Chapter 347: Chapter 271: Taking the Initiative Will Be a Freebie Chapter 347: Chapter 271: Taking the Initiative Will Be a Freebie In the elevator, holding many things, Shen Qingning let out a long sigh again.

Whew, I’m out!

Her aura was so strong that even Shen Minglang’s rowdy friends were a bit intimidated by her, but now Cheng Zhu’s rental felt like a dragon’s den to her, even a devil’s lair!

Danger level, five stars!

“I’m not coming back, not ever again,” she decided in her heart.

–Let’s stake a claim.

After walking out of Building B of Xinhang Apartment, she looked up.

Shen Qingning’s gaze fell on the window of Cheng Zhu’s room.

“Why does he rent two bedrooms and a living room?” Shen Qingning was puzzled.

Just like Lin Lu, upon her first visit to Cheng Zhu’s rental, she had the same doubt.

Originally, the reason she and Lin Lu rented a three-bedroom apartment was simply because these two rich girls needed an extra dressing room.

They had too many clothes, shoes, accessories, bags…all sorts of messy stuff.

The closets in the room simply couldn’t hold everything.

That didn’t even include the items they left at home and didn’t bring along.

But Cheng Zhu is a guy.

That extra room seemed a bit superfluous.

Was it reserved specifically for a guest room?

That’s rather extravagant.

Her personality was indeed very different from Lin Lu’s; Lin Lu would ask directly, while she preferred to plant a seed of doubt in her heart.

After shifting her gaze away, Shen Qingning prepared to drive home.

Her excuse for coming to Xinhang Apartment was to fetch something from home, but she didn’t bother to go upstairs, claiming she had nothing to fetch.

She looked down at the strawberry gift box and Cheese Mixed Berries in her hand, a small smile surfaced on her face as she relaxed.

The winter wind was brisk, yet she didn’t feel cold.

Ha! It’s as if even the wind tasted of strawberries.

…

…

Shen Qingning opened the car door, first placing the two bottles of fruit wine intended for Shen Minglang on the passenger side floor mat, then carefully placed the strawberry gift box on the seat.

Then, she took Cheese Mixed Berries and occupied the driver’s seat.

The cup of milk tea had obviously seen better days.

It was squished during their kiss!

Thankfully, by that time, Shen Qingning had already drunk a third of it.

Otherwise, under such pressure, milk tea might have spilled out of the straw.

That would have ruined the shirt under her coat, making it sticky.

Having started the car, Shen Qingning began driving home.

While others might use their phones at a red light, she couldn’t help looking in the mirror.

She first checked her lips for any odd appearance.

Fortunately, they weren’t too bad.

Her fingers, however, couldn’t help but lightly touch her lower lip, then wipe the corners of her mouth.

Just checking the mirror, she felt inexplicably parched again.

Thus, Shen Qingning reached for the Cheese Mixed Berries.

Before drinking, her gaze unintentionally fell on the straw.

When she had returned to Cheng Zhu’s rental to pick up her things, the milk tea had been in Cheng Zhu’s hands.

The moment she snatched it, she realized–someone drank my Cheese Mixed Berries!

I clearly only drank less than half!

And now only this little is left!

Unless there’s someone else hidden in the room, it could only be Cheng Zhu who drank it.

And there was a tiny bit of her lipstick on the straw.

Clearly, Cheng Zhu had drunk directly from this straw without changing it.

Cheng Zhu is utterly lazy, even to the point of sharing lipmarks–why bother changing!

What about Shen Qingning?

She was distracted by the milk tea until she noticed the red traffic light counting down.

Then she saw the cold-looking girl focus on the road ahead when the light turned green, stepping on the gas, intent on driving, then nonchalantly took a sip of Cheese Mixed Berries.

First, a small sip, followed by another.

Then she casually placed it back in the cup holder.

“It’s still tasty.”

…

…

The Land Rover entered the upscale villa area of Hang City and then stopped inside the garage.

Shen Qingning glanced at the cars parked in the garage, noticing Shen Minglang’s Panamera.

“He’s home this early?”

“That’s rare,” she thought to herself.

Knowing her own brother, Shen Minglang’s nightlife was usually rich.

Not only staying out late but also frequently not coming home at all.

He definitely wouldn’t spend more than half a month at home.

Before taking the things from the car, Shen Qingning did something.

She had popped the collar of her coat, and now, she adjusted it a bit higher, as if pulling it up would cover more.

“This guy is really annoying,” she started to complain about Cheng Zhu in her mind.

The strawberries he’d left would cause her trouble for several days.

Tomorrow, she had to meet with Lin Lu!

After carrying the items from the car, Shen Qingning went upstairs.

Upon entering the living room, her beautiful stepmother Wang Yushan was watching TV on a tablet.

This beautiful stepmother, still youthful, had just finished the popular Korean drama “My Love from the Star” and was now catching the web series “Soul Ferry.”

Back in 2014, web series weren’t as big as they would become later.

A few years later, many producers wouldn’t care if their shows could air on network TV.

Being on the internet was just as good.

Unlike now, where web series were still at the bottom of the totem pole.

But over the past few years, quite a few high-quality web series had debuted.

At this moment, Wang Yushan was sitting on the mahogany couch, leaning against a cushion, hugging another tightly.

Although “Soul Ferry” was quite dense with paranormal elements, it was still a supernatural-themed series.

Wang Yushan was not very courageous, yet she watched despite easily getting scared.

“Ningning! You’re back! I was so scared watching by myself, keep me company for a bit,” the beautiful stepmom said.

Shen Qingning occasionally joined her to binge-watch shows and had watched an episode of “Soul Ferry” with her last weekend.

She didn’t find it scary, unlike Wang Yushan.

“Not today,” she shook her head.

Right now, she really wasn’t in the mood to keep up with web series with her stepmom.

“Ah? Well, okay then,” her stepmom still made a caring remark: “Is it very cold outside?”

With her coat collar standing up, it was indeed conspicuous.

She even began to wonder if this was some new trend among the young folks.

“It’s… it’s actually okay,” the typically cool girl replied.

Wang Yushan, scared by a particularly frightening scene, simply paused the show, then noticed the items in Shen Qingning’s hands.

“Hm? Drinking milk tea today?” she asked, somewhat surprised.

Shen Qingning rarely drank bubble tea; usually, it was Lin Lu, that crazy girl, who would crave it and then drag her into sin!

She didn’t dislike it, but just maintained the self-discipline a beauty ought to.

Bubble tea was a calorie bomb!

But today should be fine.

As everyone knows, kissing burns a lot of calories.

Shen Qingning glanced at the Cheese Mixed Berries in her hand and replied, “Just felt like it.”

Wang Yushan’s attention then shifted to the strawberry gift box and the two bottles of wine.

“I just bought some strawberries today, too,” the beautiful stepmother pointed at the fresh strawberries on the coffee table.

She definitely knew Shen Qingning loved strawberries, having bought them specially for the weekend.

“But it seems your box is better. If you had told me earlier, I wouldn’t have bought these,” she said, looking at the gift box. “Let me wash them; they look delicious, let’s compare the taste.”

Shen Qingning wasn’t a stingy person.

But right now, she really was.

“These got jostled a bit; I’ll buy you a better box next time,” she said, unwilling to share.

She also lifted the two bottles of fruit wine and added, “This is from Cheng Zhu for my brother; I’ll take it up to him.”

“That’s fine then.”

The stepmother watched Shen Qingning’s retreating figure, a bit puzzled.

“Was she just spending time with that Cheng Zhu guy again?”

…

…

In Shen’s Villa, Shen Qingning and Shen Minglang’s rooms were both on the second floor, though quite far apart.

The entire villa spanned nearly four hundred square meters, each floor being akin to a large flat.

Shen Qingning went to her room first, placing the Cheese Mixed Berries and the strawberry gift box on the table, then carried the two bottles of fruit wine to knock on Shen Minglang’s door.

“Why did you just come back?” Shen Minglang asked as he opened the door. “Why pop the collar like that, you don’t look good.”

Boss Shen then started to comment on his sister’s style.

“I ran into Cheng Zhu when I went to grab some things, and he asked me to bring this to you,” Shen Qingning ignored his latter remark.

But in her heart, she had already cursed Cheng Zhu a hundred times over!

Her face involuntarily warmed slightly because of her family’s words.

–So embarrassing!

Boss Shen’s attention instantly shifted to the two bottles of wine: “Cousin sent this for me? Why is he suddenly sending me wine?”

“He said it tasted really good when he had it on the autumn trip, it’s homemade, so he bought some,” Shen Qingning explained.

“That’s nice! At least the guy has some conscience. I thought he didn’t want to hang out with us since he’s so hard to catch these days.” He beamed, carefully examining a bottle.

As Cheng Zhu had expected, Shen Minglang was easy to please.

The Chinese do like homemade things from others, like homemade wine, homegrown vegetables, or home-reared poultry… they always seem healthier.

“Okay, I’ll head back to my room,” Shen Qingning said goodbye.

Back in her room, she drank the little bit of milk tea left, then went to the bathroom to wash the remaining strawberries.

After taking off her coat, the strawberry mark on her neck was blatantly visible, so she couldn’t help but touch it.

There was still plenty of time; she decided to thoroughly enjoy the leftover Dandong Special Grade Strawberries.

She picked up the romance novel lying on the table that she hadn’t finished, alternating between reading and sporadically enjoying a strawberry.

Of all seasons, she actually loved winter the most.

And this winter seemed somewhat different from the past.

While reading, she found herself frequently distracted, somewhat unable to concentrate.

The plot was at a point where the male and female leads were deeply in love, but she didn’t find it very sweet!

Before she knew it, she had eaten all the strawberries.

There weren’t many in the box, but normally, she wouldn’t eat so many at once even though she loved strawberries.

Looking at the empty box, she couldn’t help but recall the conversations at dinner between Shen Minglang and Jiang Wanzhou.

Occasionally taking the initiative and sending signals to guys was necessary.

Today she had taken the initiative to see Cheng Zhu, only to be… well…
–Initiative led to unwarranted consequences.

Of course, though her heart was filled with endless embarrassment, shame outweighed annoyance.

Her body bore his mark, but so did her heart.

So, uncharacteristically, she picked up her phone, took a picture of the empty box, and sent it to Cheng Zhu.

“I ate them all by myself,” she typed.

And this sly man always managed to stir her emotions with just a few words.

He replied: “Wow, I thought you were going to ignore me all night.”

…

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