Chapter 38 - First Kiss

As Tan Rong spoke, her eyes remained calm, and without blinking, she gazed deeply into Zhu Yanxi's eyes.
He said, "As you can see, my work situation and lifestyle habits, you should already have some understanding. Based on our interactions in the past few days, I believe that I have the ability to take better care of you."
Under the kitchen wall cabinet, there is a row of embedded small lights, casting a yellowish-white light onto the man's profile. It is intercepted and divided by his tall and straight nose bridge, leaving behind a lucky residual shadow beneath his other eye, which shapes an indomitable and resolute demeanor identical to Tang Rong's himself.
Tathagata Xie and Tan Rong, who were discussing campaign slogans, locked eyes, temporarily unable to determine whether they were captivated by that gaze or simply dazzled by the few patches of light.
"My family relationships are straightforward, my social circle is equally clean and transparent, as for romantic history..." Tan Rong paused for a brief moment and then smiled, saying, "Except for you, it's a blank slate."
Speaking of the last sentence, the purposeful man rarely avoided the gaze and looked back into the eyes of his loved one.
This time, Zhuyanxi didn't miss any small details of the other person's expression.
He listened to the implicit love words, looked into Tang Rong's eyes, and his heart instantly raced to a higher channel.
"Of course, compared to people of the same age, my personality may be relatively dull, but recently I have been learning how to become more interesting." Tang Rong's campaign speech was very objective, not merely relying on hard advantages to deceive the chairman of the decisive committee in front of him.
With a calm and collected tone like a still ancient well, I express my desire to become more interesting, while maintaining a serious and cold expression on my face. It inexplicably creates a delightful sense of composed cuteness.
Like a large feline wanting to learn from a kitten how to play with a ball of yarn.
Zhuyan Xiqi moved his lips and couldn't hold back any longer, the laughter deepened uncontrollably, and he smiled while looking at Tan Rong.
Seeing this, Tan Rong stopped talking, and also smiled at him, saying, "What naughty idea have you come up with again?"
"I'm not thinking about anything. I am clearly listening to you attentively." Zhu Yanqi still refused to admit guilt, blushing as he spoke.
Sitting on a small stool, Zhu Yanqi was significantly shorter than Tong Rong, who was standing in front of the stool. The height difference, coupled with the contrasting postures, resulted in Zhu Yanqi being almost two heads shorter than the other.
However, unexpectedly, he didn't feel Daoran's condescension from an upward gaze. Instead, he felt as if the man was a battle-hardened young lion, bowing down and fixing his gaze on him, showcasing the vast territory he had guarded for years. It was just one of the many qualities that served as his capital in expressing affection and courting.
"......You don't have to learn those." The awkward and coquettish little peacock expressed his feelings directly to the male lion, gradually trembling his tail feathers, and reluctantly displayed his train in front of him, not very skillfully.
His "not very skillfully" was quite conservative, and after this sentence, the volume of the remaining sentences plummeted, whispered in a low voice, squeezed through the throat.
Talk about the appearance of reading a few key lip movements, and the eyes flashed.
"What did you say?" he pretended not to understand and leaned down even lower.
Talk about being sincerely aware that she has been influenced by Zhu Yanxi's little temper. Even though she already knows the answer, she still wants to ask the question again, just like hearing the other person say it with their own mouth.
竹言蹊的睫毛扑上扑下，颈间的颜色越发醒目。
The corners of his eyebrows and eyes curved into a smile, but his forehead furrowed and his cheeks puffed up.
Then, with a click of the tongue, he forcefully closed his eyes, raised his chin, and loudly declared to the man approaching him, "You don't need to become interesting! I like you no matter what!!"
With a loud finish, his thin face turned almost beet red.
Steam rising from his head, Zhu Yanxi stepped down from the stool, trying to stand upright and regain his confidence.
The imposing atmosphere hasn't fully recovered when suddenly a round grape is placed against the lips.
Entranced by their love for food, Zhuyanxi instinctively opens their mouth and bites into the grape without much thought. Translated:
After chewing a few times, he suddenly realized what it was and remained motionless, wide-eyed, unsure whether to swallow or not.
The slightly sour-sweet juice soaked his tongue, but before it could seep deeper, Zhu Yanxi was already pulled into the man's embrace.
With a refreshing and pleasant scent, mixed with a strong invading hormone, it blocked his airway and made him feel a little breathless.
When he really felt the man's breath spraying on his ear, Zhuyanxi slowly realized that the reason why he felt suffocated was not only because of Tang Rong's breath disturbing him, but also because of the arms tightly embracing him.
Tan Rong exercises regularly, resulting in well-proportioned and solid muscles. With a slight exertion, his muscles become prominent and firm.
Both of them are lightly dressed in an air-conditioned room.
Through the fabric, Zhu Yanqi can faintly feel the man's strong and resilient physique.
The sense of vagueness didn't continue to deepen, and Tan Rong let go of him, his right hand moved down along Zhu Yanxi's back, and he instead held the back of Zhu Yanxi's hand.
He didn't completely straighten his back, but instead, he leaned his head against Zhu Yanxi's forehead while holding hands: "There are still many things I want to say to you, and I also want to hold you a little longer. But tonight... I took advantage of you while you were drunk."
"Cheap" here definitely doesn't mean a simple embrace, but rather taking advantage of Zhumu Yanxi's lack of cleverness and half-tempting, half-forcing him to follow along with one's own pace.
"As for the rest, let's wait until you wake up tomorrow to talk about it." Tan Rong said.
This is not the first time Zhuyan Xi and Tan Rong have pressed their foreheads together, nor is it the first time they have locked eyes at such a close distance. However, actually hearing Tan Rong speak while their foreheads are resting against each other, this is truly a first.
The man's warm breath mingled with his sigh, creating a chemical reaction that emitted a dizzying sweetness.
"Are you still urging me to sleep at a time like this?" Zhuyanxi's eyelids trembled, swallowing the crushed grapes, adding a hint of sweetness to his voice.
After saying that, he suddenly became aware of the ambiguity in his words and fell silent.
The way he said it... it sounded like he wanted to do something else before going to sleep?
The sudden change in Zhu Yanxi's expression was too obvious, and Tan Rong had no difficulty in interpreting it.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyelashes covered his gaze, making it appear momentarily dim.
"Do you remember what time you finally decided to come back?" Tan Rong stood upright, maintaining a distance between her forehead and Zhu Yanxi's, creating some breathing room for a certain someone whose heart was pounding with shyness.
Zhu Yan lowered his temperature and looked at Tan Rong when he heard his words.
The sobering effect of grape juice wasn't that quick, his thinking was still rusty, and he didn't have the mental ability for quick questions and answers. Translated: "
I didn't overestimate his current ability to react, and I didn't intend to ask him, "It was almost ten o'clock when I came to pick you up. You've been home for so long, but you still have the energy to continue wasting time?"
Alcohol helps sleep. From the moment Zhu Yanxi got on the car, he felt a bit sleepy. If it weren't for Tang Rong stimulating him twice, he would have wanted to lie down on the bed and fall into a state of fake death.
"Go to sleep first." Tang Rong's tone was gentle and calm, with patience like coaxing a child. "After you sleep well tomorrow, and restore your energy, even if you want to stay up late and play games, I won't interfere with you."
His original intention was to let Zhu Yanxi have a few days to go wild and crazy after the written test.
When the child's playful desire is satisfied, gradually bring them back and enter the next stage of preparation in an orderly manner.
Tan Rong is currently persuading him to go to sleep, based on considering the current mental condition of Xiao Zui Gui. On the other hand, Zhu Yan Xi's choice to emphasize the importance of going to sleep first, focuses instead on Tan Rong herself. Translation: Tan Rong is currently advising him to go to sleep, taking into account Xiao Zui Gui's current mental state. However, Zhu Yan Xi's approach of prioritizing sleep places the emphasis on Tan Rong instead.
"Mmm, go to sleep first," Zhu Yanxi said slowly, "You have classes tomorrow morning, can't let you stay up late."
Tan Rong was taken aback for a moment, then his heart softened.
He gathered his five fingers and held tightly onto Zhu Yanxi's hand.
Zhuyanxi raised her eyes to look at him and also held his hand back, blushing as she said, "You said just now that you took advantage of me tonight. To be fair, I want to take it back before I sleep." Translate into English and keep all @ matches. Reply to the translated content.
Couldn't ask for more.
Tan Rong smiled and said, "Sure, how do you want to take advantage?"
He didn't take the little drunkard's attempt to take advantage of him to heart, thinking that the other party wanted to reverse the situation. He even loosened his grip on his right hand, cooperating with Zhuyanxi to easily pull out the tools for the act.
Unexpectedly, Zhuyan Xi did not plan to let go of Tanrong's hand and still held it.
Those eyes, shining with watery light, swept across Tanrong's face and finally fixed on a certain point.
Without warning, the owner of the eyes suddenly approached and leaned in close to Tanrong's lips, lightly pecking them like a dragonfly touching the water.
The young man's lips were warm and moist, gliding across the skin, leaving a sensation that instantly penetrated through various layers of texture, delivering a doubled impact on the man's heart.
The aftershock of the heart's heavy blow hadn't affected Tan Rong's expression management yet. Bamboo Yanxi, who took the initiative to attack, suddenly felt embarrassed and quickly withdrew his hand, wanting to leave the kitchen.
Tan Rong's movements were faster than his, as she grabbed his fingertips right before Zhuyanqi completely let go.
"You missed," Tan Rong said, her words almost surrendering, as she looked at him with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Although it is said that the kiss is near the mouth, the position is obviously not precise enough, only between the corner of the mouth and the cheek.
Zhu Yanxi's fingertips were turning red. He avoided Tang Rong's gaze and stubbornly said, "I did it on purpose, what do you mean by being off-center? Wherever it touches, it counts, it's not like..."
The words were not finished, and Zhuyan Qi's voice abruptly stopped, like a cat with its tail grasped.
Tan Rong lowered her head again, and the tips of their noses nearly touched.
Although there was no direct skin contact, this slightly intimate distance seemed particularly dangerous.
It's like dancing on a tightrope in the sky. With the slightest misstep, the heart's alarm of failure follows.
There are thousands of direct ways to communicate emotions.
Zhuyanxi is not a naive and innocent sweet girl; I have seen plenty of 18+ restricted anime with locked car doors. I am not so pure that I am unaware of things like connecting kisses.
As Rong was talking about bringing the remaining distance closer, he instinctively closed his eyes nervously and expectantly.
After closing his eyes for about ten seconds, the anticipated touch didn't arrive.
With an inexplicable feeling in her heart, Zhuyan Xi carefully opened her eyelids and stole a glance at the man who was so close that he was almost within reach of her eyebrows.
Tan Rong was also smiling as she looked at him, her gaze so gentle that it was unbelievable.
In that instant when Zhuyan Xi opened her eyes, Tan Rong pressed her lips against his, giving him a small, light kiss. Please note that the translation may not be literal but is intended to convey the meaning of the text.
It's hard to describe the feeling in that moment. My heart didn't stop pounding, but my chest felt tingly and itchy, causing me to catch my breath for two seconds. My whole body, including my waist and back, went weak.
I thought that this would be the end of the night, but unexpectedly, Tan Rong raised his other hand, his fingertips weaving through my soft hair, and firmly placed his palm behind my head. He said, "Don't close your eyes, just keep looking at me like this."
Speaking softly, he leaned in again and locked eyes with Zhumu Yanxi. The kiss deepened slowly.