A large hand grabbed Qin Sheng before she fell off the windowsill, and pulled her through the window, the bitter air whipping her soft cheeks.
"UNCLE! I'm scared! I thought I was going to die!" She hugged Gong Mochen like a Koala bear and cried while burying her head deep into his shoulder.
Her eyes glanced down in a fox-like cunning way. She didn't have many tricks up her sleeves, but this certainly was one of her best plans to date. It had worked a treat. She was back in her uncle's bedroom, back in his arms, exactly where she wanted to be.
"Don't cry! Don't be scared! I've got you." Gong Mochen hugged Qin Sheng like a child, patting her back to appease her, to calm her down.
When he'd come out of the bathroom, he saw her standing on the windowsill. She looked so frightened and scared to death. He didn't understand how she'd dared to climb up to the third-floor windowsill. What had possessed her to do such a thing?
He really needed to teach her a lesson, but as she was crying, he held back the pent up anger and frustration with all his might. How could he bear to teach her a lesson when she was this distraught?
Qin Sheng hooked her arm around the man's neck and howled, her tears streaming down her soft cheeks. She must've been so afraid of falling into the pool under the windowsill. How tragic this night could have ended!
"UNCLE! My ring... My poor ring!" she cried and raised her hand pitifully.
"I'll buy ten more for you tomorrow," Gong Mochen said, kissing her forehead.
"Uncle, my feet hurt..." It was the truth this time. She hadn't felt it before, but now that she was safe in the man's arms, she felt her feet throbbing in pain.
Gong Mochen sat the girl on the sofa and looked at her legs and feet. Her feet had been cut by the rough windowsill, and grazes covered her soles.
He got up and retrieved a first aid kit from the cupboard. He squatted in front of her, put her feet on his knees, and sterilized her wounds.
"So stupid. Why did you climb onto the windowsill?"
He didn't know what to do with her. She didn't realise how badly she could have been hurt. Should he really feel sorry for her?
"Why did you close the door in my face? You locked it!" Qin Sheng retorted.
"I didn't lock the door! And anyway, I told you to go home!" Gong Mochen was so angry that he was speechless. He just wanted to kick her out and send her back to the Qin family's old mansion, so that he could take a cold shower.
Qin Sheng thought that he had locked the door... Had she even tried the handle? Crickets called out around her.
She didn't know that although he was trying to be decisive, he would never be decisive towards her. She was a weakness to him.
"Uncle, my wound still hurts. Blow on it for me?" she said coquettishly, pouting her lips.
Gong Mochen gently blew on her wound. "Okay, there. Now get up. I'll send you back to your grandfather's now."
Qin Sheng saw her chance and jumped onto the bed, rolling into the blanket. "I'm not leaving. I'm used to sleeping on this bed. I can't sleep anywhere else!"
"You can sleep in the spare room," Gong Mochen said reluctantly.
"But I'm used to sleeping with you."
"I... I..." Gong Mochen's face darkened. "You can have anything else except me!"
"I don't want anything else except you!" Qin Sheng said stubbornly.
"Qin Sheng! Am I spoiling you so much that you will disobey me?'' Gong Mochen's voice lowered the temperature in the room.
Qin Sheng's heart trembled. Everyone else was afraid of him, but she wasn't. At least not until now. If he got really angry, she felt like she would be afraid of him too.
"But will you tell me why you chased me away? I deserve an answer."
Gong Mochen gave a straight answer. "You're too old to live with me!"
Qin Sheng's lips twitched. He had raised her for 18 years, and she had slept with him for 18 years. Now he thought that she was too old? Not suitable?
"You're lying to me! Don't think that I don't know anything just because I'm younger than you. It's because my aunt wants to marry you, isn't it!"
"Don't talk nonsense! She's my sister, and you're my NIECE!" Gong Mochen clearly understood the relationship between them. Naturally, this was not the true reason; he would not abandon her because of his sister. It was just that she could not be with him now.
"But you're not my biological uncle! You're my grandfather's adopted son." Qin Sheng rolled her eyes.
"He is also my uncle as well as my adoptive father. Now get up!" Gong Mochen lifted the blanket and reached out to pull the girl off the bed.
The girl took advantage of the situation and hooked her arms around his neck. The girl's energy gushed onto Gong Mochen, pooling around him like a tsunami.
"But it's raining outside. I can't let my wound get wet," she said and yawned.
Her uncle's pine and cypress fragrance and bed had always been the best calming medicine for her.
'Her wounded foot could be reason to let her stay the night...' Gong Mochen thought as he listened to the pouring rain outside. Could he really let her sleep for another night? Really? In the blink of an eye, he dispelled the thought. This girl would take an inch and then take a mile if he indulged her this once.
He lowered his head and wanted to wake her up, but found that Qin Sheng had long since fallen asleep on his body. Damn it...
He sighed helplessly and ran his fingers through Qin Sheng's messy hair, revealing her delicate small face. A warmth flowed out of his sharp eyes then, which was very incompatible with his previous cold and aloof aura.
'Qin Sheng, what do you want of me... What do you want!' Gang Mochen thought, sighing.
He picked up his phone and dialled a number. "Nie Feng, change all the windowsills on the outer eaves of the villa to marble ones tomorrow, please." He ended the call with a deep exhale.
***
The morning sunlight gently hit Qin Sheng's small face, warm against her rosy cheeks. She'd slept very comfortably, and her nostrils were filled with the familiar scent of a man.
She rubbed against the warm body beside her, and when she opened her eyes, she saw the face of a man that could make anyone blush. His gaze, so deep that one could drown in the whirlpool of his eyes, was intoxicating.
She flipped over and rolled on top of the man. "Uncle, I knew it, you can't bear to part with me!"
Sure enough, he did not throw her off, nor did he carry her to her grandfather's house. This was a welcome change...
Gong Mochen's face suddenly became tense, as though he'd just fully woken up. "GET OFF! I'm your uncle."
"For goodness sake, Uncle! You're so naggy and that makes you seem old," Qin Sheng said.
Gong Mochen pursed his lips. How dare she call him old? The cheek of her!
"How many times do I have to say it to you? It's like you're a goldfish."
"What do you mean?''
"Goldfish have a seven second memory. Like you."
Qin Sheng clicked her tongue. She supposed being a fish could be good. She would never hold a grudge, nor would she get the seven year itch or even be cross with him for long, because she would love him again after seven seconds. And the cycle would repeat.
Gong Mochen lifted his hands to pull the little woman away from him, and then got up from the bed.
Qin Sheng listened to the man walking out of the room, then she quickly ran into the walk-in closet to look for her clothes.
When Qin Sheng finished tidying herself up and ran downstairs, she saw a smartly-dressed Gong Mochen sitting in the living room making a phone call.
"Second sister-in-law, Qin Sheng came back to my house last night..."
Gong Mochen's second sister-in-law sighed, long and protracted, and said through the phone, "I can't control that girl anymore! You can keep her with you. Besides, she has always been raised by you. Why are you pushing her onto me?"