Starlight Has No Past

Ye Qiao asked with another motive in mind: “Did you lead the military
training for boys or girls?”

“Girls.”

Just as she had expected: “Tsk, tsk, with your looks, you must have
attracted a bevy of young girls.”

“It didn’t make it any easier. They were just bored being confined in
the military base.” Zhou Tingsheng had a look of great frustration, it
seemed that he had endured a lot of flirting from the girls. “Besides,
by military rules, we can’t disclose any personal information and would’ve
been punished if we had any affairs with the female students.”

“You’ve retired from the military, haven’t you?” Ye Qiao, like most women,
liked to gossip. She rubbed the cup with her finger tip: “Why didn’t I have
a military education officer like you when I was in college.”

“Forget it. The girls in the Arts School are the most difficult to deal with.
Back then, if I met someone as defiant as you, I would’ve given you the
harshest punishments.”

Ye Qiao wanted to pinch him again. Zhou Tingsheng got away while laughing:
“Now don’t you look energetic? Weren’t you feeling sickly earlier?”

Ye Qiao, however, was thinking about something else. That day when she
woke up from her hangover, she noticed someone had dialed a number out
on her cell phone but it hadn’t gone through. It would be impossible for her
to dial an eleven digit number while she was dead drunk, so Zhou Tingsheng
must’ve punched it in. She searched the number online later; it was a G City
local number and a reply post on Tieba popped up under the number. It was
registration information for a Lu Qing fan meeting a few years ago. The owner
of the number turned out to be a Lu Qing fan.

There was no end if she continued to probe the issue. Ye Qiao suddenly couldn’t
stand how everyone seemed to be linked to each other. She took a deep breath
and picked up her bag: “Let’s get out of here. The fragrance of cream is too strong
here.”

They stood up and Ye Qiao’s eyes were level with his neck. She noticed the bruises
on the side of his neck. Taken aback, she stopped to ask: “Does it hurt?”

Zhou Tingsheng subconsciously reached for his neck, but Ye Qiao’s fingers were
already caressing the scratch marks. Her touch was soft and tender, slightly cool at
the fingertips. She carefully rubbed the area in a gentle circular motion. Zhou Tingsheng
stiffened his neck and his Adam’s apple slowly moved up and down: “It’s nothing.” The
softness of her touch reminded him of her soft lips.

Zhou Tingsheng used one hand to push her head onto his shoulder and said: “Think of
it as payback.” Ye Qiao embarrassedly struggled to lift her head but her strength was
incomparable to his. She gave up and rested her head on his shoulder: “Zhou Tingsheng,
you really-- --can’t be serious about anything. All you can think about is coming onto women.”

To avoid attracting attention, Ye Qiao quietly leaned against him for a while longer. Her
rapid breathing seemed to show that she was quite disturbed with the situation. Zhou
Tingsheng held her head down and whispered next to her ear: “Didn’t you feel upset
after seeing your stepmother? I’ll lend my shoulder for you to lean on, for free.” Their
breath and body temperature seemed to have fused together.

It was a strange feeling; his collarbone could feel the warmth when she was talking,
resonating to the vibration of her voice. Her words and smiles were all encompassed
in that warmness.

Ye Qiao tittered: “You just want to get revenge on me, aren’t you childish? You want
to pinch me back in return?”

Zhou Tingsheng’s interest was aroused: “Will you really let me pinch you?”

“Sure.”

“How many times?”

Ye Qiao didn’t expect him to be this childish and blatantly challenged him: “It’s up to
you.”

He mysteriously smiled: “Alright, don’t regret it then if it hurts too much.”