Chapter 50: The Punishment Game

“Hey… Yaqi… did you just…”

“No! No, I didn’t…”

Before Gongyu could finish, Yaqi quickly turned around, her face flushed red as she stammered an explanation:

“That is! I… Gongyu, don’t misunderstand! I… just now was… I…!”

“Oh, alright, alright… calm down first…”

Yaqi was practically out of breath. Gongyu smiled awkwardly and grabbed her wildly flailing hands. Yaqi trembled, let out a long sigh, pursed her lips, and looked up at her.

“Gongyu, I’m not some pervert…”

“Huh~ But the way it looked just now… not so much~”

Even though Gongyu had been startled, she didn’t think much of it. But seeing Yaqi’s cute reaction, she couldn’t resist teasing her a little.

“No… it’s not like that!”

“Then what was it?”

“Um… it’s… actually… at home, whenever I got a problem wrong, Liu Ya would… and I was a bit sleepy just now, I thought…”

“Pfft…!”

Gongyu couldn’t help but laugh. Yaqi sat on pins and needles, lowering her head in shame. But seeing Gongyu had no intention of stopping, she looked up, let out a little whine, and nudged her with her hand.

“Hey, hey… stop laughing!”

“Haha… sorry, sorry… I’ll stop.”

“Hmph!”

Gongyu caught her breath. Yaqi tugged her dress down again and shot her a dirty look.

“So Yaqi, what you said before was about this?”

“Oh… yeah…”

“Huh…”

Gongyu stared at Yaqi quietly, deep in thought. After a moment of silence, she spoke:

“Then… Yaqi, can I try it?”

“What?!”

Yaqi was so startled she quickly pulled her dress down further.

“Huh? Why? No way? What for?”

“Um… I’m just… a little curious…”

“Gongyu… you’re curious about this?”

As Yaqi said this, a hint of disgust crept into her eyes.

“Hey! No, no! I’m not a pervert…”

“I think you are…”

“Mm… no… I just… look! When a kid does something wrong, adults do that. So… I’m just curious…”

“Mm…”

Seeing Yaqi hesitate, Gongyu pressed on:

“So… Yaqi, you’ve never been curious? I don’t believe that~”

“Um…”

Gongyu wasn’t wrong. That curiosity had been in Yaqi’s heart for a long time. But unlike Gongyu, Yaqi had already played the role of a little adult.

Yet precisely because of that, she fell into deeper thought.

(‘If I say I’m not curious, that’s a lie. But how should I put it…’)

(‘Was it because I was too young back then? I didn’t feel anything. But now… it’s really embarrassing… um… was Liu Ya feeling the same way back then…’)

(‘Mm… sorry Liu Ya. Now I know I was wrong…’)

“Yaqi?”

“Huh?”

“Why did you stop talking?”

“Mm… I was just thinking… well… I am curious…”

“See!”

“Yeah…”

Both of them blushed and fell silent for a while. Gongyu fought back her shyness and mumbled quietly:

“Besides… Yaqi, you said yourself this was the punishment for your wrong answers… so a little tap shouldn’t hurt…”

“Huh? Gongyu, you…!”

Yaqi frowned in dissatisfaction, about to scold her, but when she saw that Gongyu’s eyes held nothing but curiosity, she sighed helplessly. Her gaze drifted, she pursed her lips, grabbed her clothes, slowly stood up, and turned around.

“Just this once, okay!”

“Oh… okay!”

Gongyu stared at her blankly. Yaqi could feel the intensely hot gaze on her back. Though she had no idea where Gongyu was looking, the temperature on her face was skyrocketing.

“Can I…?”

“Mm… mm!”

Yaqi bit her lip, closed her eyes tightly, and lowered her head. Gongyu trembled, took a shallow breath, and slowly raised her hand.

But just as it was about to come down, her hand froze in midair, unable to fall an inch.

(‘This… no way! So embarrassing!! What am I doing!!’)

After a mental reprimand, Gongyu restrained herself. In the end, she just gave a polite light pat, leaned back in her chair, and let out a long sigh.

“S… sorry, Yaqi…”

“Mm… is it done?”

“Yeah…”

Yaqi instantly relaxed and plopped down on her chair.

After a moment, they both looked up at each other. They stared for a while, then couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Hehe… never thought you had this side to you, Gongyu? I thought you were such a serious person. Hmph~”

“Oh, Yaqi, just pretend nothing happened! I didn’t say anything! Okay?”

Gongyu whined and tugged at her arm, swaying it back and forth. But Yaqi proudly tilted her chin up.

“No way~ I’ll remember this forever! Hehe!”

“Mm… Yaqi, you’re not honest at all either!”

“Hehe~”

The two pushed and shoved, giggling. Even the sound of rain outside seemed to vanish at that moment.

The small fan had long lost its purpose. After finishing their homework, Gongyu led Yaqi around the house, messing around, introducing this, playing with that. The usually quiet, cold home now felt like early spring under a warm sun, full of life!

Gongyu had never felt the house so warm before. This was also the most innocent smile she had smiled in a long time.

They fooled around until they were sticky all over, rendering their recent shower pointless. But Gongyu didn’t care. She pulled Yaqi onto the bed, lay staring blankly at the ceiling, and beamed.

“Yaqi, it’s so good to know you! I haven’t had this much fun in ages!”

“Hehe, me too!”

As she spoke, Gongyu squeezed Yaqi’s hand. It felt a little sweaty, but not unpleasant. She turned her head and saw that Yaqi’s freshly washed hair was tangled again. She smiled wryly.

“Ahaha… so much for the shower…”

“Ah! Hehe, it’s fine.”

They exchanged smiles. Then Gongyu sat up quickly and took a breath.

“Well, Yaqi, I’ll clean up for you. You can sleep in Mom’s room tonight.”

“Okay…”

Yaqi started to say something but hesitated. She reached out and grabbed Gongyu’s wrist.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Um… can I not sleep there?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? You’re not going to sleep all night?”

“No. It’s just… that room is all tidy, and I’m a guest, so sleeping in the master bedroom seems too…”

Yaqi scratched her face awkwardly. Gongyu froze for a moment, her eyes filled with admiration, and she smiled contentedly.

(‘Yaqi, you’re really something…’)

She thought it and said it without holding back:

“Yaqi, you’re amazing!”

“Oh, stop~”

“But… then where will you sleep?”

“Huh? I can sleep on the couch.”

“How can that be?”

Gongyu got up and looked around the room. Her eyes finally settled on her own bed.

(‘This… it’s all because this bed is too small. Otherwise Yaqi could sleep in my room. The fold-up bed in the guest room hasn’t been used in ages and is covered in dust, no way to clean it in time…’)

(‘If we both sleep together now, it’ll probably be really cramped… but I can’t make Yaqi sleep on the couch!’)

(‘But… this is the first time I’ll sleep in the same bed with someone else. It feels… indescribable. Is it embarrassment? I wonder what Yaqi thinks…’)

(‘Forget it! Anyway, no matter what, I can’t let Yaqi sleep on the couch! Yaqi is so considerate, I can’t be rude!’)

“So… Yaqi, would you like to sleep with me?”

Gongyu asked softly, a little shy.

“Hmm…”

“You don’t want to…?”

“Oh, no. It’s just… Gongyu, your bed probably can’t fit two people, right?”

“Um… that’s true… but we can squeeze!”

“Oh, I can just make do…”

“Don’t say that!”

Before Yaqi could finish, Gongyu interrupted her, a bit annoyed.

“Yaqi, I know you mean well. But! Making a good friend sleep on the couch, that’s just making me feel bad…”

“This…”

Seeing the anxious look in Gongyu’s eyes, Yaqi understood her feelings. She smiled slightly and nodded.

“Okay, I get it! Then tonight, I’ll squeeze in with Gongyu!”

“Yes!”

Gongyu nodded happily.

“But don’t push me off the bed, okay? Hehe.”

“Mm… can’t promise that, haha~”

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