Chapter 766: Chapter 663: Irresponsible

Despite Gu Shaojun’s obvious reluctance and disdain, Xia Qingting still came looking for Xiao Man bright and early the next morning. Gu Shaojun hadn’t left for the day yet and was in the middle of enjoying his fiancée’s attentive care. As Xiao Man helped him put on his jacket and straighten his appearance, he took the opportunity to sneak in some kisses and hugs. But then he heard Xiao Yu call out from outside that Xia Qingting had arrived, and his face instantly darkened.

Xiao Man hadn’t planned on letting Xia Qingting into the bedroom, fearing the innocent girl wouldn’t be able to handle the discovery that she and her fiancé were sharing a bed. But Gu Shaojun threw the door wide open and walked out, saying to Xia Qingting, "Xiao Man’s inside. She can’t go out today, so you two can just talk in here."

"Why can’t she go out? I came to take her to my place for lunch. Is that not okay either?" Xia Qingting pressed. Gu Shaojun didn’t answer her and simply walked out.

Xia Qingting scoffed at his back, then turned and cornered Xiao Man in the bedroom doorway. Her wide eyes swept across the room, taking in the scene. Her face was a mask of shock as she pointed at the festive, bright red double bed, complete with a pair of pillows. Her jaw dropped, and she stammered, "Y-y-you... You two are actually sleeping in the same bed?"

Though she knew she was potentially setting a bad example, Xiao Man nodded and admitted it honestly. "We’re officially engaged," she explained. "We’ve also had our wedding banquet back in the countryside. You said your hometown is near a rural area, so you should know—a lot of people there don’t bother with a marriage certificate. Once you have the wedding banquet, the neighbors all consider you a married couple."

Xia Qingting still looked completely lost. "It can be like that? I honestly had no idea!"

Xiao Man felt a bit helpless. "You probably just never noticed. It’s very common in rural areas, you know. Just following old traditions."

Xia Qingting walked into the room and paced around. Once she processed the reality of the situation, she was back to her usual self. She huffed, "Don’t use the ’countryside’ as an excuse. You two aren’t country folk anymore. This is... this is irresponsible! You’re being irresponsible to yourselves and to any future children. What if you two have a falling out and break the engagement? Then you’ll both marry other people, and this whole mess will drag two other innocent people down with you. All that drama could even cause some major incident, a hazard to society! That’s being irresponsible to society!"

’Wow! What a sharp tongue. Just as I’d expect from a university professor, she really knows how to lecture someone.’

’And to think I was trying to be considerate and protect her pure, innocent little heart.’

"I told you yesterday," Xiao Man said. "We had a childhood betrothal. We’ve known since we were kids that we belonged to each other. We rarely get to see one another, and we can’t bear to be apart, so that’s why we’re living together. We know our limits, you know. We’re really just sleeping. Nothing else is happening."

"Really? A ’chaste sleep’?" Xia Qingting stared at her, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Xiao Man burst out laughing. "You’re such a wholesome university professor. How do you even know what a ’chaste sleep’ is?"

Xia Qingting pursed her lips. "I went over to my older brother’s place for dinner, and after those men start drinking, they’ll say anything. It wasn’t hard to figure out. But still, you two are living together. No explanation is going to work; people won’t believe you. You should just hurry up and get officially married."

"Next July, we’ll register our marriage and then hold the ceremony. We’ll be sure to invite you to the wedding banquet."

"You can count on it. I’d show up even if you didn’t invite me."

Xia Qingting circled the big, red bed, and finally couldn’t resist sitting on it. She flopped back, rolled over once, and sat up again. "This feels strange... but it’s way more comfortable than my sister’s marital bed. Why didn’t she get sheets like these? I think they’re gorgeous. Ugh, with both of you getting married, you’ll have your men to keep you company and won’t need me anymore. Maybe I should find a boyfriend too?"

Xiao Man sat down beside her, ready to gossip. "Well, you have a career now, so it wouldn’t be weird to find a boyfriend. You teach at a university... We can forget about the other professors and lecturers; they’re probably all married. But a lot of your students are older than you are. Think about it—all those male students! You could hold your own little beauty pageant. How about a teacher-student romance?"

Xia Qingting rolled her eyes at Xiao Man. "A teacher-student romance? With one of my own students? Only you could come up with something so ridiculous."

"Hey, you’re pretty old-fashioned for someone so young."

"However young I may be, I’m still their teacher. Besides, the university forbids it."

"Oh, so that’s what you’re worried about."

"That’s a secondary concern. The main issue is that no one is actively pursuing me. Plus, I personally think those guys are all so immature, just like my little brother. They’re fun to hang out with, but as for being a boyfriend or a future husband... no matter how I look at them, they just don’t seem to have that sense of responsibility."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.