Chapter Sixty-Six: The Keeper

Qin Lin’er’s foot didn’t recover until a week later; fortunately, there was no bone injury, or it would have been much worse.

It was the weekend. Qin Xuan woke up feeling cold, wearing only his pajamas. The quilt had already been pulled to one side and wrapped around Lin’er. Sniffling, he realized he was catching a cold. After some thought, he reached out to pull the quilt back, dragging Lin’er along with it.

Drowsy and half-awake, Qin Lin’er felt herself roll over and land in a warm, familiar place. She opened her misty eyes and muttered, “Qin Xuan~”

Qin Xuan’s hand paused mid-motion. Lin’er was getting out of line! She didn’t even call him “brother” anymore!

“Call me brother!” Qin Xuan reminded her, patting her back.

“Qin Xuan!” Lin’er insisted.

Qin Xuan was helpless. Neither of them wanted to get out of bed, while elsewhere—

Liu Ruoxi lay on her bed, fiddling with her bun hairstyle. With Lin’er nowhere to be found, the little bun had wandered over to Ruoxi’s room. Ruoxi picked up her phone from the book beside her pillow and checked the time—already ten o’clock! Those two were still not up!

Forget it; she didn’t feel like getting up today either. Why did the start of the term feel so exhausting?

Just as Ruoxi was about to go back to sleep—

“Knock, knock, knock!” A sound came from outside the door.

Ruoxi pulled the covers over her ears, annoyed.

After a while, the knocking stopped. Ruoxi thought the visitor had left, but then her phone buzzed with a message.

“Ruoxi! I’m here, open the door!”

“Nan Zhiyi! Disturbing my sleep again!” Ruoxi tossed her phone aside in frustration, but pulled herself from bed and went out.

Outside, Nan Zhiyi stood with a large bag, planning to mooch a meal. She hadn’t tasted Qin Xuan’s cooking for days and missed it. After knocking for ages with no response, she wondered if they’d gone out.

Just as she was puzzling over it, the door opened and Ruoxi grabbed her and pulled her inside.

“Ah! Ruoxi, what are you doing?” Nan Zhiyi was caught off guard, pushed onto the sofa, still struggling to hold onto her bag—there was alcohol inside! She had to be careful.

Unfortunately, Ruoxi didn’t know that. She sat down backwards on Zhiyi’s waist, unleashing a barrage of blows to her backside. “That’s what you get for disturbing my sleep!”

Nan Zhiyi’s initial cry of surprise soon faded, leaving only a flush on her cheeks…

Inside, Qin Lin’er lay on Qin Xuan’s arm and asked curiously, “Is something happening outside? I think I heard Zhiyi’s voice.”

Qin Xuan yawned. “You must have heard wrong.”

“Maybe. Then let’s keep sleeping!”

…

It wasn’t until noon that the two emerged, rubbing their eyes, only to find Nan Zhiyi sitting on the sofa with a look of silent grievance.

Oh? She really came?

Qin Xuan and Qin Lin’er exchanged glances, grinning.

“What brings you here?” Qin Xuan ignored Zhiyi’s look and asked.

Nan Zhiyi: I’ve already been beaten up once!

Seeing her head bowed in silence, Qin Xuan felt a bit awkward. He dragged Lin’er off to wash up.

Once they’d finished, they sat down on the couch, looking at the pile of groceries and meat Zhiyi had brought.

“What do you want to eat?” Lin’er didn’t stand on ceremony, rummaging through the bags without restraint.

“I want barbecue, but I don’t want to go out,” Zhiyi replied helplessly.

“We bought a grill-hotpot combo pot the other day. Want to try it?” Qin Xuan perked up. They’d picked it up at the supermarket because Lin’er was curious about it.

“Absolutely!” Zhiyi had originally just planned to mooch a meal, but now… she was delighted.

“So Ruoxi is still sleeping?” Qin Xuan noticed Ruoxi’s bedroom door was closed tight. So lazy!

Zhiyi was at a loss for words. Was she supposed to say Ruoxi had already gotten up and beaten her? “Yes! She’s still sleeping! Like a pig!” Zhiyi replied, taking the chance to poke fun at Ruoxi’s image.

Qin Xuan: I feel like you’re insulting us as well…

Hearing this, Lin’er, still limping slightly, walked over to Ruoxi’s door and kicked it open with a loud thud, only to find Ruoxi fully dressed, tidying up in front of her wardrobe.

Lin’er’s sudden attack startled Ruoxi, who turned and shouted, “Lin’er, are you itching for trouble?”

Lin’er was dumbfounded. “Ruoxi… Ruoxi, it’s a misunderstanding! I just came to wake you up.”

“This is how you wake me up?” Ruoxi was even more furious. She pulled Lin’er into the room and slammed the door shut. Looks like she was going for a double takedown today.

Nan Zhiyi watched Lin’er’s misfortune from the sofa, nodding in satisfaction. Now this felt right.

Thus, at the dining table, two people stood with bowls in hand, eating.

Watching everyone eat happily, Qin Xuan felt a strange sense of satisfaction, as though he was a competent “caretaker” after all.

“Slow down!” Qin Xuan couldn’t stand the oil dripping from Lin’er’s lips. He reached for a tissue to wipe it, but Lin’er just stuck out her tongue and licked it clean.

Lin’er looked at him in confusion, holding up the tissue. “Brother? What are you doing?”

“N-nothing,” Qin Xuan replied, using the tissue to wipe the sweat caused by the spicy food.

“Want a drink?” Zhiyi remembered she’d brought alcohol. Even though it was just beer, Qin Xuan and Ruoxi both shook their heads emphatically.

“Bah! Lin’er, let’s drink!” Zhiyi looked down on them, passing Lin’er a bottle. She happily opened one for herself and took a satisfying gulp.

Lin’er looked at the beer in her hand and drank merrily—last time she hadn’t gotten drunk, so surely her tolerance was good, right?

Alas, things rarely go as expected…

“Hey, brother! Let me show you my moves!” Qin Xuan watched Lin’er doing calisthenics on the sofa and fell into deep thought.

Ruoxi quietly pulled out her phone and started recording…

Meanwhile, Zhiyi was slumped on a chair, questioning her life choices.

Why drink so much? Qin Xuan watched helplessly as the two knocked back bottle after bottle. He’d thought Lin’er was confident and had a high tolerance, but he’d clearly overestimated her.

Afraid she’d fall again, Qin Xuan hurried over to carry her down. Lin’er struggled fiercely, flailing her arms, and landed a punch squarely on Qin Xuan’s jaw.

Ouch! Tears sprang to Qin Xuan’s eyes—she was truly ruthless!

In the end, Ruoxi helped restrain Lin’er and got her back to bed, though Lin’er was still gesturing on the mattress, perhaps not done hitting Qin Xuan yet.

“What about her?” Ruoxi asked, pointing at the equally dazed Zhiyi.

“Sigh, better take her to bed, too,” Qin Xuan replied helplessly. Next time, no one is allowed to drink!

Ruoxi wouldn’t let Qin Xuan help. She single-handedly supported Zhiyi into the bedroom.

When she came out, she found Qin Xuan devouring the meat.

“Hey! Can’t you save some for me?” Ruoxi hadn’t eaten her fill yet; seeing Qin Xuan wolf down the grilled pork belly and chicken drumsticks she’d cooked herself made her furious.

“I’ll split it with you,” Qin Xuan bit off the fatty part of the pork belly and handed Ruoxi the lean half.

“Ugh~” Ruoxi looked at the meat in her bowl with disdain, but couldn’t help stuffing it into her mouth anyway…