n

n

n

nEditor: SimoB

nA colleague sitting near the lounge saw Tan Mingyi knocking on the door so blatantly. He got up in a hurry and dragged him back.

n“Dude, what are you doing?”

nTan Mingyi looked back at him, bewildered. “I left my phone inside. Didn’t our lounge door lack a lock? Why can’t I open the door?”

nThe colleague whispered to him, “Let me finish. Qin-ge and Professor Shi are inside, I saw them go in with my own eyes.”

n“What are Qin-ge and Professor Shi doing in there?”

nA hand to his mouth cut Tan Mingyi off. “Shh! I’m telling you, the two of them are definitely-”

nQin Yunsheng moved the table away.

nHe pulled the door open and walked out, smiling at Tan Mingyi, “You can go in and look for your phone.”

nLooking at Qin Yunsheng’s clothes, which were obviously Professor Shi’s, Tan Mingyi finally understood what his colleague was trying to tell him.

nIn the era of information, even a young adult like him knew quite a bit.

nThe little teenager’s face immediately reddened. He staggered into the room just in time to run into Shi Qing, who was in Qin Yunsheng’s clothes.

nTan Mingyi: “……”

nHe blushed even more and stammered an apology, “S-sorry Professor Shi, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you, I’m sorry!”

nSaying that, Tan Mingyi grabbed his phone from the table and fled.

nThe little Marquis looked at his swiftly retreating figure and smirked as he strode out, hanging directly on to the officer.

n“What’s for lunch?”

nQin Yunsheng took care to note his little boyfriend’s preferences. “How about the yellow stewed chicken and rice? It’s pretty spicy. I’ll go buy some now.”

nShi Qing: “Okay.”

nThe nearby colleague who was listening in on their conversation: “…”

nHe really didn’t expect that someone usually as attentive as Qin-ge would act like this with Professor Shi.

nHow could he let his boyfriend eat spicy food after what they just did together?

nThat wouldn’t be good for his body.

nEveryone was complaining about how Qin-ge was too good for Professor Shi, but it seemed like Qin-ge could stand to be more considerate as well.

nShi Qing was present, so he kept his mouth shut, so as not to be labelled as a troublemaker who couldn’t mind his own business.

nIt was only after he watched Professor Shi return to his seat that he carefully walked over to Qin Yunsheng.

nHe whispered: “Qin-ge, I don’t think you should buy that dish.”

nQin Yunsheng: “?”

nHe continued whispering: “Although Professor Shi appears fierce, I can tell who tops between the two of you. Actually, I guess that’s none of my business. Um, how do I say this…Professor Shi definitely has it harder.”

nQin Yunsheng: “???”

nThe guy couldn’t help but show a look of condemnation as he whispered: “How can you make him eat spicy food after doing that? Even I know you can’t do that. Why not go with something mild like rice porridge? You’re a good guy in every other way, but a man has to know how to be considerate too.”

nQin Yunsheng: “…What are you talking about?”

nThe guy rolled his eyes. “This isn’t the time to play dumb Qin-ge. Let me tell you, men and women have different bodies. If you don’t give a little TLC afterwards, someone as bad-tempered as Professor Shi will definitely resent you for it.”

nThe officer finally understood.

nHis face reddened once again.

nBut Qin Yunsheng was only helpless before Shi Qing. When dealing with other people, he could maintain a serious expression, despite his blush.

nHe knitted his eyebrows and said in a severe tone. “You’ve misunderstood.”

n“Aiyo no need to explain what you were doing in the lounge. Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.”

nQin Yunsheng: “You’ve really misunderstood.”

nThe guy chuckled: “Come on, there’s no need to pretend with me. What else could the two of you have been up to for an hour in there! It’s not like you can’t, Qin-ge.”

n“Everyone saw how you and Professor Shi were together for over an hour, and you even blocked the door when Xiao Tan tried to go in just now! You even changed your clothes before coming out. If you really didn’t do anything, then people might start suspecting your ability to put out, Qin-ge. Okay, I’ve said everything I wanted to, so stop pretending and buy some rice porridge for Professor Shi so he can recover sooner.”

nQin Yunsheng: “……”

nWhen it was time to eat, Shi Qing was tapping away on his computer while drinking yogurt.

nThe officer returned with their meals.

nSeeing that the young Marquis was concentrating on his work without even looking at him, Qin Yunsheng went ahead and set their meals out like usual.

nA bowl of yellow stewed chicken and rice.

nAnd a bowl of rice porridge.

nPlus a small dish of pickled vegetables.

nShi Qing’s hands withdrew from the keyboard when he caught a whiff of the tantalizing fragrance. He turned to eat.

n“Why did you buy rice porridge in the middle of the day?”

nQin Yunsheng silently placed the porridge and pickled vegetables on his side.

nThere were only three vegetables on the plate, but each one was quite large, enough for him to eat with a bowl of porridge.

nOnly when he finished moving things around did the officer, who was fit and healthy and had to eat at least two bowls of rice a meal, softly say, “I suddenly wanted to eat rice porridge.”

nShi Qing looked at him with a teasing smile, “Oh really?”

nQin Yunsheng silently looked down at the translucent porridge on the table. “Yep.”

nShi Qing: Tsk, is that your dignity as a man speaking?

nBefore the officer could react, the little Marquis snatched away two thirds of the pickled vegetables in a flash.

nUnder Qin Yunsheng’s dazed gaze, the little Marquis proudly placed the two pickled vegetables into his bowl.

nThen he announced with extra righteousness, “I also like pickled vegetables. These two are mine.”

nThe officer’s eyes softened as he looked at the smug little Marquis, who was acting like he got some priceless treasure.

nHe was also quite happy. Curling his lips, he used his chopsticks to place the last pickled vegetable into Shi Qing’s bowl as well.

n“You can have them all if you like.”

nThe little Marquis snorted, “Am I that kind of unreasonable person?”

nHe then picked up the vegetable in the bowl and bit into it, smiling radiantly at the officer. “Yes, I am!”

nHe pushed his yellow stewed chicken rice to the middle of the table, “Let’s eat together.”

nThe corners of Qin Yunsheng’s upturned mouth curled even higher.

nHe glanced at Shi Qing indulgently before munching on a piece of potato.

nDing! Qin Yunsheng’s animosity value: 50

/100

n***

nQin Yunsheng was a mature protagonist.

nSince he was so independent, his animosity value would automatically lower without Shi Qing having to do anything.

nBut if he did do something, it would go down even faster.

nAnd since his mission was to protect Shi Qing anyway, the officer had a very good excuse for staying by the young Marquis’ side 24 hours a day.

nQin Yunsheng didn’t feel that he was doing anything in particular, but to other people…

nHow was this taking care of your boyfriend?! It was more like Qin Yunsheng was taking care of a little baby incapable of living on its own!

nAlthough it was nice for a couple to love each other, this was just too… strange.

nThe young man who had the best relationship with Qin Yunsheng was sent out to persuade him.

nIt was fine to be nice to Professor Shi, but the professor would become a waste if he continued to be spoiled like this.

nWhat if Professor Shi was so used to this treatment that he would find another caretaker after Qin Yunsheng’s mission was over?!

nAfter listening to the other party’s tactful persuasion, Qin Yunsheng expressed his bewilderment as to why they would feel that he was doing too much.

nHe wasn’t doing too much, and he was having fun doing it too.

nThe young man: “…You don’t feel like you’re doing too much?”

nQin Yunsheng: “Not at all.”

nAll he did was gently wake up the little Marquis every morning, pass him his toothbrush and some water, and wait until Shi Qing finished brushing his teeth. Then he just used a wet towel to meticulously wipe his boyfriend’s face.

nAfter that, the officer would help the little Marquis, who was usually dozing off on his shoulder, put on his clothes, socks and shoes before finally taking him to work.

nWhat else was he supposed to do? Shi Qing was always sleepy in the morning.

nThe little Marquis would usually study something that Qin Yunsheng couldn’t understand before lunch. He was on his computer 80% of the time.

nThis research took up so much of Shi Qing’s attention that he could only lean back on his chair with his mouth open, waiting to be fed.

nThe officer would, of course, remain by his side, feeding him chips, fruit, cookies and juice.

nIt was important for even snacks to be a balanced meal.

nIf he didn’t feed his little boyfriend, who would make sure he got a bit of everything?

nFrom time to time, Qin Yunsheng would free up his hands to massage the little Marquis’ sore shoulders.

nThat was the least he could do since Shi Qing was working this hard for their country. What was one quick massage?

nShi Qing was already tired out by noon, so how could Qin Yunsheng make him go all the way down to buy lunch? Of course he should be the one to go.

nThe same logic could be applied to the afternoon work time and dinner.

nThe young man, after listening to Qin Yunsheng’s ‘logical’ spiel: “…….”

nHe felt that his previous belief about love being just a chemical reaction of dopamine had been thoroughly disproved.

nIt turned out that falling in love could really blind one’s eyes.

nThe Qin Yunsheng who had once coldly told him that he was here to protect his charge and not to be a babysitter was nowhere to be seen!

nWTF!?

nLove was such a scary thing!

nHe was better off being a single dog after all.

nBut looking at the Qin Yunsheng in front of him, who was saying things like “I actually didn’t do anything much.” and “This is the least I can do.”…

nThe young man wanted to make a final rescue attempt.

n“Qin-ge, I understand that Professor Shi is sleepy everyday, but to say he’s contributing to the country when he eats snacks and dozes off is a little too-”

nThe officer interrupted him, dead serious: “I’m going to stop you there. He’s eating snacks and dozing off because he’s too busy with work to take a break.”

nThe young man: “… Sure, whatever. Then what about him contributing to the country…?”

nQin Yunsheng: “He’s still working on it. It’s almost done.”

nThe young man: “……”

nForget it, this guy was hopeless.

nDOA.

nHe gave up on rescuing Qin Yunsheng. With a face pale from having his worldview irrevocably altered, the young man entered the office in a trance.

nHe noticed as soon as he entered that almost the entire staff was gathered around Shi Qing.

nThe colleague who was complaining with him about Shi Qing blatantly munching on potato chips during work now had a fervent expression on his face.

n“Professor Shi!! Your research is amazing!!”

n“This is an unbelievable contribution to our country!!”

n

n