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 washing 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.’
‘No way!’ he said.
He finally found something to do to upset ‘little country bun.’ On the outside he looked cold hearted, but on the inside of his heart he felt triumphant and amused.
He s.n.a.t.c.hed the teddy bear from her and was about to toss it further away when he received a frantic phone call from Zhang Yu.
‘Song Song! Ting Ting’s dad had an accident… everyone’s here at the hospital! Ting Ting’s mum wouldn’t let me tell you and Ting Ting about it! I had to sneak away to tell you, but don’t tell Ting Ting! Let her have a memorable and happy honeymoon!’ Zhang Yu said.
He silently released Putt Putt and hung up the phone.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ she asked and quickly went to hide Putt Putt.
When she returned his complexion wasn’t normal.
‘What happened?’ she asked.
‘Your dad was knocked over while catching a thief. He’s in the hospital…’ he said but was too scared to reveal that her dad was in the emergency room.
Her legs became mushy and she slumped down on the bed.
‘Hey!’ he said and sat down next to her. ‘My parents are at the hospital with your parents. Don’t be alarmed, things aren’t critical!’
Her face became bleach white. If his parents were at the hospital then her dad was in a critical condition!
He couldn’t bear her lifeless state and called his chauffeur to wait for them outside the hotel.
He pulled her up. ‘Let’s go, I’ll take you to the hospital.’
She was holding the flight ticket tightly in her hands and her voice trembled. ‘What about our honeymoon?’
‘We’ll go on a honeymoon later!’ he said and took them briskly outside the suite.
Qin Song tucked Han Ting Ting in the pa.s.senger seat, dismissed the chauffeur and drove them to the hospital himself. On the way, he called Liang’s private hospital through the hands-free phone system in the car. He asked for the best neurologists to examine her dad’s condition. The thought of neurologists made her heart more chaotic.
The moment the car parked at the hospital, she jumped out of the car and went into the hospital and he rushed to follow her.
The hospital was too s.p.a.cious and she didn’t know what route to take. He caught up to her and clasped her hand.
‘Why are you running aimlessly for?’ he asked.
Sweat beads formed on her skin from running around. ‘Qin Song, where’s my dad?’
He shook his phone and exhaled. ‘I received a call, your dad’s out of the emergency room. He has a minor concussion, nothing too serious.’
A burden fell off her chest and she felt lighter.
He cleared his throat and swiftly took her to find her dad’s hospital room.
Zhang Yu had explained earlier to him that Ting’s dad had jumped off a balcony to catch a thief. Her dad’s head bled, fell unconscious and was brought to the hospital emergency room.
In his head when he first received the news at the hotel the worst case scenario ran through his head and he imagined her dad had fell from the fourth or fifth floor of a building. It turned out he overreacted, her dad fell from two storeys.
In the middle of their wedding night, Ting’s dad was trailing a thief he’d been following for several nights and was going to bust the thief in action. At the time Ting Ting held Putt Putt deep in sleep in the wedding suite, her dad’s eyes focused on the thief’s movements like a flashlight.
The thief had nimble limbs. When the thief was surrounded the thief found an escape and sped off. Her dad pursued the thief, heroically leapt over the balcony but was unfortunate that her dad’s leg got tangled then fell down head first from the balcony and was unconscious on the spot.
After Ting’s dad was conscious at the hospital he blamed Ting’s mum for overreacting over a minor incident that made his daughter and son-in-law alarmed enough to sacrifice their honeymoon.
Her mum’s eyes were swollen, head bowed and hands draped a blanket over her dad’s body.
Zhang Yu pursed her lips. ‘About that… I’m sorry, it was me that called Song Song…’
Ting’s dad kept silent and Qin Yun who was sitting on the sofa nearby looked away from them.
‘It’s good everyone’s well! Have you all eaten lunch? I can call someone to deliver food,’ Qin Song said to break the awkward atmosphere.
Zhang Yu’s eyes lit. ‘Song Song call Golden Age to deliver food. There’s a dining table in the adjoining room. We can head over to the dining table and celebrate Song Song and Ting Ting’s first meal together as a married couple.’
The three Han family members wore solemn expressions and were silent. Qin Song sighed and Qin Yun’s head was still turned away to remain a neutral bystander.
End of Chapter Two (Part 1)