Chapter 2.1 (1/2)

Chapter Two (Part 1)

Early morning, Qin Song woke up and groaned. He felt sore all over his body. He tilted his head side to side to stretch his neck muscles. Then he looked up at the bed and saw Han Ting Ting in deep sleep on the bed. Summer sunlight fluttered through the curtains and outlined her body. It was a picturesque morning view.

Blurred memories from last night pa.s.sed through his head… ‘You!’ he said. ‘Looking at you now… you look beautiful!’

What? When would he learn? He needed to get rid of his bad habit over drinking and spitting out anything that he was thinking. Beautiful… how could he say that Han Ting Ting was beautiful? He rubbed his head and stared at her sleeping form. There was nothing beautiful about her! Yes, she had clear smooth skin, looked a little lovable… No, his standard of beauty had always been high. It wasn’t true… how could he be tempted at the sight of someone like her?

Pft! As if he was indecisive over whether he found her attractive or not. What was he doing thinking about rotten thoughts to spoil the beginning of a new day?

He glared at ‘little country bun’ who was sleeping unaware then he got up from the floor and headed to the bathroom.

Sounds of running water from the bathroom woke Han Ting Ting up. She was busting to go to the toilet, rubbed her sleepy eyes, got off the bed and staggered to the bathroom. The bathroom door was locked.

‘Dad, hurry up! I want to use the toilet,’ she said in her morning dazed state.

The sounds of running water stopped.

Suddenly the bathroom door opened, ‘her dad’ had a white towel draped around his waist and he gave her a dirty look.

She b.u.mped into a hard chest that was still damp. Her eyes widened, sleepiness was forgotten and she was awake and alert.

‘Do I look I’m like your dad?’ he asked. ‘You’re only five years younger than me!’

He was approaching thirty, not in his thirties yet! Being mistaken for an old man was an insult to his young self who didn’t hit thirty yet.

‘I’m… I’m… I’m sorry!’ she stuttered.

Stuttering whenever she was nervous or embarra.s.sed was a bad habit she had since she was a kid. She didn’t know where to look to avoid the chiselled body in front of her.

She looked behind him and saw a mist of hot steam… petals was floating on the surface of the bathroom tub filled with water.

Her tongue was more knotty. ‘Those… those… rose petals!’

He gave her a condescending look. ‘What? You’ve never bathed in water with rose petals before?’

The ‘little country bun’ did look like it was the first time she’d seen a tub filled with rose petals. He strutted to the tub and soaked his body from the chin down. He scrubbed his face with the soft rose petals.

He rolled his eyes at her. ‘How long are you planning to stand by the door watching me take a bath?’

‘Qin Song…’ she said hesitantly. ‘Those rose petals… aren’t clean… come out of the tub, stop soaking your body in it!’

He dismissed her concern and reached over to the bench beside the tub and grabbed more rose petals from the bamboo basket.

‘Rose petals are used as a beauty treatment. They’ve been plucked, washed and pressed. How can they not be clean?’ he said.

To prove his point the rose petals held in his hands were pressed directly onto his face and he enjoyed the sensation.

‘Leave the bathroom! Don’t bother me while I’m relaxing!’ he said.

He bluffed removing the towel from his waist, she fell for it, dashed out of the bathroom and closed the door.

What should she do to rectify the situation? Han Ting Ting mumbled to herself.

Her heart telepathically sent a sincere apology to the man who was was.h.i.+ng himself happily in the bathroom.

‘I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have been lazy last night! I should have gotten rid of the rose petals after scooping them out of the toilet properly… I should have gone outside the suite to look for a bin! Qin Song, I’m sorry!’ her heart said.

According to their plan, they were meant to rest during the day at the hotel then fly out to Europe for their honeymoon that night at nine.

After lunch Han Ting Ting packed her luggage. Qin Song roamed around the suite idly looking for signs of dust and residues. She wasn’t worried, because she had tidied the suite thoroughly like a professional.

‘What’s this?’ he asked and waved a teddy bear in the air. ‘Why are you bringing this with you on our honeymoon trip?’

She turned away from her luggage and faced Qin Song with a smile. ‘He’s Putt Putt.’

He tossed the raggy teddy bear far away.

She quickly went to pick up Putt Putt and carefully wiped dust off Putt Putt.

‘I’m allergic to dust. Get rid of that filthy thing!’

‘Putt Putt doesn’t molt…’ she said and cradled Putt Putt to her chest. ‘I’ll keep Putt Putt out of sight where you won’t see him.’