Private Film

"Hey! It's past nine, come out for tea!" In the apartment, Ye Shuang had just answered his phone when he heard Chen Qin's energetic voice.

Before he could even respond, the call ended with a beep.

Ye Shuang: "..."

Huh? Did her phone die? Why did she hang up after just one sentence?

But the next second, a new window popped up—a video call. This girl really did whatever came to her mind.

"Hello?"

When Ye Shuang answered, he saw Chen Qin sitting in a car, clearly not the one driving.

"Working?" Seeing Chen Qin dressed so formally, Ye Shuang was a bit puzzled. "What tea are we having? Aren’t you supposed to be working? Or did you take a break?"

"Let me tell you, today was so infuriating." Chen Qin's voice kept cutting in and out before a 【Poor Connection】 message appeared on the screen.

And of course, the video froze right on her chest.

Ye Shuang: "..."

A few seconds later, the connection stabilized. "Hello? Hello?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Ye Shuang said.

"Today, I was supposed to sign a contract, but guess what? The company hung up a banner at the entrance to welcome me!" Chen Qin said.

Ye Shuang paused. "Isn’t that a good thing?"

A welcome banner is pretty standard, isn’t it?

"You don’t get it! They wrote 'Welcome President Chen Mi'! For god’s sake, my name is Chen Qin, not Chen Mi!" Chen Qin fumed through the screen.

Ye Shuang: "..."

Now that he thought about it, readers of his novel often mistook Chen Qin for Chen Mi too.

One was the refreshing "Qin," the other was the "Mi" from "secretions"—no wonder people mixed them up.

"So you just left?" Ye Shuang asked.

"Yep." Chen Qin twirled a strand of her hair. "If they can’t even get the client’s name right, and then blame it on a 'temporary worker' and say they’ll fire them… I don’t trust a company like that. Sloppy and quick to shift blame. Not worth it."

Chen Qin grinned. "Besides, I’m the client here."

"Must be nice to have money," Ye Shuang remarked, only to notice that Chen Qin had already gotten out of the car—and the background looked familiar. It was right outside his apartment.

"I’ll grab some fruit on my way up. Is Bai and Keke awake yet?"

"No need. They went out to play," Ye Shuang said.

"Oh? They didn’t take you?" Chen Qin’s face lit up with amusement. "The old man’s being left behind, huh?"

"I just didn’t go with them."

"Then come out with me."

"Let me finish cleaning first."

Soon, Chen Qin came upstairs. She pushed open the slightly ajar door. "Ta-da~ The lady has arrived~~"

"Stop slamming the door like that. It’ll break sooner or later," Ye Shuang said without turning around, still dusting the TV.

"Pfft, it’s not made of paper." Chen Qin kicked off her high heels and slipped into a pair of slippers.

"Go ahead, I’ll change first."

"Mm."

Before heading upstairs, Chen Qin sneakily planted a kiss on Ye Shuang’s cheek, then dashed off like a mischievous kid, her slippers clacking against the steps.

Ye Shuang froze, touching the lipstick mark left on his face.

"..."

A moment later, Chen Qin came back down. Ye Shuang had expected her to change into something casual, like pajamas, but instead, she was wearing a figure-hugging knit dress that accentuated her curves.

"Do I look good?"

"You do, but… since when did we have this dress at home?" Ye Shuang had no memory of it.

Now that he thought about it, he rarely checked the wardrobe in the room next to Bai Yuyou’s. He mostly only opened Bai’s closet, especially since Tang Keke’s underwear was in there too. After that incident, he’d been too embarrassed to organize their clothes.

"I left it here," Chen Qin said before heading to the bathroom to remove her makeup. Honestly, she looked just as good without it. Compared to her glamorous makeup look, Ye Shuang preferred this natural version—it suited the Chen Qin he’d known since childhood.

"So, where are we going?" Ye Shuang averted his gaze from the fluffy slime plushie and asked.

"Movies!"

"Anything good lately?" Ye Shuang hadn’t kept up with new releases. Most of the time, he just accompanied Bai Yuyou to watch old, educational films.

"How about 'The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon'?" Chen Qin suggested.

"Sounds boring."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So shallow!" Chen Qin huffed. "Let’s go."

"Sure, whatever you say, Miss Chen." Ye Shuang didn’t mind. It was just a movie, after all.

Once they got into the car, Ye Shuang pulled up the navigation.

"Which theater?"

"Any private ones?"

"Private?" Ye Shuang thought for a moment. "I don’t really know much about those. Any recommendations?"

"Nope." Chen Qin pulled out her phone and called her assistant.

"Yeah, find me a private cinema. Preferably one with a bed—you know, a small room for screenings."

"Wait, what?" Ye Shuang felt something was off.

A few minutes later, Chen Qin sent him an address. "Here!"

"Why do we need a small room for a movie?"

"Ugh, you don’t get it. I just don’t want to deal with parents bringing their screaming kids to the theater. Ruins the whole experience."

Ye Shuang nodded. He hated noisy kids in cinemas too.

"And the bed?"

"Obviously beds are comfier than chairs?" Chen Qin said matter-of-factly.

Ye Shuang couldn’t argue with that.

As he drove out of the garage, Chen Qin reached over and poked his abs. "Oho~ Not bad. Bai mentioned you’ve been working out. Guess it’s true."

"Ah Ye, you’ve still got it, huh?"

"Stop touching."

Chen Qin snorted. "You groped my chest last time."

Ye Shuang: "..."

That was the system’s fault! He had no idea why his hand ended up on the slime plushie.

Honestly, he still felt awkward about it.

Whatever. Let her have her fun.

But Chen Qin quickly got tired and stopped. Between her busy work schedule, she barely had time to rest.

Soon, she dozed off in the passenger seat.

"..." At a red light, Ye Shuang noticed Chen Qin’s phone lighting up with dozens of unread messages.

Though he couldn’t see the content without unlocking it, he could guess—work stuff, as usual.

"Maybe I should help her out more…" Ye Shuang thought, noticing the faint dark circles under her eyes.

As he watched her sleeping face, a window appeared in his vision—

【Character: Chen Qin

A fool who loves you way, way, way too much. Lately, her busy schedule might be affecting her stomach?】

Huh?

Ye Shuang blinked. Stomach?

Again with the stomach…