Chapter 20: It’s Him. part 1
Although Mǐ Qiū was startled by his kiss, she still found herself lost in the hazy, romantic moment.
The man lowered his head, kissing her as if cherishing her, marking her sweet lips with his own exclusive taste. Mǐ Qiū had never felt a man’s warmth envelop her so completely.
It was an overwhelming sense of security.
“I warned you,” he murmured, “not to ‘lure’ me again.”
Mǐ Qiū rested her face on his shoulder. It was broad and solid, allowing her to quiet her mind completely. Shěn Qīnghuái buried his face in the crook of her neck, whispering close to her ear, “Guide Mǐ Qiū, you’d better not find yourself unable to stand…”
Mǐ Qiū’s legs were a little soft. After all, she’d been single for years. To be suddenly kissed like that—and she could tell he was a very good kisser—it would be strange if her legs weren’t weak.
She could only lean on his shoulder, using him as a brace.
She couldn’t quite describe the feeling—just that her body felt tingly and weak, and her lips were numb.
This time, Mǐ Qiū could truly invest emotion into Shěn Qīnghuái. Even if it was just an act, it required a genuine give-and-take between them. Listening to what he needed.
But Shěn Qīnghuái didn’t seem ready to let her go, and Mǐ Qiū was starting to feel drowsy…
She knew she had exited the dream. The lights in the room were still on. Thankfully, she hadn’t fallen asleep this time. The session had lasted exactly two hours. Mǐ Qiū felt she could truly understand his backstory now; the hypnosis revealed the finer details of his life.
Mǐ Qiū packed up all her equipment and put the isolation drug into Shěn Qīnghuái’s capsule.
Back in her room, Mǐ Qiū tossed and turned, unable to sleep. A major reason was that her body still felt weak and limp.
Mǐ Qiū went on the StarNet, looked up her current condition, and consulted an expert. It cost her about five Star Credits.
The expert said it was likely a reaction to the “dream invading reality.” This can happen when hypnosis goes too deep, but it’s usually temporary. She was told not to worry and to just drink some honey water.
Hearing this, Mǐ Qiū finally calmed down.
What about the brainwave fluctuation value? Normally, the data would be available in about three hours.
Mǐ Qiū couldn’t sleep, wanting to wait for the result. But the next time she woke up, it was already the next day.
She had slept until ten o’clock, completely missing breakfast.
The first thing she did was check the value.
Sure enough, it had dropped significantly. The value was now 6.9. Her efforts hadn’t been in vain. She figured it was related to the session’s length and frequency.
Now that she had this result, Mǐ Qiū knew what to do next time.
This wasn’t something that could be fixed overnight. She went to the fridge, got the honey, and mixed it with warm water. The warm water diluted the honey’s sticky sweetness, making it much easier to drink.
Hypnosis drained her energy, but less than half an hour after drinking the honey water, Mǐ Qiū felt much better.
She grabbed some biscuits to fill her stomach. She had to eat something, and biscuits were filling enough.
But she still felt sluggish. It wasn’t until she went to her private bathroom that Mǐ Qiū realized something else was wrong…
She hadn’t expected to get her period. The original owner must have had something stocked, but Mǐ Qiū searched the entire room and found nothing.
She was doomed!
She could order from the StarNet, but it wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. The StarNet had every kind imaginable, all colors and styles.
But that was too late. Mǐ Qiū thought about going to the island’s automated supermarket, but she was in bad shape. Her lower abdomen was starting to cramp.
This was not a good sign. Just as Mǐ Qiū was trying to think of a solution, someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“Guide Mǐ Qiū, are you feeling unwell? We didn’t see you at breakfast.”
From the voice, Mǐ Qiū knew it was Hè Chí.
“Yes, I’m not feeling well today, so I woke up late.”
Mǐ Qiū’s stomach cramped again.
She really couldn’t take it anymore. Hearing him still outside, she suddenly called out, “Can you buy something for me?”
She wasn’t just exhausted from the hypnosis; with her period starting, it felt like life had stacked every possible difficulty debuff on her.
Mǐ Qiū got up, scribbled a note, and slid it under the door.
“Please go to the automated supermarket and buy these two things for me. Nothing else.”
It was her only option. Mǐ Qiū thought.
Hè Chí picked up the note. “I recognize ‘brown sugar,’ but this other thing is…”
Mǐ Qiū explained, “Just find the shelf with that name on it. Any style is fine. Just please buy it. I’ll transfer you the Star Credits for whatever it costs.”
Hè Chí paused, then said, “Alright. Guide Mǐ Qiū, can you roughly describe what it looks like? I’m afraid I’ll buy the wrong thing.”
“What’s wrong?”
Was that Shěn Qīnghuái’s voice?
Their voices overlapped. Mǐ Qiū had wanted to keep this as quiet as possible. Oh no, Shěn Qīnghuái wasn’t going to find out, was he?
Hè Chí asked, “You’re here to…?”
Shěn Qīnghuái’s voice filtered through the door. “I came to return something. Guide Mǐ, you left the jar of hypnosis ointment in my room last night.”
Oh, right. That.
With great difficulty, Mǐ Qiū clutched her stomach and opened the door.
Shěn Qīnghuái was already holding out the ointment for her.
“Thanks, I’ll take it.”
Shěn Qīnghuái’s eyes landed on her, noticing her pale face and the way she was clutching her stomach. Hè Chí noticed too. “You look terrible.”
Mǐ Qiū forced a smile. “I’m fine. I just need those two things. I’ll be okay after a rest.”
Right, I still need to describe it to him.
.
Hè Chí had planned to go to the automated supermarket alone.
“I’ll go with you,” Shěn Qīnghuái said.
Hè Chí didn’t object. The two of them left for the store.
When they arrived, they had to pass a face scan to enter.
“Ding-dong! Face scan successful. One Sentinel detected. Supermarket entry authorized. All clear.”
“Ding-dong…”
Both men entered. The supermarket was large and impeccably organized. The aisles were clearly labeled, making things easy to find.
Shěn Qīnghuái spotted a figure in one of the aisles.
It’s Zhù Shāngchén.
Hè Chí noticed and asked, “Did he follow us?”
“Doesn’t look like it,” Shěn Qīnghuái said. “He was here before us. Back at the face scanner, the light bar on top read ‘One occupant inside’.”
Shěn Qīnghuái’s observation skills were truly something else. Hè Chí was impressed.
Hè Chí and Shěn Qīnghuái turned into an aisle and found the brown sugar Mǐ Qiū needed.
Hè Chí, not understanding, asked, “What’s the brown sugar for?”
Shěn Qīnghuái smirked. “Our Great Researcher Hè. So many experiments, yet you can’t figure out a girl’s heart.”
“Why would I waste time researching that?” Hè Chí pressed on. “I just don’t get it. You obviously do, so tell me.”
Shěn Qīnghuái had understood with a single glance at the note.
“Women,” he said vaguely, “usually have a time once a month when it’s best not to mess with them.”
“What time?” Hè Chí asked.
Shěn Qīnghuái just patted his shoulder. “You’ll figure it out.”
Hè Chí couldn’t be bothered to compare them, so he just grabbed the bottle of brown sugar in front of him, weighed it in his hand, and noted the reasonable price. He was a man who valued cost-effectiveness. As they walked, Hè Chí remarked, “It’s strange, though. A supermarket this big has no fresh meat or vegetables. Just a lot of daily necessities, instant food, sausages, canned goods, ice cream, and frozen stuff.”
Shěn Qīnghuái chuckled. “Why do you think Xiao Měi is stationed in the kitchen, dedicated to transporting vegetables and meat? If the supermarket had all that, she’d be useless here.”
In the hygiene aisle, they finally found the shelf stacked with blue and pink packages.
It was just as Mǐ Qiū had described—square packages, rectangular ones, covered in various designs.
Shěn Qīnghuái and Hè Chí glanced at each other, completely lost.
“Shěn Qīnghuái,” Hè Chí said, “you’re the detail-oriented one. Help me figure out which one to buy.”
Shěn Qīnghuái didn’t dare look too closely and just told Hè Chí to pick one. “Don’t they list the features on the package?”
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] After Accidental Marking, I Became Everyone’s Darling](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ABO-225x300.jpeg)