you so good to me? Are you like this with every woman?” Her voice was so quiet I almost missed it.

“More or less,” I admitted after a moment’s thought. In truth, whether it was Zhao Kewen or Shi Yu in this situation, I’d have done the same—because they treated me well, I naturally wanted to return the favor.

As I pondered why Luo Qing would suddenly ask such a thing, the little foot in my hand shot out and kicked me on the shoulder.

“Are you crazy again?” The medicine was just about done, so I tossed the spray onto the table and stood up, glaring at her.

Luo Qing stared back, utterly unafraid of my anger, and retorted, “You made me angry, so I kicked you!”

“How did I make you angry?” I demanded an explanation.

She ignored me, turning her head away and muttering, “Idiot!”

After a brief stalemate, I got no answer, and Luo Qing picked up my guitar again, strumming away with such abandon that my head spun. I could almost hear the guitar weeping, begging me to rescue it from its misery…

“When are you planning to start learning?” I quickly spoke, trying to interrupt Luo Qing’s torture of me—and the guitar.

“After I buy my own instrument.” She continued to strum.

“And when will you do that?”

“After we go shopping.” Still strumming.

“And when do you plan on shopping?”

“When my foot’s healed.” Strumming, strumming.

So all my questions were pointless! I collapsed beside her, enduring the painful sounds she squeezed from the guitar. The agony of the soul was always the hardest to bear…

At last, Luo Qing put my poor guitar back in its case, then looked at me with dissatisfaction. “What’s with that look on your face?”

“Nothing… I just think you have a real knack for the guitar, Heroine Luo. You’ve got talent!” I began to spout nonsense.

“That’s more like it!” Luo Qing smiled with satisfaction, then fished out a bank card and tossed it beside me.

“What’s this now?” I picked up the card, baffled.

“That’s for my room and board here, plus future guitar lessons. Take it all from there.” Luo Qing flopped back on the bed, lying at a right angle to me.

“Room and board?” It sounded like the fees we paid when moving into a university dorm… Wait a minute… Something’s not right.

“You mean you plan to stay here long-term?” I turned my head in surprise.

“Of course. Is there a problem? I can’t just keep mooching off you forever, can I?” Luo Qing spoke with her eyes closed, not looking at me.

“That’s no small expense, you know. I’ll have you know I’ve been playing guitar for years—not to brag, but my lessons don’t come cheap!” I tried to bluff. Who was I kidding? When a rich beauty hands you money, how could you refuse? And to be honest, thinking it over, I wasn’t just teaching her guitar—I’d be taking care of her daily needs too. That’s no simple job; some payment seemed only fair…

“Don’t worry. There should be enough in the card to cover all that.” Luo Qing couldn’t have cared less.

“I usually just scrape together something simple to eat when I’m alone. Now that you’re here, I can’t let you go hungry, but that means food expenses are going to add up. You’d better think it over!” I had to say it upfront—if she later complained about how much was spent, things could get ugly.

“I said, take everything from the card, idiot! You’re so long-winded…” Luo Qing suddenly sat up, waving her hand impatiently. “Oh, and the password is six ones. Take out what you need.”

Since Luo Qing had said so much herself, I couldn’t say more. In truth, I was looking forward to the days ahead—having Luo Qing around meant life would change every day, no longer the monotonous routine it had been.

“Let’s go buy some furniture and daily necessities later. This place is too bare… At the very least, I can’t have you sleeping on the floor just because I moved in, right?” Luo Qing considered for a moment and said.

She made perfect sense, but why did it feel like we were a young couple setting up house together?

“Maybe I should write a novel: ‘My Days Living with the Heroine.’ It’d be a hit, don’t you think?” I joked.

“I think you’d be better off dead!”

After bantering for a while, we went out and took a cab straight to Tianyu Mall. Her foot was still hurt, so I suggested she stay home, but she insisted my taste was utterly hopeless, and besides, if she got too tired to walk, I could always “repeat yesterday’s story” and carry her again.

I trailed behind Luo Qing’s unsteady steps as she wandered from shop to shop. She, on the other hand, seemed to have everything planned out, purposefully selecting items on each floor. From big beds and wardrobes to chairs and toothbrushes, she bought, swiped, and arranged for delivery—a complete operation. For the larger pieces, we’d have to call a moving company.

I had no idea how much money was in her card, but watching her swipe it again and again, as if the balance were infinite, I couldn’t help but sigh at how carefree the lives of the wealthy were. They had no concept of heartache as their money burned away.

I marveled at the strangeness of the world—how Luo Qing, whom I once thought I’d never see again, was now about to become my beautiful, live-in companion. Fate… what a lovely, terrifying thing it is…