Gu Qingshan?
Qiao Qingman stood there in a daze, the tingling sensation brought by the man’s warm breath still lingering by her ear.
Recalling what he had said and meeting the man’s clear and profound gaze, Qiao Qingman repeated with a bewildered expression, “Gu Qingshan?”
Gu Qianshi said his name was “Gu Qingshan”?
Had she misheard? Or had the male lead misspoken?
Then she saw the man nod slightly at her in an unhurried manner, as if confirming that this was his real name.
Qiao Qingman blinked blankly, feeling as though her brain was no longer sufficient to process anything. “?”
What was going on?
Wasn’t the male lead called Gu Qianshi? Who was Gu Qingshan?
Could it be that the system had omitted some important information again and failed to tell her?
Qiao Qingman’s heart tightened. She even ignored how inappropriate her standing posture with the man in front of her might have been and immediately asked the system in her mind, [System, isn’t the male lead called “Gu Qianshi”? Hurry and explain.]
In response, the system was equally bewildered.
After searching through everything, there was absolutely no name “Gu Qingshan” in the book.
Could it be that when the technicians fixed the plot, some earth-shattering bug had appeared yet again?
No way, right?
A single book, bugs constantly appearing, and the higher-ups’ technical ability still not up to standard… this was exhausting!
The system composed itself for a moment before forcing its tone to sound more normal. […Host, I’ll report this to my superiors immediately.]
But whether the higher-ups could provide a correct or reasonable explanation was not something it could decide.
After that, one person and one system fell into a brief silence.
Unfortunately, there was still a man standing in front of Qiao Qingman, waiting for her reaction.
So, under normal circumstances, what should a person do in this kind of situation? Should she first agree with him to appease him? Or should she directly question him?
For example: “Weren’t you called Gu Qianshi? Why are you suddenly called ‘Gu Qingshan’? How many names do you actually have?”
The system’s tentative voice sounded again in her mind. [Host, could this be… the male lead’s nickname?]
The system thought: Anyway, it definitely couldn’t be the mysterious villain big shot.
That was a mysterious villain big shot. How could he possibly look exactly the same as the male lead?
Could it be that Gu Qianshi suppressed himself and, out of sheer boredom, engaged in some role-playing?
And the role he chose to play was the most mysterious villain big shot in the book, the villain big shot who had nearly driven his own company into bankruptcy?
How idle would he have to be?
Although when it searched, it did discover that in the entire book, only that mysterious villain big shot had no name.
But he was a mysterious villain big shot. Wasn’t it even more mysterious for him not to have a name?
The system felt that its line of reasoning was very sound.
As for Qiao Qingman, she almost thought she had misheard. [Huh? The male lead’s nickname?]
What kind of nonsense was that?
However, given the tacit kissing relationship between her and the male lead, was the male lead using a “nickname” to pass her a signal that belonged exclusively to the two of them?
Otherwise, like what she had done a few minutes ago, if she kissed him in public and loudly called out the male lead’s name, then given the male lead’s status, it would indeed cause unnecessary trouble.
It was the same reasoning as why the male lead had not kissed her back on the spot today.
It seemed…
Somehow reasonable.
The more Qiao Qingman thought about it, the more she felt that this must be the case. Otherwise, there was simply no way to explain why the male lead had asked her to call him by the name “Gu Qingshan.”
Thinking about how she had just boldly asked the man for a kiss in order to verify the root cause of her drowsiness, she suddenly realized that if it really was the man’s kiss that caused her to feel sleepy, then wouldn’t she have to…
Endure the drowsiness painfully and drive home?
Meeting the man’s usual deep gaze, Qiao Qingman finally came back to her senses. She gave a slightly guilty smile, her brows and eyes curving, her expression sincere. “Gu Qianshan, right? Ah no, Gu Qingshan, right? I’ll remember it. Um, I suddenly remembered I still have something to do. How about I go find you tonight?”
They could talk tonight. They could talk tonight.
With that, she turned around, intending to leave as quickly as possible.
Anyway, she had completed today’s kissing task. As for discussing cooperation or anything like that, she would wait until the system’s higher-ups gave a definite answer before talking about it.
However, before her feet had even moved, the large palm resting on the back of Qiao Qingman’s head applied slight pressure. Immediately after, the man’s scorching kiss descended on her without giving her any chance to resist.
The man’s lips were soft and warm. The instant their four lips met, he used the tip of his tongue to pry open her teeth. The kiss was gentle and moist, yet aggressive in its momentum, dense and lingering, as though he were savoring a delicacy and drawing from her tongue.
That familiar fresh scent also filled Qiao Qingman’s heart with increasing dominance.
Qiao Qingman’s breathing tightened.
Her whole body shuddered violently, as if an electric current had passed through her.
Threads of heat rose in her chest, and Qiao Qingman’s thoughts involuntarily grew more and more muddled.
Suddenly, there were footsteps nearby, accompanied by the sound of companions talking to each other. Qiao Qingman, whose mind was gradually going blank, jolted awake.
She forcefully pushed the man away. What met her eyes was the man’s pronounced, sensual collarbones, which happened to roll slightly.
And then, the faint drowsiness washed over her.
Qiao Qingman froze slightly. “?”
It really was. It really was because the male lead kissed her that…
No, so it turned out that the male lead kissing her was the root cause of her drowsiness?
A wave of vexation and stifled frustration surged up from the depths of Qiao Qingman’s heart for no reason.
If it were her own kissing of the male lead that caused her to get sleepy every time, she could accept that. After all, she had to complete tasks to keep herself alive.
But after all this fuss, it turned out it was because the male lead kissed her?
This was unacceptable!
Absolutely unacceptable!
Qiao Qingman was so flustered and irritated that she completely forgot to maintain her deeply-in-love persona. “Gu Qianshi, you…”
Sensing that the man’s deep eyes suddenly turned cold and sharp, Qiao Qingman had no choice but to take a deep breath.
She changed her wording and her form of address. “Gu… Qingshan, you… you’re not allowed to kiss me.”
Before her words even fell, Qiao Qingman felt that if the male lead really had some kind of task, then it would be impossible for him not to kiss her.
That kind of threat instantly became meaningless.
After thinking about it, Qiao Qingman changed her words again in frustration. “You… if you want to kiss me in the future, you can only, only kiss me at my house entrance.”
She refused to let him kiss her just anywhere. Did she not deserve to get home safely?
“No, no, my parents will be coming back soon. Then what should we do?”
Qiao Qingman suddenly remembered this important matter.
“Forget it, this is your problem. Anyway, from now on, you’re not allowed to kiss me more than two kilometers away from my house.”
If it were more than two kilometers, even driving home would be a struggle for her. Why should the male lead’s deep-kiss task be paid for by her?
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as you agreeing. Remember our agreement. Otherwise, otherwise…”
Qiao Qingman looked the man up and down. He was much taller than her. In extreme displeasure, she blurted out, “I’ll hit you!”
Qiao Qingman had no time to stay any longer. After saying what she needed to say, she did not care whether the man had anything else to add. She snorted lightly, turned around, and ran off.
Now that she had figured out this kissing rule, she absolutely refused to exhaust herself for nothing.
As for any deeply-in-love persona? To hell with that.
No, no, this wouldn’t do. The drowsiness was hitting hard. She urgently needed coffee to stay awake.
Behind her, Gu Qingshan watched the girl’s slender figure retreating in a slightly hurried manner. He raised his hand and touched his lips.
From now on, if he wanted to kiss her, he could only do it at her house entrance?
And it could not be more than two kilometers away from her home?
In other words, as long as he met this condition, he could kiss her?
No, it was Gu Qianshi who could kiss her?
She had clearly been very resistant before, so why today was she not only puckering her lips and waiting for him to kiss her, but even explicitly laying down conditions for future kisses?
What exactly was Qiao Qingman doing?
He truly found it increasingly difficult to understand this Miss Qiao, who could bring him unexpected sensations of both pleasure and pain.
And why had she suddenly gotten so angry at the end?
So much so that she did not even bother to maintain her usual “infatuated” persona.
Comparing before and after, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Qiao Qingman seemed to have discovered something and no longer felt the need to maintain her persona.
The man raised his hand and lightly touched his lips, tasting only a faint honey-peach coffee flavor.
And in Chen Liyan’s back kitchen, there did not seem to be such a thing.
Thinking again of Qiao Qingman’s final words, “Gu Qingshan,” the corners of the man’s mouth tugged slightly.
At that moment, a burst of rapid phone vibration rang out. Gu Qingshan picked up his phone. Seeing the incoming number on the screen, he restrained the emotions in his eyes and answered the call.
Whatever was said on the other end of the line, the man’s originally calm eyes turned dark and sinister.
At the same time.
After arriving at the underground parking garage, Qiao Qingman thought it over again and decided not to risk driving home.
She was really too sleepy, so she simply slept in the car first.
When she finally woke up in the car and raised her wrist to check the time, she was shocked to find that it was already eight o’clock in the evening.
Qiao Qingman: “……”
Had she wasted most of the day again? It was all that male lead’s fault!
If she had known earlier, she would not have been in such a hurry to do that experiment.
Or she could have waited until night to do it.
She really had never imagined that her own kissing of the male lead would not make her sleepy, but being deeply kissed by him would. And the longer the kiss lasted, the faster and more severe the drowsiness became.
Thinking about the utterly unthreatening words she had used to threaten him, Qiao Qingman felt stifled and upset.
But what could she do? At that time, she had been far too sleepy and far too angry. Forget negotiating. Being able to clearly and completely express her thoughts had already been her limit.
This was all Gu Qianshi’s fault.
“Heh, don’t think that just because you told me a nickname, you can kiss me without restraint.”
A nickname?
Qiao Qingman hurriedly asked the system, [By the way, what did your higher-ups say? Is there anyone in the book called “Gu Qingshan”?]
System: [……No.]
She had expected it. The higher-ups would definitely say no. After all, it had already searched. There really was no such name.
If the higher-ups said “yes,” that would truly make it, a rookie system, look at them in a new light.
Qiao Qingman did not know that the system was secretly complaining about its superiors. Hearing its answer, she was not surprised either.
Mainly because she had already made up her mind: Gu Qingshan was simply the male lead Gu Qianshi’s nickname.
Just then, her stomach let out a rumbling sound. Qiao Qingman stopped thinking about it, fastened her seat belt, and prepared to drive home.
At that moment, a familiar figure appeared in Qiao Qingman’s line of sight. It was the male lead who had caused her to waste most of the day again, Gu Qianshi.
Qiao Qingman’s temper flared instantly.
She stepped hard on the accelerator and charged straight toward where Gu Qianshi was standing.
As she passed Gu Qianshi, Qiao Qingman rolled down the car window and made a face at him. “Bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh…”
Then she rolled the window back up and sped off.
At noon, she had been far too sleepy and desperately needed coffee to stay awake, or else sleep. Naturally, she had no energy to deal with the male lead.
But now it was different.
Now she was full of energy. Making faces at him instead of cursing at him or stepping on him was already her way of showing the male lead some courtesy.
As for maintaining a persona of being deeply in love with the male lead during later plot developments? Sorry, she was not in the mood right now.
And Gu Qianshi, who had inexplicably been subjected to faces and a “bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh,” stood there for quite some time before belatedly realizing that the woman just now had been Qiao Qingman?
Qiao Qingman had made faces at him? And she had waited in the underground parking garage for an entire day?
An, an entire day?
Gu Qianshi looked in surprise in the direction from which Qiao Qingman’s car had come from. It was indeed the same parking spot from the morning.
But in the morning, she had run away the moment she saw him. And now in the evening, she had…
Thinking back over the past few days, with Qiao Qingman being cold to him one moment and warm the next, Gu Qianshi felt like he was about to laugh from sheer frustration.
Qiao Qingman, what exactly are you trying to do?
Gu Qianshi took a deep breath, then another deep breath.
This time, there was no need for Secretary Shen to remind him. After casting a very speechless glance in the direction where Qiao Qingman had driven away, he turned around and strode briskly toward his own car.
At the same time, he thought to himself: No matter what Qiao Qingman said or did, no matter how she challenged his bottom line, no matter how long she waited for him, he would no longer respond to any of it.
He absolutely would not respond again.
And even more so, he would never again be moved because of that woman.
*
As expected, Qiao Qingman was once again unable to fall asleep.
With nothing else to do, she organized all the information she had so far:
Wait. What about that time at the bar?
But in a place like a bar, even if she called out “Gu Qianshi,” if the male lead deeply kissed her, would anyone really pay attention? Besides, she had called his name quite softly at the time.
Got it.
From now on, when there were outsiders present, she and Gu Qianshi would maintain polite interactions, unless it was necessary to follow the plot.
And in private, she and Gu Qianshi, no, Gu Qingshan, were simply cooperative partners who kissed each other to complete tasks.
She did not know whether the male lead also regarded her as a cooperative partner.
Thinking about those requirements, Qiao Qingman was not sure whether the male lead had taken them to heart.
But no matter what, overall, she was still quite happy.
After all, compared to the previous one-sided uncertainty, she now more or less had everything figured out.
Next, she just needed to wait for the male lead to come to her to kiss her, and she could conveniently kiss him back as well.
Wait. For the sake of fairness, she still needed to test whether kissing the male lead would cause him any adverse reactions.
After all, kissing involves two people, so things like getting sleepy should naturally be shared.
Seeing how relaxed Qiao Qingman was, the system could not help but feel curious. [Host, what if the male lead doesn’t have a kissing task? What if… he’s just simply scummy?]
After all, it really could not imagine what the male lead needed to do that would require him to deeply kiss a girl he disliked.
Qiao Qingman replied cheerfully, [Impossible. If the male lead really wanted to be scummy to me, why would he wait until now? Why wait until after I awaken my consciousness?]
To be honest, judging by Qiao Qingman’s lovesick, romance-brained behavior before her consciousness awakened, if the male lead had merely crooked a finger at her, she would have eagerly run over.
Would there really have been any need to wait until she awakened and stopped loving him?
System: [……]
That made too much sense. It did not even want to refute it.
Seeing that the system had been persuaded by her, Qiao Qingman cheerfully began to sway on the swing and added another sentence: [Besides, if the male lead really doesn’t have a task, then at worst, I’ll sneak a kiss when he’s asleep at night, or kiss him in public.]
In either of those situations, the male lead would have no way to kiss her back.
Advance or retreat, both were covered.
Wasn’t that pretty good?
And when Gu Qingshan’s car arrived not far from outside the Qiao family villa, he saw Qiao Qingman sitting on the balcony swing, gently swinging her legs, comfortably closing her eyes as she enjoyed the beauty of the night.
The balcony lights were bright. Under the moonlight, tree shadows were mottled. The cool breeze stirred the hem of the girl’s pajama dress, making her appear graceful and soft.
The girl’s smile was clear and sweet, giving her the look of a carefree, innocent, and gentle young woman.
“Gu… Qingshan, you… you’re not allowed to kiss me.”
“You… if you want to kiss me in the future, you can only, only kiss me at my house entrance.”
The words Qiao Qingman had said at the mall at noon surfaced in Gu Qingshan’s mind.
Was she feeling so at ease because of those words?
But… why did Qiao Qingman think that he would definitely come to kiss her? And on what basis did she think that he wanted to kiss her?
There was also one more point. He had already told Qiao Qingman that his real name was not “Gu Qianshi,” so why, aside from her initial shock, had she so easily accepted his new identity?
“Gu Qianshan?” Gu Qingshan silently repeated the name Qiao Qingman had first called him.
He had a strong intuition that he had grasped some important piece of information. But what exactly it was remained vague and unclear.
Qiao Qingman, what exactly do you know? What exactly are you doing?
And who, exactly, have you taken him for?
“President Gu, the time has been confirmed.”
Secretary Jiang, seated in the front passenger seat, turned around and reported cautiously. “The old President Gu of the Gu Group will arrive at the Gu family’s old residence around ten o’clock tomorrow night.”
Ten o’clock?
“Forget it, this is your problem. Anyway, from now on you’re not allowed to kiss me more than two kilometers away from my house.”
Thinking of this sentence Qiao Qingman had said, Gu Qingshan kept his gaze fixed on the direction of the second floor of the Qiao family villa. Within his line of sight was still that relaxed and cheerful figure on the balcony.
The car once again fell into silence.
After a short while, the man withdrew his gaze and gave a calm instruction. “Drive.”
On the other side.
Qiao Qingman was completely unaware of the man’s gaze outside the villa. She was entangled in another issue: when the male lead kissed her today, it seemed he was wearing a deep blue suit, not black?
So color had nothing to do with kissing? Then why had he worn black suits every previous time?
Qiao Qingman did not understand.
[By the way, Host, tomorrow is the major plot where you deliver a loving bento to the male lead. Host, you must pay close attention to every detail of tomorrow’s plot.]
The system’s voice interrupted Qiao Qingman’s thoughts.
Unlike the “spending a large sum of money” to hire a chef teacher, which was glossed over in the book and only required ensuring the result, tomorrow’s delivery of the loving bento would take place in front of both the male and female leads, so the details had to match the book’s description exactly.
Even her role as a cannon-fodder female supporting character toward the male lead had to be filled with tender affection throughout.
As it spoke, a related section of the book’s plot appeared in Qiao Qingman’s mind:
[Continuous torrential rain. Qiao Qingman, already quite dejected from being rejected by Gu Qianshi, saw Gu Qianshi gazing deeply at Su Xia. The emotions inside her surged, and she finally could not restrain herself.
She was so angry she nearly spat blood, and without hesitation, pushed the female lead away. Yet she did not expect that Gu Qianshi, who had always disliked letting people get close, would actually catch Su Xia in concern.
Qiao Qingman’s eyes immediately reddened, and she ran out in heartbreak.
Unwilling to leave just like that.
She stopped in her tracks and stood outside the café in the pouring rain, letting herself be drenched as she gazed at the male lead inside with grievance and bitterness.]
This concluded Qiao Qingman’s plot in that scene.
Qiao Qingman: “……”
Having her eyes redden on the spot was one thing. She could still manage that with eye drops. But that later scene where she had to stand in a torrential downpour and still show a wronged and bitter expression, was that serious?
System: [Host, just get drenched for a little while. Once the male lead turns around to look at you, that’s enough.]
She had to wait until the male lead turned around to look at her?
Did that not mean that if the male lead did not turn around, she could not clock out?
No, why were all the good things reserved for the male lead, while things like getting sleepy and getting soaked in the rain were all hers?
Forget it, forget it. For the sake of staying alive, she would endure it.
But she had just snarled at the male lead today and told him to pay attention to where he kissed her, and tomorrow she had to put on a look of deeply affectionate longing like a devoted admirer?
Wasn’t that a split personality?
But that was not the main point.
The key issue now was how to ensure that the male lead would take the initiative to come near her house tomorrow night to kiss her.
Honestly, after waiting all day and getting drenched in the rain for the male lead, if he still did not take the initiative to come over at night and instead made her go to “Rongjing Villa,” she really would curse him out.
As her mind spun rapidly, Qiao Qingman suddenly had an idea. How about, after finishing the plot tomorrow, she gives the male lead a big… heart gesture?