Chapter Forty-Eight: I Knew You Had Ulterior Motives...

Chapter Sixty-Four: I Knew You Were Up to No Good...

Sinking onto the sofa, she leaned back and reached into the crevice between the cushions, feeling around until her hand closed around something. When she pulled it out, it looked like a balloon filled with some liquid, giving off an unbearable stench. "Honey, what is this?" Fu Xinxin asked curiously.

When Zhuo Nan saw it, he was startled. "What the... How did this end up here?" The expression on his face was truly a sight to behold. Fu Xinxin caught the look, glanced at the thing in her hand again, and, realizing what it was, immediately threw it away in fright. It finally dawned on her what she’d just been holding.

"It's nothing, really, nothing at all," Zhuo Nan said, quickly pulling Fu Xinxin into his arms.

She wriggled free at once, looking at him with exasperation. "I just knew you were up to no good..."

Was I up to no good? Of course I was... Zhuo Nan chuckled to himself at the thought.

Fu Xinxin gave him fair warning, "Honey, I don’t care what you say, I am not going to do that with you here..."

Her words caught Zhuo Nan completely off guard. Seeing the determined look on the girl’s face, without a trace of embarrassment, he thought to himself, “She’s dead serious.”

"If you don't want to, then we won’t... Besides, Fu Xinxin is still so young; doing that too soon wouldn’t be good for her either." Zhuo Nan tried to console himself with these thoughts.

Lately, Zhuo Nan was acting more and more like Brother Liu... First, there was the stunning Lan Qian, and he hadn’t made a move on her. Now, here was this pure and adorable young beauty next to him, and still, he couldn’t make a move... There is no greater torment in life than this. If only I had another chance, I’d make sure to seize the moment with at least one of them...

Thinking of Lan Qian, Zhuo Nan reached into his pocket for his pager. It hadn’t gone off in days. She must really be angry, maybe she’d even forgotten about him. Since she wasn’t bothering him anymore, why should he go and trouble her again...?

"Honey, what are you thinking about? The movie’s already started," Fu Xinxin asked from beside him.

"Nothing, let’s watch the movie," Zhuo Nan said, pulling her into his arms.

As for what was playing, Zhuo Nan hadn’t the faintest idea. When he bought the tickets, he hadn’t even checked the title. Watching the movie was never really his goal in the first place. But Fu Xinxin was far more focused than he was, her eyes glued to the screen, not missing a single scene.

Still, Zhuo Nan didn’t mind. His hands began to roam over Fu Xinxin’s body...

When his hand slid under her clothes, she caught it at once. "Honey, not here..." she pleaded softly. Hearing the entreaty in her voice, Zhuo Nan settled for a compromise: "We won’t go all the way, just a little touching..."

In the darkness, he couldn’t see her face, but Zhuo Nan was sure the girl’s cheeks must be burning bright red.

After two seconds of silence, Fu Xinxin finally said, "Okay... but you absolutely can’t go any further..."

Zhuo Nan couldn’t help but chuckle. "Don’t worry, darling..." No sooner had he spoken than his hands were already in motion.

"Look how eager you are..." Fu Xinxin grumbled.

Zhuo Nan thought to himself, "How could I not be? Only a fool would pass up such an opportunity..."

"Honey, did you bring...?" Zhuo Nan asked, his tone playful.

"Stop it... You’re the one who told me not to bring anything," Fu Xinxin replied bashfully.

"Better that way, much better..." Zhuo Nan was practically drooling now.

His hands moved gently upwards, and Fu Xinxin let out a soft moan... Her body pressed even closer to Zhuo Nan, her arms naturally wrapping around his neck...

Slowly, Zhuo Nan caressed her, leaving Fu Xinxin breathless. "Honey, slow down... I feel completely weak..."

He leaned in, gently nibbling on her earlobe, murmuring, "If I slow down any more, I’m afraid you won’t be able to take it..."

With his mastery growing, Zhuo Nan felt a warmth flow through his core, resulting in a powerful physical reaction... Fu Xinxin’s hand accidentally brushed against it, and, startled, she quickly pulled away. "Honey... how did that happen?"

Zhuo Nan gave a sheepish smile, "Darling, that’s just... you know..."

"Honey, we agreed—we can’t go too far..." Fu Xinxin said quickly, afraid he’d break their promise.

"Just once, darling, just once, please?"

"If you really love me, you’ll listen to me..." Fu Xinxin countered, leaving Zhuo Nan at a loss.

Seriously, is there anything more torturous than having a beauty in your arms whom you can only look at and not touch? Zhuo Nan had thought that if he agreed to her terms, then once things got heated, the girl would lose control and everything would fall into place...

He’d made his plans, but Fu Xinxin was more resolute than any math class representative. Her unwavering words made Zhuo Nan realize that forcing the issue would only backfire.

Resigned, he asked, "Then when can we...?"

Fu Xinxin’s reply made three black lines sprout from Zhuo Nan’s head, running all the way down to his backside. "Honey, we’re still young. Let’s wait until we graduate high school. Anything else, I’ll let you decide..."

Three years... Three years... Was this like dangling a delicious pie in front of you, letting you look but never taste? Zhuo Nan thought about it and realized that Fu Xinxin wasn’t dangling the pie—he himself was the pie, plain and simple.

He sighed, his hands falling still. Fu Xinxin knew he must be disappointed. "Honey, I know you love me, but if you do, shouldn’t you think of me more? If anything happened and I got pregnant, what would we do? Besides, I don’t know what the future holds... Give me a little space, please?"

Seeing how serious she was, Zhuo Nan had nothing left to say. She was right. Even though there were all sorts of safety measures these days, accidents could still happen. If she really did get pregnant, would they keep the baby? If they did, Fu Xinxin would face enormous pressure... If not, he’d have to personally end the life of his own child...

Zhuo Nan knew full well that he wasn’t in any position to support a child yet, nor could he ignore the judgment of others... Realizing this, he felt a wave of regret and gently hugged Fu Xinxin. "Xinxin, I’m sorry... I was being too selfish."

"Honey, don’t blame yourself. I’m selfish too... I should be thinking more about you as well..." Fu Xinxin murmured shyly.

"Don’t worry about it, darling. The movie’s not over yet... Let’s make the most of our time..." At Zhuo Nan’s suggestive words, Fu Xinxin hugged him tightly, saying nothing, letting his hands wander wherever they pleased...

His craving for touch was fully satisfied, and little Miss Fu was left breathless by his caresses... but there was a price to pay. On the way home, Fu Xinxin wanted to hold Zhuo Nan’s hand, but he kept both hands buried in his pockets—what he was doing, well, that was something for everyone to guess...

With his lower abdomen aching and his waist and knees weak, Zhuo Nan thought, "If this keeps up, I’m going to end up with prostatitis..."

Three years—is that long or short? Zhuo Nan didn’t dare think about it... There were still so many days ahead with Fu Xinxin. Would he have to rely on his right hand from now on? He raised his right hand and gazed at it from all angles, thinking, "Damn it... I swear, next time I have a beauty in my arms, I won’t let her slip away so easily..."

Thus, a month passed by in this easy, unremarkable way. Zhuo Nan hadn’t done anything earth-shattering in this time, aside from the arrest of Deputy Director Wang and Wang Yu dropping out of school.

As for Zhuo Nan, his main concern was checking in on Long Kun’s progress with the bar, and occasionally following up with Du Fanhao to see how the QQ project was going. The rest of his time was split between the classroom, corners of the schoolyard, and home—utterly monotonous days.

Aside from not having gone all the way with little Xinxin, he’d done everything else he could, and nothing he shouldn’t... As the weather warmed, Xinxin’s clothes became lighter, and naturally, Zhuo Nan’s hands grew bolder. By now, there wasn’t a part of her body he hadn’t touched—it would be a joke to say otherwise. Still, Zhuo Nan’s skills only went so far...

Tonight was the opening night of the bar, and as the boss behind the scenes, Zhuo Nan naturally had to be there... He’d agonized for ages over what to name the place. It couldn’t be too tacky, or it wouldn’t attract people, but too foreign-sounding and no one would get it... He’d considered names like "Heaven on Earth" or "Noble Night Banquet," but decided against knock-offs in the end...

In the end, Zhuo Nan settled on a straightforward name: Times Code Club. He believed that if you’re going to do something, you should do it well. While the country’s most famous bars had yet to be established, he would seize the chance to make Times Code a national brand, aiming to open branches in every major city within three years...

As for advertising, Zhuo Nan would have loved to launch a blanket campaign on TV and in newspapers, but funds were limited, so he had to get creative. He had Long Kun get in touch with the taxi companies, arranging to put ads on their rear windows for twenty yuan per car...

And if a taxi driver brought in a customer, the bar would give the driver five yuan... There was no choice—small business, small budget...

Zhuo Nan knew that if he wanted to make it in this business, he’d need connections on both sides of the law. While they hadn’t yet found a protector like Glasses Qiang, thanks to Long Kun’s efforts, they’d made contact with Old Wu—Wu Jianguo from the detention center. Through him, they’d invited Captain Liu from the Criminal Police and a few officers from the Beiping Road police station...