The night was deep, and a cool breeze drifted gently.
The man’s warm kiss seemed to carry a kind of magic, catching people off guard. Strands of sweet freshness spread between their entwined lips, and Qiao Qingman’s mind went completely blank.
It was not until her tongue tasted a faint hint of blood that Qiao Qingman suddenly snapped back to her senses.
She pushed hard against the man’s hold. Sure enough, blood was seeping from the man’s lips.
But she had not taken the initiative to bite Gu Qianshi today. Could it be that she had accidentally injured him?
Then again, she could not really be blamed. Who told him to kiss so fiercely?
Although familiarity made things easier over time, Qiao Qingman still found this kind of overly intimate kissing far too awkward.
She raised a hand to press against her wildly pounding heart, swallowed, and spoke unhappily. “You, you always…”
Before she could say the words “kiss like this,” Qiao Qingman suddenly felt she could not continue.
After all, was there really anyone in the position of the pursuer who would complain about being kissed by the one they were pursuing?
“Did you drink white peach–flavored coffee?” the man suddenly asked.
Qiao Qingman froze and nodded instinctively. “Huh? Yes. Wh-what’s wrong?”
To avoid getting sleepy after kissing, Qiao Qingman had deliberately drunk a full four bottles of coffee before kissing the male lead.
Could it be that the male lead was allergic to white peach?
Then if she waited until after midnight and kissed him while he was unconscious from an allergic reaction, would that count as taking advantage of him?
It should still count as a successful kiss… right?
While Qiao Qingman’s thoughts drifted, she heard the man give a calm “Mm,” with no further reaction.
Qiao Qingman: “?”
So what was the point of asking?
Was he showing off how sensitive his tongue was?
So annoying!
A familiar wave of drowsiness washed over her. Qiao Qingman could not help wanting to yawn, but when she met the man’s deep, scrutinizing gaze, she forcibly held it back.
Three times was the limit. No matter how slow she was, Qiao Qingman realized something was wrong. Every time, she became sleepy after kissing the male lead.
Four bottles of coffee were like water, completely useless.
What, was this male lead Duke Zhou[1]Duke Zhou (周公) is a historical figure from the early Zhou Dynasty in Chinese history. In Chinese culture, “meeting Duke Zhou” is a euphemism for sleeping or dreaming, because Duke Zhou is … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1783736_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1783736_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); himself?
Luckily, today’s mission had already been completed. Qiao Qingman did not plan to stay any longer.
She forced out a smile. “Um, seeing that you got home safely puts me at ease. It’s very late. I, I’ll head off first.”
She was really afraid that if she stayed any longer and saw the male lead frown again, she would not be able to stop herself from stomping on him hard once more.
Qiao Qingman turned around, got into her car, and drove off.
She looked every bit like a great guardian of roadside greenery.
After driving for several minutes and feeling that she was far enough away, and truly unable to withstand the drowsiness any longer, Qiao Qingman pulled over, opened an iced coffee, and drank it in one go.
Then, while forcefully resisting the rolling sleepiness, she drove into the outdoor parking lot of a nearby high-end private restaurant that operated twenty-four hours a day, asking the system: [Why do I get super sleepy every time after kissing the male lead? Is this some kind of side effect?]
The system looked utterly confused: [Sleepy? No. That shouldn’t be the case. I’ll report it to my superiors and ask?]
Qiao Qingman was truly exhausted. She responded with a simple [Mm] and fell asleep leaning back against the seat.
After she fell asleep, a low-key luxury sedan pulled up beside her car.
Gu Qingshan sat in the back seat, rolled down the window, and looked through the thick glass at the sleeping girl in front of him.
Thinking back to the previous two times, Qiao Qingman had also stopped the car after driving some distance. Could it be that she had been drinking coffee to replenish her energy each time?
Had she not already drunk white peach–flavored coffee? And she was still this sleepy?
A thought abruptly flashed through the man’s mind. Every time Qiao Qingman finished kissing him, or rather, every time he finished kissing Qiao Qingman, she became very sleepy?
That would easily explain why she cried after every kiss.
So it was not crying at all. It was sleepiness?
But he could understand the drowsiness on the first night and tonight, since it was very late.
What about the night before last at the bar? It had only been a little past eight o’clock then.
And why had she driven her car here? If she was sleepy, why did she not just go home to sleep?
Out of the corner of his eye, Gu Qingshan glanced in the direction of Rongjing Villa and suddenly realized that this place was not far from where Gu Qianshi lived. It was only about ten minutes away by car.
Thinking of a certain possibility, the man’s indifferent gaze turned dark and unreadable.
*
“Ring ring ring—” A sharp phone alarm rang out. Qiao Qingman groggily opened her eyes, her head heavy and muddled.
She picked up her phone and looked at the time. It was 00:58 a.m.
Qiao Qingman yawned, rubbed her eyes, then groggily drank another bottle of coffee. Only after she finally felt somewhat more alert did she start the car.
Ten minutes later, Qiao Qingman arrived at a concealed spot outside Rongjing Villa. Looking at the second-floor room not far away, it was pitch-dark.
Just in case, Qiao Qingman did not approach immediately.
Instead, she asked the question she had raised before falling asleep: [Is there an answer yet?]
System: […Not yet.]
To be honest, if the superiors’ efficiency were really this high, it would actually surprise the system.
Qiao Qingman, however, did not have much dissatisfaction with this answer.
Investigating things always took time, after all.
Qiao Qingman waited in the car for another ten minutes or so. Guessing that Gu Qianshi was most likely truly asleep, she slipped a bottle of bitter gourd–flavored coffee into her trouser pocket, opened the car door, and got out.
Honestly speaking, to save her own life, she was really going all out.
Fortunately, kissing the male lead at night did not involve being kissed back, and she could also use tonight to test the male lead.
Even though the system said the male lead had no system missions, the bug of him repeatedly deeply kissing her was really hard to ignore.
Especially since every time that man kissed her back, her heart would inexplicably start racing like crazy.
It was extremely irritating.
Qiao Qingman was absorbed in her thoughts and did not notice that not far away, in another concealed spot, inside the back seat of a limited-edition luxury sedan, a man with indifferent brows and eyes was leisurely flipping through a file about her.
He watched as Qiao Qingman, just like their first meeting, effortlessly vaulted over the tall fence outside the villa, then leaped onto a large tree, and with ease jumped onto the villa balcony.
The file stated: Qiao Qingman was delicate and unable to take care of herself?
The man unconsciously tightened his grip on the file.
This Miss Qiao Qingman seemed to have quite a few secrets.
Moments later, Gu Qingshan put the file down.
When the secretary outside the car window opened the door for him, he stepped out and gave a calm instruction. “Wait here.”
On the other side, Qiao Qingman had already tiptoed into the room.
At this hour, the night was deep and quiet, and the interior was dim.
Only the warm orange light from outside the villa mixed with faint moonlight filtered in. Once Qiao Qingman’s eyes adjusted, she could clearly see the man sleeping on the bed.
As expected of the male lead, his features were refined beyond reproach. His cool, pale skin looked especially aloof in the dim light.
Honestly, every part of the male lead’s face fit Qiao Qingman’s aesthetic perfectly.
He really was very good-looking.
Too bad he was infuriating.
Just based on that finger-hooking gesture at the bar two days ago, and the way he tasted her lips two hours earlier, it would already count as her being good-tempered if she did not beat him up.
Qiao Qingman walked to the bedside and softly called out, “Gu Qianshi.” When she received no response, she thought with schadenfreude, let’s see if you’ll come looking for me on your own when it’s daylight.
Suddenly, the male lead, who had been sleeping, abruptly opened his eyes and sat straight up in bed.
Thankfully, Qiao Qingman reacted quickly and stepped back. Otherwise, their heads would definitely have collided.
Even without a collision, once she regained her footing, Qiao Qingman’s breathing still hitched, and her mind instantly froze.
She widened her eyes in shock, her mind blank. While she was struggling with how to explain herself to the male lead, she saw him act as if he could not see her at all, get out of bed, barefoot, and walk toward the balcony.
Qiao Qingman was completely baffled.
Gu Qianshi walked step by step to the balcony and placed both hands on the railing.
From Qiao Qingman’s angle, the tall man stood there in the cool night breeze, gazing into the distance, exuding an indescribable air of restraint.
So the male lead Gu Qianshi was sleepwalking?
In the next instant, Qiao Qingman saw Gu Qianshi slowly spread his arms and, without hesitation, flip straight down.
Qiao Qingman: “!”
Her breath shot straight up to her throat, and she was completely terrified.
She did not even have time to think about why the male lead would fall like that, or why there was no sound at all from below.
She rushed to the balcony and looked down, but instead of the horrifying scene she expected, she saw a man standing beneath the balcony, one hand in his pocket, gazing straight ahead.
The man wore only a thin white shirt. The night breeze lifted the hem, revealing faintly defined muscle lines.
Under the bright moonlight, the man appeared proud and cold. In that instant, everything around him seemed to fade into insignificance.
Qiao Qingman swallowed hard.
She did not understand how this man managed to look so handsome at any time.
No, he looked even more handsome than when he had been lying in bed with his eyes closed.
Qiao Qingman followed and jumped down from the balcony, quickly looking him up and down. After confirming that he did not have even the slightest injury, she gave him a thumbs-up. “Impressive, impressive!”
Falling from such a height and landing steadily on the ground?
And not a speck of dust on him.
No wonder he dared to sleep with the balcony door open even while sleepwalking.
Was this the legendary “male lead halo”?
Before her words had fully fallen, she accidentally met the man’s deep, unfathomable gaze. Realizing she should not have made a sound, Qiao Qingman hurriedly covered her mouth.
Was this man asleep?
Or…
Qiao Qingman raised her hand and waved it in front of his eyes. Seeing no change in his gaze, she finally relaxed.
Because they were so close, the cool night breeze brushed past her ears. A faint, fresh scent filled her nose, like the ocean mixed with subtle notes of wood, gentle and comfortable.
As expected of the male lead. Even while asleep, he still smelled this good.
That said, it did nothing to diminish her desire to put a sack over his head.
As she thought this, her peripheral vision caught sight of some flowers nearby. Qiao Qingman curved her lips, an idea forming.
She carefully plucked a small pink flower and placed it on top of the man’s head.
The man’s features were refined and elegant. Even in his sleepwalking state, his deep, rich eyes were especially captivating.
Even with that pink flower, he somehow gained an extra touch of clean, radiant charm, and it did not look awkward at all.
Qiao Qingman marveled at the man’s exceedingly superior appearance.
How was it that nothing could detract from his looks?
Thankfully, she had prepared bitter gourd–flavored coffee.
Hehe.
Qiao Qingman opened the coffee and took a sip. The bitterness made her shudder all over.
But for the sake of staying alert, and also for the sake of getting revenge on the male lead, a little bitterness was fine.
Qiao Qingman closed her eyes, endured the surging bitterness, and finished the coffee in one go.
“Let’s see you kiss me again,” Qiao Qingman muttered in a low voice.
She happily imagined the male lead deeply kissing her, only to have his expression change drastically from the bitterness.
Wait.
The male lead was asleep. He seemed to be unable to deeply kiss her.
Qiao Qingman: “……”
Forget it. A little bitterness was better than none.
So Qiao Qingman quietly took a deep breath, puckered her lips, rose onto her tiptoes, and leaned toward the man’s mouth.
When her lips touched the real, gently cool softness, the system broadcast sounded in her mind: [Fifth-day kiss. Check-in successful.]
Meanwhile, the real male lead was lying crookedly on damp grass somewhere else, eyes closed.
Let alone bitter gourd coffee, he had not even gotten a single drop of water.
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