PTS Chapter 14

TL: Hua

Chapter 14

Shen Qianci’s little brain whirred at lightning speed, nearly sending sparks flying.

He carefully reviewed every single sentence he had exchanged with Qin Guanyu since walking through the door.

Drunk, tossed and turned, waist about to snap, take responsibility…

When pieced together, these choice words would likely cause 95% of Chinese people to fill in the blanks with the exact same scandalous story.

Once he traced the cause and effect, Shen Qianci instantly relaxed. As he lay on the sofa, it felt as though the dramatic background music from Empresses in the Palace was drifting through the air around him.

“I am merely a substitute who happens to ‘resemble Yi-Yi,’ so how could I ever dare to ask you to take responsibility?”

Qin Guanyu opened his mouth to protest, but Shen Qianci cut him off with a heavy sigh: “Besides, even if you did take responsibility for me, what about your white moonlight? What happens later if you want to see Shu Yi again? What will become of me?”

Qin Guanyu sat on the carpet right in front of him, keeping his head bowed the entire time like a big dog waiting to be punished for doing something wrong.

Shen Qianci snuck a glance at him, continuing in a flat, deadpan tone: “Though, I suppose I do have another idea.”

Qin Guanyu snapped his head up, his eyes bursting with a ravenous hunger for knowledge.

Shen Qianci honestly half-expected him to let out a loud “awoo” in the next second.

“Let’s just end the substitute agreement early. You can calculate the fee for the hours I worked as a part-timer over the last few days.” Shen Qianci let out another long, dramatic sigh. “Let’s just treat last night as a one-night stand. Let’s follow the rules for adult one-night stands: delete each other on WeChat and pretend we never met.”

“!!!” Qin Guanyu felt as though his entire world were collapsing.

This was just great. The big dog didn’t have to face a punishment; the big dog was being kicked out of the house entirely!

Qin Guanyu suddenly recalled Lu Tiangong’s words from last night’s dinner party: [You’re an overbearing CEO! Once you get tangled up with a substitute, your life is over!]

Who could have predicted that by day two, he would truly be finished…

“But I want to take responsibility for you!” Qin Guanyu panicked, looking incredibly aggrieved. “Why don’t you want me? Am I bad in bed? But it was my first time; you have to give me room to improve…”

Shen Qianci: “…”

“Or is it because I’m not big enough? Am… am I… am I still not big enough?” Terrified and utterly frantic, Qin Guanyu scratched his head in a frenzy. “Then… should I check if modern medicine has advanced enough to perform ‘girth-enhancement surgeries’?”

Shen Qianci: “…”

He was truly defeated by this man.

“Alright, alright.” Seeing that Qin Guanyu was genuinely about to make a phone call to have someone look into it, Shen Qianci quickly grabbed him. “I was just joking.”

Qin Guanyu’s eyes lit up instantly. “So the agreement doesn’t have to be canceled?”

“…” Shen Qianci choked slightly. “I meant that my earlier words were a joke. There is nothing but pure innocence between us. No ‘great harmony’ ever took place.”

Qin Guanyu pursed his lips. “Is this just another way for you to run away from your problems?”

“Not at all, President Qin.” Shen Qianci patted his arm reassuringly. “You were completely wasted last night, and people who are that drunk are physically incapable of doing that.”

Qin Guanyu opened his mouth slightly, then closed it again.

Shen Qianci looked at him with great amusement. “You weren’t sitting there wondering, ‘What if I happen to be exceptionally gifted,’ were you?”

“No! How could I! Am I someone who lacks basic common sense?!”

Little President Qin reverted right back to his usual howling self. “I just drank way too much, so much that I forgot whether I was even drunk or not!”

Fair enough.

Shen Qianci nodded. Two million was no small sum; providing his sugar daddy with a complimentary “ego-maintenance service” was only right and proper.

Seeing that Shen Qianci wasn’t holding a grudge, Qin Guanyu’s acute embarrassment completely evaporated halfway through, and his thick skin safely returned.

“Then last night…” Qin Guanyu nudged Shen Qianci. “I didn’t do anything else, did I?”

Shen Qianci’s lips suddenly curled into a smirk as his gaze slowly drifted downward, settling right on the man’s midsection.

“You grabbed my hand and insisted that I feel your abs.”

“…” Qin Guanyu: “That’s it?”

Shen Qianci laughed. “Why do you look so disappointed?”

He put on an intentionally reluctant expression. “It seems President Qin has specific demands. Tell you what, from now on, I’ll touch wherever you point, okay?”

“Who’s disappointed?!!” Little President Qin flared up in indignation. “I am not disappointed at all!”

“Oh, really?” Shen Qianci scooped Steam Bun up into his arms. Steam Bun’s large head immediately began rubbing against his collarbone, and the ticklish sensation of the cat’s fur made him let out a soft laugh. “And here I thought you were deeply looking forward to something unspeakable happening.”

“How is that even possible!”

Right after his loud denial, Qin Guanyu watched Steam Bun’s movements and suddenly unlocked a fleeting memory fragment from the moment Shen Qianci had picked him up from the hotel last night.

At that time, Shen Qianci seemed to have let him wrap his arms around his waist? And he had called him “Guanyu”? He had even let him nuzzle his neck?! He was pretty sure he hadn’t misremembered that part, and Shen Qianci’s glasses chain had definitely brushed against his face!

Hiss—

The moment he thought about that glasses chain, Qin Guanyu felt a sudden wave of heat. Could that thing be some kind of magical artifact? Is Teacher Shen using it to cast a spell on me??

“What are you reminiscing about?” Shen Qianci raised his hand, waving it in front of Qin Guanyu, who had completely dazed out mid-sentence.

Qin Guanyu suddenly snapped back to his senses and immediately resumed his previous stubborn denial: “Reminiscing about what? Looking forward to what? I am absolutely not looking forward to experiencing anything unspeakable with you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am absolutely sure,” Little President Qin stated huffily.

Shen Qianci opened the audio recorder app on his phone. “Do you swear that you aren’t looking forward to experiencing anything unspeakable with me?”

Qin Guanyu held his chin high and threw his chest out. “I, the dignified President Qin, swear that I will never look forward to experiencing anything unspeakable with you!”

Shen Qianci nodded, quietly saving a backup of the recording to the cloud. “If you ever break that oath, you’re cooking dinner for me for an entire year.”

—

After grabbing a casual lunch together outside, Shen Qianci packed up Steam Bun and hitched a ride in Qin Guanyu’s car back to Yunjing Villa.

Little President Qin still cared about his “empire” after all, so he spent the afternoon working diligently at the office.

By evening, Shen Qianci felt incredibly relaxed. Since tomorrow was finally the weekend, his main job was officially paused; he could comfortably focus on his part-time gig as a “substitute” and earn his two million in peace.

“Sun Guanqing and Lu Tiangong said they want to come over to the house on Sunday to hang out,” Qin Guanyu reported the moment he stepped through the door after work.

“Are we eating at home?” Shen Qianci was currently using a cat teaser wand to entertain Steam Bun from his spot on the chaise lounge. Hearing the news, he leaned back comfortably against the backrest, naturally looking up at the man walking toward him. “What do they like to eat? Should I have Auntie prepare everything in advance?”

“Let’s just do hotpot. We happen to have three pots at home. Since you can’t handle spicy food, we’ll just set up an extra mushroom broth pot and a tomato broth pot.”

Qin Guanyu sat down on the chair beside him, thoroughly amused by Steam Bun’s chubby yet remarkably agile antics, and silently opened his phone to start recording a video.

Shen Qianci flicked the cat teaser wand toward Qin Guanyu, and Steam Bun executed a magnificent “Leaping over the Dragon Gate” move, soaring through the air straight toward the “fish.”

Yet, the hand Qin Guanyu used to hold his phone didn’t shake in the slightest. With his other hand, he deftly scooped the cat up and held him securely in his arms.

“Why are you throwing yourself into my arms like this?” Qin Guanyu aimed the camera directly at Steam Bun, flashing a cold, glamorous smile to show off. “Little kitty, you must be utterly captivated by how incomparably handsome, dashing, elegant, and charming I am, aren’t you?”

Shen Qianci glanced at him and said, “If you use another idiom, you’ll sound slick.”

“Hmph!” Qin Guanyu continued filming the cat. “Tell me, who is more beautiful, Master Shen or I?”

Steam Bun stared at him for two seconds before silently turning its head away. “Meow~”

Qin Guanyu looked over at Shen Qianci. “What did he say?”

Shen Qianci said casually, “He said, ‘Master Shen is incomparably beautiful; how could you possibly compare to him?'”

“You little rascal.” Qin Guanyu tapped the cat’s head. “Secretly earning a middle-school diploma behind my back, are we?!”

Steam Bun ignored them entirely and arrogantly climbed onto his cat tree.

That cat tree was bought by Qin Guanyu and had just been delivered this afternoon. Steam Bun absolutely adored it, especially lounging at the very peak, overlooking the second-generation wealthy empire his two-legged servants had built for him.

—

While the auntie was cooking dinner, Shen Qianci went to take a shower. When he came out, he found Qin Guanyu staring at his phone with a face full of excitement.

“Teacher Shen, can I post that video of Steam Bun I just took to Rednote and Douyin?”

He handed the edited cat clip to Shen Qianci. “It doesn’t show either of our faces.”

“Go ahead,” Shen Qianci said generously. “Just remember to pay Steam Bun his wages if you land any brand sponsorships.”

Hearing this, President Qin felt thoroughly slighted. “Your President Qin here is absolutely loaded. I wouldn’t even look twice at those measly pennies. Steam Bun is a feline emperor in this house, not a working-class laborer.”

Amused, Shen Qianci chuckled. “Oh? He was just the Crown Prince this morning, and now he’s already ascended the throne?”

Qin Guanyu, who had completely forgotten his groggy morning sleep-talk, blinked. “What Crown Prince?”

“Nothing.” Shen Qianci shrugged and tapped him on the shoulder to remind him. “You promised to bake cookies for me before. It happens to be the weekend now, so don’t you forget it.”

Shen Qianci originally thought the man would obediently agree, but Qin Guanyu was the type to turn rebellious at the most unexpected moments.

Just like right now, the man suddenly grew quite haughty. “Since when does a sugar daddy serve the substitute? If you want to eat cookies, learn from me. Self-reliance brings ample food and clothing, Teacher Shen.”

“You’re absolutely right.” Shen Qianci gave him a thumbs-up. “Once I learn how to bake cookies from you, I can bake them for my future boyfriend after our agreement ends.”

Qin Guanyu instantly grew displeased, nearly leaping right off the sofa.

“On what grounds?! Why should I plant the tree just for someone else to enjoy the shade?!”

Shen Qianci said with deep earnestness, “Didn’t I tell you before? When you’re heavily infatuated in a relationship, the urge to show off your culinary skills to your partner naturally surfaces.”

“I don’t care. I’m baking the cookies myself, and you’re not allowed to touch them or watch me do it.” Qin Guanyu wagged a finger at him. “The secret recipe of the Qin family must never be leaked to outsiders!”

Shen Qianci smiled and conceded. “Then I shall reluctantly accept President Qin’s feeding.”

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