Chapter 7: CH 7

Chapter 7: Sweetie

At one minute and forty-one seconds, the referee signaled the end of the match.

The entire crowd was dead silent for a moment, then abruptly drowned into a sea of cheers and boos.

The end of the match was too short, short enough to set a record for several years – a crushing blitz that left the opponent defenceless, followed by a thunderous end to the match. Happening in the late stages of the rookie tournament, such an achievement represented the birth of a dark horse.

”No. 7–! No. 7–! No. 7!!!”

The cheers gradually overpowered the boos, and after a few seconds, the entire crowd began to rhythmically shout the code name of the winning player.

Many were red-faced and hysterical, for the sake of their heroes in the arena at the moment, and for the sake of their own heartfelt excitement.

Amidst deafening screams and whistles, the referee suddenly raised the young man’s arm.

Naked and full of beauty, soaked with sweat and sensuality, the youthful flair and vitality of the young man’s body was evident.

The referees left and the reporters who were preparing for the post-match interviews rushed all the way into the octagonal cage.

However, the young man who was the focus of the camera left the field directly, and under the eyes of the audience, he went straight to a certain position on the viewing platform.

At this moment at the front row of the viewing platform.

”Xiao Qing, the match is over.”

Qin Hao leaned over and said to the girl beside him who still didn’t dare to sit up.

Qin Qing’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

”…… Is he okay?”

The voice was soft, with a bit of unconscious trembling.

”Don’t you want to make sure with your own eyes?”

One step ahead of Qin Hao, a low voice with a teasing smile suddenly sounded above Qin Qing’s head.

”……”

Qin Qing was dumbfounded.

Before she could raise her head, that familiar voice laughed hoarsely again.

”Are you scared, or are you afraid?”

Qin Qing raised her slightly white little face in bewilderment.

The young man with his upper body bare, naked with white and beautiful smooth lines, was smiling, spreading his arms on the parapet of the viewing platform, looking at her from above.

His black pupils were like two water-washed gems, deep and lustrous.

It was the first time Qin Qing saw the body of the opposite sex so close, or a body that conveyed youth and sexiness with every curve.

Qin Qing was stunned for a second, then her two alabaster-like earlobes lit two clusters of fire and a sweet pink abruptly spread to her cheeks with burning intent.

She even forgot to ask, scared or afraid …… What’s the difference?

Qin Qing did not respond, but Qin Hao, who was beside her, could no longer endure it.

Even though he had just seen the young man in front of him who was the same age as him in the arena, Qin Hao still fiercely raised his chin——

“Who are you?!”

“……”

Wen Yu glanced lazily at Qin Hao, a cold glint flashing through his dark eyes.

An instant later, he looked back at Qin Qing.

“……This is the second one.”

Qin Qing blinked her clear eyes.

She did not understand what Wen Yufeng meant.

In fact, Qin Qing was puzzled by the sudden tense atmosphere in front of her. She looked between the two. Finally, she looked at Qin Hao hesitantly. “This is a senior from our school. He has helped me many times before.”

Before Qin Qing could introduce Qin Hao to Wen Yufeng again, Qin Hao, who had already been ignored once, took the initiative to speak and glared at Wen Yufeng——

“I’m her brother!”

“……”

Wen Yufeng nodded with a smile, and his black eyes burned into Qin Qing’s body without a moment’s hesitation.

”Twice before, you also called me ‘brother’.”

”–!?”

Qin Hao turned his face to look at Qin Qing incredulously, his teeth almost gritted.

But Qin Qing wasn’t looking at him, she was frowning helplessly and gently stared straight ahead at Wen Yufeng with those almond eyes…

”He’s really my brother.”

Wen Yufeng didn’t react, but Qin Hao’s face changed.

–Qin Qing herself might not have noticed it, and the boy opposite probably didn’t understand it either; but he had grown up with Qin Qing, and he knew better than anyone else how his cousin got along with people.

The details of this tone of voice reveal a level of familiarity that may not be self-evident, it was definitely rare in Qin Qing’s same-sex friendships, and never to the opposite sex.

An unprecedented sense of danger, like a huge shadow, enveloped the heart of Qin Sis-con. The ear-piercing sound of an alarm rang in every corner of his brain.

Instinctively, Qin Hao stood up and blocked Qin Qing’s path.

Seeing this, Wen Yufeng, who was supporting the fence, raised his eyelids and lazily raised his gaze.

The corners of Qin Hao’s mouth twitched.

……This person did not stand up straight.

Yet he was still several centimeters taller than him…

Are all the youngsters these days eating pig feed?!

Qin Hao roared in his heart, but his face was as cold as water.

His tone was also low.

”I don’t care what you are – I, as Qin Qing’s cousin, on behalf of Qin Qing’s parents, admonish you not to appear in front of her in the future.”

Qin Hao brainstormed the reaction his aunt would have when she saw this young man, and followed suit by slightly lifting his jaw and his eyes. His tone took on a bit of contempt and a pretend mild smile.

”Our Qin Qing is intelligent, knowledgeable with a bright future, and can walk with her eyes closed – you’re a fighter, what qualifications do you have to get mixed up with her?”

”…… second brother!”

Qin Qing never thought that such harsh words would come out of her cousin’s mouth, so she did not react until a few seconds after Qin Hao finished speaking. She stood up with a pale face.

The young man standing near the fence still looked calm.

Only his eyes, which were covered by his black hair, seemed to be burning with two black flames.

A tongue of fire that could devour people.

Qin Hao stopped Qin Qing who was about to speak and smiled.

”It seems that our little Qing doesn’t like me talking to you like this, so let me put it differently – with the height she can reach, she can totally grow in the most calm and soothing environment, so why should she be entangled with someone like you…?”

“……”

The three of them were in a stalemate for a long time. Then, the boy who was standing in the fence suddenly laughed.

He raised his chin, narrowed his ink-black eyes, and looked at Qin Qing with a lazy smile.

“Why didn’t you run?”

Qin Qing was silent.

Because she was afraid that something would happen to this person after he left.

Although it didn’t seem to have anything to do with him…

The girl could not reply and Wen Yufeng did not seem to mind.

His thin lips lifted slightly and he smiled coldly.

“The last time.”

His tone was light, but it was as if every word was squeezed out from between his teeth.

His tone was different from before. This time, the boy’s voice seemed to carry an inexplicable sense of danger.

……It was like the fishy smell before hunting.

The beast that could not calm down in the bottom of its heart had already stepped out on its needle-like claws, greedily spying and patrolling in the grass.

Wen Yufeng took a deep look at the girl and turned to leave.

What he did not see was that Qin Qing, who was outside the fence behind him, instinctively took a step back and frowned slightly as she looked at his back.

There was a blank look in her black and white eyes.

A biological instinct. Besides hunting, there was obviously an instinct to detect and escape threats.

However, before Qin Qing could figure out the origin of the danger she felt, Qin Hao had already pulled her in the opposite direction.

Qin Hao didn’t stop until he left the mixed martial arts arena and returned to the noisy, dazzling world of cicadas chirping and blinding sunlight.

He turned around and said to Qin Qing:

“Xiao Qing, don’t interact with him.”

“……”

Qin Qing did not nod or shake her head. She just raised her pretty little face and looked at Qin Hao without blinking.

Qin Hao sighed and repeated it again.

“Don’t interact with him, Xiao Qing… Otherwise, with my aunt’s personality, you’ll be the one who’ll feel sad in the end.”

Qin Qing was quiet for a long time.

“… I won’t be seeing him anymore.”

After a while, Qin Qing turned around. Her voice was calm and her eyes did not change. It was like a beautiful and expressionless Barbie doll in the window——

“Second Brother, you are just like her… You’re all like this.”

The girl lowered her eyelashes and walked out.

“I don’t have to wait until the end. I’m already very sad.”

*

On the last day of the summer vacation, Qin Qing got up early.

Li Jinghe’s work in the provinces was set, and she was not comfortable with Qin Qing being home alone. Just after half past six, Qin Qing arrived at the downstairs of her grandmother’s house in Fulin Court as Li Jinghe had instructed.

The employees of the moving company moved the already packed luggage, one by one, into the elevator.

Because these were only Qin Qing’s daily necessities, there were only a few suitcases. Qin Qing followed the last mover into the elevator.

The elevator stopped on the 12th floor.

Qin Qing walked out first and turned around. Grandma, who had answered the phone not long ago, had been waiting outside the door for a while.

“Grandma ——”

When Qin Qing showed her face, she immediately smiled and shouted.

As soon as Grandma Qin heard the voice, before she could raise her head completely, she had already responded with a chuckle.

“Tiantian (sweetie) is here?”

“……”

Qin Qing smiled and felt slightly embarrassed.

Only Grandma liked to call her by her nickname. It would be fine if they were at home, but if they were outside and in front of strangers…

It’s just that Grandma Qin regarded this as an intimacy, so Qin Qing didn’t want to disappoint her and say she was embarrassed, so she responded in a low voice, and ran over quickly.

Because of the small amount of luggage, it didn’t take long for the movers to put the things in place according to Grandma Qin’s instructions, and then left one after another.

Qin Qing started cleaning with her grandma.

“Sweetie, I heard from your mother that you transferred to No. 1 High School?”

Grandma Qin asked Qin Qing as she unfolded the light-colored bed sheets.

Qin Qing propped up the clothes she brought one by one on hangers.

”Yes, I’m going to study in the high school department of the No. 1 High School after the school year starts.”

”It’s good, it’s close to grandma’s house, and the school uniform is pretty!”

The first time I saw those little girls wearing plaid skirts, I wanted our Sweetie to dress like this. She would definitely be prettier than them.”

Qin Qing held the closet door, tiptoeing, struggling to reach up for a while, before finally hanging the first piece of clothing into the closet.

After hanging, she turned back with a bitter face–

”Grandma, your closet is too high.”

Standing at the back and watching the whole thing, Grandma Qin was already laughing her head off.

“It’s not grandma’s wardrobe. It’s that you’re growing too slowly! Sweetie! You’re just about to go to high school, but you still look like a little flower seedling? Thin and small.

Qin Qing: “…” doesn’t want to admit it, although it was a fact.

Seeing Qin Qing’s wilting reaction, grandma Qin stopped teasing her and walked over with a smile to pick up the clothes in Qin Qing’s hand.

“Go make the bed and grandma will hang it for you.”

Qin Qing’s eyes slightly brightened up.

She nodded quickly and turned to the bedside.

They cleaned up for more than a quarter of an hour before they finally finished cleaning up Qin Qing’s new room.

In addition to the clean and tidy small room, two small bags of waste and garbage were also placed outside the room.

Facing the clean and tidy room, Qin Qing clapped her hands with satisfaction. “Grandma, I’ll go downstairs to drop the garbage off first.”

Grandma Qin nodded: “I’ll just go to the kitchen to heat up the milk for you. We’ll have breakfast when you come up.”

“OK.” Qin Qing had slightly curved eyebrows and eyes, and a soft smile on her lips.

When grandma Qin went to the kitchen, Qin Qing picked up two small bags of garbage and went to the porch to change her shoes.

Then Qin Qing went out with the garbage bags and went straight to the elevator.

The elevator was climbing slowly from the first floor. Qin Qing pressed the down button and waited outside the elevator door.

At this time, it was less than seven o’clock. It can be seen that there were not many residents going in and out of the building.

The red number rose in Qin Qing’s sight without stopping. Just when Qin Qing thought the elevator would continue to climb, the number stopped.

“12”。

Qin Qing was stunned.

She blinked and looked sideways at the sign next to her. … she’s on the 12th floor herself.

That’s right. Is there no one in the elevator? Or did I coincidentally meet the neighbour?

Before Qin Qing finished thinking about the situation, the elevator door opened with a “Ding”.

A figure was revealed behind the door. In the elevator, stood a young man who had just come back from his morning run.

There was no doubt that he had an excellent figure – even if he wore a light gray pure cotton sports suit, without any sense of modeling, his figure was still tall and slender.

The beautiful and powerful body lines were outlined by the cotton sportswear and displayed in front of Qin Qing without any stinginess.

As the door opened, a pair of inky eyes were raised under the broken black hair with thin sweat. The next second, the thin lips suddenly snapped on the handsome face without emotion.

His eyes flickered.

“… This is crazy.”

Immersed in a smile that seemed to bewitch people, the male voice after exercise was slightly hoarse and low.

Qin Qing: ……shouldn’t this line be hers?

Just as Qin Qing was almost ready to turn around and go home, the sound of the security door opening came, followed by a series of footsteps.

Grandma Qin showed up outside the elevator, carrying a bag of kitchen waste in her hand.

Her voice was loud and confident – “Sweetie, take this bag down with you.”

“…” feeling the almost revealed eyes with keen interest in front of her, Qin Qing with light crimson cheeks ran quickly to carry the garbage bag.

Grandma Qin turned around and went home without any suspicion.

Qin Qing crossed the remaining two or three meters like a turtle bit by bit. It’s a pity that no matter how slow one walks, one can’t stretch out two or three meters for long.

“….” Qin Qing walked into the elevator with her small head bowed under that smiling gaze. The slender knuckle against the open button retracted and the door closed. The man didn’t go out.

Qin Qing silently shrank to the corner of the elevator. A shadow followed her movements from the side. With a low hoarse and confused laugh, every air molecule in the closed and narrow space seems to be trembling gently – “Sweetie?”

The strange and slightly burning breath seemed to be in her ear.