The Eldest Brother, the Male Lead Who Doesn’t Like to Eat (26)

Tonight, Si Jiu drifted to sleep accompanied by the story of Sleeping Beauty.

This time, she truly fell asleep, so she didn’t hear the heartfelt goodnight whispered in the final phone call.

In the middle of the night, Si Jiu found herself once again pulled into Qi Yan’s dream.

Qi Yan seemed to be in the resting room on set, still dressed in ancient costume and wearing a wig, slouched in a chair, asleep with a script in his hand.

Si Jiu walked over to him and touched his face gently. “Qi Yan.”

Qi Yan’s eyes snapped open almost instantly, and he pressed Si Jiu’s hand down firmly.

“Have you not been sleeping well lately?”

His eyes were bloodshot, the dark circles beneath them too deep even for concealer to hide.

“You really came again,” Qi Yan’s voice was hoarse.

“Do you mean that if I sleep well, you’ll keep coming to see me?”

He pulled Si Jiu into his arms and seated her on his lap.

“But what can I do? It’s really hard to sleep without you.”

Si Jiu didn’t struggle; she nestled obediently into his embrace. “If sleeping means I get to see you, does it still feel hard?”

Qi Yan was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. “No, it doesn’t.”

Si Jiu raised her other hand to touch his forehead. “You look so handsome in that costume. What are you playing? A hero?”

Qi Yan replied, “A righteous yet ambiguous wanderer of the martial world.”

Si Jiu traced the hollow at his neck. “What about that movie you did last time? Has it been released? How’s the response? Too bad I couldn’t see it in person.”

Qi Yan frowned, displeased. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

Alright then.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Si Jiu arched an eyebrow. “Go ahead.”

“You seem to really like touching me. Can you tell me why?”

“Because…”

At that moment, a shadow leapt from Si Jiu’s balcony inside. Mantou, who usually slept in the living room, was instantly awakened. It barely bared its teeth before the shadow gave it a glance.

Mantou’s fur stood on end; it whimpered in fear, trembling as it crouched low.

[Host’s father, something’s wrong! Someone’s broken into your home and is now five steps away from your bedroom.]

[Who? Xie Yu?]

Even the system was aching for a headache. [Looks like it, but not really. Anyway, hurry back and do something! Ahhh, he’s at your bedroom door now.]

[He’s opened your bedroom door.]

Si Jiu: “...”

“Because I like you. Haven’t you guessed it already, Qi Yan?”

She cupped Qi Yan’s face, lowered her head, and kissed his lips.

The space began to distort and fracture.

The next moment, Si Jiu jolted awake in bed and met a pair of black and golden heterochromatic eyes.

No wonder the system seemed like Xie Yu but wasn’t quite Xie Yu.

His eyes were normally black; Si Jiu had thought the strange shimmer she’d seen before was just her illusion.

Now it seemed there was more hidden beneath his surface.

But what exactly was going on?

Xie Yu’s black and gold heterochromatic eyes fixed tightly on Si Jiu at close range, radiating an uncontrollable sense of danger.

Or perhaps, he never intended to hold it back at all.

The next moment, he leaned down toward Si Jiu.

Si Jiu: “Mmm…”

[Detection of imminent restricted content: system forcibly logging off.]

They cared quite a bit about human rights, Si Jiu thought, smiling.

“You’re here, stop daydreaming.”

Outside the bedroom, Mantou trembled silently.

The light brightened, and the man’s black-gold heterochromatic eyes gradually returned to normal.

Xie Yu lowered his head, gazing at the deeply sleeping Si Jiu, his face twisting into expressions of anger and pain.