Honey Stewed Squid

Tong Nian paused blankly.

Go to his room?

His… room?

“My plan was to use ten minutes to take a shower, then, while I was at it, sleep for fifty minutes.” His tone was relaxed. “Do you still want to go?”

Shower?!

Sleep?!

She hastily shook her head. “No, I won’t go.”

“You’re really not going?”

“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I’ll just stay here by myself and… play on the computer and wait for you…”

Once she said this, she immediately strode into the room and stretched out a hand to feel for the light switch. But after fumbling around, feeling out the wall for several rounds and still not finding it, a hand reached in and, with a click, flipped the switch above her head.

She tilted her head up.

Did even… the light switch have to be installed so high?

The person who had turned on the light for her left.

She heard a series of sounds: a key card being swiped, the door opening, and then, the door closing. Hugging her bag against herself, she stood in that empty guest room. Suddenly, from the bottommost part of her heart, something began to float and float, until up floated a slight feeling of regret for her choice…

And so, she truly did remain alone in this guest room that was decorated in a clean-cut style, staring at three computers for an entire hour. Almost exactly when the clock at the bottom of the computer screen jumped to 8:10 p.m., the door was pushed open. That man, who had changed into a track jacket and had an expression of “I’m not awake yet; I’m not too happy” inscribed across his face, languidly strolled in.

Tong Nian had originally been propping her chin up on her hand, and when she saw him enter, she instantly sprang gleefully to her feet. “I finished it!”

With difficulty, those eyes managed to focus and give a questioning look at her from high above.

“But, it’s not a hundred different ones. I made one first that layers ten different colours. Come test it out and see how it is!”

“Oh? That fast?” He was surprised. Lazily pulling out a chair, he sat down. Tong Nian at once clicked open for him the little program she had just made and, as if presenting a treasure, explained, “Just now, I took a look at that little software program Little Bai had mentioned, and I basically modeled it after that…”

He clicked it open but did not begin playing, only glancing at it.

And immediately, he found it very entertaining.

A little window first popped up with a top scores board. There was only one score on it: Little Squidie, 1009.

1.009 seconds?

That really was the worst score he had ever seen.

“Do… you like it? Uneasily, Tong Nian asked this in a small voice.

She was not aware that the results of her trial play were being evaluated by him and only anxiously stared at him, trying to determine whether he liked this little software program.

Do you like it?

This really was a unique way of asking. Gun took a look at her. It seemed, besides that mother of his at home, whom he could not really manage, no one had ever asked him this question before.

The corners of his lips tilted up slightly.

Clicking on the mouse to close the top scores board, he started a new game.

Ten data samples, an average score of 102.

……

Tong Nian gaped at this score. 0.102 seconds… What kind of speed was that? …

Not noticing the gaze of the person behind him, Gun opened up the game again and tried it one more time. This time it was 101. The next several times that followed all maintained this performance level. A hint of pleasure flashed across his gorgeous face. Standing and walking over to a small refrigerator, he pulled out two bottles of cold beer, opened them, and took a swig from one.

Then, observing that look on her face of not having drunk any water this entire time, he asked offhandedly, “Thirsty?”

Alcohol?

Tong Nian stared blankly. She had never drank that before…

Nothing really… would happen, right?

She bowed her head, silently cheering herself on for three seconds before raising it again. “I’ll drink it…” After stating this, she stepped over, picked up between her two hands the other bottle of beer that Gun had opened, and took a large gulp.

So bitter…

Gun was taken aback but did not try to stop her.

His original intention had been to have her drink some of the orange juice or mineral water that was in the refrigerator, but seeing that the kid was so unhesitant, there was no need to say any useless drivel. This place normally kept more beer than any other beverage anyway, and everyone was used to using that to moisten the throat and relax.

Just a beer with a few percent ABV[1] [alcohol by volume].

Thinking this, in a few gulps, he finished off his and, in passing, set the bottle down on the windowsill. Seeing him completely down his beer in two or three swigs, Tong Nian was worried that he would spurn her for being useless. In a burst of drummed up courage, she continuously gulped mouthful after mouthful of beer, truly just guzzling it all straight down.

It feels a little…

… hot.

She deliberately set her bottle down beside his empty one and arranged them—until they were arranged into a pair.

And then, she let out a silly giggle.

Whew, whew. So hot, so hot. With all her might, she fanned herself with her hand.

Why is it so hot?

Helplessly, she looked around at her surroundings, then looked at him…

“Hot?” Perceiving her unusual behaviour, Gun walked up beside the wall and adjusted the control panel for the heating.

The temperature was dropped from 24oC to 20oC.

That should be about right. He brought his hand down. From behind, a small pair of hands unexpectedly circled around his lower back and embraced him… His entire back stiffened. Slowly, he turned his head around and saw the little girl, whose cheeks were already flushed a deep crimson colour, gazing straight up at him.

Drunk?

“Do… you like it?” In a soft voice, she asked him this, her face pressed against his back. “Do you like it? The thing I made?”

She really was drunk?

Using the fastest speed possible, he pulled her hands off and spun around. “What did you say?”

“I worked on it for an hour, and you’re not even going to say one sentence, that you like it?” Discovering that he was pushing her away, she felt rather wounded. “It was raining so heavily, and I still went to the airport to meet you… But you just made me stay all alone in the guest room… I wrote a program, and you won’t even say that you like it…”

She really was drunk…

He drew that conclusion.

If the person in front of him was a K&K member, he would have long ago grabbed her by the collar and tossed her out. Why even wait for her mad, drunken antics? But what if she was a little girl? And on top of that, a little girl who did not even know what she was doing …

He admitted that he had no experience in this.

In that space while he was thinking, Tong Nian once again stretched out her arms to enfold them around him…

Beyond laughter or tears, Gun grasped ahold of her hands.

In her palms, there was softness and warmth as well as persistence and love. The attachment and unwillingness to part from him, both physically and mentally, that she was conveying… in this moment, caused a man’s indecent desire to bud in him.

……

Gun lightly exhaled a breath. Keep your head.

Breathing, normal.

Heart rate, also very normal.

Very good. It’s just a little girl. Getting those types of ideas is dirty and despicable.

“You really don’t… like it?” Tong Nian could feel the scorching heat of his palm, and her awareness was becoming fuzzier and fuzzier. “That’s the first time I’ve worked so hard on something. Can’t you just say you like it?”

“… I like it.” Once again, he blew out a breath.

“Really?” Her eyes sparkled.

“Really.” He was very obliging.

Dealing with a drunkard was not difficult.

The difficult part was what came next: how was he going to get her home safely, and furthermore, escape unscathed from that place where the elders of her family resided? …

Using only a few seconds, Gun was able to imagine the consequences that would follow. He was considering the severity of this situation and possible solutions for it, but the little girl in front of him did not notice in the least.

Instantly, simply because of his “I like it,” a silly little grin very cutely, very giddily climbed onto her face.

And as she grinned and grinned, she could not refrain from trying to slide herself into his arms again…

Gun inhaled deeply, putting up a strong resistance.

In his palms, that tiny pair of hands was twisting and moving about, struggling to break free and wanting to do things that were even more shocking and outrageous… Trying to move closer to him, closer to him. Embrace him. Inhale his scent. Encircle his waist…

Sh*t.

He was going to go insane.

The best plan was to find a safe, reliable woman to watch her for him first, and then he could think about other things. It didn’t matter who it was. At any rate, he could not stay here alone with her. Thinking this, he released his hold on her hands. But before he could even pull away, she had thrown herself at him and, fulfilling her wish, wrapped her arms around his waist.

Sh*t!

He truly did go insane!

Especially since the little girl was rubbing her cheek against his chest.

His jacket was almost pulled open…

And the most crucial point was, in order to save trouble, he basically had not put on any unnecessary garments underneath his track jacket…

Oh wait, no…

It already was pulled open…

He tried hard to not allow himself to touch her in the slightest. With both his arms raised high, he skirted himself away from her diminutive and soft body as well as all those curves belonging specifically to the female gender that were trying to snug themselves up against him…

The fricking most frustrating part was, outside the door, the sounds of footsteps and laughter arose, closing in on them one step at a time.

Nearer and nearer.

Nearer and nearer…

“Tong Nian,”—he rapidly made a decision—“I’ll tell you a secret…”

This had to be resolved as soon as possible. In particular, he could not continue to let her wiggle up against his chest with all her might…

Sweetly, she gave an “mm,” all the while continuing to clasp her arms around him and breathe in deeply.

The fresh scent from just getting out of the shower. So clean, so refreshing, and so manly. Actually, he’s not the least bit old. Just now, when he was testing out the program, he was soooooo hot…

……

……

He fell into utter despair.

The brief moment of quiet in the room served to clearly highlight 97 and grunt’s conversation on the other side of the door as well as the knocking on the door that soon followed. He could not allow her to hold him like this anymore, and at last, pulling her away from him once more, he bent his tall figure over to look her in the eye. “I brought a gift back for you, from the U.S.”

To ensure that she would believe him, he leaned in close and, beside her cheek, deliberately lowered his voice until it was slightly husky and seductive. “You will like it for sure.”

Vacantly, she stared at him, staring and staring until she felt she did not have the boldness to stare anymore…

The sky and the ground seemed to be spinning…

Her entire gaze was filled with all those things that were now exposed beneath the neckline of that track jacket…

The hollow of his neck…

Collarbones…

Chest…

Abs…

And beneath those abs, the waistband of his jeans that had not been done up…

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