Chapter 138: Damn This Censorship!

Seeing Liu Ruoxi's expression of utter disgust, Qin Xuan leaned over and playfully smeared sugar all over her face.

Half a minute later, Liu Ruoxi looked in the mirror to find her face covered in a layer of sticky sugar. How annoying!

Had Qin Xuan not made a swift escape, Liu Ruoxi would have pinned him to the ground and beaten him up.

Liu Ruoxi licked the sugar off the corner of her lips, and on an inexplicable impulse, extended her index finger to scoop a bit and put it into her mouth...

Ew~ So gross...

Meanwhile, Qin Xuan pushed open Nan Zhiyi's bedroom door. Seeing her scribbling something at her desk, he walked over and sat on the edge of her bed.

"What are you writing? Let me see."

Nan Zhiyi tilted her head and smiled at Qin Xuan. "No way!"

"What do you think I should buy as gifts for your uncle and aunt when we go to your place?"

Qin Xuan looked at her in utter astonishment. "Last time you showed up with bare, stinky feet, why are you suddenly thinking about buying gifts?"

Nan Zhiyi was speechless.

"Well, my status is different now, isn't it?" Nan Zhiyi leaned back comfortably in her chair and stretched lazily, exposing a sliver of her flat belly.

"And another thing! My feet do not stink!" Nan Zhiyi snapped back, defending herself. "If you don't believe me, smell them."

With that, she kicked off her shoes and thrust her bare foot directly onto Qin Xuan's lap.

Qin Xuan tried to push it away with a look of distaste, which immediately triggered Nan Zhiyi.

"I knew you despise me! This household is unlivable anymore, I'm running away from home right now!"

Despite her dramatic declaration, Nan Zhiyi didn't even shift her bottom an inch.

Holding her ankle awkwardly, Qin Xuan ended up grasping her bare foot.

Compared to his own, Nan Zhiyi's foot was quite small, yet rather fleshy. It felt quite pleasant to squeeze.

Driven by a mix of confirmation and curiosity, Qin Xuan lowered his head and took a light sniff.

Huh? There's practically no smell at all...

Meeting Qin Xuan's puzzled gaze, Nan Zhiyi shot him a resentful look. See? She told him they didn't stink!

"Did you... just wash your feet?" Today's unappreciative Qin Xuan in action!

Sure enough, upon hearing this remark, Nan Zhiyi lashed out with a flying kick straight to his chest. "I'll let you get a thorough sniff today!"

With that, she lunged on top of Qin Xuan.

Liu Ruoxi had just walked out after washing her face when she heard the commotion coming from Nan Zhiyi's room. Good grief, could you two please be a bit more mindful of the surroundings?

...

More than half an hour later, Qin Xuan looked at Nan Zhiyi lying on the other side of the bed. Is that really it?

Feeling the provocative glint in Qin Xuan's eyes, Nan Zhiyi refused to accept defeat. Dragging her exhausted body upright, she shoved Qin Xuan's shoulder.

"I refuse to yield! Again!"

Seeing Nan Zhiyi's stubborn persistence, Qin Xuan sighed and nodded helplessly.

The next morning, rubbing his slightly sore lower back, Qin Xuan headed to the kitchen to treat Zhiyi and perhaps reward her with an extra fried egg.

Before long, as Nan Zhiyi was eating her noodles, she suddenly discovered a fried egg buried underneath. Realization dawning on her, she flashed Qin Xuan a joyful smile, her eyes curving into crescent shapes.

Liu Ruoxi was happily slurping her noodles when she caught the two of them exchanging lingering glances. Recalling the scandalous noises that had startled her the previous night...

She silently picked up her bowl and retreated to the balcony to eat breakfast alongside Wanzi.

The week flew by rather quickly, likely because most teachers were away attending conferences. Wanzi's surgical incision had almost completely healed, though she still spent her days lounging in her bed like a total sluggard. Lin'er tried several times to pick her up, only to hesitate out of fear of touching the wound.

By Saturday morning, Qin Xuan and Lin'er strapped Wanzi into her carrier and headed to the hospital to get her stitches removed. Wanzi acted even more cowardly this time, and the doctor had to exert considerable effort just to coax her out.

Once the stitches were out, she was back to normal. Having worn a protective cone for a full week, Wanzi took quite a while to get used to being free of it.

Lin'er dragged Qin Xuan along for a boring stroll down the street, completely ignoring Wanzi scratching frantically at the inside of the backpack.

"Hungry?" Qin Xuan knew Lin'er's mind the moment he saw her looking around eagerly.

"Mhm!" Lin'er hugged Qin Xuan's arm tightly against her chest. "Famished."

It was only a little past nine o'clock, so the two of them had gone out rather early and hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

Qin Xuan bought two bamboo steamers of xiao long bao to-go before finally pulling Lin'er back home.

Setting down the backpack, Wanzi trotted leisurely over to the balcony as usual, flopping down to bask comfortably in the sun.

Qin Xuan cast a strange look at the cat. This orange feline seemed to have been born lazy. Could she please act like a young cat for once?

Shaking his head inwardly at Wanzi, Qin Xuan glanced toward the bedroom; those two were probably still fast asleep beneath the covers.

The two of them happily enjoyed their breakfast, setting aside half for the others, though who knew when those two would finally wake up.

As Lin'er lay across Qin Xuan's lap scrolling through her phone, she would occasionally pop a dumpling into her mouth. Suddenly grabbing at empty air, she realized she had eaten every last dumpling...

With an innocent expression, Lin'er looked up at Qin Xuan and asked, "Did you steal mine?"

"You..." Qin Xuan stared at her with black lines across his forehead. I literally watched you eat every single one!

Realizing her mistake, Lin'er jumped up, ran to the bedroom to grab a bag of potato chips, and generously tossed a pack toward Qin Xuan. "Sharing is caring."

Qin Xuan turned the outer packaging over in his hand and dropped it aside speechlessly. "Don't think I don't know—you just hate the crawfish flavor!"

"Hehe, bought the wrong one by accident," Lin'er said with an embarrassed smile. She burrowed into Qin Xuan's arms, rubbing her face against his like Wanzi. "Be a dear and eat it for me?"

Qin Xuan felt his body warm up under Lin'er's antics. "Alright, alright, get down."

A moment later, Qin Xuan docilely let Lin'er feed him potato chips...

Who on earth invented crawfish-flavored potato chips anyway?! Total abomination!

"All gone. Should I get you another bag?" Lin'er shook the empty bag, tipped the remaining crumbs into her palm, and pinched Qin Xuan's cheeks to shove them into his mouth. Afterward, she wiped her hands with a napkin in utter disdain.

"No! No more..." Qin Xuan hurriedly swallowed the chips and reached out to pull Lin'er back as she slid off the sofa.

...

When Nan Zhiyi woke up, she simply lay in bed scrolling through her phone. Knowing that Qin Xuan and the others were taking Wanzi to get her stitches out, she hadn't bothered to get up.

Suddenly hearing a commotion outside, she curiously climbed out of bed. Had they returned already?

Opening the door, she was greeted by the sight of Lin'er snuggled in Qin Xuan's arms eating potato chips...

Such damned domestic harmony! After locking eyes with the two of them for a brief moment, Nan Zhiyi slammed the door shut with a loud "bang."

Watching her antics, Qin Xuan and Lin'er exchanged glances and burst into laughter. What was that all about?

"Let's go buy some groceries," Qin Xuan patted Lin'er's slender waist and whispered in her ear.

Come to think of it, it really had been a long time since he and Lin'er went grocery shopping together, to the extent that the uncles and aunties at the vegetable market were momentarily stunned to see Lin'er holding Qin Xuan's arm.

Compared to Liu Ruoxi and Nan Zhiyi, Lin'er was far more familiar with these vendors, primarily because she was sweet-talking personified, and the vendors always gave her a discount.

Yet in the eyes of everyone present, Qin Xuan looked like... an absolute scumbag! Having such an adorable girlfriend wasn't enough for him!

"Let's go, bro, let's grab some stuff at the supermarket," Lin'er said, paying the vendor and tugging at Qin Xuan's arm.

Ever since the time Qin Xuan forgot his phone and Lin'er experienced the comforting authority of acting like the lady of the house, she competed to pay every time they went out alone. Qin Xuan never stopped her, letting her thoroughly enjoy the pleasure of footing the bill.