Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Don't Look Back (Five)

Yu Manyi learned a lot from Song Qi, and he also gave her all of her first experiences. She also learned from him that even the same thing can have many different methods.

This method is related to a person's character, and also to the ultimate goal. And today, his purpose was obviously not as simple as last time.

He hooked her knee with one hand, and with the other, he supported her lower back, then moved his hand up her spine to the back of her neck. Her top had somehow slipped to the floor, leaving only a long camisole dress underneath, exposing her smooth and cold back and shoulders. The exposed skin was smooth and cool, but the places his fingers brushed over became much warmer.

He didn't touch her face, but her face began to heat up. She didn’t intentionally want to say anything, but small, indistinct sounds came from her throat that would have been inaudible if he hadn't been so close to her ear.

"What are you trying to say?" Song Qi turned his head and deliberately pressed his lips to her ear as he asked.

What could she say with her feudal remnants? This final step came unexpectedly and suddenly. He lifted her slightly again, so she could better lock her arms around his neck, and Yu Manyi buried her head against his shoulder, her body tightening. She fit so firmly into him that it was unclear whether she was cooperating or resisting.

Why did everything have to be coaxed? Why did everything require coaxing? Song Qi helplessly shook his head. She was holding on so tightly that he no longer needed to support her knee. Instead, he placed one hand on her lower back and the other to caress her hair, fingers threading through the black strands, slowly moving across her back.

With every gentle stroke, she loosened a little, finally relaxing from a rigid, tense ornament to a soft, relaxed one. She buried her eyes in the hollow of his neck, her lashes brushing against his skin, her eyelids burning.

"Didn't you read books before?"

Reading books and actual practice are different.

"Lift your head."

She refused.

Yu Manyi often couldn't understand Song Qi. He had so many contradictions within him. He was always both strict and gentle, careless yet meticulous, even at this moment. His tone when coaxing her was patient, his lips brushing against her ear, each word letting her drop her guard. But the hand caressing her hair grew stronger, fingers intertwining with her strands, and then suddenly pulling her down, causing her to release the soft, fragmented sound from her throat, before suddenly raising her head.He was already sitting on the bed, and she was half-sitting on his lap, which gave her a higher perspective. He withdrew his hand from her hair and placed it firmly at the back of her head, guiding her to bend forward, as if she voluntarily touched his lips. Her waist was weak, but he held it tightly with the other hand, pulling her waist and abdomen closer, pressing her against his own.

Why does the human body fit so perfectly with the contours of another?

Yu Manyi no longer tried to escape. He had guided the beginning of everything, and then she began to explore on her own. She extended her arm to embrace his shoulder, her waist straightening while her shoulders bent down. She lowered her head to kiss him, her lips instinctively touching his, and at that moment, she realized her previous approach had been wrong.

It turns out that kissing is a natural bodily instinct; it turns out that kissing is not a restraint controlled by will. While tears fell, she kissed him recklessly, and he only continued to soothe her back with his hand, rubbing his chin against the side of her neck during the moments when she gasped for air, and then asked in a breathy voice, "Why are you crying?"

She didn’t know what had happened to her; she just held him tighter and continued to kiss him. Exhausted from kissing, she cried out, "Song Qi, can you not leave?"

"I’m right here, aren’t I?"

His development of her had reached its limit; the rest she would have to handle herself. Yu Manyi was truly a stubborn person, still resisting when he placed her underneath him, as if this step was the final one in a story, and if she didn’t reach this step, the rest of the story wouldn’t continue.

"Don’t you like me?"

"I like you. I like you the most."

"No, you can only like me."

She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, and the palm still held the scar from the old ruler that had been used to strike her. Song Qi lowered his head, kissed the palm of her hand, and then kissed the tears from the corner of her eyes.

In that final moment, Song Qi was certain that he had taught her everything he knew and had given her all the best he could offer.

She was Yu Manyi, raised as an object after her parents passed away, growing up methodically in the Yu family home, discarded like a relic of a bygone era. But this small relic made an important decision on the day she flew a kite. She saved someone who should never have survived. Song Qi never considered himself to be Yu Manyi’s benefactor or savior. Even the life he stole from her, he owed to her. Compared to that, the help he had given her seemed so insignificant.He should be the one thanking Yu Manyi, not the other way around. She made him do many things that truly changed something, not just die quietly in the fields out of a moment's impulse. She allowed him to stay with his family for a while longer, even though those extra days were always filled with bickering and arguments. She also gave him many smiles and joy, letting him, who had not witnessed his own growth, witness someone else’s growth, and also see that beneath the soil that the Song family’s three generations tried to defend, the most resilient humanity could grow.

Song Qi always felt that Yu Manyi was far braver than him. From start to finish, he only fought his way through the class he was born into, while Yu Manyi had endured countless hardships along her journey. He observed, was moved, intervened, and then withdrew. By now, she had grown into an adult, and he could finally rest easy.

She started crying constantly, as if he had done something unforgivable to her. After the pain eased, she realized that it was a good thing, something that made her happy. Song Qi took care of her, and when he noticed her response behind her ear, he kept kissing and touching that spot. When she could no longer be comforted, he showed his usually hidden harsh side, grabbing her ankle and pulling her back into his arms. His strength was so great, like when he had dragged her off the field, and he squeezed both her ankles and wrists until they turned blue.

“You’re so annoying!” Yu Manyi, now familiar with the routine, cursed at him while struggling.

But cursing didn’t help. Instead, he began saying even more annoying things. “Didn’t you and I want a gun?”

This night felt unbearably long, as he repeatedly teased her, as if the sun would never rise again. In the early hours of the morning, Yu Manyi could no longer endure it and, holding his shoulder, begged, “Song Qi, just let it go. There’s always the next time.”

In these past six months, she had grown spoiled and arrogant, either throwing tantrums or being unreasonable with him. She had never spoken so humbly before. Song Qi smiled and finally paused, pressing against her ear and making a demand, “Then you better ask nicely and say something I want to hear, and we’ll end it today.”

What did she know about what’s nice to say, and what did Song Qi want to hear? The two of them stared at each other, and the bed sheet under Yu Manyi was already soaked.

“You’ve actually said it before.” Song Qi leaned closer to her, rubbing the corners of her mouth and her cheek with his fingertips. The calluses from practicing with a gun scraped her skin dry and painfully. He pinched Yu Manyi’s chin, turning her face to the side, and softly reminded her, “Then call me ‘brother’.”

Yu Manyi struggled angrily when he said that. When she called him brother, it was always in disguise, always for something serious. How could he secretly enjoy it in his heart?

“Is it embarrassing?”

Song Qi stopped pinching her face, smiled for a moment, and then lay flat, pulling her onto his chest. Yu Manyi closed her eyes in frustration, listening to him say, “Brother, my brother, bro… wasn’t that what you called me? I never made you say it. Why can’t you now?”

He mimicked her speech, especially dragging out the word “bro.” Yu Manyi didn’t pronounce it that way, though. She stubbornly pressed her lips together, gritting her teeth, her ear resting against his chest, hearing his slow and deep heartbeat, each thump resonating in her eardrum, making her chest echo with it, like they were in sync.

He no longer tortured her. She kept silent, and the rhythmic heartbeat was so soothing that it made Yu Manyi fall asleep after a short while. His body was broad and flat, the perfect position for lying on his stomach. Song Qi grabbed the blanket and covered her, kissing the top of her head before raising his hand to turn off the light.The breathing of the two became faint. He grasped the hand she had placed on his chest and brought it to his lips for a kiss. Amid the sounds of their bodies shifting, a faint, nearly inaudible “brother” escaped from her throat.

Later, Yu Manyi repeatedly recalled that night and felt that, in the grand scheme of things, fate had still given them many gifts. For example, between her and Song Qi, there were essentially no regrets left.