The room's lights were on, and Gu Susu looked around, not seeing Qin Tianyi anywhere.
However, his laptop was placed on the bedside table. Gu Susu heard the sound of water from the bathroom; he was showering.
Gu Susu sat on the edge of the bed and couldn't help but touch his latest model laptop. Its ultra-thin design and the new high-tech virtual keyboard meant this laptop must have been expensive.
She wished she could have a laptop like this someday.
Her hand accidentally brushed against the laptop screen, and it instantly lit up.
She was immediately stunned. The screen displayed all of Chang Qingchuan's information.
At the club, hadn't he said that as long as she... if she gave up her dignity, he would let Chang Qingchuan go? Why had someone already found all his details so quickly?
Did he not keep his word?
Staring at the screen, her head began to spin. The red wine had felt fine when she gulped it down.
Outside the club, the cold wind had sobered her up, but she still felt a burning in her heart.
Now, back in the room, the after-effects of the alcohol were starting to kick in.
Just as her headache intensified, strong arms wrapped around her from behind. "I didn't expect you to be back so soon. Did you use your charm to hook someone and get a ride back?"
Gu Susu, both afraid and hateful towards him, elbowed him away. "Didn't you have people following me? How would you not know how I got back?"
Qin Tianyi sat on a nearby double sofa, wiping his still-wet short hair with the towel draped around his neck. He sneered, "Quite clever. You knew to carpool with the ladies there."
Gu Susu didn't want to engage in his sarcastic bickering. She pointed to his laptop and asked, "Why are you still investigating Qingchuan? You said you would let him go?"
"Qingchuan? You call him so intimately. I can let him go for now, but I didn't say I wouldn't investigate him." Qin Tianyi noticed her flushed cheeks and her lips, already swollen, were now a beautiful dark red like wine. "Did you drink a lot?"
"It's such a shame to waste such good wine." Gu Susu felt her headache worsening, and Qin Tianyi in front of her seemed to split into several blurry images.
"You drank all the remaining wine?" Qin Tianyi asked.
Gu Susu nodded, feeling her consciousness begin to blur. She forced herself to say, "Don't involve Qingchuan in our affairs. He's a good person, he's innocent... innocent..."
Her speech was starting to slur. She shook her head, trying hard to stay conscious.
Seeing her so drunk and still defending that man named Chang Qingchuan, Qin Tianyi felt extremely uncomfortable. "What's so good about him? I've seen his profile. No background, no family connections, just a naive rookie..."
Gu Susu felt she could no longer hear what he was saying. She couldn't keep her balance and suddenly fell forward.
Qin Tianyi quickly stood up and caught her. He patted her face, but she was unresponsive, as if asleep.
"Shit! Wake up! You're filthy all over. If you're going to get drunk, at least wait until after you've showered!"
But Gu Susu, like a drunken cat, squirmed in his arms, refusing to wake up.
Qin Tianyi became irritable again, annoyed by her. This woman had no idea how alluring she looked when drunk, and she was still moving restlessly in his arms, as if wanting him to lose control again.
He simply carried the unconscious Gu Susu into the bathroom and then took another cold shower himself to help her.
After he finished bathing her, he first wiped the water from himself, then dried her. Seeing bruises all over her body, he felt a pang of heartache, wondering if he had been too rough with her in a fit of rage at the club.
He then carried Gu Susu to the bed, gently drying the water from her hair. Fearing she might catch a cold, he used a negative ion hairdryer to slowly dry her long hair.
While drying her hair, Qin Tianyi watched her as she slept drunk, her face still flushed, her eyelashes like fans, and her lips a stunning dark red.
Wrapped in a bathrobe, the scattered bruises on her fair neck were all his marks, making his blood surge again.
He looked at her for a long time until her hair was completely dry. He covered her with a blanket, but he himself slept on the sofa. He didn't dare lie next to her, fearing he would lose his composure again and torment her further. She might not even be able to get out of bed the next day.
...
The next day, Gu Susu woke up feeling as if her bones were about to fall apart. Her head still ached terribly, and she felt groggy and parched.
She struggled to get out of bed, threw off the blanket, and realized her original clothes were gone. She was wrapped in a bathrobe and smelled a faint scent of shower gel on her hand.
Something was wrong. She had drunk more than half a bottle of red wine last night, so there should be a wine smell on her. Had someone bathed her?
Gu Susu tightened her bathrobe, with no memory of what happened after she passed out drunk last night.
She smacked her head twice, then remembered that when she was still conscious, she had seen Chang Qingchuan's information on Qin Tianyi's laptop, and she had been talking to him about it.
She turned to look at the bedside table. Qin Tianyi's laptop was closed and turned off. When she looked to the other side, she saw Qin Tianyi still asleep on the sofa.
Gu Susu quietly got out of bed. With her back to the sleeping Qin Tianyi, she took off the bathrobe and changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.
At that moment, Rong Ma's voice came from outside the door. "Young Master Tianyi, Madam, it's almost noon. The Old Madam says you should get up. It's not good for your health to skip breakfast and lunch."
Rong Ma's knock startled Qin Tianyi awake. He sat up on the sofa and looked towards the window, obscured by the curtains. He said, "Is it noon already?"
"Yes, Young Master Tianyi. The sun is high in the sky," Rong Ma replied from outside the door after hearing Qin Tianyi speak.
Gu Susu hastily fastened the top button of her shirt and also replied to Rong Ma, "Rong Ma, we're up. We'll be down to join the Old Madam for a meal shortly."
"Alright." Rong Ma's footsteps could be heard descending the stairs.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't drink? But you didn't hesitate at all when you drank all my good red wine."
Qin Tianyi's lazy voice came from behind Gu Susu. She felt a pang of guilt and nervously clasped her hands together. Turning to face Qin Tianyi, she asked, "Who took off my clothes and bathed me after I passed out?"
Qin Tianyi sat lazily on the sofa, gazing at the plain-faced, pale Gu Susu. The scenes from the club to this room yesterday flashed back into his mind.
Knowing she was unwilling, he had still desperately wanted her, deliberately tormented her, and embarrassed her. When she returned drunk and passed out, he couldn't bear to leave her to her drunken state, so he bathed her, gave her hangover tea, and watched her curl up on the bed, muttering "Stars..." even in her drunken stupor.
No, she must have been calling that man's name, Qing Qing, Chuan Chuan... but she was too drunk to speak clearly.
Yet, he couldn't help himself. The thought of her being in another man's arms like this, or like that, that she wasn't entirely his, drove him mad. What was happening to him?
He shouldn't be like this. He shouldn't!
"Rong Ma helped you wash," he replied indifferently.