Chapter Thirty-Four: The Host

The next morning, Qin Xuan was taken aback when he saw Liu Ruoxi coming out of Qin Lin’er’s room. Then he spotted Qin Lin’er following behind, looking utterly dejected. The torment of the previous night had left an indelible scar on little Lin’er’s heart—now she couldn’t help but swallow nervously whenever she saw Liu Ruoxi’s retreating figure.

At school, before classes began, Liu Qin pulled Liu Ruoxi aside.

Ruoxi was a bit puzzled. “Sister Qin, what’s going on?”

Liu Qin got straight to the point. “We need two female hosts for the freshman gala. Are you interested?”

“Me?” Ruoxi stared in disbelief. She could handle a martial arts routine on stage, but hosting? She’d never done it before!

“Yeah, the student forum has been voting for you to host. You’re pretty popular!” Liu Qin showed her the results on her phone—a student-made poll where Ruoxi was ranked first.

“And the other host?” Ruoxi asked, feeling conflicted.

“It’s Nan Zhiyi. She’s hosted these events before and has experience.”

“Her?” Ruoxi wasn’t concerned about the campus beauty rankings, but the thought of hosting alongside Nan Zhiyi made her feel a little awkward.

“Well, class is about to start. Go back and think it over. Just let me know by the end of the day,” Liu Qin encouraged her, patting her on the shoulder. She genuinely hoped Ruoxi would agree.

Back at her seat, Ruoxi propped her head on her hand, lost in thought. Qin Xuan noticed but didn’t ask. Qin Lin’er, on the other hand—her curiosity getting the better of her—poked Ruoxi in the waist.

“Ruoxi, what happened?”

Ruoxi, ticklish from the poke, pushed her hand away and glanced at the two of them before sighing softly.

“Look at you, what an exciting opportunity—to be a host!” Lin’er said, clearly enjoying the drama.

“But I’ve never done it before! What if I mess up?” Ruoxi’s nerves were getting to her.

Qin Xuan looked steadily at the conflicted Ruoxi. “I think you should do it. You never had the chance before—now that you do, why not try? Maybe you’ll discover you’re great at it.”

Ruoxi bit her lip, silent, but Qin Xuan’s words struck a chord. After a long pause, she finally spoke. “Then… I’ll give it a try?”

“Go for it!” Lin’er urged, as if she’d just thought of something.

Having made her decision, Ruoxi immediately replied to Sister Qin on her phone and received her approval. She relaxed, sprawling across Qin Xuan, who quickly reached out to steady her.

Lin’er, watching from the side with envy in her eyes, thought: Just a little longer, and Ruoxi will have to practice for hosting. That means I’ll have Qin Xuan all to myself. Perfect!

Ruoxi, meanwhile, seemed oblivious to this potential outcome.

...

Saturday arrived—the day of host training. Early in the morning, Lin’er burst into Ruoxi’s room, shaking her awake. Ruoxi, still groggy, found herself lying on the floor, only then noticing Lin’er standing by the bed, grinning mischievously. If today weren’t the first day of training, Ruoxi would have pinned her down for a lesson!

Since Qin Xuan wasn’t up yet, Ruoxi had to head out to the bun shop downstairs for breakfast.

Seeing Ruoxi leave, Lin’er’s eyes gleamed slyly. She darted to Qin Xuan’s room, jiggled the doorknob—locked? No problem, she had a key! She’d collected a full set of keys to every room when they first moved in. She couldn’t help but silently praise her own cleverness.

She slipped inside, grinning at the sight of Qin Xuan still fast asleep. Lifting the covers, she slid in beside him. Qin Xuan, half-dreaming, sensed something strange behind him, but he’d stayed up too late gaming the night before and couldn’t wake up.

Lin’er, seeing he didn’t react, placed her hand on his stomach. Still nothing. So she got comfortable and decided to nap a little longer.

Unexpectedly, her hand unconsciously squeezed his stomach—a sensitive spot for Qin Xuan. Instantly, he jolted awake, eyes flying open to see Lin’er’s hand on him.

He slowly turned over. Lin’er, just closing her eyes and not quite asleep, sensed he was awake and decided to play dead.

But Qin Xuan wasn’t fooled. He saw her fluttering eyelashes and the quick breaths on his neck, and decided to have a little fun himself. He took her hand and gently kneaded it. Lin’er tingled all over, feeling awkward, and finally pretended to roll over, pulling her hand away just as Qin Xuan was getting into it.

He watched her turn her back to him. In the summer heat, she was wearing thin pajamas, and the sight stirred something in him. Suppressing those unfamiliar feelings, he didn’t dare do more, while Lin’er wondered why her brother had stopped teasing her.

She sneaked a glance back and saw him lying flat with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep.

Lin’er rolled closer, pressed against Qin Xuan, and started poking his face, tickling him occasionally. Qin Xuan endured it for a while before grabbing her mischievous hand.

“That’s enough!”

Lin’er protested, “You were pretending to sleep! Teasing me!”

“You were pretending too. This is just fair play,” Qin Xuan said, pulling her to lie down beside him before letting go of her hand.

Seeing Lin’er still pouting, he asked, “How did you get in? Where’s Ruoxi?”

Lin’er triumphantly produced the key. “With this, of course. Ruoxi’s off training.”

Qin Xuan eyed the key helplessly. He thought about grabbing it, but it was too far away. He had to warn her, “Don’t come in here without permission again!”

“Why not? Ruoxi comes in whenever she wants!” Lin’er kicked him in annoyance.

“It’s the same for both of you. From now on, I’ll lock the door,” he said, mainly to keep Lin’er out. If she ever saw something she shouldn’t, it would be awkward… As for Ruoxi—just thinking about that other day made his face flush.

“Alright, time to get up,” he said, glancing at his phone. It was already past ten o’clock. If they got up now, there’d still be time to play games—a delight.

Lin’er had wanted to sleep a bit longer, but now she was wide awake. She sat on the edge of the bed and began playing a two-player game with Qin Xuan.

They got so caught up that they lost track of time. When Ruoxi returned at half past twelve for lunch, she discovered the kitchen hadn’t even been used! Qin Xuan and Lin’er were both still in their pajamas, sitting on the bed playing games! If Lin’er’s pajamas hadn’t been so cartoonish—unlike her own—she would have spanked her on the spot.

“Qin Xuan!” Ruoxi called out angrily from the doorway.

The two of them turned around at the sound of her voice, only to see Ruoxi dressed in a white dress—clearly her host’s outfit, which she hadn’t had time to change out of. Ruoxi already had a stunning figure, and the belt at her waist accentuated her curves perfectly.

Seeing Qin Xuan utterly captivated, Ruoxi felt a surge of pride. After all, she’d picked this dress out of more than a dozen options. But then she thought of Nan Zhiyi wearing the same dress—who would Qin Xuan think looked better?