Chapter 95: I’ll Make Sure To Stroke Properly
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Xi Mo listened, then glanced at Ruan Yesheng again.
She noticed that Ruan Yesheng's face had a faint blush, and her eyes carried a shy, alluring charm. For some reason, Xi Mo's own face also started feeling a little hot.
She had no choice but to shift her gaze slightly to the side and said, “…I guess so.”
Ruan Yesheng raised her other hand and pinched the finger Xi Mo had wrapped earlier like she was savoring the warmth Xi Mo had given her.
She bit her lip lightly and smiled. “I’m so happy.”
But in her heart, it was more than just happiness.
Like the sparks that burst when fireworks bloom, every bit of light exploded with its joy, crackling as they gathered together, making noise in her heart.
"I wasn’t doing it on purpose." Xi Mo was afraid she’d be misunderstood, so she stiffly added, "It’s just because you comforted me behind the door earlier, so I comforted you. This way, we’re even."
"Oh? So that’s how it is? You just don’t want to owe me a favor?" Ruan Yesheng curved her eyes, like she saw through all her awkwardness, and said, "But you might’ve gotten it wrong. What I did earlier wasn’t comforting, it was placating."
Xi Mo: "…"
Is there a difference?!
Ruan Yesheng observed Xi Mo’s expression while trying hard to hold back her laughter. On the surface, she looked serious as she explained, “I hugged you earlier, but you were too nervous. I could only while hugging you, stroke your back with my hand, and sometimes even have to pat it lightly. Strictly speaking, this should be defined as placating. It’s not on the same level as comforting.”
Xi Mo: "…"
Do you dare to explain it in even more detail?!
Ruan Yesheng switched hands to prop up her chin. “Only when there’s stroking involved, it counts as placating. Just now, you only put your hand on mine. You didn’t stroke me, so it doesn’t count as placating.”
Xi Mo: "…"
Ruan Yesheng continued calculating precisely, digging the hole clearly right in front of her. She stretched out her hand. “Since I placated you earlier, if you want to make it even, you have to placate me too, not just comfort me. You still need to make up for the stroking.”
Xi Mo held in a belly full of anger, feeling like the bit of comforting intention that had just sprung from her heart might as well have been fed to a dog.
She thought, how could there be someone so shameless? She glared fiercely at Ruan Yesheng. “The hand you’re stretching out is mine anyway. Why would I stroke myself? What’s there to stroke? It’s not even really your hand.”
Ruan Yesheng was stunned.
Then, she covered her mouth with her hand and actually laughed out loud, to the point where even covering it couldn’t hold it back.
After laughing for a while, Ruan Yesheng quietly observed Xi Mo’s expression, then quickly let go of her hand and said, “I get it now. It has to really be my hand before you’re willing to stroke me, right? But what should we do? We’ve switched bodies. How can you touch me now?”
Xi Mo’s face was covered in frost, but her eyes were fixed directly on her.
Ruan Yesheng suddenly wasn’t sure what she was thinking. She felt a little uneasy, so she continued, “If you have to stroke your current hand yourself now, it’d be too weird. After all, you’re still the one feeling it. Looks like we’ll have to wait until we switch back to make it even.”
But Xi Mo’s lips curled into a cold smile. She said, “Alright, when we switch back, I’ll make sure to stroke properly. I don’t like owing people. If I say I’ll make it even, then I’ll make it even.”
Ruan Yesheng: "…"
Did she hear that wrong?
Or was this just Xi Mo returning her prank?
Judging from Xi Mo’s expression and tone, it seemed more like a comeback. She probably didn’t really want to touch her and was just retaliating with words.
…Yes.
Xi Mo had a cleanliness obsession and hated all physical intimacy. How could she really want to touch her?
Analyzing it this way, the sudden flutter in Ruan Yesheng’s heart seemed to wither, slowly sinking into silence. She was undoubtedly disappointed, yet she felt this reasoning made perfect sense.
Her love for Xi Mo often made it hard for her to control her emotions, causing her to overthink. But reason always pulled her back to the edge of clarity. She struggled between this heat and coldness, and perhaps only her half-hearted jokes could ease these tangled feelings, even just a little.
"Okay, I'll wait." Ruan Yesheng was a little flustered, but pretended to be full of expectations: "When I come back, I'll see how you comfort me."
Xi Mo picked up a piece of dragon fruit and took a bite. She looked at Ruan Yesheng again and said nothing.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
The atmosphere seemed to have changed unconsciously.
Although he was just joking, Ruan Yesheng's heart was beating hard again in this silence.
Luckily, this strange atmosphere didn’t last long because there was a knock on the door. This time, the person outside spoke first: "Miss Ruan, hello, sorry to bother you. I’m Cui Jiayu from City Public Security Investigation Team One. We’ve met before."
The two of them exchanged glances. After a moment, they stood up and walked toward the door. Xi Mo opened it.
Standing outside was Cui Jiayu. When she saw Ruan Yesheng standing beside Xi Mo, a flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes, quickly followed by an indescribable look of joy. She instinctively straightened her posture and said to Ruan Yesheng, "Miss Xi, hello. It’s so late, you haven’t gone back to your room?"
"Officer Cui, hello." Ruan Yesheng had already thought of a response and answered calmly, "Director Lin happened to give Yesheng and me sick leave for these two days. We can’t film, so we’re going over the script together to make things easier for the upcoming shoot."
Cui Jiayu thought for a moment, then raised her wrist to check the time and said, "So Miss Xi and Miss Ruan have been in this room going over the script all night?"
Ruan Yesheng and Xi Mo’s hearts both skipped a beat.
Especially Ruan Yesheng—she sharply sensed that something was off about Cui Jiayu’s question.
It wasn’t that Cui Jiayu was suspicious, but more like she already had a set assumption in her mind. Plus, when she asked, she even checked the time. This assumption might be that they had been staying in the room the entire time, and her question was just to confirm it with them.
Ruan Yesheng immediately came to her senses, a slight layer of cold sweat seeping from her neck.
Cui Jiayu saw that neither of them spoke and quickly smiled, saying, “Sorry, don’t misunderstand. This isn’t a police interrogation. I just want to understand some details for confirmation.”
Although they’d only met twice, Ruan Yesheng always felt that Cui Jiayu’s gaze was sharp and not easy to deceive.
Facing a police officer like this, and lying to her might easily expose flaws. If Cui Jiayu detected that she was lying, it’d inevitably arouse her suspicion.
Earlier, she’d heard hurried footsteps passing by the door, which she deduced belonged to a police officer. Cui Jiayu was so concerned about the person next door—if the footsteps earlier had belonged to Cui Jiayu, then things would be even more troublesome.
Anything was possible. She couldn’t take the risk.
If the police later compared the elevator surveillance records, their movements in and out would be clear at a glance. She had to be cautious. The less they concealed from Cui Jiayu now, the fewer troubles they would have later. She had to precisely control the extent of what they hid.
She definitely couldn’t mention the part about Yan Tinghuan listening to cicadas or the part where Xi Mo fell into panic. But some facts had to be made clear.
“Yes, we stayed in the room all night,” Ruan Yesheng said truthfully. “We didn’t go out.”
Cui Jiayu listened and then asked, “Then around ten at night, did you hear any noises from the room next door?”
Ten at night was exactly when the incident next door had happened.
She and Xi Mo had stayed in their room, making them the closest people to the crime scene. When Cui Jiayu heard that they had been inside the whole time, it was clear she was hoping to get some clues from them.
Ruan Yesheng deliberately paused for a moment, pretending to think, then said, “Does the sound of a door opening count?”
“Of course,” Cui Jiayu’s eyes lit up.
“Then we heard the door next door open,” Ruan Yesheng said as she recalled, subtly adjusting her memory as she spoke.
Cui Jiayu was meticulous and asked again, “If you could hear the door opening next door, that means you must have been very close to your own door at the time. What were you doing then?”
Xi Mo could not help but see Cui Jiayu in a new light.
Although it was just a small detail, most police officers would only ask if they had heard any sounds, rather than considering under what circumstances those sounds could be heard.
“My room keycard was a bit faulty. The lights in our room went out, so I walked to the door to adjust the card’s position. I was indeed close to the door, which is why I could hear it,” Xi Mo said. She could not reveal the truth of what had happened at the time, but since her room used a keycard for power, she calmly made up a plausible explanation.
More importantly, the lights had indeed gone out in the room—though she was the one who had turned them off. If Cui Jiayu had passed by the door at that time, Xi Mo could not be sure whether she had noticed the lighting through the gap under the door. These were all unknowns to Xi Mo, but she knew that she had to ensure her details aligned as much as possible to avoid wading into this muddy water.
Cui Jiayu nodded and continued asking, “Other than that, was there anything else?”
“No, nothing else,” Xi Mo said naturally. “People coming and going, opening and closing doors—it’s all very normal. We didn’t pay much attention, sorry. Officer Cui, are you asking because something happened next door again?”
Cui Jiayu did not answer directly but asked another question instead, “Did either of you see the guest next door today?”
“No,” Ruan Yesheng replied this time.
Cui Jiayu took out a photo and showed it to the two of them. “This is the guest who checked in next door today. Her name is Ding Qihong. If either of you have any information about her, please let us know. Thank you. This is very important to us.”
“Alright,” Ruan Yesheng responded.
Ruan Yesheng couldn’t let Cui Jiayu know that they were also investigating, or even monitoring Ding Qihong. Otherwise, things would quickly spiral into more trouble, and it would be impossible to explain to the police. Especially given her and Xi Mo’s profession, they couldn’t afford to be too involved with the police investigation—otherwise, public opinion would explode.
Because of this, every conversation with Cui Jiayu was no less difficult than an interrogation.
Cui Jiayu asked quite a few questions. In the end, she also requested to take a look inside Xi Mo's room and asked if it was convenient. Xi Mo let her in. Cui Jiayu walked around the room once, then said, "Sorry for the disturbance," before finally leaving.
The two of them let out a breath of relief, closed the door, and sat back down at the table.
"This Officer Cui is pretty sharp," Ruan Yesheng said in a low voice.
Xi Mo looked at her. "Indeed."
"According to Gu Qisong, Ding Qihong should be hiding somewhere between the 17th and 23rd floors. She has no chance to come down. She couldn't have just flown away." Ruan Yesheng thought for a moment and said, "Although we can't directly tell the police, we can find another way to pass the information to them. That way, they can narrow down their search. Otherwise, with so many rooms in the hotel, checking the lower floors is actually a waste of effort."
"You mean having Gu Qisong step in?" Xi Mo had more or less guessed it too.
"Yes. When the police check hotel rooms, their most common excuse is to inspect IDs. If they are looking for Ding Qihong, they should find an opportunity to ask guests if they have seen her and show them a photo. Gu Qisong has seen Ding Qihong. If the police show him the photo, he can naturally tell them that he chased her, and she ran upstairs."
"But what about the reason?" Xi Mo was very cautious. "We have to come up with a suitable reason that does not involve us. Others are hard to say, but that Officer Cui is very suspicious. The logic must be sound for her to believe it. If the police ask Gu Qisong why he did not take the elevator and chose to run up the stairs instead, what then?"
"This is not difficult." Ruan Yesheng's thoughts took a turn as she said, "This is a film crew's hotel, and Gu Qisong is a bodyguard. He can say that he was worried about paparazzi following people, so he often patrolled the stairwell. He has indeed done this before. Ding Qihong disappeared above the 16th floor, and Gu Qisong stays on the 15th floor. He can just say that he was checking the stairwell on the 15th floor and happened to see Ding Qihong going upstairs. This way, the police's attention will be focused on the sixteenth floor and above. Otherwise, if this drags on any longer, the security on the higher floors will slacken, and Ding Qihong might really find a chance to escape."
Xi Mo listened and had no objections, so she silently agreed.
Ruan Yesheng then called Gu Qisong and instructed him on what to say.
After a while, Gu Qisong called back and told them that the police had indeed come to his room to question him and had shown him Ding Qihong's photo. He followed Ruan Yesheng's instructions and told them everything as planned. Now, the police had accepted his testimony and would likely focus their search on the 17th to the 23rd floors.
Everything that needed to be provided has been provided. Now, it's up to the police.
The two sat in the room, their hearts hanging in suspense. The night grew darker, and drowsiness kept creeping in.
"How long do you plan to wait?" Xi Mo saw Ruan Yesheng rubbing her eyes, looking a little sleepy, and asked, "Even if the police make any progress, they won't tell you."
"I'm not waiting for the police." Ruan Yesheng smiled and looked at her. "I just thought you didn't want to sleep, so I stayed here to keep you company."
"Who said I don't want to sleep?" Xi Mo took out her phone and showed Ruan Yesheng the time on the lock screen. "Look, it's already past twelve."
"Then I misunderstood." Ruan Yesheng stayed put. "Go ahead and sleep, I won’t disturb you."
"You’re just gonna sit there?" Xi Mo frowned and looked at her.
"What else?" Ruan Yesheng looked innocent. "So much happened today, and a terrifying woman is hiding in the upper floors of the hotel. I’m staying on the 15th floor, way too close to where she’s hiding. I’m scared, so I planned to stay here for the night. But since it’s just the two of us in the room, you probably don’t wanna share a bed with me, so I can only sleep at the table."
Xi Mo: "…"
"You wouldn’t be so heartless as to not even let me have the table and kick me out, would you?" Ruan Yesheng lowered her eyes and asked softly, looking pitiful.
Xi Mo stared at her for a while before saying stiffly, "You already said you’d sleep here today, and I agreed. Why would I go back on my word and kick you out?"
Ruan Yesheng looked even more pitiful. "But before, I said I wanted to monitor the room next door and was just borrowing your room. The surveillance is long over now, especially since Tinghuan has left. Now it’s just me here, and you might find it inconvenient and refuse to share a bed with me."
Xi Mo: "…"
Pretend, just keep pretending.
"Give me a blanket." Ruan Yesheng lay down on the table lazily and glanced at Xi Mo. "I’m afraid I’ll catch a cold sleeping by the table, and if you end up getting sick with this body of yours, then I’d be guilty of a grave sin."
Xi Mo's expression was strange. She stared at her for a long time, then sat down on the bed.
Ruan Yesheng lay on the table, but she did not dare to look in her direction.
It was quiet for a long time. Then, a low and cold voice came from the bedside. "Come here."
Ruan Yesheng's heart jumped. She sat up from the chair and slowly turned her head.
Xi Mo sat within the light of the bedside lamp. The honey-colored glow fell on her face. The look in her eyes was even harder to figure out.
Ruan Yesheng moved her feet, walked over, and slowly sat down beside her. She obediently murmured, "I'm here."
"You sleep on this side." Xi Mo patted the pillow beside her, speaking word by word.
The two sat on the bed. Ruan Yesheng's eyes shone as she eagerly looked at Xi Mo.
After a pause, Xi Mo added seriously, "Remember, I'm only letting you sleep in my bed because I don't want my body to catch a cold."
Author's Note:
I have updated again. In the next chapter, they will sleep together, which is extremely rare, but in a literal sense.
Comments do not stop, updates do not stop, and cuteness value keeps rising [. Power!
