TL: Hua
Chapter 5
The sound of the cooking auntie coming out of the apartment cut off Qin Guanyu’s explanation.
Taking advantage of the moment Qin Guanyu was saying goodbye to the lady, Shen Qianci stood at the door and observed that Qin Guanyu lived in a large, single-level apartment with one unit per floor.
“Come on in,” Qin Guanyu ushered him while pulling out a pair of unopened disposable slippers for Shen Qianci.
He couldn’t wait to scoop the cat out of its backpack, asking, “How old is Steam Bun?”
“One year old,” Shen Qianci suddenly let out a sigh. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have brought him.”
Qin Guanyu immediately hugged the cat tightly. “What’s that supposed to mean? Can’t I even pet your cat a little? Don’t be so stingy, Teacher Shen.”
“That’s not it.” Shen Qianci looked around the impeccably clean flat. “Steam Bun sheds. I don’t want him leaving a house full of cat hair for you.” He pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “Plus, I forgot to bring a portable litter box.”
“Pff, is that all?” Qin Guanyu pulled out his phone. “I’ll just have the property management buy some cat supplies. They can deliver it up here in a bit. And as for shedding, who cares? Someone comes over to clean my place every single day.”
Shen Qianci: “You don’t even own a cat, and Steam Bun won’t be coming here very often anyway. Buying all that stuff is quite a waste.”
Qin Guanyu didn’t like the sound of that at all. He corrected him solemnly: “Teacher Shen, watch your phrasing. What do you mean ‘won’t be coming here very often’? Today is only Day 1 of our agreement. For the next six months, you and Steam Bun are basically going to live here.”
The phrase ‘basically going to live here’ made Shen Qianci raise an eyebrow. He chose not to comment, silently turning around. “I’m starving.”
“Then let’s eat.” Qin Guanyu put the cat down, patted its head, and got up to lead Shen Qianci toward the dining room.
It wasn’t until he sat down at the table that Shen Qianci realized tonight’s dinner consisted entirely of spicy dishes. “Are you really that obsessed with spicy food?”
Qin Guanyu shifted uncomfortably in his seat, answering unnaturally, “Shu Yi loves it.”
Shen Qianci understood. This episode was called “The Substitute’s Self-Cultivation: Mimicking the White Moonlight’s Taste.”
He had searched Shu Yi’s interviews and the compilation of personal profiles in his fan forums earlier today; Shu Yi did indeed love spicy food. According to what he said in interviews, actors had to strictly control their diet while working, so every time he wrapped up a project, he would immediately reward himself with an intensely spicy hot pot.
Without saying another word, Shen Qianci dutifully picked up his chopsticks.
In truth, eating was somewhat agonizing for him because he didn’t like spicy food at all. Yet, even the green vegetables on the table were spicy. He could only force himself to slowly swallow it down bit by bit.
Qin Guanyu sat there on pins and needles. He could tell that Shen Qianci probably didn’t like spicy food. Watching the man take tiny, delicate bites, barely managing to eat anything after a long while, he felt a wave of guilt.
Woven into that guilt seemed to be some other emotion. He couldn’t quite untangle it; he just felt his heart squeeze slightly.
According to the key takeaways from “Eighteen Lectures on Being a Sugar Daddy,” “Scumbag 8,” and “Scumbag 4,” he was supposed to demand that his substitute chat with him at the dinner table. But seeing how unhappy Shen Qianci already was while eating, he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth to voice any demands.
“I’m full.” Shen Qianci set his chopsticks down, looking at him as if asking for permission.
Qin Guanyu instantly replied, “Alright, go ahead and play with Steam Bun first.”
After Shen Qianci left the dining room, Qin Guanyu looked at the bowl containing less than a third of the rice eaten and a table full of virtually untouched dishes. A sudden surge of irritation washed over his mind.
He hurriedly finished his own food. Someone would be coming to clean up later anyway, so he didn’t bother with it. Out of sight, out of mind, he bolted to the living room to play with the cat.
Steam Bun hadn’t fully adjusted to the new environment yet, but fortunately, there was no stress reaction. He just curled up obediently in the corner of the sofa, staring blankly with his large green eyes.
As Shen Qianci sat on the rug petting the cat, Qin Guanyu forcefully wedged his way into their “parent-child bonding time.” Staring at Steam Bun’s white fur, he suddenly remembered something: “Shu Yi seems to have one too, a Siamese cat named ‘Coal.'”
Shu Yi had owned his cat a bit longer than Shen Qianci had, though. It seemed to be around five years.
Qin Guanyu merely thought it was a neat coincidence and mentioned it casually. But who could have guessed that the moment the words left his mouth, Shen Qianci would pull Steam Bun tightly into his arms, his eyes turning completely red.
“Does Steam Bun have to change his name to match Shu Yi’s preferences too?”
Shen Qianci asked him with utmost vulnerability, a crystalline mist seemingly clouding his eyes.
Seeing that the man was actually about to cry, Qin Guanyu panicked. “No, I didn’t say that!”
Shen Qianci looked incredibly wronged, his voice trembling as if he were choking back a sob: “But that’s how it’s always written in substitute literature…”
“No… don’t cry,” Qin Guanyu thought to himself that this was going to be the death of him. “I’m not that twisted. I wouldn’t bully a little cat.”
Shen Qianci turned his back to him while holding the cat, his shoulders shaking gently.
“!!!” Thinking he was truly crying, Qin Guanyu frantically scrambled over to face him. “I really didn’t think that way; please don’t cry.”
But with Shen Qianci keeping his head down, he couldn’t see his expression clearly. In his anxiety, Qin Guanyu leaned in close, reaching out to touch the corner of Shen Qianci’s eye to wipe away the tears.
To his surprise, Shen Qianci leaned back. The pale skin and the pad of Qin Guanyu’s finger brushed past each other for a mere second before missing entirely.
“…” Looking at the unfaded amusement dancing in the man’s eyes, Qin Guanyu realized: so those shaking shoulders earlier were just from him stifling his laughter?
Little President Qin felt utterly powerless. “Teacher Shen, you really are something…”
Recalling the way Shen Qianci’s eyes had flushed just now, a wave of regret welled up in Qin Guanyu’s heart.
“It’s really a pity you didn’t go into acting.”
His tears came right on cue, and he was so good-looking to boot. For a face like this not to appear on the silver screen to be captured by a camera to preserve his peerless elegance while he was young was truly a massive waste.
Immersed in that inexplicable sense of regret, he failed to notice that the hand Shen Qianci was using to stroke the cat stiffened abruptly the moment those words were spoken.
—
Shen Qianci put his luggage in the guest bedroom and took a change of clothes to head into the shower.
When he stepped out of the bathroom enveloped in a cloud of warm steam, Qin Guanyu looked at the T-shirt and trousers he was wearing and felt an instant pang of disappointment.
That dark green silk pajama set he had seen in the video call earlier had looked genuinely stunning on Shen Qianci.
He supposed because it was his first time at the apartment and they were still a bit unfamiliar, the man had opted for an outfit that worked for both sleeping and lounging around with company.
Wait a minute…
What on earth was he thinking? What kind of pajamas Shen Qianci wore was none of his business! Even though he was the sugar daddy, it wasn’t like he was sleeping with Shen Qianci!
Shen Qianci was drying his hair, but a few stray droplets of water from the tips still managed to roll down his pale neck and slip into the collar of his T-shirt.
Qin Guanyu found himself remembering that small patch of collarbone exposed yesterday when Steam Bun had nudged Shen Qianci’s pajamas down…
Hiss—
Qin Guanyu screamed for help in his mind.
Something was wrong with him. Exactly what kind of demon had possessed his body?! How had he become so incredibly lecherous?!!
“I’m going to take a shower too. There’s a hairdryer in the guest bedroom drawer.”
He hastily threw down the sentence, shoved the cat into Shen Qianci’s arms, and oiled his heels to make a quick escape.
It wasn’t until he stood beneath the shower spray in the master bathroom that the water finally cleared Qin Guanyu’s head.
But as his lustful thoughts faded, another worry cropped up.
—Shen Qianci had barely eaten a few bites at dinner.
Thinking about that man’s lean waist, so thin it felt like a typhoon could blow him straight to the mythical island of Penglai, Qin Guanyu felt uneasy again. It made him, the sugar daddy, look like some kind of abusive tyrant.
As vexation and shame swirled around his head, Qin Guanyu irritably shut off the shower, quickly dried off, and walked out wearing his pajamas.
While drying his hair with a towel, he feigned an air of casual leisure. “Teacher Shen, I’m craving a midnight snack. Do you want some?”
The response he received was the sound of objects crashing down.
Qin Guanyu quickly strode into the living room, but the sight before him nearly scared his soul right out of his body. “Shen Qianci!”
Shen Qianci’s face was deathly pale. Clutching his lower abdomen, he was slumped against the coffee table; his hand had accidentally knocked down a few books Qin Guanyu had displayed there to look sophisticated.
Tossing his towel aside, Qin Guanyu ran over in a panic. Lifting the man up in a bridal carry, he placed him gently onto the sofa and asked frantically, “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
“Qin Guanyu…” Shen Qianci gripped the lapel of his pajamas, gasping through the pain. “My stomach hurts.”
Those three words sent a wave of numbness straight through Qin Guanyu’s head.
Shen Qianci couldn’t handle spicy food. Him being like this was entirely his fault.
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