Chapter 60

Translator: Abo Dammen

After dinner, Qin Guchuan, who had prepared the meal, was punished with washing the dishes. Watching Chen Lu wandering around the rooms as if looking for something, he asked, “What are you looking for?” 

“Looking for the bedsheets and duvet covers. How come I can’t find them anywhere?” Chen Lu’s voice came from the room, full of confusion.

The upcoming plot segment lasted until Chen Lu’s final exams, which calculated to almost a month. Since it seemed Qin Guchuan wasn’t just staying for a day or two, Chen Lu thought he shouldn’t be too lazy. It seemed inappropriate to let Qin Guchuan keep sharing his bed, so he planned to make up the bed in the other guest room for him.

But for some reason, Chen Lu just couldn’t find where the bedsheets and duvet covers were stored.

“Oh, I washed them all,” Qin Guchuan’s voice sounded without any fluctuation, as if simply stating a fact. 

Chen Lu: “?”

He had seen bedsheets and duvet covers in the laundry basket in the bathroom at noon. That was the duvet cover he’d used when he forgot his clothes. But Chen Lu had only noticed the set from his own room on top, he hadn’t realized all the ones underneath were also the household’s bedsheets and duvet covers.

No wonder the entire basket was full.

“Why wash them all?” Chen Lu asked, bewildered and puzzled. 

Qin Guchuan, who had done it completely intentionally, also showed Chen Lu a similarly bewildered and puzzled expression, as if Chen Lu’s question was strange. “They haven’t been used for several months. Don’t they need to be washed before use?”

Convinced by Qin Guchuan’s reason, Chen Lu closed the wardrobe door and immediately grinned at Qin Guchuan with a malicious, almost evil look. “Then you’ll have to share my bed again for the next couple of days.”

Seeing Chen Lu’s nonchalant, even somewhat impatient attitude, Qin Guchuan, despite his successful scheme, didn’t feel happy but rather filled with helplessness.

When would Chen Lu start caring a little about keeping some distance from him? 

Although Qin Guchuan had schemed for the co-sleeping, once actually in bed, he restrained himself and didn’t make any extra moves. However, when Chen Lu returned to the room after his livestream and saw Qin Guchuan still propped against the headboard handling work on his phone, he started using his feet to pretend to be casual, making some physically ‘pointing and judging’ mischievous actions.

Qin Guchuan used his calves to trap Chen Lu’s mischievous feet, denying them any movement. He turned off his phone and reached out to ruffle Chen Lu’s hair. “Alright, time to sleep.”

“Oh,” Chen Lu, completely overpowered by Qin Guchuan’s strength, responded, only regaining freedom for his feet afterward.

Chen Lu pouted, once again aware of the strength disparity between them. As it was already quite late, Chen Lu didn’t make any more harassing moves. He turned off the bedside lamp and lay down obediently. 

Chen Lu being so obedient felt strangely unfamiliar to Qin Guchuan. He suspiciously glanced at Chen Lu several times. Seeing Chen Lu had really closed his eyes and lay still, Qin Guchuan finally lay down half-doubtful.

He thought Chen Lu would pester him at least a little.

He was actually quite looking forward to it.

Holding this regret, Qin Guchuan closed his eyes. Yesterday, he’d been too tired and fell asleep directly, so he hadn’t noticed. But today, even just sensing the movements of the person beside him adjusting their sleeping posture sparked many fantasies. 

After struggling to brew up thoughts for several minutes without any sleepiness, Qin Guchuan, who had always considered his self-control quite strong, finally couldn’t resist turning his head and opening his eyes to look at Chen Lu lying right beside him.

What met his eyes wasn’t the sleeping face of Chen Lu he wanted to see, but those pair of eyes that had been watching him for who knows how long, still so crystal clear even in the room’s dim light.

Qin Guchuan was stunned. He saw those eyes fill with smiles upon meeting his gaze, gently blink a wink, and then a voice full of secret glee and triumph said to him in a whisper, “Did I scare you?”

It took Qin Guchuan a few seconds to recover slightly from his violently pounding heart. Processing Chen Lu’s words, he didn’t answer directly. Instead, he pulled Chen Lu into his arms, pressing him tightly against his chest. 

“Can you feel it?” Qin Guchuan’s voice was hoarse.

Listening to the intense and powerful heartbeat, Chen Lu, tangled up with Qin Guchuan under the covers, felt somehow embarrassed. It felt like he wasn’t just hearing one person’s heartbeat but a mix with his own.

He hadn’t expected Qin Guchuan, this big, strong, powerful guy, a domineering CEO with maxed-out ‘aura’ all day, to be scared to this extent by his late-night stare.

Feeling the heartbeat against his ear still hadn’t calmed down, Chen Lu, who had unconsciously also wrapped his arms around Qin Guchuan, pondered whether he should apologize. 

But just as he tried to move, a voice came from above his head. “Sleep,” Qin Guchuan said, his tone as if hiding an ominous and dangerous feeling.

Sensing a vague threat, Chen Lu obediently responded and honestly rested his head on Qin Guchuan’s arm, not daring to do anything extra.

Thus, the next night, Chen Lu, who hadn’t caused trouble and had fallen asleep quickly the previous night, found sleeping while hugging Qin Guchuan quite comfortable. Without any formality, he transformed into an octopus accessory attached to Qin Guchuan.

Qin Guchuan: “…” 

As for the bedsheets and duvet covers that Qin Guchuan had excused as ‘not completely dry’ after being air-dried for five days due to ‘unpredictable weather’, by the time they were finally put away a week later, Chen Lu, who had completely gotten used to having an extra body pillow in his bed, had entirely forgotten his initial thought of making a separate bed for Qin Guchuan.

But that was all later.

Before that, Chen Lu, who had worked hard to finish all the food in the fridge before the plot started, could finally go to the mall to stock up and trigger the plot.

After purchasing his supplies, Chen Lu sent Qin Guchuan a message. 

Chen Lu: I’m done. How about your side?

Qin Guchuan: Wait a bit longer. Aunt Feng hasn’t left yet. I’ll message you when you can come up.

The preliminary plot for this segment was actually Madame Feng sending Qin Guchuan a message, saying she needed to buy something for an elder in the family, didn’t know what to get, and asked Qin Guchuan to accompany her to choose.

Qin Guchuan’s relationship with his stepmother, Madame Feng, wasn’t good or bad. After all, there really weren’t many plot characters as dutiful and responsible and never making mistakes. And with plot requirements, Qin Guchuan certainly couldn’t refuse Madame Feng’s invitation. 

No surprise, no accident, after Qin Guchuan arrived at the mall, he saw Madame Feng appear with her niece in tow.

This world really should award Madame Feng a banner for her dedication.

Throughout the gift-selecting process, Madame Feng’s attempt to pair the two up was almost etched on her face. Without a doubt, this dutiful and responsible Madame Feng would later find an excuse to suddenly disappear, leaving the two of them in the mall to cultivate the so-called feelings.

After sending the message to Chen Lu, Qin Guchuan put away his phone and glanced at the niece, whose expression throughout the shopping trip had been obedient to the point of perfunctory. 

This niece’s role in the plot was actually very small, exiting after this segment. Her attribute as a plot tool was very obvious.

After all, Madame Feng herself would soon exit the plot, so naturally, this niece wouldn’t have any further scenes. Thus, Qin Guchuan hadn’t paid much attention to this very background character role.

But now, looking at this niece who was clearly different from Madame Feng and, like Fang Qizhi, unaffected by the plot, showing no interest in him… Hmm, maybe not entirely.

Qin Guchuan carefully considered the relevant descriptions about this niece in the plot. 

Fang Qizhi at least had the plot’s explicit stamp of ‘liking’ him. This niece was such a tool character that there was actually no indication of any emotional inclination. The photo she sent to Madame Feng also had no detailed dialogue. The original text only wrote ‘[She] was stunned for a moment, finally pressed her lips together and sent the photo]‘. After that, it was Madame Feng going to confront Chen Lu with the photo.

So, this niece was actually a completely free character in terms of setting.

Then, in the current situation where she clearly had no ambiguous intentions, under what circumstances would this niece hook her arm around his arm for Chen Lu to see…

Qin Guchuan discovered the pitfall in this part of the plot. 

Qin Guchuan pondered deeply for a while, then saw Madame Feng suddenly take out her phone, casually glance at the screen, and utter an abrupt statement, “Oh dear! Something urgent came up with my baby, I need to go quickly! But this gift for Granduncle also needs to be prepared right away. What should I do!”

“Guchuan, Xiao Song, how about you two just help me pick one? Take a photo and send it to me after you’ve chosen, let me see.” Madame Feng didn’t give Qin Guchuan or the niece any time to react. After saying this, she immediately smiled, waved at them, and disappeared quickly in her high heels.

Having added a lot of melodramatic romance plot, Qin Guchuan had guessed it would be like this from the start. But watching Madame Feng’s extremely fake operation, even Qin Guchuan, who knew it was plot-required, felt somewhat speechless.

The niece, left behind completely unprepared, almost failed to maintain her superficially obedient demeanor. An aura of speechlessness radiated from her. She stood slightly awkwardly beside Qin Guchuan, thought for a moment, and looked up at him. “Where should we go now?” 

Her tone seemed less like asking ‘where to go’ and more like screaming ‘Just say we can disband now!’

Qin Guchuan, of course, couldn’t let this plot character leave. He looked ahead. “Let’s go buy the gift.”

Surprise flashed in the niece’s eyes. She had completely never thought Qin Guchuan would give such an answer. However, she didn’t raise any objection. Thus, after they felt they had selected a suitable gift each time, took a photo as instructed by Madame Feng, and consistently received the reply from Madame Feng, ‘Still not quite the right feeling, please look at some others’…

Qin Guchuan glanced at the niece, who had been walking continuously for over an hour in high heels and was almost unable to keep walking. 

Hmm…

One has to admit, this world should award Madame Feng the ‘Most Dedicated Plot Character’ prize.

Qin Guchuan took out his phone and sent a message to Chen Lu, who had been waiting on the first floor for a long time.

Qin Guchuan: You can come up now. 

After clicking send, Qin Guchuan extended his arm to the niece, who had been thoroughly trapped by her own aunt. “Hold on to me.”

The niece paused for a moment, completely not expecting Qin Guchuan to make such a gesture. Her expression softened, as if she finally saw Qin Guchuan in a slightly better light.

“Thank you, Cousin.”