"Of course, sleep," Chu Lingtian replied to Liu Bingxue as he took off his pants.
"Who, who said you could sleep with me?" Liu Bingxue said urgently.
Chu Lingtian, wearing only his underwear, faced Liu Bingxue with a helpless expression. "Your mother told me to sleep with you. It's called filial piety, you know?"
"You bastard, put your pants back on and get out, now!" Liu Bingxue's beautiful face flushed red. She turned her head away, unable to look at Chu Lingtian, and shouted angrily.
"Your mother and sister are in the next room. It's already midnight. If I open the door and leave now, your mother will definitely hear the commotion. She'll get suspicious about our relationship. Are you sure you want me to leave now?" Chu Lingtian asked Liu Bingxue.
Liu Bingxue gritted her pearly white teeth in anger. She was a hundred times unwilling to share a room with Chu Lingtian, but at this point, she was helpless.
It was her idea to find Chu Lingtian to impersonate her boyfriend. She had thought it would be a simple meeting with her parents, a meal, and then Chu Lingtian would find an excuse to leave, ending the charade. They would never have any further dealings, nor would they ever meet again. It all seemed so straightforward.
But she never expected so many things to happen after Chu Lingtian arrived at the Liu residence, and even to be seduced by Liu Huohuo. Now, by a twist of fate, Chu Lingtian had stayed over, and in her own bedroom.
It was so late. If she, Liu Bingxue, forcefully kicked Chu Lingtian out of the bedroom, or even out of the house, her parents would surely question their relationship. Their pretense of being a couple, which had so far been seamless, could be exposed, all their previous efforts wasted. It might even make Zhang Ping cry and directly cause Liu Shu, who was already gravely ill, to die.
Liu Bingxue dared not take such a risk. She could only try to endure for a few more hours. Once tonight passed, and Chu Lingtian left early in the morning under the pretext of going to work, everything would be fine as long as he left the Liu family's home.
"You sleep on the carpet. If you're cold, I can give you my quilt. Also, you have to keep your clothes on while you sleep. You're not allowed to take anything off." Liu Bingxue angrily grabbed a quilt from the wardrobe and threw it at Chu Lingtian.
"I usually like to sleep naked, so I'll make an exception tonight. I won't put back what I've taken off, and I won't take off what I'm wearing," Chu Lingtian said, taking the quilt and spreading it on the carpet to sleep. Sleeping on the floor had once been a luxury for him. During many life-or-death missions, he wouldn't eat or drink for days, not even daring to doze off, let alone lie on the ground and sleep. Years of military service and surviving countless battles had made Chu Lingtian's physique as strong as steel. Sleeping on the floor wouldn't make him sick.
Lying on the bed, Liu Bingxue quietly glanced at Chu Lingtian, who was sleeping on the floor beside her. She wrapped herself tightly in her quilt, her heart filled with trepidation, wondering if he would suddenly climb into her bed and force himself on her. Last night's intimacy with Chu Lingtian had been an accident, done while she was drunk and not fully conscious. Tonight was the first time in her life she had slept in the same room with a man she didn't know well, and her subconscious feminine fears and sensitivities were hard to suppress.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
Just as Liu Bingxue mustered the courage to turn off the lights, a knock came from outside the bedroom.
"Bingxue, Lingtian, are you two asleep?" Zhang Ping's voice came from outside the door.
Liu Bingxue jolted in fright. She quickly sat up halfway, turned on the light, and replied, "Mom, yes, we're asleep. What is it?"
"I can't find something. It might have fallen in your room. I'm coming in to look," Zhang Ping said.
"Mom, it's so late. Can't you look tomorrow?" Liu Bingxue was startled and quickly refused.
While Chu Lingtian and Liu Huohuo were at the bar, Zhang Ping had a special talk with Liu Bingxue. Zhang Ping expressed that she and Liu Shu were quite satisfied with Chu Lingtian as their future son-in-law. Since Liu Bingxue was also of marriageable age, they could choose a propitious date for the wedding. At the same time, Zhang Ping asked Liu Bingxue about the progress of her relationship with Chu Lingtian. To avoid her parents' suspicion, Liu Bingxue, truthfully, said that she and Chu Lingtian had already been intimate. Thus, one lie led to another, and she constantly had to find ways to cover it up. Her hesitation to kick Chu Lingtian out earlier was for the same reason she was now afraid of her mother, Zhang Ping, entering and seeing that she and Chu Lingtian were not sharing a bed. How could a couple who had already been intimate kick one another out in the middle of the night, or share a room but not a bed?
"No, I need it urgently. I'm coming in," Zhang Ping said, and she turned the doorknob. In reality, Zhang Ping's excuse of needing to find something and suddenly entering was also due to her having some suspicions about her daughter Liu Bingxue and Chu Lingtian's true relationship. After all, Liu Bingxue hadn't had a boyfriend for so many years, and despite many excellent suitors, she hadn't fancied any of them. How could she suddenly have this boyfriend named Chu Lingtian? Furthermore, just now, when Zhang Ping was taking care of Liu Huohuo alone, the little vixen Liu Huohuo kept muttering drunkenly, saying things like "liar," and "your relationship is fake." This made Zhang Ping even more suspicious, so she decided to make a surprise visit to verify if her daughter Liu Bingxue and Chu Lingtian's relationship was indeed real.
"Ah…" As the pretense was about to be exposed and the door was already ajar, Liu Bingxue couldn't help but scream.
*Whoosh!*
Suddenly, Liu Bingxue's vision went black. When she blinked her eyes open again, Chu Lingtian had already gotten into bed with her, quilt and all, pressing down on her. The pressure on her chest was ample and full.
"Oh dear, you, you know I'm coming in, and you're still… young people are so impulsive, don't care about appearances. Never mind, I'll come back tomorrow. Sleep early, don't stay up too late," Zhang Ping said awkwardly as she turned her head away upon seeing Chu Lingtian pressing down on her daughter Liu Bingxue. She then turned and walked out, closing the door.
"You bastard, my, my mom's gone, get off quickly!" Liu Bingxue's beautiful face was flushed red. Her eyes fixed on Chu Lingtian, she said coldly, a mix of shame and anger.
"You women are fickle creatures, changing your minds faster than you turn a page. Why didn't you tell me to get off when you were afraid of being exposed?" Chu Lingtian said with annoyance as he prepared to get out of bed.
Unexpectedly, Liu Bingxue spoke again, "I told you to get off me, not get off the bed."
"What do you mean?" Chu Lingtian looked at Liu Bingxue with a surprised expression, a wicked smile unconsciously appearing at the corner of his mouth.