So, the sofa was a mess, the two of them squeezed together.

His laptop fell onto the carpet, making a soft sound as the screen automatically turned off, but nobody noticed.

The sofa felt so narrow at this moment.

He had just showered, and his hair was still damp, emitting a faint scent reminiscent of cedar.

Lu Nian was having fun, reaching out to touch him behind the neck, stroking the ends of his black hair that hung down.

His hair felt good, smooth and cool to the touch.

She heard him make a low sound, quickly suppressed.

She nestled in his arms, like a fallen star, yet also like a bunch of light cotton flying in the wind, elusive and uncatchable.

“Next week, I have a lot of new content to draw!” Lu Nian tilted her head, her small feet stretched out casually as she kicked around, and then she looked at the man beneath her with a professional eye.

He didn’t know what she was drawing or what her drawings had to do with him.

But he had known for a long time that drawing was her dream.

Sweet torture.

…

Until Lu Nian finally felt satisfied and got up from him.

“I’m going to tidy up and go to sleep too.”

Qin Si, “…”

He quickly glanced at the bedroom, wondering how they would allocate the sleeping arrangements tonight, but obviously, he didn’t say anything either.

Lu Nian coughed, “During the trial period, if you perform well, you can upgrade. Can we unlock sharing a bed now?”

She lowered her head to draw, and soon, she held up the tablet in front of the man.

The handwriting was cute and elegant, divided into three colors, clearly delineating the levels.

Living together.

Holding hands.

Hugging.

Kissing (I kiss you).

You can kiss me.

…

In bed.

The last line, marriage.

He saw that and his ears turned red.

He felt that the order of marriage and going to bed was reversed, but Lu Nian didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it.

“If you perform well, you can upgrade,” Lu Nian said, explaining while pointing at the drawing with her hands behind her back. “If you don’t, you’ll be downgraded.”

“How to upgrade? Of course, I’ll be the one scoring, saying nice things will earn you points,” Lu Nian said in a tone that imitated his from that day. “If you reach the point where you’ll take anything…”

Qin Si, “…”

“So today, of course, we can’t sleep together, and you shouldn’t have any bad intentions either.”

“…I didn’t.” He actually managed to argue back.

Quite impressive.

Lu Nian, “Alright then, I’m going to bed, goodbye.”

His clothes were a bit wrinkled, having been pressed against the sofa by her earlier.

His eyes were slightly red, and under the collar of his shirt, a large area of snowy white skin was revealed.

“You got it wrong,” he suddenly said, his voice a bit hoarse.

Lu Nian, “?”

His gaze wandered away, he pursed his lips, “Marriage and going to bed, you said it in the wrong order.”

Lu Nian, “… Is he really that conservative?”

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to get married now, but she was starting to want to devour him at some point.

After all, the appetite comes with the meal~

Qin Si’s conservatism about such matters actually surprised Lu Nian a bit. She suddenly said, “I thought you were more worldly-wise.”

He lowered his eyes, turned his face away, and said indifferently, “I’m not worldly-wise.”

Knowing doesn’t mean wanting.

Now, these intimate matters, he had only done them with her, or rather, during his teenage years, only she could give him **.

During his youth, all his yearnings, **, and fantasies were entrusted to her.

He was actually a quite simple and contented person.

Because of his complicated childhood experiences, he matured early.

Things he saw as a child, those white and flowery ** put together, disgusted him a lot.

Even when he was still a little boy, he had caused trouble because of that overly beautiful face, so he later learned how to fight, being ruthless to others and to himself.

Once, this kind of thing made him feel nauseous and disgusted, and for a period of time, apart from fighting, he reflexively avoided any close contact with others.

…And she said he was sensitive.

He pursed his lips, perhaps only in front of her.

“Qin Si, did you go to someone else’s house before coming to mine?” Lu Nian weighed her words carefully for a long time before asking cautiously, “Did something happen?”

Lu Nian knew that when it came to anything related to his childhood and teenage years, he would keep his lips sealed.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to,” Lu Nian said.

He lowered his eyes and unexpectedly answered in a light tone, “It wasn’t pleasant, so I left on my own.”

He took the initiative?

Lu Nian was somewhat surprised.

If he could endure those days in the Lu family, what could have happened at the other person’s house?

He wrapped himself up too tightly, even now, he instinctively resisted their closeness.

It’s not something that can be solved overnight, Lu Nian thought.

At night, the two of them slept in separate beds, separated by a thin wall.

“Goodnight, trial period boyfriend,” she sent a text to Qin Si before going to sleep.

It came with a very cute picture, drawn by herself, of a bunny saying goodnight.

‘Boyfriend’ exclusive, clicking on that collection, you could even see their names.

Lu Nian couldn’t help but wonder what expression Qin Si would have right now.

She pulled the covers tighter around herself, smiling with her eyes bent.

What should she do?

She found herself wanting to tease him more and more.

She discovered that he actually had a thin skin.

When she got a little closer and said some slightly more intimate words, his reaction was particularly strong, and he forcefully suppressed it to prevent her from noticing.

It’s very enticing.

Unable to resist, she wanted to ‘bully’ him more.

Lu Nian didn’t even know she had such a sinister mentality.

She surfed the internet and casually posted a picture on her sea rabbit account.

It was a picture she secretly took of Qin Si while he was working.

The man’s hands were placed on the keyboard, a very handsome pair of hands, from the clean skin to the clear joints.

Just by looking at the hands, you could tell that the owner was a quite refined young man.

The key was, it was midnight now.

The fans exploded.

“Ah, it’s so late, sudden late-night dog food.”

“For the first time in so many years! Has our lady finally gotten out of singlehood?”

“Is our lady dating? Or is it her husband?”

“These hands are super duper good-looking!”

“Who is this? Is it the rumored prototype of the character Black from before? Sob sob sob, just for these hands, mom agrees first.”

Lu Nian continued to browse through the comments.

She replied to the comment about “boyfriend”.

—Still in the ‘trial period’.

Then, she happily put away her phone.

However, in the comic, Black and White’s little hands had not yet held together.

Who told them to be so reserved.

The next day, Lu Nian went back to school for class.

Along the way, Lu Zhihong sent her a text, saying he happened to be at An University and wanted her to come over and see him.

Lu Zhihong had been behaving well for a long time, and Lu Nian didn’t know what trick he was up to now, so she still went to see him just in case.

In the restaurant, Lu Zhihong tossed a stack of photos onto the table.

Lu Nian took a look, and from various angles, it was all Qiu Li.

Her pupils slightly dilated. “Dad, what’s going on?”

Lu Nian had forgotten about it.

Lu Zhihong knew about it, he was the one who orchestrated it, so it was normal that she didn’t remember Lu Zhuo, probably because of Zhao Yayuan’s relationship.

Suppressing his excitement, Lu Zhihong calmly asked, “Who is this?”

Sure enough, Lu Nian said, “A friend, a friend of Yayuan’s, we get along well.”

“I know.”

“Dad, where did you get these photos? Why did you take pictures of him?” Lu Nian asked.

“The photos were given to me by someone else,” Lu Zhihong observed Lu Nian’s expression. “It was said that you had seen him before, and you stayed at his place at night.”

Lu Nian, “…”

She had been painting all the time, and Lu Zhihong didn’t know much about her income.

As for her interaction with Qiao Li, only a few of her closest friends knew.

As for her relationship with Qiao Li, probably only Zhao Yayuan and Qin Si knew.

She felt uneasy.

She suddenly remembered something strange.

Zhao Yayuan had called Qial Li to complain, saying that this time, for some reason, they had inexplicably invited Lu Zhihong to the wedding, which made him super embarrassed.

Qiao Li laughed it off and told Lu Nian about it as a joke at the time. Lu Nian found it strange at the time too.

She hadn’t received an invitation, so why did they inexplicably invite Lu Zhihong?

And now, she suddenly had a bad feeling.

“When will you invite him over for dinner?” Lu Zhihong smiled gently. “Didn’t you disturb him at his place before? It’s a way to say thank you.”

He was very nervous now, very excited.

He wasn’t sure if the boy named Qiao Li was indeed Lu Zhuo.

If it was, their Lu family would have a future. After him, life would also have a goal to strive for.

He would bring everything back and let Lu Zhuo inherit the Lu family.

Then he would find him a supportive partner, give him grandchildren, and take care of him in his old age.

Lu Zhihong hadn’t bothered with her affairs for a long time, mainly because he had his hands full.

Suddenly, this came out of the blue, a bit unexpected.

Lu Nian didn’t know what to say, her mind was in a mess.

She casually made a few perfunctory remarks to Lu Zhihong, saying she felt unwell and went to the bathroom.

She sent a text to Qiao Li, “Qiao Li, my dad wants to see you, Maybe someone informed him. He still doesn’t know that I already know about you.”

Qiao Li quickly replied, “Nian Nian, don’t let him know. I don’t want to go back to the Lu family, and I don’t want to see him.”

His previous opinions were the same as before.

He really detested Lu Zhihong, and he had no feelings for him anymore.

Lu Zhihong hadn’t spent a day with him since he was a child, and the reason he hadn’t had any more children in so many years had been revealed by He Tian, who had already divorced, and had spread as a secret rumor among the top social circles in An City.

Qiao Li and Lu Nian weren’t stupid.

Gradually, they could guess, especially when they got confirmation from Zhao Yayuan.

They understood more why Lu Zhihong’s attitude towards them, siblings, had made a 180-degree turn, which made Qiao Li completely cold.

He didn’t want to go back and become Lu Zhihong’s puppet, he even wanted to take Lu Nian away with him.

“I won’t say it,” Lu Nian typed quickly. “Qiao Li, be careful these days, pay attention to whether there are any suspicious people around when you go out. Otherwise, why don’t you go to Yayuan’s place?”

She suddenly remembered Lu Zhihong’s strange behavior and the inexplicable wedding invitation.

She immediately corrected, “No, you should also be careful of the Zhao family.

I suspect that my dad suddenly did this because he went to that wedding at the Zhao family’s house and someone told him something.”

After a few conversations, Lu Nian went out.

Lu Zhihong was still waiting outside.

Under his gaze, Lu Nian made a call to Qiu Li and said a few words. “Dad, I’m not particularly close to him. If you want to see him, why don’t you go ask Yayuan directly?”

Lu Zhihong wasn’t as disappointed as she had imagined.

He just smiled and said, “Alright, then when will Dad pay a visit himself?”

Lu Nian remained silent, feeling a bit uneasy about his laughter.

“How have you been lately with Xiao Qin?” he asked again.

Thinking he was about to pressure her into marriage, she hesitated to respond. “It’s fine,” she finally said.

“Don’t think too much about it. If you don’t like him, just reject him,” Lu Zhihong said.

Lu Nian stayed quiet.

“He just wants our family’s company,” Lu Zhihong said. “Dad didn’t tell you before, but now I’m thinking of giving it another shot. After that, I can find you a better marriage partner. There’s no need to stoop to him.”

Lu Nian chuckled in exasperation.

His change of face was faster than a Sichuan opera mask change, and his talent for telling lies with a straight face had reached perfection.

Lu Nian calmly replied, “I understand him better than you do. And Dad, do you really think he needs to get close to me to stand firm in the Lu family?”

Lu Zhihong felt somewhat embarrassed.

“I have zero interest in your company,” Lu Nian said. “I just want to do what I like.”

“I like whoever I like, and it’s none of your business. I hope you won’t interfere with my personal freedom anymore,” Lu Nian said.

She stood up, ready to leave, clearly indicating she was seeing him off.

Lu Zhihong followed her out, saying, “You’ve grown wings, huh? Not listening to Dad anymore?”

Trying to shake off his hand, Lu Nian was in the university, where people were bustling around.

Fang Deng, with a laptop on his back, was about to go to class when he noticed from afar, “Hey, what are you guys doing over there?”

After all, Lu Zhihong was still a decent person and felt awkward to continue chasing after her.

With her head down, Lu Nian lightly rubbed her wrist, where the marks from Lu Zhihong’s pulling were evident.

Fang Deng looked at her and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Lu Nian shook her head and suddenly said, “Don’t tell Qin Si, okay?”

After all, this was their family matter, related to Qiao Li’s thoughts and feelings.

She didn’t want Qin Si to be involved too much.

She wanted to talk to Qiao Li once, but she didn’t dare to go find him again, afraid of being discovered by Lu Zhihong.

Fang Deng hesitated for a moment and said, “If he doesn’t ask, I won’t say.”

…

In fact, the recent strangeness of Lu Zhihong didn’t need to be spoken about; it could be seen by everyone.