Chapter 16:

…Qingzhou?

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

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

“Okay,” he said simply, then paused briefly before adding slowly, slightly hesitantly, “But if I take off my clothes and wear pajamas, I won’t be able to leave anymore.”

Lin Qiao immediately looked up at him, meeting his serious yet subtly meaningful gaze. She awkwardly took a step back, the slight distance calming her slightly, though not by much.

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

“Lin Qiao, those clothes can’t be washed in a machine or spun dry. Even if you did, they wouldn’t dry that quickly,” Shen Qingzhou said very properly. Outside, the sound of rain mixed with his voice, creating a strangely pleasant sensation.

“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 send them to the dry cleaner?”

Shen Qingzhou looked out the window, quietly asking, “Now?”

Lin Qiao glanced at the dark, rainy scene outside, her face turning red with embarrassment, “Then what should I do?” she asked softly.

Shen Qingzhou didn’t answer. He simply went upstairs, and just as he was about to disappear around the corner, he said, “I’m going to take a shower.”

Lin Qiao stared at his retreating figure. Of course he knew where the bathroom was—he had helped choose this house. He knew everything. But what about after the shower? Should she ask him to stay the night? It seemed like that might be the only solution now.

Lin Qiao unconsciously clasped her hands behind her back, twisting her fingers nervously. Her mind raced with countless thoughts, but none of them stuck. She felt like her brain was busy, yet it couldn’t sort anything out.

After a while, Lin Qiao suddenly realized something and couldn’t help exclaiming softly, “Oh no, he didn’t take the pajamas!”

Without wasting any time, Lin Qiao quickly went upstairs to her father’s room and grabbed a set of unopened pajamas. These were ones she had bought for her father a while back, but he had never worn them out of reluctance. The deep blue silk men’s pajamas were of excellent quality, but the style was somewhat outdated for Shen Qingzhou. She wondered what he would look like wearing them.

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

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

Lin Qiao waited for a response that didn’t come. Suddenly, she remembered that he had emphasized several times today that she should call him by his name. Had she just forgotten again, causing him not to respond?

Feeling a mix of emotions, Lin Qiao worried that he might start showering, making it impossible for her to deliver the pajamas. Leaving them at the door would be impolite. So she quickly corrected herself, “Qingzhou, I brought you pajamas. Can you take them when you’re ready?”

After saying this, Lin Qiao paused for a moment. The name “Qingzhou” had come out so naturally and beautifully under her anxiety. His name was truly well-chosen, each syllable leaving a lingering taste on her lips—elegant and unique.

Shen Qingzhou had originally decided not to respond, but her words made it impossible for him to ignore her any longer. He casually 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 back, the door opened, catching her in the act.

Lin Qiao awkwardly moved to the side, leaning against the wall. She lowered her head and handed him the pajamas without looking at him, her face flushed as she said, “Here.”

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

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

Seeing her like this, Shen Qingzhou, for some reason, no longer felt like going into the bathroom. Instead, he lingered.

He lowered his voice, seemingly offhandedly asking, “Why won’t you look at me?”

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

Shen Qingzhou slowly stepped closer. The moment she heard his footsteps, she looked up. He was shirtless, with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Lin Qiao didn’t dare to look below the towel. She only saw his waist, which, like his chest, was lean and muscular. His tall, slender frame was pale and upright, as if it concealed immense strength.

Seeing her stunned expression, Shen Qingzhou couldn’t help but smirk. He leaned closer to her slowly, holding the pajamas in one hand and resting the other on his waist. As Lin Qiao was still puzzled, he suddenly yanked the towel off.

Instantly, a scream echoed through the second floor of the Lin residence. Lin Qiao shamefully covered her eyes, while Shen Qingzhou’s clear laughter followed. The teasing and pleasure in his laughter were unmistakable.

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

Lin Qiao’s expression immediately turned as if she had swallowed a fly. Shen Qingzhou calmly took out his phone from his pants pocket and half-heartedly explained, “I saw a picture earlier that looked interesting, so I wanted to imitate it.”

As if to prove her wrong, he showed her the picture. Lin Qiao stared at the image on his phone screen from Weibo. The scene was exactly like what had just happened between them.

The man was wearing pants under the towel but still wrapped in it, and when the girl was too embarrassed to look down at the pants, he suddenly pulled 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 unaware of Lin Qiao’s suppressed anger as he calmly put his phone away and said, “See, I didn’t lie to you. I just thought you were too nervous, so I wanted to lighten the mood a bit. You’re so broad-minded, you surely won’t mind.”

Lin Qiao clenched her teeth silently and muttered, “Next time, don’t even say you got caught in the rain—I won’t care even if you fall into a river.”

Shen Qingzhou had very sharp hearing and had heard her muttering before, but this time he actually responded, saying, “Beijing won’t have rain in the short term.”

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

Shen Qingzhou’s expression subtly changed as he softly replied, “Of course, the weather forecast said so.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” Lin Qiao frowned. “Would you even care about that stuff? Aren’t you too busy?”

Shen Qingzhou simply smiled without answering, then turned and walked into the bathroom with the towel and pajamas. The bathroom door made a soft sound as it closed, just like the way Lin Qiao’s heart felt at that moment—shattered 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, who had just begun unbuckling his belt, paused. Seeing the bulge in his pants pocket, he quickly figured out her intention.

However, he didn’t seem to mind. He took out his phone without fastening his belt, opened the door, and handed it to her, not forgetting to say, “Thank you.”

Smiling brightly, Lin Qiao accepted the phone, saying, “You’re welcome, you’re welcome.” She hadn’t forgotten that his phone had a password, so she straightforwardly said, “But that picture you showed me was pretty funny. Can I take another look?”

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

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

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

Ten minutes later, Lin Qiao had changed clothes and was sitting on the sofa, fiddling with Shen Qingzhou’s phone. This guy’s phone was just like him—extremely expensive and distant, a Vertu phone that pursued “luxury at any cost.”

Using it to post a Weibo update might even say “from a rich person’s client,” who knows?

Thinking carefully about Shen Qingzhou’s car, Lin Qiao immediately concluded that this was someone who didn’t necessarily go for the best, but always went for the most expensive.

Opening Shen Qingzhou’s Weibo account, she claimed she wanted to see the picture, but Lin Qiao immediately went straight to his personal homepage. When she opened it, she found it was a newly registered account named sqz2014. There was no profile picture or bio. Except for some system-followed accounts, he didn’t follow anyone else. Even if he did follow someone, he would probably be mistaken for a “zombie fan” account.

The only clues she could find were two Weibo posts shared from Instagram. He had posted two pictures: one was a smoggy day in Beijing, and the other was a simple sketch drawn on white paper, depicting a very cute turtle.

…

What did this guy mean by that? She could understand the smog picture—she had posted similar ones too—but what did the turtle mean?

While analyzing, Lin Qiao secretly followed his account with her Weibo account. Then she closed the Weibo app on his phone and put it aside to avoid getting caught red-handed if he suddenly came downstairs.

Picking up her own phone and continuing to ponder, Lin Qiao kept thinking about the meaning of the turtle. After thinking for a while, she suddenly felt she was being too silly. Why did she even care what the turtle meant? What did it have to do with her anyway %>_

Frustrated, she threw her phone aside, feeling annoyed at herself for caring so much about Shen Qingzhou’s stuff. At that moment, footsteps came from upstairs. She turned around and saw Shen Qingzhou slowly descending the stairs, wearing the deep blue silk pajamas.

His black, damp hair hung loosely, and he held a white towel in one hand, drying his hair as he walked. His expression was gentle, unusually free of his usual cold demeanor. When he saw her looking at him, he even gave her a slight smile. Although the smile was fleeting, she still cherished it.

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

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

“I… no, I don’t want to,” Lin Qiao stammered, slowly looking at his face.

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

Puzzled, Lin Qiao frowned, wanting to ask him what he meant, but before she could open her mouth, he answered her with action.

Shen Qingzhou put down the towel in his hand, leaned forward, and gently kissed her lips, lightly biting her lower lip.