A few minutes earlier.
Gu Qianshi really had no way to deal with this cousin of his, Chen Leyan. With Qiao Qingman’s feelings for him being so intense, could Chen Leyan really not see it?
But since he had already given his warning, if Chen Leyan still insisted on sinking deeper, then it was no longer his responsibility.
Gu Qianshi no longer cared whether Chen Leyan would continue staying at the Qiao residence. After finishing what needed to be said, he turned and walked toward the door, determined that no matter what, he would make Qiao Qingman calm down today.
He had no spare time to pay attention to Qiao Qingman, nor did he have the patience to play her so-called “playing hard to get” games.
However, just as he reached the villa entrance, Chen Leyan chased after him.
“Brother.”
Chen Leyan grabbed Gu Qianshi’s wrist, his expression more serious than it had ever been.
Gu Qianshi looked calmly at his cousin. Seeing Chen Leyan tense yet without a trace of hesitation, he heard him say, “Brother, you… you should let her go.”
Let her go?
Gu Qianshi frowned, disbelief flashing through his eyes. “Chen Leyan, do you know what you’re saying?”
Chen Leyan was telling him to let Qiao Qingman go? Shouldn’t those words be said to Qiao Qingman instead?
If Qiao Qingman would let him go, he wouldn’t even need to come here.
Besides, he didn’t come here to pester her. He came here to resolve Qiao Qingman’s pestering of him.
His cousin Chen Leyan, with that love-brained mindset, really didn’t understand anything.
Gu Qianshi cast a cold glance at the wrist being gripped by his cousin. Impatience and anger had already crept into his voice.
“Chen Leyan, let go.”
He didn’t care what Chen Leyan’s ultimate purpose was in coming to Qiao Qingman’s place today, nor did he care whether Chen Leyan truly liked Qiao Qingman, or how much.
Interfering with his handling of Qiao Qingman, this troublesome woman, was unacceptable.
But when he met his cousin’s resolute and unwavering gaze, filled with a pure and intense love for the girl he cherished, Gu Qianshi ultimately could not bring himself to ruthlessly shove his cousin away.
He closed his eyes deeply.
After a moment, he spoke helplessly and heavily, “Chen Leyan, wait.”
Chen Leyan froze. His grip on Gu Qianshi’s wrist loosened, and Gu Qianshi broke free.
Not caring about anything else, Chen Leyan asked worriedly, as if sensing something, “Brother, what are you planning to do?”
Gu Qianshi looked at his cousin with frustration and disappointment.
After a moment of silence, he signaled for Chen Leyan to turn on his Bluetooth earpiece, then strode out decisively.
All of Qiao Qingman’s past actions replayed one by one in Gu Qianshi’s mind. Combined with her barely restrained excitement when they met today, followed by the deliberately nonchalant attitude she tried to display, and then recalling Chen Leyan’s words, Gu Qianshi knew he had to resolve this matter today.
Otherwise, his cousin Chen Leyan would truly believe that he was the one clinging to Qiao Qingman and refusing to let go.
When that happened, who would he even argue his case to?
However, a few minutes later, Gu Qianshi stood at the villa gate, looking at the empty space where there was no one except his own car and another vehicle. He froze slightly.
Where was Qiao Qingman?
Didn’t they agree to talk in his car?
Where had Qiao Qingman gone?
At that moment, Chen Leyan’s tentative voice came through the earpiece. “Hello? Brother, can you hear me?”
“Brother, Qiao Qingman is just a girl. Don’t be too harsh on her, okay?”
Gu Qianshi, who had originally planned to expose Qiao Qingman’s true colors through certain means in front of his cousin, and then take the opportunity to completely make things clear with her, said, “…Shut up.”
Don’t be too harsh on her?
He couldn’t even see where Qiao Qingman was, all right?
Gu Qianshi shut off the call with Chen Leyan in irritation. He prepared to call Qiao Qingman to question her about why she wasn’t waiting by his car, only to realize that he didn’t have her phone number at all.
Even on WeChat, after being endlessly pestered by her pursuit, he had unilaterally blocked and deleted her.
He considered asking Chen Leyan, but after dialing the number, he ended the call again.
Everyone knew he despised Qiao Qingman, and he had even told Chen Leyan that he would make him see the truth clearly. How could he turn around now and ask him for Qiao Qingman’s phone number? That would be slapping himself in the face.
Not just Chen Leyan. He couldn’t open his mouth to anyone.
Gu Qianshi clenched his phone tightly, his deep eyes icy cold.
“Qiao Qingman, what trick are you trying to pull now?” Gu Qianshi muttered to himself, his voice low and chilling.
He couldn’t understand it. Didn’t Qiao Qingman just want to see him? Then why had she vanished without a trace now?
Even playing hard to get should have its limits, shouldn’t it?
Wait. When he came, he only drove one car. So whose car was the other one outside the villa?
Gu Qianshi unconsciously stepped toward that vehicle.
And inside the car that Gu Qianshi was steadily approaching, Qiao Qingman was being slowly and thoroughly consumed by the man she believed to be the male lead.
The man’s kiss was as soft and lingering as ever. A tingling, gentle warmth spread across her tongue; their breaths entwined. Dizzy, Qiao Qingman thought, why was this kiss lasting so long this time? Didn’t the male lead usually release her after kissing for a while?
She was almost unable to breathe.
No, the male lead hadn’t taken the initiative to let go. Come to think of it, most of the time, wasn’t it she who broke free?
Regaining a trace of clarity, Qiao Qingman tried to push the man away.
But her strength was insufficient, and perhaps her momentary distraction irritated him. The man’s movements, once gentle and meticulous as if savoring a delicacy, suddenly grew intense.
While she seemed to catch a human silhouette in the corner of her vision, the man shifted slightly to the side, blocking her line of sight.
As a result, all of her senses were completely engulfed by the man holding her and kissing her.
Qiao Qingman was on the verge of losing her breath. Just before her mind sank fully into chaos, her teeth trembled, and she accidentally bit the man’s lip.
A faint taste of blood instantly spread in her mouth. Qiao Qingman’s breathing hitched. She wanted to seize this chance to push the man away, but he held her down instead, hooking her soft tongue tip and deepening the kiss.
The fresh sweetness of blood intertwined between them. Warm sunlight streamed through the car window, and the kiss inexplicably turned lush and fervent.
Outside the car window, Gu Qianshi saw a tall, broad back dressed in dark, ink-colored fabric, holding a girl tightly in his arms.
What they were doing was self-evident.
He hurriedly turned away, his cheeks heating up from the sense of intrusion.
He also could not understand why young people these days always liked kissing at the entrance of someone else’s home.
Gu Qianshi quickened his steps toward his own car. Thinking that he had actually suspected Qiao Qingman of being in someone else’s car, he felt that he had truly lost his mind.
Even if Qiao Qingman got into the wrong car, there was no way she would be passionately kissing another man.
Gu Qianshi did not want to stay any longer. At the same time, he decided that no matter what Qiao Qingman did from now on, he would no longer give her any response.
Moments later, he drove away at full speed.
At the same time, Qiao Qingman, who had almost lost the ability to breathe from the kiss, was finally released by the man.
Her head felt dizzy, her cheeks were burning hot, and her lips were tingling and numb. She stared into the man’s eyes, misty and unfocused.
This time, the male lead had kissed her for far too long, hadn’t he? Was he making up for yesterday?
So was he on a single rest day or a double rest day?
Before she could think further, Qiao Qingman, whose consciousness had recovered just a little, hurriedly confirmed with the system: [When the male lead kisses me on his own initiative, doesn’t that count as completing the task? Why wasn’t there any notification?]
The system, which had been too shocked at the moment Qiao Qingman was kissed by Gu Qingshan to broadcast in time and had only just recovered all its functions: […Huh? No, no, it doesn’t count.]
Strictly speaking, it should count. But if it said it “counted,” wouldn’t that be admitting to the host that the system had yet another bug?
That absolutely would not do. It would be far too embarrassing.
Anyway, kissing twice on the same day was not a problem, right?
Unaware of the system’s roundabout thinking and already starting to feel sleepy, Qiao Qingman: […]
Fine then. She could only kiss back herself.
Qiao Qingman took a deep breath. Forget cooperation or anything else. She cupped the man’s face and suddenly kissed him.
When she heard the system notification sound in her mind: [Day seven kiss, check-in successful.] Qiao Qingman finally relaxed.
Since they had already kissed, completing the task was the most important thing.
But why was she already so sleepy after just kissing for a bit? Her eyelids were starting to droop.
Strange. Last time, she had not felt sleepy after kissing. And the system had said that kissing the male lead would not make her drowsy.
Could it be that only when the male lead kissed her would she feel sleepy? Or did it require both of them kissing each other before the drowsiness set in?
Maybe the degree of sleepiness even changed depending on how long the two of them kissed?
But then, how could that explain the night she sneaked into Rongjing Villa, when she kissed the sleepwalking male lead one-sidedly and still felt sleepy?
Qiao Qingman was completely confused.
No matter which explanation it was, she had to properly talk to him about the issue of “cooperation” before her thoughts became completely muddled.
She forced her eyes wide open and even secretly pinched herself.
She did not know whether it was from pain or sleepiness, but physiological tears immediately welled up.
Qiao Qingman stared straight at the man in front of her and complained pitifully, “Gu Qianshi, why did you kiss me?”
Even though she had been the one to kiss him first before, today it was the male lead who took the initiative.
Seeing that the man did not answer, only frowning slightly as he stared at her deeply, Qiao Qingman, so sleepy that she could fall asleep at any second, no longer cared about any negotiation tactics. She laid everything bare directly.
“Aren’t you very disgusted with me? Haven’t you always said you don’t believe me whenever I say I like you? Then what are you doing? Why did you kiss me? And you even kissed me for so long…”
At the same time, she thought that the male lead was really too much. The moment he arrived, he kissed her for so long and made her this sleepy. How was she supposed to talk properly?
But at the very moment he took the initiative to kiss her, it truly was the best time to ask questions.
The opportunity was simply too rare.
Hearing this, a trace of sharpness brushed almost imperceptibly across the man’s dark eyes.
His cold lips parted slightly. “Then why does Miss Qiao kiss me repeatedly?”
Whether intentional or not, the man deliberately emphasized the word “repeatedly.”
Qiao Qingman: “? Because I like you. I’ve said it many times. I like you. That’s why every time I see you, I can’t help wanting to kiss you.”
Let’s see how you answer that.
Unexpectedly, the man only nodded slightly and let out a very low “Mm.”
Other than that, he said nothing more.
Qiao Qingman: “?”
“Mm”? Just an “mm”?
What did that mean? Not even a perfunctory explanation?
So aloof? So lacking in sincerity?
Even though she was the one who wanted to “cooperate” unilaterally, this was still too discouraging.
Qiao Qingman’s mind was already starting to turn to mush. Sleepy tears kept pooling at the corners of her eyes.
Unwilling to give up, she asked again, “So why did you kiss me? Do you know that if you don’t like me, kissing me like that will make me feel like there’s hope? Gu Qianshi, be honest. Are you… also a little bit in love with me?”
Qiao Qingman spoke with absolute conviction.
At the same time, she waited nervously, hoping the male lead would refute her.
She knew the male lead did not like her. Provoked like this, he might very well say something unexpected.
What she did not realize was that the way she looked now, tears shimmering in her eyes, appeared completely different in the eyes of the man opposite her.
Outside the car window, the sunlight was intense. Mottled light and the thick glass blocked most of the heat, and the light that fell on Qiao Qingman alternated between bright and dim, softening as it did so.
The girl’s eyes, filled with crystalline mist, tilted upward slightly, as if starlight had been scattered within them, shimmering faintly.
Her long lashes, curled and lifted, were damp. Her cheeks were flushed an unnatural red from being kissed too hard, and her clean, sweet lips were pressed tightly together.
She looked utterly pitiful.
A faint ripple passed through Gu Qingshan’s clear, cold eyes.
Time seemed to fall into stillness at this moment, and an inexplicably oppressive air circulated silently between them.
Qiao Qingman was still a little dazed. Why did she feel a chill creeping over her body?
A tall shadow suddenly fell over her.
The man leaned in. A vaguely dangerous aura rushed toward her head-on.
Immediately after, the man’s low voice, laced with danger, sounded by her ear. “So when I kiss you, it makes you like Gu Qianshi even more?”
Qiao Qingman froze, her mind going blank for a moment.
Meeting the man’s deep, shadowed gaze, she swallowed unconsciously and let out an instinctive, “Huh?”
Once she understood what he meant, Qiao Qingman could not help frowning.
Gu Qianshi was saying that being kissed by him would make her like him even more? Of course not.
Was this male lead really that narcissistic?
But in order to draw him out, this was precisely the moment she needed to maintain her persona of being deeply in love with him.
Qiao Qingman immediately restrained her true emotions and nodded seriously. “Yes, yes. Every time you kiss me, I like you a little more. The more you kiss me, the more I like you.”
Yet unexpectedly, the moment these seemingly affectionate words left her mouth, the man did not look pleased at all. The gaze that fell on her instead grew increasingly cold.
As if she had said something utterly outrageous.
Qiao Qingman was confused.
Then, in an instant, she understood his meaning. If the male lead truly had to kiss her in order to complete some task that even the system could not detect, then of course he would not want her to fall deeper and deeper in love with him.
Did that mean she was one step closer to achieving her goal of having a cooperative partner?
Oh yes!
But the way she tried to suppress her excitement was glaringly obvious in the eyes of the man opposite her.
Like “you” even more? Like you more and more?
Gu Qingshan was so angry at Qiao Qingman’s words that he nearly laughed.
Qiao Qingman had no idea who was actually kissing her. How could she talk about “liking more,” or “liking even more”?
Taking a step back, if he had not come here today, Qiao Qingman would not have hesitated at all to kiss his brother, Gu Qianshi.
She would not even know that someone like him existed.
The moment this thought surfaced in his mind, a layer of unmistakable darkness crept into the man’s deep eyes.
Yet the girl in front of him, completely unaware of danger, pressed on. “Gu Qianshi, do you really not like me at least a tiny bit?”
Qiao Qingman was almost unable to suppress the excitement in her heart.
She kept urging inwardly, hurry, hurry, male lead, say it. Say everything you dislike and resent about me.
Then she could ask in return: since you hate me so much, why do you still kiss me? Why give me pointless hope? Is it fun to toy with me like this?
Qiao Qingman stared eagerly at the male lead in her eyes, wishing she could kiss him again to push things further, determined to completely dismantle the mental defenses the man had painstakingly built before kissing her.
But she was getting more and more sleepy. So sleepy that even when she pinched her own thigh hard again, she could not feel any pain.
Afraid that another kiss would make her collapse straight onto the man and fall asleep, Qiao Qingman was struggling over how to regain some energy to deal with whatever came next when she saw the man lower his gaze slightly. At some point, his eyes had returned to their usual indifference. He glanced at the hand Qiao Qingman was using to pinch her thigh and lifted his eyes casually. “This is what Miss Qiao calls ‘liking’?”
“Huh? What do you mea—”
Before she could finish speaking, Qiao Qingman followed the man’s gaze downward and realized awkwardly that she had been so sleepy she had pinched the wrong person.
No wonder she did not feel any pain no matter how hard she pinched.
It turned out she had been pinching the male lead’s thigh the whole time.
Qiao Qingman immediately withdrew her hand.
A guilty wave of heat surged up, mixing into her already barely holding on energy and spirit. Qiao Qingman’s mind was completely muddled.
She blinked hard, then blinked hard again, barely forcing herself to stay alert. Only then did she look awkwardly at the male lead in her eyes. “Sorry, sorry. I, I didn’t mean it. I just saw you come to find me and got too, too excited… Um, I’ll head back home first. See you tomorrow.”
She immediately pushed the door open, got out of the car, and hurried into the villa.
No, no, she really could not hold on anymore.
If she did not run now, she might actually fall asleep in the male lead’s car, or even end up collapsing straight onto him.
She was absolutely certain that, given the male lead’s dog-like persona of never being nice to her when he was not doing tasks, this man might very well toss her straight out of the car.
That would be way too embarrassing.
If the household aunt saw it and reported it to her parents, her parents would definitely do everything they could to stop her from seeing Gu Qianshi again. Then how was she supposed to continue the later plot?
How was she supposed to protect herself? Protect her parents?
Ugh. It was all that dog male lead’s fault. He came over and immediately kissed her nonstop, treating her like some kind of life-sustaining machine?
Somewhere else, the real male lead Gu Qianshi, who was driving away from the Qiao family villa while in a foul mood, inexplicably sneezed.
Back at the Qiao family villa.
Qiao Qingman ran all the way back inside the villa.
She had been in too much of a hurry and completely forgot that the thing she had been eagerly anticipating still had not been resolved at all.
Inside the car, Gu Qingshan watched the girl’s slender, anxious yet unsteady figure gradually disappear from view. He raised his hand and lightly touched his lips.
Today, Qiao Qingman seemed more eager to leave him than at any previous time.
So eager that… she did not even notice her phone charm falling off?
Gu Qingshan picked up the small phone charm from the passenger seat and recalled everything that had happened today.
The kiss Qiao Qingman gave him was the same as the previous few times. A light, fleeting touch, gone as soon as it landed, without the slightest emotion in it.
Rather than a kiss, it was more like… completing a task.
A task?
Everything from the past few days replayed in the man’s mind.
Then he thought about how Qiao Qingman had been so sleepy just now that she had to pinch herself to stay awake, yet still insisted on confirming again why he had kissed her…
Could it be that Qiao Qingman really had no choice, for some reason, but to kiss his brother? And that she also had to confirm why his brother was kissing her?
Also, Qiao Qingman had clearly been energetic before their kiss, and then became sleepy afterward.
Could their kiss really make Qiao Qingman so drowsy?
How could that be?
Gu Qingshan had never seen anyone become sleepy from kissing someone.
But then again, he had also never seen someone whose entire life had been devoid of taste and pain suddenly gain sensations like a normal person in every kiss afterward.
Savoring the lingering sweetness in his mouth, a complex flicker passed through the man’s clear eyes.
For a very long time now, he had stopped caring about anyone or anything, except for Gu Qianshi, the brother he had never met, and…
That father, in the biological sense, who had cast darkness over his entire life.
Gu Qingshan’s cold, pale fingers tapped against the steering wheel, once after another.
The icy steering wheel, under the man’s warm, dry fingertips, gradually took on a faint warmth.
“Qiao Qingman,” Gu Qingshan murmured the name softly.
He recalled the differences this Miss Qiao had brought to him, along with his most recent medical examination report.
The report showed that the indicators related to his previously nonexistent sense of pain and taste had not shown any obvious changes.
In fact, aside from Qiao Qingman, no person and no event had ever been able to make him feel even the most basic sensations of pain and taste like a normal person.
Qiao Qingman. What exactly was so special about her?
And it was precisely because of this unknown kind of specialness that the number of people he could now pay attention to seemed to have increased by one.
He wanted to see for himself what Qiao Qingman’s true objective was.
What exactly was the matter between her and his brother that made kissing something unavoidable between them.
Or rather… a task?
And also, why was it that every time after he kissed her, Qiao Qingman would always become so sleepy that her eyes would turn red, to the point of even shedding tears?
Ever since his return, Gu Qingshan had liked everything to be fully under his control.
And Qiao Qingman, although she was the only trace of difference in his bleak, colorless life, was also the only exception that had slipped beyond his control.
He did not like exceptions.
What was more, this exception also had an indescribable, entangled connection with his brother.
But before that…
Feeling that the faint pain in his thigh was still lingering, Gu Qingshan took a bottle of bitter gourd–flavored coffee that Qiao Qingman had once drunk from the car refrigerator and took a sip.
Sure enough, there was basically no taste, except for that faint trace of sweetness he experienced when kissing Qiao Qingman, which stood out as especially clear.
In just a few short minutes, the unfamiliar, turbulent, and gloomy emotions that had been surging in the man’s body earlier had completely dissipated, fully covered up by this multitude of questions.
Thinking of her so-called “liking” remarks, as well as that “see you tomorrow,” Gu Qingshan let out a soundless scoff and put down the coffee.
As expected, Qiao Qingman planned to kiss Gu Qianshi once every day.
It seemed that keeping an eye on Gu Qianshi was indeed very necessary.
At that moment, he sensed a faint, ill-intentioned gaze landing on him.
Following the feeling, Gu Qingshan looked over and, unsurprisingly, met a pair of somewhat familiar yet sinister eyes.
The two locked eyes across the distance. Between them, some invisible, oppressive force flowed, like a sharp blade slicing through the distant yet brief stillness of the air.
Very quickly, the other party, who had never expected Gu Qingshan to look over, panicked and withdrew his gaze. The ruthlessness in his eyes also faded away.
But in that instant, Gu Qingshan still clearly saw the man.
It was Chen Leyan?
Gu Qianshi’s cousin, Chen Leyan?
Why was he here?
And after being discovered, the other party turned around and walked back into the house.
Chen Leyan could actually enter and exit the Qiao residence freely?
When had his relationship with Qiao Qingman become this close?
If he remembered correctly, just a few days ago at the entrance of the bar, Qiao Qingman had rejected Chen Leyan’s “kindness” without the slightest hesitation.
Catching that Chen Leyan’s gaze cast at him had been far too gloomy, Gu Qingshan unconsciously tightened his grip on the steering wheel. A thick, profound coldness surfaced in his deep eyes.
Chen Leyan’s hostility toward him was not insignificant.
“Bzzz…”
A burst of urgent phone vibration sounded. Gu Qingshan picked up his phone and saw that the caller ID was Secretary Jiang.
Gu Qingshan answered the call, and Secretary Jiang’s cautious voice reached his ear.
“President Gu, there’s a problem with a project in the southern part of the city…”
Hearing this, Gu Qingshan withdrew the gaze he had fixed in Chen Leyan’s direction.
He glanced once more at Qiao Qingman’s phone charm in his hand and instructed into the phone, “There’s something I need you to handle.”
He started the car and drove away from the Qiao residence.
Then, at a certain intersection, he turned the steering wheel decisively in another direction.
On the other side.
After returning to the villa, Qiao Qingman hurried straight to the second floor, her mind filled entirely with thoughts of embracing her bed.
Just as she was about to push open the bedroom door, a man’s voice, urgent and tinged with hurt, suddenly sounded behind her.
“Miss Qiao? You…”
Miss Qiao? Who was calling her?
Qiao Qingman reflexively turned around and saw Chen Leyan standing honestly in the living room, waiting for her.
Chen Leyan?
Only then did Qiao Qingman suddenly remember that before she went out, she had told the key figure for the small subplot she needed to go through this time, the chef Chen Leyan, to wait at home for her to come back and continue learning to cook.
But now she was so sleepy she could barely stand, so there was naturally no way she could continue learning to cook.
Qiao Qingman truly had no energy to deal with it. Before Chen Leyan could speak, she hurriedly said, “Sorry, Chef Chen. I probably can’t continue learning to cook with you today. Because I’m too sleepy… Ah, no, I mean… um, I’m really sorry. Something special came up suddenly, so I had to let Chef Chen make a wasted trip. This is my responsibility, so you absolutely can’t refund the tuition.”
Afraid that Chen Leyan would refuse to accept the money again, Qiao Qingman hurriedly added, “Tomorrow! Tomorrow I’ll definitely study properly. You must make sure to keep the tuition.”
“Well then, I won’t see you out.”
After saying that last sentence, Qiao Qingman forced herself to keep conscious, turned around, pushed open the door, and collapsed onto the bed.
Instant sleep, without even remembering to take off her shoes.
Leaving only Chen Leyan in the living room on the first floor, staring at the tightly shut door on the second floor. He recalled how, not long ago, when the girl had said “sorry” to him, her eyes had been watery, and also the scene he had been unable to resist witnessing when he went to the balcony window: Qiao Qingman actively kissing Gu Qianshi inside the car, and not only did the other party not dodge, he even accepted Qiao Qingman’s kiss with open eyes and an expressionless face.
And after that? After that, the two of them looked at each other, chatting for quite a while in a fairly harmonious atmosphere.
Until, for some reason, Qiao Qingman pushed open the car door and got out to go home, while Gu Qianshi inside the car continued to follow her figure with his gaze.
“Chen Leyan, next, you’d better listen carefully. The Qiao Qingman you think has already given up on me, what kind of person is she really?”
The words Gu Qianshi had said to him with such certainty before leaving kept replaying in his mind.
Heh—
Gu Qianshi!
This was what his cousin had meant by letting him see how Qiao Qingman was devoted to him?
This was what his dear cousin wanted him to see? To make sure he personally witnessed it, he had even deliberately turned off the Bluetooth earpiece?
He had trusted him so much.
Chen Leyan pressed his lips together tightly. The once downcast eyes now sank into a cold, gloomy darkness.
Gu Qianshi—
Very good. You are really very good!
Knowing full well that he liked Qiao Qingman, yet still so brazenly trampling and kneading his genuine feelings?
Out of the corner of his eye, seeing that there were no household aunts around, Chen Leyan looked toward the tightly closed door on the second floor. He lifted his foot and tentatively walked toward the staircase.
Just as he reached the stairs and was about to step onto the first step, his calf suddenly hurt, as if something had struck it.
Chen Leyan lost his balance and pitched forward. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and grabbed the stair railing at the side, otherwise he would have fallen.
Because of this brief interruption, Chen Leyan noticed that Aunt Zhuang, who had been outside, pushed the door open and walked in.
She was also looking down at something in her hand that looked like a little kitten charm, her eyes filled with confusion.
He unobtrusively retreated back to the middle of the living room corridor.
When she drew closer, Chen Leyan heard Aunt Zhuang mutter the last sentence to herself, “That’s strange. How did that Mr. Gu know this was the young lady’s phone charm? And he just happened to pick it up?”
Aunt Zhuang’s voice was very soft, but Chen Leyan still heard it.
His attention could not help but fall on that little kitten charm.
He had not spent long with Qiao Qingman, so he did not know whether this was her phone charm.
Yet Gu Qianshi had actually obtained this charm?
No, not obtained.
Perhaps when the two of them were kissing in the car, Qiao Qingman had accidentally dropped it in Gu Qianshi’s car.
Chen Leyan clenched his hands behind his back tightly.
The veins on the back of his long hands bulged.
On the surface, however, he stepped forward to greet Aunt Zhuang and said with a gentle expression, “Aunt Zhuang, Miss Qiao just said she has a special situation today and can’t continue learning to cook. But I think that since I’ve accepted the tuition, I naturally can’t be perfunctory.”
“How about this. I’ll prepare lunch next?”
Aunt Zhuang had thought Chen Leyan was about to leave and had been regretting that she could not properly learn some cooking skills from this great chef. Hearing this suddenly, she immediately tossed the matter of the phone charm to the back of her mind.
“That would be wonderful. Thank you, Chef Chen.”
“You’re welcome. It’s what I should do,” Chen Leyan said with a slight smile.
At an angle Aunt Zhuang could not see, the man lowered his lashes. A trace of dark, sinister amusement flashed through his eyes, then quickly receded.
There were still one or two hours before lunchtime. He did not believe he would not be able to find any opportunity to get close to Qiao Qingman, even just a little.