Chapter 54 Someone Else’s Husband?

The wind howled and the rain poured down. Lu Qingyue didn’t catch what was said and tilted her head, asking again,
“What did you say?”
Cheng Xingye chuckled softly, but didn’t repeat himself. He simply zipped her raincoat all the way up, then took the dripping umbrella leaning against the wall.
Around them, all the classmates with umbrellas had already left. Only the unlucky ones without remained.
Lu Qingyue, dressed in her raincoat, was about to step into the rain when someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.
Cheng Xingye held her wrist loosely and glanced down at her feet. “You’re just going to walk out like that?”
Lu Qingyue blinked in confusion. “What else should I do?”
Following his gaze, she suddenly realized she was wearing white sneakers.
Lu Qingyue hesitated. White shoes were notoriously hard to clean once dirty…
She pressed her lips together, steeling herself not to fuss, but Cheng Xingye crouched in front of her and said calmly, “Come on.”
“Huh?”
Lu Qingyue froze, suddenly realizing he meant to carry her.
Many eyes drifted their way, subtle but present. Not wanting to be stared at, she decisively climbed onto his back, burying her face in the curve of his neck.
Cheng Xingye had expected her to protest—after all, girls were usually shy and reserved—but she clambered up without hesitation, her small hands clasping tightly around his neck.
He smiled silently, supporting her thighs and lifting her steadily. With one hand, he opened the umbrella and stepped into the rain, asking deliberately,
“You didn’t hesitate at all. Aren’t you afraid I’ll carry you off and sell you?”
Lu Qingyue wasn’t afraid in the least. She even took the umbrella from him, tilted her head on his back, and feigned surprise as she retorted,
“Would you really?”
If he could bear to sell her, why would he have come to pick her up after school?
Lu Qingyue was no fool.
Though Cheng Xingye’s expression remained cool and indifferent, she felt certain now.
He liked her.
Not the brotherly affection or care, but the kind that, no matter how careless and bold he was before others, he kept a tender, unspoken warmth just for her.
Cheng Xingye’s face showed no emotion as he lazily replied,
“How do you know I wouldn’t?”
It would be easier, honestly.
He wouldn’t have to worry about her being hungry after PE class, or about boys pestering her at school, or fret over how far she’d gotten with her crush…
He sounded so serious, as if he really might carry her off and sell her the next moment.

Lu Qingyue giggled quietly on his back, tilting the umbrella to shield them from the glances around, then whispered in his ear,
“Don’t sell me. Since you’ve put in the effort, let me tell you a joke.”
Cheng Xingye glanced at her, wary she might pull another trick.
After all, this little rascal was as cunning as a wasp’s nest—he couldn’t let his guard down.
But Lu Qingyue wore an innocent face, her round eyes blinking at him.
Seeing he didn’t object, she cleared her throat,
“Here it goes! On the Bridge of Forgetfulness, you’ve already had ten bowls of the Lady Meng’s soup and are about to drink the eleventh. Lady Meng stops you and asks, ‘What can’t you forget?’ You put down the bowl and say—”
Cheng Xingye: “…I can’t forget you?”
Lu Qingyue burst out laughing on his back and whispered in his ear,
“Wrong! You say, ‘I forgot I just drank another bowl!’”
Cheng Xingye: “…”
He twitched his lips, then quickly straightened them, calling out with a warning,
“Lu Dot.”
Lu Qingyue didn’t understand, replying with an “Eh?” and poking her head out from behind him to look.
Her breath came so close, light and soft against his neck, tickling and tingling.
Cheng Xingye turned his head, his Adam’s apple bobbing twice, his deep voice rolling through the mist, turning a little hoarse.
He said, “Stay put. If you fall, I’m not responsible.”
Lu Qingyue stared at his Adam’s apple and asked boldly,
“Then if I don’t fall, will you be responsible?”
Sensing her heated gaze at his neck, Cheng Xingye resisted the urge to turn and look at her.
He wanted to be responsible.
But this little rascal already had someone she liked, didn’t she?
She had a crush, yet she kept teasing him—who could possibly be responsible for that?
Cheng Xingye felt stifled, unable to vent it, so his tone became a little cold,
“You’re too young. I can’t be responsible.”
Lu Qingyue didn’t understand what he meant, hugging his neck as she asked,
“What’s too young?”
Did he mean because she was lying on his back, he could feel her A cup?
But she’d grown quite a bit this year; probably next time she’d need a B or C cup…
Besides, it was small now, but didn’t people say love makes you develop twice as fast?

So Lu Qingyue, unconvinced, murmured against his shoulder,
“I’m only sixteen, I’ll keep growing.”
Cheng Xingye choked.
“…What are you thinking!”
He wasn’t a pervert; who was talking about development?!
Afraid she’d go even further astray, Cheng Xingye sighed helplessly,
“I meant you’re too young. Don’t start dating early. Otherwise, the boy you date now will end up someone else’s husband.”
Lu Qingyue seized on the key point, suddenly energized,
“Someone else’s husband? That sounds exciting!”
Cheng Xingye: “…”
Are you so young and already fascinated with forbidden love?!
The rain poured in torrents, streetlights blurred into halos behind the water curtain.
Cheng Xingye carried the oblivious little heartbreaker steadily toward his sedan.
Rain splashed everywhere, soaking Lu Qingyue’s calves.
When Cheng Xingye stuffed her into the car, she was still wrapped in his raincoat. She suddenly looked up, her wet eyes gazing straight at him,
“Brother Xingye, will you be someone else’s husband in the future?”
Cheng Xingye paused, head down, not meeting her gaze as he leaned in to buckle her seatbelt.
Just as Lu Qingyue thought he wouldn’t answer, he slowly lifted his eyelids, still half-turned, his lean arm caging her in the passenger seat. His gaze swept over her lazily, then he said in a cool, flat tone,
“No.”
Rainwater streamed down the window, forming countless thin trails, blurring the glass and instantly dividing the inside and outside into two worlds.
One churned with hidden currents amid wind and rain; the other, beneath its calm surface, brewed waves of intimacy.
Lu Qingyue stared at his face, so close she could feel her heart pounding stronger and stronger.
Her breath was chaotic, the rhythm lost.
In their eyes, some tangled, uncontrollable emotion stirred, like drifting waterweed—once caught, it twisted tighter and tighter, hopelessly entangled.
She saw Cheng Xingye’s Adam’s apple move, his gaze flicking beneath her nose before locking onto her eyes, his voice deep and unmistakable,
“Lu Qingyue, I only fall in love once. If you can’t promise to see it through, don’t provoke me.”