Chapter 254: This Life, I

Song Yao stared at Xu Xu Qingzhou with a blank expression; she knew this guy had no good intentions—he'd been holding out this long, and now the mask was finally off.

Though Song Yao said nothing, her expression alone was answer enough.

But when it came to thick skin, Xu Xu Qingzhou had trained for this; he pinched her smooth calf again. "If you won't speak, I'll take it as agreement."

Song Yao's eyes widened, her teeth gritted—she wanted to punch him straight into the wall!

"Really, just to cool off under the AC, nothing else," Xu Xu Qingzhou swore.

"Hmph. Do you even believe your own words?" Song Yao's gaze darkened, amazed at how he could say something like that with a straight face.

Xu Xu Qingzhou sighed, face etched with sorrow. "Song Yao, if you keep doubting your boyfriend like this, our relationship won't last."

"Xu Xu Qingzhou, don't I remember someone telling Aunt Jia he wasn't afraid of heat—only cold?"

"Ah~ fine, I've already gotten what I wanted."

Read! {

He gave up entirely: "Fine, Aunt Jia asked me, and I refused to install AC."

Aunt Jia owns three apartments.

She just turned him down when he asked to cool off in her room—so now, this small act hardly seems worth stopping.

"I really should move around—my body feels rusted."

She studied her boyfriend again and again, trying to spot if he was still scheming.

Song Yao nodded, found a comfortable position in Xu Xu Qingzhou's arms, then added: "Let's go for a run tonight."

Xu Xu Qingzhou has too much on his plate: the Polignac conjecture, Professor Zhao's mathematical model, and now the quantum research institute's work too.

!.

Or perhaps he could force her now—men are physically stronger, after all—but she'd likely break free easily; she hadn't trained in martial arts for nothing. Song Yao realized her thoughts had drifted again and quickly shoved the nonsense aside, rising. "Let's go."

Song Yao took a quiet breath, forcing her tone calm as she picked up where she left off: "Let's go jogging at the May Fourth Sports Field tonight."

Xu Xu Qingzhou only needed to perform error estimation and correction, writing code to simulate the entire decoding process.

Song Yao glanced at Xu Xu Qingzhou coolly, holding back her urge to crush his ego; though he was still terrible, he'd lasted longer than before—this was a good sign.

Song Yao wasn't fooled; she rolled her eyes, pulled her leg from his lap, and stood to go read—but Xu Xu Qingzhou grabbed her, pulling her back into his arms. "Cooling off can wait. Just sit with me a while."

Xu Xu Qingzhou sat still, his expression slightly disappointed.

"Dream on. I meant—if you're hot, I'll turn my AC on early to cool your room."

"But wasn't that for my own sake? That old lady's over sixty, her kids aren't around—she needs to save for her retirement. And running two ACs? What a waste. We young people have to be frugal."

But Xu Xu Qingzhou didn't push further; he pinched gently, felt the texture carefully, then withdrew his hand—maintaining the right limit, so the warmth could last.

Xu Xu Qingzhou sighed deeply, nodded, breathed in the fragrance of Song Yao's hair, leaned back against the sofa, and closed his eyes to rest.

Xu Xu Qingzhou noticed the girl didn't stop him—so he let his palm fully cover her.

Song Yao pursed her lips, leaned against Xu Xu Qingzhou, paused, then said: "If you're hot..."

Like just laying out a chart and saying, "This is a company's financial report—here's what you can infer from it."

Xu Xu Qingzhou was startled, but still kept his composure, thinking: This girl is sharp as a tack—she knows exactly what I'm up to, yet pretends she doesn't.

"Ah, already leaving?"

Xu Xu Qingzhou kept his eyes shut, speaking as his fingers continued upward, meeting that familiar, nostalgic sensation.

Random number generation, quantum state simulation, measurement simulation, basis comparison, error estimation and correction, key extraction, and privacy amplification modules.

Song Yao comforted herself, her long lashes trembling slightly; she shut her eyes—and then realized, she'd been tricked again.

The two began real work: Xu Xu Qingzhou planned to formally start developing the decoding algorithm; across from him, Song Yao was writing an economic analysis report on the sharing economy.

Keep training like this—he'd one day be strong enough to force her.

Basis comparison, filtering, and data selection—all handled by Senior Qi, forming a complete data report. She wanted to suggest exercise, but quickly noticed the guy she'd just pitied had placed his hand back on her stomach.

But seeing Xu Xu Qingzhou's tired face, she temporarily forgot her suspicion of his scheming and whispered: "Xu Xu Qingzhou, Aunt Wang called me earlier, telling me to watch over you, not to overwork."

"Move to my room?"

As expected, this logic held true.

Xu Xu Qingzhou had already entered his zone, writing row after row of formulas on paper.

When the fourteenth lap ended, dusk fell, the track lights turned on, the night descended, and the air no longer carried the day's heat—only a cool evening breeze.

The track was busier than at dusk: people sang, danced, ran—full of life.

As for being frugal? Hmph—he was certainly meticulous.

Mr. Lu Xun once said: If you're in a room full of people and want to open a window, everyone objects—but if you say you'll tear off the roof, they'll agree to the window.

Xu Xu Qingzhou smiled back; he was much better now. Once, he'd been so busy he'd flipped day and night—now, staying up late meant getting punched by Miss Song.

Xu Xu Qingzhou glanced left and right—no one around. The lighting where they sat was just dim enough. Perfect.

Song Yao was genuinely tense—especially as his hand slid over, sending tingles through her, her heart trembling. Phew~ This kind of thing between boyfriend and girlfriend is normal.

"."

In truth, he'd never expected Song Yao to agree right now to going to her room.

"Once these busy days pass, it'll be fine."

At 6:50 p. m., Xu Xu Qingzhou and Song Yao changed into sportswear and headed out to run on campus.

"Hm?" Song Yao turned to look at Xu Xu Qingzhou, curious what he was thinking.

"."

The economics faculty never taught by rote from textbooks—they always grounded their lessons in reality.

Xu Xu Qingzhou felt smug after finishing fourteen laps; he could almost feel his muscles growing: "Am I getting abs soon?"

"You know?"

At the same time, his hand slowly moved upward, stopping just as it touched her bra.

He clearly felt the girl's body stiffen.

Retirement savings?

Song Yao found it strange—this guy had plotted for so long, and now he just gave up?

The two stretched-out individuals sat in their usual spot to rest.

Song Yao exhaled in relief, blushing as she rose from Xu Xu Qingzhou's arms, muttering: "I'm going to read."

To gain a few boyfriend privileges, he'd schemed this long—wasn't that hard?

"Cough~ I should get to work too."

This time, they used the BB84 quantum communication protocol.

But no other movements.

"This atmosphere is perfect for something more thrilling."

"If you like, I can show you what real thrill feels like," Song Yao raised an eyebrow.

"."

With Miss Song's violent temper, I guess I'll have to tread on eggshells for the rest of my life.

(End of Chapter)