I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

Chen Shuo propped up the cushion behind his back to ensure this was the best position for typing, then beckoned to her, "Come into my arms."

Bai Xiaoqi had no idea what modesty was. She kicked off her slippers and climbed onto the bed to snuggle into his arms.

Listening to the clattering of keyboards beside her, she watched a TV series for a while, then looked up at Chen Shuo. Although it was the same position, she felt that it wasn't as comfortable as before.

I can't bother him with questions, and although he says he wants to hold me while I type, he can't. He can't put his arm around my shoulder or gently massage my hands like before, because he has to use both hands to type.

Noticing her gaze, Chen Shuo stopped what he was doing, looked down and asked, "Is the keyboard noise loud?"

"No noise." Bai Xiaoqi shook her head, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "If I had lots and lots of money, would you no longer need to write?"

"How much is 'lots of money'?"

"It's money that you can never spend."

Although his words were somewhat naive, Chen Shuo still thought about them seriously for a long time before replying, "If you have more money than you can spend and you are still willing to support me, theoretically it is possible, but I will still write, or find another job, at most I will become a bit more laid-back."

"why?"

"Because people always need something to do, otherwise they'll become useless. If you support them, well... how should I put it?"

Who hasn't dreamed of marrying a rich woman? Just look at the rampant online phrase, "Auntie, I don't want to work hard anymore," and you can see that many people are thinking about giving up.

But Chen Shuo found that when he actually had to imagine this, he was somewhat unwilling, or rather, pretentious.

So he said, "If I rely on you to support me, that's called being a kept man."

"So am I also living off you?"

"You're different. You do housework every day, and besides, you're a woman..."

At this point, Chen Shuo paused, his expression momentarily blank.

He realized there was a question he had never seriously considered—about her job.

Of course, this is partly because she doesn't currently have an ID card.

But it's more likely that his subconscious male chauvinism is at play, making him feel that women should just stay home and do housework, while men should be the ones to earn money.

This idea probably stems from my family environment when I was young.

From the time Chen Shuo could remember, Wu Yulan was already a full-time housewife, or rather, a homemaker.

The task of earning money to support the family fell to Chen Jianwen.

It seems that this was the way couples were back then. In fact, this was considered as a way of showing concern for the wife and not wanting her to work while doing housework and taking care of the children.

Growing up in such a family, he always took it for granted.

But now...

Chen Shuo realized that he seemed to have made decisions about her future without ever asking for her opinion.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a pang of guilt, and then he quit the writing software and turned off the computer. At this moment, writing was no longer important.

"what happened to you?"

Bai Xiaoqi witnessed his series of actions, from suddenly stopping halfway through his sentence, to pondering in confusion, and then turning off the computer.

Chen Shuo turned to look at her, "Next, we need to discuss something very important."

"what's up?"

Seeing his serious expression, Bai Xiaoqi's heart skipped a beat, and she felt the atmosphere become tense.

"I've realized I've taken it upon myself to decide your future, wanting you to stay like you are now, cooking and cleaning every day. But this isn't good for you, or rather..."

“I think it’s great,” Bai Xiaoqi couldn’t help but interrupt.

"Is it good? Actually, it's not good. At least it's not fair to you because I haven't asked for your opinion yet. No, your opinion can't really be considered an opinion."

Chen Shuo's words seemed somewhat contradictory, yet not contradictory at the same time. She hadn't seen enough of the world and felt that things were fine as they were, so her opinion was to be content with the status quo.

But once they see a wider world, this mindset is likely to change.

Ultimately, it all comes down to a matter of experience and knowledge.

“If you continue like this, you’ll only be a housewife, and your daily work will just be washing clothes and cooking. There are many housewives, but you are different from others. You became a housewife from the very beginning; you didn’t have a choice.”

"Do you remember what I told you before? I hope you can be excellent, I hope you can be independent, I hope you can become smarter. The reason I hope so is that even if we are not together in the future, even if I am not by your side, you can still stand on your own, support yourself, live a good life, and..."

As Chen Shuo spoke more and more fluently, his thoughts gradually became clearer, but he suddenly felt that the atmosphere was a little off.

Looking down, I noticed Bai Xiaoqi's lips were tightly pursed, her face displaying a complex expression—a mixture of emotions: dissatisfaction, frustration, worry, fear, and panic...

Seeing this, Chen Shuo paused in his speech and asked instead, "What's with that expression?"

Will you leave me in the future?

"Ok?"

Chen Shuo was taken aback. "Why do you think that?"

"You said it."

"Let me finish what I have to say first."

"Answer my question first."

"..."

Meeting her stubborn expression, Chen Shuo remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "Yes, such a thing could indeed happen."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaoqi immediately lost control of her emotions, tears welling up in her eyes as she glared at him and questioned, "Why didn't you say you would never leave me?"

"Because what I'm worried about is you leaving me, not me leaving you."

Chen Shuo sighed softly. He realized that he also lacked a sense of security. "I don't want to leave you. I want you to always be with me, but no one can predict the future. Maybe one day you won't like me anymore and will want to break up with me. Then I'll have to let you go..."

"I won't."

Bai Xiaoqi hastily wiped away her tears with the cuff of her pajamas, looked at him earnestly, and loudly repeated, "I won't!"

Seeing her like this, Chen Shuo remained silent for a moment, then nodded solemnly, "Yes, I believe you won't."

"how about you?"

"I certainly won't, and I believe I won't."

Chen Shuo reached out and pulled her into his arms, bending down to kiss away the remaining tear stains on her face. "Don't overthink it. What I said didn't mean I would break up with you in the future."

I just... lack a sense of security.

Chapter 75 I'll kill you

Before possessing something, one is filled with anxiety about losing it; after possessing it, one is even more anxious about losing it. This is probably the most accurate portrayal of Chen Shuo's psychology.

To put it bluntly, it's a lack of security.

But this was not entirely within his control. Every day, from dawn to dusk, from evening to sunset, every little moment he spent with her secretly blossomed in the nourishment of his memories, and every instant could touch the softest part of his heart.

The more time you spend with her, the more you can appreciate her beauty. It's normal to feel insecure because you care too much.

And it is precisely because they care too much that they are afraid of losing it.

After cuddling her tenderly for a while, Chen Shuo remembered that they had only discussed half of their previous topic, and couldn't help but ask, "Where were we?"

"You mentioned things like we won't be together anymore in the future." Bai Xiaoqi couldn't help but pout when she heard this.

"Alright, I apologize. I shouldn't have said those things."

Chen Shuo pinched her small, delicate lips, "Even if that kind of thing doesn't happen, I still have to think about your future, don't I?"

"If we're not going to be together anymore, and I don't like you anymore, why are you still thinking about me?"

"What else? I'll just let you be a happy little fool every day without considering it. But if you don't like it anymore and want to leave, you'll have to make a living by rummaging through trash cans?"

"I already said I can't do it."

"I believe you won't, but this is called being prepared."

Chen Shuo leaned back, letting her rest her head on his lap, and gently stroked her snow-white hair, feeling its smoothness. "Besides, my consideration of this matter is also related to my feelings for you."

Does it matter?

Bai Xiaoqi didn't quite understand, or rather, she couldn't figure it out for the time being. She always felt that liking someone was a very pure thing. If you like someone, you like them. You should stay together so that there won't be any separation or anything like that.

"Of course it's related. When you like each other, you'll consider each other's feelings. Even if we might not be together in the future, I hope you're doing well, that you can handle any problems you encounter, and that you can..."

Listening to Chen Shuo's rambling, Bai Xiaoqi, though unwilling to listen, felt a strange, indescribable stirring in her heart.

She felt like she had found the reason why she liked this person—he always thought of her, both before and now.

This is one part; the others are probably because he treats me very well, he's very good-looking, and there are other reasons as well.

"But why didn't I think about the future for you?"

She listened patiently to him finish speaking before asking her question.

“Because in our relationship, you are the one being taken care of, so you don’t have to think about these things, and you haven’t thought about the possibility of breaking up. But I believe that if our roles were reversed, you would also consider me.”

"I won't."

Bai Xiaoqi shook her head, rested her head on Chen Shuo's lap, and looked up at him. "If one day you don't like me anymore and want to break up with me, I won't consider your future. I'll beat you to death."

"...Are you going to turn evil?"

"..."

She didn't say anything, but turned her face and rubbed against Chen Shuo's stomach like a well-behaved kitten, but a fierce glint flashed in her eyes.

She felt that if that day ever came, she would definitely beat him to death, in a very cruel way.

She's selfish; she wouldn't let this guy go to anyone else. Just thinking about him touching other girls' hands, kissing and hugging them, and possibly doing even more intimate things makes her uneasy.

She's definitely going to turn evil on the spot; if she can't have it, no one else can either!

“…”

Chen Shuo looked at the cat girl rubbing against his belly in his arms. She was so well-behaved that he couldn't tell that she was capable of turning evil. He felt that she was just trying to scare him.

But this intimidation is probably also her true thought.

Reaching out to touch the cat ears on her head, Chen Shuo tried to analyze her psychology: "Liking someone is a very subjective thing. Everyone has a different attitude towards liking someone. Like you, you would kill me if we broke up. That's possessiveness. When you like someone, you want to possess them. That's normal."

"Then why aren't you?"