“You really know how to put on a show,” Long Aotian whispered softly beside Li Qingxue.
Li Qingxue nudged him gently. “Don’t stand so close to me. It wouldn’t be good if someone saw us.”
She glanced at Long Aotian’s neck and quickly pulled up his collar to cover it, where a faint red mark—caused by her scratching—was still visible.
Seeing Li Qingxue pretending to be all innocent, Long Aotian lightly tapped her head before stepping out of the sunroom. “Wanning, you’re back.”
Hearing Long Aotian’s voice, Li Qingxue fixed the hair he had just messed up and stood up, smiling as she said, “We’re having hotpot tonight.”
Lin Wanning put down the things in her hands and said, “Today’s my last hotpot meal. Starting tomorrow, I’ll try to eat lighter.”
With the performance just a week away and continuous rehearsals, she needed to take good care of her voice.
Winter’s dry climate only made things worse. Hotpot might be delicious, but it was notorious for causing inflammation. She couldn’t afford to mess up at such a critical time.
“Got it. Since I’m not joining any clubs, I’ll come home early from now on and take care of all the dinners,” Li Qingxue promised confidently.
“Thanks, Qingxue,” Lin Wanning said, pinching Li Qingxue’s cheek before sinking down into a chair inside the sunroom.
At that moment, Long Aotian handed Lin Wanning a beautifully wrapped apple he had bought.
“Thanks, brother. I really needed this right now,” Lin Wanning said with a smile.
Taking advantage of Li Qingxue not paying attention, Long Aotian leaned in mysteriously. “Have you ever heard about the English word for apple? It’s ‘Appie.’ They say if a girl accepts an apple from a guy, it means she might have to…”
Lin Wanning chuckled, looking at Long Aotian and whispered back, “I’ve heard that.”
Then she opened the package and took a bite of the apple. “So, brother, are you going to ‘open fire’ on me?”
“But I’m really a bit tired today. Can I owe you one and make it up later?”
“Alright then. Actually, I just wanted to ask if you’d heard of it. I didn’t mean anything else.”
Lin Wanning glanced sideways at Li Qingxue. “Could it be that you heard it from Qingxue?”
Then she looked at the apples on the table—only two left.
She gave Long Aotian a strange look. “Don’t tell me Qingxue’s already been ‘hit’?”
“I remember you’ve been training harder lately, right? The intensity must be even greater than before. Brother, you really have no mercy. No wonder sister can’t keep up—who could?”
Li Qingxue didn’t catch the whole conversation, but when she saw Lin Wanning’s playful glance toward her, she immediately leaned over. “What are you two talking about?”
Lin Wanning shrugged. “Brother was asking if I knew the English word for apple.”
“Oh no, Long Aotian, what nonsense are you talking about?”
“If you keep talking nonsense, just go outside. Don’t stay here.”
Li Qingxue looked shy and flustered, which only made her look even cuter.
“Then I’ll go pick up Aying,” Long Aotian said, grabbing one of the beautifully wrapped apples from the table as he left the sunroom.
Seeing Long Aotian leave.
Lin Wanning pulled Li Qingxue into her arms, holding her close. "Were you taking advantage of us not being home to do something naughty?"
"No, no! I absolutely hate Long Aotian. How could I possibly do anything like that with him?"
"Qingxue, you’re being naughty..."
...
At the entrance of University A, Long Aotian sent a message to Hu Yuying.
Then he waited by the door.
About ten minutes later,
Long Aotian received a message from Hu Yuying saying she was already on her way out.
Not long after, he saw Hu Yuying briskly walking over, carrying a backpack.
"Ta-da~~~" Long Aotian presented a beautifully wrapped apple in front of Hu Yuying.
Hu Yuying laughed, "I didn’t even tell you to buy anything, and you still got an apple? Must’ve been expensive, right?"
Usually, apples are pretty cheap, but today they probably weren’t.
"Not really expensive, just one yuan each," Long Aotian told a little white lie.
If the little girl knew he actually spent three yuan on one apple, she’d definitely scold him.
"One yuan? That’s okay then." After all, the fancy packaging must have cost quite a bit.
Hu Yuying reached out to take the apple.
Long Aotian pulled it back, glanced around, and whispered, "Have you ever heard what apple means in English? Apple means ‘appie.’ They say if you accept an apple from a guy, it might mean..."
Hu Yuying took the apple with a playful glare, "If I don’t eat it, can I avoid trouble?"
Long Aotian smiled, "Come home with me. Tonight we’re having hotpot."
Walking along, Hu Yuying explained the reason for today’s rehearsal.
"From now on, all the Hanfu outfits will come from me. We’re going to make a big profit again. I’m so happy!"
"So your backpack is full of Hanfu?"
"Yeah, and they’re pretty nice too." Hu Yuying explained enthusiastically, completely unaware of the mischievous smile curling on Long Aotian’s lips.
Back home, everyone gathered, and they started preparing the hotpot ingredients.
For them, happiness seemed to be this simple.
The scene was especially warm and cozy.
After dinner, Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning returned to their room.
Long Aotian and Hu Yuying went back to theirs.
As soon as they entered the room, Long Aotian eagerly opened the backpack Hu Yuying had brought back.
He took out the ethereal Hanfu.
"Long Ge, don’t mess it up! We have to return it in the end," Hu Yuying said, seeing Long Aotian holding the Hanfu. She simply thought he had never seen Hanfu before and just wanted to take a look.
Suddenly, Long Aotian wrapped his arms around Hu Yuying’s waist.
"You’d look amazing wearing this," he said.
Hu Yuying was about to nod but suddenly sensed a warning signal in her heart.
"Long Ge, what are you... what do you want to do?"
Long Aotian lowered his head, his voice husky with restrained desire, "Will you wear it for me?"
The rising heat between them and the ambiguous signals Long Aotian was sending made Hu Yuying feel uneasy. The warning bells in her heart went off, and she tried to escape to Qingxue and Wanning’s room.
But she was already held tightly by Long Ge.
"Just once," Hu Yuying said.
"I promise, if I lie, I’m a puppy," Long Aotian assured her.
Changing into the Hanfu, Hu Yuying felt completely drained after a few hours. "You lied!"
Long Aotian let out two playful barks, a satisfied grin spreading across his face as he wrapped his arms around the little girl's waist and said, "I lied. I'm a puppy."
Compared to barking twice, what could be more important than sharing some joyful moments with the little girl...
......
......
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+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
esick Sect? Well, at least it's considered a respectable orthodox sect. Wait a minute— What kind of vibe are you all giving off? Shouldn’t this be a love-struck, romance-obsessed sect? Why does everyone here sound more like demonic cultivators? "Master, today he’s getting married. This disciple wishes to descend the mountain and crash the wedding, then toy with him to death right in front of his wife..." "Elder, I only got into your sect through connections, so why won’t you teach me anything?" "Because I also became an elder through connections." Thankfully, Su Ji was just an outer sect labor disciple. Surely, nothing too crazy would— "Junior Brother, you’ve broken through to Qi Refining. Once you sever your useless spiritual root, you can officially become an outer sect disciple." "The Great Dao is merciless. Don’t let a worthless spiritual root waste your essence and spirit, hindering your cultivation." Is this really the Lovesick Sect? ... Three years later, Su Ji sat in the seat of the Lovesick Sect’s sect master, sighing with emotion. His rise to this position all started when his junior sister adamantly insisted on preserving his "spiritual root." "Mmm... Senior Brother, what’s our relationship now?" "Stop talking. Keep going." "By the way, that newly promoted top-tier sect—didn’t they come to buy our Love Beans?" "One top-grade spirit stone per Love Bean—is that really so expensive?" "I suspect they’ve eaten too many Love Beans." "Now they’re lovesick." Well, this really is the Lovesick Sect after all.
