Chapter 44: The Little Monster Adores Him
After dinner, Cen Miao started eating his little cake.
Before long, Qin Zelin felt as though he had entered an endless loop.
The little monster would take two bites of cake, pucker his lips at him, run over and kiss him, then return to eating. After that, he would pucker his lips again and run over for another kiss.
The cycle repeated over and over.
The entire process resembled an assembly line, with kissing Qin Zelin as the final packaging step.
Qin Zelin: “…”
Had the harsh words from the woman on the phone upset him so much that he believed kissing the person he liked would make him feel better?
The little monster must be trying to draw warmth from Qin Zelin through physical intimacy and use it to heal the wounds in his heart.
Recalling the woman’s cruel words, Qin Zelin thought about how he was now the only person Cen Miao could rely on.
If the person he loved rejected him at a time like this, Cen Miao would surely feel helpless and hopeless, as though the entire world had abandoned him.
How pitiful.
Qin Zelin needed to show him even more care.
“Eat more slowly. If you like it, I’ll buy you another one tomorrow,” Qin Zelin comforted in an unusually gentle voice as he looked at the person across from him.
Cen Miao’s eyes sparkled, though there was also a hint of confusion in them.
He didn’t understand why this human liked kisses so much, but he didn’t dislike kissing him either.
Then he remembered that the short videos had said he should provide his husband with emotional support.
He lifted his face toward Qin Zelin and said softly, “I like it! Thank you, Hubby! Hubby is the best! I love Hubby the most!”
Sigh.
The little monster was probably hopelessly in love with him.
Qin Zelin’s Adam’s apple moved slowly. Maintaining a deliberately calm expression, he gave a quiet hum.
That evening, Cen Miao sat on the sofa scrolling through short videos. When he noticed a small red circle at the bottom of the screen, he curiously tapped it, then abruptly shot to his feet.
“Hubby! I’m going to earn a million a month!”
“Mm?”
Qin Zelin was unplugging the hair dryer when he heard Cen Miao’s excited voice. His hand paused, and he turned around.
“What do you mean, earn a million a month?”
“Chengcheng said bloggers can earn money from advertisements and make a million a month. I really got an advertisement, Hubby!”
Cen Miao held up his phone, his face full of excitement.
Qin Zelin: “…?”
What kind of advertisement could the little monster’s cooking attract?
Seasoning that could make any dark cuisine taste delicious once added?
“But Hubby, what kind of cream is ‘pink kitty cream’?” Cen Miao tilted his head, his clear eyes filled with confusion.
“?! Give me the phone.”
Qin Zelin casually tossed the hair dryer onto the sofa and quickly took the phone from Cen Miao.
He followed the profile picture in the private message and opened the sender’s homepage.
Pair after pair of…
Kitties filled the screen, making his temples throb.
After a moment of silence, Qin Zelin took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound natural.
“This pink kitty cream… is a cream that turns cats pink when they eat it. It isn’t very good for their health.”
Cen Miao immediately frowned.
“Then I don’t want to earn this money. You can’t give little animals something that’s bad for their bodies!”
“Mm.” Qin Zelin cleared his throat. “Then I’ll block them for you, all right? That way, they won’t come back and try to trick you again.”
Cen Miao had no idea what blocking meant, but he nodded blankly.
“Okay!”
“If anyone sends you another private message, let me check first whether they’re a scammer.”
“I understand.”
Cen Miao sat down on the sofa dejectedly. He leaned his head against Qin Zelin’s waist and nuzzled him, his voice muffled.
Qin Zelin’s fingers moved. He soothingly rubbed the back of Cen Miao’s head.
After winding up the hair dryer cord and taking it into the bathroom, Qin Zelin pulled out his phone and opened the search bar.
[Twenty-year-old child at home became a blogger and feels upset because he received no advertisements]
There were many search results. Qin Zelin casually selected the one most similar to his question.
[Your Sister Gang from Society] Isn’t that simple? Send him a big cash gift. I guarantee he’ll instantly cheer up and perform a tango right on the spot!
Qin Zelin frowned.
He had given Cen Miao a card, yet the little monster hadn’t seemed particularly happy.
Would sending him a large cash gift really work?
He opened WeChat and, still doubtful, transferred fifty thousand yuan.
However, his instincts told him the little monster probably wouldn’t react much to such a small amount.
After all, even when Qin Zelin gave him that necklace, he hadn’t performed a tango.
A little over ten seconds later, a series of thumping sounds came from the bedroom.
Confused, Qin Zelin left the bathroom and entered the room.
Cen Miao, dressed in his pink rabbit pajamas, was excitedly bouncing up and down on the bed. Not a trace of his earlier dejection remained.
“…”
He…
Was his cognitive impairment really this severe?
He didn’t like a card containing twenty million yuan, but he liked a fifty-thousand-yuan transfer?
Fifty thousand yuan couldn’t even buy the tiny clasp on the necklace around his neck.
Cen Miao turned and saw Qin Zelin standing nearby. He took a running start and leaped onto him.
Startled, Qin Zelin hurriedly caught him, ending up with a large, fluffy, slippery rabbit filling his arms.
Cen Miao’s voice was soft and sweet.
“Thank you, Hubby! Hubby is the best! I love Hubby the most!”
Ahhh!
A roujiamo at the night market cost eight yuan. Two would be… sixteen yuan.
Fifty thousand yuan could buy…
So many of them!!!
The human gave him so much money to raise him. Cen Miao would definitely repay him in the future!
“…”
The little monster’s mood had improved, but he seemed to have fallen even deeper for Qin Zelin.
He had already clung to him beside the sofa earlier, and now he was jumping onto him and demanding to be held.
The next day, during the lunch break, Qin Zelin finished an online meeting with overseas executives.
He wearily rolled his neck, glanced at the empty coffee cup on his desk, then stood and headed to the break room.
Inside the inner section of the break room, Qin Zelin leaned against the counter and slowly ground coffee beans.
He suddenly heard people talking outside.
His hand paused.
He was considering stepping out, since remaining there and listening to other people’s conversation seemed inappropriate. But after hearing what they said next, he felt that walking out now would only make everyone even more embarrassed.
He should pretend he wasn’t there…
“How many minutes do I soak these hot-and-sour noodles, Beibei?”
“Five or six minutes, probably.”
“Hey, Qiqi, hurry and tell Manman and me exactly how you stopped being single,” Xu Beibei urged as she opened the package of instant hot-and-sour noodles.
“He was my senior in university. We studied the same major, and we’re the same age, so we had plenty to talk about. We’ve always stayed in touch.”
“When we had dinner together that day, he drank a little and told me he had already liked me in university. But he knew I liked someone else back then, so he never dared to pursue me.”
“I happen to be single now, and I thought he was pretty good too, so we got together.”
“That’s all? Aren’t you hiding something…?”
The voices gradually faded into the distance.
After making himself a cup of pour-over coffee, Qin Zelin returned to his office with a thoughtful expression.
On the Capital University campus, Cen Miao and Chengcheng had just left the cafeteria after lunch when Xu Jianian called out to them.
