Strange Dream

"Go to sleep." Ye Shuang looked at the girl stretching out her arms and gently pinched her soft cheek—he continued unbuttoning her clothes to change her into clean pajamas when Bai Yuyou suddenly pulled him, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto her chest.

"Baby needs to drink to grow up..." Bai Yuyou hugged Ye Shuang's head, her voice drowsy and muddled.

"W-Wait?!" The scent and warmth at his nose seemed to corrode his rationality. Breaking free with effort, he saw the girl gazing at him with innocent, beautiful eyes. "No drink?"

As if guided by some inexplicable impulse, Ye Shuang instinctively grabbed one of the soft mounds. Bai Yuyou's eyes immediately narrowed cutely, her voice tender, "So weird..."

Her voice snapped him back to his senses. Ye Shuang let go and slapped himself hard across the face!

Slap!

A burning pain spread across his cheek, accompanied by a faint ringing in his ears—Ye Shuang lowered his gaze to his palm and let out a soft groan.

"Maybe I shouldn’t change her clothes after all." He rubbed his temples, realizing that the alcohol had eroded his usual composure.

After tucking the girl in properly, Ye Shuang got up and left the room.

Returning to his own room, he took a cold shower and sat on the edge of the bed, drying his hair. By now, he was fully awake and acutely aware of how inappropriate his earlier actions had been.

"I almost became a total scumbag," Ye Shuang thought to himself. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep living with Bai Yuyou like this before crossing that line.

After all, he was a normal man with normal urges.

"Whatever, I should just sleep."

The night passed without incident.

Ye Shuang slept lightly and woke at dawn, practically sleepless.

Pushing open the door, he headed downstairs. Since it was still early, no one else was awake—figuring he might as well go out to buy breakfast.

But to his surprise, there wasn’t a single breakfast stall open.

"There used to be food carts here. Where’d they all go?" Ye Shuang scratched his chin, staring at the empty streets. If that was the case, he might as well wait for everyone to wake up and go for morning tea together.

"Haah..." Leaning against a crooked tree, Ye Shuang suddenly felt exhaustion wash over him.

Might as well go back.

Just as he lay back down for a nap, the door creaked open.

He turned his head and saw half a face peeking in.

Peeking.jpg

"Yuyou?"

At his voice, the girl shuffled in, hugging a pillow, her signature cowlick sticking straight up.

"Ye Shuang... you disappeared last night," Bai Yuyou said.

"Well, we’re not at home."

"I want to sleep together," she murmured, clutching the pillow.

"Fine, come here."

Ye Shuang tried hard not to dwell on what had happened earlier, but the moment the girl lay down beside him and closed her eyes, his mind replayed the events of the previous night.

"Ye Shuang..." Bai Yuyou suddenly spoke up, as if noticing something.

"Your face... it’s hurt."

"Ah..." Ye Shuang replied casually, "Just tripped."

"Does it hurt?"

"Nah." He patted her head, her soft voice somehow calming him.

"Ye Shuang, your other wound is swollen too."

"Don’t worry about it. Let’s sleep a bit more, then go for morning tea," he said quickly.

"Mm."

Ye Shuang was genuinely exhausted. Despite his earlier wandering thoughts, the floral scent clinging to the girl soothed him, wrapping him in an inexplicable sense of security that soon lulled him into deep sleep.

Soon, his breathing steadied into a slow rhythm.

He was truly worn out—nothing like a second round of sleep to knock someone out completely.

Unlike Ye Shuang, Bai Yuyou remained wide awake. She alternated between studying the red handprint on his cheek and the swollen mark.

If I touch it, maybe it won’t hurt anymore.

She reached out, gently tracing the reddened skin with her finger.

His slightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

Bai Yuyou blinked, then touched the swollen spot. Ye Shuang’s frown deepened at first, but after a moment, it smoothed out again, as if healed by her touch.

"It works..."

She murmured, then tilted her head slightly, examining her slender fingers in confusion.

......

Ye Shuang had a strange dream and rushed to the bathroom the moment he woke up. But after a while, he walked out with a peculiar expression.

Bai Yuyou was already up and nowhere in sight. Standing by the bed, Ye Shuang lingered for a moment before dismissing it as just his imagination.

His second sleep lasted a full three hours. By the time he got up, everyone else was already awake.

"What’s up? Can’t handle a little alcohol? Lightweight," Chen Hai teased when Ye Shuang finally came downstairs.

"I just slept in, okay?"

Strangely, Ye Shuang felt unusually relaxed, as if the events of last night no longer weighed on him. Stretching slightly, he asked,

"Let’s go for morning tea."

"Sure, let’s go."

No one objected—especially An Shiyu, who might as well have worn a sign saying, "I’m just here to eat, don’t bother me."

Ding-dong. The doorbell suddenly rang.

"Who’s here?"

"No idea. Did someone order delivery?"

Amid the chatter, Ye Shuang walked over. "I’ll check. Maybe someone ordered food."

But when he opened the door, he was met with a woman he didn’t exactly want to see.

Dressed in maternity clothes, her belly slightly rounded.

"Zhou Min..." Ye Shuang’s expression darkened instantly.

This was bad—Chen Hai’s wife and child were right here!

With a clang, he quickly shut the door and glared at the woman. "What are you doing here?!"

Seeing the door close, Zhou Min stammered, "Is Ah Hai here? I just wanted to see him..."

Ye Shuang took a deep breath.

"So, what exactly do you want? And why now of all times?"

"W-What do you mean ‘why now’? Ah Hai’s been avoiding me... I just found out he was here and wanted to talk to him." Zhou Min grew flustered.

"If there’s a problem, I’ll leave right away. I just wanted to see Ah Hai."

Ye Shuang’s frown deepened.