On a Stormy Night, the Campus Belle Knocked on My Door Seeking Shelter
Chapter 19: Simple Words Are Worth More Than a Grand Confession

Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Simple Words Are Worth More Than a Grand Confession

With the clothes sorted, all that was left was the bedding.

As Su Yuqing turned the corner, laden with bulging bags, her canvas shoes splashed shimmering flecks of light across the wet flagstones.

She stole a glance at Chen Mo, who was walking just a little ahead of her. In the shopping bag swinging from his hand, the lacy, mint-green hem of a skirt peeked out from the edge of the paper, fluttering in the wind like a spring branch.

"The home goods department is on the fourth floor." When they got to the mall, Chen Mo pressed the elevator button. The reflective metal doors captured Su Yuqing fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. ’We look like a young couple out shopping,’ she thought. The idea made her a little nervous about being seen, yet it also filled her with a secret sweetness.

"Just pick whatever you like. You’re the one who’ll be sleeping in it, after all."

When they reached the bedding store, they found the lighting was soft and warm.

Warm yellow spotlights cast soft blocks of color across the shelves. Su Yuqing’s fingertips brushed over a row of quilted comforters, their cloud-like texture reminding her of the warmth she felt last night, falling asleep wrapped in his scent.

Chen Mo followed half a step behind her, pushing a shopping cart piled high with their bags of clothes. As she bent over, he watched her hair sweep across a lilac pillowcase. ’This feels like a newlywed couple setting up their home,’ he thought.

"Isn’t this a bit too expensive...?" Su Yuqing murmured, fiddling with the price tag on a four-piece washed cotton set. It had a dusty blue trim embroidered with a subtle pattern of stars and moons.

"Expensive? Don’t worry about it. If you like it, give it a feel." Chen Mo took a silk comforter off the shelf and placed it in Su Yuqing’s arms so she could test its texture.

Su Yuqing felt it and gave a noncommittal smile.

Thinking she wasn’t satisfied with the texture, Chen Mo immediately went back to browsing.

But while he was squatting in front of the shelves comparing different fillings, Su Yuqing quietly put the silk comforter with the four-figure price tag back and picked up a much cheaper, light green washed cotton one. "This one feels nice," she said.

"What’s so nice about it? The texture is terrible."

Chen Mo finally realized she was just put off by the price. He stood up and gently tapped her forehead with his knuckle, smiling. "Don’t underestimate this stuff. A good set can really improve your quality of sleep. Besides, it’s not like I’m buying it exclusively for you. Later on, when you’re not using the guest room anymore, we can just wash it for other guests to use. So buying a more expensive one is no big deal."

His words, however, were deliberately ambiguous. When you’re not using the guest room, it can be left for other guests...

On the surface, it sounded like it could be used for guests after Su Yuqing eventually moved out. But it could just as easily be interpreted as her being promoted to lady of the house, which would also be perfectly logical.

Especially since Chen Mo had used the word "we."

Su Yuqing, for her part, clearly understood both meanings, and her heart began to flutter wildly.

Chen Mo, however, didn’t seem to notice her reaction. He shook out the sample and draped it over a display bed. "Come over and feel the texture."

Su Yuqing was still in a daze when a large, warm hand pulled her down into the fluffy silk comforter, and a memory foam pillow was simultaneously tucked under her head.

As his searing palm left her hand, it came to rest warmly against the small of her back through her clothes. "Sleeping curled up is bad for your lower back and neck," he said. "This kind of memory foam pillow gives your neck proper support."

Sinking into the cloud-like bedding, Su Yuqing gazed at the taut, smooth lines of the muscles in Chen Mo’s arm as he propped himself up beside the pillow. Suddenly, the air itself felt as sweet as honey.

After some more careful selection, Chen Mo finally helped Su Yuqing pick out a full set of bedding.

With the shopping cart now stuffed with their haul, Su Yuqing gazed at a pale cherry-pink brushed-cotton comforter and whispered, "Thank you, Chen Mo..."

Suddenly, the person in front of her stopped, and Su Yuqing bumped right into his solid back.

"From now on, you don’t need to say thank you," he said. "Actions speak louder than words. You need to figure out how you’re going to repay me, not just say it. And until you do, you absolutely cannot let anything happen to you!"

The sudden intensity in the last half of Chen Mo’s sentence left Su Yuqing slightly stunned.

Still, she nodded.

"Come on, let’s go home." He flashed a brilliant smile, like a ray of warm sunshine piercing through the girl’s long-gloomy heart, carving out a safe harbor in its turbulent sea where her soul could finally rest.

After paying at the checkout counter, Chen Mo gave the shop his address and asked for same-day delivery. Then, carrying their bags of clothes, he and Su Yuqing started for home.

On the way back, they passed through an old street market. The moment a vendor lifted the lid off a steamer, a sweet mist of osmanthus and fermented rice enveloped half the block.

Chen Mo immediately went over and bought one. He held the scalding-hot rice cake in one hand, blew on it a few times, and then held it to her lips.

She took a bite where he had torn it open. A candied osmanthus petal stuck to the corner of her lips, only to be wiped away a second later by his thumb.

"Is it good?" Chen Mo asked, smiling at Su Yuqing.

"Hfff... hfff..." Su Yuqing blew on it a few times before taking a bite, her eyes crinkling into a smile. "It’s very sweet and fragrant."

"Next time, I’ll take you to the food street. They have even better stuff there," Chen Mo said, taking a bite of the rice cake himself.

Hearing him mention the food street, Su Yuqing felt a genuine sense of longing.

She’d heard people talk about all the delicious things to eat there, but unfortunately, being so strapped for cash, she could never afford to go to a place like that.

’But if I go with Chen Mo, I’ll just end up spending his money again,’ she thought. ’That wouldn’t be right.’

She liked Chen Mo, but she wasn’t after his money. Her feelings stemmed purely from a childhood promise.

The simple yet heartwarming words spoken by that kind Little Boy in the corner of a park on a long-ago spring day...

As the memory surfaced, Su Yuqing watched his retreating back with a wistful gaze.

’He might have forgotten everything,’ she thought, ’but I’ll always remember.’

Once they were close to home, Chen Mo helped Su Yuqing buy a complete set of toiletries before they finally headed back to the apartment.

By the time they ambled back, the delivery with the bedding had already arrived at their door.

...

In the guest room, Chen Mo was kneeling on the floor, wrestling with a duvet cover.

"Let me do it," Su Yuqing said, standing off to the side holding a new pillow, not sure what to do as she watched his shoulder blades ripple like butterfly wings beneath his cotton T-shirt.

"I’ve got it... I’m afraid you’d accidentally sew yourself inside." Chen Mo shook out the star-and-moon-patterned sheet, then suddenly turned and draped it over the peeking girl, enveloping her in a personal galaxy. "Now, this whole bed and this whole room are yours, until you get tired of living here..."

His simple words reached deeper into her soul than any long-winded confession of love could have.

Chen Mo had no idea that his casual, offhand remarks always struck a deep chord within Su Yuqing.

She suddenly spun around as unbidden tears welled up and streamed from her eyes.

’So this is what it feels like... to have a real home...’

The moment Su Yuqing turned, Chen Mo’s sharp senses seemed to catch the faint, salty tang of tears in the air, and he noticed the unnatural tremble in her shoulders.

"Hey, don’t get all emotional on me. I’m still going to charge you rent as usual," Chen Mo said, trying to defuse the situation with a joke when he realized he’d somehow made her cry. "Living here is one thing, but you still have to figure out how to pay off your debt."

Sure enough, at his words, Su Yuqing wiped her tears and turned back to face him. Though her eyes were still rimmed with red, her face broke into a dazzlingly bright smile as she gave him a one-word reply. "Yeah!"