Chapter 20: Qi Yu’s Strawberry Trap for Jiang Mian

The next day, when Jiang Mian went to the milk tea shop under the blazing sun to look for Lu Huaijin, he learned that Lu Huaijin had already quit his part-time job there.

Although Jiang Mian had Lu Huaijin’s contact information, no matter how many voice messages he sent, the other man never responded.

With no other choice, Jiang Mian could only go to his home.

However, when Jiang Mian arrived at Lu Huaijin’s place, he only saw the landlord coming out. The landlord told him that the Lu family had already moved out early that morning.

Jiang Mian stared blankly at the empty apartment in front of him.

Why had they suddenly moved? Had something happened?

The system spoke up.

[It’s really too hot, Baby. Go home and get some rest first. I’ll investigate where Lu Huaijin’s family moved to. We can come look for him again tomorrow.]

Jiang Mian raised a hand and wiped away the fine beads of sweat constantly forming on his forehead. He obediently nodded.

“Okay.”

****

Meanwhile, Qi Yu had just finished a painting and was admiring his work with satisfaction.

The next second, however, his brows furrowed.

He reached out and gently touched the eyes of the young man in the painting.

It didn’t look like him.

It still didn’t look like him.

He had no idea how many paintings he had done already.

Even though he had tried his best to recreate the expression in the young man’s eyes, the final result was always far too different from the real person.

Qi Yu, who had always been passionate about painting, suddenly found himself completely uninterested.

No matter what, a fake could never compare to the real thing.

Qi Yu covered all the paintings and stood up. He left the studio and went outside.

Taking out his phone, he took several consecutive photos of Xiaobai, who was amusing himself, then sent them to Jiang Mian.

[I’m going out for a while later. Xiaobai is so pitiful, all alone at home. Crying puppy.jpg. I was actually thinking about whether I should adopt another dog to keep him company. That way, he wouldn’t be so lonely when he’s home alone. But I’m also worried the new puppy might bully Xiaobai…]

He sent a long string of messages, waiting for Jiang Mian to step right into the trap he had laid.

Sure enough, Jiang Mian replied very quickly.

Jiang Mian: [Can I come over and play with Xiaobai?]

He still replied with a voice message.

Qi Yu hurriedly responded.

Qi Yu: [That would be wonderful! With you here to play with Xiaobai, I’ll feel much more at ease.]

Qi Yu was already a little impatient.

Qi Yu: [Are you at home right now? Should I come pick you up?]

Jiang Mian: [I just got back. I’m at the entrance of my residential complex. Send me your address and I’ll go find you.]

Qi Yu was a little disappointed, but at least he had finally managed to lure Jiang Mian into his home.

Qi Yu sent Jiang Mian his full address.

He carefully inspected the entire apartment once more, making sure there was nothing out of place, before going into the bedroom to change into a clean set of clothes.

It wasn’t long before the doorbell rang.

Qi Yu quickly walked over and opened the door. The moment he did, he saw the young man standing outside.

Jiang Mian was wearing a blue-and-white short-sleeved shirt and shorts set. A cartoon illustration of a roaring evil dragon was printed on the front of the shirt, making the whole outfit look especially childish and adorable.

With obvious anticipation in his voice, the young man said, “Hi! I came to play with Xiaobai.”

A few stray strands of hair fell over his forehead. When he smiled with his lips pressed together, that slightly youthful, baby-faced countenance revealed two shallow dimples.

His long, curled eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings, and his watery eyes looked up at Qi Yu from beneath them.

He was unbearably well-behaved. There was simply no way anyone could refuse any of his requests.

Not a single one.

Qi Yu’s voice unconsciously softened.

“Come in.”

Jiang Mian changed into slippers and walked inside.

Completely oblivious, he failed to notice that this was his first time visiting Qi Yu’s home, yet the apartment already had a pair of slippers in his exact size.

After following Qi Yu into the bathroom and washing his hands, Jiang Mian couldn’t wait another moment and immediately ran off to play with Xiaobai.

Qi Yu brought over some toys and placed them nearby before introducing them to Jiang Mian.

“These are all Xiaobai’s favorite toys. You can play with him using them.”

Jiang Mian held Xiaobai’s paw and looked up at him with a smile. His soft cheeks were flushed with a healthy rosy hue.

“Mhm, I understand.”

Qi Yu looked at Jiang Mian for a long moment, suppressing the urge to reach out and touch the dimples on his cheeks.

He withdrew his gaze, stood up, opened the refrigerator, and went into the kitchen to wash an entire box of large, bright-red strawberries.

When he returned to the living room, Qi Yu picked up the washed strawberries and held them out to Jiang Mian.

“They’re sweet. Try one and see if you like it.”

“Thank you.”

Jiang Mian instinctively reached out to take a strawberry, but Qi Yu quickly raised his other hand to gently stop him.

Qi Yu frowned slightly, his expression disapproving.

“You just finished touching the dog and haven’t washed your hands. You can’t pick up food with them directly. It’s unhygienic, and you could get sick.”

He paused before continuing hesitantly.

“If you don’t mind… how about I feed you instead? My hands are already clean.”

System: […]

‘Here we go again. They really would do anything just to take advantage of Baby.’

Jiang Mian lowered his head and looked at his hand covered in dog hair. His long eyelashes fluttered a few times as he slowly realized that this did seem a little unhygienic.

He leaned toward the large, bright-red strawberry and opened his mouth, eating the whole thing directly from Qi Yu’s hand.

So sweet!

Even though Lu Jianglian had fed him last night, he had been worried that Jiang Mian might get diarrhea from eating too much, so Jiang Mian hadn’t gotten to eat very many.

With his cheeks puffed out, Jiang Mian hadn’t even finished chewing before he looked at Qi Yu with eager eyes, as though asking for another.

Seeing this, Qi Yu couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.

“You like them?”

Jiang Mian nodded with his mouth still full.

“Mhm… They’re really sweet… I like them.”

As he spoke, his small, delicate lower lip was occasionally pressed flat before quickly springing back into shape.

That tiny, vivid-red lip inexplicably drew the eye.

A subtle darkness passed through Qi Yu’s handsome eyes. His Adam’s apple moved slightly, and the fingers hanging at his side trembled involuntarily.

He didn’t dare stare at Jiang Mian’s mouth any longer, afraid he wouldn’t be able to resist leaning over and biting it.

If that happened, inviting Jiang Mian over to play again would probably become impossible.

So he had to endure it.

He couldn’t scare him away.

But if he couldn’t kiss his lips, surely touching his cheek would be fine, right?

Qi Yu raised his eyes. In the end, he reached out and pinched the soft, rounded cheek that had puffed out as Jiang Mian chewed.

“Don’t rush. Eat slowly. There are plenty more here.”

His mouth was so small, yet he had stuffed such a large strawberry into it all at once.

Before Jiang Mian could react, Qi Yu had already withdrawn his hand as though nothing had happened.

His expression remained completely innocent as he selected another strawberry from the plate and held it out to Jiang Mian.

One after another, Qi Yu became a little addicted to feeding him.

The system couldn’t help commenting.

[Wasn’t he supposed to be going out? Why is he still at home after all this time?]

The moment he had successfully lured Baby into his house, he had completely forgotten the excuse he had given earlier. Did he really think Baby wouldn’t notice?

The system glanced at the dazed Jiang Mian.

Well… he really hadn’t noticed.

Only after hearing the system did Jiang Mian finally look at Qi Yu in confusion and ask whether he was still planning to go out.

“…”

He really couldn’t bear to leave.

He had originally planned to muddle through and stay a little longer.

He never expected Jiang Mian to suddenly remember.

Now he had no choice but to leave.

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