Chapter 85: Is the progress of the strategy moving a bit too fast?
After finishing dinner in silence, a waiter came to collect the tableware. Then, Lu Zhiyin and Long Qinxin blew their hair dry before returning to the bedroom.
“…”
Silently climbing onto the bed, Lu Zhiyin really didn’t know what to say. She picked up her phone and looked at it. Upon discovering that the battery was fully charged, she unplugged the data cable.
Long Qinxin sat by the bed for a while before getting into bed.
She lay down next to Lu Zhiyin and, like Lu Zhiyin, took out her phone.
Because it was rather awkward and she wasn’t very sleepy, Lu Zhiyin started typing. She ignored the red dots on Qiuqiu—those were mostly messages from Leng Qingqiu.
For some reason, she remembered a note about Leng Qingqiu in her memo app. Lu Zhiyin opened the memo app, added “She dislikes when people leave without saying goodbye,” and then continued to focus on typing.
The sound of her fingers tapping on the keyboard was a bit noisy. Lu Zhiyin glanced at Long Qinxin beside her and, after a slight hesitation, switched to silent mode.
The room became completely quiet, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The sound of rain outside the hotel didn’t reach the bedroom. At this moment, the only sounds Long Qinxin and Lu Zhiyin could hear were likely their own breathing.
“…What is classmate Zhiyin doing?”
Even though she was holding her phone, Long Qinxin had nothing to do. She focused all her attention on Lu Zhiyin.
She quietly shifted closer to Lu Zhiyin, twitched her nose, and a pleasant citrus scent entered her nostrils.
This smell was the same as the one on her, which made Long Qinxin feel more at ease.
She felt she was becoming increasingly strange.
Images from when she helped Lu Zhiyin bathe earlier began to surface in her mind.
She shook her head, driving the unhealthy images out of her mind.
The ends of her hair brushed against the side of Lu Zhiyin’s face as she shook her head, making Lu Zhiyin feel a bit ticklish.
She turned her head, looking at the flushed girl standing so close.
“I’m writing a web novel. I plan to make money from it.”
She answered Long Qinxin’s question truthfully. There was nothing to hide, was there?
“Mm.”
That’s right, her friend did need a source of income to sustain herself. With her paralyzed legs, she couldn’t do most jobs. She had been wondering where she got the money to live, and now it seemed it was from web novels?
Long Qinxin hadn’t read many web novels, but she felt they should be similar to printed books, just more convenient.
Watching Lu Zhiyin’s fingers dance across the phone screen in silence, driven by an inexplicable impulse, Long Qinxin took Lu Zhiyin’s hand and squeezed her right thumb.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… Classmate Zhiyin, do you want to add me on Qiuqiu?”
Taking out her phone, Long Qinxin operated it for a moment and then displayed a QR code.
“Sure.”
Exiting the novel app, Lu Zhiyin opened Qiuqiu. As usual, she ignored Leng Qingqiu’s messages and became friends with Long Qinxin by scanning the code.
Long Qinxin’s profile picture was an unknown green succulent, lonely, in a ceramic pot, just like her.
As for her nickname, Long Qinxin’s Qiuqiu nickname was also simple—a period.
“Classmate Zhiyin, your name… is a bit cute.”
After holding it in for a long time, Long Qinxin blurted out this nonsensical sentence. This was probably referring to Lu Zhiyin’s Qiuqiu nickname.
“Mm.”
Not knowing how to reply, Lu Zhiyin hummed and then checked the time. It was already seven in the evening. She had no idea how time had slipped away so quietly.
“I’m going to sleep.”
Lu Zhiyin turned off her phone screen, pulled the covers over herself, and leaned against the headboard, closing her eyes.
She wasn’t actually sleepy. She simply didn’t know how to converse with Long Qinxin. Whatever she said, she felt a sense of guilt, so she chose to escape.
Escape is shameful, but effective.
“Mm, classmate Zhiyin, goodnight.”
Long Qinxin’s voice came from beside her ear. Lu Zhiyin didn’t respond, simply remaining silent.
“…”
Looking at Lu Zhiyin, who had closed her eyes, Long Qinxin remained silent. She felt a strange sense of unease and thought she might have somehow angered Lu Zhiyin.
Her thoughts were a bit too sensitive, she wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
Lying on the bed, feeling restless, Long Qinxin still wasn’t feeling sleepy after a while.
She turned her head, looking at the white-haired girl’s tranquil sleeping face, smelling the lemon scent on her.
Her mood remained unsettled, her heart pounding.
This was the first time she had slept in the same bed with someone other than her parents, and even sleeping with her parents was something that had happened over a decade ago.
She hadn’t been this nervous just a moment ago. What went wrong? Long Qinxin couldn’t figure it out.
Looking at the girl lying defenselessly in front of her, Long Qinxin’s heart beat faster and faster.
She carefully shifted her body, moving closer to Lu Zhiyin, tentatively slipping her arm through the gap between the girl and the bed, and gently embraced Lu Zhiyin.
Her rapid heartbeat gradually slowed down. She held Lu Zhiyin softly, not daring to exert even a trace more force with her hands, afraid of waking Lu Zhiyin and incurring her dislike.
Getting closer, she could finally smell the unique faint scent on Lu Zhiyin. Different from the lemon scent of the shower gel, this scent made Long Qinxin feel more comforted.
“Classmate Zhiyin, I like you so much…”
She murmured to herself, and without her noticing, she uttered words that crossed the line.
Lu Zhiyin, who was still pretending to be asleep, felt a complex mix of emotions. Was the progress of the strategy moving a bit too fast? Her favorability rating at home was only a little over sixty before…
At this point, the favorability rating on the mirror at home no longer mattered.
Lu Zhiyin began to contemplate what she should do now. Should she strike while the iron is hot and advance their relationship further, or should she ignore Long Qinxin’s unintentional confession?
Her mind was in turmoil. If she established a relationship with Long Qinxin too early, it might cause a lot of trouble for her subsequent strategies with other female leads.
Of course, it was also possible that Long Qinxin’s “like” was just a friendly liking.
After hesitating for a long time, Lu Zhiyin finally formulated a plan.
She moved her body, turned over, and faced away from Long Qinxin.
“Mmm… I… also like… classmate Qinxin… mmm…”
Lu Zhiyin replied to Long Qinxin with intermittent sleep-talk, and the guilt in her heart intensified.
Facing away from Long Qinxin, she slowly opened her eyes.
Behind her, Long Qinxin seemed momentarily stunned by her response, but then her expression turned to joy.
Long Qinxin hugged Lu Zhiyin tighter, pressing her face against Lu Zhiyin’s back and nuzzling gently.
“Good…”
All the nervousness and unease in her heart were soothed by Lu Zhiyin’s feigned sleep-talk. Long Qinxin’s heart was now filled with sweetness.
Hugging her best and only friend, she soon fell into a deep sleep.
