On the sofa, the two sat on opposite sides, with an empty spot in between.
The air was filled with awkwardness and shyness.
Perhaps it was because the kiss lasted too long, or maybe An Tong had regained her senses.
The passionate embrace ended with An Tong pushing Li Jing away.
Li Jing glanced at An Tong, who was blushing on the other side of the sofa, and deliberately coughed a few times before breaking the awkward silence: "Ahem, as a normal man, it’s really hard to control myself in that situation, especially when you’re so beautiful..."
"W-When did you wake up?"
An Tong didn’t let Li Jing finish, she bit her lip lightly, looking down at her legs, and asked.
Li Jing thought for a moment before saying, "It was probably when you came over and squatted down to look at me."
"You were awake by then?!"
An Tong instinctively turned her head, eyes widening as she looked at him.
Thinking that he had seen her secretly observing him, her ears flushed red, and she couldn’t help but indignantly say: "Why didn’t you open your eyes then?"
"Ah, well... because I was still half-asleep..."
Li Jing casually made up a reason, but truthfully, when he saw An Tong approaching, he was curious about what she was going to do.
And being quietly watched by An Tong felt pretty good.
"You-why did you suddenly hug me... Forget it... Scumbag!"
An Tong was about to question him more but realized there was no point since it already happened, so she pretended to be angry and called him a scumbag.
Then, perhaps out of embarrassment, An Tong stood up from the sofa and said to Li Jing, "You’ve eaten, slept, and even kissed... Hurry up and leave."
Seeing her embarrassed and blushing face, Li Jing could tell she hadn’t dated for a long time or been close to a man for a while, feeling a bit more cheerful.
"Alright, alright, you’re kicking me out now, how can I not leave?"
"If it weren’t for you... I wouldn’t be kicking you out..."
As she spoke, An Tong felt guilty because she was the one who initiated it, reducing her embarrassment, and she reminded him: "Remember to take your phone and other things, don’t leave anything at my place."
"Oh, I do have something to give you."
Mentioning this, Li Jing took out a set of keys and placed them on her table, explaining: "My lease on the apartment isn’t up for another two months. Feel free to use it whenever you need, everything inside is yours, and I won’t be living there anymore. Just return the keys to the landlord when the time comes."
Hearing he wouldn’t live there anymore, An Tong’s face slightly changed, and she bit her lip again, feigning a light hum: "You do bad things and just leave, don’t you think this will lessen your guilt?"
"What guilt do I have..."
Li Jing was about to say he had no guilt but quickly shut up considering her emotions, then laughed: "To really lessen guilt, shouldn’t I buy you a bag? How about I get you one?"
"I don’t want your bag!"
An Tong glared at him: "Do you think I’m as easy to please as Zhang Xinxin? Keep your bag for her."
With that, she pushed Li Jing’s back with both hands, both embarrassed and urging: "Go, go, you’re not coming back anyways, staying longer here is pointless."
As Li Jing was pushed out the door, seeing An Tong’s angry yet cute expression for the first time made him think she was quite adorable: "Okay, I’m really leaving, won’t be coming back."
"Go on, don’t dawdle, go find your Xinxin." An Tong said coldly, glancing at him.
Just as Li Jing was heading into the elevator, An Tong suddenly felt reluctant, gripping the door frame tightly, and shouted: "Hey! You’re really not coming back?"
Having anticipated An Tong calling him, Li Jing couldn’t help but smile, turning back while walking into the elevator: "No, even when I’m done traveling and return to Celestial Sea City, I shouldn’t be coming back here..."
Before he finished speaking, the elevator dinged again suddenly.
Li Jing was stunned to find An Tong hurriedly rushing over to hold the closing elevator door, and before he could react, she lunged into his embrace.
Li Jing’s eyes widened, feeling something warm and moist enter his mouth, teasing his tongue.
By the time Li Jing came to his senses, An Tong had already exited the elevator.
Watching the elevator doors slowly close again, she showed a smug smile: "The thing at home doesn’t count, you ambushed me, this is my rightful kiss, it’s my personal indulgence, nothing to do with you!"
As she finished speaking, the elevator doors closed completely and started to descend.
In the elevator, Li Jing blinked, then shook his head and laughed to himself: "This woman has quite a strong sense of pride and competitiveness."
Feeling the lingering warmth on his lips, he couldn’t help but marvel: "Pretty girls’ lips are really soft."
As An Tong looked at the closed elevator doors with a smug expression, her smile gradually faded, and a trace of unhideable reluctance and melancholy flashed in her eyes, her previously shown strength and tenacity instantly crumbling.
Suddenly, she seemed to think of something and immediately turned and ran back to the room, heading to the balcony, stretching her neck to look down.
After waiting several minutes, that familiar figure finally appeared in her view.
Watching Li Jing leave through the community gate and hail a taxi, An Tong showed a few more signs of grievance on her reluctant face: "Scumbag, not even a single look back, wasted a kiss on you!
Scumbag, scumbag, scumbag!"
An Tong kept tugging at the roses placed on the balcony, pulling until nearly all the leaves were gone, when her phone chimed.
She frowned and picked it up to see that Li Jing had transferred fifty thousand yuan to her.
Although a bit pleased he contacted her again, An Tong still pretended to be calm in asking.
"I said your cooking last time was comparable to a restaurant, so I’m paying the restaurant owner as the meal fee, especially since that meal had a dish worth savoring for a long time, its taste still lingering on my lips."
"Specialty dish? Which one?"
An Tong was puzzled, but upon seeing the "lingering taste" he mentioned, she immediately understood, cheeks reddening, and sent a "punching" emoji.
Then her eyes fell on the fifty thousand transfer, hesitated for a moment, but comforted herself: "It’s okay, he has money, there’s no reason not to take it!"
After accepting the fifty thousand, An Tong finally stopped pretending, responding: "I accepted the money, Boss Li, you’re welcome to visit my restaurant again."
"Hope there’s an even better specialty dish next time."
An Tong replied with a hitting emoji, then looked out the window again, watching until the taxi disappeared from view.
After calming her emotions, An Tong couldn’t help but ponder how to handle the fifty thousand: "Why not actually buy a bag?
Yes, buy a bag! And it has to be more expensive than the one Zhang Xinxin has, then post on Moments, visible only to her!"
Thinking of this, she immediately smiled happily, already picking up her phone to search for her favorite style.
Meanwhile, in the taxi, at the same time that An Tong confirmed receipt, Li Jing heard the voice of the system:
[Host spent fifty thousand yuan paying for the female friend’s cooking, gaining her happiness and affection, positive emotion index one star.
Reward returns ten times the spending amount, totaling five hundred thousand yuan.]
Damn, there’s a return for this too?
Li Jing was slightly surprised, then happily said:
"This money is well spent."