Chapter 81: Lulling Me to Sleep

She finished speaking, and He Tingzhou propped his head up, looking at her for a while before saying, “Tell me a story.”

“Ah?” Shuangxu looked at him with confusion.

“You’ve been sleeping for so long, you must be full of sleep,” He Tingzhou said. “It’s your turn to lull me to sleep.”

Shuangxu, her voice still nasal from sleep, retorted, “How old are you? You still need someone to lull you to sleep?”

“Twenty-eight,” He Tingzhou drawled lazily, threatening with a straight face, “Tell me a story, or get your Okamoto. You choose.”

“…”

Telling a story was definitely simpler than sleeping with him.

Shuangxu, being practical, asked, “What kind of story do you want to hear?”

He Tingzhou’s eyes were already closed. It was three in the morning, and his voice was drowsy, “Anything.”

Shuangxu had never lulled anyone to sleep before, let alone a nearly thirty-year-old man. She couldn’t possibly tell him the story of the three little pigs, could she?

After racking her brains for a while, she remembered a joke that Xiao Liao had forwarded to her while she was scrolling through her phone before bed.

“When Snow White was born, her skin was as white as snow, so she was called Snow White. The Queen was jealous of her beauty, so she sent her to the firewood room to burn firewood. Her skin was blackened by the smoke, and she became Cinderella. While Cinderella was fetching water, she realized how dark she was and started to cry. Then, she discovered that her tears had turned into pearls, and she happily danced by the river. The pearls fell into the river, and the River God, holding a golden axe, asked her: Is this yours…? “

He Tingzhou’s eyes opened again.

“I told you to tell me a story, not a joke.”

Shuangxu blushed, “That’s the only one I could think of.”

He propped his head up again and asked her, “Then what?”

“…Then she shook her head, and the River God took out a silver axe and asked her: Is this yours? She shook her head again, and the River God praised her for being such an honest child and rewarded her with a frog, saying: If you kiss him, he will become your prince. Cinderella asked the River God to return her pearls, and the River God disappeared. She angrily kicked the frog, and the frog transformed into a dragon, carrying her away.”

He Tingzhou chuckled.

They were lying on the same bed, less than fifty centimeters apart. The resonance of his vibrating chest reached her, infecting her like a virus, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

Her almond-shaped eyes curved into a smile, and a faint dimple appeared on her cheek.

The dog sleeping on the floor was awakened by the noise. It raised its head, glanced at the bed, and then lay back down to continue its nap.

Shuangxu laughed for a while before realizing that He Tingzhou was looking at her.

The light in the bedroom, which had been on before bed, had been turned off at some point. The wall lamp cast a warm orange glow, creating a honey-colored shadow beneath his prominent brow bone.

His dark eyes still held a lazy smile. In that soft light, he raised his eyebrow slightly and said, “Laughing so cutely, are you trying to seduce me?”

The smile on Shuangxu’s face immediately vanished.

Sensing that He Tingzhou’s face was moving towards her, she quickly reached for her phone, turned it on, and searched for bedtime stories. “I’ll tell you another one.”

He Tingzhou retreated.

He must have been truly tired, as he didn’t seem interested. He lay down, resting his head on his arm, and urged, “Hurry up.”

Shuangxu clicked on the first story she found and began to read to him, “Once upon a time, there was a silly sheep…”

He Tingzhou didn’t seem to mind, just listening.

By the third story, Shuangxu felt his breathing become even and steady.

As soon as she stopped, He Tingzhou spoke, “Don’t stop. Continue.”

She wasn’t sure if he was asleep or if her pause had woken him up.

Shuangxu continued to read, not sure how many stories she had read or whether He Tingzhou was actually asleep. She didn’t dare to speak.

Her voice gradually became slurred, her eyelids heavy. The phone slipped from her hand, and she fell asleep from exhaustion.

The next morning, she was awakened by the natural light streaming through the window.

The bedroom only had sheer curtains that didn’t block the light. She couldn’t sleep in that bright morning light, so she got out of bed quietly.

He Tingzhou was still asleep.

She left the bedroom quietly, and before closing the door, she glanced at the bed.

He Tingzhou’s face was half-buried in the pillow, his eyelashes long and thick. He looked less aggressive in his sleep, but that didn’t negate his inherently bad nature. He had woken her up in the middle of the night to tell her stories, and now she was so sleepy that her mind was foggy.

As she went downstairs, the Doberman, who had already woken up, walked in front of her, heading towards the kitchen. He then turned back to look at her.

Shuangxu, understanding the dog’s intentions, followed him. The Doberman led her to his empty food bowl.

She understood.

She looked around, “Where’s your dog food?”

The dog turned and led her to a cabinet. Shuangxu opened the cabinet, found the dog food, and filled the bowl to the brim before leaving the villa.

Back at her home on Songming Road, she yawned, took a shower, changed her clothes, and got ready for work.

As she was leaving, He Tingzhou’s call came in.

He must have just woken up, his voice still drowsy, low and husky, with a lazy tone, “When did you leave?”

How could she be called “leaving”?

“I had to go home to change clothes for work.”

“I was asleep, not dead. Tell me when you leave.”

His tone was not good. Shuangxu explained, “I woke up early, and the light in your place was too bright. You didn’t fall asleep until three, and I wanted you to sleep longer.”

He Tingzhou didn’t say anything else. He hung up the phone, sat on the bed, propped his head on his hand, and woke up for a moment before lazily getting out of bed to wash his face.

As he went downstairs, the dog was playing with its ball by itself. When it saw him, it came over wagging its tail.

He Tingzhou went to put food for the dog and found that its food bowl was full, piled high with dog food, only the top of the mountain having been eaten.

He snorted, “You’re quite full.”

During lunch, Xiao Liao excitedly asked, “Did you like the story I forwarded you yesterday? There are seven more gourd babies and Sun Wukong, hahahahahaha, it’s hilarious.”

Shuangxu thought back, only to find it a boring fairytale stew. She didn’t understand how He Tingzhou could laugh so hard yesterday.

She couldn’t tell that his sense of humor was as low as Xiao Liao’s.

From the phone call this morning, it was clear that He Tingzhou was unhappy. But Shuangxu wasn’t sure if he was unhappy because they hadn’t succeeded again yesterday, or because she had snuck out this morning without saying goodbye.

She hadn’t expected He Tingzhou to return so late yesterday. He was tired and not in the mood to do it. She couldn’t be blamed this time.

She propped her chin, poking at her pork chop rice.

As for this morning, she was truly acting out of kindness, not wanting to disturb his sleep.

“Why are you so distracted?” Xiao Liao, not getting a response, leaned in to stare at her face.

“Nothing.” Shuangxu pushed her head away, skillfully diverting her attention. “Did you finish the PPT?”

Xiao Liao immediately buried her guilty face in her bowl. “I’ll do it when I get back.”

For the next two days, He Tingzhou didn’t contact Shuangxu.

Adhering to the principle of being available on call but not if not called, Shuangxu didn’t reach out to him either.

After work on Friday, she went to the hospital to see Shu Yang. Returning to No. 9 Songming Road, she passed by the courtyard’s landscape pool. Her gaze inadvertently swept over the outdoor rest area, where she saw a figure sitting on a chair, so handsome as to be conspicuous.