Chapter 40: Teacher Jiang quits
In the end, Cheng Su helped Qiao Dai clean her small paws soiled with ink and went upstairs to work.
The Communication department had transferred him a promotional video of the latest technology products used at the press conference. He connected it to the big TV in the living room and by the time he was done watching it frame by frame and commenting on it, night had fallen outside and the sky was dark.
Cheng Su was about to get up when he heard a rustling sound behind him. When he turned his head, he saw a small and wet sea otter lying not too far from him, her eyes on the big screen.
“You want to watch TV?”
Qiao Dai nodded but looked a little embarrassed and she hesitated: “Can I?”
Cheng Su didn’t answer but asked her what program she wanted to watch. He helped her switch to the corresponding channel and they both found a documentary about little sea otters.
Qiao Dai looked as if she was afraid to wet Cheng Su’s couch and instead of sitting next to the man, she watched the TV with relish on the floor beside him.
It was already late and although the weather was not cold, the breeze in the middle of the night felt like mist and after staying still for a while, Cheng Su felt an inexplicable chill on his body and both his hands and feet felt cold.
He sat on the couch, a little restless. He didn’t know why he felt this way, he could have left the living room long ago. For the sea otter, the temperature here was warmer than the ocean and despite her wet body, Qiao Dai was not affected by the cold.
But it was strange. Every time he glanced at the furry little thing in the corner, Cheng Su always felt some discomfort in his heart.
The man quickly stood up and walked towards Qiao Dai who was hiding in her corner.
“Huh?”
Qiao Dai suddenly felt someone was approaching her but before she could react, she felt a soft touch and fabric wrapped her. Her vision went blank, a sense of weightlessness took over and she crashed into a stiff embrace.
“Don’t move.”
Cheng Su’s low voice sounded and he held a Qiao Dai wrapped in a bath towel in his arms. His movements were tense and while he was obviously using little strength, Qiao Dai’s head was covered in a towel and her view was blocked, and she let out a little cry as she squirmed uneasily in the man’s arms.
Qiao Dai’s head hit Cheng Su’s body and her nose felt a little bit painful at the hard touch. She stretched out her paw to rub her face and desperately broke free of the bath towel wrapped around her. When she finally was able to escape, her dark eyes looked up.
“Don’t move.”
Cheng Su repeated, a little irritable. He sounded a little impatient but a hint of gentleness was mixed in. His wide palm moved slowly across the soft bath towel, helping the small sea otter carefully wipe the water on her body.
The foreign touch made Qiao Dai feel a little ticklish, but not unpleasant. Lying in Cheng Su’s arms, they looked at each other clearly for the first time and she could see his neat eyebrows, bright eyes, high nose bridge, and accompanied by his actions, Qiao Dai felt her heart pound in her chest.
She looked at Cheng Su with her eyes wide open, not really sure what was going on in her head. The man watched her stretch out a furry little paw and pull the bath towel up, covering the lower half of her face in some kind of embarrassment, only revealing her pair of round eyes.
A long time, or perhaps very little, passed.
Qiao Dai could feel the man’s warm breath on her face and it seemed as if the temperature around her had risen a few degrees. At this moment, Cheng Su’s back tightened and his whole body froze before he instinctively closed his eyes.
Under the large bath towel that had originally tightly covered Qiao Dai’s furry body, a white arm was revealed without warning and her smooth and bare legs were exposed to the air. The droplets had not been entirely dried yet and beads of water gently dropped from Qiao Dai’s hair on Cheng Su’s arm. One by one, they fell on him and he felt as if they were dripping directly onto his heart.
The half-wet hair stuck to Qiao Dai’s face and she looked ignorantly towards Cheng Su, not understanding what was happening. Her long eyelashes were misty and her eyes were bright as if they were capturing the light.
Qiao Dai had felt Cheng Su tighten suddenly and she finally realized she had changed back to her human appearance. Fireworks exploded in her ears, she straightened her body and stared at the man in confusion, not daring to move anymore.
Although his eyes were closed, Cheng Su was a killer whale and inevitably retained the characteristic of his animal counterpart. Even if he couldn’t see anything, he could feel the girl shaking in front of him.
“Come down first.”
The man sounded a little stiff and it was so quiet around him, only the thudding sound of his beating heart could be heard.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Gradually getting faster.
When he had seen Qiao Dai’s exposed skin, Cheng Su had remembered she was not just a dumb little sea otter but also a shining young girl who attracted countless fans on the stage. Such a girl should be the object of numerous people’s pursuit but he had neglected this point.
It wasn’t until he had caught a glimpse of a slender arm he had really paid attention to her appearance; he had never looked at her face so closely before.
Now he dared not breathe or open his eyes but as the drops of water kept falling on him, everything became hazy and surreal. He believed that it would be very difficult for him to forget this scene; it had already been engraved in his mind.
While Cheng Su stayed still, Qiao Dai scrambled out of his lap in a panic. Fortunately, the towel he had brought was very large and there was no accident to make the situation even more embarrassing.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
It wasn’t until her anxious voice sounded that Cheng Su opened his eyes again. As soon as he looked at Qiao Dai, he saw her stand on the side in a towel, lowering her head in shame.
“I will go get your clothes.”
Cheng Su turned his head sideways and looked at the ground. He took a deep breath and handed the paper bag containing the clothes he had prepared beforehand to Qiao Dai.
The girl quickly reached out and their fingers slightly touched. As if he had suddenly been electrocuted, Cheng Su quickly withdrew his hand.
Qiao Dai didn’t notice his weird behavior and she hurriedly walked to the bathroom with the bag.
She came out after a while and Cheng Su had turned off the TV in the living room. After what had happened, who had the heart to keep watching a documentary?
When he heard Qiao Dai’s footsteps, Cheng Su turned around and when he saw her dress, he paused slightly before glancing away. Perhaps because he felt he should say something, he turned his head again and said: “It suits you.”
“Thank you.”
Qiao Dai whispered, a faint blush in her cheeks. After thanking him, she realized something and raised her head: “Why do you have girls’ clothes in your house?”
She wasn’t sure why she was asking but she felt that if she didn’t, she would be anxious.
“You are a sea otter who can shift into a human. At some point, you will have to go back to your human form for you to leave. If I don’t prepare these clothes in advance, will you stay in a towel?”
Cheng Su’s preparations were definitely on point.
He involuntarily glanced at the girl again and slightly staggered. He turned around and said: “You can choose any of the guest rooms on the second floor for tonight.”
Cheng Su left without looking back right after speaking and Qiao Dai couldn’t help but wonder if he was angry.
Cheng Su didn’t know how far he had walked but because he felt that his tone was a little severe, he sighed heavily. He turned his head and headed back to the living room but before he even stepped in, a door was closed. He picked up his pace but no one was in the room.
Cheng Su walked in and his eyes fell on the paper on the coffee table.
“I’m sorry, I’m going home.”
From the flustered and fast handwriting, Cheng Su could guess she had run away because he had scared her.
The man glanced at the time; there were still a few hours before dawn. After thinking for a while, he called security and hung up the phone after making sure Qiao Dai had gotten in the car safely.
However, it seemed as if he was doomed to not be able to sleep tonight.
***
“I’m back!”
Although Cheng Su had taken care of Qiao Dai when she was a little sea otter, as soon as she had turned back to a human being, every minute she had spent with the man late at night had her burning all over. So when Cheng Su had turned around, she had run away without hesitation.
Fortunately, he had put all of her personal belongings such as her phone in a bag and had handed it to her. Otherwise Qiao Dai would have had to walk back to the COCO’s dormitory from the villa on her own two legs.
The others had finished filming and were packing their bags in the dormitory, preparing to return to the show. Seeing that Qiao Dai also came back early, the girls simply asked the assistant to send them back.
“I said I wouldn’t take the ticket for nothing, this is for you.”
Jiang Ruowei had indeed said so at the beginning of the holiday. When she and her parents had gone to the North Island, they had bought a gift for Qiao Dai. It was a beautiful bracelet with various gemstones from a rather luxurious brand young people loved nowadays. It was worth several thousand yuan and it could be regarded as a thank you gift for the tickets Qiao Dai had given her.
Lin Lang was a little surprised by Jiang Ruowei’s change of attitude toward Qiao Dai but she didn’t say anything and looked away thoughtfully.
Qiao Dai and the others soon arrived at the show’s dormitory. Because the three-day holiday was not over, there were not so many players there yet but most of them were gathered together and whispered with strange expressions.
“What are you all talking about?”
Luan Zhen walked to them with some confusion and a lot of curiosity. A girl quickly answered: “Didn’t you hear? Ruan Tao has withdrawn from the show!”
Everyone’s expression changed when they heard this. Although Ruan Tao had not participated in the first public performance, she was still a well-recognized player and had won the popularity vote. How could she quit just like that after she had worked so hard and gotten so many votes?
Another player who had come back at the same time as the COCO trainees asked in a puzzled manner: “Being surprised that Ruan Tao left the competition is one thing, but why are you so sad? It can’t be because she’s gone, right?”
It may be a bit mean, but it was the truth. All the players had formed friendship by now and were getting closer to each other; only Ruan Tao was left behind.
For more than a month, Ruan Tao had not been able to make any friends and it had gotten awkward with her teammates. Fans might be unwilling to see her quit but from the players’ point of view, they didn’t really care about it, no matter what angle they looked at.
Hearing the question, the girl who had first started talking became anxious at once. Her voice unconsciously raised and it seemed very loud in the quiet room.
“The point is not that Ruan Tao is quitting, it’s that Teacher Jiang also said he would withdraw from the show!”
Chapter 40: Teacher Jiang quits
In the end, Cheng Su helped Qiao Dai clean her small paws soiled with ink and went upstairs to work.
The Communication department had transferred him a promotional video of the latest technology products used at the press conference. He connected it to the big TV in the living room and by the time he was done watching it frame by frame and commenting on it, night had fallen outside and the sky was dark.
Cheng Su was about to get up when he heard a rustling sound behind him. When he turned his head, he saw a small and wet sea otter lying not too far from him, her eyes on the big screen.
“You want to watch TV?”
Qiao Dai nodded but looked a little embarrassed and she hesitated: “Can I?”
Cheng Su didn’t answer but asked her what program she wanted to watch. He helped her switch to the corresponding channel and they both found a documentary about little sea otters.
Qiao Dai looked as if she was afraid to wet Cheng Su’s couch and instead of sitting next to the man, she watched the TV with relish on the floor beside him.
It was already late and although the weather was not cold, the breeze in the middle of the night felt like mist and after staying still for a while, Cheng Su felt an inexplicable chill on his body and both his hands and feet felt cold.
He sat on the couch, a little restless. He didn’t know why he felt this way, he could have left the living room long ago. For the sea otter, the temperature here was warmer than the ocean and despite her wet body, Qiao Dai was not affected by the cold.
But it was strange. Every time he glanced at the furry little thing in the corner, Cheng Su always felt some discomfort in his heart.
The man quickly stood up and walked towards Qiao Dai who was hiding in her corner.
“Huh?”
Qiao Dai suddenly felt someone was approaching her but before she could react, she felt a soft touch and fabric wrapped her. Her vision went blank, a sense of weightlessness took over and she crashed into a stiff embrace.
“Don’t move.”
Cheng Su’s low voice sounded and he held a Qiao Dai wrapped in a bath towel in his arms. His movements were tense and while he was obviously using little strength, Qiao Dai’s head was covered in a towel and her view was blocked, and she let out a little cry as she squirmed uneasily in the man’s arms.
Qiao Dai’s head hit Cheng Su’s body and her nose felt a little bit painful at the hard touch. She stretched out her paw to rub her face and desperately broke free of the bath towel wrapped around her. When she finally was able to escape, her dark eyes looked up.
“Don’t move.”
Cheng Su repeated, a little irritable. He sounded a little impatient but a hint of gentleness was mixed in. His wide palm moved slowly across the soft bath towel, helping the small sea otter carefully wipe the water on her body.
The foreign touch made Qiao Dai feel a little ticklish, but not unpleasant. Lying in Cheng Su’s arms, they looked at each other clearly for the first time and she could see his neat eyebrows, bright eyes, high nose bridge, and accompanied by his actions, Qiao Dai felt her heart pound in her chest.
She looked at Cheng Su with her eyes wide open, not really sure what was going on in her head. The man watched her stretch out a furry little paw and pull the bath towel up, covering the lower half of her face in some kind of embarrassment, only revealing her pair of round eyes.
A long time, or perhaps very little, passed.
Qiao Dai could feel the man’s warm breath on her face and it seemed as if the temperature around her had risen a few degrees. At this moment, Cheng Su’s back tightened and his whole body froze before he instinctively closed his eyes.
Under the large bath towel that had originally tightly covered Qiao Dai’s furry body, a white arm was revealed without warning and her smooth and bare legs were exposed to the air. The droplets had not been entirely dried yet and beads of water gently dropped from Qiao Dai’s hair on Cheng Su’s arm. One by one, they fell on him and he felt as if they were dripping directly onto his heart.
The half-wet hair stuck to Qiao Dai’s face and she looked ignorantly towards Cheng Su, not understanding what was happening. Her long eyelashes were misty and her eyes were bright as if they were capturing the light.
Qiao Dai had felt Cheng Su tighten suddenly and she finally realized she had changed back to her human appearance. Fireworks exploded in her ears, she straightened her body and stared at the man in confusion, not daring to move anymore.
Although his eyes were closed, Cheng Su was a killer whale and inevitably retained the characteristic of his animal counterpart. Even if he couldn’t see anything, he could feel the girl shaking in front of him.
“Come down first.”
The man sounded a little stiff and it was so quiet around him, only the thudding sound of his beating heart could be heard.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Gradually getting faster.
When he had seen Qiao Dai’s exposed skin, Cheng Su had remembered she was not just a dumb little sea otter but also a shining young girl who attracted countless fans on the stage. Such a girl should be the object of numerous people’s pursuit but he had neglected this point.
It wasn’t until he had caught a glimpse of a slender arm he had really paid attention to her appearance; he had never looked at her face so closely before.
Now he dared not breathe or open his eyes but as the drops of water kept falling on him, everything became hazy and surreal. He believed that it would be very difficult for him to forget this scene; it had already been engraved in his mind.
While Cheng Su stayed still, Qiao Dai scrambled out of his lap in a panic. Fortunately, the towel he had brought was very large and there was no accident to make the situation even more embarrassing.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
It wasn’t until her anxious voice sounded that Cheng Su opened his eyes again. As soon as he looked at Qiao Dai, he saw her stand on the side in a towel, lowering her head in shame.
“I will go get your clothes.”
Cheng Su turned his head sideways and looked at the ground. He took a deep breath and handed the paper bag containing the clothes he had prepared beforehand to Qiao Dai.
The girl quickly reached out and their fingers slightly touched. As if he had suddenly been electrocuted, Cheng Su quickly withdrew his hand.
Qiao Dai didn’t notice his weird behavior and she hurriedly walked to the bathroom with the bag.
She came out after a while and Cheng Su had turned off the TV in the living room. After what had happened, who had the heart to keep watching a documentary?
When he heard Qiao Dai’s footsteps, Cheng Su turned around and when he saw her dress, he paused slightly before glancing away. Perhaps because he felt he should say something, he turned his head again and said: “It suits you.”
“Thank you.”
Qiao Dai whispered, a faint blush in her cheeks. After thanking him, she realized something and raised her head: “Why do you have girls’ clothes in your house?”
She wasn’t sure why she was asking but she felt that if she didn’t, she would be anxious.
“You are a sea otter who can shift into a human. At some point, you will have to go back to your human form for you to leave. If I don’t prepare these clothes in advance, will you stay in a towel?”
Cheng Su’s preparations were definitely on point.
He involuntarily glanced at the girl again and slightly staggered. He turned around and said: “You can choose any of the guest rooms on the second floor for tonight.”
Cheng Su left without looking back right after speaking and Qiao Dai couldn’t help but wonder if he was angry.
Cheng Su didn’t know how far he had walked but because he felt that his tone was a little severe, he sighed heavily. He turned his head and headed back to the living room but before he even stepped in, a door was closed. He picked up his pace but no one was in the room.
Cheng Su walked in and his eyes fell on the paper on the coffee table.
“I’m sorry, I’m going home.”
From the flustered and fast handwriting, Cheng Su could guess she had run away because he had scared her.
The man glanced at the time; there were still a few hours before dawn. After thinking for a while, he called security and hung up the phone after making sure Qiao Dai had gotten in the car safely.
However, it seemed as if he was doomed to not be able to sleep tonight.
***
“I’m back!”
Although Cheng Su had taken care of Qiao Dai when she was a little sea otter, as soon as she had turned back to a human being, every minute she had spent with the man late at night had her burning all over. So when Cheng Su had turned around, she had run away without hesitation.
Fortunately, he had put all of her personal belongings such as her phone in a bag and had handed it to her. Otherwise Qiao Dai would have had to walk back to the COCO’s dormitory from the villa on her own two legs.
The others had finished filming and were packing their bags in the dormitory, preparing to return to the show. Seeing that Qiao Dai also came back early, the girls simply asked the assistant to send them back.
“I said I wouldn’t take the ticket for nothing, this is for you.”
Jiang Ruowei had indeed said so at the beginning of the holiday. When she and her parents had gone to the North Island, they had bought a gift for Qiao Dai. It was a beautiful bracelet with various gemstones from a rather luxurious brand young people loved nowadays. It was worth several thousand yuan and it could be regarded as a thank you gift for the tickets Qiao Dai had given her.
Lin Lang was a little surprised by Jiang Ruowei’s change of attitude toward Qiao Dai but she didn’t say anything and looked away thoughtfully.
Qiao Dai and the others soon arrived at the show’s dormitory. Because the three-day holiday was not over, there were not so many players there yet but most of them were gathered together and whispered with strange expressions.
“What are you all talking about?”
Luan Zhen walked to them with some confusion and a lot of curiosity. A girl quickly answered: “Didn’t you hear? Ruan Tao has withdrawn from the show!”
Everyone’s expression changed when they heard this. Although Ruan Tao had not participated in the first public performance, she was still a well-recognized player and had won the popularity vote. How could she quit just like that after she had worked so hard and gotten so many votes?
Another player who had come back at the same time as the COCO trainees asked in a puzzled manner: “Being surprised that Ruan Tao left the competition is one thing, but why are you so sad? It can’t be because she’s gone, right?”
It may be a bit mean, but it was the truth. All the players had formed friendship by now and were getting closer to each other; only Ruan Tao was left behind.
For more than a month, Ruan Tao had not been able to make any friends and it had gotten awkward with her teammates. Fans might be unwilling to see her quit but from the players’ point of view, they didn’t really care about it, no matter what angle they looked at.
Hearing the question, the girl who had first started talking became anxious at once. Her voice unconsciously raised and it seemed very loud in the quiet room.
“The point is not that Ruan Tao is quitting, it’s that Teacher Jiang also said he would withdraw from the show!”
