Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Hu Heng’s heart sank.

“Yuanrui, don’t worry! I’ll go inside and see what’s going on!”

Hu Heng jogged into Room 302, scanned the area, and pulled open the wardrobe with a loud clatter.

A black suitcase sat there quietly.

Outside the door, the sound of Huang Yuanrui’s approaching footsteps grew closer.

Hu Heng yanked the suitcase out and let out a couple of loud, forced laughs.

“Ha! Yuanrui! You tell me about this Guest Room Manager-should I call her thoughtful or not? On one hand, she actually locked the door when she entered your room. How presumptuous! But on the other hand, she was worried your personal belongings would pick up the stench from the toilet, so she actually packed everything away for you in advance! I really don’t know what to say about her!”

Huang Yuanrui walked through the door, staring silently at the black suitcase.

Hu Heng gave a dry laugh. “Don’t you think this counts as making amends? Let’s be the bigger people and forgive her for being so bold earlier, okay? You have no idea how bad a broken toilet smells. It would’ve been terrible if your things caught that scent…”

Huang Yuanrui interrupted impatiently, “Then why didn’t she take them back out for me?”

Hu Heng slapped his thigh. “A soldier’s failure is the general’s fault! I didn’t give her clear enough instructions! I’ll return these to their rightful owner-no, I mean, their rightful place-right now! Just sit down and wait!”

With that, Hu Heng tipped the suitcase over and began frantically pulling things out to put them back where they belonged.

“Enough, enough. That thing in your hand doesn’t go on the table, it goes in the bathroom… Stop messing around, I’ll do it myself.”

Huang Yuanrui pushed Hu Heng aside and crouched down to tidy up the items herself.

Hu Heng stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Right, right. Okay, Yuanrui. Is there anything else I can help with?”

“You should go back, Brother. I’ll handle it.”

“Sure, sure. Anyway, why hasn’t Old Qin arrived yet? I’ll give him a ca-”

Huang Yuanrui suddenly snapped her head up, pinning Hu Heng with a deathly stare.

Hu Heng shut his mouth instantly.

“I said, I’ll do it myself. Go back,” Huang Yuanrui said expressionlessly.

“Okay, okay. Goodnight, Yuanrui. Goodnight.”

Hu Heng backed out of the room and took the elevator down to the first floor.

“Qin Song, you grandson of a bitch! You absolute bastard! Why aren’t you here yet? That Huang woman is going to be the death of me! I mean, when I met her before, she was such a lively, cute girl. Why is she so… gloomy and eerie now?”

Qin Song responded over the phone while driving, “How’s it going? Did she notice any flaws in the story?”

Hu Heng groaned. “I managed to smooth it all over! This is the last time I’m cleaning up your mess. I never want to see that woman again! Is she even human? Do you have some kind of weird fetish, picking someone like her…”

Qin Song countered, “I’m only one traffic light away. Can’t you handle yourself? A little slip of a girl turned you into a coward?”

Hu Heng snapped, “I’m done talking. I’m going home. You’re on your own!”

Qin Song parked the car and headed upstairs.

When he entered Room 302, Huang Yuanrui was eating snacks and watching TV with a blank expression.

Qin Song sat down right next to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Ruirui, I’m here. I’m sorry… why didn’t you tell me you were coming? Was the flight exhausting?”

Huang Yuanrui slowly turned her head to look at Qin Song.

“Who told you I came by plane?”

Qin Song blinked, startled. “Then did you take the high-speed rail? That must have taken four or five hours!”

Huang Yuanrui gave a haunting smile. “Hubby, I drifted here. My body was taken apart piece by piece. My head was one piece, my arms were two, my torso was one, and my legs were two… I was thrown into the river, and I drifted, and drifted, and drifted until I reached your city. My head crawled out, my arms crawled out… every piece crawled out onto the shore, and I put myself back together into a whole person again.”
Qin Song’s hands grew cold bit by bit. He stared at Huang Yuanrui’s bizarrely made-up face, speechless.

Huang Yuanrui retracted her smile and rolled her eyes at him.

“Are you a complete idiot? Did that really scare you to death?”

Qin Song let out a long sigh of relief. “My dear Ruirui, please don’t scare me like that. Don’t be mad at me anymore, okay?”

Huang Yuanrui set her snacks down and looked at Qin Song seriously.

“I came here today because I’m truly furious. First, you changed your itinerary and didn’t come to see me. Second, I hung up the phone yesterday and you didn’t even bother to call back. Third, and most importantly, you didn’t try to coax me at all before bed last night… You actually let me go to sleep angry! I came here just to see what exactly you’re so busy with. If you don’t love me anymore, you can just say so!”

Qin Song took Huang Yuanrui’s hand and said earnestly, “Ruirui, I’ve been absolutely swamped these past few days. I’ve been eating and sleeping at the office; I’ve barely even been home. I haven’t even been picking up He Qian’s calls. Does that make you feel a bit better? How could I not love you? Besides you, I really have no one else to love!”

Tears welled up in Huang Yuanrui’s eyes as she pouted. “Really? You didn’t even return He Qian’s calls?”

“I’ll be your dog if I’m lying! I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a second to deal with her. But you’re different, baby. Whether I’m busy or not, I have to check in with you. Didn’t I call you yesterday specifically to check in? Right?”

Huang Yuanrui began to sob. “But you didn’t coax me yesterday. You knew I was angry and you didn’t even try to soothe me. Do you have any idea what last night was like for me! I’d fall asleep only to wake up angry again! Do you know how much damage going to bed angry does to me!”

Qin Song nodded frantically. “Yes, yes, Ruirui, I know. You must have been so upset that you came all this way despite the exhaustion of the trip. I’m right here now. You can hit me or curse at me-as long as it makes you feel better, anything goes, okay?”

Crying, Huang Yuanrui threw herself into Qin Song’s arms, hitting and thumping his chest.

Only after he managed to coax Huang Yuanrui into the bathroom to wash up did Qin Song breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly pulled out his phone, deleted his chat history with Zhang Qiong, and set her notifications to ‘Do Not Disturb.’

“Ruirui! Let’s find a movie to watch, okay?” Qin Song called out, leaning back against the bed.

“You pick one!” Huang Yuanrui’s voice drifted out from the splashing sounds of the bathroom.

“What genre do you want, Ruirui?”

“Something foreign!”

“Your servant obeys! Comedy or adventure?”

“Hmm… Comedy!”

“You got it!”

“Ruirui! I’m going to order some takeout! What do you want to eat?”

“Fruit bowl!”

“You got it!”

“Ruirui! I’m ordering drinks! Do you want milk tea or coffee?”

The bathroom went silent.

“Ruirui? Milk tea or coffee?” Qin Song asked again.

Still no sound.

“Ruirui? What are you doing?” Qin Song asked loudly.

The bathroom door creaked open. Huang Yuanrui walked out barefoot and silent, carrying the bathroom trash can.

Her feet were dripping wet, leaving a trail of water across the floor.

For some reason, Qin Song suddenly thought of what she had said earlier when she was scaring him-the part about “drifting down the river and then coming ashore.” He felt a sudden chill.

“Ruirui? Why are you holding the trash can? There’s one right by the bed!”

Huang Yuanrui stood by the bedside, clutching the bin and staring at Qin Song.

Suddenly, she reached into the trash can, pulled out a wad of something, and hurled it violently at Qin Song’s face, screaming shrilly:

“Look at this! What is this?!”