Exhaustion.
“Brother Feng, goodnight…”
The young girl, wearing pink pajamas, poked her head out from behind the door, looking at Qin Nanfeng with longing eyes.
It was nearing eleven o’clock at night, another day was about to pass, and Lin Xinyuan had long been sleepy. At this moment, her expression inevitably carried a trace of fatigue.
“Mm, Xiaoyuan, get some rest early. Don’t stay up late.” Qin Nanfeng reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from Lin Xinyuan’s forehead. His expression was gentle, but then his eyes narrowed as he leaned in closer, whispering in a teasing, playful tone, “Don’t lock the door…”
Hearing this, Lin Xinyuan felt her cheeks flush instantly. She gave him a shy, annoyed shove and scolded softly, “Don’t even think about it!”
Saying this, she ignored Qin Nanfeng and closed the door directly. The sound of the lock clicking back was made deliberately loud, as if she were afraid the person outside wouldn’t hear it.
After doing all this, Lin Xinyuan didn’t leave. Instead, she pressed her ear against the door, listening carefully to the movement outside.
It wasn’t until she heard the steady sound of footsteps fading away, followed by the faint sound of a door closing, that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She gently turned the lock back to the unlocked position without making a single sound. Turning off the light, she tiptoed back to her bed, feeling a heavy weight lift from her shoulders.
“I’m not playing hard to get… I’m just worried that guy might catch a cold from the draft… it must be that…”
Lying on the soft bed, the girl pulled up the covers. She muttered softly, a sense of shame she couldn’t stop bubbling up from the bottom of her heart, yet she knew perfectly well what she was doing.
I wonder if that smelly blondie will actually come… if he’ll like it…
Is this what they call… ‘flavor’ [playing hard to get]?
The more she thought, the redder her face became. She started talking to herself again: “It’s perfectly normal for a boyfriend and girlfriend to sleep together… don’t think too much…”
With those thoughts, Lin Xinyuan slowly closed her eyes.
Because she had spent almost the entire afternoon playing cards and games, she was quite sleepy now. But at the thought of what Qin Nanfeng had said, she forced her eyelids open and rubbed her temples a few times, trying to keep herself awake.
But after waiting for a while, the guy still hadn’t shown up. She began to wonder if he was playing a prank on her again.
Just then, the phone on the nightstand suddenly buzzed, making Lin Xinyuan’s eyes light up. she urgently grabbed the phone, wanting to see who sent the message.
It has to be that smelly blondie, right?
But if he’s messaging me, is he trying to say he was just joking? Is he trying to bait me, then laugh at how ‘thirsty’ I am…
Caught between anticipation and a shy desire to retreat, Lin Xinyuan impatiently opened her phone. It turned out it wasn’t the person she imagined, but a message from her best friend, Li Tang.
Disappointed, she still checked the message, wondering what was so important this late at night.
「Ayuan, you asleep? Speak-Softly.JPG」
「No, just about to. What’s up? Is something wrong this late?」
「It’s like this—I heard that a group of people who sneaked out of Hong Kong were caught in Leishi recently? Hehe, actually I just wanted to ask how things are on your end. I’m worried about my Ayuan! Need-a-hug.JPG」
Seeing this, Lin Xinyuan felt a warmth in her heart.
Come to think of it… since the holiday started, the two of them hadn’t contacted each other much, only occasionally sharing updates on their lives.
This was normal; friends who could maintain contact like this were already very close.
With that in mind, Lin Xinyuan smiled and continued typing: 「Thanks, Atang. No need to worry, nothing has happened in my town yet. How about your side?」
「Ugh, so annoying! Someone came back to the city from Tianbei the day before yesterday and was confirmed [positive]. People are panicking now! I really don’t dare to go out at all. Crying.JPG」
「We agreed to hang out during winter break, but now this happened. Everything is ruined…」
Li Tang continued to complain about how boring it was.
Even without hearing her voice, Lin Xinyuan could feel her friend’s resentment and couldn’t help but chuckle.
「It’s okay, there will be plenty of time later. And our country has always taken these things seriously; I’m sure it’ll get better soon. Don’t worry. Pat-on-the-head.JPG」
「Mm, thank you, my dear Ayuan~ I hope so! Happy.JPG」
「Oh, right!」
The girl on the other side seemed to remember something and suddenly asked: 「Didn’t you say the Great Sage Qin went to Leishi to find you? Has he gone back yet?」
Lin Xinyuan felt a bit awkward and a strange sense of guilt: 「No, Tianbei is locked down, and his flight was canceled.」
「Oh, oh! That’s actually good. It’s a relief he didn’t go back to Tianbei; things are way too serious over there!」
「Yeah.」
「Hehehe, I was actually thinking… is there a possibility… that he’s staying at your place? Smirk.JPG」
As soon as Li Tang’s message came through, Lin Xinyuan froze, followed by an unspeakable bashfulness. Lin Xinyuan didn’t expect Li Tang to guess so accurately; she wished she hadn’t mentioned it before…
But things had already reached this point, and she had even… even introduced him to her parents…
Plus, since that day, she had already figured many things out…
Actually, she no longer had a major psychological barrier to admitting such things.
That was it!
She wanted everyone to know that she, Lin Xinyuan, was Qin Nanfeng’s girlfriend… so that those “messy” girls wouldn’t dare touch her smelly blondie…
Thinking of this, although she still couldn’t control her shame, her gaze remained firm.
She pinched her cheek hard, trying to bolster her confidence, but ended up using too much force and hurting herself.
“Hiss…”
Cupping her reddened cheek, she felt nervous, but finally sent the message.
「Yeah, I brought him to meet my family…」
「?」
Seeing the question mark that the other party sent almost instantly, Lin Xinyuan could no longer control her emotions. Overwhelmed with embarrassment, she hurriedly turned off her phone, ignoring the non-stop notifications, not daring to look.
The girl buried her head under the covers, her dainty white toes curling tightly. Her breathing was rapid, and she let out an unintelligible “Uuuu” sound, completely overcome by bashfulness.
But while the girl was still immersed in her unbearable embarrassment, she didn’t notice that the bedroom door had been quietly pushed open and then closed. A tall figure entered soundlessly, gradually approaching her.
Lin Xinyuan waited a good while for her heart to calm down. The buzzing of her phone had finally ceased; she figured Li Tang was tired of typing.
Pulling the covers off her head, the sweltering air was replaced by a cool breath of relief. Lin Xinyuan felt much better.
Where’s that smelly blondie…
Still hasn’t come? It’s almost midnight…
So tired… can’t hold on much longer…
Drowsiness flooded the girl’s brain. Her eyes were half-closed, and her vision was blurry.
Finally, she couldn’t resist the exhaustion anymore and planned to just go to sleep. But as she turned onto her side, the scene before her eyes scared her so much she instantly broke into a cold sweat. She snapped her eyes wide—
She saw a figure sitting by the edge of the bed. Because the person was backlit, she couldn’t see what they were wearing at all; she only felt that the person was very tall and large.
Appearing without a sound… combined with her lingering grogginess, Lin Xinyuan instinctively associated it with something supernatural. Not daring to look closer, she squeezed her eyes shut in terror.
Her breathing slowed, and her whole body trembled with fear.
How… how is this possible…
How can something like this happen…
Memories of classic horror movie scenes she had watched as a child flashed through her mind. She grew even more terrified, her mind going completely blank.
Just as Lin Xinyuan was at a loss for what to do, a light chuckle rang out softly, sounding like heavenly music—
“Heh… Xiaoyuan is really a coward…”
“Can’t even recognize your own man?”
It was Brother Feng!
As soon as she heard that familiar voice, the fear in Lin Xinyuan’s heart dissipated. She used her hand to gently wipe away the tears that had unconsciously leaked from the corners of her eyes.
However, before she even opened her eyes, she realized what was happening.
The girl opened her eyes in a fit of shy rage, pushed herself up, and glared at him.
Sure enough, there were no ghosts or monsters—it was just that bastard Qin Nanfeng!
“Idiot… get out…”
Lin Xinyuan had truly been frightened. Now that she had regained her senses, she was angry and wanted to shout at the guy. But remembering the current situation and fearing that she might be heard by others, she could only whisper through gritted teeth as she glared at the smelly blondie.
“So it’s my fault?” Qin Nanfeng’s expression was teasing and amused. “I was just being careful because I was afraid your mom would catch me. I didn’t expect my Xiaoyuan to be scared like this. Fine… my apologies to my wife~”
“…”
“I don’t care… it’s your fault…”
Lin Xinyuan didn’t know what to say, so she could only manage a weak rebuttal. But then she realized the title he had used for her.
Her face flushed crimson instantly, her clear little face dyed in shades of scarlet, and her tongue suddenly felt tied.
“Don’t… don’t talk nonsense… who is your wife!…”