“Hold it!” Qin Heye’s voice cut through the air, icy and sharp. Shi Qingyin, mid-scream and about to fling the offending cockroach away, froze. Her hand, however, acted on instinct, shaking violently. The grotesque sensation of the cockroach scurrying in her palm sent a wave of nausea through her whole body , her scalp prickling as she burst into tears.
Qin Heye’s eyes, cold as winter ice, fixed on Shi Qingyin. “Don’t you dare wrongly accuse my wife again,” he warned, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. “She may be kind and forgiving, but I will personally ensure justice is served for her . And don’t even think about taking what belongs to her!”
Shi Ning felt a blush creep up her neck. Ahem, she thought, kind is not exactly the word to describe her .
Shi Qingyin, utterly consumed by the horror of the cockroach, seemed oblivious to the warning. Her only coherent response was a desperate wail, “Mom, save me, woooo!”
Tao Bichun, her face contorted with maternal distress, surged forward, glaring at Qin Heye, ready to unleash a torrent of reprimand. “Qin…” she began.
Qin Heye simply lowered his gaze, a fleeting, almost imperceptible glance at Tao Bichun. “Any objections?” he queried, his voice deceptively light.
Those three simple words struck Tao Bichun like a physical blow. The unspoken authority emanating from him, the gaze of a “super superior,” instantly deflated her fury. “No… no,” she stammered, her momentum utterly shattered. She spun around, prying open Shi Qingyin’s hands, crushing the cockroach with her bare hand, and then practically dragged her limp daughter upstairs.
Shi Guogang watched the scene unfold in front of his eyes , with a flash of anger in his eyes which he quickly suppressed. He bowed his head, bending low, offering what appeared to be a deeply sincere apology.
Shi Guoqiang, however, felt a strange mix of embarrassment and overwhelming happiness. He was certain he hadn’t chosen wrong when it came to this son-in-law. Qin Heye was fiercely protective of his beloved daughter, and that was all that mattered.
Shi Ning, her face bright with happiness, practically skipped over to Qin Heye. “Qin…” she began, reaching out.
Qin Heye took an immediate step back. “Don’t come over.”
“Ah?” Shi Ning’s brows furrowed in confusion, and she pouted, a hint of aggrievedness in her expression.
Qin Heye extended his hand, palm up. “I just caught a cockroach; it’s dirty.”
The internal monologue, amplified by the “barrage,” flared to life:
[Is the villain famous for double standards? He put a live cockroach in the heroine’s hand, and she had to hold it, and couldn’t let it go.]
[When it came to the female supporting role, he felt dirty even though he had caught a cockroach with his hand, and wrapped it with a tissue, and was afraid of scaring the female supporting role!]
[The villain was not only afraid of scaring the female supporting role, but also afraid that the female supporting role would think he was dirty, discover the darkness deep in his heart, and then hate him and stay away from him!]
[After all, which man with good manners would give a woman a cockroach as a gift! No, I almost laughed my ass off just thinking about it, the villain is too naughty.]
[In order to please the female supporting role, the villain was very tolerant of his abnormal physique. Otherwise, if the heroine hooked up with him and bullied his wife, how could he only give a cockroach? He would definitely send the heroine to the cockroach house for three days!]
Shi Ning pondered the barrage’s observations. A room full of cockroaches… the thought alone was horrifying, not just the insects themselves, but the sheer trypophobia it would trigger. Yet, Qin Heye wouldn’t treat her that way. He was even worried she’d find his hand dirty.
Her brief aggrievedness vanished. “You just wrapped the cockroach with a tissue; you didn’t even touch it. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s dirty!” Qin Heye insisted, his expression utterly serious. “I’ll go wash my hands first .”
Before he could move, Shi Ning impulsively grabbed his hand. “I’ll help you wash it.”
Qin Heye, who had been about to pull his hand away, became instantly compliant at her words. “Okay,” he murmured.
Hand in hand, Shi Ning led Qin Heye to the sink. She held his hand beneath the faucet, twisting the tap open. Squeezing hand sanitizer into her palm, she began to rub his hand, asking, “Where did you even get the cockroaches from? Just washing your hands? Our house can’t be that dirty, right?”
Qin Heye looked down at Shi Ning, who was completely absorbed in cleaning his hand. “You asked Pei Qianhuo to buy a fake one, and I just had him bring a live one along.” Fake ones, he thought, were so boring. The real thing was what truly mattered. If he hadn’t been afraid of frightening Shi Ning, he would have had Pei Qianhuo bring a whole box of them.
Shi Ning gazed at Qin Heye’s long, powerful fingers. “You’re so cute,” she declared. His hands were beautiful, his nails perfectly trimmed, not a single long one on his pinky.
“Cute?” Qin Heye repeated, the word sounding foreign to him. Surely she doesn’t think I’m scary?
“Yeah!” Shi Ning chirped, her happiness bubbling over. “A husband who protects her shortcomings is so cute!”
Qin Heye lowered his head, comparing his large, slender hand to Shi Ning’s small, delicate one. He wanted to hold it, but a mischievous thought sparked in his mind. “Just now, my thumb seemed to have touched a cockroach.”
Shi Ning promptly squeezed more hand sanitizer into her palm and began meticulously scrubbing his thumb. “Then wash it carefully and disinfect it.”
Even after his thumb was clean, a familiar itch remained in Qin Heye’s heart. “There’s also the index finger,” he said.
Shi Ning carefully took his index finger, rubbing it up and down with intense precision, not missing even the nail gap. Qin Heye watched her, his eyes deepening, his Adam’s apple bobbing with a sudden dryness in his throat. His voice, when it came, was hoarse. “And the middle finger.”
Shi Ning paused, her gaze traveling along Qin Heye’s slender fingers. A flicker of doubt crossed her face. She looked up, her big eyes blinking at him. “???” Are you sure you’re not just doing this on purpose?
The internal commentary chimed in again:
[The puzzled expression of the female supporting role is so cute, so cute that I want to go through the book and pinch it, how can she be so easy to deceive!]
[The villain either secretly loves for ten years and guards silently, like a transparent person, or the female supporting role gives a hint and then goes too far, playing tricks here, making Shi Ning wash his hands one by one.]
[You are all simple little girls, and a big yellow girl like me has already followed the evil thoughts of the big villain and associated it with other places.]
Shi Ning’s confusion deepened. “???” Washing hands? What else could you associate with it?
Someone in the “barrage” posed the same question, and an immediate answer appeared:
“[Obviously he’s asking for something spicy—bring on the smut already, I’m ready! 😍]”
Swish.
Shi Ning’s face instantly ignited in a fiery blush. “!!!” The “big yellow girls” had enlightened her once again.
As Shi Ning continued to wash Qin Heye’s hands, she couldn’t help but observe them, studying them carefully. His hands were large and slender, with faint calluses on his fingertips. They looked strong. Well, she thought, he could also hold her perfectly, with just the right amount of pressure, and…
Shi Ning’s face grew redder and redder.
Qin Heye looked at her flushed cheeks, a profound urge to lean down and kiss her. “Wife,” he murmured, his voice a soft caress. He gently bent down, moving closer to kiss Shi Ning.
At this moment the “barrage” erupted in a frenzy of excited exclamations.