I will definitely treat you well.
"I'm awake. I set an alarm."
After work last night, Jiang Ruoqi went upstairs and downstairs a few times, putting her usual things away in Meng Shang's bedroom. The physical labor made her sleep especially deeply that night. When she suddenly heard the bedroom door open, she wasn't even fully awake yet and first blamed Meng Yuanbao. But then she saw a figure and realized it was Meng Shang coming off his night shift.
"Did I wake you? It's still early. Go back to sleep." Meng Shang took a change of clothes from the wardrobe, planning to go wash up in the guest bathroom. But it turned out his stealthy movements still woke the light-sleeping Jiang Ruoqi.
"Didn't we say we were going to see Grandma today?" Jiang Ruoqi sat up, hugging the quilt, and rubbed her eyes but still couldn't open them.
Meng Shang hadn't changed yet and refused to touch the bed. He stood by the bed, leaning forward slightly, and said softly, "I've already talked to Mom. We'll get there around afternoon. I was busy all night and hardly slept. I'm not comfortable driving straight to Hangxiang; I need to catch up on some sleep. Will you stay with me?"
Since Meng Shang said so, Jiang Ruoqi didn't refuse. She pulled the quilt and slid down little by little, finally covering her head and turning over to find her pillow again.
"Then go shower quickly. I'll wait for you."
Sleeping with your head covered—what a bad habit.
"Don't sleep with your head covered." Meng Shang dug Jiang Ruoqi out of the pile of blankets and tucked the quilt under her chin.
Jiang Ruoqi rubbed against the soft pillow and quilt, waving at Meng Shang to hurry up. Naturally, her hand was caught by Meng Shang by the bed and firmly tucked back into the blanket.
Meng Shang washed up quickly. He changed into his pajamas and returned to the bedroom, only to find that Jiang Ruoqi was hugging his pillow, had turned her back to him, and was pressed against the edge of the bed, fast asleep again.
Meng Shang calculated the odds of swapping the pillow out of Jiang Ruoqi's arms—close to zero. He gave up struggling, lay down on Jiang Ruoqi's pillow, and settled close to her, lying on his side.
When he lifted the quilt, a cool draft slipped in. Combined with the slight chill still on his body, Jiang Ruoqi moved even farther away from him toward the edge of the bed.
Afraid she might fall off, Meng Shang reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. This made for a weird position: Meng Shang holding Jiang Ruoqi, while Jiang Ruoqi hugged Meng Shang's pillow.
"...It's hot. Don't hold me."
Half-asleep, Jiang Ruoqi felt a temperature much higher than hers pressing against her. She lifted the quilt and stretched her arm out, but it was quickly caught and brought back.
Meng Shang coaxed her, "If you're hot, throw away the pillow in your hands."
"If I throw it away, I won't sleep well." Jiang Ruoqi hugged it tighter.
This was her habit. Even when sleeping on a two-meter king-size bed, she liked to lie on her side near the edge, sleeping with one pillow and hugging another. If she had no pillow to hug, she would feel restless and unable to sleep soundly. Over time, it had become a habit she couldn't break.
"Then hug me instead." Meng Shang couldn't help but kiss Jiang Ruoqi's fair neck, his low voice deliberately coaxing.
Jiang Ruoqi seemed to think about it. She lifted a small opening from the side of the quilt and slid the pillow out. The cotton cushion landed on the floor with a soft thud. Then, like a sly fish, she turned and threw herself into Meng Shang's arms.
"Hug me." Jiang Ruoqi wrapped her arms around Meng Shang's waist, rested her head on his shoulder in a comfortable position, and even draped her leg over his, rubbing up and down against his pajama pants.
All of Meng Shang's old-house fire blazed onto his body. Holding this soft, fragrant body, a little vixen that could be so cuddly, it would be abnormal not to have a reaction.
Jiang Ruoqi naturally sensed it. As Meng Shang stirred and kissed the top of her head, she reached up and covered his mouth. "Let's sleep properly. Who said we have a long drive? We need to rest up."
Meng Shang grabbed her wrist, kissed it, then placed her hand back on his waist.
His body was clearly burning with heat, and there was no trace of sleepiness, but Meng Shang forced himself to close his eyes.
"Mm, let's sleep."
Although Jiang Ruoqi loved to sleep, once woken up, even if only for a moment, she found it hard to fall back asleep. Lying in Meng Shang's arms was comfortable, but she was wide awake with her eyes closed.
Meng Shang was truly exhausted. His breathing was long and even, and his body, which had been slightly tense when holding her, was now completely relaxed.
Jiang Ruoqi stayed in the same position, accompanying Meng Shang for nearly half an hour. Finally, she couldn't sleep anymore and quietly got up.
She washed up, put on makeup, and packed the gifts. She even made some simple food to take along, so they could have something to eat if they wanted to rest at a service station.
Jiang Ruoqi's cooking was decent, especially for something as simple as making sandwiches. She sliced and layered, then tidied up the sink and countertop. In no time, everything was clean.
Meng Shang had trouble sleeping if he had something on his mind. Even though he had been busy all night and was tired and sleepy, he slept less than two hours. His alarm didn't go off, and when he checked his phone, it was just before noon.
He woke up a bit, felt the empty space beside him, and touched the cold sheets. Guessing that Jiang Ruoqi had been up for a while, he didn't dare delay any longer and immediately got up to wash up.
Jiang Ruoqi wasn't exactly a diligent person. When she lived alone, she only cleaned once a week. But she couldn't help being extremely meticulous and couldn't stand things out of order.
She didn't like others helping her, but she loved taking the initiative to help others, though the main reason was that she couldn't stand seeing things a certain way.
So when Meng Shang finished washing up and walked into the living room, he found that Jiang Ruoqi had already prepared everything while he was sleeping.
The various gifts she had prepared earlier were neatly placed on the living room coffee table. Jiang Ruoqi's handbag stood quietly on one corner of the sofa. It wasn't her usual palm-sized bag, but a medium-sized black lambskin handbag.
The cat master's area was cleaned up neatly. The litter box had been scooped, and the automatic feeder and water dispenser had been refilled.
Since the "parents" were likely to stay out all night tonight, Jiang Ruoqi compensated by holding Meng Yuanbao in her arms and feeding him a tube of cat treat.
She rubbed his face and pinched his paws, saying lots of nice things.
But after feeding him and letting the master go, she immediately rolled a lint roller over herself from head to toe several times.
It wasn't that she disliked the master shedding... well, actually she did a bit, and it would be rude to visit in-laws covered in cat hair.
"Up? I made you something to eat. We can have a quick bite and then head out!"
Jiang Ruoqi was fiddling with the newly delivered coffee machine. Some parts had been washed and were being installed. She read the instructions and tried to assemble it, and sure enough, she got it almost completely put together.
The only thing missing was the coffee beans.
Jiang Ruoqi had bought coffee beans yesterday. They would probably arrive the day after tomorrow at the latest. Her coffee freedom was just around the corner.
Jiang Ruoqi dusted off her hands and proudly raised her chin to Meng Shang. "Look, it's installed! Aren't I amazing?"
"Mm, super amazing." Meng Shang reached out and touched the soft flesh under her chin, feeling the same motion he used when petting their cat son.