Chapter 16: The Loudspeaker
Downstairs, Butler Lin drained the entire glass of honey water in one gulp, then dutifully pulled out his phone to report the news.
[AAA Butler Lin] Old Master!!! I have incredible news!
[AAA Butler Lin] They’re sleeping in the same room tonight!!
[AAA Butler Lin] [A Toast to Our Friendship.jpg]
[Qin Jianye] Really? That little brat isn’t trying to fool me, is he?
[AAA Butler Lin] Probably not! When I went upstairs, I saw them hugging. They looked very sweet together.
Five minutes later—
Qin Zexi hung up on Qin Jianye’s phone call urging him to get married. Amid the endless accusations of look at your brother, why haven’t you done the same, he accurately extracted one key piece of information.
His brother and sister-in-law were sleeping in the same room tonight, and they had even hugged and kissed.
Another five minutes later, Shao Siheng and Meng Yu heard a slightly different version from Qin Zexi.
His brother and sister-in-law were sleeping in the same room tonight, and they had hugged and kissed so passionately that his sister-in-law’s lips had been bitten raw.
As for why Xu Xiao and Lin Jingcheng weren’t informed, it was probably because Qin Zexi trusted Meng Yu.
Within five minutes, those two would definitely hear the news as well.
Early the next morning, Qin Zelin had a dream.
In the dream, he was swimming when someone suddenly hurled a rock onto his chest.
A suffocating pressure struck him. He abruptly opened his eyes and saw the culprit.
“…”
Qin Zelin shifted his neck with difficulty, his brows knitting tightly as he stared in bafflement at Cen Miao’s sleeping position.
Both arms were tucked behind his back, his head was burrowed against Qin Zelin’s chest, and his bottom was sticking up.
One leg was bent at the knee.
The other was stretched rigidly straight, kicking as far away as possible, as though he had no intention of keeping it.
“…”
What kind of slipped-disc sleeping position was this?
“Cen Miao, wake up.”
The moment he spoke, the leg draped across him shifted.
Qin Zelin pushed Cen Miao’s shoulder, his voice hoarse.
“Cen Miao?”
“Mmph.” Cen Miao responded indistinctly and wriggled around before slowly withdrawing the leg wrapped around Qin Zelin.
He sat up for less than three seconds before sticking his bottom up and collapsing face-first onto the bed again.
Like an oversized black sesame rice ball whose filling had gone soft from overcooking, he flopped limply back down.
“Daddy~ Let me sleep a little longer.”
With his head pressed against the mattress, Cen Miao’s muffled voice sounded soft and clingy.
According to Assistant Fang’s investigation, Cen Miao’s adoptive parents had never been close to him. Therefore, this affectionate “Daddy” couldn’t mean he had mistaken Qin Zelin for someone from the Cen family.
There was only one possibility.
He had watched those things again…
Qin Zelin sat up and gritted his teeth.
“Cen Miao, didn’t I tell you not to watch that kind of nonsense anymore?”
“You’re so noisy.”
Cen Miao pulled the blanket over his head and wrapped himself into a ball.
Seeing that nothing could get through to him, Qin Zelin rubbed his temples and went to wash up first.
An hour later, Qin Zelin returned from the gym to change clothes.
Some of the clothes he had asked Assistant Fang to order the previous day—those that weren’t custom-made—had already been delivered to the villa early that morning. Butler Lin and two maids were helping organize them.
“Uncle Lin, those clothes are for Cen Miao, not me.”
Butler Lin nodded with a smile. “Yes, yes! I know you specially bought them for your husband!”
Qin Zelin: “…I only bought them because his clothes were poor quality and too thin.”
Butler Lin nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, I understand. You care about your husband more than anyone!”
Qin Zelin: “…”
“Uncle Lin, send his clothes to his room.”
Butler Lin: “…?”
They were already sharing a bed. Why was he still being so formal?
“Little Li, Little Zhang, have you finished hanging everything? If you’re done, head downstairs.”
Butler Lin secretly glanced at Qin Zelin, then supported his lower back.
“Oh, my back. I’m getting too old for all this work. I can’t take it anymore. I’ll head downstairs first, Young Master.”
“Oh, right. Your husband has class this morning. You should hurry and wake him.”
After speaking, Butler Lin hurried away while clutching his waist and wearing a pained expression, though his steps were remarkably swift.
“Uncle Lin—”
Qin Zelin: “…”
One side of the wardrobe held his clothes, sharply tailored and all in restrained, monotonous colors.
The other side held Cen Miao’s clothes.
Qin Zelin glanced over and saw hoods decorated with every variety of rabbit ears and bear ears. He began to suspect Fang Huan was trying to open a zoo in his home.
In the bedroom, Cen Miao was still asleep with both arms thrown above his head.
Qin Zelin walked over and pushed him gently.
“Wake up. You still have class this morning.”
“Cen Miao?”
“Cen Miao?”
“…”
After a brief pause, Qin Zelin tentatively said, “Aunt Wang baked bread and made fresh strawberry jam.”
The moment he finished speaking, the person on the bed sat upright.
One eye was barely open, and his face was still thick with sleepiness.
“R-Really?”
After a moment of silence, Qin Zelin gave a quiet, “Mm,” his voice containing very little of the joy one might expect from finally getting someone out of bed.
After breakfast, Cen Miao put on his new alpaca-wool down jacket. Two soft rabbit ears dangled from the hood.
The two stood in the entryway changing their shoes.
Qin Zelin quietly reached out and gave one of the ears a little rub. The corner of his lips curved unconsciously.
It felt surprisingly nice.
When he turned around, he found Butler Lin standing at the kitchen entrance, wearing the exact same knowing smile as the night before.
“…”
Qin Zelin’s raised lips immediately flattened. He brought a fist to his mouth and coughed awkwardly.
Cen Miao still rode his little electric scooter to school.
The only difference was the addition of a cartoon-patterned windproof blanket, which Butler Lin had rushed out to buy after realizing he couldn’t persuade Cen Miao to take a car.
After the first class ended, Chengcheng was about to find Cen Miao for a chat when their academic adviser called him away.
When he returned, his face was filled with concern.
“Baby, the adviser wants you to go to his office. I’ll come with you.”
“Oh, okay.”
Inside the office, the adviser gently asked Cen Miao to sit down.
After a brief pause, he carefully began, “Cen Miao, I assume you’ve already seen your exam results. I contacted your parents earlier, but they… said they would no longer be responsible for anything concerning you.”
“Could you tell me what happened?”
A long while passed, but Cen Miao still said nothing.
Seeing the troubled expression on his face, the adviser shook his head gently, his voice becoming even softer.
“It’s all right. You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to. Apart from them, is there another family member we can contact?”
Cen Miao remembered Assistant Fang telling him that he could reach out at any time if something happened.
He nodded at the adviser.
“There is.”
On the top floor of Huanyu Group, the atmosphere inside the conference room was solemn and quiet.
The phone in Fang Huan’s pocket suddenly vibrated.
He glanced at the screen, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.
After pausing for only a few seconds, he neither rejected the call nor remained in the meeting. Instead, he quietly stood, opened the door, and stepped out of the conference room.
Some instinct told him—
If he ignored this voice call now, his career prospects might be cut short along with it…
