I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

After holding her like that for a while, Chen Shuo finally began to laboriously type on the keyboard, truthfully recording his current feelings.

After slowly finishing writing, he looked down and asked, "How do you feel right now?"

He added at the end, "I plan to include the female lead's feelings as well."

"Um..."

Bai Xiaoqi frowned slightly, feeling that she couldn't quite describe her current feelings. He was warm in her arms, and she could smell his scent. It was very comfortable, but also a little uncomfortable.

Finally, she simply shook her head.

What do you mean by shaking your head?

"There's something that's been bothering me."

As she spoke, Bai Xiaoqi wiggled her body a few times while holding the hand warmer.

"hiss..."

As she twisted, Chen Shuo's lips twitched, and he put on a mask of pain, hurriedly saying, "Don't move."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Chen Shuo tried his best to keep his expression calm.

It was obvious that although it was still winter, spring had already arrived for him.

It was a very special day in spring, the day when people shaved their heads.

What's in your pocket?

"this..."

Chen Shuo didn't know how to explain, so after a moment he asked, "Have you ever heard a saying?"

"what?"

"A wise man keeps his talents hidden until the right time to act."

“…”

Why are you hiding something on your person?

"Because I keep my abilities hidden."

Chen Shuo leaned back slightly, then patted her shoulder. "Get down first, I need to take a shower to calm down."

"......"

Chapter Sixty: Curiosity Killed the Cat

Taking a shower in winter is a big problem. It's too cold to take a shower, but once you start, you don't want to stop.

It all comes down to cold. The word "cold" is good; add the word "quiet" to it, and you can combine it into the word "calm."

But at this moment, the warm water was pouring down on him, not cold at all, and it was hard to stay calm. Chen Shuo looked down, hesitated for a moment, then turned around and flipped the switch. The warm water in the showerhead suddenly turned icy cold.

He couldn't help but shiver, goosebumps instantly rising on his skin, and the restlessness he felt was replaced by a suppressed feeling.

Chen Shuo felt particularly calm at this moment.

He'd be perfectly undisturbed by a leg-sitting attack like the one he just used.

After taking a shower, Chen Shuo changed into his dog pajamas and entered the bedroom with a nonchalant expression. The room was dark, with only a little light coming from the bed. Bai Xiaoqi was nestled on the bed, seemingly oblivious to the implications, still watching videos on her phone.

Chen Shuo was somewhat relieved by her naivety, at least he wouldn't feel embarrassed.

"Turn on the desk lamp."

"Oh..." Bai Xiaoqi reached out and turned on the bedside lamp. Seeing that Chen Shuo had changed into his pajamas, she couldn't help but look him up and down, finally focusing her gaze on his thighs.

What are you looking at?

"That thing you hid in your pants..."

"It's still hidden."

Chen Shuo interrupted her, casually replying before quickly climbing onto the folding bed, pulling the covers over himself, and changing the subject, "Go to sleep, it's so late, aren't you sleepy?"

"Not sleepy."

"Even if you're not sleepy, you should go to sleep. You should develop a good habit of going to bed early."

Chen Shuo snapped off the bedside lamp, plunging the bedroom into darkness. "Alright, go to sleep. Goodnight."

“…”

Bai Xiaoqi shone the light from her phone screen on him without saying a word.

Chen Shuo's eyes hurt from the light she was flashing, and he shielded his eyes with his hand, asking, "Why are you flashing my phone at me?"

"Take out what you've been hiding and let me see it."

"I don't think you want to watch it."

"I think I want to."

Chen Shuo fumbled around on the phone in her hand for a while, then turned off the screen and asked, "Have you ever heard a saying?"

"A wise man keeps his talents hidden..."

"It's not this sentence, it's another sentence."

"what?"

"Curiosity killed the cat, so don't ask questions you shouldn't. You'll find out later. I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight." With that, Chen Shuo closed his eyes and began to snore.

"snort...."

Seeing this, Bai Xiaoqi wrinkled her nose, snorted, stuffed her phone under her pillow, lay down, pulled the blanket up a bit, and rolled over while still wrapped in it.

You're being so secretive, and you won't let me see it. I won't let you touch my hand tonight.

.......

.......

After a few snowfalls, the coldest period of winter arrived as expected.

"That guy hasn't brought his girlfriend home to visit lately. Could she be pregnant?"

Chen Jianwen sat on the sofa with a large teacup in his hand, watching Wu Yulan walk around tidying up the house, listening absentmindedly to her rambling.

"Old Chen, I'm talking to you, can't you hear me?"

"I heard you."

"You heard me, why didn't you say anything?"

"squeak."

Chen Jianwen picked up his water glass and took a couple of sips. Before Wu Yulan could explode, he continued, "Don't overthink it. That kid wouldn't do something like that."

"You really trust your son."

Wu Yulan pursed her lips, wiped the coffee table and continued, "You know Old Lin's son in our neighborhood. He seems like a very honest kid, but look what happened. He got pregnant out of wedlock and became a father while he was in college. Later, the girl's family came to our door, and the scene was so ugly."

“You didn’t say that when you were at their wedding banquet. You praised them for being young and promising. Xiao Lin, you’re settling down early, so you’ll have a bright future in your career. Unlike my husband, who’s slow-witted and hasn’t even had a girlfriend yet.”

Chen Jianwen, in a high-pitched voice, perfectly imitated Wu Yulan's manner of speaking, "Xiao Lin, you should teach him more when you have time. Auntie is worried about him. You two..."

"Smack..."

Wu Yulan threw the rag on the coffee table, and Chen Jianwen wisely shut up.

“That’s just polite talk. You have to say that when people are around. It makes them happy. Unlike you, you just sit there eating without saying a word. People will think you’re just here to freeload.”

"Yes Yes Yes."

Chen Jianwen nodded hurriedly, took a sip of tea from the cup, and said nothing more.

"Besides, your son is dating an orphan. If he gets pregnant out of wedlock, people will say our family is heartless and we'll be the butt of their mouths. Can you, a university professor, afford to lose face like that?"

"..."

Chen Jianwen didn't argue with her about it; it was pointless. Ever since she learned that the girl was an orphan, Wu Yulan had become even more talkative than usual, and she would come up with new ideas every now and then.

One minute they're saying that the other person is an orphan, and if these two get married, we won't even have any in-laws. No wonder they're so upset.

Then she said something about orphans, and how some of their mothers' families are difficult to deal with. She mentioned someone like so-and-so, whose mother-in-law is always causing trouble, making a fuss about her daughter persuading her son-in-law to pay the down payment for a house for his younger brother.

Or they might say that orphans don't have parents around, and they don't know how they've managed all these years, or whether they've gone astray—some people can't tell that.

Then he added, "I don't think she looks like one at all. That girl is so well-behaved, she looks like a good child. She must have suffered a lot over the years, she's so pitiful. We should treat her better."

She said everything she could think of, both positive and negative, and Chen Jianwen didn't know what else he could say.

They had no idea that she had gathered all this information from the inquiries.

Anyway, I just listen and that's it. Luckily, I have to go to work during the week, otherwise my ears would be ringing from her nagging.

"He's like a block of wood all day long, never saying a word when you talk to him. He's so boring. If we can't take it anymore, we should pick some time to go and see them..."

Wu Yulan was muttering to herself when she suddenly heard the sound of a key turning in the lock outside the door.

Before the person outside could open the door, she had already thrown down the rag and walked over. After opening the door, she saw two people, one tall and one short, wearing hats and scarves, standing at the door, completely covered up.

Chen Shuo was bending over, trying to pry open the key, when he was startled to see the door open. He put the key in his pocket and pulled Bai Xiaoqi inside.

"Mom, have you cooked yet? I just remembered and brought her over for a stroll without having a chance to tell you. Oh, Dad, you're here too?"

"Hmm," Chen Jianwen responded, then thought about it again and felt that something was off about what he had said. Should I not be here?

"Hello, Auntie. Hello, Uncle."

Bai Xiaoqi remembered Chen Shuo's instructions and greeted him as soon as she entered.

"Hello, hello, please sit down. Auntie will get you some water." Wu Yulan turned around to find the kettle to pour water.

Chen Jianwen sat on the sofa with a cup in his hand, watching Chen Shuo help the girl take off her hat and scarf, and even helped her take off her thick down jacket.

This is much more intimate than the last time I came; last time, everyone was minding their own business.

Seeing the two walking towards the sofa, Chen Jianwen's gaze fell on their clasped hands, and he subtly curled his lip.

That's outrageous! They don't even carry people on their backs anymore.