An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 349 Boyfriend

"I'm hungry." The girl's voice was nasal and hoarse, tinged with the sweetness of passion: "Where's my takeout?"

"It's at the door; I forgot to bring it in." The man seemed to remember something and asked, "Why is my name on the delivery information?"

"I live alone and I'm worried about my personal safety. What's wrong with just filling in a male colleague's name to fool strangers?" she argued confidently.

He corrected, "He's no longer a male colleague."

She insisted on going against him, stubbornly saying, "He's just a male colleague, a purely platonic male colleague."

He suddenly leaned over and captured her lower lip in his mouth. Once he'd done it before, he made a move to try again, but Meng Youyou seized the opportunity to bite him, causing the man to wince in pain. The girl took the chance to slip away from under his arm and run to the door to pick up her takeout; she was genuinely hungry, and that whole ordeal had taken quite a bit of energy.

To sum it up, Meng Youyou didn't get her takeout. As soon as she opened the takeout box, a delicious aroma filled the living room. Meng Youyou unpacked the disposable chopsticks, sharpening her knife as she prepared to dig in, when someone slammed the plastic lid back on.

Meng Youyou stared at him in confusion: "What are you doing?"

"This is too oily and unhealthy, and it has too much chili. You have a wound on your foot, so you can't eat spicy food," the man said seriously.

"Then what should I eat?" Meng Youyou spread her hands: "I'm starving, I haven't eaten all day..." The girl stopped herself in time and mumbled: "Anyway, I want to eat something now."

Huo Qingshan deftly cleared all the takeout boxes from the coffee table, walked alone to the kitchen, and left with the words, "Ten minutes."

Meng Youyou understood the other party's intention and shouted towards the kitchen, "Don't try to fob me off with some fried egg and vegetable noodles! Let me make this clear beforehand, I don't like this kind of cheap stuff. I won't give them any face. If it's not good, I won't eat a single bite. I'm a picky eater!"

After saying that, Meng Youyou suddenly realized something, and jumped up from the carpet in a flash, rushing straight to the kitchen door without even putting on her slippers.

In the kitchen, Huo Qingshan stood by the counter, staring down at the few empty beer bottles in the trash can, feeling quite uneasy.

So it wasn't a casual remark like "I'm eating well and sleeping soundly" at all. The truth is, she clearly has a low alcohol tolerance, but felt so unwell that she needed to drink heavily to numb herself. As a result, she drank too much and, due to the alcohol, accidentally bumped into a cabinet and injured her foot. Also, because she drank too much, her stomach was full of water, which is why she hadn't eaten much all day.

A series of hurried footsteps approached from afar. The man looked up at the sound and saw Meng Youyou standing in the kitchen doorway. Their eyes met, and the man, seemingly unaware of her presence, changed the subject: "Where do you keep the noodles at home?"

"I already said I don't want noodles, don't want noodles! Can't you understand me?" Feeling guilty, she spoke hastily and in a harsh tone. The man was standing right next to the trash can; Meng Youyou wasn't sure if he had seen her.

"Try what I made, you might like it?" the man said gently. Huo Qingshan didn't mention the contents of the trash can, acting as if he hadn't seen it. He knew that it represented the face and self-esteem she wanted to protect.

Meng Youyou pointed to the cabinet on the right: "The noodles are in the cabinet."

Huo Qingshan followed her instructions and went to find the noodles. There were many things in the cabinet, and he searched for a while but couldn't find them. When he turned around, the girl had already tied up the garbage bag and was carrying it in her hand.

"It seems there are no noodles inside."

"I'm going out to take out the trash." The two spoke almost simultaneously as their eyes met.

"Oh," Meng Youyou said nonchalantly, "Then maybe I remembered wrong. Can you check the refrigerator again to see if it's there?"

Meng Youyou carried the trash bag out the door. Huo Qingshan found noodles in the refrigerator. The refrigerator was quite well-stocked with meat, eggs and vegetables, which was a bit beyond his expectations, since she didn't seem like someone who knew how to cook.

Huo Qingshan came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of beef noodles. Just as he was about to put the bowl on the dining table, the girl sitting on the living room carpet playing on her tablet called out to him: "Put it here, I want to eat it here."

Huo Qingshan did as he was told. After putting down his bowl, he casually asked, "There's a dining table over there. Why are you eating on the coffee table?" In his mind, the table was a bit low and not a good place to eat.

“Because I like to eat sitting on the floor, I feel happier that way.” As she spoke, she pulled him down to sit, their legs touching. She placed the tablet between them and asked, “Aren’t you going to eat?”

"I've had dinner, I'm not hungry."

Meng Youyou picked up her chopsticks, slurped up a mouthful of noodles, and commented honestly, "Wow, it tastes so ordinary."

She glanced at him and said, "You were saying those things in the kitchen just now. You seemed quite confident. I thought you were an amazing cook."

He offered a fitting explanation: "You love spicy food, so you can't get used to eating such bland food all of a sudden." Huo Qingshan had long noticed her craving for spicy food; she usually only ordered spicy dishes and didn't like eating green vegetables.

"Eh~" she said in a teasing tone, "Someone's skills are lacking and they won't admit it. I always eat mushroom rice noodles in the Fanzhou area without chili sauce and I still think they're delicious. If the taste is just average, then it's just average. Don't make excuses."

Despite her words, Meng Youyou still ate the whole meal, as it was the first time she had ever truly eaten his cooking.

After finishing her noodles, Meng Youyou wiped her mouth, and the man picked up the bowls and chopsticks to wash them in the kitchen. Just then, a message popped up on her phone from Jiang Fu: "[Is Miss Meng still holding onto her pride?]"
Meng Youyou glanced at it and was immediately horrified. She hesitated before replying, "[What do you mean?]"
Jiang Fu: [Could I have guessed wrong? Battalion Commander Huo hasn't returned yet; isn't he with you?]
Meng Youyou hesitated for two seconds, then vaguely realized something: [You told him I was sick?]
Jiang Fu: [bingo!]
Meng Youyou: [This is entrapment! It's unethical!]
Jiang Fu: [Don't blame me for setting a trap; blame yourself for having too weak a will! You switched sides way far too easily!]
Jiang Fu: [To be honest, you really surprised me.]
Jiang Fu: [I thought he'd have to visit you three times, offer you help several times before you softened your attitude.]
Jiang Fu: [I had considered that your stance might be unstable, but I never imagined you would have no stance at all!]
Meng Youyou: [...]
The Meng Youyou of the past was like Jiang Fu described—he had to visit her three times to win her over, coaxing her until she was satisfied. But the Meng Youyou of today only wants to seize the limited time she has to love endlessly, unwilling to waste a single precious second; she can't wait to enjoy happiness.

After washing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen, the man came out and sat on the living room sofa. He glanced at his watch, wondering how much longer he could stay. Meng Youyou, who was sitting on the floor, noticed this and immediately asked, "Do you have to go home tonight?"

“My foot is injured and I have difficulty moving around. Aren’t you going to stay and take care of me?” She tilted her head to look at him, and then asked.

Huo Qingshan had actually considered the issue of staying overnight. However, subconsciously, he had limited acceptance of staying at a woman's house on the first day of a formal relationship; moreover, he had also observed the objective conditions. Although Meng Youyou's house was a two-bedroom apartment, she had converted the other room into a walk-in closet, meaning that there was only one bed in the entire apartment.

At this moment, he had to reconsider the issue.

The man's gaze swept over the sofa he was sitting on from end to end. It was a bit short, but not unsuitable for sleeping. He made a decision and was about to speak when he was interrupted by the girl's complaints.

"Do you want to be my boyfriend or my male colleague?" Seeing that he didn't agree immediately, Meng Youyou grumbled unhappily, "What boyfriend in the world would be like you, ignoring his injured girlfriend? Why don't you just be a male colleague? I'll find a more considerate boyfriend."

The man's gaze fell on her face, his eyes suddenly turning dangerous; he could be quite intimidating when he wasn't smiling. Meng Youyou rebelliously pouted; she wasn't convinced. If he was so possessive, how could he tell her to take it slow and even refuse her? She wondered how he was thinking. His actions were completely baffling to her.

But Meng Youyou remained silent, knowing that her words would hurt their feelings; he had always disliked hearing her say such things.

“I’ll stay here tonight and go back with you tomorrow morning.” Huo Qingshan said, and gently pulled the loose collar that had slipped down her shoulder back up. His serious expression returned to normal in an instant. He then said, “Oh, I apologize for my behavior before. I know you’re still upset.”

He hit the nail on the head, and Meng Youyou didn't mince words. She raised an eyebrow and retorted, "Shouldn't it be?" "It should be," he admitted. "Then what do you want me to do to calm down?"

"I want you to promise me that no matter what happens during our relationship, you will never mention breaking up with me, you can't hide anything from me after we're together, and you must discuss any decisions with me before making them." She listed her demands one by one.

"Okay." Huo Qingshan thought for a moment and agreed. He felt that the letter should be categorized as belonging to the period before they got together, so there was no problem.

"Can I ask you why?" Meng Youyou suddenly asked.

Her question was vague, but Huo Qingshan knew she was referring to his behavior in the car that night, and his silence, which had left a lingering resentment in her heart. After a few seconds of hesitation, the man spoke: "Oh, just like you're unwilling to tell me about our past, then... could you allow me to keep a secret too?"

He quickly added, "Just remember that I truly meant it when I said I fell in love with you at first sight."

Silence stretched across the air. She sat cross-legged on the floor, while he sat upright on the sofa. Her thighs were pressed against his ankles. She wore shorts, and he wore slippers. They stared at each other silently for half a minute before Meng Youyou spoke up: "Okay, there can only be one."

Having reached a consensus, Meng Youyou, supporting herself on his knees, got up from the ground, humming a little tune. She went to the closet, pulled out a set of neatly folded men's pajamas, handed them to Huo Qingshan, and then sat back down in her original spot. Holding her tablet, she instructed, "You go ahead and shower. I still have half an episode to watch, and I take a long time to shower."

Huo Qingshan looked at the gray cotton pajamas unfolded in his hand with some surprise and asked, "Why do you have men's pajamas at home?"

Meng Youyou replied without looking up, her tone casual: "I'm a girl living alone, so I buy some men's clothes and hang them on the balcony from time to time to deter bad guys. That's called perfect safety awareness."

Huo Qingshan was speechless: "..."

Huo Qingshan took her pajamas into the bathroom. Her bathroom was large, with a separate wet and dry area. It could not only fit a large bathtub, but also had a spacious separate shower area.

On the shelf in the corner were all sorts of bottles and jars. Huo Qingshan noticed that the tallest and thickest bottle was a shower gel bottle. It had a transparent body and contained a thick pink liquid. The bottle was printed with foreign letters, probably French, which Huo Qingshan couldn't understand.

Driven by a curiosity that he couldn't share with outsiders, Huo Qingshan gently pressed a pump into his palm, brought it to his nose, and smelled it. It had a sweet peach scent, but it wasn't quite right. Compared to his memory, it lacked a faint milky fragrance.

The man's gaze lingered on the bottles of varying heights, finally settling on a plump, milky-white bottle. It was a domestic brand, printed with the Chinese characters "xx body lotion." He unscrewed the cap and brought it to his nose again... Finally, a question that had long been hidden in his heart was answered.

She's right. We need to get closer. Only when the boundaries are broken can we usher in a new world. Otherwise, he might never know that such a wonderful smell is actually a mixture of different scents. What a pity.

This was the most unsettling bath Huo Qingshan had ever taken.

While I was washing, someone knocked on the door and asked if I needed a towel.
The man had no choice but to put his pants back on, walk to the door, and leave a crack in the door. The girl's explicit gaze swept over his naked, damp upper body before she slowly uttered, "The clean towel is behind the mirror above the sink. Just letting you know, remember to get it." As she spoke, her eyes were full of undisguised slyness.

Huo Qingshan: "..."

The person left, whistling all the way. Huo Qingshan stood there, sighed softly, and closed the bathroom door. He walked a few steps to the sink, and as soon as he opened the mirror cabinet door, several small items fell out of the stall and scattered all over the floor. Huo Qingshan looked at the rows of stalls crammed full in front of him and suddenly felt a headache coming on.

He discovered this while using the kitchen. Her house looked decent on the surface and was clean and tidy, but the inside was absolutely terrifying. Things were crammed together haphazardly, like a rat's nest. This reminded Huo Qingshan of an old saying: "Gold and jade on the outside, but rotten cotton on the inside."

After he finished washing the dishes, he spent another half hour tidying up the kitchen cabinets for her. As Huo Qingshan tidied up, he couldn't help but wonder—how did she usually get away with the housekeeping inspections?

At this moment, Huo Qingshan stood in front of the mirror cabinet. He was somewhat used to the "small scene" in front of him. He no longer had the same sense of amazement as when he first opened her cabinet. The man just shook his head helplessly and squatted down to pick up the debris that had fallen to the ground.

His fingertips touched a frosted, semi-transparent storage box. It was a narrow, square box, somewhat like an enlarged petri dish. Holding it in his hand, the man glanced at it again. Inside were two flesh-colored, mango-shaped pieces, soft and gelatinous, thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom. At first glance, Huo Qingshan couldn't tell what it was.

Without thinking much, he reached out to pick up a squeezed tube that had fallen a little further away. Only when he picked it up did he see the words "hair removal cream" written on it. The man's cheeks flushed slightly. Then, in a flash, Huo Qingshan suddenly understood the purpose of the two objects in the transparent box in his hand.
As if he had grabbed a hot potato, Huo Qingshan was momentarily at a loss, his breathing became erratic, and fragmented images flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern—the naked woman beneath him, mostly from that absurd and enchanting dream of that night.

A strong sense of blasphemy suddenly struck him. Under the influence of shame, guilt and embarrassment filled his chest. Huo Qingshan hurriedly picked up everything on the ground and stuffed it back into the cabinet. This sloppy manner was just like hers.

After closing the cabinet door, the man calmed his breathing slightly. As the heat on his face gradually subsided and his mind cleared, he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to take a towel.

He quickly took a shower, and the cotton pajamas he put on fit him surprisingly well, almost as if they were custom-made. Huo Qingshan was quite surprised by this. He belatedly looked down and saw that the slippers on his feet were also the perfect size.

After I finished washing up in the bathroom, I came out and asked her. She didn't react much, so I gave reasonable explanations for everything: "The slippers were bought to entertain guests, the wash cups were buy-one-get-one-free, the towels were discounted if I bought more, and the razor was a free gift to reach the minimum order amount."

Meng Youyou kept her eyes fixed on the tablet, her expression completely calm. She didn't even glance at him, looking extremely relaxed and at ease. She answered his questions fluently and effortlessly, using all the excuses she had prepared beforehand.

Huo Qingshan was skeptical. He sat on the sofa, his hair still damp, and stared intently at her profile. After a long while, he couldn't find a single flaw in the girl's expression, so he gave up.

The TV series was playing on the tablet, and Meng Youyou's eyes were on it, but she didn't pay any attention to the plot.

No, of course, that's not the case.

Meng Youyou often fantasizes about what it would be like to live with him in the future. This has become her favorite thing to do before falling asleep in the past few months, and over time it has become an addiction she can't break. Such imagination brings her short-term happiness and comfort, and her heart feels warm. She always falls asleep with a sweet smile in her drowsy state. When she wakes up, she seems to be injected with an unknown energy, which makes her look forward to the "future".

Over and over again, day after day.

She thought about everything, really everything—living under the same roof, sleeping in each other's arms, waking up to see each other's faces; going grocery shopping together, cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, holding hands for a walk after dinner, and if she got tired on the way back, she would whine and ask him to carry her; watching movies together, playing games, daydreaming, sitting head to head on the wicker chairs on the balcony watching the sunrise and sunset, kissing naturally when the mood was right, watching the moon, watching the snow, watching winter turn into spring... doing all the things they had done together, and then doing some things they hadn't done yet.

In short, all her fantasies about the future were closely related to him, without exception.

So, whenever she saw nice menswear while shopping, she would subconsciously imagine how good he would look in it, thinking it would definitely be great, and then she would buy it and put it in the closet. Sports clothes, suits, loungewear, pajamas, even socks—she would buy them all and put them all in the closet. Meng Youyou wouldn't let him know that she had bought him so many clothes, at least not for now.

For the beautiful and happy little world she longed for, Meng Youyou had gathered almost all the necessary items in advance: a small nest, a big and soft double bed, a spacious floor-to-ceiling window, clothes, shoes and daily necessities. With these things in the house, she would occasionally have a sense of realism, imagining that when she walked out of the bathroom with a face mask on, she would see a man sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper, and that the man's posture would be very upright, with his shoulders and back straight.

The takeout and delivery packages were all listed under the male homeowner's name. Every time someone called and asked, "Is this Mr. Huo from 701?", her heart would skip a beat, and she would answer very seriously, "Yes!"... At that time, everything was ready, except for his heart.

She needed him to love her, to love her very, very much, so Meng Youyou only said half of what she meant—she would never forgive him, but she would never stop loving him.

(End of this chapter)