I thought my CP became reality
Due to extreme mental stress, Qiao Yu tossed and turned all night, only managing to fall into a deep sleep when dawn was about to break.
Her hard-won slumber didn’t last long, as Qiao Yu was rudely awakened by persistent knocking. She jolted, nearly rolling off the bed, and sat up with wide eyes, taking a moment to recall where she was amidst the unfamiliar surroundings.
“…Qiao Yu…?”
The sudden voice beside her snapped her out of her daze, and memories flooded back. The reality that she had shared a bed with Lin Qing for the night filled Qiao Yu with alarm, and she turned to look at her companion in shock.
Lin Qing, still not fully awake and seemingly startled by her movements, sleepily called out her name, eyes not yet open, and subconsciously shifted closer to Qiao Yu’s side.
Despite Lin Qing’s messy hair and bare face as she slept, her natural beauty still precisely hit Qiao Yu’s soft spot.
Ugh…! Being shown such a scene first thing in the morning, was she trying to kill her?!
Qiao Yu clutched her chest, which was almost stopping from shock, and frantically covered Lin Qing with the quilt in a very gentlemanly manner, deliberately turning her gaze away to only stare at the curtain, and softly comforted the restless Lin Qing.
“It’s nothing, I’ll go check the door. You can continue to sleep a bit longer, it’s fine.”
“Mmm…”
Lin Qing obediently stopped fidgeting and consciously shrank into the blanket.
Qiao Yu crept out of bed, her body still reeling from the heavy impact she had taken earlier in the morning, and walked towards the door like a lost soul.
The persistent knocking at the door had already gone through three rounds in this short time, with an air that wouldn’t rest until the person inside was roused from sleep. Qiao Yu, already having slept poorly, was further disturbed by this noise to the point of having a splitting headache and, not wishing to disturb Lin Qing further, frowned and gently opened the door.
“Oh Qiao Yu, you’re finally up, you’ve tired me out, do you know it’s already past nine o’clock—”
“Shh! I knew it was you, you piece of sh*t!”
Seeing Cong Ye standing at the door, neat and spruced up after grooming, looking bright and striking, Qiao Yu couldn’t help feeling annoyed. She lowered her voice to give Cong Ye a piece of her mind and then stepped out, closing the door behind her halfway.
“What’s ‘shh’ for? My mom and the others got up early, they even went for an early dip in the hot springs, really don’t mind the hassle.”
Cong Ye said nonchalantly, pointing at Qiao Yu’s attire with a look of disdain.
“…What are you wearing? You’re not planning to go out in that, are you?”
Qiao Yu glanced down at her long T-shirt and knee-length shorts and retorted, “These are pajamas.”
“Your taste is just like that of a single middle-aged man in his late thirties.”
“Do you even have the right to talk? With your flashy taste, you’re like a relic from the eighties of the last century. Did I say anything to you?”
The two glared at each other, but ultimately, Qiao Yu graciously waved a hand, embracing the thought of sending him away quickly and said, “Are you just here to wake me up? If that’s the case, I’m up now so you can go.”
“It’s not just for that.” Cong Ye didn’t tangle with her further, took the out she gave him, glanced down the corridor, and slyly squinted at Qiao Yu, “Lin Qing seems to be still in bed too. Since you’re up now, why don’t you go and wake her?”
As he spoke, he posed like someone who knows to avoid impropriety: “You see, it’s not appropriate for a guy like me to wake her up.”
“…But as a guy, didn’t you already come over and wake me up?”
“Hm?” Cong Ye furrowed his brows, and after a moment, he had a sudden realization and smacked his forehead, “You didn’t remind me, and I totally forgot that you are a girl too.”
Qiao Yu smiled kindly and gave him a noogie (the act of rubbing one’s knuckles on a person’s head) forcefully.
“I didn’t mean it like that…” Cong Ye looked as if he was about to cry, covering his forehead and trying to defend himself, “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with your appearance, what I mean is that we’re so familiar with each other that—”
“Enough, enough already, stop talking nonsense.”
After hitting him, Qiao Yu’s anger subsided a bit. Waving her hand, she planned to shoo Cong Ye away.
“Then I’ll go call her in a bit, you go back first.”
“Why? Aren’t we going to have breakfast together?”
There was a look of innocent curiosity in Cong Ye’s eyes. Qiao Yu silently turned her head away, trying to think of a way to cover up her lie.
“…You see, as you just said, what would it look like for a guy like you to follow me to wake Lin Qing up!”
“Of course, I won’t go in, I’ll just wait outside her door,” Cong Ye said, nodding like a gentleman. “Ah, of course, it’s okay for you to go in.”
…Go in? What for? Lin Qing’s room is just an empty room now.
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Actually, it would be simple to explain, but for some reason, Qiao Yu just felt like she couldn’t open her mouth, as if she were hiding something guilty and thus she was evasive in the face of Cong Ye.
She had laid there properly all night without moving a muscle—she didn’t even turn over!
But still, as if possessed by some impish spirit, Qiao Yu chose to keep things hidden. Clasping the doorknob even tighter, she looked around for other excuses: “You see, I haven’t even washed up yet. I need to get ready before I can go find Lin Qing…”
“No problem, I can wait for you too. I’m free anyway.”
How persistent! Why was Cong Ye as determined as if he had made up his mind to go find Lin Qing with her? She certainly couldn’t conjure up Lin Qing out of thin air in front of Cong Ye!
Qiao Yu was at her wits’ end in the face of Cong Ye’s expectant look. Her brain, deprived of sufficient sleep, couldn’t come up with any convincing excuses. As they engaged in a back-and-forth tug-of-war, sudden rustling noises came from the room behind her, accurately making their way through the slightly ajar door to the ears of the two people at the entranceway.
“…”
Qiao Yu closed her eyes in despair.
“…It seems like there’s some noise inside?”
“I… I didn’t hear anything…?”
Qiao Yu’s feeble voice had scarcely faded when Lin Qing’s clear voice followed from inside the room.
“Qiao Yu? Are you at the door?”
The door was promptly pulled open from inside, and Qiao Yu’s hand, which was holding the doorknob, weakly let go. Behind the door, a somewhat groggy Lin Qing appeared. When she saw herself standing next to Cong Ye, she blinked in confusion, seemingly unable to grasp the situation yet.
The scene fell into a deep silence, and Qiao Yu despairingly realized that even in such a situation, her first reaction was still to think how cute Lin Qing looked.
“You… you guys…”
With eyes wide as gongs, Cong Ye was the first to come to his senses. He shakily lifted his hand to cover his mouth, glancing back and forth between Lin Qing and Qiao Yu. His face displayed an indescribable expression, which made Qiao Yu immediately know that he was probably thinking something bizarre. She steeled herself, no longer feigning ignorance, and resolved to explain things to him clearly.
“Cong Ye, listen to me, I’ll explain—”
“No need to explain! I’m good, I’m fine!”
The voice that squeezed through Cong Ye’s palm-covered mouth was high-pitched and thin. His usually composed face flushed with a rare shade of red.
“I—I won’t tell anyone! Sorry for disturbing!”
Without giving Qiao Yu a chance to explain, Cong Ye shouted and ran off in a flash, his speed so fast that Qiao Yu, clad in the hotel’s slippers, had no hope of catching up.
She watched forlornly as he disappeared, then turned her gaze to Lin Qing, who had been thoroughly awakened by the commotion.
The moment their eyes met was like an electric shock, prompting both to quickly look away, their cheeks quietly turning pink.
“I heard that Yuyu spent last night sleeping with Lin Qing?”
“…I’ll just ask, who did you hear this from?”
“Heard it from the boss.”
Great, so that means everybody already knows now.
Qiao Yu felt her temples throb, holding back anger as she looked towards the meekly shrinking Cong Ye at the side. He blatantly turned his head to avoid her gaze.
Truly, a man’s mouth is a deceitful ghost; this guy simply doesn’t keep his mouth shut, Qiao Yu has seen it clearly now.
“It was because I couldn’t quite adapt to the unfamiliar environment, so I went to look for Qiao Yu. I may have disturbed her…”
“Not at all, not at all, how could that be!”
Lin Qing noticed the situation over here and came forward to give her support. Qiao Yu shook her head frantically, anxious not to let Father Qiao misunderstand Lin Qing.
“Having a good relationship is a good thing; I know Yuyu cares about you the most, right?”
Father Qiao said this while casting a meaningful wink at Qiao Yu, who immediately realized he was referring to the incident when he heard her voice input praising Lin Qing. Alarm bells rang in her heart, and she hurriedly made some excuses before taking Lin Qing away to the back.
They were now in the bustling commercial plaza, where the guide hired by Father Qiao in the hotel was diligently providing translation services for their shopping trip. The three adult female members of the family were looking at clothes with great enthusiasm.
“I’ve also explained to my mom and the others.”
Lin Qing said this with a blush creeping up her face, feeling shy as she recalled being teased earlier.
“Oh, oh, that’s good.”
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From morning until now, Qiao Yu found herself tongue-tied in the presence of Lin Qing. Usually, she could be quite eloquent, but now she stumbled over her words, even finding it difficult to look Lin Qing in the eye directly.
“Did you… not sleep well last night?”
Though she was also feeling shy, Lin Qing appeared much more natural than Qiao Yu. Her gaze swept over the dark circles under Qiao Yu’s eyes, and with a slight frown, she reached out to touch them gently, asking with concern.
“Did I affect your sleep?”
“…It can’t really be said like that…”
Qiao Yu’s cheeks grew warm at the touch of Lin Qing’s cool fingers, causing her gaze to shift away as she softly shook her head and spoke.
“It was I who affected myself.”
It was her relentless stream of thoughts that, in Lin Qing’s proximity, grew wild and tumultuous, blooming like a tree whose flowers never withered in succession.
Lin Qing did not grasp the meaning behind her words. Biting her lip and hesitating, she suggested, “Otherwise, today I should still—”
“It’s fine!”
Qiao Yu reacted so quickly that she startled herself. She blinked in confusion before realizing she had grasped Lin Qing’s hand. Calming her heart, she repeated in a low voice.
“…I’m fine, if you want to come over, we can still… sleep together.”
After all, everyone knows about it now, so why not be open about it? It’s perfectly normal for girlfriends to sleep together, isn’t it?
Her mind flickered through countless convincing reasons, each one seemingly sound, but Qiao Yu knew too well that she was only deceiving herself.
No, that’s not what she was thinking.
“Mm, okay.”
Upon hearing Lin Qing’s breezy agreement, with her tone rising in what sounded like good spirits, Qiao Yu’s own mood lifted, and she showed Lin Qing a clumsy smile.
She was just a despicable coward, wanting to use this excuse to steal a chance to get close to Lin Qing.
Soon, Lin Qing was called away to try on clothes, leaving Qiao Yu and Cong Ye—two uncooperative, idle individuals—sitting on the sofa in the store, in an awkward silence.
It was Cong Ye, feeling guilty, who couldn’t stand the silence any longer and tentatively extended a hand of friendship towards Qiao Yu.
“That is, Qiao Yu, I didn’t mean—”
“Shut up, you loudmouth, your words are utterly untrustworthy.”
Then mercilessly, Qiao Yu rejected him. Cong Ye pitifully hung his head, still trying to defend his actions.
“…But, but, you were just sleeping soundly, weren’t you? Being discovered isn’t really a big deal.”
“What do you mean ‘sleeping soundly’?! Were you thinking about something indecent before??”
Qiao Yu was so shocked she felt her head might explode, looking at her friend with completely new eyes. Even Cong Ye couldn’t keep his composure and cleared his throat twice, awkwardly.
“…Do you want to hear it?”
“No, I don’t! That’s so scary!”
His tone of voice, laden with unspoken implications, frightened Qiao Yu into shifting backward, perching on the edge of the sofa and warily eyeing Cong Ye.
“Cong Ye, I’m so disappointed in you. What kind of weird fantasies do you harbor about your friends…”
“I really wasn’t thinking anything weird! I just thought—”
——You guys have a real connection. Cong Ye nearly blurted out this sentence, which would have seriously betrayed Lin Qing. Fortunately, his tongue wasn’t that loose yet, and he managed to slam on the brakes, switching to a phrase more aligned with his image as one who stirs up the crowd.
“…I thought my CP became reality.”
“Isn’t that just having weird fantasies about your friends?”
The cold look from Qiao Yu was so piercing that it hurt Cong Ye deeply. He silently turned his head away, still not quite ready to give up, trying to pry out a little more information, “So you really just peacefully slept the whole time? Lin Qing is so pretty, didn’t you feel anything when you saw her sleeping face—okay, okay, I’ll stop talking, don’t look at me like that.”
Unable to withstand the silent pressure from Qiao Yu’s gaze, Cong Ye gave up on his questioning and dejectedly hung his head.
What’s he feeling so down about? And, oh, so he’s noticed that Lin Qing is pretty too.
Qiao Yu, whose feelings had been inadvertently touched upon when she saw Lin Qing’s sleeping face, forcefully suppressed her inner turmoil and shifted her attention to the realization that Cong Ye wasn’t blind after all.
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Since Cong Ye could rightly recognize Lin Qing’s beauty, why was he still babbling about these irrelevant things? If she, Qiao Yu, were the male lead, she would have long since—
“Speaking of which, have you decided what birthday gift to give Lin Qing? I’m still undecided…”
“…Not yet?”
Qiao Yu’s train of thought was interrupted by Cong Ye’s words. She looked up in disbelief at the male lead, whose expression was as usual and who seemed to be totally unconcerned.
“There’s only four days left, right?”
Indeed, one of the reasons for this trip was to celebrate Lin Qing’s birthday. Qiao Yu had prepared her gift well in advance, never expecting that Cong Ye, this guy, wouldn’t even have thought of a gift, let alone prepared one.
“Yeah, I was thinking of getting something here—ah, how about that bear over there?”
“I advise you not to.”
Qiao Yu silently shifted her gaze away from the roughly two-meter-tall plush bear that Cong Ye was pointing at, which was big but otherwise utterly unremarkable. She couldn’t even muster the energy to tease him about it.
…He had obviously not considered how Lin Qing was supposed to transport that thing all the way back home, let alone where to put it. Such a terrible choice for a gift—was he the stupid son of a landlord?
Qiao Yu rubbed her temples with a worried expression, having never imagined that she would need to worry about such a thing.
“Alright, alright.”
Still possessing a shred of parental love, Qiao Yu let out a deep sigh and reached out to Cong Ye.
“…Let’s just say it’s for Lin Qing’s sake, let Father help you out.”