Xiao Qitang obediently took the hit. The throw pillow had barely any force behind it and didn’t hurt at all, but he deliberately let out a soft groan.
Zhu Liuyue leaned forward slightly, concern flashing across her face. “Qitang, are you all right?”
Clutching his injured chest, Xiao Qitang replied in a low voice, “I’m fine. I know Yunche doesn’t like me, and that’s only natural. After all, who would like their love rival?”
“Even if they beat me up and curse at me today, I won’t fight back.”
“Because I like you. So even if I’m bullied or beaten, I’ll accept it willingly—as long as I can stay by your side.”
Ye Yunche was so furious that he couldn’t even get a word out.
What a schemer! How could he be this shamelessly manipulative?
A disdainful scoff escaped Ye Yunjin’s throat. He looked at Xiao Qitang as though he were nothing more than a clown.
He rubbed Liuyue’s fingers in his palm, lifted his head, and asked once again, “Yueyue, if I killed Xiao Qitang, would you be sad?”
Here it was—the crucial question.
Zhu Liuyue hesitated deeply. She glanced at Xiao Qitang, then at the two Ye brothers, and said, “…I don’t know. Perhaps what one can’t have becomes the cinnabar mole in their heart.”
Xiao Qitang chimed in shamelessly, “It’s fine, Ye Yunjin. Just kill me. I’m willing to become the cinnabar mole in Liuyue’s heart.”
Ye Yunche cursed, “What cinnabar mole? You’re nothing but a speck of mosquito blood. Keep dreaming!”
Ye Yunjin glanced up, signaling for his younger brother to calm down.
After a long silence, he said, “I understand now.”
Ye Yunche was puzzled. “Brother, what do you understand?”
Ye Yunjin squeezed Zhu Liuyue’s knuckle again, his gaze fixed on her with deep affection.
“Yueyue, who do you like most?”
Zhu Liuyue answered without the slightest hesitation, “You.”
Ye Yunche’s lips drooped, and a trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes.
It vanished almost immediately, but he grew noticeably quieter.
Ye Yunjin smiled in satisfaction. When he turned to look at Xiao Qitang again, his gaze held a little more tolerance, though his words remained sharp.
“Fine. Since Yueyue likes you, we’ll take you in.”
Before Xiao Qitang could celebrate, Ye Yunjin continued coldly, “But Xiao Qitang, you’d better remember your place.
“In ancient times, your status would amount to nothing more than that of a concubine kept outside the household. I won’t stop Yueyue from visiting you, but you have no right to come to our home looking for us.”
Xiao Qitang nodded repeatedly.
Ye Yunjin went on, “And there’s more… When Yueyue is with us, you’re not allowed to call and steal her away.”
Xiao Qitang couldn’t help asking, “What if she’s with me?”
Ye Yunjin replied, “Unless it’s something important, I won’t come looking for you.”
He himself wouldn’t come.
As for his jealous younger brother Yunche, whether he would come running over to take Liuyue back was another matter entirely.
Ye Yunjin had cleverly left himself an opening.
Xiao Qitang nodded foolishly. “All right! Big Brother, from now on, we’re family!”
That night, all three men stayed behind.
None of them, however, managed to enter the bedroom. One slept in the guest room, one on the sofa, and the last laid out bedding on the balcony.
According to their ranking, Ye Yunjin slept in the guest room, Ye Yunche took the sofa, and Xiao Qitang naturally got the balcony. Even so, he was perfectly happy.
The situation was far better than he had imagined. He had thought he might die at the hands of the Ye brothers tonight.
He never expected to gain entry into the household so easily.
Late that night, Zhu Liuyue woke up, feeling thirsty.
She walked out of the bedroom barefoot. As she passed the sofa in the living room, she noticed that Ye Yunche’s eyes were open. He kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
He seemed rather downcast.
So she quietly walked over.
“Yunche.”
Ye Yunche had been staring blankly at the ceiling by himself. His mind was still replaying Liuyue’s answer from earlier—that the person she liked most was his elder brother.
The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt, and the less he could sleep.
He had known that would be her answer, but hearing it for real still left him uncomfortable.
They had agreed that she would dote on them equally.
His heart felt sour. He tossed and turned, struggling for two hours, yet still couldn’t drift off.
Suddenly, a familiar female voice sounded beside him.
He happily sat up from the sofa, but before he could see clearly, a warm, sweet fragrance drifted into his nose.
A weight settled on his lap, and Zhu Liuyue’s beautiful, delicate face appeared before him.
Her almond-shaped eyes gleamed alluringly in the darkness.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Mm.” Ye Yunche answered gloomily.
Zhu Liuyue naturally slipped both arms around his neck, leaned closer, and whispered, “Then why don’t we get some exercise?”
Ye Yunche’s heart began pounding uncontrollably.
But he forced himself to suppress the sensation completely.
He even tried his best to block it out, unable to let his sleeping brother, Ye Yunjin, notice. Panic, excitement, nervousness, and the disappointment he had felt earlier became tangled together.
The emotions were incredibly complicated.
“Yueyue, do you like my brother best?” After holding it in for a long while, he finally asked what was really on his mind.
Zhu Liuyue tilted her head back and rubbed against his neck affectionately. “No. I like Yunche best.”
Ye Yunche’s eyes grew slightly moist, but he still lowered his head and kissed her hair.
His voice was filled with melancholy. “Liar. You clearly said earlier that you liked my brother best, and now you’re saying you like me.”
Zhu Liuyue’s slender fingers stroked his prominent Adam’s apple. “Is that really important?”
“Yes.” Ye Yunche nodded heavily, like a wronged and bedraggled puppy.
In the faint moonlight, his amber eyes glistened with moisture.
Zhu Liuyue thought for a moment before answering seriously, “…I don’t know.”
Ye Yunche echoed, “You don’t know?”
Her voice was bewildered. “That’s right. The person I like most changes from moment to moment. For example, earlier tonight, when I was sitting on Yunjin’s lap, the way he looked at me was so gentle and accepting. I truly liked him very much.”
“But now, looking at you with your brows furrowed and your eyes nearly brimming with tears, you look just like a little crybaby. It makes me feel sorry for you, and I like you very much too.”
If Zhu Liuyue had lied and said, “No, what I told Yunjin before was a lie. I actually like you best,” Ye Yunche would have thought she was merely placating him.
But she had revealed her truest thoughts instead.
Ye Yunche felt happy.
Even though Yueyue was like the moon in the sky, impossible to grasp, or like a free-floating cloud, her affection came quickly and left just as quickly.
Still, as long as it could linger on him a little longer, that was enough.
He drew in a deep breath, hugged her tightly, and buried his head in the crook of her shoulder.
“Then I want to be greedy. At this very moment, Yueyue, can you like me best?”
“All right.”
His hand slid lower.
“Yueyue, do you like this?”
“Mm.”
“What about this?”
“You’re my favorite, Yunche.”
“Mm,” he hummed softly.
The night grew hazy and passionate.
Under the influence of his restless heart and intensely heightened senses, Ye Yunche felt all his affection surge forth like a flood. Countless fireworks and stars seemed to bloom before his eyes.
He said, “I like Yueyue best too.”
“Congratulations, Host. The favorability of target Ye Yunche has reached 100%!”
(The twins’ world has ended.)
An extra chapter will be updated tomorrow, followed by the plot of a new world.
Preview: The “Villainess” on a Dating Show Crooks Her Finger—and Now Every Male Guest Is Clinging to Her?
