After Getting Bound to Both the Protagonist and the Villain at the Same Time - Chapter 11

“Alright, we’ll do it together.” Lin Chuyi stroked Shen Qing’s head, gently smoothing down the girl’s metaphorical ruffled feathers.

It was already late. Lin Chuyi let out an involuntary yawn, and seeing her exhaustion, Shen Qing knew she couldn’t stay. Her small iron bed was far too cramped to share anyway. “Sister,” Shen Qing said reluctantly, “you should head back and sleep. Please, get some rest.”

“You should get some sleep early, too. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the library together,” Lin Chuyi replied, her mind already organizing the next day. “You can study there first, and then during lunch, I’ll introduce you to another sister.”

Shen Qing’s situation was now Lin Chuyi’s top priority. The most urgent matters were seeking justice for her and, ideally, finding her a new environment.

Lin Chuyi had looked into the people who bullied Shen Qing. While the ringleader, Niu Qianqian, was indeed an adult, many others were minors. Lin Chuyi had no intention of letting them off easily. Damage had been done, and age should not serve as a shield to escape punishment.

The library at H University, where Lin Chuyi worked, was a place full of “hidden dragons and crouching tigers.” In a big city, a quiet job paying only two or three thousand yuan a month was generally ignored—unless you were a local or came from a wealthy family.

To put it bluntly, for a non-local with no savings, three thousand yuan would barely cover rent. Even with the savings from the school cafeteria, one would still need about a thousand yuan for food. After expenses, there would be nothing left to live on.

One teacher who looked after Lin Chuyi was a local whose family had received five apartments through government relocation. When Lin Chuyi had shared her livestream in their group chat earlier, this teacher had been among the first to offer advice.

The library staff were a warm-hearted bunch. After Lin Chuyi checked in to say she was safe, they even asked if she needed a few days off, offering to cover her shifts. Everyone was happy with their quiet, low-paying jobs; even if there were bonuses for “exemplary performance,” it only amounted to a few hundred yuan—hardly worth fighting over and ruining the harmony.

When people don’t work solely for the money, their temperaments tend to be much better.

“Okay, thank you, Sister.” As Shen Qing looked at her with misty eyes, Lin Chuyi felt her heart soften completely.

“Rest well,” Lin Chuyi soothed, her voice softening.

As she turned to leave, her sleeve was suddenly caught by Shen Qing’s gentle grip. The strength was minimal; Lin Chuyi could have easily pulled away if she wanted to.

Puzzled as to why Shen Qing was holding her back, she looked at the girl. “Yes?”

Shen Qing lowered her head, hesitating. “Sister, can I have a goodnight kiss?”

“Wh—what?” Lin Chuyi was stunned. It wasn’t that she hadn’t heard, but the request caught her completely off guard.

Lin Chuyi hadn’t grown up in a carefree home. Throughout her life, she had maintained a calculated distance from others. Whether male or female, they were all simply “other people.” She had built high walls around herself, making it difficult for anyone to get close when her guard was up.

In her real life, only her grandmother had been truly kind to her. They had relied on each other, and Lin Chuyi had only bound herself to the System to earn points for her grandmother’s health and comfort in her old age.

She had never received a goodnight kiss.

Lin Chuyi’s eyelashes fluttered as she pursed her lips in thought. Should she agree or not?

To her, Shen Qing and Gu Mian were different from “others.”

“It, it’s nothing.” Shen Qing took a step back, initiating the retreat. It had taken immense courage to speak those words, and she had already braced herself for rejection.

Seeing Shen Qing retreat, Lin Chuyi remembered that the girl, like herself, hadn’t grown up surrounded by love. Her heart ached for a moment.

Shen Qing had finally made a request; it was a tiny, cautious step toward her, a sign of a child opening her heart. Since she was “raising” these children, she wanted to give them the best—to let them feel fully loved.

Lin Chuyi hadn’t received it herself, but she wanted Shen Qing and Gu Mian to have it.

“Alright.” Lin Chuyi steeled herself. Though she felt stiff and unaccustomed to the idea, she saw Shen Qing’s eyes light up and repeated firmly, “Alright.”

The two looked at each other. They stared. And stared.

“Ahem.” Lin Chuyi cleared her throat. “Sorry, I’ve never kissed anyone before. This goodnight kiss, what’s the procedure?”

“I, I don’t know either,” Shen Qing said, her voice trembling with nerves. “I’ve heard others say you can kiss the cheek, or the—the mouth. Just so the other person knows, and feels it that should be enough.” Her voice trailed off into a mumble.

Even the lips? Lin Chuyi wondered. But she knew some girls were indeed that intimate; her high school roommates used to kiss without a second thought, which had shocked her at the time. Girls could be so close.

The child is still young and timid, she reasoned. Lin Chuyi followed Shen Qing’s lead and encouraged her: “Go ahead, I’m waiting.”

Lin Chuyi closed her eyes.

Shen Qing’s palms were sweating, making her wounds sting and itch. She looked at Lin Chuyi. Under the dim light, the woman before her looked radiant and moving. Feeling a rush of heat, Shen Qing stepped forward unsteadily. She kissed Lin Chuyi’s cheek, then let her lips graze Lin Chuyi’s in a restrained touch.

It lasted only a moment, but a numbing sensation—so sweet it almost made her moan—swept through her nerves. In that instant, Shen Qing unknowingly shed a single tear.

Brilliant fireworks seemed to explode in her mind. Shen Qing stood frozen, her breathing heavy.

“Then goodnight?” Lin Chuyi felt the kiss end as quickly as a breeze. When she opened her eyes and saw Shen Qing’s tear, she didn’t expose the girl’s vulnerability. Instead, she accepted the love-starved child with grace.

“Goodnight,” Shen Qing whispered.

Shen Qing walked her to the door. The distance from the room to the exit was short, but Shen Qing prayed every second for the path to stretch longer and longer.

“See you tomorrow,” Lin Chuyi said.

“See you tomorrow.” For the first time, Shen Qing began to look forward to the next day.

Before this, “tomorrow” meant the start of another disaster. Now, it meant perhaps the beginning of love.

By the time Lin Chuyi returned to Gu Mian’s place, her heart was still thumping.

She had tucked Shen Qing in and was now back to lie beside Gu Mian. The life of a “double-shifter” was proving to be unexpectedly thrilling.

Lin Chuyi crept into the inner room. In the pitch black, she quietly climbed into bed, only to be pulled into a warm embrace the moment she reached her spot.

“Where did Sister go?” Gu Mian whispered from behind, pulling Lin Chuyi flush against her body. Her voice was unreadable.

Lin Chuyi froze.

Gu Mian’s presence felt overwhelmingly powerful, like a young predator patrolling its territory. She tucked herself into the spaces of Lin Chuyi’s silhouette, circling her naturally yet guardedly.

Lin Chuyi shifted uncomfortably. “It’s too tight,” she whispered.

Gu Mian took several deep breaths. Lin Chuyi could feel the feverish rise and fall of her skin. For some reason, Lin Chuyi felt a sense of impending doom, sensing Gu Mian’s hand rise high.

Slap.

It landed gently, though with an indecipherable intent, against Lin Chuyi’s thigh. It felt incredibly hot.

“Oh, Sister.” Gu Mian sighed, sounding helpless yet restrained. “Go to sleep. You have work tomorrow.”

Gu Mian seemed exhausted as well, as she forgot to loosen her grip.

Normally, Gu Mian wasn’t this clingy. Lin Chuyi wasn’t used to skin-to-skin contact, but tonight was different.

She had expected Gu Mian to interrogate her and was prepared to confess—after all, if she didn’t say it tonight, Gu Mian and Shen Qing would meet at lunch tomorrow anyway.

Because Gu Mian let it go so easily, Lin Chuyi felt a twinge of guilt. Instead of trying to wriggle out of the embrace as she usually did, she guiltily snuggled closer.

One of Gu Mian’s hands rested on Lin Chuyi’s waist. While adjusting the blanket, Lin Chuyi accidentally knocked it off, and she carefully, sheepishly, tucked the hand back onto her waist.

Maybe, intimate contact with someone else isn’t so terrifying after all, Lin Chuyi thought.

She was truly exhausted after the night’s toss and turn; it wasn’t long before she drifted into a deep sleep.

Gu Mian’s hand, resting on Lin Chuyi’s waist, couldn’t help but graze the skin for a moment before her lips curled into a smirk.

Under normal circumstances, an invisible “Chu-Han Border” sat between them. If Lin Chuyi didn’t speak, Gu Mian wouldn’t dare cross that line.

Gu Mian knew that Lin Chuyi harbored an inevitable resistance to intimacy. This resistance didn’t stem from a dislike of closeness, but rather because she was like a blank sheet of paper—she had never tasted the sweetness of intimacy before. It is human nature to react with slight hesitation toward the unfamiliar; no one was an exception.

Gu Mian respected Lin Chuyi, but she also felt the need to apply a little pressure.

If she didn’t take a step forward, the relationship between her and Lin Chuyi would never advance.

As for where Lin Chuyi had gone tonight.

Gu Mian’s smile deepened as she pressed herself closer to Lin Chuyi. Amidst the satisfaction of the moment, she sighed against the rising tide of her own jealousy. “Where did Sister go, hmm?” she chuckled softly. “I’ll find out eventually.”

The more nonchalant she acted, the better Lin Chuyi would treat her out of guilt. Today, she was allowed to stay close; what about next time?

“Let there not be a next time, Sister.”

“I don’t want anyone else to exist between us.”

I want exclusive possession.

Always. Desperately.

Gu Mian’s breathing grew erratic, and it wasn’t until the night was very deep that she finally succumbed to sleep.

In her palm, the sensation of holding Lin Chuyi was like clutching a piece of fine jade—smooth, lustrous, and beautiful.