Therefore, she had formed an indescribable reliance and closeness toward him by then.

She did not know how her brain managed to just freeze right then, but perhaps it was because he was in such good spirits. She completely forgot who she was dealing with, so she promptly leaned over to his ear and said softly, "Qi Chengzhi, do you really, really like me?"

He liked her to the point of using her phone sneakily to upload a photo in Moments, going so far as to even add a cringey caption which in no way befitted his character.

Qi Chengzhi did not reply even though a significant amount of time had passed since she finished her sentence. Song Yu lifted her head curiously and saw that at some point, Qi Chengzhi had turned to look outside the window.

It was hard for her not to feel disappointed. She was eagerly awaiting his response, and she could not help but blame herself for being too eager and too pleased that she lost her sense of being.

Just as she was about to retract her hand, her eyes glimpsed at Qi Chengzhi's reddening ears.

Song Yu was stunned, and the corner of her lips began curling up. She no longer wanted to retract her hand, but instead, held him even tighter as she leaned back on his shoulder.

After a while, she felt his palm apply more force, holding her even tighter.

Once they neared the residential area of Song Yu's parents, she requested Chang Lai to stop the car near the entrance.

She stole a glance at Qi Chengzhi and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was not about to express any opinion.

As the car stopped at the entrance, Chang Lai looked as if he was about to get down from the car and open the door for her.

Without waiting for Chang Lai to do so, she told Qi Chengzhi softly, "I'll be going," then turned to open the car door.

Her hand, however, was still in his grasp. She thought that he would naturally let go, but when she turned, he pulled her toward him suddenly and wrapped his long arms around her waist.

When she was seated steadily, she was sitting on his lap and was trapped by him.

"Can you be a bit sincere instead of simply leaving right after saying so?" His voice was much deeper than usual, and both his hands were wrapped so tight around her waist that it made her slightly sore.

Song Yu's gaze landed on his somewhat stern-looking lips. At that moment, his slight temper made him look even sterner, and his lips, in turn, were pursed even more tightly.

She felt a bit unhappy. Moments ago, she put on a brave face and asked if he really liked her. He did not reply, and after that, he even became irritated at her.

'Such short temper,' Song Yu thought, but as she stared at his lips, her breathing became even more urgent.

Chang Lai was no longer in the car. Song Yu looked outside and noticed that Chang Lai went and hid somewhere. There was no one in the vicinity too. She stared at his lips and subconsciously felt as though those lips were waiting in anticipation, so she mustered the courage and leaned forward even though she was blushing.

Her soft lips touched gently against his, although his glasses were in the way. She did not continue kissing, deciding instead to release herself from his grip after that brief peck.

However, he raised his hand abruptly and took off his glasses. Tossing them aside, he then grabbed her and pressed hard against her lips once more.

The immense pressure caused her to lean back involuntarily. Her back leaned against the headrest, and she was trapped by him.

His hands supported her lower back and pressed her against his lower front. His lips and tongue were entwined with hers, and he sucked gently on her lip. With force and desire, his tongue and hers weaved with each other.

The back of Song Yu's head was pressed against the headrest. She was kissed to the point of being unable to gasp for air, and she clambered on his shoulder helplessly.

Fortunately, he did let go of her a short while later. He leaned back against his chair and sat there indolently. At the same time, he brought her down and let her lay against his chest.

His palm moved up from her waist to the back of her head. Once in a while, he would massage her nape as well as the back of her head.

His forehead was lightly supporting Song Yu's, and their noses were touching. Their warm breaths merged into one and brushed against the other's face. It felt warm and ticklish on that cold winter day.

Qi Chengzhi pecked gently on her lips, then to the corners of her mouth, then back again.

"I'll pick you up tonight." His light pecks on her lips, coupled with his husky voice, made her skin feel numb and tingly.

"I promised my parents I'd stay at home for the new year holidays." Song Yu supported herself on his shoulder, and her fingers subconsciously kneaded the short hair on his nape.

"…" Qi Chengzhi squinted and stared at her like so for quite some time. He had an unhappy expression.

His squint was actually pretty terrifying, and at that moment, his grave expression unwittingly made her recall the disparity in their age and experience.

A simple expression was enough to impart such pressure on a person, and Qi Chengzhi was the only person who had the character as well as the charisma to get away with it.

At that moment, she felt like a little kid who did something wrong and was waiting to be punished by him.

Song Yu sighed and spoke even gentler than before. She explained, "I'm always busy during work, and since I'm renting a room, it's not often that I get to stay with my parents. They are old, too, so I'm taking this chance to be a good daughter and be with them during this hard-to-come-by holiday."

"Also…" Song Yu blushed. "It's only for a few days. When the holiday's over, our time together won't be getting any lesser, right?"

Qi Chengzhi felt placated. He no longer squinted, and his solemn expression began softening further. He kneaded her back gently and said, "You can go home."

Song Yu did not move, though. Her face was red and it showed signs of increasing in redness. Her expression, meanwhile, suggested she had something that she wanted to say.

The hands that were holding her waist gripped tightly all of a sudden, and he pulled her toward his erection, which had been raging since early on. His voice was rich and husky. "Don't feel like leaving anymore?"

"You haven't answered the question I asked just now." When his ears turned red after she asked the question, she knew the answer already. However, Song Yu was like any other woman, and she hoped to hear him actually saying those words himself.

They were fresh in the relationship, so perhaps love would be a touch too early, but at the very least, his feelings of liking her should be admitted!

Qi Chengzhi's relaxed gaze stared at her, making her feel as though she became a headstrong woman all of a sudden.

As she was about to give up, she heard his calm and detached voice. "What did you ask me?"

Song Yu sucked air through her teeth and was somewhat unhappy.

He was clearly pretending. Why else would his ears turn red then if he did not hear the question clearly?

Moreover, he was as calm as ever, as if nothing happened.

"Qi Chengzhi, why do you like me?" she blurted out. Her ears and her cheek were burning, and they felt a tingling numbness not unlike that of electricity.

Some questions can remain in the past if one did not think of them, but once they are remembered, they were hard to forget. One would then place importance on it and feel annoyed if it was kept continuously inside the heart.

Even when she still liked Jian Yi, she could not deny that Qi Chengzhi was an exceptionally charming man. Not only was he mature, he also had a respectable status. God-only-knew how large number of women who swarmed at him. One such example was the female celebrity during the ceremony which marked the start of the hotel project. Such a situation would undoubtedly be common, and not to mention the daughters of prestigious families who were surely aplenty in his circle.

Nevertheless, he chose none of them, and neither were there any rumors of him with other women. Song Yu could not wrap her head around why he fancied her and pursued her relentlessly.

Qi Chengzhi chuckled softly as if with a bit of a smirk and curled the corners of his lips.

Song Yu felt as though he laughed at the childishness of her question. He dodged it from the beginning, and at that point, Song Yu was a bit angry at him.

Without saying anything, she wanted to remove his hand from her waist, but Qi Chengzhi held her even tighter instead. He pulled her toward his raging boner and pressed down on her. He then looked at her slowly.

After what seemed like half a day, Song Yu finally heard him say. "You make me want to sleep with you."

"…" Song Yu felt choked all of a sudden. She lowered her head and refrained from looking at him.

'How could he be so indecent while maintaining such a decent expression on his face!'

His big response made Song Yu's legs feel weak.

Qi Chengzhi let go of his grip and said hoarsely, "If you don't go, I might bring you home."

Song Yu's mind was refreshed, and with a hurried motion, she got off his lap as fast as she could.

Qi Chengzhi mood was good, and he smiled as she rushed out of the car.

Once Song Yu was out of sight, Chang Lai re-entered the car.

Moments ago, he smoked a cigarette underneath a tree. Noticing Song Yu's blush as she came out of the car, Chang Lai guessed that Young Master Cheng must have taken his liberty with her yet again.

As the saying went, 'women at thirty are wolves; at forty, they become tigers1'. Would the same then apply to men who were between the age of thirty to forty?

He felt that Young Master Cheng was bullying Song Yu too much, and he wondered if she was able to take all that.

Seeing their intimacy all the time made Chang Lai feel quite lonely. Young Master Cheng went about his relationship without even caring about his subordinate's feelings. As a result of all that, Chang Lai, too, felt like finding a girl to be in relationship with.

…

…

Song Yu headed toward her home, but the blush and desire from her face had not waned. Meanwhile, the thick slickness in between her thighs made her feel especially embarrassed.

Her leggings were quite thin, and she wondered if Qi Chengzhi felt it just now.

Her head was hung low as she hurried her footsteps. She did not pay attention to her surroundings, since she simply kept her head low and walked toward her building. All of a sudden though, her arm was grabbed by someone.

Being pulled, she turned around and saw that it was Jian Yi.

"Who did you go to Hong Kong with!" He frowned and seemed to be controlling his expressions tremendously.

When he sent a WeChat message to Song Yu the night before, he did not harbor any hopes that she would reply him. He was simply testing around, but not long after he sent the message, he saw that she updated her Moments.

Upon noticing the reflection in the window, of the messy bed as well as jumbled-up clothes that belonged to both sexes, he smashed his phone because he could not take it.

Seeing Song Yu's meandering gaze, how she walked past him without even noticing him, and her flushed appearance, his mind recalled the picture immediately, sending him into a fit of rage.

Previously, Qi Chengyue told him that Song Yu had a boyfriend, and although she did not know who it was, she felt that they were very close.

His greatest fear was that the boyfriend was Qi Chengzhi.

At that moment, if Jian Yi himself could not be with Song Yu, he did not want anyone else to be with Song Yu too. It was a typical case of wanting to eat his cake and still have it too.

He wanted Song Yu to wait for him until he was strong enough to dispose of Qi Chengyue. After that, he would be together with her.

Ever since they were teens, Jian Yi could never let her go.

Song Yu frowned in disdain. She broke free from his grip forcefully and did not want to speak to him. She turned to leave, but Jian Yi blocked her from going.

The neighbors knew each other well, so a ruckus will no doubt raise suspicions. Song Yu did not want to get involved with him, so she stepped back and ensured there was a distance between them.

"Jian Yi, whoever I go with doesn't have anything to do with you, does it? Do you really think your attitude is going to accomplish anything?" Song Yu sighed in contempt. Neither happy nor angry, she looked at him and shook her head. "Since you already have someone, mind your own relationship. Why do you have to interfere with mine? Am I supposed to get your permission when I get married next time? Or are you forbidding me to get married and have kids because you want my heart to be yours, even though you're getting married to someone else?"

"Aren't you being too selfish? It's not like I owe you anything. I have no obligation to tell you who I'm with, and I most certainly don't need your approval. You want me to be single forever, to like only you and you alone, because that will make you happy, right?"

Jian Yi's eyes were red from anger, and he was so infuriated that he could care less about her accusations. His heart was focused intently on that one preoccupation. "Did you go with Qi Chengzhi!"

Song Yu giggled sarcastically as she shook her head. After a gentle snicker, she walked past him.

Just as she was about to enter the building, he stopped her and pulled her into his embrace. Then he lowered his head and pressed down.

His lips came in contact with hers, and Song Yu felt incredibly shocked. She was used to Qi Chengzhi's kiss, so Jian Yi's taste did not seem right. The feeling did not seem right too, and everything just felt wrong.

She shut her lips tightly and clenched her teeth to prevent his tongue from coming in. She lifted her leg and kicked his calf.

Jian Yi finally let go after feeling the pain.

Song Yu had no second thoughts when she slapped him in the face. She did not stop to look at his reaction or his hurt; she simply turned and ran up the stairs for fear that he would pursue her.

Jian Yi did not go after her. He merely listened as her hurried steps became more and more distant above him. His calf was trembling from all the pain.

His fists and shoulders relaxed, and his whole body – drained of energy – leaned against the dirty, dust- and cobweb-filled wall.

…

…

Song Donglin was watching the news when Song Yu went home. Yu Qianying was not at home, and according to Song Donglin, she went out to buy vegetables, apparently.

Song Yu felt odd as to why her mother would go out to buy vegetables during such a time. She then promptly went into her room.

Her feelings were turned into a mess by Jian Yi, and without thinking clearly, she dialed Qi Chengzhi's number.

Barely seconds after ringing, Qi Chengzhi picked it up. "What's the matter?"

"…" Song Yu herself did not why she called him, so she cooked up an excuse and asked, "You home yet?"

"I just sent you off. How can I be home so quickly?" Qi Chengzhi's voice was stern, and there was a sort of rhythm to them.

"…" Song Yu said on the bed and allowed her fingers to grab the bedsheet subconsciously. She did not want to hang up, but she did not know what to say to him.

After a moment of silence, Qi Chengzhi's voice seemed quite pleased, and she did not know if she heard wrongly when she heard him say, "Miss me already?"

"…" Song Yu blushed and kept quiet.

The truth was that she did miss him.

She wished that he was beside her, especially after the ordeal with Jian Yi.

It came to the point where her impulses made her consider staying with him as he said.

When she grabbed the bedsheet, she even thought about how she should tell her parents about it.

"Do you want me to pick you up?" Qi Chengzhi asked, and his voice seemed much huskier than previously.

He seemed to suggest that Song Yu was aroused.

"No," she replied much quicker than before. "I just wanted to ask if you were home, nothing else."

"If there's nothing else then we can hang up." For some reason, Qi Chengzhi's voice turned cold.

Song Yu meant to answer, but her room door was suddenly swung open. Yu Qianying came barging in without even taking off the winter clothes, and her body was still cold from outside.

"Yifeng's coming for dinner tonight. Get yourself ready and don't disappear midway like you did yesterday! He got into an accident just because he wanted to send you off, and no matter what, you have to show him that you're apologetic about what happened, do you understand? Yifeng isn't too bad…" Yu Qianying finally noticed that Song Yu was on the phone.

Yu Qianying's abrupt entrance made Song Yu unable to hang up her phone on time. The phone was still pressed to her ear as she inclined her head and looked at Yu Qianying.

Seeing that Yu Qianying paused, Song Yu came to her sentences and spoke to the phone, "Don't worry, Director Zhao. I'll get it done. Mm, yes. Bye."

Then she hung up nervously.

"Um, I didn't know you were in the middle of a call. I didn't bother your work, did I?" Yu Qianying asked somewhat awkwardly.

"It's nothing. What were you saying just now?" Song Yu got off the bed and frowned. "Yifeng's coming over?"

"Yes, I arranged for him to come for dinner tonight. He came here yesterday but you had to leave early, so there wasn't any chance for the both of you to get to know each other. His kindness in sending you got him into an accident with a crazy person, and he had to pay a lot of money. If it wasn't because of him wanting to send you, the whole thing wouldn't have happened, so when he comes here tonight, thank him and apologize nicely to him." Yu Qianying was angry when she mentioned that 'crazy person'.

"Mom, you're not thinking about setting us up together, are you?" Song Yu had no strength to be angry with Yu Qianying's matchmaking tendencies. All that was left was helplessness.

"What face is this you're giving me? Don't tell me he's not up to your standard. Which part of him doesn't match well with you, hm? He's proper, has a stable job, high pay, and he's tech-savvy. He wants a house? He gets it. He wants a car? He gets a car. He's a good person, and he took a liking to you. He's a good fit for you in so many aspects, what more do you want?" Yu Qianying scolded after seeing how picky and unhappy Song Yu was.

"You're already so grown up. Don't pick and choose so much. I really don't see anything wrong with Yifeng. Also, whether you're a match or not, you won't find out if you don't get to know him. You're not the type to watch Korean dramas, and I don't suppose you're like those eighteen, nineteen-year-olds who keep on dreaming of meeting a white knight.?

Song Yu blinked helplessly. Back in Hong Kong, Qi Chengzhi did her throughout the night and she did not get any sleep. Then, she had to rush and take the earliest flight. After that she had to hurry home, and she even had to endure the Jian Yi incident. When she finally came home, Yu Qianying nagged at her yet again. Song Yu felt very irritated from all that.

"Mom, can you not force this on me every day? These kinds of things depend on fate. Can't you just let me find one myself? Why do you insist on simply finding any man for me to spend my life with? Do you really want me to live unhappily, marry and have kids, and just spend the rest of my life without feeling anything? I don't want to become a babymaker, as if life is a mission and I'm merely living as though I must do this and must do that."

"How am I forcing you? I let you go out and find one, but you haven't found one! You're twenty-five, but still, I haven't seen you bringing anyone home. In two-years time, if we arrange for you to meet a prospective partner, they'll say you're old. With this kind of attitude, you can spend your whole life searching, but you won't be able to find someone to marry. Do you think that every husband and wife in this world are like those in the movies or novels, where you marry only after loving each other to the moon and back? Plenty of people find someone who's just about right for them and marry when they think the time has come, then later, they'll discover that they love their partner very much!" Yu Qianying was angry because she felt that her daughter was being too stubborn!

"But I'm not that kind of person! Say what you will about me living in a dream, but I won't simply choose someone just to get married. Long ago, when you arranged for me to get married to Qi Chengji, I agreed because I was born in a prestigious family and I don't have any freedom. After we became bankrupt, I felt free. I can breathe more comfortably, and I can do the things I like, but why do you still have to force this kind of thing onto me?"

三十如狼四十如虎 – translated literally to 'women at thirty are wolves; at forty, they become tigers'. This is used to describe how most women are usually sex-hungry during that age.