Su Qianqian had just finished coaxing him when she suddenly remembered something. Pressing her small face against the crook of his neck, her voice was soft and hesitant, tinged with bashfulness. "Young Master Chengyu..."
She called his name again gently, her warm breath brushing against his ear.
"About yesterday... I think I might have left a tiny piece of... um, fabric in the car?"
"Did you see it?" Her voice grew quieter as she spoke, her cheeks burning fiercely.
Gu Chengyu paused, his arm around her loosening slightly as he frowned in recollection.
A fleeting memory surfaced—a small white arc, tossed carelessly into the corner of the Maybach's backseat.
"It's dirty now that it's been in the car," he said dismissively. "Just leave it. You have plenty of new ones in your wardrobe."
"No!"
Su Qianqian jerked her head up, her almond-shaped eyes wide with urgency and embarrassment. "That’s not what I meant!"
"What if someone else sees it?"
The mere thought of anyone else coming across that delicate scrap of fabric made her wish she could vanish into the ground.
Gu Chengyu blinked, taken aback by her concern.
He studied the flustered expression on her face—her glistening eyes brimming with mortification—and finally understood the root of her distress.
Amused yet exasperated, he couldn’t fathom why she was so embarrassed. But knowing how thin-skinned she was, he carefully reassured her, "Don’t worry, no one saw it."
Pinching her scorching cheek, his tone was soothing. "Before I left this morning, I asked Auntie Zhang to clean the car."
"Her job is just to tidy up. She wouldn’t look too closely, much less gossip."
"It’s no different from cleaning the bedroom—just part of her duties."
"Auntie Zhang?!" Su Qianqian gasped, her face flushing crimson all over again.
She recalled lunch earlier that day, when Auntie Zhang had served soup with the same composed, respectful demeanor as always, her eyes downcast, betraying nothing unusual.
But that very normalcy made Su Qianqian even more mortified.
She must have seen it. She must have cleaned it up. What must she be thinking?
Anyone would conjure up wild imaginings upon finding something like that in the car.
"Mm..."
A tiny whimper escaped Su Qianqian’s lips as she buried her burning face deep into Gu Chengyu’s neck, like a little ostrich hiding from the world.
Her forehead pressed against his warm skin, her arms looped around his shoulders, her voice muffled and teary.
"I can’t face anyone now! It’s all your fault! You’re the one to blame!"
"From now on... no one else cleans up after you! If you make a mess, you deal with it yourself!"
She squirmed in his arms, a mix of embarrassment and frustration, though his large hands held her slender waist firmly, limiting her movements to something more akin to a petulant protest.
Gu Chengyu was both amused and helpless at her reaction, his heart melting into a puddle.
He chuckled, his hand stroking her hair and the nape of her neck gently, as if soothing a bristling kitten.
"Alright, alright. My fault, entirely my fault."
His apology came easily, laced with indulgent laughter.
"Don’t be mad, Qianqian. Hiding like that—aren’t you worried you’ll suffocate?"
He tried to coax her face out from its refuge, but Su Qianqian stubbornly stayed put, leaving him with only a glimpse of her tousled hair and the tips of her scarlet ears.
Gu Chengyu didn’t force her. Instead, he simply held her, his palm rubbing slow circles along her delicate back.
Leaning down, his lips brushed against her soft hair as he murmured in a low, doting voice, "Fine, I’ll listen to you."
"From now on, I’ll remember to clean up myself. I promise no one else will catch so much as a glimpse of our Qianqian’s little secrets, hm?"
Deliberately lowering his voice, he teased, "Only for my eyes, understood?"
"You—! Stop talking!"
Su Qianqian writhed in his hold again, her small fist thumping weakly against his firm shoulder.
Gu Chengyu laughed quietly, letting her vent her flustered frustration, his chest swelling with affection at her adorable mix of shyness and temper.
He tightened his embrace, pulling her even closer, resting his chin atop her head as he reveled in her complete reliance on him.
This, he thought, was a uniquely sweet torment.
Ah—
So sweet, yet so tormenting.
