Hearing the sound, Shang Yu bent his knee to draw back his long legs, his Adam’s apple bobbed twice, and he propped himself up on the armrest to stand, "Come on, let’s go eat."
Li Qiao looked up at his tall figure, reached out and tugged at his arm, "Isn’t it ending in ten minutes? Let’s watch the end and then go, I’m not that hungry..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the man’s wrist flipped, and he gently pulled her up by her forearm, "You can ask Wang Yue about the admission results."
Li Qiao, caught off guard, stumbled to her feet, her shoulder colliding right into Shang Yu’s chest.
Great, sleeping slumped over for two hours made her legs numb.
Li Qiao was still holding his suit in her hands, half of her body leaning against his chest; the posture wasn’t particularly intimate, but... it was inevitably suggestive of throwing herself into his arms.
She looked down, moved her ankles, pursed her lips and frowned, then looked up innocently at Shang Yu, "Master Yan, my legs are numb..."
The implication being it wasn’t intentional to fall on you.
A smile crept across Shang Yu’s lips, his muscular forearm encircled Li Qiao’s lower back, and with a light hook, he subtly pulled her even closer, "Shall I carry you instead?"
Li Qiao’s heart pounded like a drum, feigning composure as she shook her head, "That won’t be necessary, I just need a moment to recover."
"Mm, sure, take your time," he said, but the hand on her lower back remained, the man casually and confidently holding her close.
Li Qiao couldn’t help but lick the corner of her mouth, breathing lightly, her eyes brimming with laughter.
Before long, the numbness in her ankle began to fade, and Li Qiao moved her legs, tilting her head back only to lock eyes with Shang Yu’s deep, dark pupils, "Master Yan, I’m fine now."
The man raised his eyebrows gently and softly touched the back of her head, "Alright, let’s go."
That afternoon, the admission results for the Red Hacker Alliance’s challenge came out, and Li Shaoquan made it by the skin of his teeth, ranking third from last.
When Li Qiao learned this result, she was holding her phone staring at Li Shaoquan’s WeChat page, irritably considering whether to block him.
She knew ten minutes ago that Li Shaoquan was accepted by the Red Hacker Alliance.
Because even now, ten minutes later, Li Shaoquan was incessantly sending her emoticons, along with a dozen calls, all of which she rejected.
The guy might be going crazy.
Five more minutes passed, and Li Qiao, having had enough, set his message page to Do Not Disturb and got up to go to the pantry.
Forget it, I should at least say congratulations.
She wouldn’t have to "raise a son" any longer.
In the pantry, Li Qiao dialed Li Shaoquan’s number.
The moment it connected, a sob came through, "Woo—Daddy."
He was crying, truly crying.
Li Qiao touched her eyebrows in exasperation, "Pathetic."
Li Shaoquan sniffled and choked, "You don’t understand, I’ve been called useless so many times over the years, and today I finally got my vindication, woo—"
Other than sighing, Li Qiao didn’t know what else to say.
She wasn’t good at comforting others, but Li Shaoquan truly had been through a lot over the years.
Holding onto the dream of youthful heroism, he had endured a bumpy ride for eight years.
Misunderstood and reviled by countless people, all for the sake of his youthful aspirations.
Leaning against the pantry counter, Li Qiao listened to the continuous sound of nose-blowing on the phone, and, with a look of distaste, she muttered, "Stop crying, congratulations on making your dream come true."
"Qiaoqiao, I want to go home..." Li Shaoquan, having cried enough, muttered pitifully into the phone.
It had been such a long time since he’d been home, having stumbled along this path alone for far too long.
Yet, on this day when his wish came true, he longed for home.