Female Consort Modern Chapter 5

Qiu Che was really a handful.

Even after taking her to the hospital and bringing her back out, Li Qingwu kept her eyes fixed tightly on the wound on Qiu Che’s shoulder, her brow never relaxing as she thought to herself.

Fortunately, it was only a flesh wound, no bones were hurt. After the doctor bandaged it and prescribed some medicine, they were free to leave.

Li Qingwu also made sure to report the incident to the police. The officers came to the hospital, took a quick statement from Qiu Che, and said they’d notify her when there was any news.

Qiu Che hadn’t said a word the whole time, didn’t resist any of it, and only after leaving the hospital did she suddenly stop and ask, “Do you really mean it when you say you’ll ‘support’ me?”

Li Qingwu glanced back at her. “What do you think?”

Qiu Che’s tongue almost tripped over the words, “Even if the debt really falls on me, I can still pay it back,” but she didn’t say it out loud.

The truth was, she’d been working herself to the bone for the past two years, taking any job she could, dividing her 24 hours into four or five shifts a day. Although a lot of what she earned went to paying off her useless father’s debts, she still managed to save some money.

But looking at Li Qingwu’s head bent over her ride-hailing app, something inside her shifted unexpectedly.

Maybe she should take this chance.

Just to see if they could make it work in the end.

Li Qingwu kept fiddling with the app while a taxi suddenly screeched to a stop beside them.

“Hey, kid, are you going or not?” the driver called out.

Li Qingwu grabbed Qiu Che’s hand and helped her into the car.

Qiu Che obediently got in, then asked, “Where are we going?”

Li Qingwu glanced at her, “To your place.”

Qiu Che’s face paled a bit, the pain in her shoulder flaring faintly.

She opened her mouth but still gave the address.

It was an extremely rundown old neighborhood.

The ride was quiet, almost eerily so.

Only after they got out of the car did Li Qingwu say, “Go pack your things. From now on, you’re living with me.”

Qiu Che hesitated but didn’t argue.

Li Qingwu added, “If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as a yes.”

Qiu Che said quietly, “Okay.”

Li Qingwu blinked, she had expected a struggle.

Qiu Che said, “Wait a minute. I’ll go upstairs to pack.”

Li Qingwu tried to protest, “I’ll go, your arm...”

“No need. Just a few clothes, and it’s messy in there anyway,” Qiu Che said, pausing for a moment and then teasing, “Besides, you’re the sugar daddy, I can’t let the sugar daddy be too eager.”

Li Qingwu waited downstairs. After a short while, Qiu Che came down with only a few pieces of clothing.

Leaving the cramped, narrow block behind, Qiu Che felt her breathing ease.

Back at Li’s place, Qiu Che finally spoke.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I said I wasn’t contacting you all this time? Is it because I regretted it?”

“Regretted not letting me get close to you?” Li Qingwu thought for a moment. “You already said I’m your sugar daddy now, so whether I regret it or not... doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Qiu Che was convinced by her logic.

“But you,” Li Qingwu handed her a glass of water, “how did you find me?”

Qiu Che took a sip, her expression somber. “Something happened at home, so I came looking for you. I found your place empty, but then your friend Yao Tai came here to find you, so I asked her.”

“She said you went to a class reunion.”

Qiu Che wanted to stay and wait for Li Qingwu to come back, but since she was injured, neighbors might have mistaken her for trouble.

So she decided to come here instead.

Li Qingwu pulled out her phone and saw a message from Yao Tai two hours ago, saying Qiu Che might have come looking for her. The message ended with a warning about Qiu Che’s dark expression and a hint to brace herself.

Li Qingwu was puzzled. “You knew I was at the reunion, so why say that? Why say you were alone there?”

Qiu Che was quiet for a moment, a bit embarrassed as she turned her head to hide her feelings. “...I saw you sitting there alone drinking, and that guy kept staring at you with bad intentions, so...”

She’d lost her cool a bit.

Then she added, “Why hold a class reunion in a bar anyway?”

Li Qingwu shrugged, “It wasn’t my choice. How was I supposed to know?”

Qiu Che fell silent.

Leaning against the dining table, Li Qingwu crossed her arms and gave her a sidelong look. “If you have something to say, just say it. When did Teacher Qiu get so shy?”

Qiu Che shook her head. “No.”

Li Qingwu smirked, “Rebellious, huh? Forgot who your sugar daddy is now?”

Qiu Che didn’t answer.

She quietly turned away. “If I say it, will you agree?”

Li Qingwu challenged, “Go ahead, say it.”

She leaned closer to Qiu Che’s lowered face and smiled, “Maybe I will agree, after all, Teacher Qiu, I like you so much.”

Qiu Che’s heart skipped a beat.

Lowering her gaze, she said, “What if I told you to stop going to places like bars from now on?”

Li Qingwu froze for a moment.

“So... you want to control me before we’re even together?”

Qiu Che pressed her lips together. Her pale, bloodless lips made her look pitiful as she whispered, “Is that not allowed?”

Li Qingwu thought for two seconds and deliberately said nothing.

Slowly, she straightened up. “Not, not allowed.”

Li Qingwu added, “Say that again, your usual teaching tone.”

Qiu Che looked at her, puzzled.

Li Qingwu cleared her throat, “Come on.”

A heavy silence fell.

Li Qingwu’s ears turned red.

She tried to act cool. “If you don’t want to, forget it...”

Suddenly Qiu Che spoke calmly, “From now on, I want you to go to places like that less.”

“And if you do go, let me know, don’t make me worry.”

After saying this, she looked a little awkward. “Is that okay?”

Li Qingwu made a reluctant noise, her ears bright red but still teasing, “Barely.”

Qiu Che smiled faintly. “Then I’ll keep trying next time.”

If only she had known Li Qingwu liked this kind of thing from the start, she wouldn’t have pretended.

Qiu Che thought back to the first time she met Li Qingwu. Maybe that was how Li Qingwu showed she liked her?

That’s why she hadn’t interrupted.

And so, Qiu Che moved in with Li Qingwu.

She canceled her school leave and returned to her normal classes. Because Li Qingwu insisted on “supporting” her, Qiu Che stopped working at the café, only doing some off-the-books clerical work.

Meanwhile, the loan shark case had been filed by the police, and they were hunting down her cowardly, runaway father.

The man who harassed Li Qingwu at the bar that day, feeling guilty, hadn’t bothered them again.

Everything was back on track.

Except...

Things between Qiu Che and Li Qingwu had become rather complicated.

Li Qingwu was more careful with Qiu Che’s injury than Qiu Che herself. Since Li Qingwu had to juggle school and painting commissions to earn money, even though they lived under the same roof, nothing had happened between them.

They barely even spent time together.

Until one day, after Li Qingwu finished applying ointment on the nearly scabbed-over wound, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“All done. I’m going to wash up...”

Qiu Che called after her, “Wait.”

Li Qingwu stopped.

Qiu Che licked her lips. “You’ve helped me so much, even given me a place to stay... shouldn’t I pay you back somehow?”

Li Qingwu’s ears turned red again, as if she’d thought of something.

Calmly, she asked, “What kind of payment do you have in mind?”

“Your choice?”

“Your choice.”

Qiu Che hesitated under Li Qingwu’s nervous gaze. “Then... how about a goodnight kiss?”

Li Qingwu looked both satisfied and reluctant, bargaining, “One kiss... how could that be enough?”

Before Li Qingwu could react, Qiu Che stood, wrapped her arms around Li Qingwu’s waist, and kissed her sideways.

Li Qingwu froze completely.

The redness spread straight along her skin, from the base of her neck all the way to her fingertips.

It was obvious that Qiu Che had never kissed anyone before. Clumsy and awkward, their lips tangled together without any finesse, yet neither of them had any intention of pulling away.

After a long, deep kiss, Qiu Che finally pulled back and tugged slightly at her slightly loosened collar, his voice low and husky. “How about this for a goodnight kiss?”

Li Qingwu felt her legs go weak.

She grabbed onto Qiu Che’s sleeve, her head spinning like a foggy mess. “…Teacher Qiu, you seem really experienced.”

Qiu Che: “…”

He glanced at her lips, faintly chapped and reddened, and wondered if she’d even thought before saying that.

Li Qingwu snapped back to herself and cleared her throat. “It’s… alright.”

“Oh,” Qiu Che said calmly, “You haven’t practiced this before, so keep working on it.”

Li Qingwu: “…”

Her face immediately flushed bright red.

Before parting, Li Qingwu hesitated, then asked, “Teacher Qiu.”

“Yeah?” Qiu Che replied.

She almost said nothing, but he cut her off with a calm but firm tone, “If you have something to say, just say it. Since when did you become so shy?”

Li Qingwu: “…”

She realized Teacher Qiu was basically a black lotus flower.

Taking a deep breath, she finally asked, “If you’re willing to kiss me, does that mean… you like me a little too?”

Qiu Che tilted his head, looking at her.

“Do you think I’d agree to support someone I don’t like?”

Li Qingwu smiled softly.

The heavy stone in her heart finally settled.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Qiu Che added, “See you tomorrow.”

That night, Qiu Che had a dream.

The entire next day, she kept thinking about that unfinished dream, until Li Qingwu messaged saying she’d be crashing the class in the afternoon.

Qiu Che smiled involuntarily as she read the message.

Liu, the director, leaned over and asked, “Hey, Xiao Qiu, what are you looking at? Your partner’s info?”

Qiu Che quickly locked her phone screen but didn’t deny it.

Liu’s smile froze. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

Liu’s face lit up. “Ah, we were worried you’d never find someone. Looks like we were just overthinking it.”

“Who’s the lucky guy lucky enough to have you as their other half?”

“Not a guy,” Qiu Che said, rare for her to correct him. “It’s a girl.”

Thinking of Li Qingwu’s deceptively innocent, well-behaved student face, Qiu Che smirked.

Ignoring Liu’s suddenly stunned expression, she stood up. “I’m going to class now.”

“Okay, okay.”

As expected, after class Li Qingwu slipped out early again, this time to buy peach juice.

Outside the classroom, Qiu Che blocked the gazes of a group of gossiping students and led Li Qingwu away with a blank expression.

“What’s wrong?” Li Qingwu wriggled free from her hand. “Am I that embarrassing?”

“No.” Qiu Che took the juice and explained helplessly, “They’re just too annoying. If you don’t mind, we can just make our relationship public.”

“What relationship?”

Qiu Che looked at her and suddenly said, “Girlfriend.”

“...Huh?”

“What else do you think we could be besides dating?”

Li Qingwu stammered something under her breath but then shook her head and changed the subject. “You look a little off. What’s wrong?”

Qiu Che was silent for a moment. “The police said they caught my dad.”

Li Qingwu gasped, “Don’t tell me it’s because you’re paying off some crazy debt?”

Qiu Che laughed at that.

“No, nothing like that.”

“Good.”

Qiu Che glanced at her. “Looks like it’s going to rain today.”

“Want to share an umbrella? I brought one.”

“Sure.”

“So fast?” Li Qingwu pouted. “Are you just going to wait here for me?”

Since that first kiss last night, their dynamic had relaxed in a way neither quite expected.

They’d only just met and confirmed their relationship, yet Qiu Che felt like they’d known each other for a long time, like they were already very familiar with each other.

She thought for a moment.

“I had a dream last night.”

“What kind?”

Qiu Che stopped walking and looked down toward the peach trees outside the teaching building, a pity it was October, and the trees hadn’t blossomed. “I dreamed we were in a cold place, living miserable lives before we met. And there was a peach orchard there, too.”

“And after you met?”

Qiu Che hesitated, then smiled. “Shouldn’t you care more about how miserable we were before?”

“The past is the past,” Li Qingwu said calmly. “I only look forward.”

Qiu Che considered this. “True.”

“So, after meeting each other?”

“I don’t remember.”

Li Qingwu looked incredulous. “You don’t remember?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because it was so long ago,” Qiu Che said, “We spent a lifetime together.”

Li Qingwu found this both interesting and a little suspicious. “Seriously? You’re not just teasing me, right?”

“No.” Qiu Che pulled back her gaze and looked at her. “Maybe such a world really exists?”

Then she quickly changed the subject. “Let’s go. What do you want for dinner?”

“Braised pork ribs.”

“You want to cook?”

“What’s that look? Can’t I just follow a recipe?”

Qiu Che smiled and said, “Sure, whatever you make tastes good.”

“…Never mind, maybe you should cook. I was probably a princess in my last life and destined to just enjoy the good life this time. I don’t know how to do anything but make soup.”

“Maybe so.”

“You’re teasing me.”

“Nope,” Qiu Che laughed, “But maybe it’s true?”

The dream ended.

But their story was just beginning.

—

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