Qin Xuanye shook his head.
"No."
"That's not it."
"It's less about being afraid of others finding out about our past relationship, and more about me being afraid of those old memories being dredged up again. I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself from falling for you all over again."
"Because, I know, I've always been all talk."
"After my number was blocked, I searched for you for so, so long, but couldn't find you."
"Back then, I also sat here drinking, and cried for a long time. I cried while saying I hated you, called you a heartbreaker, but what made me even sadder was..."
"I mistakenly believed the false rumor about you cheating, thought you were a heartbreaker, yet I still couldn't let you go!"
"When we met for the first time, the moment you called me 'brother-in-law', the surprise was greater than the shock."
"What left me flustered wasn't your appearance, but the fact that I had already become your nominal brother-in-law. It felt like I had lost the right to pursue you all over again."
Chen Liuyue suspiciously reached out her hand, waving it in front of his face.
"You just said such a long string of words, doesn't seem like you're drunk at all."
Qin Xuanye was taken aback for a moment, then swayed unsteadily as he took a step forward, saying, "I am drunk, Liuyue. Take me home, please."
This was Chen Liuyue's second time visiting this expansive penthouse.
Last time, she had hugged Qin Xuanye from behind, and he had fled in fear.
But this time.
She watched as Qin Xuanye entered, but he stood at the doorway, looking at her with reluctance.
"Go on in," she waved her hand, as if shooing a cat or dog.
Qin Xuanye's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say so many, many things, but in the end, it turned into a soft sentence.
"Are you hungry? Let me cook some noodles for you."
Chen Liuyue raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, "Are they edible?"
Qin Xuanye nodded repeatedly. "The noodles I cook are very tasty."
Ten minutes later.
Chen Liuyue sat on the sofa scrolling through her phone. The range hood in the kitchen hummed noisily as Qin Xuanye, wearing a green checkered apron, busily cooked noodles in the heat of the kitchen.
Her phone received a message from Wei Miao.
"Yueyue, still out?"
Chen Liuyue's fingertips hovered over the phone's soft keyboard. After thinking for a moment, she decided to be honest:
"At Qin Xuanye's place."
There was silence on the other end for a while.
Then a message slowly came through: "Okay, remember to rest early."
In that second, Chen Liuyue felt truly awful!
It was like going out on a date with a lover, while the lawful partner silently cared for her, telling her to rest early.
But the next moment.
Seeing Qin Xuanye bring out two steaming, fragrant bowls of noodles, she quickly discarded the guilt in her mind.
She surely couldn't be the only woman in the world who had fallen for two men.
"Liuyue, come quick, come quick."
Qin Xuanye had taken off his outer shirt, revealing a gray shirt underneath, still tied with the light green apron.
His sleeves were rolled up, exposing a section of his sturdy, powerful forearm.
His wheat-colored skin and muscular strength were evident.
Chen Liuyue came over and sat down at the dining table.
Qin Xuanye pointed to her bowl of noodles. "Take a look underneath."
She followed his instruction and parted the noodles, revealing a heart-shaped fried egg inside.
Chen Liuyue was somewhat speechless.
"Qin Xuanye, next time, don't do things that only move yourself."
"I won't feel surprised just because I see a heart-shaped egg at the bottom of the bowl!"
Qin Xuanye nodded silently.
Then he pointed to the dining table drawer.
"What about this, then?"
Chen Liuyue thought it was another childish little gift.
She didn't feel like playing along.
Qin Xuanye said in a pleading tone, "Just take a look, please?"
Chen Liuyue pulled open the drawer.
Inside was a document.
Opening the first page revealed a Share Transfer Agreement.
"What's this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Qin Xuanye answered obediently:
"Actually, it was Uncle Chen who proposed canceling the engagement this time. So, out of apology, he gave 1% of Chen Corporation's shares as compensation."
"The additional 4% are scattered shares the Qin family has acquired over the years."
"All of this, I unconditionally transfer to you."
Only upon hearing this did the corners of Chen Liuyue's lips curl up in pleasure.
He should have said so earlier!
These few sentences were much more sincere than the lengthy apology from before.
Closing the folder.
She picked up a piece of the heart-shaped fried egg with her chopsticks and took a bite.
Lifting her head, she smiled brightly at Qin Xuanye.
"Delicious."
Qin Xuanye grinned foolishly along with her. "Liuyue, I'm glad you like it."
The system was dumbfounded: "Congratulations, host. The favorability level of the target, Qin Xuanye, has reached 95%."
Seriously?
Qin Xuanye unconditionally gave 5% of the shares to the host, this silly son of a wealthy family, and his favorability actually increased another 5% just because of this?
Look at this utterly besotted appearance.
Chen Liuyue indicated that the system was making a fuss over nothing.
Haven't you seen a simp before?
They're all like this.
A slap followed by a sweet date.
For Qin Xuanye, her accepting this share transfer agreement meant that Liuyue had finally accepted him.
He would fill in the blanks himself anyway.
This trip today wasn't in vain.
"When do we go to the notary office to confirm the validity of this agreement?" she quietly placed the file into her bag.
Qin Xuanye grinned foolishly. "Tomorrow."
Then he shook his head to himself. "Oh, no, it's today."
He pointed to the clock hanging in the living room; it was already half past one in the morning.
"The notary office opens at 8:30, in seven hours."
"Going back and forth is troublesome. How about staying here tonight?" He cautiously pointed towards the guest room.
Chen Liuyue shot him a glance.
"When have I ever slept in a guest room?"
Qin Xuanye's eyes shifted evasively. "The bedding in the master bedroom is still the set you used last time. I haven't had a chance to change it yet."
Chen Liuyue said bluntly:
"Bring the bedding from the guest room into the master bedroom. I'm sleeping in the master bedroom."
"As for you... you're drunk. Sleep on the sofa!"
Qin Xuanye nodded and smiled repeatedly. In this situation, he'd be willing to sleep on the living room rug.
He busied himself going back and forth to the bedroom, changing the duvet and the entire bedding set.
By the time he finished, it was almost two o'clock.
Most of his drunkenness had worn off. When he walked out of the room to call Chen Liuyue, he saw her leaning against a sofa cushion, fast asleep.
Qin Xuanye didn't dare make a sound.
He just stood there quietly, watching her sleep for half an hour.
Even when his feet went numb.
He didn't dare make the slightest noise.
Half an hour later, Chen Liuyue felt a slight chill and shrank her body, only then realizing she had dozed off on the sofa from exhaustion.
Rubbing her eyes, she saw a human-shaped statue standing not far in her line of sight.
It nearly gave her a fright.
When she realized it was Qin Xuanye, she couldn't help but shake her head.
"Qin! Xuan! Ye! You can't really be an idiot, can you? Standing motionless there in the middle of the night, don't you know it's scary?"
Qin Xuanye blinked his eyes innocently.
He said very seriously:
"I was afraid of waking you."
"Liuyue, was it wrong for me to do that?"
Forget it, what's the point of arguing with a big fool.
