Su Qiuge nodded desperately as she saw him sporting a casual smile from the corner of his lips, “But I can’t help it any longer.”

He attached his palm to her cheek and wiped away the water droplets that stained her face little by little. His fingertips had little calluses because he held his pen all year round, and when he brushed them against her fair and smooth skin, he felt a touch of numbness and the slightest itch.

“I want to kiss you, is that okay?”

His eyes were a little dark whilst his breath seemed to be both a bit unstable and even hotter. He only leaned over to look at her for a while before his lips were pressed against her cheek. In the dark night, this warm and moist feeling was even more obvious, as if he was giving her a kiss on the tip of her heart. Whilst it made her terrified and a trembling mess, she felt the way he treated her with tenderness and care.

When Su Qiuge thought he was going to kiss her again, the man suddenly frowned. He stood up, turned his head back to her and covered his lips, coughing violently.

His expression seemed to show that he was in a bit of pain, but he didn’t want her to see it and merely placed his other hand against his stomach slightly.

Only then did Su Qiuge wake up from her trance. She then stood up to bring him the medicine.

He remained the stubborn hand of his over his lips, and when she brought the medicine over, he seemed to laugh silently when he saw her posture, slightly panicking as if the sky was falling.

Su Qiuge was inexplicably angry when she saw that he was still capable of laughing. She then put on a fierce expression, “You’re still laughing? Next time you drink on an empty stomach, you should just wait till you get gastric perforation and gastric bleeding!”

Thinking of the kiss that was abruptly planted on her face, she said with an ambiguous emotion, “To be a thief who’s merely brave but doesn’t have power, was it wrong of me to say that you were just a little white face(1)? Putting half your body in pain just by giving a kiss; I seriously don’t know who else is capable of doing that.”

(T/N: a man who usually depends on his partner financially, though it’s noted that these types of men often have good looks and are usually at their partner’s beck and call. It’s also jokingly used as insults when a man is seemingly weak, like how Qiuge is mocking Xinglin)

What’s the difference between this guy and those impotent men??

Su Qiuge was actually a bit of a bully in some aspects as she vividly showed this side of herself, especially towards Xie Xinglin.

If he had the energy to do things that made her feel unbearable, she would just close her eyes and clench her hands without saying a word. Now that she knew he was merely putting on a front, she was going to provoke him to make up for her previous gaffe.

This part of her was actually quite similar to Su Yuanzhou.

She brought the medicine over and said with a sullen face, “Be good and drink this.”

Seeing her like this, Xie Xinglin frowned slightly before he said slowly, “Is Qiuqiu angry?”

Su Qiuge snorted coldly and inched the medicine bowl towards his face harshly, “Don’t try to be cunning— no matter what happens, I’m going to see you finish this bowl of medicine. There’s not going to be any use even if you address me as your father, let alone Qiuqiu.”

Xie Xinglin took the medicine bowl and glanced down at it. With a hint of playfulness in his eyes, he raised them whilst looking slightly pitiful as he said slowly, “Qiuqiu has gotten angry, probably dissatisfied with my attitude just now.”

Su Qiuge, “?”

And then, she listened to him as he hooked his lips and said word by word, “But Qiuqiu can rest assured… Next time I will do my best by any means…”

He whispered vaguely, “…To make sure I satisfy you.”

His words made him seem like a service worker who was talking to a customer, “Don’t worry, boss, I’m just on my man period this time. Next time, I’ll be sure to make you very satisfied,” Those words were spoken into Su Qiuge’s ears, resembling the sounds of thunder and the gallops of horses as they rumbled with each word.

She directly pressed the bowl of medicine to his face and blocked his mouth, “Stop mouthing off about satisfaction and drink this.”

Xie Xinglin stopped talking and drank the medicine from the medicine bowl that she was holding.

When she looked at Xie Xinglin, who was drinking the medicine, his facial features became much softer and Su Qiuge couldn’t help but sigh, “Supposedly such a well-sculpted man; too bad for that mouth of his.”

Xie Xinglin, “?”

Perhaps he was really too tired. He wanted to send her home after drinking the medicine, but somehow, he fell asleep again.

Su Qiuge draped the blanket over him and stared at him for a while.

He really lost a lot of weight as the curvature of his collarbones became more obvious. His hand that showed off the subtle structure of his bones hung down beside him, the blue veins on his arms faintly visible.

Then, Su Qiuge gently got up from the side, turned off the light in the kitchen and closed the door.

When she closed the door, she sincerely prayed that her teenager would have a good dream tonight.

In hopes that he would wake up tomorrow to a brand new day.