Chapter 68 – She Absolutely Had to Take Her Down

If Zhao Xinning didn’t end up sleeping in the same bed as Lin Xi tonight, then wouldn’t this whole trip have been for nothing?

Zhao Xinning began her masterful guidance.

“Xi, the rooms at the inns around here all seem really expensive.”

“It’s fine,” Lin Xi said. “I’ll book my own.”

Lin Xi really didn’t want to keep spending Zhao Xinning’s money.

“How about we book rooms next to each other? If we’re across the hall, that sounds pretty nice too.”

Zhao Xinning: “…”

The plan was running into a tiny bit of trouble…

“They’re so expensive. In my opinion, there’s no need to book two rooms, right?” Zhao Xinning suggested. “We can book a deluxe king room. The kind that’s more than big enough for two people.”

“That…” Lin Xi had never even dreamed of sleeping in the same bed as Angel-sama.

“You don’t want to?” Zhao Xinning said, looking dejected. “Then forget it. My sleeping habits are pretty bad anyway. If I end up disturbing your sleep, Xi-“

“No!” It wasn’t that Lin Xi didn’t want to. She was just too nervous. “I was worried you wouldn’t want to, Xinning.”

“I’m even more worried I’ll disturb your sleep.”

“You won’t. You absolutely won’t.” Zhao Xinning instantly brightened up, opened the hotel she had already planned out, and booked the room.

Step one: convince Xi to book only one room. Operation successful!

…

Before checking in, the two of them went to a restaurant near the hotel and had a lavish dinner.

Needless to say, Zhao Xinning rushed to pay the bill again.

After leaving the restaurant, they took a short walk and browsed the nearby night market.

They bought quite a few things, then carried their bags of all sizes to the hotel to check in.

The room Zhao Xinning had booked was the most expensive and most luxurious king room available.

Once they entered the room and set down their things, Lin Xi couldn’t wait to take a shower.

“Xinning, do you want to shower first?”

“Huh?!” Zhao Xinning jolted, because she had misheard it as, “Do you want to shower together?” It wasn’t until Lin Xi repeated the question that she finally snapped back to her senses.

“Mm, you go first.”

Lin Xi walked into the bathroom.

Zhao Xinning covered her bright-red cheeks and silently rolled around on the bed.

Seriously, do I want to shower with Xi that badly?!

The sound of rushing water came from the bathroom. When it reached Zhao Xinning’s ears, it became a piece of incomparably beautiful music.

A little while later, Lin Xi came out of the bathroom.

Zhao Xinning picked up the hair dryer. “Xi, let me blow-dry your hair!”

If she helped Lin Xi dry her hair, then she could touch Lin Xi’s head as much as she wanted. Zhao Xinning was looking forward to this part very much.

“Then thank you.” Lin Xi sat down at the edge of the bed.

At home, she and Shi Yu would help blow-dry each other’s hair.

This was the first time Lin Xi had ever enjoyed Angel-sama’s hair-drying service.

She felt that Zhao Xinning’s hands were very light and very gentle.

So much better than the way Shi Yu just grabbed a fistful of hair and blasted it dry!

“How is it?” Zhao Xinning raised her voice a little, speaking over the hair dryer so Lin Xi could hear her clearly.

“It feels nice,” Lin Xi said. Her hair was quickly dried. “Thank you for going to the trouble.”

Zhao Xinning walked toward the bathroom. “You have to help me dry my hair later too.”

“No problem.” Lin Xi watched Zhao Xinning enter the bathroom.

Is this real?

Am I dreaming?

Lin Xi was so nervous she felt like she was about to explode.

Not only was she in the same room as Zhao Xinning, but… Angel-sama was taking a shower in the bathroom!

“Xi?” Zhao Xinning called from inside the bathroom.

Lin Xi’s heart stopped for a second.

“Xi,” Zhao Xinning called again, “could you get the facial cleanser from my bag for me? I forgot to bring it in.”

Lin Xi: “…”

…

The face wash in the bag was part of Zhao Xinning’s plan.

She hadn’t forgotten it at all. She had been waiting for this exact moment so Lin Xi could bring it in for her.

And Zhao Xinning’s “plan complete” move had worked. Sure enough, Lin Xi appeared at the bathroom door.

“Xinning, I, um, uh-” The terribly nervous Lin Xi was practically tying her tongue in knots. “Crack the door open a little. I’ll hand the face wash to you.”

“Okay.” Zhao Xinning walked over to the door and simply opened it.

Lin Xi, face wash in hand, stood there like a wooden statue.

She even felt like her soul had been knocked clean out of her body.

Pfft-

A hot rush hit Lin Xi’s nose, and a nosebleed spurted out.

“Huh???!!!” Zhao Xinning panicked. “Xi! What’s wrong?! Are you okay?!”

Flustered, she rushed into the room, grabbed her phone, and blurted, “I need to call an ambulance!”

Lin Xi tilted her head back and wiped away the blood, quickly stopping Zhao Xinning from calling emergency services.

“N-no… no need, Xinning. Really, no need.”

“I’m just a little overheated.”

“Today it’s been barbecue and hot pot, and I ate way too much stuff that makes you get all heated up.”

“I’m fine. Could you hand me some tissues?”

Zhao Xinning looked like she was about to cry from fear. “If you’re fine, that’s good. You scared me to death. If anything happened to you, I-“

She picked up the tissues and carefully wiped the blood from Lin Xi’s nose.

“Weren’t we only eating hot pot? We didn’t have barbecue, so why do you get overheated so easily?”

Zhao Xinning really hadn’t eaten any barbecue, but Lin Xi had happily gnawed through the bird leg from the “Grilled Bird.”

Still, the sudden nosebleed was mostly because of the visual impact…

Lin Xi kept her eyes straight ahead. She was afraid that if she looked at Zhao Xinning in just her underwear one more time, she’d bleed herself dry.

After the little incident, Zhao Xinning finished her shower and came out of the bathroom.

Lin Xi gingerly helped blow-dry her hair.

It was the first time Lin Xi had ever touched Zhao Xinning’s beautiful hair, and all she felt was how unbelievably silky it was.

Afterward, Lin Xi was both tired and sleepy. “Xinning, can I really sleep in the bed?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Zhao Xinning said.

After Lin Xi lay down, she asked again, “Should I move over a little so I don’t disturb you?”

“Stop saying such weird things!” Zhao Xinning made Lin Xi lie in the middle, then lay down right next to her.

Sleepiness left Lin Xi with no spare thoughts. She said good night, then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

“Good night, Xi-” Zhao Xinning also closed her eyes.

Pretending to sleep.

With Lin Xi right beside her, how could Zhao Xinning possibly fall asleep so quickly?

A few minutes later, after hearing Lin Xi’s steady breathing and confirming she was asleep, Zhao Xinning slowly propped herself up.

Xi’s sleeping face was just ridiculously, outrageously cute!

Definitely the cutest sleeping face in the universe!

Blushing bright red, Zhao Xinning slowly leaned down. The moment she’d been waiting for was finally here!

The closer she got to Lin Xi’s cheek, the faster her heart pounded, until it felt like it might burst right out of her chest.

Until…

“Shi Yu, you jerk~, you’re lying on my hair again~”

Lin Xi’s sleep-mumbled words brought Zhao Xinning’s wildly beating heart to an instant screeching halt.

Shi Yu???

That face surfaced in Zhao Xinning’s mind. She knew Shi Yu was Lin Xi’s classmate.

They’d even run into each other before at the amusement park.

“So… so… you and Shi Yu have that kind of relationship too-“

Like a puppet with its strings cut, Zhao Xinning collapsed back down weakly.

Only one thought filled her head:

Get rid of Shi Yu!

She had to get rid of her!