Received A Wife From The Civil Affairs Bureau Ch.16

“Are you going back to the school dorms?” To alleviate the embarrassment Shen Yumo was feeling, Jiang Ziquan could only change the subject. 

“No, I’m going home.” Shen Yumo’s tone was tinged with annoyance. She was suddenly kissed on the cheek and yet Jiang Ziquan acted as nothing had happened. 

“Didn’t you say you were living in the dorms?” Jiang Ziquan asked suspiciously, scratching her neck. 

“The dorms I’m living in haven’t finished construction yet.” Shen Yumo explained, feeling slightly embarrassed. 

“I see. Oh, I didn’t bring you any milk tea for the last few days. You won’t hold a grudge against me, right?” 

Naturally, Shen Yumo shook her head, inwardly feeling her heart warm up. 

“Your place is pretty far from here,” Jiang Ziquan really wanted Shen Yumo to stay at her place. She looked at her watch, it was 10:30 already. “, and the buses have stopped running by now.”

“En, then I will take a taxi.” 

“That won’t do. It’s already so late.” Jiang Ziquan hurriedly waved her hands and then said worriedly, “Don’t you read the news? It’s very dangerous for beauties to ride in taxis this late at night. I can’t let you do that.” 

Shen Yumo rarely saw this serious side of Jiang Ziquan. She froze as she thought about what Jiang Ziquan said. The recent news has indicated that girls riding in taxis at night is very dangerous: “Then I’ll call my father to pick me up.” 

Jiang Ziquan stepped forward, leaned in and stopped her from pulling out her phone: “It’s late and father-in-law must be asleep by now. I also noticed that you drank a little earlier, so it won’t be advisable for you to drive either.” 

Shen Yumo ignored Jiang Ziquan’s use of the words ‘father-in-law” and instead focused on the meaning of her last few sentences. For some reason, she kept getting the feeling that Jiang Ziquan was trying to get her to do something: “Then what should I do?”

“Well, I also drank today.” Jiang Ziquan nonchalantly scratched her neck again, but inwardly she was roaring for Shen Yumo to say ‘Let’s go to your place.’

Shen Yumo understood that as the younger sister, Jiang Ziquan couldn’t avoid drinking at her older brother’s wedding. She thought about it for a while then said, “Then I’ll stay at a friend’s house. She doesn’t live too far away from here.”

After saying so, she raised her legs and walked a few steps away.

Jiang Ziquan: “…”

Jiang Ziqun wrinkled her nose then her eyes widened in shock, but immediately regained her composure, “Who is she? Is she single? Married?”

“I have one friend near here who is single and the other friend is married.” Shen Yumo seemed to figure out what Jiang Ziquan wanted, and as a teacher, she was quite familiar with playing those mind games and wanted to tease her back.

Jiang Ziquan’s expression collapsed. Fortunately, the night was dark so it wasn’t too obvious: “Teacher Shen, you sure have a lot of friends.”

In the end, she even went back to using respectful speech. The turmoil inside her heart was quite evident. 

Shen Yumo smirked in her heart, but her face was still serious as she said: “ I grew up in Beijin, of course I still have two or three friends left in the city.” 

Jiang Ziquan thought about it for about three seconds: “ I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why?” Shen Yumo was curious to see what preposterous argument Jiang Ziquan could come up within such a short period of time. Standing still, Jiang Ziquan looked straight into her eyes. 

“That single friend of yours, I think she has feelings for you. I said it before, I don’t want to wear a green hat. During this turbulent Christmas season, what if she confesses to you? What am I going to do?” 

“Hah?”

Shen Yumo snorted angrily. 

Jiang Ziquan lowered her volume and continued: “Teacher Shen, the sound of your voice is sexy.”

A random passer-by who was watching this scene suddenly said with a blushing face: “I think I’m in love.” 

Hearing those words, Jiang Ziquan turned her head and give them a look that seemed to say ‘you have good taste’ 

Shen Yumo shifted a bit, turning her head to the side, so as to avoid the gaze of the passer-by just now and said, 

“Alright, so what about the married friend?”

“Well she probably wants to, hehe, do the thing, with her spouse, so won’t you just be bothering them?” Jiang Ziquan said it quite directly because in her mind Shen Yumo and her previous fiance must have already done this and that. Since everyone was almost middle-aged by now, why should she bother hiding it?

Although, she hadn’t even had a proper first kiss yet. 

“You-” Shen Yumo slowly digested the meaning of her words and could only say one word in response. She turned around angrily, her long black hair whipping across Jiang Ziquan’s face. 

Jiang Ziquan blinked, as the hair brushed across her face, the slight fragrance wafting from Shen Yumo’s body made her feel a little itchy. However as she scratched her face, like a lovestruck fool, she said: “Wow, so cool.”

In less than five minutes, Jiang Ziquan was able to cause the usually good-tempered Shen Yumo to go speechless twice. If one thought about it, this could also be considered a skill. 

“Why not come over to my place?” Jiang Ziquan blushed. Although she prepared herself in her heart, she still felt that the way she worded it didn’t sound pure at all.  Nervously, she fidgeted with her jacket, but her eyes were still sincerely looking into Shen Yumo’s eyes. 

Peng! 

Shen Yumo looked up at the sound that drowned out Jiang Ziquan’s words. It looks like someone was lighting fireworks. 

Jiang Ziquan felt a little saddened. The sentence she had worked up her courage to say was overridden by the fireworks.

“It’s beautiful.” 

Jiang Ziquan heard Shen Yumo’s words and turned to look at her. 

Illuminated by the light of the fireworks, that fair and beautiful face revealed a bit of peacefulness. As Shen Yumo breathed, a white mist floated in front of her. Watching her wife stand quietly amidst the winter backdrop, it was like looking at a painting. Even the lipstick still imprinted on her cheek became several degrees prettier just by being on her flawless skin. 

“Beautiful, really beautiful.” 

Jiang Ziquan said repeatedly, but of course, she was not talking about the fireworks. 

Shen Yumo nodded in agreement and then turned her head, “What did you say just now? Sorry I couldn’t hear you.”

Jiang Ziquan gulped. Her wife was so attractive, but she could only look not touch. Just what is she supposed to do? 

Shen Yumo raised an eyebrow. Why was Jiang Ziquan frozen all of a sudden? Not like her previous quick-witted self. “Are you feeling cold?” 

Today, Jiang Ziquan purposely tried to dress more provocatively, but it was too cold outside. So she wore something that prevented her from getting too cold. She wore a knitted skirt that barely passed her knees and a cotton jacket on top. On her head, she wore a knitted hat as well. However, this left her calves exposed. 

Jiang Ziquan immediately thought of an idea and then suddenly put on an act. She looked weak and frail as she asked: “I’m feeling a little sick today. Teacher Shen, why don’t you come over to my place and help take care of me? Just for this one night. Please?”

Then she ‘coincidentally’ sneezed, 

“Think of it as your Christmas gift to me, okay?”

Jiang Ziquan had completely forgotten about the fact that she had stolen a kiss from the other party earlier but continued shamelessly to bring out the ‘Christmas gift’ logic. 

Shen Yumo felt somewhat uncomfortable about the idea, but then looked at her cheeks that were bright red. In the end, she couldn’t help her heart softening: “Alright.”

Jiang Ziquan had completely counted on Shen Yumo’s soft-heartedness and intentionally exploited that fact to get what she wanted. 

As soon as she said she was sick, Jiang Ziquan dutifully acted her part. Not long afterward, she was leaning against Shen Yumo’s body as Shen Yumo half carried her. Although Jiang Ziquan was really skinny, she was very tall. So even in the middle of winter, Shen Yumo could feel a thin layer of sweat forming as Jiang Ziquan leaned against her.

“You smell nice.”

Shen Yumo ignored her and slowly helped her walk. The distance to Jiang Ziquan’s apartment was not even 1000 meters and yet it took them nearly 20 minutes to walk there. The entire time, Jiang Ziquan was spouting nonsense. 

“Miss Jiang, if your body is ill, it’s better to be quiet and rest.” Shen Yumo was getting breathless, her voice sounding weak.

Seeing the exhaustion between her brows, Jiang Ziquan hurriedly closed her mouth and stared quietly at Shen Yumo’s face instead. 

Since her place was too close, the remaining trip took a lot less time to complete. However, Jiang Ziquan was not satisfied with how quickly they had arrived. 

Shen Yumo looked around, she only saw a set of stairs. It looks like very few places had an elevator despite the modern times. 

“What floor is your apartment on?”

“Third floor. Apartment 320.”

Jiang Ziquan saw that her goal had been achieved and she had taken advantage of the other. She couldn’t bear to continue forcing Shen Yumo to work and slowly got up. Holding the stairs’ handrail she explained, “Maybe because it’s warmer inside because I feel a lot better. I don’t even feel sick anymore.”

Shen Yumo didn’t believe her words. In her heart, she knew she was tricked again and that Jiang Ziquan was pretending to be pitiful. However, she really couldn’t have left a person in need, even if they were pretending. She came this far, so she could only follow Jiang Ziquan up the stairs. 

“Isn’t there an elevator right there? Why did we take the stairs?” On the third floor, Shen Yumo saw an elevator and it was very close to apartment 320. 

Jiang Ziquan scratched her head and explained, “We came in from the back door just now. If we wanted to take the elevator, we would’ve had to go the long way”, she opened the door, smirking, ‘Welcome to my home, Teacher Shen.”

Shen Yumo followed her inside and left her shoes near the door. Her glasses were fogged up so she opened her bag and found a tissue to wipe it. Then she put it back on to look at Jiang Ziquan’s home properly. 

The walls were painted and inviting warm yellow color. The moment one entered the door, they were greeted with the living room. There was a bead curtain hanging in front of some of the other doors. In the living room, there was a huge LCD TV, two black leather sofas, and a small gray coffee table. On the table was an ashtray. 

The kitchen and living room were interconnected and in the kitchen was a bar counter and a small round table, probably used during mealtimes. 

Shen Yumo squinted a bit and said, “So this is what it looks like. 

Her voice carried a tone that seemed to say ‘it’s not what I expected’ and Jiang Ziquan asked, “It doesn’t look good?”

“No, it’s just..”

“Doesn’t suit my personality?” Jiang Ziquan said with a smile. Her friends had said something similar before, so she wasn’t surprised. 

“En.”

This was because, when this place was first purchased, the down payment was paid by Jiang Ziquan’s parents. They only had one requirement: don’t ruin the living room’s design. Her bedroom, however, was designed by herself. 

At the time, Jiang Ziquand had just graduated so she naturally had to listen to her parents. However, she felt like her parents had pretty amazing foresight. Now that she had the experience, when she looked at her previous designs, she always felt they were rather sub-par. The current look right now was acceptable, but when she made some more money, she will personally redesign it again. 

Therefore, the living room was designed by a senior designer her family had hired. Although it looked normal in the eyes of ordinary people, it still was in good taste. 

However, Shen Yumo had seen the hot pot restaurant personally designed by Jiang Ziquan. Although she didn’t expect it to be that dramatic like the restaurant, she felt like it wasn’t quite right. The living room looked good, but it didn’t feel like Jiang Ziquan’s work. Maybe it’s just because it was completely different from her impression of Jiang Ziquan. Maybe Miss Jiang’s personality was more of a steady type. 

“Isn’t it because I’ve been waiting for you to help me design it?” Jiang Ziquan smiled and said. 

“You’re joking again.”

Jiang Ziquan shrugged, she wasn’t joking. A few days ago, she began drawing plans that modeled after the design of Shen Yumo’s bedroom. 

“Yumo, why don’t you live here with me? This room over here is the master bedroom, it has excellent lighting.” Jiang Ziquan raised an eyebrow. 

Jiang Ziquan’s apartment could be considered on the higher end in Beijin. A three-bedroom apartment, the environment surrounding it was good, the security was excellent, and since it was located near the city center, it was easy to access transportation. There was a bus stop right outside her door. 

Jiang Ziquan had made the second bedroom hers but left the main bedroom empty. 

Shen Yumo walked inside the room. The room was very big but was empty. There were only a few wardrobes and a bed. It truly looked like it was unoccupied right now. 

Jiang Ziquan wanted to kidnap Shen Yumo and carry her back into her bedroom, but she hadn’t cleaned it recently and it would be better to not cause any unnecessary trouble. 

“I live in the room next to it. Uh, do you have morning classes tomorrow?” Jiang Ziquan immediately regretted asking. She asked, “Even if you do have morning classes, do you still want to talk with me a little longer?”

Shen Yumo looked at her watch, “It’s already past eleven.”

Jiang Zhi Quan understood what she meant. Although she felt reluctant, she said, “Then one last thing, when do you need to wake up tomorrow?”

“The class is at eight, so I’ll probably leave at about half-past six.”

“Alright then, good night.”

“Good night.”

Jiang Ziquan reluctantly closed the door and headed into her own bedroom. 

“She should be taking a shower by now, right?” Jiang Zhiquan leaned against the wall and listened carefully for any movement, but couldn’t hear a thing. Annoyed, she berated herself: “Just why did I have to choose a house with good soundproofing? Was my brain dead that day or something?” 

Shen Yumo naturally did not know the actions of the Jiang Ziquan next door. She took out the Christmas present Jiang Ziquan gave her. It was a blue keychain with a cute little frog hanging from it. However, she had no idea what this keychain meant. Just what did it symbolize? 

At the time, she had seen that the fit was a keychain and accepted it without thinking much. In her heart, she already understood that for things like this, Jiang Ziquan would have countless reasons to get her to accept. She couldn’t win against Jiang Ziquan with her arguments and she didn’t want her ears to suffer from the non-stop talking. 

In the 《Book of Rites》it said that to not reciprocate a show of kindness is against the etiquette. One must return the kindness with a reward.

“Reward?” 

It was unavoidable for Shen Yumo not to think about Jiang Ziquan kissing her cheek earlier. Without thinking, she touched the area where she was kissed and felt something strange. She then looked down at her hand, “This is?”

In disbelief, she entered the bathroom and when she was a dark red mark on her fair face, her entire face became a blushing mess, her skin turning red down to her neck. 

Such an obvious mark, she wouldn’t believe that Jiang Ziquan didn’t see it. She felt annoyed by Jiang Ziquan’s lack of a reminder and by her embarrassing reaction at the time.  

Although it was only her in the room right now, she felt embarrassed just looking at it. So she closed her eyes and washed it off, rubbing her face until it turned raw.

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T/N notes: 

Lesson I learned today:

Best way to get your wife to stop being mad at you? Misdirect her with an embarrassing line. 

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