The food at the lunch banquet was pretty good.
There was no shortage of rich food, and the cigarettes and alcohol were all high-end brands.
They were serving a luxury brand of cigarettes alongside a famous liquor.
For a place like Jia City, this was considered quite impressive.
As for the luxury cigarettes, Skinny Monkey, who had no sense of restraint, immediately tore open a pack.
At 100 yuan a pack, Skinny Monkey had never smoked them before.
Qi Sheng didn't smoke, so he naturally had no interest in blowing clouds with the other smokers.
'Unless it's a cigarette after sex. I could give that a try.'
After lunch, the group went their separate ways at the entrance.
Skinny Monkey and the others were taking the bus.
Chen Jia didn't want to see Qi Sheng and Tan Hua making eyes at each other.
Plus, sitting on the hump in the middle of the back seat was a pain, so she decided to take the bus as well.
With Chen Jia gone, the atmosphere in the car became much more relaxed.
Qi Sheng put on a Jay Chou playlist.
He never used to have money for subscriptions, but now he'd bought annual memberships for both QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music.
'Being rich is so freeing!'
The drive from Jia City to Fujin would take about two hours.
During the drive, Tan Hua opened up to Qi Sheng for the first time.
"Have you ever thought about moving to Chengdu in the future?"
Qi Sheng, who had been lounging lazily, immediately sat up straight. He realized the answer to this question could determine whether they would end up together.
"I actually really like Chengdu. I visited once, but back then, there wasn't anyone who made me want to stay. If you want me to go, I can consider it."
Tan Hua rolled her eyes at him but also breathed a sigh of relief.
At least Qi Sheng was genuinely considering moving to Chengdu for her.
This was a hundred times better than the long-distance relationship she had been stressing over.
"I never said I wanted you to go to Chengdu. Whether you go or not is up to you."
With a touch of feigned aloofness, Tan Hua turned her head to gaze out the window.
But the slight smile playing on her lips betrayed her true feelings.
Qi Sheng snuck a glance at the two girls in the back. They were both fast asleep with their headphones on.
He reached out and took Tan Hua's slender, delicate hand.
"Are you crazy?!"
Tan Hua jumped, her eyes darting to the back seat.
Seeing her two roommates still sleeping soundly, her racing heart finally calmed a bit.
"Ahem, this is my answer. I'm willing to go to Chengdu for you. So, will you be my girlfriend?"
"Hmph. We'll see how you behave!"
She said that, but she couldn't hide the smile spreading across her face.
And so, with a silent understanding, Qi Sheng kept his left hand on the steering wheel and his right hand wrapped around Tan Hua's soft, delicate one.
'I'm just saying, if she were to use those little hands of hers to do some 'handiwork' for me, I'd be ecstatic.'
'Bah! I have a girlfriend now, what's the point of doing my own 'handiwork'?'
They didn't let go of each other's hands until the car came to a stop.
Tan Hua shot Qi Sheng a playful glare and whispered, "Stop it. It'll be bad if they see."
After all, they had only just met. Tan Hua would be mortified if her roommates saw them holding hands.
"Alright, then give me a kiss."
"Don't push it, or I'll stop talking to you."
Seeing him push his luck, Tan Hua looked slightly indignant.
"Just on the cheek. They're about to wake up, you know."
Qi Sheng whispered his threat, refusing to let go of her hand.
'A man has to take the initiative, right?'
'After holding hands, you naturally have to plan your next move.'
"Then you're not allowed to turn your head suddenly. If you do, I'll really ignore you."
Tan Hua had clearly watched her share of TV dramas and warned him beforehand, not trusting him completely.
"Uh… fine. But be quick about it."
Qi Sheng was a little frustrated that Tan Hua had seen right through his little scheme.
"Hmph. I knew you were up to no good."
Tan Hua shot him a glare, then bashfully leaned in.
Her soft, cherry-like lips gently pressed against his cheek.
"There, happy now?"
Tan Hua was so embarrassed she felt like her face was hot enough to cook an egg on.
"I guess that'll do."
Qi Sheng didn't dare push things too far either.
There was no benefit in truly pissing Tan Hua off.
'It was like boiling a frog in lukewarm water; sooner or later, Tan Hua would be his for the taking.'
"Nana, you guys, wake up!"
Seeing Qi Sheng let go of her hand, Tan Hua felt a pang of emptiness.
But not daring to linger, she quickly woke up Song Na and Zhao Qian in the back seat.
"Mmm… Are we here?"
Song Na and Zhao Qian exchanged a look, pretending they had just woken up.
In reality, they had witnessed the whole thing.
Tan Hua forced a calm expression, nodding with a smile. "I saw you two were sleeping so soundly, I didn't have the heart to wake you."
"Haha, you're so thoughtful, Huahua."
Song Na and Zhao Qian secretly rolled their eyes.
'Good thing we were in the back seat,' they thought. 'Otherwise, those two would have been all over each other.'
"The bus isn't here yet. Let's go check in first," Tan Hua said.
Tan Hua didn't dare stay with Qi Sheng any longer.
'How long have we even known each other? He's already held my hand and forced me to kiss his cheek.'
'If I don't keep my distance, I'm afraid he'll devour me completely.'
Qi Sheng helped them with their luggage and went with them to the front desk, where they got two standard twin rooms.
While there, an amusing little incident occurred.
The receptionist assumed Qi Sheng and Tan Hua were a couple.
They had just assigned them a room with a king-sized bed when Qi Sheng had to ask to change it to a standard twin.
Tan Hua was mortified and secretly pinched Qi Sheng's side a few times.
"You can't blame me. We just look too much like a married couple."
Qi Sheng was pushing his luck while playing innocent, trying to get Tan Hua accustomed to the idea of them as a couple.
'With the system's upgrade as a temptation, he was more motivated than ever to win Tan Hua over quickly.'
"I can't be bothered with you."
Tan Hua pulled Song Na and Zhao Qian into their room.
Qi Sheng shrugged and went to the other room.
As soon as they were in the room, Song Na and Zhao Qian started teasing Tan Hua mercilessly.
"We saw you kiss Qi Sheng in the car,"
Song Na blurted out. She couldn't help it; Tan Hua looked too cute when she was embarrassed.
"Huh?"
Tan Hua was stunned. "You really saw that?"
"Yup, saw it crystal clear. Speaking of which, are you really planning to date him?"
Zhao Qian added with a curious smile and a nod.
"Well… if he really moves to Chengdu, I'll consider it."
Tan Hua decided to be honest with her roommates.
To be fair, having Qi Sheng as a boyfriend would be nothing to be ashamed of.
He was young, drove an A8, and had tens of thousands in pocket money every month.
He was tall, handsome in a clean-cut way, and multi-talented.
Even a "goddess" is human and can get a crush on a guy.
"Wow, that's great!"
Song Na and Zhao Qian weren't jealous; on the contrary, they were happy for her.
They knew their own limits; otherwise, they might have tried pursuing Qi Sheng themselves.
Beautiful girls are rare, but a guy who's tall, rich, and handsome is even harder to come by.
"Oh, come on, nothing's set in stone yet. It's still up in the air whether it'll actually happen."
Tan Hua was also worried that Qi Sheng was just playing with her.
If he didn't end up moving to Chengdu, her feelings would be for nothing.
That's why, until Qi Sheng actually moved to Chengdu for her, she wouldn't let him take too many liberties.
Holding hands was the absolute limit of what she was willing to accept for now.
If she were as open as Chen Jia, she wouldn't have kept her perfect score until now.
She would have been "plucked" long ago in college.