Chapter 125 The Hunchbacked Shadow (12)
Shu Changyan's nose touched her knuckles, feeling slightly cool and itchy.
His prominent brow creases cast a gray shadow over his eye sockets, giving him a somewhat gloomy and dazed appearance. He did not possess any gentle facial features, but his usual smile made people forget his overly superficial gentleness and overlook his extremely oppressive danger.
Her hand slid down his palm, then she withdrew it and gently patted his face.
Shu Changyan turned his face to the side, slightly taken aback by the force applied.
"Aren't you going to be my older brother anymore?" Shu Ningmiao asked him calmly.
Shu Ningmiao looked up at him, her eyes wider than usual, almond-shaped and upturned, revealing a strong sense of aggression. Her eyes were often filled with emotions that others criticized as selfish and cold, but she possessed a natural and effortless elegance.
This unreasonable attitude has never lacked admirers, but Shu Changyan even found her arrogance and willfulness to be justified and delightful.
"I want to be." Shu Changyan swallowed hard, each word uttered with difficulty: "Miaomiao... I became your older brother because of you."
Even though he was never a good older brother.
He wanted to exclusively take care of her as her older brother, and naturally acted like an older brother to anyone who got close to her. At the same time, he was filled with anxiety about being both close and distant, and he craved the lingering warmth of her fingertips, letting himself fall step by step.
She moved her fingers down, grabbed his collar, and pulled it down forcefully.
Caught off guard, he was pulled off balance and fell to the ground.
The faint light of day made everything around him indistinct, but his eyes remained clear.
Blue, beautiful, calm eyes, filled with the clamor of the tides, the roar of love, all belonging to her.
Shu Chang stretched out his hand and braced it on the soft sheets beside her, his five fingers sinking deep into the fabric, casting a shadow that completely locked her in.
He maintained his supporting posture, restraining his distance and not daring to take another step closer.
The two stared at each other for a long time before Shu Ningmiao grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer until their faces were touching.
She lifted her chin, mimicking his earlier gesture, and lightly kissed his fingertips, letting out a soft "Ah!": "You like me?"
He didn't say anything, but his chest trembled slightly as he laughed.
His little sister was so cute that he couldn't take his eyes off her.
The softest part of my heart is collapsing uncontrollably, and burning desires are constantly leaking out from my docile exterior. That kind of secret, unspeakable emotion is harder to hide than a murder in broad daylight.
Love, even when kept silent, overflows from every part of the body.
"I love you." Shu Changyan lowered his eyes, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, as if enduring some kind of torture: "Of course I love you."
He's a believer, how could he not love his God?
Shu Changyan dared not listen to her answer. As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head and pressed his face close to hers, covering her mouth with his palm and applying slight pressure to prevent her from speaking.
A soft breath brushed against her cheek, and their eyelashes seemed to touch.
He lowered his head and gently touched the back of his hand with his lips.
He pressed his palm against her lips with almost imperceptible force, kissing her with an almost humble intensity.
He was usually so strong, but at this moment he was so vulnerable.
In her eyes, he was nothing more than a despicable sinner with impure intentions, a scoundrel brother who wanted both.
He wanted her love, but he wanted more than just love; he wanted to be her lover, her brother, her friend, her teacher, and possess all her intimate relationships.
He believed that what bound them together was something stronger than love, something that could never be severed and would entangle them for all eternity.
Shu Changyan carefully observed her reaction, not sensing any disgust from the touch. He then turned his head and gently kissed the soft skin where her earlobe met his.
Unable to move with his face pinned down, Shu Ningmiao trembled from the heat of his breath on her ear. Frustrated, she grabbed his arm and bit his hand hard.
A faint red tooth mark was left around the edge of his slender palm. Shu Changyan chuckled and even pressed his finger against her lips, pleading in a hoarse voice, "Bite me again."
Shu Ningmiao turned her head away from his hand, feeling that he was going crazy.
She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the glaring sunlight streaming in from the window, and kicked him with her knee. Shu Changyan snorted softly, pressed down on her shoulder, and gently pressed his knee between her legs, unwilling to let her get up.
The familiar aura mingled with the subtle pressure he brought, and Shu Changyan's eyes and brows were slightly glamorous, quite different from his usual gentle demeanor: "Don't hate me."
Shu Ningmiao retorted angrily, "I didn't."
Shu Changyan hummed in agreement, unsure whether he believed her or not, and coaxed her with a hint of curiosity, "Then give your brother a kiss, okay?"
She glanced at him, then suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a heavy kiss on his face.
After kissing him, Shu Ningmiao pushed away his suddenly frozen body, slipped out from between his arms, and gracefully jumped off the bed.
Long, strong hands wrapped around her waist from behind, tightening their grip and lifting her up lightly. Shu Changyan rested his chin on her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her hair.
The bright sunlight shone through the golden curtains, illuminating the diamond-like dust particles in the air. Shu Ningmiao pried his hands off and ran out in her slippers.
Shu Changyan tidied up the clothes he had dried for her the night before in the room. When he found her, she was sitting in the lounge having breakfast with Xiao Jiang.
Xiao Jiang wanted to have a private chat with Shu Ningmiao, so she told Zhao to get lost.
Zhao was pushed out by the two people and stood outside against the wall, drinking red tea.
Zhao raised an eyebrow when she caught a glimpse of the triumphant teeth marks on Shu Changyan's hand.
Actually, today was her last day of vacation. She had arranged to meet Weston to see Arcia this afternoon.
Xiao Jiang asked her to play, but there wasn't really anything to play. The pleasures of being an Actor were always scarce; training made up the majority of their time, and daydreaming was only a small part, much like a Taoist. She thought for a moment and took out a game chip from her pocket: "Want to play a game?"
This chip is "Secret Love". After the string attached to the chip dissipates, the chip becomes a normal dating game, and the replaced school, protagonist, and supporting characters are restored to their original fictional characters.
Xiao Jiang readily agreed and pulled out the projector she usually used to review the battle situation.
The two sat cross-legged on the sofa, and Zhao squeezed over to join in. Shu Changyan cut a plate of fruit for her and placed it on the table in front of her, and then poured her a drink.
She opened the game, randomly pressed a few buttons, and entered the game using the default settings.
The adorable miniature figures on the screen spun around, their vibrant colors reflected in the somber lounge.
An ordinary but kind-hearted girl from the slums awakens her superpowers and enters an elite school. The first person to lend her a helping hand is a younger, pink-haired boy in a similar situation. Although he doesn't have any special qualities, he has a sincere heart that understands her.
Shu Ningmiao read out the lines, and Xiao Jiang commented, "Choose him, his character design looks so youthful."
Shu Changyan scoffed, "Thief-like eyes."
Zhao hesitated between the two for a moment: "Let me take another look. I feel like there are still many people like this to pursue."
Shu Ningmiao manipulated her pixelated character to walk around the campus and discovered that she could use her own character to brush aside the character representing the target of her pursuit: "It seems like I can push him off the building."
"Wow, that's amazing! Let's squeeze in and take a look." Xiao Jiang said eagerly, "Don't these people all have superpowers? They shouldn't die, right?"
"How could you do this? Who pushes their target down the stairs?" Zhao stretched out her hand, trying to stop Shu Ningmiao from pressing the option, but Shu Changyan slapped it back in mid-air.
Shu Ningmiao had already used the arrow keys to push the pink figure off the roof. The figure tumbled down with a thud, and the screen immediately displayed a large field of chamomile where the correct route had been chosen.
"How is this possible?!" Zhao clutched his head, ruffling his full head of silver hair, letting out a scream of utter despair as his worldview crumbled: "How is this possible!"
"Could it be that I'm a genius at playing games?" Xiao Jiang punched his palm, suddenly realizing, "I was really held back by the military."
After the protagonist pushed his first target, the pink-haired younger brother, down the stairs, he himself was seriously injured and hospitalized for a month.
"How insidious." Xiao Jiang examined the ending CG and said coldly, "This guy actually used his superpower to transfer all his injuries to the girl. I will never forgive him in this lifetime."
"He probably doesn't want to forgive the person who tried to push him down the stairs either..." Zhao sighed, rubbing his forehead.
Shu Changyan suggested, "Since you've broken your leg, you don't need to go on dates. You can schedule all your time for classes."
"Are you a slave owner?!" Zhao looked at him in disbelief. "You still have to attend class with a broken leg?"
Shu Changyan calmly said, "Since she's already in the medical clinic, there's no need to worry about her fatigue level getting too low from grinding attribute points and fainting and ending up in the medical clinic."
Shu Ningmiao thought it made sense, so she arranged a month-long schedule of theoretical classes for the female protagonist, so that she could max out her talent attribute points before being discharged from the hospital.
The second target is a campus prince who loves music. He is very gentle and friendly to the female protagonist. Although he comes from a privileged family, he is never arrogant.
Xiao Jiang nodded: "I feel he's a good person, I like this type."
Shu Changyan remained noncommittal.
Zhao confidently echoed, "He seems like the perfect, traditional prince type. There's no way he'd go wrong."
His voice echoed in the room.
It came to an abrupt end.
On the screen, a platinum-gold figure chasing the protagonist with a knife keeps flashing bright red notifications above the protagonist's head: -1HP, -1HP, -1HP.
Zhao was practically going crazy: "What did you guys just do?"
Xiao Jiang kept maneuvering the joystick to turn and escape, and took a moment to reply to him: "I found some affection gifts in the trash can, so I wanted to find a few more to give him. I was just looking through the trash cans at the entrance of the teaching building when he accidentally saw me, and he reacted like this. What kind of person is he?"
"Who do you think you are?!" Zhao gritted her teeth. "I'll spend money to buy you gifts, okay? Please stop rummaging through the trash. How do you spend money in this game?"
"You think money can buy everything?!" Seeing the death cutscene on the screen, Xiao Jiang angrily threw down the controller: "I'm going to kill him!"
The third target is a cold and sarcastic mentor who never gives the female protagonist a kind look, but he is intelligent and a famous genius.
Zhao clicked his tongue lightly: "Why do I feel like this person looks familiar?"
Shu Changyan's face instantly turned cold: "You are not allowed to choose him."
Shu Ningmiao looked up: "Why?"
"Old man." Shu Changyan thought for a moment, then lowered his eyes and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.
Zhao casually replied, "Aren't you the same?"
He shut his mouth after being glanced at by Shu Changyan.
Two seconds later, Zhao couldn't help but say in a strange tone, "I would never go on a date with an old man~"
"I'll do it, I'll do it." Before he could be lectured, Xiao Jiang snatched the handle from his hand: "I think you're looking for death."
A moment later, she pushed the controller back, looking apologetic: "Sorry, I killed it. This guy has such high intelligence, how come he didn't put any points into defense?"
Still haunted by the memory of her second target, she decided to strike first.
Shu Ningmiao chose to rewind time, bought gifts in the store, and forcibly made up for the negative favorability with quantity.
However, the maximum level of affection reached through gifts cannot unlock the romantic ending, because if the affection is not at its highest, love cannot surpass the other person's enthusiasm for exploring the unknown, and in the end, they can only end up as strangers.
The fourth target is a sunny, cheerful boy in the same class who is very popular.
This is probably the most comfortable one to win over. The favorability rating is very generous, and the interaction is very measured. He is calm, polite, and Zhao almost sheds tears for the normalcy of this boy.
However, even by the very end, their feelings for each other hadn't reached the level of lovers. He apologized to the protagonist, saying, "I'm sorry, I already have someone I like."
Zhao calmly picked up the terminal and searched for the market supervision bureau's number: "I want to report this manufacturer."
The fifth target is the holy son of a major church, who is full of mystery.
Zhao was too lazy to comment: "They dare to flirt with the Church of Praise? Hasn't this game company been sued yet?"
But this person was surprisingly easy to please, and the options he gave all fit the atmosphere of a dating sim. He would even take the initiative to invite the protagonist on a date. Halfway through the game, Xiao Jiang and Zhao actually started arguing about the controller.
"No, it should say 'You are my only one' here."
"That's too pretentious." Xiao Jiang pretended to be profound: "You should have said 'Who do you think you are?' to get his attention."
She presented her argument: "This holy son is also illiterate, so he should listen to me."
"What?" Zhao was so angry that her eyes went blurry: "I will never translate for you again."
The two started fighting and began to brawl.
Shu Ningmiao got up and took a sip of mint tea. Looking back, the sweet aroma of the drinks and fruit blended together. Zhao grabbed the controller, played the bad ending, and slumped on the sofa, utterly dejected. Xiao Jiang pulled out a knife and frantically slammed it into his stomach, only to be bounced back by the 'protection' he had put on his body, making a loud thud. It was quite a lively scene.
It's hard to imagine that this group of people will die in some war soon.
Often, people realize that they too will die through the death of others.
However, through her own death, she sensed the death of most people.
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Author's note: This is a very intimate message, maybe 40% intimate.
Not fully intimate yet. The older brother is too heavy, and once he tastes the sweetness, he'll haunt Miao like a ghost, which is a bit annoying.
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