Come On, Comfort Me

The promised aid money was unexpectedly withdrawn. Just when funds were tight at the start of the school year, Liang Youqing happened to meet a new benefactor. He was wealthy and generous, and she worked up the nerve to impose on him. During the summer break after the college entrance exam, she moved into his unoccupied villa. Two nights later, an unexpected guest arrived.

The young master of the Pei family had a cool, imperious brow. His loose black T-shirt hung casually on him as he stood on the duplex staircase, looking down at her. His gaze was intense, bold, and unrestrained, focused on her like a searchlight. She felt like a thief caught in the act of occupying someone else's home.

That night, Liang Youqing secretly messaged her online friend: "He doesn't seem to like having me here. What should I do?"

Half a minute later, the friend she'd never met replied: "Find a way to sweet-talk him."

Liang Youqing immediately did as told. From then on, Pei Zheng had three meals a day, someone to hold an umbrella for him come rain or shine, and the dirty clothes he left on the sofa were always washed and hung on the balcony by the next morning.

She took good care of him, and they lived together in an orderly way. Things changed on the night she moved out to start school. He pinned her to the living room sofa, and his alcohol-tinged kiss landed heavily as he complained:

"I've taught you so many things. Isn't this a rather inadequate way to thank me?"

Blushing, Liang Youqing fled in confusion at his ambiguous words.

After the door closed, she didn't see the man behind her instantly sober up, his slender phoenix eyes clearer than ever.

The phone on the glass table suddenly vibrated. Irritated, Pei Zheng picked it up. The pinned chat had a smiling profile picture, and its message sounded as silly as ever.

"Do you think he mistook me for someone else?"

P.S. The blurb was screenshotted and saved as proof, 2024.5-9

Theme: May we weather a thousand waves and end up by the side of the one we love