There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Extra 4.1

The dining room in the Huo family’s main building was large and spacious. The long dining table almost gave Qin Ke a sense of being worlds apart from the man sitting opposite her.

If it weren’t for the dining room being so quiet that even the faint flickering of candlelight could be heard, Qin Ke would have no doubt that she and the man would need to shout to communicate with each other.

The white fox mask in the candlelight completely covered the man’s face, with only his pitch-black eyes visible, framed by the curved, smiling eyes of the fox. This made it difficult for Qin Ke to see him clearly.

She sat for a moment, but finally couldn’t resist standing up.

It was evident that outsiders rarely visited this dining room, as the other chairs on both sides of the long table had already been removed by the servants.

Qin Ke hesitated for a moment, then laboriously tried to drag her high-backed chair.

The man, who had been silently cutting his steak with a knife and fork on the opposite side, slightly raised his eyes upon hearing the movement.

“… What are you doing?” he asked.

“Moving the chair,” the girl answered, as calm as could be.

“…” The man’s hand holding the knife and fork froze for a moment. “Why are you moving the chair?”

Hearing this, the girl let out a light laugh, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes curving downwards.

“Of course, it’s to be closer to you,” she said.

“…”

“If we’re this far apart, how is it any different from eating alone?”

After saying this, Qin Ke turned back and continued to struggle with moving the high-backed chair.

In keeping with the decor of the dining room and the entire Huo residence, the chair’s design and materials were quite vintage. While visually appealing, the weight of the chair, with its back almost as tall as Qin Ke when standing, was formidable.

As a result, despite all her efforts, Qin Ke had only managed to move the chair a tiny bit.

From the other end of the long table came a not-so-small sound of a knife and fork clanking against a porcelain plate.

Qin Ke turned her head to look.

The man wearing the smiling white fox mask had a slightly stiff posture, clearly revealing his current state of mind through this unexpected sound.

After feeling the girl’s gaze, Huo Zhonglou decided not to hide it anymore.

He put down his knife and fork, walked stiffly around the long table, and finally stopped beside the girl.

“… I’ll do it,” the man said, his voice sounding even deeper and raspier from up close.

Qin Ke blinked.

Instead of immediately stepping back, she turned around, leaned against the tall chair back, and looked up at the white fox mask with a smile.

She stared until the man’s gaze became uneasy.

“Weren’t you going to…”

“I thought you weren’t going to take the initiative to pay attention to me at all.”

“…” The man silently clenched his fist, seemingly suppressing some emotion. He couldn’t even meet the girl’s clear and pure eyes at that moment, and shifted his gaze away.

He walked directly past the girl’s side to the back of the chair, bending down to move it.

However, just as the man was about to silently lift the chair, a new weight was added.

――

Suddenly, the girl pressed one knee onto the chair, holding the man’s hand that was on the chair back, and leaned close to him.

Inches away from the white fox mask, her eyes were full of laughter.

“…!”

The man’s back suddenly stiffened.

A few seconds later, he came to his senses and hurriedly tried to retreat, his voice filled with frustration as he spoke:

“–Qin Ke!”

At this moment, looking at the emotions in those smiling eyes, how could he not realize — her asking him to help move the chair was clearly just a part of her little plan?

“Why are you shouting?”

The girl’s smile grew even brighter.

Huo Zhonglou’s attempt to withdraw his hand was thwarted as the girl held two of his fingers pressed against her palm, immobile.

The warmth of their touching skin seemed to burn all the way to his heart, leaving yet another indelible mark.

Huo Zhonglou felt a twinge in his chest.

Desire and longing twisted like poisonous snakes, frantically entangling and gnawing at his heart. Countless voices, like auditory hallucinations, pounded in every vein, urging him to act, to severely punish this reckless girl before him, to make her understand the consequences of such unbridled teasing.

After all, they were alone, and no one would dare to disturb them. Even if he devoured her right here, no one would interfere.

It was her own doing.

“Huo Zhonglou, what are you thinking?”

A soft, gentle voice suddenly pulled Huo Zhonglou back to his senses.

All the distorted visions and roaring hallucinations receded like a tide.

Before his eyes was only this girl.

Qin Ke knelt on the high-backed chair in front of him, holding his fingers pressed against the side of the chair back. The candlelight behind her outlined her beautiful silhouette, softening her already lovely features.

She was so beautiful.

She deserved all the best in the world… not someone like him, who was destined to spend his entire life desperately struggling in the dark, filthy corners.

Huo Zhonglou, almost painfully suppressing himself, lowered his eyes and coldened his voice.

“What did you call me?”

“Huo Zhonglou, of course,” Qin Ke repeated with a slight tilt of her head and a smile.

“In a week, I’ll be your brother-in-law,” the man’s voice was cold and almost hoarse, his emotions frigidly detached. “You should mind your boundaries — because I don’t want anything to affect the wedding.”

“…”

Qin Ke was stunned.

In those few seconds while she was dazed, the man had already removed her hand, straightened her up, then picked up the high-backed chair and walked directly to the other side.

The chair was placed to the left of his seat at the head of the table.

Qin Ke instinctively followed his back with her gaze.

If she didn’t know the truth, she might have been fooled by his righteous words.

—

Stabbing himself so earnestly, was this man an idiot?

Qin Ke sighed inwardly with resignation.

“Are you going to sit or not?”

The man asked coldly without turning around, his back to her.

Qin Ke came back to her senses, as if remembering something, and her eyes curved.

She carried her own plate of food and walked all the way to her current position.

Her gaze fell to the side, where the man had already sat back down, appearing to look straight ahead, not even sparing her a glance from the corner of his eye.

Qin Ke smiled faintly.

She put down her tray and pushed her chair a little closer to the man’s direction.

Someone’s movement paused imperceptibly for a second.

Qin Ke also pretended not to notice and sat down with a smile.

“Do you really like Qin Yan that much?”

“……”

The knife and fork that had just resumed moving stopped again.

Qin Ke held back her laughter.