Chapter 30: Just This Once?
He distinctly remembered saying last time that there would be no next time.
So how had the little monster so naturally sat down and started waiting for him?
Today, Qin Zelin had to make him understand that he meant what he said.
“Cen Miao, didn’t I tell you last time that—”
“Hubby? Hurry up~”
Qin Zelin: “…”
H-Hurry up and do what…?
“Hubby?” Cen Miao frowned and turned around, looking unhappily at the man still standing in place.
“Hm?”
The instant Qin Zelin blurted out, “Coming,” his feet had already started moving toward the sofa.
Only halfway through drying Cen Miao’s hair did Qin Zelin remember what he had intended to do.
He had meant to establish rules for the little monster and prove that he kept his word.
When he said there would be no next time, there would be no next time.
He lowered his gaze to the person sitting comfortably with narrowed eyes and a deeply satisfied expression, then took a deep breath.
Forget it.
Cen Miao wanted him to dry his hair simply because he liked him and wanted to be close to him.
The psychologist had said he needed more care anyway. Drying his hair hardly required any effort, and since he liked it so much, Qin Zelin might as well do it for him.
Before long, the hum of the hair dryer stopped.
Qin Zelin wound up the cord and carried it back into the bathroom. The moment he entered, he once again saw that familiar small white garment lying on top of the laundry basket.
A familiar heat rose from his lower abdomen.
“…”
Later, when Qin Zelin returned to the bedroom after showering, Cen Miao was already asleep.
Looking at Cen Miao with one arm raised nearly straight toward the ceiling, Qin Zelin shook his head helplessly. After tucking the arm beneath the covers, he switched off the light and climbed into bed.
It wasn’t long before a soft body wrapped itself around his arm.
Qin Zelin blinked in the darkness, suspecting the little monster hadn’t been asleep at all and had merely been waiting for an excuse to cling to him.
“…”
Early the next morning, while Qin Zelin hovered between sleep and wakefulness, he kept sensing something beside his face.
Still groggy, he turned his head. The moment he opened his eyes, he came face-to-face with five plump pink toes.
“???”
He pushed himself upright, unable to understand how the head beside his pillow before he fell asleep had turned into a foot by morning.
Qin Zelin lifted the blanket on the other side.
One glance at Cen Miao’s incomprehensible sleeping position nearly made him laugh.
Before pulling back the blanket, he never could have imagined this sight.
His upper body was twisted with both arms above his head, resembling a propeller preparing for takeoff. Meanwhile, his legs pointed in entirely different directions, as though each one were traveling somewhere else in his dreams.
It wasn’t until a soft click reached his ears that Qin Zelin snapped back to his senses.
Why… had he taken a picture of the little monster?
It wasn’t as though he wanted to look at him all the time.
Qin Zelin’s thumb hovered over the delete button for a moment, but in the end, he didn’t press it.
He would keep it for now.
It wasn’t because he wanted to see it. He could use the picture to threaten the little monster later if he refused to behave.
Close to eleven, Qin Zelin finished an online meeting with the executives responsible for overseas operations. He glanced at the time, stood, and went downstairs.
Inside the first-floor art studio—
It happened to be a break in the middle of a lesson.
Overwhelmed by studying, Cen Miao rested his forehead against the edge of the desk and stared blankly into space.
Sunlight streamed through the window and fell over him, surrounding his little curls with a soft halo. His long lashes rested quietly against his cheeks.
Yu Rui’s breath caught.
For a moment, he felt as though he were looking at a tiny woodland spirit.
Unable to resist, he took out his silenced phone and secretly snapped a photograph.
Outside the door, Qin Zelin lowered his eyes and watched everything happening inside.
His thin lips pressed into a tight line, and his expression turned black as the bottom of a pot.
He had known it.
The man had given the little monster such an expensive gift after only a few lessons. He clearly had ulterior motives.
Without making a sound, Qin Zelin turned and went directly upstairs to the study. He picked up his phone and made a call.
After lunch, he took Cen Miao out to visit Grandpa at the hospital.
The underground parking garage was illuminated by cold white lights.
When the elevator doors opened, Qin Zelin led Cen Miao inside. Just then, the phone in his pocket rang.
He glanced at the caller ID, pressed the button for the fifth floor, then turned to Cen Miao.
“Go up to the fifth floor first and wait for me in Grandpa’s room. I’ll come after I take this call.”
“Okay.”
After Cen Miao stepped out, the elevator doors slowly closed.
Only once the floor numbers began changing did Qin Zelin raise the phone to his ear.
“President Qin, everything has been handled. As for the photograph, I checked his phone and confirmed there were no other copies.”
Qin Zelin gave an emotionless hum.
“We had him sign an additional confidentiality agreement. Don’t worry, he won’t say anything.”
“Mm.” Qin Zelin lowered his eyes, watching the floor numbers rise beside the elevator doors, his gaze calm. “Find him another tutor.”
After recalling the little monster’s pitiful expression from the night before, he added, “Don’t find someone who doubles his assignments the next day just because he didn’t finish today’s homework. Find someone with a gentler teaching style.”
Fang Huan replied, “Understood.”
On the fifth floor, Cen Miao stepped out of the elevator and headed toward the hospital room.
At the nurses’ station, several young nurses were discussing what to eat.
“Let’s get McDonald’s. I suddenly want a spicy chicken burger.”
“McDonald’s? Why not Madonna while you’re at it? Who was it yesterday who said she was starting a diet today and would starve herself as long as she didn’t die?”
“Ahhh! I can’t do it! I’m craving it to death! Is anyone ordering with me?”
Cen Miao: “?”
If even humans craved it that much, just how delicious must it be?
“Hm? Cen Miao? Didn’t Zelin come with you? Where is he?” Shao Siheng asked as he stepped out of his office and saw Cen Miao standing motionless near the nurses’ station.
“Director Shao!”
“Mm.”
“I came with Hubby. He’s answering a call,” Cen Miao replied slowly.
“Then I’ll take you to Grandpa’s room first.”
“Okay.”
Inside the hospital room, Qin Jianye had been craning his neck while waiting.
The moment the door opened and Cen Miao entered, he hurriedly pointed toward the small blue electric scooter beside his bed. A huge red bow was tied around it.
“Miaomiao, come here! Hurry and see whether you like it! Butler Lin said you love electric scooters, so Grandpa had this one specially customized for you!”
His voice was full of impatience, and he didn’t even notice whether Qin Zelin had entered with him.
“…!!!”
Cen Miao’s attention was instantly captured.
The scooter had a blue base and was covered in images of his beloved yellow sponge. His eyes sparkled brightly.
From his reaction, Qin Jianye immediately knew he had chosen the right gift.
Delighted, he hurriedly began presenting it like a treasure.
“Look here at the handlebars. I added a screen that displays navigation. It’s connected to the speakers, so you can even play music.”
“And the seat is made from the best material. It’s soft without getting stuffy, and it even has a heating function.”
“P-Play music?”
Cen Miao walked forward and lovingly stroked the little scooter.
“Siheng, help Miaomiao set it up. You young people understand these electronic gadgets best.”
“All right.”
At the hospital room door, Qin Zelin arrived a step later and pushed it open.
His gaze immediately landed on the electric scooter decorated with an enormous red bow, an extremely vibrant color scheme, and yellow cartoon characters covering its entire body.
Cen Miao selected a song with an interesting title from the music app and pressed play.
The instrumental intro suddenly rang through the hospital room.
Then the singer began.
Qin Zelin’s eyelid twitched violently.
Update Posting Schedule: Starting next chapter, posting schedule change from posting every day to 3 chapters every Thursday~
