After ringing for three seconds, Chen Kuang picked up, his tone still considered calm: “If you didn’t answer the phone again, I was going to go report to the police already.”
She apologized: “I originally planned to finish by eleven o’clock and end, but ended up forgetting to look at the time, got too absorbed.”
“You already got off work? You’re home?”
Right at that moment, the man’s voice in the earpiece kept overlapping with the surrounding sound sources.
“Yeah, didn’t go home, just considering whether to go to the police station to report my girlfriend missing.”
Qiao Ling turned around and saw Chen Kuang holding his phone already walking to the shop entrance.
She hung up the phone, a smiling expression spreading: “You came to pick me up ah?”
“Guessed you would be so absorbed in making things that you didn’t look at your phone.” Chen Kuang put away his phone, walked to her side, glanced at the workbench where the silver wei pa and silver piao tou were already assembled together as a head ornament, “Even better looking than I imagined.”
“Still a long way to go, wait until I finish the silver flowers, silver phoenixes, silver bugs, these, then use spring-shaped silver wire and silver hat to assemble together, the feeling will come right away.”
Chen Kuang didn’t understand this, only felt that just looking at the parts already looked very beautiful.
He lifted the fried snacks he bought, shook them in front of her, “Don’t work too hard, slow work makes fine work, hungry?”
Qiao Ling was so hungry she kept swallowing saliva, took it over and ate heartily.
While eating the late-night snack, she asked the person beside her: “Why did you come out at one thirty? Got off work early?”
“Sort of, off-season plus work day, tonight’s business was average.” Chen Kuang wiped her mouth, lightly said: “When it was time, Qiao Jing originally still wanted me to stay and clean up, I said I was in a hurry to come pick you up, so he let me go.”
Since they had been dating for one month, they only told the closest friends like Xiaole, Xie Rouyin, and Qiao Jing. As for other people, even without saying, everyone already understood on their own.
Every time Qiao Ling went to the bar to find Chen Kuang, as long as the two of them leaned together, they would get single dog Xia Tian’s faintly despising gaze.
If even Xia Tian could tell, then no need to mention the others.
Qiao Ling swallowed the last bite of fried chicken, leaned over and bumped his shoulder with her forehead, “I suspect you’re using me as an excuse to slack off.”
“Just closing-time cleaning, Qiao Jing can handle it alone.” Chen Kuang hooked his lips, not denying.
Qiao Ling got up to pack her things and go home, shaking his hand while pulling it, “Teach me convenience store cocktail mixing today too, how about it?”
With such a web celebrity bartender by her side, she often pulled him to ask to learn a thing or two.
After one month, she had already learned three or four kinds of simple home cocktails.
“Okay.” Chen Kuang responded to every request, thought for a moment, immediately confirmed the teaching content: “Absolutely Sunset, the taste is very light, the color is also very nice.”
She nodded hard: “Let’s go, go to the convenience store to buy.”
…………
After coming out of the building, the two of them made a trip to the convenience store, bought the cocktail ingredients, and returned home.
Because occasionally adding some mood, plus Qiao Ling being very interested in special drinks, Chen Kuang set up a set of simple cocktail equipment at home.
Qiao Ling washed her hands, listening to Chen Kuang’s teaching. He said one step, she did one step.
Absolutely Sunset, this cocktail just like its name, is a refreshing cocktail with an orange-red gradient.
It has both the strong flavor of vodka and the clear bubble feeling of grape soda and orange juice.
“Prepare the ice cup.” Chen Kuang leaned against the edge of the counter, speaking while watching her.
“The ratio of vodka, grape, and orange juice is 3:5:2. First pour orange juice into the bottom of the cup.”
Qiao Ling followed as instructed, then poured the grape soda water in sequence, saw the yellow-purple gradient already appearing in the ice cup, her eyes lit up.
Finally, pour in the appropriate ratio of vodka base liquor on the top.
This home cocktail was completed.
“Grape soda water can be replaced with other drinks you like.”
Chen Kuang taught her flexible adaptation: “For example, grapefruit soda, yellow-pink gradient will also look very nice.”
Qiao Ling inserted a straw and took a big sip,
Refreshing and stimulating fruit-flavored cocktail activated the taste buds.
She held it up and handed it to Chen Kuang: “Quick, taste the one I made.”
Facing his girlfriend looking forward to him like a little curled tail kitten, Chen Kuang clearly knew this kind of pre-mixed cocktail was hard to make taste bad, but still gave enough face, biting the same straw as hers and taking a big sip, nodding in approval.
“Very talented.”
Qiao Ling, after being praised, her eyes curved almost into a line, hugging the cup and taking another big sip, “Next time also teach me that kind using the shaker, okay, this kind of cocktail is too simple.”
Chen Kuang looked at her like this, reminded: “Drink a little less, just now at the convenience store you already drank a glass of Cuba Librem.”
She was exhausted and insisted on drinking a glass immediately to relieve tiredness, so he mixed her a glass at the convenience store.
Home cocktail recipes, when taken out, don’t have high alcohol content, but this kind of cocktail has mixed ingredients, often mixed with carbonated fruit juice, once a person with low tolerance drinks, they get drunk immediately.
Like her.
Chen Kuang reached out to snatch her half glass of cocktail, Qiao Ling turned away not giving it, “Then you promise to teach me to make ‘Picking Faults’, I’ll obediently listen.”
“Tomorrow I want to learn it.”
His brows lifted, taking advantage of his long arms to directly pull her, along with the drink, into his embrace in one go.
“Developing a habit of drinking is not a good thing, Miss Qiao.”
“No matter how good it tastes, it still harms the body.”
“I don’t want to. It’s such a waste to pour out something this tasty.” Qiao Ling was hugged by him from behind, unable to struggle free, so she pouted.
“Who was it last time that said she must never act tough and drink heavily again?” Chen Kuang hinted to her, lazily teasing: “That embarrassed, regretful energy of yours already passed?”
She paused, as if recalling for a moment, tilted her head back to look up, meeting the man’s deep, heated gaze.
…………
The last time she got drunk was one and a half weeks ago, on Qiao Jing’s birthday.
That day Qiao Jing invited a bunch of friends to a KTV club for dinner. She and Chen Kuang were among them. Everyone played so happily. With her boyfriend accompanying her, she experienced all sorts of drinking games for the first time.
During the first half, Chen Kuang wasn’t there. Qiao Ling was ruthlessly targeted by these drinking table veterans, drinking quite a lot.
By the time Chen Kuang arrived in the second half to take the dice and avenge her, Qiao Ling was already somewhat dazed.
The main point was after the drinking session ended.
As long as she got drunk, she was bound to do some kind of bold, outrageous thing… on Chen Kuang.
Chen Kuang carried her on his back into the house. After putting her down, she leaned softly against the wall, watching the man hang up his coat and look for her slippers.
Come autumn and winter, Chen Kuang liked wearing a light hoodie inside a thick outer jacket. But today, unusually, he wore a round-neck gray sweater.
When he bent down to open the shoe cabinet, the collar opened downwards, exposing his pale collarbones. If one looked carefully, it was even possible to explore below the ordinary collarbone.
That blend of slimness and strength fused just right on him, both sexy and clean.
As soon as Qiao Ling thought about this man now having a “Ling Ling exclusive” tag stuck to him, she felt so pleased her tail was practically curling. She suddenly pounced over and wrapped her arms around his neck:
“Chen Kuang~!”
Chen Kuang was caught full in his arms, nearly unsteady, holding her slim waist with one arm, lowering his voice:
“Jumping around like that for what.”
She clung tightly to his body, her drifting gaze looking at his face, Adam’s apple, collarbone, then downward again.
Qiao Ling suddenly slapped her hand onto his chest.
Chen Kuang let out a muffled hum from being touched.
She slowly slid her hand from his chest down to his abdomen, her voice sticky and slow, half awake, half dreaming: “I’ve decided… to tell you a secret.”
Chen Kuang endured her small hands moving all over the place, his self-control very strong, glancing sidelong at her: “What secret?”
“Actually, a long time ago… before,” Qiao Ling used her fingertips to curl the hem of his sweater, sometimes light, sometimes heavy.
Chen Kuang was teased into itching, his eyelids twitching frequently, his breathing gradually deepening.
Her eyes were pitch-black, her cheeks rosy, “I always dreamed of you. That time at the bathroom door, I thought I was dreaming.”
Chen Kuang loosely held her wrist, hinting for her not to touch randomly anymore, but his mouth still played along:n”What did you dream about me?”
“Dreamed of you… just like this.” Qiao Ling let out a silly laugh, carrying a bit of mischievous intent, boldly lowered her head and lifted his sweater.
The tightly tensed abdominal muscles on Chen Kuang’s body from restraint entered her line of sight.
Qiao Ling looked until her mouth felt dry, swallowed down her throat, opened her five fingers, directly touching that clearly defined muscle, “Just like this, let me touch however I want…”
Her delicate fingertips rubbed against the key area of his tensed core.
Chen Kuang furrowed his brows, raised his head and turned away, voice unsteady: “Enough, hands off, time to sleep.”
Qiao Ling couldn’t bear to let go, her small hand stuck there like glue, after touching the abs, her right hand scrambled messily under his sweater, boldly sliding up to his chest muscles.
She leaned against his embrace, looking up at him, doing bad things yet with an innocent and naive expression in her eyes: “Sleep?”
“You want to do that with me?”
Chen Kuang couldn’t endure anymore, warned sternly: “Qiao Ling.”
“If after waking up you don’t feel like crawling into a hole, don’t blame me for not reminding you.”
Qiao Ling, being scolded, instantly shrank her gaze, the pitiful expression on her face performed incomparably vividly.
“You don’t want to… then fine.”
Hearing this, Chen Kuang’s jaw tightened, actually got angry enough to laugh.
Qiao Ling moved slightly in his arms, like she was feeling something, blinked her eyes, said in a small voice: “…Your body is much more honest than your mouth.”
The change in Chen Kuang’s body seemed to give her some kind of reminder. Qiao Ling, half-drunk, let out a light hum: “Also… I know your secret too.”
He was thinking whether to just carry her straight to the bedroom, or wash her face in the bathroom before sleeping, but upon hearing this was confused: “My secret?”
She stood on tiptoe, then put her hand next to her mouth, leaned against his ear to whisper: “Actually I already know, that morning you used so many tissues…”
“Actually you were self—”
Chen Kuang’s gaze flickered, the reaction he had been suppressing completely collapsed in an instant, blood rushing up, blasting apart all reason, grabbing her by the back of the neck and kissed down—
Blocking her mouth that was about to say that word in the next second.
Qiao Ling wasn’t prepared, was forced into a long punishment kiss with entwining tongues, couldn’t catch her breath, and coughed for a long time after he let go.
Feeling his aggressiveness, just as she was about to retreat, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by the other party.
Qiao Ling was startled, struggled a bit, “Wh-what are you doing.”
The surging breath pressed down from above, he forced her hand to slide under the sweater again, placing it on his already tensed abs.
Chen Kuang guided that hand slowly toward the reason for her flushed ears.
“Aren’t you very knowledgeable.”
Seeing her face change color because of that special sensation, he said: “If this hand is too idle, then move it more.”
Qiao Ling’s lips opened and closed, trembling slightly, her gaze already dazed.
Chen Kuang lazily rested his forehead against the top of her head, his voice carrying a hoarseness not present in his usual tone, “Qiao Ling, I never said I didn’t want to.”
“I’m just afraid you…”
He paused, didn’t finish the latter half of the sentence, only let out a low laugh.
Her ears turned numb, even the soles of her feet went soft.
Then Qiao Ling heard him coaxing her, saying: “Go to the sofa, I’ll teach you hand by hand.”
“That morning before you came back.”
“What exactly I did alone at home.”