Shen Xiyan tapped away at his phone screen, not even bothering to look up.
“You up to some mischief again?”
“Xiyan, can you help me with some questions again? I want to improve my grades………………”
“You can’t improve something that doesn’t exist.”
“Xiyan, please~~” Qin Sheng walked over, tugging at Shen Xiyan’s sleeve, tears welling up in her eyes, looking pitiful:
“You don’t want people to call me a ‘big-chested airhead’ idiot, do you?”
“And it’s only because I’m taking care of Aunt that I can’t study!”
“Did you ever study before taking care of Aunt?”
“Well, now I want to study, but it just happens to be at this time. What do you think I should do?”
“That’s enough………………” Shen Xiyan shot her a cold look.
“During the day, I let you have your way because Aunt was watching, gave you some face. Now Aunt’s asleep, and you’re still pretending. Aren’t you tired?”
……If I said it directly, you wouldn’t agree either.
“So it’s my fault?”
“Who else’s?”
Shen Xiyan let out a deep sigh. “Stay wherever you want, I can’t hit you anyway. But I have only one request—stop bothering me!”
“Why so fierce?”
So Qin Sheng sat down right beside him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shen Xiyan suddenly caught Qin Sheng’s sly smile—sneaky, like a little fox who’d just succeeded in her scheme.
That smile, that expression, so familiar…………………
And when Qin Sheng noticed Shen Xiyan looking at her, she immediately put away the sly smile and put on a serious little face.
She didn’t care at all about Shen Xiyan’s attitude; all she cared about was whether she could stay.
“Up so late, who are you chatting with?”
Didn’t hide it.
“Lin Ci?”
Qin Sheng craned her neck to take a look. She thought Shen Xiyan would refuse, but to her surprise, Shen Xiyan generously showed her the phone screen, not hiding anything at all.
“What are you writing? A novel?”
“Let me see.”
Qin Sheng pushed her luck and got even closer to Shen Xiyan.
If Shen Xiyan wanted to, he could’ve lowered his head and kissed Qin Sheng’s little mouth, one hand climbing mountains, one hand exploring valleys. Qin Sheng would probably be more than willing.
Then, Shen Xiyan could type out GG with a smile. Wouldn’t the future be forever changed?
“Don’t move!”
Qin Sheng snatched the phone, glaring at him:
“Let me see, what’s the problem?”
Shen Xiyan didn’t even want to fight her for it, afraid she might be hiding some other little scheme.
Don’t doubt it, Qin Sheng could absolutely pull something like that.
Like snuggling up just to mess around, handing him face wash, or looking totally confused and then smacking him on the head.
The taste of the sea—he knew it.
“Ah! I accidentally deleted it!” Qin Sheng finally managed to grab the phone, but then her hand slipped. She looked at Shen Xiyan with an innocent face, as if she’d done something wrong.
Shen Xiyan still didn’t argue with her, not even feeling the urge to do anything, his tone flat:
“Why are you giving me that victim look?”
“If you’d just handed me the phone, I wouldn’t have had to grab it. If I didn’t grab, my hand wouldn’t have slipped………”
“Oh……” Shen Xiyan nodded. “So you haven’t realized your mistake at all, or you’re trying to use that innocent look to act cute and get my forgiveness. Do you think that’s possible?”
“Why not? How about this—starting now, you can do whatever you want with my body for five minutes. Once you’re done, you can’t be mad anymore!”
This topic wasn’t suitable to go any deeper—at least, not for them.
So Shen Xiyan changed the subject, taking the phone back and frowning. “Everything auto-saves now. How did you manage to delete it so cleanly?”
Qin Sheng clenched her right hand into a fist, tilted her head, gave herself a light tap, and stuck out her tongue:
“I think I hit ‘select all’ and then deleted and saved?”
“? ? ?”
“Who told you to grab the phone?”
“I spent over ten minutes writing that! You ruined all of it!” Shen Xiyan scolded.
“Why are you so fierce? You only wrote a tiny bit in all that time! I could memorize it just by glancing at it!”
Qin Sheng was unconvinced, righteously saying, “I even gave you my first kiss I saved for sixteen years! Did I complain?!”
Shen Xiyan:
Please, let the world end already!
“Why not write again tomorrow? Just go to sleep tonight?”
“If you want to sleep, go back to your room and sleep. Stop bothering me! OK?”
“How much do you plan to write?”
“I won’t leave if you don’t tell me!”
“Two thousand.”
Qin Sheng pulled an exaggerated face:
“Wow! That must be so tiring!”
Too bad I’m not a full-time novelist, or I’d agree with you.
Authors who write two thousand words a day—readers must all praise them for being diligent, right?
“I’m guilty! I apologize! How about this… Since it’s not that much, I’ll keep you company for a bit~~”
Before Shen Xiyan could say anything, Qin Sheng ran off to the kitchen and poured two cups of plain water, holding them in both hands as she sat down beside him, looking just like a little wife.
“Does my plain boiled water taste good?” Qin Sheng blinked her lashes, looking at him expectantly.
“It’s just plain boiled water, what do you want me to say? Jelly Dew?”
“Then let me show you how—want me to blow it for you?”
Shen Xiyan couldn’t be bothered to respond, just made a casual inviting gesture.
Then, Qin Sheng reached out to pull down his pants.
Shen Xiyan suddenly felt a chill below, grabbing his pants and glaring at Qin Sheng:
“What are you doing?”
“Helping you blow! Didn’t you agree?”
Qin Sheng’s tone was full of righteous conviction, then she lowered her voice, giving him a reproachful look:
“Keep it down, I can hear Aunt in the other room. Just don’t push my head down, I’m afraid I’ll choke.”
“Get out!!!”
“Uuuuu So fierce, so fierce” Qin Sheng fake-cried, but her raised brows and upturned lips gave her away, her heart secretly sweet.
For someone she liked, whether it was praise or scolding, or just having his gaze land on someone else, it all counted as happiness.
Qin Sheng was even more so; after being ignored like that in the afternoon, now even being scolded by Shen Xiyan made her heart burst with joy.
“Once tomorrow’s over, get out of my house immediately, and never come back!”
Qin Sheng didn’t care: “Go say that to Aunt. You still owe me money, you know.”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want it?”
“If you kick me out, then I want it! I’ll have Aunt come get the money, let’s see if you still owe me or not?!”
Shen Xiyan frowned deeply.
Qin Sheng immediately apologized, poking her index fingers together in front of her chest, looking aggrieved:
“I was just joking. Wasn’t it you who scared me first?”
“.Can you just stop bothering me?!” Shen Xiyan was really getting exhausted.
Qin Sheng pouted:
“I don’t want to bother you either, but you were too nice to Lin Ci today, I got jealous.”
“Mm! I did it on purpose.”
Qin Sheng instantly beamed:
“Then I’m relieved.”
“? ? ?”
“If you stayed quiet, or tried to dodge the question, I’d worry you liked her. But if you did it just to make me jealous, why wouldn’t I be happy?”
Shen Xiyan never imagined there was an explanation like that.
“I’m begging you, can you go back to sleep? You’re really annoying!!”
“No class tomorrow, I’m keeping you company.” Qin Sheng sat by the coffee table, turned away in a huff, giving him the back of her head:
“Don’t worry, I’ll leave as soon as you finish writing. If I fall asleep, just wake me up, I can leave on my own. No princess carry tonight.”
“What exactly are you after?”
“Just some peace of mind.”
Qin Sheng lay sprawled on the coffee table, her eyes curving into two crescent moons.
The car accident before had left her with too many shadows.
For a long time, she was afraid to sleep, because when she woke up, her mind would be blank, and she couldn’t accept it when Xiyan wasn’t there.
She’d instinctively reach for him in the next bed, and then sadness would flood her heart.
Now, even if they couldn’t share a bed, it was fine.
Just smelling his scent, listening to his breathing and heartbeat, was so much more fulfilling than any photo.
“……Xiyan, I really, really like you………………”
Shen Xiyan looked helplessly at Qin Sheng, thinking she was pretending again, but realized she was actually asleep.
Was it fake sleep?
No, if it was fake, her eyelids would still be moving.
On the coffee table, Qin Sheng lay with her head on her arms, her face peaceful, sleeping especially soundly.