MWCBTC Chapter 7: Red Dates and Longans

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ANNOUNCEMENT

Completed chapter is on my ko-fi page, thank you

🌸 Completed Chapter

Qiao Chen lingered outside the bedroom door of the newlywed room for a long time, unsure whether he should go in.

He really didn’t understand what kind of trick Qin Shen was trying to pull.

One act after another—if he hated him so much, why stay the night at all?

The Qin household went to bed early. After dinner and some chatting, everyone returned to their rooms. By now, the only one still not back in his room was Qiao Chen.

After dawdling for a while, he knew he had to face it sooner or later.

Qiao Chen took a deep breath and then raised his hand to knock on the door.

No response from inside.

He knocked again. Still nothing.

It’s not that I didn’t knock. I knocked plenty and got no answer, Qiao Chen justified to himself, placing his hand on the doorknob and gently opening the door.

The moment he saw the decorations in the room, he felt deeply embarrassed.

Calling it a “newlywed room” was no joke.

The entire room was drenched in red—the sheets, duvet cover, even the curtains were red with gold accents. Even the vase had a red ribbon tied to it. It was overly festive.

But the most outrageous part was the four characters spelled out on the red bedsheet using red dates and longans: “早生贵子” (“May you soon bear a son”).

Qiao Chen stared at the words on the bed, unsure whether to move or not.

As he was caught in his internal struggle, the bathroom door suddenly opened and Qin Shen walked out, bringing with him a wave of hot steam.

Qiao Chen turned to look and saw Qin Shen had just finished showering. He had only a towel wrapped around his waist, his upper body bare, showing off defined abs and V-lines—he looked ridiculously seductive.

With the steamy air and the room’s decor, the whole atmosphere was practically oozing with sensuality.

Qiao Chen’s face inexplicably turned red, the blush creeping all the way to the tips of his ears.

The mood lingered for about two or three minutes. Feeling it was far too weird, Qiao Chen quickly ducked past Qin Shen and mumbled, “I’m going to shower,” then fled into the bathroom.

Sitting on the toilet seat, Qiao Chen patted his own face, trying to clear his head. Then he thought about what he had just said—and panicked all over again.

Stupid mouth, that sentence sounded way too much like a suggestion.

And yes, because of that line and his reaction, Qin Shen naturally misunderstood, and his expression immediately turned cold. He thought Qiao Chen was truly delusional.

In this life, Qin Shen thought, he would rather die than lay a finger on Qiao Chen.

Qiao Chen showered especially thoroughly and slowly this time, wishing he could drag it out until morning.

But that was unrealistic. No matter how he tried, there was a limit to how long one could wash. One hour was already pushing it.

Qiao Chen put on a bathrobe, dried his hair, and cautiously prepared to leave the bathroom, silently hoping Qin Shen wouldn’t make things difficult for him anymore.

When he opened the door, he met with complete darkness.

The lights were off. Qin Shen was already asleep. Realizing this, Qiao Chen felt an instant wave of relief.

He tiptoed out and saw a lump on the festive bed—Qin Shen really had gone to sleep.

As he took a few more steps, he stepped on something.

Looking down, he saw, under the glow of the nightlight, the floor was covered in red dates and longans.

Apparently, Qin Shen hadn’t cleaned them up and had just lifted the covers and gone straight to bed.

Qiao Chen wanted to sweep up the mess, but after glancing around the room and finding no broom or cleaning tools, he decided to leave it for the housekeeper tomorrow. No way was he going to fumble around in the dark picking them up one by one.

After some more dithering, Qiao Chen finally made it to the bedside.

There was no sofa or spare quilt in the room. Sharing the bed was unavoidable.

And he couldn’t exactly go without sleep—he had a job interview on Monday, after all.

He carefully lifted a corner of the quilt and cautiously lay down—right on the edge of the bed.

Feeling the presence of someone so close, Qiao Chen’s back went ramrod straight.

He remained tense for about ten minutes, but once he realized Qin Shen was truly fast asleep, he slowly began to relax.

It was very late. With his body relaxing, his eyelids grew heavy, and sleep crept in.

But just as he was drifting off, an arm suddenly reached around him and pulled him in.

Qiao Chen was startled and opened his eyes, only to find his face pressed against Qin Shen’s chest.

His face turned bright red in an instant. He tried to push Qin Shen away and struggled to break free.

But Qin Shen, fast asleep, felt the little plush toy in his arms especially squirmy tonight and reflexively pulled it in tighter to stop it from moving.

That one tug brought them even closer—skin to skin. Qiao Chen was on the verge of a meltdown.

Unable to free himself, Qiao Chen could only call out, “Wake up, Qin Shen.”

Qin Shen heard some buzzing in his ear. The plush toy in his arms just wouldn’t settle down. Its breath tickled him.

Even though it was annoying, Qin Shen didn’t really want to let go.

Because tonight’s plush toy was just too comfortable—small, soft, easily held in one arm, and faintly smelling of mint. It felt really nice.

Qiao Chen kept pushing him. “Wake up!”

He was kind of losing it. How could anyone sleep this deeply?

And then, in the next second, Qin Shen, still asleep, leaned down and kissed the plush toy in his arms, murmuring softly, “Be good.”

Caught off guard by the kiss on his cheek, Qiao Chen froze.

Then Qin Shen added, “Annoy me again and I’ll kill you,” in a much harsher tone.

Qin Shen could be terrifying, with his unpredictable temper. Qiao Chen was genuinely scared stiff by the threat.

Qin Shen's arm was wrapped around Qiao Chen’s waist in a seemingly simple gesture, but there was a commanding strength to it—no way to escape.

Qiao Chen suddenly gave up resisting.

Fine. Whatever.

If he struggled any more, he might actually get hit.

Resigned, Qiao Chen shut his eyes. Sleepiness washed over him once again.

It was getting cold now that winter was approaching, and the warm embrace actually felt kind of nice. In his sleep, Qiao Chen instinctively snuggled a bit closer to Qin Shen.

Qiao Chen slept very still, barely changing positions all night. And Qin Shen, clearly satisfied with his plush toy tonight, never let go.

So the two of them remained in that embrace for the entire night.

The next morning, a ray of sharp sunlight snuck through the curtain slit and landed on the bed, casting a perfect, cozy scene.

The two still sleeping looked every bit like a sweet newlywed couple.

Qiao Chen rested his head on Qin Shen’s shoulder, both hands on Qin Shen’s chest.

Qin Shen had one arm wrapped around Qiao Chen’s waist, his jawline resting against the top of Qiao Chen’s head.

Scattered red dates and longans lay across the floor, with a few remnants on the headboard.

The picture was like a painting—until they woke up.

The next second, Qin Shen suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the still-sleeping Qiao Chen in his arms.

What the hell? Qin Shen immediately yanked his slightly numb arm out and yelled,

“What the fuck are you doing?”

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