Qin Xuanye's body stiffened abruptly.
This was the first time she had taken the initiative to hug him like this.
He remembered when they were dating, it was always him chasing after her like a lovesick puppy, while Liuyue would only offer a faint smile.
It seemed to be praising him, 'It's good that you're so proactive.'
Back then, he was overjoyed, but the sincere devotion he poured out was ultimately trampled upon completely.
There was no dignified breakup, only a sudden, cliff-like severance of contact.
His phone number was blocked, all means of communication were cut off, as if declaring to him, Qin Xuanye, you fool, you've been dumped!
Thinking of this, the fury in his chest surged upward.
Qin Xuanye forcefully broke free from Chen Liuyue's embrace.
His gaze was icy as he stared at her.
"I'm going home, of course."
"Whether you are Chen Liuyue or Tao Liuyue, I hope you can understand one thing clearly."
"I am your sister's..."
Before the word 'husband' could leave his lips,
Chen Liuyue had already tiptoed up with a playful smile, her hands familiarly encircling his waist, and kissed his lips.
It was an aggressive kiss.
Her movements were not gentle.
Qin Xuanye's first reaction was to resist, but the moment he opened his mouth,
Chen Liuyue sealed his lips, not allowing him to utter a single sound.
Frustrated and furious, he tried to bite her.
But Chen Liuyue trailed kisses from the corner of his mouth down to his Adam's apple, a look of triumph in the corners of her eyes and brows.
She even asked aloud:
"Has Chen Ruanruan kissed you here?"
"And here."
"A-Xuan, you're still as shy as before." Her tone held a hint of concealed laughter.
Qin Xuanye's scattered reason returned.
This time, he pushed Chen Liuyue away with all his strength.
Yet, his lips and neck were now stained with her lipstick marks.
His hair was disheveled, his eyes flickered, his body covered with ambiguous traces.
He didn't bother to say anything more, almost fleeing in a panic, rushing out of the room like a gust of wind.
Chen Liuyue watched his retreating figure, a slight curve lifting the corner of her lips.
She wasn't in a hurry to chase after him.
After closing the door, she very leisurely made herself at home.
After taking a shower in the bathroom, she rummaged through Qin Xuanye's closet and pulled out a white dress shirt. It was large and long, slipping over her body like a shirt dress.
Quite satisfied, she took many photos in the room wearing this shirt dress.
Only then did she leisurely post them on her social media feed.
Tagged, visible only to Chen Ruanruan and Qin Xuanye.
...
Chen Ruanruan habitually scrolled through her social media feed before bed. It was mostly posts about travel or food check-ins, nothing substantial.
Just as she was about to close the app, her finger suddenly paused.
The latest post was from Chen Liuyue, whom she had just added.
Opening it, it was a series of selfies of her wearing a white dress shirt.
Wait a minute?!
The size of that white shirt didn't seem like a woman's; it looked more like she was wearing a man's shirt, hence the length gave it a shirt-dress feel.
And didn't Chen Liuyue say she was going back to the dorm?
The background in her photos clearly looked like a luxurious, spacious apartment.
Chen Ruanruan opened the photos and scrutinized them again and again.
A feeling of unease stirred in her heart.
She intended to exit, but accidentally slipped and tapped the 'like' button.
Chen Ruanruan thought about canceling it, but felt that might seem too deliberate.
So she simply commented:
"Nice shirt. Where did you buy it?"
Chen Liuyue quickly replied: "Sister, someone else bought it. I don't know."
Chen Ruanruan's temples throbbed.
A woman's intuition told her this wasn't simple.
Could it be that she's being kept by some other man?!!
She instinctively sent Qin Xuanye a message.
"Xuanye, are you home?"
Qin Xuanye replied after two or three minutes: "Yes."
Chen Ruanruan thought for a moment, carefully weighing her words: "Um... I'm really worried about Liuyue."
Qin Xuanye: "How so?"
Chen Ruanruan: "I don't know if I'm overthinking, but I just saw the post Liuyue shared."
"She seems to be wearing a man's white dress shirt. Also, she clearly said she was going back to the dorm to stay."
"We both saw her enter the school gate tonight, but the background in her photo looks like it was taken in someone's home..."
"If she's really going down the wrong path, Mom and Dad would be very worried."
Chen Ruanruan, portraying the image of a considerate and caring good sister, contrasted against a possibly gold-digging, misguided, malicious, and foolish younger sister, Chen Liuyue.
On the surface, every sentence expressed concern.
In reality, each line carried her own malicious speculation.
She deliberately tarnished her image in front of Qin Xuanye, hoping the two of them would never have any interaction.
On the other end of the phone,
Qin Xuanye frowned as he listened to the content Chen Ruanruan sent.
He didn't reply immediately.
Instead, he refreshed his social media feed.
Soon, the six-photo grid Chen Liuyue posted appeared before him.
She was wearing the white dress shirt from his own closet, her long legs leaning casually against a beige cloud-like sofa, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes gazing tenderly at the camera.
She looked both beautiful and provocatively innocent.
Damnably attractive!!!
Qin Xuanye, the moment he opened the photo, even looked at it carefully three more times.
The caption for the post was: Sleep well.
What did that mean?!
Was she saying 'sleep well' to him?
Just as Qin Xuanye fell into silence, another message popped up from Chen Ruanruan.
"Xuanye, do you think I should tell Mom and Dad about this?"
Qin Xuanye's breath hitched.
If this blew up, his past relationship with Chen Liuyue would be exposed.
So he quickly replied:
"Don't rush. Chen Liuyue is an adult; she can handle her own affairs."
"And given your special relationship with her, it's better not to intervene, to avoid her resenting you."
Chen Ruanruan replied, deeply moved: "Xuanye, you're so good to me. Then I'll listen to you and pretend I don't know about this."
Then she added with a tone of regret: "Sigh! Maybe I guessed wrong. Perhaps Liuyue has a boyfriend?"
Qin Xuanye, feeling very guilty, replied with two 'Mm-hmms'.
...
After washing up, Qin Xuanye was about to go to sleep.
Suddenly, a new message popped up on his chat app.
He thought it was Chen Ruanruan saying goodnight.
Unexpectedly, it was a picture sent by Chen Liuyue.
She was lying on the bed in his master bedroom, her left hand propped on a pillow, her long, fair legs playfully kicked up behind her, facing the camera with a bright, sweet smile.
"Brother-in-law, your bed is so soft."
Qin Xuanye glanced at the photo, opened it, then quickly closed it.
He silently stared at the thumbnail instead.
After a long while, he finally replied: "That's my room. Go sleep in the guest room!!!"
Chen Liuyue replied just as quickly.
"If I sleep in the guest room, will you come sleep with me?"
Qin Xuanye: "..."
Chen Liuyue said very smugly: "See! I'll sleep in the master bedroom bed. It has your scent, it's like you're sleeping with me."
Qin Xuanye: "...!!!"
"Chen Liuyue, don't go too far!"
Chen Liuyue sent a smirking cat emoji.
"Okay, brother-in-law. I will be even more unsparing in my... treatment of this bed."
