Meanwhile, Channing drove the car into the basement.
After having the car parked, he turned back to take off Winnie’s seat belt.
Staring at the boy so close to her, Winnie said gently, “I can do it myself.”
With his black eyes fixed on her and the tip of his nose touching her from time to time, Channing said in
a slow voice, “Otherwise I am not justified to kiss you.”
Before Winnie could say anything, he lowered his head to bit her lips softly.
The kiss was different from the short one he gave her the night in Stella’s place. With one hand on the
side door, Channing gnawed her tongue in mouth gently and warmly.
It was the first time for Winnie to kiss a boy in the basement. With the presence of cars coming in and
out, she felt a bit excited. Plus, she was afraid that someone else was watching. Thus she got a bit
nervous, the hands on her knees gradually clutching his clothes. Later, her breath became slighter.
Given that the air in the car was already thin and that they were in the basement which was somewhat
depressive, Winnie soon got a little bit breathless and dazzled.
Channing stopped and kissed the tip of her nose, saying in a low voice, “Let’s go upstairs.”
Off the car, Channing walked towards Winnie and took her hand naturally.
Winnie didn’t pull her hand out of his. With her eyelashes lowered, she put on a faint smile and followed
him.
They were typical of a couple in deep love.
After they had gone, a hint of light emerged at the dark corner of the basement.
A man in black jacket and wearing a black baseball cap was standing there. He stared at the direction
to which they left, and threw the cigarette butt on the ground before he stepped on it.
…
Winnie took his clothes from the laundry and handed it to Channing, “You take a shower first. I should
have my hair washed and my makeup removed. And I would also do some skin care. It may take one
or two hours.”
Occasionally he also lived here for some days so his clothes had crept into her wardrobe.
Channing took the clothes and asked, “Do you have to work tomorrow?”
Winnie replied, “I have to have lunch with a producer.
“I only have one class tomorrow afternoon. Shall we go to the movies together?”
Winnie smiled a bit and pushed him into the bathroom, “Let’s talk about it later. You hurry up. It’s
already very late now. I still want to sleep early to keep my skin in good condition.”
Hours later, lying on the bed, Winnie was unable to fall asleep.
She didn’t know why she couldn’t help feeling nervous and concerned.
Maybe she was afraid that her character would end up being played by someone else.
After a while, she got up to get a cup of water.
She headed into the living room and saw Channing was still awake with a laptop before him. She
asked, “You couldn’t fall asleep?”
“No, it’s just group homework.”
Winnie hadn’t heard the word “group homework” for years so she walked towards Channing with a cup
of water in her hand, “What’s that?”
Channing said a name, which was completely new for Winnie.
Winnie fell into silence.
She pretended to understand, “Well, then fighting! I will go and read the script.”
Before she turned back, she felt her wrist held by his hand.
Channing stared at her and raised his jew to point at the clock, “You said you want to sleep early.”
Winnie said, “I couldn’t fall asleep. Don’t bother. I will read the script and then …”
Channing pull her to sit down beside him, “If you couldn’t fall asleep, then stay with me for a while.”
Winnie did not refuse and had a glimpse at the screen of his laptop.
It was covered all over with numbers and codes.
It might outperform her script in making her feel sleepy.
As she focused on the data, Channing put the blanket nearby and unfolded it to cover her legs with it.
Soon, the sound of keyboard was filling the living room.
Leaning on the sofa, Winnie stared at the back of Channing. Then a slight smile climbed on her face.
A handsome and sturdy boy. O the smell of youth!
Maybe because the sound of gently typing was extremely comfortable to the ears or the boring data
hypnotized her brain, Winnie got sleepy a few minutes later. After a string of yawns, she closed her
eyes unconsciously.
Suddenly, Channing felt something was leaning on his back.
He turned back to find Winnie already fallen asleep.
Channing reached out to placed her head on his legs.
Seemingly the gesture made Winnie feel more comfortable. She moved a bit before she got back to her
dreams.
Channing lowered his head to look at her, a sense of warmth welling up in his eyes.
Then he fixed his gaze on his homework again.
…
The next day morning, Winnie woke up to find herself on the bed. She felt her neck a bit sour.
She got out of the bedroom and found Channing was not in the room.
There was a cup of milk on the table, which was still warm. Beside it was a piece of note paper.
It read “I went to class. See you afternoon”.
Winnie smiled faintly and stick the note to the most prominent position in the room while drinking the
milk.
She took out her phone to find a suitable movie for this afternoon.
At this moment, her phone rang. It was a message.
The moment Winnie saw the content of the message, her eyes got wide open with a sense of terror.
The cup in her hand dropped onto the ground and then was broken into pieces.
She was stunned by fear, with her face instantly becoming as pale as a ghost.
It was a somewhat blurry picture on which she was naked.
In the noon, the instructor found Channing no sooner than he left the classroom, “Channing, what’s
your reply to the question I asked you yesterday?”
“Thank you for your kindness, but I don’t want to go.”
The instructor frowned a bit, “Why? It’s an offer from Oxford! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”
He halted for a second before he continued, “Maybe you are reluctant to leave your family and your
friends? Don’t bother. It’s just a two-year exchange program. After you complete it, you can acquire the
bachelor’s degree from both Oxford and our university. It’s really a ...”
Channing interrupted him, “I know it’s a rare opportunity. But I’ve considered it. I just don’t want to
participate in the program. You may find someone else, sorry.”
Then he nodded to the instructor for apology and left quickly.
Staring at his back, the instructor heaved a deep sigh.
Channing got downstairs and confronted a classmate, who said to him, “Channing, your cousin is
waiting for you.”
Channing stopped, “Who?”
The classmate said, “He said he's your cousin and he wanted to give you something important. But he
didn't see you there and now he is waiting at the school gate.”
Channing replied, “Okay. Thank you.”
He was not interested in the visitor.
He had no cousin, so definitely he would not bother to meet a stranger who claimed to be his cousin.
He walked directly towards the dormitory after he got out of the teaching building.
Outside the dormitory building, he heard someone calling him from the behind, “Channing Radomil.”
He turned back. What met his eyes was a man wearing a black peaked cap. Then Channing kept a
straight face and said word by word, “You dare show up in front of me?”
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