Who am I?
Was something wrong with the male lead? Why was he asking such a question?
Qiao Qingman let out a dazed “Ah?” She did not quite understand what the male lead meant.
Meeting the man’s gaze, which was dangerous enough to make her feel suffocated, Qiao Qingman blinked blankly. After complaining to the system in her mind for a couple of lines, and with the system’s reminder of the three words “nickname,” she tentatively spoke, “Gu… Gu Qingshan?”
When there were outsiders around, the male lead was “Gu Qianshi.” When they were alone, the male lead was “Gu Qingshan.”
She remembered this very clearly. Why was the male lead asking this?
She did not know whether this answer satisfied the man.
After Qiao Qingman finished speaking, seeing that the man did not respond, her heart skipped a beat.
Had she said the wrong thing?
Wasn’t it “Gu Qingshan” in private? Or had Gu Qianshi himself forgotten that he even had such a nice nickname as “Gu Qingshan”?
Then she heard the man speak in a low, warm voice, “May I ask, Miss Qiao, why did you think I would go to your house to look for you tonight?”
“And if I went to look for you, in what capacity would I be doing so?”
Two questions in a row struck Qiao Qingman into confusion.
Why go to her house to look for her? Wasn’t it just kissing and such?
As for what capacity? Wasn’t it… cooperation partners?
The answers were perfectly clear in her heart, yet when it came to her lips, Qiao Qingman did not know what to say.
Saying kissing outright did not feel appropriate.
Or saying that the two of them “each got what they needed”? That also sounded strange.
Moreover, she could not tell the male lead the words “system mission.”
Wait. Why was the male lead asking her these questions?
Wasn’t this something that both of them understood without saying it out loud?
Thinking again about how this man always deep-kissed her and made her extremely sleepy, Qiao Qingman felt a surge of irritation.
She cleared her throat and tried her best to ignore the dangerous pressure emanating from the man as she said, “Why come to my house to look for me? Shouldn’t that be something Mr. Gu should answer? Doesn’t Mr. Gu always kiss me?”
“As for what capacity, that depends on what capacity Mr. Gu wants to use.”
In just a few sentences, Qiao Qingman kicked the questions back to him.
After that, the cramped space inside the car fell into an eerie silence.
The man continued to gaze at her with deep, dark eyes. The oppressive presence surrounding her remained strong and intense.
Qiao Qingman knew that this answer of batting the ball back had not earned the male lead’s approval, but she really did not know how else to answer.
Fortunately, the man did not continue to trap her within his arms. He stepped back, opened the car door, and got out from the side.
The surrounding air began to circulate again. The breath Qiao Qingman had been holding in her throat finally eased.
Just a moment ago, she had even wondered whether she might get thrown out of the car by this male lead.
At this time, the sound of a car door opening reached Qiao Qingman’s ears. Two women who looked like housemaids came respectfully to the door.
“Miss, please come inside.”
Seeing that the male lead had already walked toward the palace, no, toward the villa with long strides, Qiao Qingman suppressed her curiosity and followed them out of the car.
She walked into the villa.
However, upon reaching the first-floor living room, the male lead was nowhere to be seen.
One of the maids explained, “President Gu is on the second floor. These are new clothes that have already been dry-cleaned in advance. Miss, please change into them.”
Qiao Qingman took the clothes in a daze and was led to the first-floor bathroom to take a hot shower and change.
So the male lead had brought her here specially just to change clothes?
But this place was very close to her home. She could have gone home, taken a shower, changed clothes, and gone straight to sleep.
Why come here?
Wait.
Qiao Qingman raised her wrist and checked the time. It was already half past twelve at night.
Which meant that later, she only needed to kiss the male lead one more time, and today and tomorrow during the daytime, she could once again enjoy two carefree days?
Qiao Qingman happily opened the clothes the maid had given her and found a white shirt and a pair of jeans. Very ordinary, simple, and easy-to-match clothes.
She quickly took a shower, changed clothes, and thought that she must kiss the male lead again later.
Then she walked out of the bathroom, and what met her eyes was Gu Qingshan dressed in a white sports outfit.
Qiao Qingman’s eyes lit up.
The male lead usually wore suits, always exuding a serious, cool, and restrained aura.
But after changing into an off-white casual sports outfit, the man’s lofty, overbearing presence was softened somewhat, replaced instead with a fresh, sunny, next-door-brother kind of feeling.
“Gu—”
The words reached her lips. Qiao Qingman glanced around, and after confirming that there was no one else, she continued, “Qingshan, you look really good in this.”
As Gu Qingshan’s indifferent gaze swept over Qiao Qingman’s simple outfit, a strange warmth rose in his chest.
The woman had a very good figure, slender and graceful, without a hint of frailty. Instead, she had a healthy kind of fair complexion.
When she smiled, her captivating eyes were moist and lively. The corners of her peach blossom eyes tilted upward, her long eyelashes fluttering lightly. She was both alluring and gentle, yet also adorably charming.
Her damp hair was almost completely blow-dried and fell loosely around her, adding another layer of lazy calm.
Against the backdrop of thunder and lightning and torrential rain outside the window, the entire scene appeared especially radiant.
Thinking of how this woman had delivered a loving lunchbox to Gu Qianshi, even if it was just steamed buns.
And also that sentence, “Gu Qingshan, I thought you would come to my house to look for me tonight.”
Gu Qingshan’s cool, detached gaze darkened slightly.
So did this woman take Gu Qianshi for him? Or did she take him for Gu Qianshi?
He watched as Qiao Qingman fluttered over to him like a little butterfly, her steps light.
Without saying a word, she cupped his face and kissed him.
Just like the previous few times.
At the same time, the system’s broadcast sounded in Qiao Qingman’s mind: [Day ten kiss, check-in successful.]
Oh yeah!
Another day’s KPI completed.
Hm? Why did the male lead not deepen the kiss again?
Qiao Qingman released the man’s lips in confusion and looked at him in puzzlement.
This male lead was not quite right.
Thinking carefully, the male lead had not deepened the kiss last night either.
But the last time he did not deepen the kiss, had he not rushed to hold her and kiss her the very next day?
So why was it that now, with such a good opportunity right in front of him, the male lead had no reaction at all?
Even though only a little over half an hour had passed, wasn’t it already the next day?
Qiao Qingman unconsciously took a step back and sized up the man in front of her.
She came to a conclusion: the male lead did not seem any different at all?
“You really want me to kiss you?”
As if seeing through Qiao Qingman’s surprise, the man suddenly leaned closer, his tone dangerous.
Qiao Qingman: “…W-who wants you to kiss me? Don’t slander me.”
Qiao Qingman felt like she was about to have a heart attack.
Which eye of the male lead saw that she wanted him to kiss her?
She was simply curious. Was that not allowed?
Seeing that even as she kept retreating, the man continued to press closer in an almost coercive manner, Qiao Qingman began to panic.
No, no. She could not let the male lead deep-kiss her. At the very least, not here.
What if she became overwhelmingly sleepy? Wouldn’t she be far too unsafe here?
“Gu Qingshan—”
Qiao Qingman raised her voice. “I… I only kissed you because I like you, but I… I never said I wanted you to kiss me.”
“Whether you want to kiss me or not, that’s your own problem.”
“Don’t slander me.”
Qiao Qingman had already made up her mind. If the male lead came any closer, she did not care whether this man had helped her tonight or not. The electric stun baton would take care of it.
Fortunately, after hearing her words, the man did not continue to approach. He only stared at her without blinking.
Qiao Qingman secretly let out a breath of relief.
Meanwhile, Gu Qingshan frowned tightly. A faint ripple rose in his cold eyes.
“I only kissed you because I like you?”
That excuse again?
Did Qiao Qingman not know that her so-called “liking” could not withstand any scrutiny and was utterly fragile?
He raised his hand and pressed it against the wall, leaning closer in a dangerous manner. “Qiao Qingman, do you like me? Or do you like Gu Qianshi?”
Qiao Qingman had just been thankful that the male lead’s pause in approaching showed a bit of cooperation. Suddenly, she found herself trapped once more within his encirclement.
And then she heard such an inexplicable question.
She could not help complaining to the system in her mind: [Is this male lead schizophrenic? Or does he have multiple personalities?]
Wasn’t Gu Qianshi just Gu Qingshan? And wasn’t Gu Qingshan just Gu Qianshi?
The system was equally shocked: […Host, the higher-ups have results. There is no one named “Gu Qingshan” in the book.]
Of course, the system also could not understand the male lead’s various actions.
Qiao Qingman, who was beginning to slowly believe that he might really have a split personality, was speechless.
She had thought “Gu Qingshan” was Gu Qianshi’s nickname. How could this…
Especially with the male lead’s deep gaze fixed on her without blinking.
Scorching yet cold, extremely contradictory, and filled with intense danger.
As if, if she did not answer this question properly, she would not know what situation she would soon be facing.
Even though she kept complaining in her heart, Qiao Qingman had to admit she was a little flustered. Between “Gu Qianshi” and “Gu Qingshan,” which one should she say?
If she said “Gu Qianshi,” would the male lead be unhappy? But in the book, the male lead’s official name was “Gu Qianshi.”
Whatever. If she had to die, she would die. Besides, the maids were not far away.
With people around, this man was called “Gu Qianshi.”
“Aren’t you just Gu Qianshi? Stop playing around. It’s very late, and I still have to go home.”
Qiao Qingman quietly slipped her hand into her trouser pocket, gripping the small electric stun baton, ready at any moment.
At the same time, she told the system: [If “Gu Qingshan” isn’t a nickname but another personality of the male lead, then I quit this job. Let whoever wants it take it.]
The system felt like crying: [Don’t, Host. We’ve already made it through ten days. Just endure a little longer and…]
But if the male lead really had some kind of “multiple personality”…
The system trembled.
That would not be a simple bug in the plot and character setting. That would be a complete collapse.
The girl and the system both fell silent.
Immediately after, the man who had been trapping her between the wall and himself turned around and walked toward the door without looking back.
As he walked away, he added without turning his head, “If you need to find me again, come here.”
Qiao Qingman: “?”
Huh? That was it? He just left?
No more cryptic words?
And “if you need to find me again”—did that mean find Gu Qianshi or find Gu Qingshan?
So was the male lead actually a split personality or not?
The system, however, slowly let out a breath of relief: [Host, according to the data I’ve reviewed, any one of the personalities in multiple personality disorder would be unwilling to acknowledge the existence of the others. But just now, the male lead said “find me,” not “find Gu Qianshi” or “find Gu Qingshan.” That means in his cognition, Gu Qianshi is Gu Qingshan.]
[So… Gu Qingshan must definitely be the male lead’s nickname.]
That explanation seemed solid.
Qiao Qingman felt dizzy from all the circling logic: [Is that so?]
Why did it still sound awkward? Even a bit forced?
The system answered firmly: [Yes. Otherwise, why wouldn’t the male lead directly say Gu Qianshi? Or Gu Qingshan?]
[Think about how you made a heart gesture toward Gu Qianshi at the cafe entrance… Host, the male lead must be doing this to make you clearly distinguish the usage scenarios of the names “Gu Qianshi” and “Gu Qingshan.”]
Gu Qianshi would absolutely not allow Qiao Qingman to make a heart gesture toward him in public.
She could only do that to Gu Qingshan—that is, to the male lead himself when they were in private.
Seeing Qiao Qingman hesitate, the system pressed on: [How about trying again, Host? Next time, when it’s just the two of you alone, try making a heart gesture toward the male lead and see what happens?]
Qiao Qingman froze slightly.
Make a heart gesture?
She had no interest in that right now.
However, the system’s words reminded her of something else.
So Qiao Qingman refuted the system: [Then how do you explain that at the mall, I kissed Gu Qianshi? He didn’t push me away at that time.]
Except… it seemed the male lead had frowned?
The system continued explaining: [Host, that’s why once you two are alone, the male lead says his name is “Gu Qingshan.”]
Hm? Was it like that?
Although it sounded somewhat reasonable… but…
Qiao Qingman fell into deep thought.
“Miss Qiao, aren’t you leaving?”
The man’s low, magnetic voice rang out in the silent villa’s living room, instantly cutting off Qiao Qingman’s chaotic thoughts.
“Ah?”
Qiao Qingman lifted her eyes and saw that the male lead had already reached the doorway, looking at her with a cold, indifferent expression.
Qiao Qingman immediately hurried after him. “…Oh, oh, I’m leaving. I’m leaving right now.”
But still, the male lead really was not going to deep-kiss her tonight? This was actually… nice?
Or had he been stimulated by something?
Ten minutes later, the limited-edition Rolls-Royce Qiao Qingman was riding in stopped not far outside the Qiao family villa.
Seeing her home right in front of her, Qiao Qingman glanced at the man in the driver’s seat. Seeing that he truly showed no intention whatsoever of deep-kissing her, she could no longer stay calm.
Most importantly, if it was really as the system said, that “Gu Qingshan” was merely a special form of address used only between the two of them, then the male lead indeed had an unavoidable deep-kiss requirement?
Only then would her cooperation with him be equal and have at least a slightly solid foundation?
Thinking again about how urgent yesterday’s kissing task had been completed, Qiao Qingman unconsciously accepted the system’s explanation.
And precisely because of that, she felt it was necessary to properly remind the male lead.
Qiao Qingman took a deep breath, leaned closer to the man in the driver’s seat, and stared at him without blinking, her clear, blazing eyes fixed on his.
“Gu Qingshan, I’m getting out of the car.”
If he did not deep-kiss her now, she really was getting out.
It was not that she truly wanted the male lead’s deep kiss, but if he did not deep-kiss her, she felt uneasy.
Yet the man in the driver’s seat seemed not to hear the hidden meaning in her words at all and merely responded indifferently with a calm “Mm.”
Qiao Qingman: “……”
Calling him “Gu Qingshan” really did get a reaction? Could the system’s analysis actually be correct?
Seeing a faint trace of confusion flicker through the man’s cold eyes, Qiao Qingman said, “…I mean, I’m really getting out of the car. I’m going home. After I get home, I won’t come out again, and I’ll lock the balcony glass door.”
Once it was locked, he would not be able to come in.
Strange. She had made herself so clear already. Why was the male lead still not anxious at all?
There were no outsiders here. Was the male lead really not planning to deep-kiss her?
Forget it.
Anyway, the male lead had said that if she needed to find him again in the future, she should go to that villa from earlier.
And she had already completed today’s kissing task. What was there to be afraid of?
Speaking of which, what was the name of that villa again?
And how did she get there by car?
Qiao Qingman was lost in her own thoughts and did not notice that when she mentioned “locking the balcony glass door,” a trace of unreadable darkness flashed through the man’s deep eyes.
His mind recalled the night he returned from the private club, when Qiao Qingman had busied herself on the balcony and shut Gu Qianshi out, and how tonight she had deliberately reminded him again…
What exactly was Qiao Qingman trying to do?
And Qiao Qingman, seeing that the male lead still had no intention of taking things further, stopped dwelling on it. After all, there was no use agonizing over it.
She opened the car door, preparing to get out. “Then… thank you for bringing me back.”
However, just as her hand grasped the car door handle, the man in the driver’s seat suddenly leaned over.
Before Qiao Qingman could react, the man’s warm kiss unexpectedly covered her lips.
At the same time.
The real male lead was driving toward the Qiao family villa.
Gu Qianshi felt like he had gone mad.
Both his hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his deep eyes filled with chaotic, complex emotions.
He did not understand what was wrong with him.
He did not like Qiao Qingman. Even if he had been moved by her passionate pursuit, it was only being moved, nothing more.
So why could he not even sleep properly?
Gu Qianshi could not stay at home any longer.
He immediately grabbed an umbrella and a coat and went out, driving around aimlessly.
Yet even he himself did not realize that the direction his car was heading in was toward Qiao Qingman’s home.
At this very moment, Qiao Qingman was being firmly deep-kissed by the man who had her pinned against the car seat.
The torrential rain that had lasted all day finally stopped, and the warm yellow lights of the villa’s front courtyard spilled into the car. In the already heated, cramped space, the atmosphere grew inexplicably more intense.
Qiao Qingman’s thoughts gradually grew muddled. In a daze, she lifted her eyes and saw the man kissing her, his expression focused and immersed.
That single glance inexplicably made her lose focus, giving her the illusion that the two of them were truly a passionately in-love couple kissing.
Their breaths intertwined. The man’s lips brought fine, dense tingles, as if wantonly drawing from her.
A faint, fresh scent lingered at her nose, and Qiao Qingman hazily closed her eyes.
Something seemed to please the man, because the force of his kiss grew increasingly fervent.
Qiao Qingman struggled for breath and raised her hand to push the man away.
What met her eyes was the man’s face, refined and cool, yet steeped in deep intensity.
Recalling that fleeting thought of “being passionately in love,” Qiao Qingman lifted her hand to touch her burning cheeks and guiltily left behind one sentence. “N-next time, you’re not allowed to kiss for this long.”
She opened the car door and quickly ran off.
After taking only two steps, Qiao Qingman felt an uncontrollable wave of drowsiness surge up from within.
She quickened her pace and ran back into the villa.
Straight to the second-floor bedroom, she washed up briefly, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep instantly.
Before her consciousness completely sank into darkness, Qiao Qingman thought: the male lead really was either not kissing at all, or delivering a shocking kiss.
Today’s kiss had nearly put her to sleep right there in the car.
Qiao Qingman fell asleep very quickly.
Outside the Qiao family villa, Gu Qingshan drove his car to the concealed spot from which he could previously see her bedroom balcony.
The light in Qiao Qingman’s bedroom was already off.
The way she had looked drowsy before getting out of the car surfaced in Gu Qingshan’s mind.
Qiao Qingman had said, “I only kissed you because I like you.”
But what kind of liking involved kissing day after day, without even realizing she had kissed the wrong person?
And yet during the day, she could precisely deliver a loving lunch to Gu Qianshi?
Gu Qingshan’s indifferent gaze turned icy.
Qiao Qingman—
Whenever he felt that he had begun to understand this woman a little, she always managed to make him feel even more elusive.
And Gu Qianshi…
Did his good older brother know that Qiao Qingman’s liking for him was such a perfunctory thing?
Since Qiao Qingman had taken him for Gu Qianshi, then he would take a good look and see what exactly lay behind this so-called “liking.”
The man’s gaze lowered deeply. No emotion could be read from his pitch-black eyes.
Only the cold aura pouring off his body made the air inside the car even more silent and oppressive.
After an unknown length of time, Gu Qingshan started the car and drove away.
Just as he reached a wide road not far from the Qiao family villa, Gu Qingshan brushed past another car coming from the opposite direction.
The two men in the driver’s seats inevitably met each other’s gaze.
In that instant, time and space seemed to freeze.
In reality, it was not even a tenth of a second before their intersecting gazes quickly separated as the cars sped past each other.
Through the rearview mirror, Gu Qingshan could clearly see that the direction Gu Qianshi’s car was heading was toward the Qiao family villa.
Hadn’t Gu Qianshi always avoided Qiao Qingman? What was he planning to do tonight?
Thinking of the balcony door that had been left open, the man’s gaze turned cold.
As for Gu Qianshi, who had been tormented into a headache by Qiao Qingman’s playing hard to get, his entire mind went blank.
Even the irritation he felt because of Qiao Qingman was completely thrown out of his mind the moment he saw a man who looked exactly like himself.
Gu Qianshi slammed on the brakes, trying to look again at that man through the rearview mirror.
But the other car was going fast. There was no trace of it left.
Gu Qianshi stood there in a daze.
Could it be… that he had seen wrong?