They were only a quarter of the way home, but it was fast approaching midnight. They still needed around two to three hours before they would reach home, so in other words, Su Zhinian would have to spend the rest of the night driving.
It was because of her that he had to suffer like this. Song Qingchun's heart was assaulted by guilt. She stared at Su Zhinian through the rear-view mirror and soon came to a decision. "Su Zhinian, do we need to return to the city tonight?"
Confusion flashed across Su Zhinian's eyes. He turned around to glance at Song Qingchun, at which point, she added, "It's already almost 12 am. It'll be 2 to 3 am when we reach the city; why don't we just find a hotel nearby to rest for the night?"
Song Qingchun, at the time, did not realize how suggestive her enquiry sounded. It was not her intention to have it sound like an invitation; she merely worried for Su Zhinian's mental state. She didn't want him to tire himself out driving. However, as the question left her mouth, she realized how ambiguous she sounded. She lowered her face with a blush and added rather awkwardly, "Probably because of the cold, I just wish to rest for a night before returning to the city tomorrow morning, is that okay?"
Actually, that was a lie. She'd had an eventful day, but she was already feeling much better from the short nap in his car. Sitting in the car for another two to three hours was no problem. Therefore, it was not that she wanted to rest; she wanted to give Su Zhinian the opportunity to rest.
"Okay." Su Zhinian briefly paused to think. "I hear there's a good holiday house nearby; it's about five kilometers from here, is that okay?"
Like Su Zhinian, Song Qingchun replied with a single word. "Sure."
Su Zhinian parked the car by the roadside to reset the navigation. After fifteen minutes, Song Qingchun finally saw the lights of the holiday house.
The car stopped before the entrance. Su Zhinian passed the key to the valet and joined Song Qingchun in the lobby.
When he booked the rooms, Su Zhinian asked for a luxury suite, but those were all booked due to the holiday weekend. Therefore, Su Zhinian changed the booking to two single-bed rooms.
The receptionist was probably confused by the appearance of a couple who asked for separate rooms, so her eyes lingered for a moment on the both of them before shaking her head and explained respectfully, "I'm sorry, Sir and Miss, we are only left with a single room with king-sized bed."
One room, one bed, one comforter…
Su Zhinian was reminded of the promise he had made Song Qingchun of how he wasn't going to lay a finger on her again. After a short hesitation, he turned around to discuss it with Song Qingchun. "How about we change to another hotel?"
"Sir, we are the only hotelier around, the area around us is mostly government protected land. The closest hotel is about twenty kilometers away," the receptionist commented with a smile.
Twenty kilometers… That will be at least one hour of driving. The goal is to give him the chance to rest, not work him even harder. But, this means staying in the same room with him and even sharing the same bed…
A part of Song Qingchun's heart still niggled with worry. Her palms tightened into fists, and her face was flushed before she said anything. Finally, she said in the softest of tones, "We can just share the same room, why not?"