Chapter 43 — Their Little Secret

Qin Jiran was?thrilled.

He ran his eyes over her face, his gaze brimming with excitement and tenderness as he tried to engrave her semblance into his mind.

Did she really say all of that? She was willing to work on her relationship with him? She was going to do her best to be a good wife? He couldn’t believe it. Was he hallucinating again?

Qin Jiran told himself to calm down, hold back his excitement, and not make Yanyi think he was being frivolous.

Once he managed to do that, he carefully processed her words and instantly noticed something: She hadn’t responded to his joke about her liking him. It seemed like she was deliberately avoiding the topic.

His excitement dampened a bit, which prompted him to sigh at his own discontentment. He’d clearly gotten so much tonight, and yet he was brooding over the little things he didn’t get. He shouldn’t be acting like this.

However, thinking about it now, he realized that what he wanted wasn’t necessarily a harmonious marriage—it was her love.

But her love was still far out of his reach. He didn’t dare wish for it.

Nevertheless, he understood that this was a step forward, and he knew to appreciate it.

The second step would only follow after the first step, and right now, he was probably on the third or fourth step. As the saying went, the waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first1.

Yanyi’s acceptance meant that he now had an entire lifetime to spend on making her like him back!

A silly smile had overtaken his countenance, and after staring at it for a while, the amused Su Yanyi finally prompted, “Is there anything else? If not, I’m going to rest.”

The man responded stiffly, “No. You should rest early, goodnight.”

Despite his best attempts to suppress his smile, his glee was self-evident.

Soon after he left, Su Yanyi finished getting ready for bed and turned off her lights. Her eyes closed shut.

One second later, they snapped open again.

She stuck out her slender foot and sent the little golden tortoise flying out of her bed with a discourteous kick.

When did it even get there?

The little tortoise landed soundly on the floor. It didn’t stop moving and instead started to spin in circles on the floor, just like a little spinning toy.

When Su Yanyi turned on the lights and saw it spinning like that, she was exasperated and amused at the same time.

This little tortoise was stupid and clumsy and always making trouble. It was only useful for gaining Qin Jiran’s fancy.

After watching it spin for a while, she finally decided to be kind and pick it up. Then, she left for Qin Jiran’s room.

At the start of their marriage, she settled him in the bedroom furthest from hers because she didn’t like to see him. However, they resided on the same floor, so the furthest bedroom was actually nothing more than a few extra steps away.

Since she didn’t have the habit of knocking when she was inside of her own residence, she casually pushed open his door and walked in. Her gaze swept across the room before landing on a specific corner.

The word “figure” could be used to describe both males and females. As someone who mingled in the entertainment circle, Su Yanyi had grown up seeing her share of handsome men and glamorous women.

Even so, she was helplessly attracted by the beautiful scenery in front of her. Her breath hitched.

A graceful back stood bare before her. Qin Jiran had just taken off his shirt and didn’t even have time to get in bed before he fell victim to her feasting eyes. He spun around at the sound of his door opening, which resulted in the exposure of his front.

Su Yanyi’s eyes lit up even more.

Surprise attacks were good, very good! She must continue working hard!

“Yanyi, do you need something?” Qin Jiran reacted quickly and threw the pajama shirt he’d taken off back on again. Fortunately (for him), his pants were still on.

Su Yanyi was a little disappointed. Why was this man’s reaction speed so fast? Last time too. Dressing slowly wouldn’t cost him anything. What, was he afraid of her staring?

She raised an eyebrow and stared at the pajamas on his body.

Strange.. Wasn’t he already wearing his pajamas earlier? Could it be..

Suddenly, she thought of a very interesting possibility..

“You like to sleep nude?”

Before he could respond, the System did it for him.

Congratulations on accomplishing the task once!

+1 Point

Progress: 3/10

Total: 13 Points

Please continue working hard!

Having this kind of secret exposed caused Qin Jiran’s entire body to stiffen, and the tips of his ears turned red. He cleared his throat and frantically shifted the topic, “Yanyi, are you here for something?”

Just like how he rarely ever stepped into her bedroom, Su Yanyi rarely ever stepped into his. It was his study that she had been frequenting recently. He guessed that she wasn’t here without a reason.

The golden oval in her hands suddenly caught his attention. He chuckled and asked, “The little thing went to find you? I was looking for it.”

Although she could sense his obvious discomfort, she had no intention of letting the matter go. She persisted, “You haven’t answered my question, so you’re not allowed to change the subject.”

Qin Jiran wondered, why did he feel like he was getting teased?

“It’s more comfortable that way. You can set the little thing down there and go back. You have work tomorrow, so you should rest early.”

He understood her well enough to know that if she wanted to know something, she would pursue it until the end. If he tried to dodge the question, she would only further embarrass him with more questions.

Thinking that a grown man like him was getting teased by the woman he loved.. there was nothing he could do about it.

Where did things go wrong? Why was this happening?

Su Yanyi’s gaze was trained on him the entire time, taking in his unnatural expression, his attempt to change the subject, and the red tips of his ears..

The red tips of his ears?

“Are you shy?”

She had no qualms about being so straightforward. Qin Jiran didn’t know if this counted as another tease, but his ears reddened even more.

Congratulations on accomplishing the task once!

+1 Point

Progress: 4/10

historical

Total: 14 Points

Please continue working hard!

Two little secrets in one night! And such personal ones, at that. Ah, she was so lucky.

While Su Yanyi was confident that she would sleep very well tonight, Qin Jiran was confident that he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.

Who brought her here? Quickly, take her back!

Even Almighty Qin was capable of turning angry from shame!