Sweet Oxygen - Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – Guess

Qing-ge, do you like Qin Han?

——

Beibei was eating canned dog food, smacking its lips greedily, showing no table manners at all.

The old electric fan slowly oscillated, stirring the air and carrying the unique bamboo fragrance of Zhang Yuqing’s shop, attempting to dispel the sweltering heat.

But Qin Han felt that the more it blew, the hotter she got.

Because Zhang Yuqing’s face was right in front of her.

One of his elbows rested on the back of her chair, while the other hand was propped against the table, practically enclosing her within his space.

The air in this small area was filled with his presence.

How many girls could resist when the person they liked was so close?

Qin Han really couldn’t resist. Her mind went completely blank, and her face burned as if it was about to catch fire.

She felt like she needed to call 119.

Every eyelash of Zhang Yuqing’s was so clear, and beneath the smile in his eyes was an assessing gaze.

Qin Han felt like she was about to suffocate under his stare.

“Qing-ge—”

Luo Shijin’s loud voice rang out along with the creak of the back door opening, followed by a scream like he had been stepped on.

“Holy crap! What are you two doing?!!!”

Zhang Yuqing slowly straightened up, still thinking about Qin Han’s reaction, and didn’t respond to Luo Shijin’s exclamation.

“Um, I—I should go home for dinner. I’ll leave now.”

Qin Han stammered as she stood up, hurriedly walking out. Only when she reached outside did she blush and wave.

“Luo Shijin, Zhang—Zhang Yuqing, bye-bye.”

After saying that, the girl took off running, her figure disappearing at the shop entrance.

Luo Shijin’s eyes widened as he continued his outburst.

“Qing-ge! Did you just kiss her?!”

“You’re such a beast! Qin Han is still a minor! Didn’t Li Nan say they were both 17?!”

“Only 17! The flower of the motherland! And you do that to her?! Not just touching, but with your mouth!”

“Your behavior is simply—”

Zhang Yuqing glanced at Luo Shijin calmly and interrupted him, “Shut up.”

Luo Shijin’s voice was too loud. Because of the shock, he yelled through his neck.

Zhang Yuqing got a headache from his shouting.

He frowned, “I just want to try.”

“Try what! Trying to know the feeling of kissing a minor?!!!”

Zhang Yuqing looked very speechless, his face slumped. “Use your brain, Qin Han is only 17 years old.”

“Yes! She is only 17 years old! And you did that!”

Zhang Yuqing raised his hand and gave Luo Shijin’s head a hard flick. “I think this girl is not quite right recently, I am afraid that she has some thoughts that she shouldn’t have, so I want to test it.”

Perhaps he felt that this was not straightforward enough, and was afraid that Luo Shijin would continue to yell.

Zhang Yuqing added, “I didn’t touch her.”

Luo Shijin rubbed his forehead, which had turned red from the flick, and took a while to process before reacting. “Oh, so you didn’t act like a beast.”

He glanced at Qing-ge, and his sluggish brain finally kicked into gear. “Wait, are you afraid that Qin Han likes you? But didn’t she say before that she already liked someone? Aren’t you just a stand-in? So now she’s moved on? Fallen for you? The stand-in successfully took over?”

“I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking it,” Zhang Yuqing said lazily, unwilling to elaborate.

“Qing-ge, but you can’t test it like that.”

Luo Shijin muttered, “You were so close to her. Anyone would blush! You’ve got such a handsome face, don’t you have any self-awareness?”

Zhang Yuqing suddenly leaned in toward Luo Shijin, getting so close that Luo Shijin’s eyes crossed. “You didn’t blush.”

“What?! Qing-ge! I’m a man, alright?!”

Luo Shijin, still cross-eyed, shouted, “Try it on a girl! Any girl! From 60 years old down to 6! Try getting that close and see if anyone wouldn’t blush!”

“Oh? Am I really that good-looking?” Zhang Yuqing chuckled and walked away.

“But Qing-ge, last time we visited Grandma, what was up with her? She knows you don’t have a girlfriend, but she insisted that Qin Han was your girlfriend. Even said she looked like her younger self. Was that some kind of test?”

Zhang Yuqing paused and glanced back. “The old lady said that?”

“Yeah. And that fake plastic coral bracelet—Grandma gave it to Qin Han under the pretense of a love token from you.” Luo Shijin scratched the back of his head. “Is she getting senile?”

“She’s not senile. She’s sharp as ever.”

Zhang Yuqing knew his grandmother too well. Her health wasn’t great, but her mind was quicker than most old folks’. She’d never just lose her wits.

She must’ve taken a liking to Qin Han and decided to pick her as a granddaughter-in-law.

After a moment’s pause, Zhang Yuqing suddenly chuckled. “But her eyesight is getting worse. She needs a stronger reading prescription.”

Daring to pick such a young girl.

Luo Shijin poured himself a big glass of ice water, gulped it down, then suddenly asked,

“Qing-ge, do you like Qin Han?”

“Yeah.” Zhang Yuqing answered almost without hesitation.

“Holy shit?”

Luo Shijin shouted, then looked at Zhang Yuqing’s calm, faintly smiling face and finally realized—

His Qing-ge probably meant the kind of liking between an older brother and a younger sister.

Qin Han was a clean, well-mannered girl. She wasn’t loud or pretentious.

After interacting a few times, even Luo Shijin himself felt that Qin Han was a really nice little sister.

Especially when looking at her with certain expectations related to Dandan.

Luo Shijin suddenly let out a sigh. “Yeah… If only Dandan were healthy…”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

Before getting back to work, Zhang Yuqing glanced at the pitch-black sky outside and estimated the time.

He set an alarm—around that time, he had to check if Qin Han got home safely.

As for whether the little girl had feelings for him…

Zhang Yuqing frowned. He suddenly remembered—

The second time Qin Han came to Yaonan Alley, she had blurted out “jian (cheap)” when looking at him.

At the time, Zhang Yuqing thought—what the hell? This quiet little girl suddenly cussing?

But thinking back now, maybe she actually meant “jian” as in arrow.

——t/n: Remember QH said “sword” but ZY thought it was “cheap”? In Chinese, “sword” (剑, jiàn) and “arrow” (箭, jiàn) have identical pronunciations, “cheap” (贱, jiàn) is only similar in pronunciation.

As in—he looked like the guy she liked, the one who played with arrows?

So he really was just a substitute.

Zhang Yuqing thought expressionlessly. Throwing arrows? So what? It’s not like I haven’t done that before.

No skill required. Just toss them, and they go in.

——

Qin Han’s face was still burning even after getting on the bus. On the way out of Yaonan Alley, her mind had been spinning.

“Why are you blushing… even in front of a substitute?”

That question made her feel like she had totally exposed herself.

Qin Han looked at her reflection in the bus window—her whole neck was red.

But if she had been just a bit better at talking, she could have come up with a dozen excuses.

Because it’s hot.

Because you were too close.

Because I just get embarrassed easily.

Because you look like the guy I like.

Any of these reasons would have been better than standing there, speechless.

Feeling frustrated, Qin Han arrived home. Her parents weren’t there. She didn’t have the appetite to order takeout, so she grabbed a bowl of instant abalone porridge from the fridge—something her mom often ate—and brought it to her room.

She took a few bites absentmindedly. It was tasteless.

Would Zhang Yuqing realize she liked him?

Maybe she shouldn’t go to Yaonan Alley tomorrow.

But if she didn’t go, wouldn’t that seem even guiltier?

After dinner and washing up, Qin Han finally remembered her phone was still on silent in her bag.

Had her parents called her?

If they had and she didn’t pick up, they’d be worried.

Qin Han ran out of her room and dug out her phone from her bag. Right as she reached her bedroom door, she saw the missed calls on the screen and stunned.

Three missed calls, spaced exactly ten minutes apart.

Not from her mom. Not from her dad.

From Zhang Yuqing.

And a WeChat message from him:

[Little girl, call me back when you see this.]

Qin Han didn’t know what was so urgent, but she sat on her bed and called him back.

She opened a window, letting the soft night breeze in. Taking a deep breath in the wind, she pressed the call button.

Zhang Yuqing picked up quickly—but the first thing she heard wasn’t his voice.

It was another man’s voice.

“Qing-ge, she chased me first! So why is she the one with a bigger temper now? I swear, she wants to break up! I was only three minutes late, just three minutes! And she scolded me for half an hour! My heart hurts, man. It really fucking hurts! I wanna cry so bad—”

Qin Han imagined Zhang Yuqing’s usual deadpan expression while dealing with customers and suddenly wanted to laugh.

Why did his customers all make the mistake of pouring their hearts out to him?

Zhang Yuqing should be working. She heard the buzzing sound of the tattoo machine stopped. Then Zhang Yuqing’s muffled voice, still trapped behind a mask, interrupted, “Go cry first, I’m taking a call.”

“What the fuck? Qing-ge! Qing-ge! I wasn’t done—”

The rest was probably cut off as Zhang Yuqing shut the door.

The house was quiet—no one was home, not even the AC was on.

All she could hear was the faint sound of Zhang Yuqing moving through the phone. A rustling sound—probably him taking off his mask.

Then his voice, much clearer. “Did you get home?”

“Mm, I did.”

“Good.”

Zhang Yuqing let out a quiet breath, as if relieved.

The barely-there sound flowed through the phone into Qin Han’s ears, making her heart tremble.

Was he worried?

“I left my phone in my bag on silent. I just saw it.”

After a brief hesitation, she asked, “You called just to ask if I got home?”

“Yeah. And you didn’t pick up.”

Something about his tone sounded just slightly reproachful.

Was she imagining it?

Subconsciously, she explained, “I was at your shop this afternoon, so I put it on silent.”

“Don’t put it on silent next time. Your ringtone is quieter than Luo Shijin’s shouting. It won’t bother me.”

From the background, Luo Shijin’s loud voice rang out, “Qing-ge, are you roasting me again? By the way, has that little brat Qin Han gotten home yet? She didn’t even call!”

“She’s home.”

Zhang Yuqing chuckled, then said to Qin Han, “Next time, call when you get home. Everyone worries about you.”

“Okay.” Qin Han felt warmth in her chest.

“And also—”

He paused, like he wasn’t sure how to say it. After a soft chuckle, he finally said, “Did I scare you this afternoon? Sorry, little girl. I won’t do it again.”

That night, Qin Han’s parents seemed busy with something and never called.

All that remained in her mind was Zhang Yuqing’s gentle voice.

At night, Qin Han still didn’t turn on the air conditioning. The night breeze made the curtains billow and collapse, and her mind drifted in and out, filled with thoughts of Zhang Yuqing.

Even as she fell asleep, she was still thinking about him.

In her dreams, Zhang Yuqing was there too—but he wasn’t quite the same as usual. He was more like the scenes from that steamy movie Qin Han had accidentally seen in her class group chat at the start of summer break.

Zhang Yuqing stood close in front of her, just like that afternoon, his breath warm and gentle against her face.

He slowly crouched down, his fingers resting on the button of her jeans. With a slight flick, the button popped open.

It must be a dream.

Because Qin Han could already hear the cicadas and birds chirping outside in the early morning—but she didn’t want to wake up.

So, in the dream, the fake Zhang Yuqing placed a hand on her face and slowly leaned in.

Then, just as the atmosphere became ambiguous, the fake Zhang Yuqing very anticlimactically stopped, mere inches away from her.

It wasn’t his fault. It was because 17-year-old Qin Han lacked the experience to imagine anything beyond this—she didn’t even know what kind of intimate interactions could happen next, not even in a dream.

Stuck in place, Qin Han suddenly snapped awake.

She stared blankly for a few seconds. Then, under the soft morning light, she pulled the blanket over her head and kicked her feet wildly.

Qin Han, you’re done for!

You’re a pervert now!

What kind of dirty dream were you even having?!