Bed Partner Relationship

Shi Junyi poked Jiang Qiao's abs with his index finger. "Sleep."

A dull ache spread beneath Jiang Qiao's skin, but he acted as though he felt nothing.

Shi Junyi had said "sleep."

Not "get out."

With lightning speed, Jiang Qiao slapped off the bedside lamp, dove under the covers, and lay perfectly still, terrified that Shi Junyi might suddenly change his mind.

Shi Junyi lifted the covers and lay down as well.

Unlike before, he did not leave a Mariana Trench between them. Instead, he faced Jiang Qiao and lay on his side beside him.

Jiang Qiao touched him with his toes. Seeing that Shi Junyi did not dodge, he edged closer, fully indulging his habit of pushing his luck.

Shi Junyi asked, "Jiang Qiao, what if I never respond to you for the rest of my life?"

The room was dark with the lights off, but Jiang Qiao's eyes shone brightly.

Looking into Shi Junyi's eyes, he said with rare seriousness, "That's not true, brother. I think you're already responding to me."

"I'm not," Shi Junyi said.

Jiang Qiao fell silent for a moment before asking, "Then why did you touch my ass?"

"I saw it," Shi Junyi said calmly.

Honestly, a dog-waisted, peach-assed body like Jiang Qiao's was the real deal. It was nothing like those skinny, pale little washboards.

It was hard not to want to reach out and give it a squeeze.

"You touched it just because you saw it?" Jiang Qiao's tone rose slightly.

"No," Shi Junyi said. "I touched it because it looked good."

Jiang Qiao grabbed Shi Junyi's wrist. "Brother, what should I do? I like you so much."

Shi Junyi was not actually a man who was particularly cold in that regard.

But an accident in his childhood, along with his ability to see through people's hearts, had always made him reject intimate relationships.

Jiang Qiao was indeed the first person in years who could get this close to him without repulsing him.

But Shi Junyi did not believe that meant he had already fallen for Jiang Qiao or could reciprocate his feelings.

He tightened his grip and asked, "Jiang Qiao, would you accept a bed partner relationship?"

Jiang Qiao's hand paused. He released Shi Junyi's wrist. "Quit talking nonsense. Hurry up."

He did not take those words seriously. Given Shi Junyi's personality, getting this far in such a short time was already tremendous progress.

As for everything else, whether it was status or feelings, Jiang Qiao believed that as long as he worked hard, with passion, sincerity, and the right amount of tactics, what should be his would eventually come to him.

The night gradually faded, and the sky at the horizon had already turned pale gray.

After watching Shi Junyi close his eyes, their arms pressed together, and hearing his breathing gradually even out, Jiang Qiao climbed out of bed, got dressed, endured the discomfort in his body, and quietly climbed out through the window.

The pain had eased, but the discomfort remained.

The moment Jiang Qiao opened the dorm door, he saw Shen Guiyi sitting on the sofa in a spaghetti-strap nightgown, snacks in her left hand and alcohol in her right, watching a drama while playing a matching game.

She clearly had nothing better to do.

"Have you not gone to sleep yet, or have you already gotten up?" Jiang Qiao glanced at the wall clock, which pointed to five thirty.

"I've been waiting for you until now, and you actually didn't come back all night," Shen Guiyi said.

"Waiting for me?" Jiang Qiao raised a brow.

Shen Guiyi paused the iPad, tore open a bag of cucumber-flavored chips, and glared at Jiang Qiao. "Of course. Hurry up and tell me, who was that little boy in the servant uniform yesterday?"

Jiang Qiao was speechless. His understanding of how irresistibly gossip attracted women reached a whole new level.

He took a few steps, grabbed a cushion from the sofa, placed it on a barstool, slowly sat down, then poured himself half a glass of the vodka Shen Guiyi had left on the table, its entire bottle studded with Swarovski crystals.

He was just about to speak.

When Shen Guiyi fixed him with a sharp stare and made a stop gesture.

"What were you doing last night? Why are you walking like that?"

Jiang Qiao took a sip of alcohol and said hoarsely, "Cheating."

"With who? Who managed to steal you away?" Shen Guiyi was astonished. Ever since she had seen Jiang Qiao reading Nantong Magazine, she had known he did not like girls.

But she had always assumed Jiang Qiao would be the one on top.

Jiang Qiao looked at her life-questioning expression and laughed for quite a while. "Guess."

Shen Guiyi frowned.

Bodyguards were not allowed to leave without an assignment, so Jiang Qiao's cheating partner could only be someone in the Shi family.

She first mentally went through all the other bodyguards. None of them were worthy of Jiang Qiao.

There was no need to consider the servants.

That left only the masters.

Shi Youxi was just a little bean sprout. Jiang Qiao would not be interested in him.

That left only two people.

At that thought, Shen Guiyi's face instantly twisted into something ferocious as she shrieked, "You got together with the old master?!"

Jiang Qiao sprayed a mouthful of vodka straight out a yard away.

He choked and coughed violently for a while, his face turning red from holding it in. The place that had already been uncomfortable felt even worse from coughing so hard.

After recovering, he stared at Shen Guiyi in disbelief. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I was joking!" Shen Guiyi laughed without any regard for her image for a long while, then abruptly stopped. The spirit of gossip burned fiercely in her eyes.

"Tell me, what's the eldest young master like?"

Jiang Qiao rolled his eyes at her. "Not telling."

"Stingy." Shen Guiyi pouted.

Although Jiang Qiao did not tell her, he pulled out the jar of face cream he had secretly taken back from his pocket and set it on the table.

Shen Guiyi looked at the limited-edition jar of face cream worth six figures and the corner of her mouth twitched.

"Jiang Qiao, I now have every reason to suspect that you're showing off. I haven't even brought myself to use face cream this expensive on my face, yet your ass got to use it first?!"

After showing off, Jiang Qiao tucked the face cream back into his pocket, drained the rest of the alcohol in his glass, stood up, and waved a hand. "Going to catch up on sleep."

Shen Guiyi watched Jiang Qiao return to his bedroom with a hand braced against his waist. There was no point staying alone, so she could only go back to bed too.