Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

Jiahe’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped in disbelief as she repeated, “A-Are you saying… y-you’re

outside of my home in Qinghe?”

“You have one minute to come down.”

Jiahe was at a loss for words.

Her parents’ voices echoed from the kitchen. “The dumplings are ready, honey. Come and take the

dumplings out to the dining room. What type of sauce do you fancy?”

Jiahe answered in hushed tones, “B-But I’m having dumplings now.”

“Maybe you want me to go upstairs to get you?”

Although Xinghe responded in a flat tone, Jiahe could pick up the threat behind his words.

The call ended before she could say anything else.

With the disconnected tune playing in the background, Jiahe was caught between helplessness and

horror.

Why did Hades Jiang come all the way to Qinghe during the New Year? Was he visiting family again?

Jiahe was afraid he might just knock on the door. It was awkward enough that her parents mistook him

for Chi Jun the last time. She did not want to lie to her parents again.

By the time her parents brought out the dumplings from the kitchen, Jiahe was no longer in the living

room.

“Huh? Where did Jiahe go?”

“Yeah, she was here a minute ago. Honey? Honey?”

…

Jiahe put on a long, black down jacket before running down the stairs at record speed.

As expected, Xinghe’s black Audi was parked outside.

The man wore a black windbreaker, standing amid the chilling night. A cigarette rested between his

slender fingers as he smoked away with grace.

Jiahe’s breath was taken away.

It was not as if she had never met a man with looks before. Back when she was a student in North City

Medical College, she enjoyed a lot of eye candy in her class, on campus, and from the basketball team.

However, they did not have Xinghe’s charms. There was something different that Jiahe simply could

not put her finger on.

Perhaps… it was what Shirley would call a charm of a mature man.

Sticking to a distance from him, Jiahe scratched her head and awkwardly inquired, “W-What brings you

to Qinghe?”

She was texting the guy a minute ago, and he somehow popped up in this little town.

Did he teleport himself here?

Xinghe furrowed his brows, clearly displeased with her remarks. He dabbed the ashes off his cigarette

and said, “You’re in Qinghe. Why can’t I be here?”

She had no words.

That was not what she meant.

“Dr. Jiang, are you here to visit your relative again?”

Xinghe pursed his lips. “Come here.”

The girl was standing so far away as if he would eat her up.

Was he that mean to her? It was not as if he was a man-eating monster.

Biting her lip, Jiahe took a few steps closer to him but choked at the smell of tobacco.

Xinghe scowled. “You can’t take the smell of smoke?”

“My dad never smokes. Besides… second-hand smoke leads to premature death,” Jiahe murmured.

Xinghe’s cigarette-holding hand stiffened as he curled his lips. With his eyes on her, Xinghe threw the

cigarette butt away and put it out under his leather shoe.

Jiahe lowered her head and stared at the pair of shining black leather shoes against her cotton flip-

flops. She tried to back away when the man was one step ahead putting his arm around her waist.

Startled, Jiahe picked her head up and looked into Xinghe’s profound eyes.

No words were needed for the moment.

For him to show up outside her house in the middle of the night, was he trying to look cool standing in

the chilling breeze?

Xinghe brought his attractive face close to hers, locking his gaze on her facial features and asking,

“What’s the meaning of the greeting?”

“I-I sent it to you by mistake. It was meant for a colleague… Mgh!”

Her lips were taken, and her breath was abruptly stolen from her.

The appealing face magnified within her vision.

Caught off guard, Jiahe did not even think of putting up a fight.

Xinghe could not get enough of her. Her lips were sweet, as expected.

As he ran his tongue along the line of her lips, craving more, Xinghe rested his forehead against her

and uttered huskily, “You have one more chance. Who was the greeting meant for?”

There was no answer.

Was he trying to force a reply out of her?

Jiahe pouted in displeasure and sulked, “You sent the message in mass, and now you’re blaming

others for not wishing you personally…”

Xinghe locked eyes with her for a while and chuckled. “Are you angry?”

Those who knew him would get that he was not the type to deliver generic greetings to his list of

contacts.

Jiahe was the only person he wished a happy new year tonight.

Xinghe believed there was no point in sending a simple greeting on WeChat, so he drove for an hour

from North City to Qinghe just to witness the dawn of the new year with her.

It was the silliest thing Xinghe had ever done.

“You’re always right, Dr. Jiang. Only, you might want to refrain from telling the person that you’re

sending the same message to everybody if you’re going to wish someone. It can hurt feelings.”

“Feelings?” A hint of playfulness alighted in Xinghe’s eyes.

“Yeah.” Jiahe gave a firm nod.

Xinghe took it a step further. “Are there feelings between us?”

“…We have a relationship as a mentor and mentee.”

“Have you ever met a mentor and mentee who were so close that they kissed?”

Jiahe was rendered speechless.

“Maybe you’ve met a mentor and mentee rolling in bed together.”

Jiahe put her mouth over Xinghe’s lips and got on her tiptoes to be at his eye level so as to glare at

him. “That night was an accident!”

Xinghe pulled her hand away and asked, “Jiahe, do you want to be with me?”

Jiahe was lost for words.

Be with Xinghe? But Xinghe was her mentor. He was Hades Jiang who she had to be wary of when

slacking off.

“You’re not saying anything. So, no?”

Still, there was not a peep from her.

Jiahe was at a loss between nodding and shaking her head.

Seeing that she took her time with a reply, Xinghe let go of her hand and turned around to get into his

car.

Jiahe panicked. “Are you leaving?”

“What do you expect? I’m not going to sit around for you to turn me down.” Xinghe was forcing her to

make a choice.

Since he was hung up on walking away, Jiahe frowned. “I haven’t made up my mind. I’m not saying no,

but I have never seen you as someone to date. You’re a mentor and supervisor to me. I don’t see you

any different than my lecturer in college…”

Xinghe clung to the opened car door and looked back at her. “How old is your lecturer?”

Erm… He was probably in his forties or fifties. One thing was for sure, her lecturer was pushing sixties

as he was approaching the age of retirement.

“He’s over fifty years old…”

Xinghe went ballistic. “Are you comparing me to an old man?”

The man wanted to get into his car and drive off right away, but Jiahe somehow found the courage to

wrap her arms around his waist.

She had to say that the man had a hot bod. Jiahe could feel the tone lines along his muscles with her

arms against his skin.

“Don’t you see me as an old man in his fifties? Why are you hugging me?” The man sarcastically

inquired.

Jiahe looked at the sky and blinked before replying, “You’re a mentor to me right from the start, but

there is always something off. I can’t say for sure what it is because my college lecturer is nice too.

Although you have a bad temper, I know you only want the best for me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t take

me home when I was drunk.”

Xinghe stood there, listening to what she had to say as the girl held him from behind.

Jiahe added, “I heard from the people in the hospital that you come from wealth and privilege, but I

don’t know the extent of it. The only thing I know is that you’re different from a normal citizen like me.

You always kiss me and hold me. Honestly speaking… I don’t like it because I believe you’re doing it

out of fun. Still, I can’t seem to bring myself to stop you.”

Raising a brow, Xinghe curtly asked, “Are you saying that I’m harassing you in the workplace?”