Chapter 16:

…Qingzhou?

Lin Qiao tried several times but couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud, so she changed the subject instead, holding her breath as she asked, “Would you like to take a shower and change clothes? My dad has some unused pajamas. You should change out of those dirty clothes, right?”

Shen Qingzhou seemed to chuckle softly, his deep, low breathing right above her head, making her heart race uncontrollably.

“Okay,” he agreed with one word, then paused briefly before adding slowly, slightly hesitantly, “But if I change, I won’t be able to leave wearing just pajamas.”

Lin Qiao instantly looked up at him, meeting his serious yet subtly intense gaze. She awkwardly stepped back slightly, the small distance easing her nerves a little, though not by much.

“I can wash them for you, and then spin them dry…”

“Lin Qiao, those clothes can’t go in the washing machine, nor can they be spun dry. Even if you did, they wouldn’t dry that quickly,” Shen Qingzhou said very properly. Outside, the rain pattered against the window, mingling with his voice, creating an oddly pleasant sound.

“Oh right, how could I forget? That expensive suit…” Lin Qiao hastily covered her face, remaining silent for a moment before saying, “Then should I take it to the dry cleaner for you?”

Shen Qingzhou glanced out the window, softly and simply asking, “Now?”

Lin Qiao looked at the dark, rainy scene outside, her face reddening almost to the point of burning, “Then what should we do?” she asked softly.

Shen Qingzhou didn’t answer, instead heading upstairs. Just as he was about to disappear around the corner, he finally said, “I’m going to take a shower.”

Lin Qiao stared at his retreating figure. Of course he knew where the bathroom was—this house had been his choice. He knew everything. But what about after the shower? Should she ask him to stay the night? At this point, it seemed like the only option.

Lin Qiao unconsciously clasped her hands behind her back, her fingers twisting anxiously back and forth. Her mind raced with countless thoughts, yet none stayed long enough to be grasped. She only felt her brain was busy, yet it couldn’t produce a clear solution.

After a while, Lin Qiao suddenly realized something, letting out a soft exclamation, “Oh no, he didn’t take the pajamas!”

Without hesitation, Lin Qiao quickly went upstairs to her father’s room and grabbed a set of unused pajamas. These were ones she had bought for her dad a while back, but he had never opened them. The deep blue silk men’s pajamas were of excellent quality, though the style was a bit outdated for Shen Qingzhou. She wondered what he would look like in them.

Lost in thoughts, Lin Qiao arrived at the bathroom door. She politely knocked and softly asked, “Master Shen, are you in there?”

Inside the bathroom, Shen Qingzhou had already taken off his shirt. He looked at the light and slightly furrowed his brow. Wasn’t she asking the obvious?

Lin Qiao waited for a response but suddenly remembered that he had emphasized several times today that she should call him by his name. Yet she had just used his title again—was that why he didn’t answer?

Feeling a mix of emotions, Lin Qiao worried that if he started showering now, she wouldn’t be able to give him the pajamas. Leaving them at the door seemed impolite, so she quickly corrected herself, “Qingzhou, I brought you pajamas. Can you take them?”

After saying this, Lin Qiao paused, surprised at how naturally and beautifully the name “Qingzhou” had slipped out. His name was truly well-chosen, each character leaving a lingering taste on her tongue, elegant and unique.

Shen Qingzhou had initially decided not to respond, but her words made it impossible to ignore. He grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and walked toward the door with complete ease.

Curious about what he was doing, Lin Qiao instinctively leaned her ear against the door. Before she could pull away, the door opened and she was caught red-handed.

Lin Qiao awkwardly leaned against the nearby wall, lowering her head and handing him the pajamas without looking at him, her face flushed as she murmured, “Here.”

Shen Qingzhou looked at the pajamas in her pale, slender hands and calmly accepted them, saying, “Anything else?”

Lin Qiao quickly shook her head, covering her face with both hands, still too shy to look at him.

Seeing her like this, Shen Qingzhou, for some reason, no longer felt like going in to shower. Instead, he lingered.

Leaning in slightly, he asked casually, “Why won’t you look at me?”

Lin Qiao immediately denied it, “I am looking at you… I didn’t avoid looking…”

Shen Qingzhou slowly stepped closer. The moment she heard his footsteps, she looked up. He stood shirtless, a towel wrapped around his waist. Lin Qiao dared not look below the towel, only catching a glimpse of his waistline—lean and strong, just as she had imagined. His tall, slender frame was pale yet upright, as if brimming with immense strength.

Seeing her stunned expression, Shen Qingzhou couldn’t help but lift the corner of his mouth. Slowly leaning closer, he held the pajamas in one hand and rested the other on his waist. As Lin Qiao felt puzzled, he suddenly yanked the towel off.

Instantly, a scream echoed on the second floor of Lin’s house. Lin Qiao shamefully covered her eyes, while Shen Qingzhou’s clear laughter followed, filled with obvious teasing and delight.

Lin Qiao felt something was off and slightly parted her fingers to peek at him, only to discover that under the towel… he was actually wearing pants!

Her expression immediately turned sour, as if she had swallowed a fly. Shen Qingzhou calmly pulled his phone from his pants pocket, offering a half-hearted explanation, “I saw a picture earlier, thought it was interesting, so I imitated it.”

As if worried she wouldn’t believe him, he even showed her the picture. Lin Qiao stared at the image on his phone screen from Weibo. The scene was exactly the same as what had just happened between them.

The man was wearing pants under the towel but still wrapped in it, taking advantage of the girl’s shyness to look down at his pants leg before suddenly pulling off the towel, leaving the girl flustered and confused.

What a bastard… He was just as annoying as the man in the picture! No, even worse!

Shen Qingzhou seemed oblivious to Lin Qiao’s suppressed anger, calmly putting his phone away and saying, “See, I didn’t lie to you. I just wanted to ease the tension because you looked too nervous. You’re so generous, surely you won’t mind.”

Lin Qiao gritted her teeth quietly, muttering, “Next time, don’t even say you’re caught in the rain—I won’t help you even if you fall into a river.”

Shen Qingzhou had sharp ears and wasn’t unfamiliar with her murmurs, but this time he actually responded, “Beijing won’t have rain in the near future.”

Lin Qiao was taken aback, “How do you know?”

Shen Qingzhou’s expression subtly shifted as he softly replied, “Of course from the weather forecast.”

“That doesn’t sound like you,” Lin Qiao frowned. “Would you even care about that? Aren’t you always so busy?”

Shen Qingzhou merely smiled without answering, turning around with the towel and pajamas and stepping into the bathroom. The soft sound of the bathroom door closing echoed in Lin Qiao’s heart, shattering it into pieces.

Wait… hold on… that picture was from Weibo?

Shen Qingzhou uses Weibo?

A sudden realization struck Lin Qiao, and she immediately knocked on the bathroom door again, calling out loudly, “Shen Qingzhou, don’t bring your phone into the shower—it might get damaged. Let me hold it for you!”

Inside the bathroom, Shen Qingzhou paused mid-motion as he was unbuckling his belt. Glancing at the bulge in his pants pocket, he immediately understood her intention.

However, he didn’t seem to mind. He pulled out his phone without fastening his belt, opened the door, and handed it to her with a simple, “Thank you.”

Lin Qiao took the phone with a bright smile, saying cheerfully, “You’re very welcome!” She hadn’t forgotten that his phone was password-protected, so she openly asked, “But that picture you had was pretty funny. Can I see it again?”

Shen Qingzhou looked at her thoughtfully. When she saw that he didn’t respond, she added quickly, “I promise I won’t peek at anything else.”

He seemed somewhat dismissive, letting out a light scoff before saying, “The password is 1234.” Without waiting for her reply, he closed the door.

Outside the bathroom, Lin Qiao felt her intelligence had just been insulted upon hearing the password.

Ten minutes later, Lin Qiao, now changed into fresh clothes, sat on the sofa playing with Shen Qingzhou’s phone. This guy’s phone was just like him—extremely expensive, very distant, and clearly a Vertu phone, the kind that pursued “luxury at any cost.”

Using it to post a Weibo update might even show the source as “From a Rich Man’s Client”?

Thinking carefully about Shen Qingzhou’s car, Lin Qiao suddenly realized—this was a man who didn’t necessarily seek the best, but always went for the most expensive.

Opening Shen Qingzhou’s Weibo account, she had said she wanted to see the picture, but she immediately went straight to his personal homepage. Upon opening it, she found it was a newly registered account named “sqz2014,” with no profile picture or bio. Aside from a few system-added follows, he didn’t follow anyone else, and even those could easily be mistaken for “zombie fans.”

The only clues she found were two Weibo posts sharing from Instagram. He had posted two pictures—one showing Beijing’s smoggy weather, and another of a simple hand-drawn sketch on white paper, depicting a very cute turtle.

…

What did he mean by that? She could understand the smog post—she had posted similar ones too. But what was up with the turtle?

While analyzing, Lin Qiao secretly followed his Weibo account from her own, then closed the app and set the phone aside, hoping he wouldn’t suddenly come down and catch her in the act.

Grabbing her own phone, she kept pondering the meaning behind the turtle drawing. After thinking for a long time, she suddenly felt extremely bored. Why did she even care what the turtle meant? What did it have to do with her anyway %>_

… Qingzhou?

Lin Qiao tried several times but just couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. So she changed the subject and asked, holding her breath, “Do you want to take a shower and change your clothes? My dad has a few sets of unworn pajamas. You can change out of your dirty clothes.”

Shen Qingzhou seemed to chuckle. His low breathing sound was right above her head, making it impossible for her heart to remain calm.

“Okay,” he said, then paused briefly before adding hesitantly, “But if I change into pajamas, I won’t be able to leave.”

Lin Qiao immediately looked up at him, meeting his serious yet subtly teasing gaze. Flustered, she took a step back. The slight distance helped ease her tension a little, but the effect was minimal.

“I’ll wash them for you and then tumble dry—”

“Lin Qiao, that suit can’t be machine-washed or tumble-dried. Even if it could, it wouldn’t dry quickly enough to wear,” Shen Qingzhou said matter-of-factly. The sound of rain outside blended with his voice, creating an oddly pleasant harmony.

“Oh right, how could I forget? Such an expensive suit…” Lin Qiao covered her face in embarrassment. After a moment of silence, she suggested, “Should I take it to the dry cleaner for you?”

Shen Qingzhou glanced out the window and asked calmly, “Now?”

Lin Qiao looked at the dark, rainy night outside and felt her face burn with embarrassment. “What should we do, then?” she whispered.

Shen Qingzhou didn’t answer. He walked upstairs and, just before disappearing around the corner, said, “I’m going to take a shower.”

Lin Qiao stared blankly at his retreating figure. Of course, he knew where the bathroom was—he had helped choose this house. Was there anything he didn’t know? But what about after his shower? Would he have to stay the night? It seemed like the only option now.

Unconsciously, Lin Qiao clasped her hands behind her back, her fingers twisting anxiously. Countless thoughts raced through her mind, but none stuck. She felt her brain working overtime yet getting nowhere.

Suddenly, she snapped back to reality and gasped softly, “Oh no, he didn’t take the pajamas!”

Without delay, Lin Qiao hurried upstairs to her father’s room and grabbed an unopened set of pajamas. She had bought them for her father, but he had never worn them. The dark blue silk men’s pajamas were of high quality, though the style seemed a bit outdated for someone like Shen Qingzhou. She wondered how he would look in them.

Lost in thought, Lin Qiao found herself already at the bathroom door. She knocked politely and asked softly, “Master Shen, are you in there?”

Inside, Shen Qingzhou, who had already taken off his shirt, glanced at the lit bathroom light and frowned slightly. Wasn’t she stating the obvious?

When Lin Qiao received no response, she remembered how he had repeatedly asked her to call him by his name earlier that day. Yet she had still failed to do so. Was that why he wasn’t answering?

Her emotions in turmoil, Lin Qiao worried that if he started showering, she wouldn’t be able to deliver the pajamas. Leaving them outside the door seemed impolite, so she quickly corrected herself, “Qingzhou, I brought you the pajamas. Can you come get them?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Lin Qiao paused. In her anxious state, the name “Qingzhou” had slipped out naturally and sounded surprisingly pleasant. His name was truly elegant, each syllable leaving a lingering, refined taste on the lips.

Shen Qingzhou had initially intended to ignore her, but her words left him unable to do so. He casually wrapped a towel around his waist and walked confidently to the door.

Curious about what he was doing, Lin Qiao unconsciously pressed her ear against the door. Before she could pull away, Shen Qingzhou opened it, catching her in the act.

Embarrassed, Lin Qiao leaned against the wall nearby, lowering her head and handing him the pajamas without daring to look at him. “Here,” she said, her face flushed.

Shen Qingzhou calmly took the pajamas from her slender, pale hands and asked indifferently, “Is there anything else?”

Lin Qiao quickly shook her head, covering her face with her hands and still avoiding his gaze.

Seeing her like this, Shen Qingzhou, for some reason, felt no urge to return to his shower. Instead, he lingered.

Lowering his voice, he asked casually, “Why won’t you look at me?”

Lin Qiao denied it immediately, “No, it’s not that I won’t look at you…”

Shen Qingzhou slowly walked up to her. The moment she heard his footsteps, she looked up and saw him shirtless, with a towel wrapped around his waist. Lin Qiao didn’t dare look below the towel, her eyes stopping at his waist before she covered her face again. The lines of his waist and chest were as lean and powerful as she had imagined. His tall, fair physique seemed to conceal immense strength.

Seeing her stunned expression, Shen Qingzhou couldn’t help but smile. He leaned in closer, one hand holding the pajamas and the other resting on his waist. Just as Lin Qiao wondered what he was doing, his hand on the towel suddenly tugged it away.

Instantly, a scream echoed through the second floor of the Lin residence. Lin Qiao covered her eyes in shame, while Shen Qingzhou’s clear laughter followed, filled with obvious teasing and amusement.

Something felt off to Lin Qiao. She parted her fingers slightly and peeked at him, only to find that beneath the towel… he was still wearing pants!

Lin Qiao’s expression turned as if she had swallowed a fly. Shen Qingzhou leisurely pulled his phone from his pants pocket and offered an insincere explanation, “I saw a picture earlier and found it amusing, so I decided to reenact it.”

As if worried she wouldn’t believe him, he showed her the picture. Lin Qiao stared at the image on his phone screen—a post from Sina Weibo depicting a scene identical to theirs moments earlier.

A man, already wearing pants but still wrapped in a towel, suddenly pulled the towel away while the girl was too embarrassed to look down, leaving her flustered.

This jerk… he was just as despicable as the man in the picture! No, he was even worse!

Shen Qingzhou seemed oblivious to Lin Qiao’s suppressed anger. He calmly put his phone away and said, “See? I wasn’t lying. I just thought you were too tense and wanted to lighten the mood. You’re so magnanimous; I’m sure you don’t mind.”

Lin Qiao gritted her teeth and muttered under her breath, “Next time, even if you’re drenched in rain or fall into a river, I won’t care.”

Shen Qingzhou had sharp ears and wasn’t hearing her grumble for the first time. But this time, he responded, “It won’t rain in Beijing for a while.”

Lin Qiao was taken aback. “How do you know?”

Shen Qingzhou’s expression shifted subtly as he replied softly, “The weather forecast, of course.”

“Doesn’t sound like it,” Lin Qiao frowned. “Since when do you care about things like that? Aren’t you always busy?”

Shen Qingzhou merely smiled without answering. Holding the towel and pajamas, he turned and walked back into the bathroom. The soft click of the door sounded like Lin Qiao’s heart shattering into pieces.

Wait a minute… that picture was from Weibo?

Shen Qingzhou uses Weibo?

A sudden idea struck her. Lin Qiao immediately knocked on the bathroom door again and called out, “Shen Qingzhou, don’t take your phone into the shower! It’ll get damaged. Give it to me, and I’ll keep it for you!”

Inside the bathroom, Shen Qingzhou, who was in the middle of unbuckling his belt, paused. He glanced at the bulge in his pants pocket and immediately understood her intention.

But he didn’t seem to mind. He took the phone out of his pocket, left his belt undone, opened the door, and handed it to her, adding, “Thank you.”

Lin Qiao took the phone with a smile. “You’re welcome, you’re welcome.” She hadn’t forgotten his phone had a password, so she said honestly, “But that picture you showed me was really funny. Can I see it again?”

Shen Qingzhou looked at her thoughtfully. When he remained silent, she pressed further, “I promise I won’t peek at anything else.”

Shen Qingzhou seemed disdainful of her promise. He chuckled lightly and said, “The password is 1234.” Without waiting for her response, he closed the door.

Standing outside the bathroom, Lin Qiao felt her intelligence had been insulted upon hearing his password.

Ten minutes later, Lin Qiao, having changed her clothes, sat on the sofa fiddling with Shen Qingzhou’s phone. The device, like its owner, looked incredibly expensive and distant—a Vertu, the epitome of “spare-no-expense luxury.”

If he posted on Weibo with it, it would probably show “Posted from the Rich Client,” right?

Thinking about Shen Qingzhou’s car, Lin Qiao suddenly felt that this was a man who didn’t necessarily pursue the best but certainly the most expensive.

Opening his Weibo under the pretense of looking at the picture, Lin Qiao went straight to his profile. She found it was a newly registered account named “sqz2014,” with no profile picture or bio. Aside from the accounts automatically followed during registration, he followed no one. Even if he did, it would be mistaken for a blatant “zombie follower.”

The only clues were two posts shared from Instagram: one was a picture of Beijing’s smoggy weather, and the other was a simple sketch of an adorable turtle drawn on white paper.

…

What did this guy mean? She could understand the smog—she had posted about it too—but what was with the turtle?

While analyzing, Lin Qiao quietly followed him on her own Weibo account. Then, she closed the Weibo app on his phone and set it aside, lest he suddenly come downstairs and catch her snooping.

Picking up her own phone, Lin Qiao pondered the meaning of the turtle. After a while, she felt utterly ridiculous. Why did she care what the turtle meant? What did it have to do with her? % > _ <% !!!

Frustrated, she tossed her phone aside. Just as she was wondering why she cared so much about Shen Qingzhou’s affairs, footsteps sounded from the second floor. She turned to see Shen Qingzhou slowly descending the stairs in the dark blue silk pajamas.

His black hair was damp and tousled, and he held a snow-white towel, drying his hair as he walked. His expression was unusually gentle, devoid of his usual aloofness. When he noticed her looking, he smiled at her—a fleeting smile, but one she cherished deeply.

This version of him always left her defenseless. He walked up to her and sat down beside her.

“Do you want to take a shower too?” he asked, his voice softened by the steam, sounding somewhat unreal to her ears.

“I… I won’t shower,” Lin Qiao stammered, staring blankly at his face.

Shen Qingzhou nodded slightly and said, inexplicably, “It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

Lin Qiao frowned in confusion, about to ask what he didn’t mind, but before she could speak, he showed her with actions.

Shen Qingzhou put down the towel, leaned in, and kissed her lips, gently nibbling on them.

His black, damp hair hung loosely, and he held a white towel in his hand, drying his hair as he walked. His expression was gentle, unusually free of his usual cold demeanor. When he saw her looking, he even gave her a brief smile—one that quickly disappeared, yet she still cherished it deeply.

Seeing him like this always left her helpless. He walked straight up to her and gently sat down beside her.

“Do you want to take a shower too?” he asked, his voice slightly misty, as if softened by steam, making it sound somewhat distant to her ears.

“I… I don’t want to,” Lin Qiao mumbled, staring blankly at his face.

Shen Qingzhou nodded slightly, then said ambiguously, “It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

Puzzled, Lin Qiao furrowed her brows, wanting to ask what he meant, but before she could speak, he gave her the answer through action.

Putting down the towel, Shen Qingzhou leaned forward and kissed her lips, gently nibbling on her lower lip.