Chapter 5
“We’re still on the street right now. People don’t know you’re not feeling well. If they see a man carrying another man, some people can’t help but take pictures and gossip about it.”
Because they are all good-looking, the photos might get shared in group chats or online. Since no one knows the truth, people might speculate or even spread rumors based on their own guesses.
Qin Lian didn't care much about being rumored to be, because he had been the target of countless rumors since he was a child because of his good looks.
In junior high school, he was secretly photographed by a girl who boasted that he was her boyfriend, which led to Qin Lian being confronted by her brother.
In high school, a boy in his class spread rumors that he had slept with their English teacher.
Qin Lian's academic performance is excellent; he has consistently ranked among the top students in his class. His grades in all subjects are outstanding, except for English, which is slightly weaker. His English teacher finds this difficult to understand and often keeps him after school for extra tutoring.
In addition, the English teacher was a young, beautiful woman who liked to dress up. After a few times, rumors started to spread throughout the school.
That's not all, because Qin Lian is good-looking and has good grades.
Liking him and pursuing him has become a trend among many young men and women.
They may not all genuinely like him; many are just following the trend or driven by vanity.
Therefore, being slandered and secretly photographed became a frequent experience for Qin Lian from childhood to adulthood.
Unlike him, Su Wenxing had been well protected by his family since childhood. Qin Lian didn't want Su Wenxing to be criticized because of him, nor did he want Su Wenxing's photos to be circulated online and discussed by a bunch of strangers.
Qin Lian and Su Wenxing put on masks, thinking that this would reduce their presence.
The streets were bustling with people. L City was a metropolis, and on pedestrian streets like this, there were many couples embracing and holding hands. Gay men, lesbians, and heterosexual couples were not particularly noticeable.
Even so, because Qin Lian was so tall that he stood out from the crowd, and Su Wenxing, whom he was carrying, looked very cute, they still attracted a lot of attention along the way.
A girl took out her phone and couldn't resist taking two pictures.
She felt they were definitely a couple; their height difference was just right.
The guy carrying the person on his back is so tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He looks like the perfect boyfriend.
The boy being carried wasn't very tall, but his exposed arms and ankles were very white and slender, making him look like a pampered young lady.
Before the girl could continue fantasizing in her mind, she made eye contact with the tall guy through the camera lens.
The girl was startled and quickly put away her phone, turning away to face elsewhere.
She didn't know what she was afraid of. The other person's eyes were cold and indifferent, and it was almost impossible to see any emotion, but... for some reason, she was just a little scared.
She wondered if he didn't like being photographed.
Or should she delete the photos she took?
But when she saw the photos on her phone, she felt that they looked like the top and bottom characters in a novel. She had never seen a couple with such a strong sense of chemistry.
She thought that as long as she didn't post the photos online randomly, it should be fine to keep them on her phone for her own enjoyment, right?
Today's society is an era of booming live streaming industry and the explosive popularity of short videos.
With everyone owning a mobile phone, and even children having smartwatches, taking photos and videos has become a very common thing.
People like Qin Lian, who dislike being photographed, are a relatively rare group in society.
Many people are happy to be filmed by others in order to become famous online.
Becoming famous means you can become an internet celebrity, get endorsements, debut, or even start your own account as a live streamer.
Someone like Qin Lian doesn't need this kind of attention.
He was approached by talent scouts when he was in junior high school, but unfortunately, he wasn't interested in that, and his family didn't want him to become a star either.
But he didn't want to, while others didn't think so.
Many people want to be stars, and many people want to become wildly popular.
They especially thought that Qin Lian was just like them.
Some people who thought they were doing it for Qin Lian's good had no choice but to secretly take videos and photos of her and post them online.
Later, Qin Lian's parents sued several people and talked to the parents of those who secretly filmed him, which reduced such secret filming incidents.
Unfortunately, while taking photos without consent is illegal, the penalties are not severe.
Even after some time had passed, there were still quite a few people who liked to secretly photograph Qin Lian, which made Qin Lian feel very troubled and bothered.
...
Qin Lian carried Su Wenxing to the parking lot, by which time Su Wenxing had already completed her mission.
He really loved this task; it was simple and quick, like a free boost to his health.
After he got into Qin Lian's car, he opened the panel and claimed his health points.
With three more health points, Su Wenxing's health points reached eight.
Although the health value still looks low, it looks much better than before.
After collecting his health points, Su Wenxing asked the system if there were any more tasks.
Now that Qin Lian is by his side, if there are any more tasks to be done, they can complete them all at once.
The system was silent again. Su Wenxing asked twice, but the system showed no intention of answering.
Seeing this, Su Wenxing sighed and then turned to look at Qin Lian beside him.
"Shall we practice a bit?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Lian started the car and asked without turning his head, "What kind of practice?"
Su Wenxing said matter-of-factly, "Practicing sticking?"
Qin Lian's eyelids twitched upon hearing this. "Are you sure you want to practice this kind of thing?"
Su Wenxing: "But... my system is a succubus system, and I'm currently an intern succubus. Most of the tasks we'll be doing in the future will be sticking together like this. Although the system hasn't started issuing new tasks, I think we can practice first, so we won't be caught off guard later."
Qin Lian remained silent and drove his car into the traffic.
After a long while, Qin Lian finally frowned and said, "If you're sure you want to practice, let's wait until I buy the house, then we can practice."
"Buy a house? Why do you want to buy a house?"
“I’m a senior now, and I’ll be starting my internship next semester. I’m planning to move out of the dorm. Since you’re here to study, I was thinking of applying for off-campus accommodation for you so you won’t have to stay in the dorm anymore.”
Hearing this, Su Wenxing finally understood that Qin Lian bought the house for him.
Su Wenxing was a little touched, and then happily said, "Great, that way no one will bother us while we're doing our mission."
That way, he could be living with Qin Lian, and it would be more convenient for them to do those tasks.
After that, Qin Lian focused on driving, and Su Wenxing, who was tired after a long day, quickly fell asleep.
When they returned to school, Qin Lian looked at Su Wenxing, who was fast asleep, and was at a loss for what to do.
Should he take Su Wenxing back to her dormitory, or simply carry her to their dormitory?
It seems that no matter which option he chooses, he will need to carry Su Wenxing into the school.
Many people at school know Qin Lian, and even if they both wear masks, many people will still recognize him.
If he takes Su Wenxing back with him, it will definitely cause a huge uproar.
Thinking this, Qin Lian decided to reach out and wake Su Wenxing up.
For the sake of Su Wenxing's peaceful campus life in the future, it's better to sleep less now than to be harassed by many people.
Qin Lian gently shook Su Wenxing's shoulder, and Su Wenxing muttered something reluctantly.
"Don't make noise, I'm so sleepy."
"If you're sleepy, go back to your dorm and sleep."
Upon hearing Qin Lian's voice, Su Wenxing slightly opened her tear-filled eyes.
He wanted to act spoiled; he suddenly didn't want to go to university anymore.
Going to university is so annoying. Not only do you have to live in a dormitory, but you also have to attend a lot of classes.
Su Wenxing said pitifully, "I'm so tired, I don't want to move, and I don't want to go back to the dormitory."
Qin Lian said very patiently, "But you have classes tomorrow, two in the morning and one in the afternoon. You chose to go to university yourself, so you should study hard now."
"Qin Lian, you're not as nice to me as you used to be. You've become incredibly cold-hearted."
Qin Lian smiled subtly upon hearing this, "Is this what you call having a heart of stone?"
"Yes, before, as long as I acted cute with you, you would do whatever I said."
"That was when we were little. You were the younger brother and I was the older brother, so naturally the older brother would spoil the younger brother. But things are different now. You're not a child anymore."
As Qin Lian said this, he reached out and pulled Su Wenxing out of the car.
Su Wenxing was in poor health; he was unsteady on his feet when he first woke up.
Qin Lian carefully protected him with one hand and closed the car door with the other.
After Su Wenxing had calmed down, they slowly walked towards the school one after the other.
The power was cut off and the doors were locked at L University dormitory at 11 p.m., so when Qin Lian took Su Wenxing back to the dormitory, it was already past 10 p.m.
The dormitory supervisor in the freshman area knew Qin Lian. When she saw that Qin Lian was not returning to his dormitory so late, she couldn't help but remind him.
Auntie: "Qin Lian, it's already past ten o'clock. If you don't go back to your dorm soon, you'll be locked out."
Qin Lian replied, "Thank you, Auntie. I'll go back after I drop my brother off."
Qin Lian said this specifically because he hoped that his aunt would take good care of Su Wenxing these next few days, out of consideration for their acquaintance.
Auntie looked at Su Wenxing with some surprise upon hearing this.
The aunt pointed at Su Wenxing and said, "Is he your younger brother? He doesn't look like him at all."
Qin Lian: "He's not my biological brother. We're neighbors, and he's always called me 'brother'."
When Su Wenxing heard Qin Lian say this, he couldn't help but mutter to himself: What brother and younger brother? Qin Lian didn't say that in the parking lot just now.
The auntie said "Oh," looking completely understanding.
"Oh, you two are neighbors! You both did very well in your studies, and you both got into L University. That's great!"
Su Wenxing was too sleepy to chat with Qin Lian and the aunt.
He held onto the stair railing and slowly climbed upstairs.
Qin Lian seemed to want to follow, but then, for some reason, he held back.
After watching Su Wenxing's figure disappear, Qin Lian waited a moment before leaving the dormitory.
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