Chapter 352: Qingqing's Gentle Trap

"Swish, swish..."

The little girl was shoveling snow in the courtyard.

Seeing her brother-in-law enter, she stopped what she was doing and propped the shovel on the ground. Even though she wasn't tired, she habitually took a deep breath and let it out, then rested one hand on the iron shovel and put the other on her hip, looking at her brother-in-law: "Brother-in-law, did you see the snowman by the gate?"

"I saw it."

"Guess who built it?"

"You did."

"How did you guess?"

"How could a snowman built by Qingqing look this good?" Chen Shu told a little lie.

"Sister only builds snowmen when you're around." The little girl looked earnest, seeing through his lie, but not entirely.

"Why are you the one doing the work again? Where is Qingqing?"

"Reading books inside!"

"She let you come out to shovel snow while she reads inside? Her personality is truly wicked!"

"Brother-in-law, scold her."

"You go."

"You go."

"..."

"..."

The two exchanged a glance, then one continued shoveling snow while the other walked toward the house.

It was warm as spring inside the house.

Taozi was lying in front of a tablet, tapping the screen with her paw; judging by the sound effects, she was playing a fishing game.

Qingqing was sitting on the sofa reading a book.

Seeing Chen Shu enter, she shifted her gaze from the book and looked toward him, her expression indifferent:

"Very clever, Mr. Chen."

Chen Shu knew she was talking about him guessing the result of the duel between Zhang Suannai and Wu Eiwei in the group chat today. Given how well Qingqing understood him, she probably even knew what he was thinking when he made the guess; he sometimes knew her thoughts as well.

"After all, I am a Secret Sect Practitioner."

Chen Shu replied as such, walked in front of her, moved the bothersome Taozi and the tablet to the side, then calculated the distance and flopped onto the sofa, his head falling toward her thighs clad in dark gray leggings.

A pair of hands caught his head.

Then came Qingqing's cold questioning:

"What are you doing again?"

"I finally finished modifying the Tracer Technique recently." Chen Shu didn't get to lie on her lap as he had hoped, but he didn't mind; lying on her hands wasn't bad either, as Qingqing's slender, soft hands were also very comfortable. "It exhausted me to death; I need to borrow your lap to rest for a moment."

"Your credit limit has hit rock bottom."

"How did it hit rock bottom again?"

"You wanted to watch people tear their clothes."

"Oh! You saw that?"

"I'm not blind."

"Screen-peeping monster."

"..."

"Stingy."

"..."

"If you're willing to hold me, then hold me; it's not me who's tired anyway."

"..."

Ning Qing lowered his head.

The pure cotton leggings had a soft texture, neither thin nor thick, and the woman's thighs beneath also had a soft touch, emitting a faint fragrance.

Chen Shu closed his eyes.

Just then, Taozi's barking came from the side, waking him from his immersion in this gentle trap.

"Woof, woof..."

"What is she saying?"

"She's blaming you, probably blaming you for moving her and causing her to fail this level."

"Children should play fewer games."

"Mr. Chen, who loves playing games, is quite natural when it comes to lecturing others." Ning Qing said indifferently, recalling how he used the money from selling her hair to play games.

"This is different."

Chen Shu lay on his back and looked at her, raising a hand to hold up one finger: "First, she isn't a person, so this doesn't count as lecturing a person."

Ning Qing pressed his hand down.

Chen Shu raised his hand again, holding up two fingers: "Second, when I said children should play fewer games, it means adults can play them."

Ning Qing pressed his hand down again and grabbed it, not letting him raise it.

So Chen Shu raised his other hand, holding up three fingers.

"Third, there is no third."

"..."

Ning Qing continued to press his hand down, then covered his eyes with her own hand, not letting him look at her, attempting to use this method to make him behave.

Facts proved this was very effective.

The softness and warmth in his palm quickly calmed Chen Shu's heart, while the lack of light made him drowsy; in their long time together, this woman had long since figured out a set of ways to deal with him.

"Massage my head for me."

"Are you starting to dream before you've even fallen asleep?"

"I've been working overtime for a month, it's been so exhausting, my brain cells are all dead, hurry and help me relax." Chen Shu's voice was noticeably quieter.

"You'll relax naturally once you're asleep."

"If you massage me, I'll agree to date you once you finish cultivating the Seven Emotions."

"You're agreeing to date me?"

"Ah! Otherwise what?"

"Shameless."

"Fine, you agree to me." Chen Shu paused, "You massage me, and once you finish cultivating the Seven Emotions, I'll allow you to agree to date me."

"Shameless."

"Hurry, hurry..."

"I'll massage you once we're dating."

"Isn't it the same thing now?"

"It's not the same."

"How is it not the same?"

"I can't let you enjoy it in advance."

"What kind of logic is that?"

"It's what love psychology says." Ning Qing paused, her tone still indifferent, "Keep the other person feeling fresh about you. Some advanced dating techniques."

"Nonsense."

"It makes a lot of sense."

"Maybe the author of that book is a single dog themselves." Chen Shu spoke with the tone of someone who had seen it all, "Single dogs love teaching others how to date the most."

"That has nothing to do with this."

"Then what difference does it make whether we date or not, the way we are now..."

"The difference is, if we date, I'll give you a massage." Ning Qing's voice paused, "I can also let you hold hands, let you sleep with your head on my lap, let you do some things that are easily censored, and I won't even keep score."

"Gulp..."

Chen Shu couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

Only then did he realize—

How dare this scoundrel shake my Daoist heart!?

It's you who is in a rush to date me! It's you who wants to confess to me! You're the one in a rush! Not me! The one asking for benefits before this is me! Not you!

"Is your heart racing?"

Ning Qing's voice was uncharacteristically soft.

"It is not!"

Don't even think about turning the tables!

"You're lying."

"I'm not!"

Immediately, a hand was placed on his left chest, it was ticklish.

"Your heart is beating so fast."

"It's fake."

Chen Shu controlled it slightly, and his heartbeat stopped instantly: "Look, I'm already dead."

"Fool."

"Massage me quickly."

"Beg me."

"I beg you."

"Beg who?"

"I beg you, Secretary Ning."

"?"

"I beg you, Qingqing."

"Add some embellishment."

"I beg you, my dear Qingqing."

Chen Shu heard a hum of laughter from her, very light, very soft, like the natural sound made when exhaling sharply; it was almost inaudible if one didn't listen carefully, and it was hard to tell if she was smug or just laughing, yet his eyes were covered, so he couldn't see her expression.

Perhaps her brows and eyes at this moment were a radiance rarely seen in this lifetime?

The Emotion and Desire Dao is truly worthy of being a Secret Method of the Secret Sect; is this how those high and mighty Secret Sect Practitioners, like gods, regain their mortal hearts?

A silk scarf replaced her hand, covering his eyes.

Soft fingers pressed onto his temples, accompanied by the light tapping of fingertips on his forehead.

When she massaged him to the point of comfort, he mumbled that it was a waste of talent for Secretary Ning not to be a shampoo girl, and received a slap; when she massaged him to the point of discomfort, he mumbled in his half-asleep state that Secretary Ning should sign up for a class to learn the technique properly, and received another slap.

Gradually, he fell asleep.

Ning Qing stopped the massage, but did not move him away, nor did she take her hand away; instead, she let him continue lying on her lap, gently stroking his hair, not knowing what she was thinking about, her expression becoming soft.

Taozi struggled to turn down the volume on the tablet, because a cat's paws were not flexible enough, and the tablet's buttons were not as easy to use as a remote control.

Xiaoxiao came in to pour water to drink after shoveling the snow.

……

By the time Chen Shu woke up, the sky was already turning dark.

Qingqing was no longer by his side, but he was still lying on the sofa, only now there was a pillow under his head and a thin blanket covering him. Taozi was still beside him, playing a fishing game with the volume turned down very low; there was no telling how many it had caught.

"Mmm..."

Chen Shu looked left and right: "Where is Qingqing?"

"..."

"I'm asking you."

"..."

"Playing deaf? Then I'll bury you in the snow and turn you into a snow cat."

"Meow~"

Taozi glanced outside.

Facts proved that a cat wasn't incapable of hearing people speak; most of the time, it simply didn't want to pay you any mind.

Chen Shu walked out the door and saw Qingqing tinkering with a few potted flowers.

"Awake?"

Ning Qing asked without turning her head.

"Yeah."

Chen Shu leaned over and saw her carving a simple Rune onto a flowerpot—a First-level Rune for generating heat, with a very gentle effect—and couldn't help but ask: "Are you going to use Spirit Power to keep them warm too?"

"These pots aren't cold-hardy."

"Can it last for a week?"

"These next few days are the coldest."

"You're really idle..."

Chen Shu shook his head, then suddenly said: "Since you're so idle, why don't you just help me write my Moral Cultivation paper? We don't have Moral Cultivation class this week, and the final paper is due next week; I haven't even started writing it yet."

"The forum, 100 for a thousand words."

"How do you know? Did you find it on the forum?"

"I asked Xiaoxiao to write it for me." Ning Qing's expression was indifferent as she pursed her lips, "That's what Zhang Suannai did."

"How could you treat Xiaoxiao like that?"

"Do you want it or not? I'll tell her to write one for you too."

"I do!"

"..."

Ning Qing glanced at him coldly.

She then ignored him, walked straight into the tool shed, took out bags of sheep manure, and began burying winter fertilizer for the flowers.

"Playing with poop again." Chen Shu shook his head, "The moment I think about how that hand of yours, which was just messing around on my head, usually plays with poop, I feel all uncomfortable."

"..."

Ning Qing still ignored him.

She dug a circular trench, sprinkled the sheep manure, mixed it with the loose soil, and then filled the soil back in.

The sheep manure pellets had a very gentle fertilizing effect—of course, that was the polite way to put it; the impolite way was that they didn't have much fertilizing power at all, but they were just right for the dormant Chinese roses. At this time, the nutrients they needed were minimal, and applying too much would instead burn them to death.

She also improved the soil environment while she was at it.

……

That night, Chen Shu slept at Qingqing's place.

The next day, because it was the weekend, Chen Shu stayed in the small courtyard. Although he hadn't done anything today, he still felt he had worked hard, so he tried to lie on Qingqing's lap to have her massage him, but he was rejected; he didn't get to rest his head on her lap, nor did he get a massage.

Clearly, his shamelessness didn't work every time.

Because Qingqing was not without ways to deal with his shamelessness; on the contrary, she was a very cold person, she just often indulged him.

In a few days, it was the end of November.

Classes in University City had almost all stopped.

Chen Shu obtained from Qingqing the final paper that Xiaoxiao had hired a ghostwriter to write on the forum, titled "On the Moral Cultivation That New Era Cultivators Should Possess." After getting his hands on it, he skimmed through it once; he didn't know where it had been copied from, but it was actually written quite well.

Looking at the content, he expressed deep agreement.

Under the intense resonance in his heart, he felt in a daze that he was exactly such a new era Cultivator who possessed extremely high Moral Cultivation.