“Th-that… Hanyan, last night… I didn’t do anything weird, right?”
Su Rou lowered her head, her two fair, tender index fingers twisting together uneasily, like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting for the head teacher’s reprimand.
After all, she was quite self-aware regarding her alcohol tolerance and her sleeping habits.
The hand Gu Hanyan used to hold her teacup paused slightly. Her narrow phoenix eyes peered through her gold-rimmed glasses, taking a deep look at the ostrich next to her who looked like she wanted nothing more than to shrink into the cracks of the sofa.
Recalling that nearly suffocating “Cross Lock” from last night and the way that soft bundle of flesh in her arms had rubbed against her without any defense, Gu Hanyan’s throat felt a bit dry.
Suddenly, a smile blooming with a hint of mischievous, wicked humor appeared on her face.
“It’s okay.”
Gu Hanyan set down her teacup.
“I don’t mind. If anything… Rou was so proactive last night that it actually startled me a bit. However, because of that… I like Rou even more now.”
“!!!”
As soon as those words were spoken.
Su Rou felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Her cheeks, which were already flushed from sleep, instantly turned as red as a ripe tomato at a speed visible to the naked eye. White steam even drifted comically from the top of her head.
“L-l-l-like… what are you talking about…”
Su Rou stammered, her eyes darting around frantically. She didn’t dare meet Gu Hanyan’s burning gaze, and her petite body instinctively moved toward the other end of the sofa.
‘Ugh… what in the world is happening… Me from yesterday… what exactly did you do…’
Gu Hanyan took the opportunity to lean in. Stretching out her long, straight legs, she pinned Su Rou directly into the corner of the sofa.
She leaned forward slightly and continued in an ambiguous volume that only the two of them could hear:
“Furthermore, Rou’s sleeping posture last night was truly ‘lively.’ Not only did you wrap yourself around me like an octopus, but you also kept clinging to my waist and crying about how hot it was… In the end, you even…”
As Gu Hanyan spoke, she turned to look at Su Ruanruan, who was pretending to be an ostrich nearby. A sharp light reflected off her gold-rimmed glasses, and the corners of her mouth curled into a meaningful arc.
“Isn’t that right, Ruanruan?”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
At that point, Su Ruanruan completely lost her composure. The half-sandwich in her hand almost fell to the floor.
Recalling her mother’s sleeping habits from last night, she looked away guiltily.
“Mmph, mmph, mmph!”
Before Gu Hanyan could finish her sentence, she was horrified into silence by Su Rou, who covered her mouth in extreme shame!
“Don’t—don’t say any more!” Su Rou was on the verge of despair, tears almost falling from her eyes. She desperately signaled Gu Hanyan with her eyes, pleading in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, “Ru—Ruanruan is still right here! My daughter is here! Waaa…”
To completely escape this awkward atmosphere and Gu Hanyan’s undisguised direct offensive, Su Rou suddenly bounded up from the sofa.
“Th-that! I’m going to wake Xiaoxiao up! How can this child sleep until this hour!”
However, her legs, weakened by last night’s hangover, didn’t quite listen to her commands.
Just as she took a step, Su Rou felt a wave of dizziness. Her left foot tripped over her right, and she lost control, lunging forward.
“Eek!”
The intimate contact with the floor she expected did not happen.
A strong arm firmly caught her by the waist, while the other hand naturally slid under the bend of her knees.
Immediately following a brief sense of vertigo, Su Rou let out a startled cry. She had been instinctively scooped up by Gu Hanyan in a horizontal carry!
A textbook princess carry.
In that instant, the air completely froze.
Su Rou’s brain crashed on the spot. She stared blankly at the cold, elegant face just inches away. Those phoenix eyes, hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses, were staring deeply at her.
She could even clearly feel the startling strength in Gu Hanyan’s arms and the body heat radiating through the thin fabric of her shirt.
And Gu Hanyan, who was usually so composed, was also frozen.
The person she longed for day and night was currently in her arms.
That defenseless, soft sensation, combined with the body fragrance that was a mix of a faint scent of alcohol and shower gel, acted like a potent drug, rushing straight to Gu Hanyan’s head.
Gu Hanyan’s breath hitched for a second. Her originally pale and cold cheeks were also rapidly stained with a suspicious layer of red.
The two adults, whose combined ages were nearly seventy years old, were currently like two high schoolers experiencing their first love. They held each other, their eyes darting around frantically, neither daring to be the first to break the ambiguous silence.
Su Ruanruan, watching from the side, silently covered her eyes.
‘I can’t watch this, I really can’t. It’s early morning; what did a single person like me do wrong to deserve this kind of punishment?’
“L-let me down…”
After a full half a minute, Su Rou finally recovered from her frozen state.
She struggled to jump down from Gu Hanyan’s arms. Her face was as red as a ripe apple as she scrambled and stumbled toward the hallway with mismatched steps.
“I’m going to wake Xiaoxiao up for breakfast!”
With a loud bang of the door, Su Rou’s figure disappeared at the end of the hallway.
Gu Hanyan stood in place, maintaining her carrying posture for several seconds.
Then, she pushed up her glasses to hide her embarrassment, coughed lightly, and sat back on the sofa. However, she couldn’t hide her reddened ears.
—
In the living room outside.
Following Su Rou’s departure, the air fell into a brief silence.
Su Ruanruan held her half-sandwich, trying her best to shrink her presence.
However, Gu Hanyan’s gaze naturally fell upon the little kitten.
“Ruanruan.”
Gu Hanyan had already regained her composed demeanor. She crossed her legs, and the gaze behind her gold-rimmed glasses became serious. “While your mother is away, I want to talk to you.”