On the first floor, after going downstairs, Old Lin drank the entire cup of honey water in one go. Then he took out his phone and dutifully began reporting.
【AAA Old Lin】Old Master!!! Big news!!!
【AAA Old Lin】The two of them are staying in the same room tonight!!
【AAA Old Lin】[Cheers to our friendship.jpg]
【Qin Jianye】Really? That brat isn’t trying to fool me, is he?
【AAA Old Lin】Probably not! When I went upstairs, I saw them hugging each other. Very sweet!
Five minutes later—
Qin Zexi hung up Qin Jianye’s urging-to-marry phone call. From the barrage of complaints about how his brother had already done this and that while he hadn’t, he accurately extracted one key piece of information.
His brother and sister-in-law were staying in the same room tonight, and they had even hugged and kissed.
Another five minutes later—
Shao Siheng and Meng Yu heard from Qin Zexi that his brother and sister-in-law were staying in the same room tonight, hugging and kissing, even to the point that his sister-in-law’s lips had been bitten.
As for why Xu Xiao and Lin Jingcheng weren’t informed, it was probably because of Qin Zexi’s trust in Meng Yu. Within five minutes, those two would definitely hear about it anyway.
The next morning, Qin Zelin had a dream. In the dream, he was swimming when suddenly someone threw a stone at his chest.
A suffocating feeling came over him, and he abruptly opened his eyes, only to see the culprit.
“………”
With difficulty, Qin Zelin shifted his neck and frowned, looking at Cen Miao’s sleeping position in confusion.
Both hands were tucked behind his back, his head buried against Qin Zelin’s chest, his butt sticking up.
One leg was bent at the knee.
The other leg was stretched straight, kicking forcefully outward as if he didn’t even want it anymore.
“……..” What kind of herniated-disk sleeping position was this?
“Cen Miao, wake up.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the leg pressing on him moved.
Qin Zelin reached out and pushed his shoulder, his voice hoarse. “Cen Miao?”
“Mm,” Cen Miao responded vaguely, shifting as he slowly withdrew the leg wrapped around Qin Zelin.
He sat up for less than three seconds before sticking his butt up again and collapsing face-first onto the bed.
Like a black sesame glutinous rice ball with its filling spilling out, he flopped back down, soft and limp.
“Dad~ let me sleep a little longer,” Cen Miao said, his head buried in the bed, his voice muffled and slightly clingy.
He remembered that according to Assistant Fang’s investigation, Cen Miao’s adoptive parents hadn’t treated him well. So that sticky “Dad” definitely wasn’t because he had mistaken him for someone from the Cen family.
Then there was only one possibility—he had watched those messy things again…
Qin Zelin gritted his teeth as he got up. “Cen Miao, didn’t I tell you not to watch those random nonsense videos anymore?”
“So noisy,” Cen Miao muttered, pulling the blanket over his head and wrapping himself into a ball.
Seeing how unresponsive he was, Qin Zelin rubbed his temples and went to the bathroom first to wash up.
An hour later, when Qin Zelin came out of the gym room and returned to the bedroom to change, the clothes Assistant Fang had ordered the day before—those that weren’t custom-made—had already been delivered early in the morning. Old Lin and two maids were helping to organize them.
“Uncle Lin, these clothes are Cen Miao’s, not mine.”
Old Lin smiled and nodded. “Mm-hmm, I know! You specially bought these for Madam!”
Qin Zelin: “……. I just thought his clothes were poor quality and too thin.”
Old Lin: “Mm-hmm, I know, I know. You care about Madam the most!”
Qin Zelin: “………”
“Uncle Lin, send his clothes to his room.”
Old Lin: …………? They were already sharing a bed, and he was still being so formal!
“Xiao Li, Xiao Zhang, you’ve hung everything up, right? If you’re done, go downstairs,” Old Lin said, sneaking a glance at Qin Zelin before holding his waist. “Ah, my back. I’m getting old—I really can’t handle this anymore. I’ll head downstairs first, Young Master.”
“Oh right, Madam has class this morning. You should hurry and wake him up,” Old Lin added before leaving quickly, clutching his back with a pained expression but moving surprisingly fast.
“Lin—”
Qin Zelin: ……
In the wardrobe, one side held his clothes—structured, neatly tailored, and in simple colors.
The other side held Cen Miao’s clothes. Qin Zelin glanced over them—hoods with rabbit ears, bear ears… he suspected Fang Huan was trying to open a zoo in his house.
In the bedroom, Cen Miao lay there with both arms flung above his head, still asleep.
Qin Zelin stepped forward and nudged him. “Get up. You have class this morning.”
“Cen Miao?”
“Cen Miao?”
“…….”
Qin Zelin paused for a moment, then tried tentatively, “Auntie Wang baked bread and made fresh strawberry jam.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the person on the bed sat up.
One eye half-open, his face full of drowsiness, Cen Miao’s voice was thick with sleep. “R-really?”
After a brief silence, Qin Zelin responded with a simple “Mm,” his tone not revealing much satisfaction at finally getting him out of bed.
After breakfast, Cen Miao put on the newly bought alpaca wool down jacket, with two soft rabbit ears hanging from the hood.
Standing at the entrance while changing shoes, Qin Zelin quietly reached out and gave the ears a squeeze. The corner of his lips unconsciously curved upward—the texture felt surprisingly nice.
When he turned his head, he saw Old Lin standing at the kitchen doorway, wearing the exact same knowing smile as last night.
“……..”
The faint smile on Qin Zelin’s lips instantly disappeared. He raised his fist to his mouth and coughed lightly in embarrassment.
Cen Miao still rode his little electric scooter to school, but compared to yesterday, there was now an extra cartoon windproof blanket—something Old Lin had urgently gone out to buy after failing to persuade him otherwise.
After the first class ended, just as Cheng Cheng was about to go chat with Cen Miao, he was called away by the counselor.
When he came back, his face carried a hint of worry. “Hey, the counselor asked you to go to his office. I’ll go with you.”
“Oh, okay.”
In the office, the counselor spoke gently, asking Cen Miao to sit first. After a pause, he carefully began.
“Cen Miao, you probably already know your exam results. I just contacted your guardians, and they… said they will no longer be responsible for your matters. Can you tell me what happened?”
After a long while, Cen Miao still didn’t respond.
Seeing his troubled expression, the counselor gently shook his head, his voice becoming even softer. “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it. Besides them, is there any other family member we can contact?”
Cen Miao remembered what Assistant Fang had said before—that he could reach out anytime if something happened. He nodded at the counselor.
“Yes.”
At the top floor of Huanyu, inside the meeting room, the atmosphere was calm and solemn.
The phone in Fang Huan’s pocket suddenly vibrated. He glanced at the screen, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes.
After only a few seconds of hesitation, he neither pressed hang up nor continued the meeting. Instead, he quietly stood up and walked out of the room.
It was as if, somewhere deep down, he had a premonition.
If he ignored this call now, his future might very well come to an end.