Chu Ge threw the unlit cigarette in his mouth and the lighter in his hand into the wastebasket, and walked back towards Qin Ruojing's bedroom.

Seeing Chu Ge reappear at the bedroom door, Qin Ruojing didn't relax at all; her heart tightened even more. In the darkness, she couldn't see what expression Chu Ge had at this moment.

In all her life, Qin Ruojing had never felt this conflicted before. After all, the words Chu Ge was about to say and the actions he was about to take all pertained to her lifelong happiness.

"Babe, when do you think we should go take wedding photos?" Chu Ge got on the bed, casually looking at her and asking.

Hearing this, Qin Ruojing was stunned, even doubting her own ears. She hesitated for a few seconds, slowly turned her head, and looked into Chu Ge's forward-looking eyes filled with longing.

Chu Ge turned his head, met her gaze, and playfully tapped her nose, "Why are you looking at me? I'm asking you a question."

Even though Chu Ge's smile seemed so natural, Qin Ruojing felt uneasy in her heart, always thinking Chu Ge might turn against her at any moment.

"You… you decide, any time is fine."

"How about tomorrow?"

"Okay."

"And the wedding day, when do you think would be suitable?"

"I… I'll listen to you."

Seeing her stunned look, Chu Ge laughed even more brightly, "Don't listen to me for everything. I'm just a carefree guy, always free. You're so busy, it should be based on your schedule, right?"

The more like this Chu Ge acted, the more repressed Qin Ruojing felt. She even felt the Chu Ge in front of her was unreal.

Chu Ge knew what she had done and had been outside alone for more than half an hour. How could he act like nothing had happened, so indifferent?

Qin Ruojing felt so suffocated that she finally hesitated and spoke up, "Chu Ge, you..."

As soon as Qin Ruojing called out his name, Chu Ge flicked her forehead, "Call me hubby."

"Hub…by."

Chu Ge grinned, "That's more like it."

Looking at Chu Ge's smiling face, Qin Ruojing was silent for a few seconds, then lowered her head, "Aren't you mad at me? Aren't you angry at me?"

Chu Ge smirked and nonchalantly asked, "Why should I be mad?"

"Because... because I lied to you before."

Chu Ge chuckled lightly, massaging her smooth shoulder, "Honestly, at first I was quite angry, feeling like an idiot being played by you. But after thinking it through, I felt like I'm just happy to be foolishly angry."

"Why?"

As the conversation reached this point, Qin Ruojing finally began to believe Chu Ge wasn't speaking in contradictions, though she couldn't imagine his reasoning for saying so.

"Because..." Meeting her tense yet hopeful gaze, he suddenly paused, raised his hand to touch his nose, and smiled smugly, "Not telling you."

Qin Ruojing was taken aback. She never expected Chu Ge to tease her at such a time, even with such an annoying expression. Her suppressed feelings instantly eased a lot.

If she didn't feel guilty, she would have surely given Chu Ge a big Byakugan and said, "Say it if you want."

Yet Qin Ruojing was desperate to know the answer. Even knowing he was being deliberate, she kept staring intently at him, her eyes filled with complex emotions—guilt, anticipation, and mostly pleading.

It was the first time Chu Ge had seen such an expression on her face, and since he intended to fill this night with romance and warmth, he soon felt he couldn't bear it.

"Alright... it's not impossible to tell you." Despite the reluctance, he didn't want to reveal the secret so easily, so he helplessly smiled and acted smugly. "However... shouldn't you give me some incentive?"

Seeing his smug face, the gloom in her heart vanished a bit more. She was amused and annoyed, yet this issue was too important to her, and she had no way to deal with him.

"What kind of incentive do you want?"

"Give your hubby a shoulder massage first," he said like a lord, stretching comfortably and settling back into the bed, exposing his back to her.

Without hesitation, Qin Ruojing started massaging his shoulders. She indeed owed him, and if it could improve his mood a bit, it was nothing at all.

After massaging for a while, Chu Ge finally acknowledged with a satisfied "Hmm" from his nose, "That's enough for now."

Her arms were already sore, but she didn't care. As long as he would tell her the answer, she'd be willing to massage him all night.

Chu Ge slightly expanded his chest, wriggled his butt on the bed, and leaned back against the headboard with a trademark smile on his face, meeting Qin Ruojing's gaze again.

Qin Ruojing didn't speak, but her expression clearly said, "Can you tell me now?"

Chu Ge raised the corner of his mouth, "Call me husband a few more times."

Qin Ruojing immediately called out, "Husband."

Chu Ge chuckled, "Call more, and in different versions."

Qin Ruojing was taken aback, "Different... versions?"

Chu Ge rolled his big Byakugan, as if Qin Ruojing's question was ignorant, then explained under her puzzled gaze, "Like gentle, charming, elegant, in standard Mandarin, in various dialects, basically just different ones."

Hearing Chu Ge speak like this, the gloom in Qin Ruojing's heart was completely lifted. She originally felt guilty towards Chu Ge, but now she just thought, why is this guy so infuriating?

Though she was speechless, after brewing her thoughts for a moment, Qin Ruojing still followed Chu Ge's words and called out "husband" many times with all her might. Meanwhile, Chu Ge sat there like a master, smiling contentedly, nodding occasionally to show encouragement.

Until Qin Ruojing really couldn't come up with any more variations, she finally stopped. This time, without Chu Ge teasing her, she asked on her own, "Can you tell me now?"

If Qin Ruojing's face was previously filled with guilt and unease, now she looked somewhat puffed up.

Chu Ge grinned, "Tell you what?"

Seeing Qin Ruojing on the verge of an outburst, Chu Ge's smile softened a bit, "Haven't you already said the answer?"

Qin Ruojing was suddenly stunned, "I... said it?"

Chu Ge smiled without a word, holding Qin Ruojing's hand.

Watching Qin Ruojing, who turned her head to meet his gaze, Chu Ge smiled softly, "You've called me husband so many times, don't you understand yet? You're such a dummy."

Qin Ruojing felt like she realized something, but it was just a flash of insight she couldn't quite grasp again.

Chu Ge finally stopped playing coy, meeting those expectant yet nervous eyes, and revealed a gentle smile, whispering an explanation into her ear.

"Silly wife, in the end, you just want to know if I love you. Even if there's a mistake, it's not a big one. If I didn't love you, and married you purely out of responsibility, wouldn't we be discussing divorce now? Would I have let you call me husband so many times?"

Qin Ruojing was taken aback, "Husband, have you really forgiven me? Are you not mad at me at all?"

"To be honest, I'm still a bit frustrated." Chu Ge raised his hand to rub his nose, "But it's not entirely your fault; your sister is just so cunning, truly indefensible!"

Hearing Chu Ge say this, Qin Ruojing suddenly widened her eyes, "How did you know..."

Halfway through speaking, Qin Ruojing hurriedly stopped herself, but it was evidently too late.

Chu Ge, who had only been a bit suspicious because of Qin Ruoying's call, had intentionally probed Qin Ruojing, but her reaction now fully confirmed his suspicion. He couldn't help rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"Wow, it really was your sister who did it? I have to hand it to her; she could even come up with such an idea. She's quite a talent, isn't she?"

While speaking, Chu Ge couldn't help but remember Qin Ruoying applying for a kindergarten teacher position. If she really got the job, he would truly worry for the little kids who would become her students; letting her teach children, wouldn't they all become little hooligans?

While Chu Ge was dumbfounded by the thought of a group of mischievous kids, Qin Ruojing's voice came through again.

"Don't blame little Ying, she... she was just considering our relationship. Please don't let her know you've discovered what she did, or else she won't know how to face you; it's too awkward."

Having just untangled her own heart, Qin Ruojing started worrying about her sister again.

Chu Ge grinned and shook his head, "Don't worry, I'm grateful to her, why blame her?"

Qin Ruojing was puzzled again by Chu Ge, "Grateful to her? Why?"

"If she hadn't gotten me so drunk that day, who knows, when we got back to the room, I might have done something to you. If that happened, and I couldn't remember our first time, wouldn't that be terribly unfortunate?"

"Heh heh, see how nice it is now? We can experience our first time with clear minds and whole hearts, so of course I have to thank her."

As Chu Ge spoke, his lips curled up into a mischievous grin, a smile that Qin Ruojing was immensely familiar with as his trademark expression.

Listening to Chu Ge's familiar voice, looking at his familiar smile, Qin Ruojing lightly bit her lip.

This time, although she still felt a bit flustered, more than anything, she felt relieved and filled with sweetness.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.