Scolded by Lin Yu, but somehow feeling a bit happy about it

A few minutes later.

Lin Yu and his "girlfriend" Chi Qingshui sat together in the backseat of a taxi.

The apartment was about a fifteen to twenty-minute drive from the community hospital—not too far.

Come to think of it, among the nurses currently on duty at the community hospital was one of their housemates, an older sister figure.

Once in the car, Lin Yu didn’t waste the opportunity.

His alone time with Chi Qingshui was limited, so he had to make the most of every moment.

The next step didn’t require much acting.

After settling into the seat, Lin Yu tilted his head back and slipped into pretend-sleep mode.

Within minutes, his phone rang—

"Spinning round and round, it becomes us—deep imprints like fingerprints~ Lingering in the hearts of everyone who’s ever loved~ Warming the chambers within~"

Chi Qingshui: "!!!"

Wasn’t this the song Lin Yu had shared with her just yesterday?

He’d actually set it as his ringtone?!

She’d only asked him to listen to it with her when they went out—not to play it on loop every day…

[Ding!]

[Masterful move! The sweet memories between you and your destined partner strike a chord, resonating deep within!]

[Reward: 50 Spirit Stones.]

Hearing the system’s prompt, Lin Yu was overjoyed.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

The reward amount of Spirit Stones was clearly no coincidence.

Every ripple he caused in others only earned him 20 Spirit Stones.

But with Chi Qingshui? A whopping 50 each time!

Forget about winning her over immediately.

Just keeping her around as a walking ATM—500 here, 500 there—was already a sweet deal!

After a while, "Fingerprints" continued playing on loop, and Lin Yu still hadn’t budged, eyes shut.

"Lin Yu? Lin Yu!"

"Your phone’s ringing!"

Chi Qingshui nudged his arm, snapping him out of his act.

Lin Yu feigned a startle, rubbing his pockets.

"Oh, sorry, I almost dozed off… That’s just my alarm."

With exaggerated sluggishness, he pulled out his phone—only for it to "accidentally" slip and land at Chi Qingshui’s feet.

Without suspicion, she picked it up.

Only then did she notice the screen was unlocked and lit up.

The wallpaper… was the photo she’d taken yesterday—a simple shot of the blue sky and white clouds!

[Ding!]

[Masterful move! The beautiful memories between you and your destined partner are woven into every pixel!]

[Reward: 50 Spirit Stones.]

Strike two.

Chi Qingshui: "!!!"

That photo had just been a quick snap to dodge his questions and hide her location in their chat.

Yet Lin Yu had set it as his wallpaper?

Did he… cherish it that much?

If she’d known, she would’ve put more effort into framing the shot.

"Thanks."

Lin Yu took the phone back, then immediately opened WeChat.

Muttering to himself, he said,

"Strange… She should be awake by now. Why hasn’t she replied?"

"Did something happen? What’s going on…?"

Chi Qingshui: "!!!"

The car’s interior wasn’t exactly spacious.

No matter how softly Lin Yu spoke, she could hear every word.

From his loaded remarks, it wasn’t hard to guess who he was referring to.

Not only could she not reply now—she might not get the chance for a long time.

If Chi Qingshui had been in a calmer state of mind, she could’ve easily brushed it off.

Why wasn’t "Dreaming by the Rain" replying? She could’ve made up any excuse later.

But…

Lin Yu had come with her because of her stomachache…

Set her song as his ringtone…

Used her photo as his wallpaper…

This relentless combo made her subconscious rebel against the idea of letting him worry—or letting his attention drift.

That’s what she thought.

But what came out of her mouth was pure snark.

"You’re in so much pain, yet you’re still texting? Unbelievable. Maybe she just doesn’t want to reply—could be busy with something else."

Chi Qingshui tossed the words out casually, not thinking much of it.

But the next moment—

Lin Yu’s gaze locked onto her, sharp and hostile.

The intensity in his eyes startled her.

It was like a lion on the verge of fury, pinning its prey with a warning glare.

His voice was low, deadly serious.

"Chi Qingshui, I’ll only say this once. Even if it’s you—don’t joke about her like that again."

"She means everything to me. Next time… I won’t forgive you."

Chi Qingshui’s eyes flickered. She stammered, flustered.

"N-No… I’m sorry. My bad."

He’d snapped at her.

Not just snapped—he’d scolded her.

Yet instead of anger, all she felt was…

She mattered that much to him?

A stranger’s offhand remark was enough to set him off?

She… felt cared for.

[Ding!]

[Masterful move! By affirming her importance in your heart, you’ve sunk the hook even deeper!]

[Reward: 50 Spirit Stones.]

Hat trick.

Every little trick landed perfectly, reaping its rewards.

Oh, little girlfriend… How will you ever escape the Buddha’s palm now?

Even a slap will feel like love’s fiery passion!

Less than a minute later, Lin Yu resumed his act.

After the slap, it was time for the sugar.

Rubbing his stomach, Lin Yu said—

"Whew... I feel much better now, and my stomach doesn’t hurt as much."

"Da Chi, sorry about earlier—I was a bit impatient."

Chi Qingshui was still lost in the emotion of "she’s so important to him," unable to snap out of it right away.

Hearing Lin Yu’s apology, she waved it off:

"It’s fine, I get it."

Lin Yu’s voice regained some energy as she brought up the main topic:

"About the summer homework, I’ll do my best to handle it."

"I feel like I didn’t grasp the concepts of light-shadow composition and the golden ratio well in the second half of the semester."

"I’m planning to buy a couple of books on these topics in the next few days to brush up and make sure I don’t drag you and Xiao Chi down."

"Once I get the books, I’ll bring them to you so we can study together. I know you’re a top student—you’ve probably mastered this stuff already, but maybe you can use them as reference."

Chi Qingshui: "!!!"

What a coincidence.

Isn’t this just perfect?

She’d been wanting to buy books on light-shadow composition and the golden ratio too!

Lin Yu and she were on the same wavelength!

Oh my god.

Is this what they call… a soul-deep connection?

Could it be that after all this time spent in an online relationship, they’d developed some kind of mystical resonance?

It felt so surreal!

So, does this mean they could be considered… "soulmates"?

[Ding!]

[Masterstroke move—achieving a soul resonance with your dao companion, where thoughts align perfectly!]

[Reward: 50 spirit stones.]

Just as expected.

The moment those words were spoken,

the system’s reward came rolling in like a winning streak.

No way Chi Qingshui could stay composed after several waves of emotional ambush.

Lin Yu gripped her phone, then resumed her fake-sleeping pose, leaving the next move to Chi Qingshui.

Exactly as Lin Yu predicted,

Chi Qingshui double-checked that Lin Yu’s eyes were closed before stealthily pulling out her phone to reply.

She had to respond.

Lin Yu was waiting desperately.

The guilt in her heart was swelling uncontrollably, almost overflowing!

She meant so much to Lin Yu, yet she couldn’t even bother to reply.

Was that right?

Was that fair?

First step:

Chi Qingshui muted her phone and switched to her WeChat alt account.

She didn’t even glance at the flood of messages from Lin Yu, quickly typing out a reply instead.

「Dreaming in Rain: Hubby, good morning! I’m helping my family with something—chat later, okay? Miss you too, mwah!」

The situation was urgent.

So urgent, she didn’t even have time to add a kissing emoji.

After typing, Chi Qingshui didn’t send it immediately.

Instead, she held her phone by her leg near the car door.

Only after confirming Lin Yu hadn’t noticed anything did she lower her head, hit send, lock the screen lightning-fast, and shove the phone into her pocket!

Then, she immediately put on an air of nonchalance.

"Ding-dong!"

Hearing the WeChat notification, Lin Yu opened her eyes.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Right now, she really wanted to interview the person beside her:

What does it feel like to secretly call someone "hubby" online behind their back?