CHAPTER 157: CHAPTER 135: DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WITH US?_2

As for moving forward? Pots, pans, and a storage cabinet were right in front of him. If he stepped in the wrong place, who knew where his foot might end up? So, his first instinct was to brace for impact. He never expected it, though. He’d thought it would be gentle taps on his thigh, not the heel of a stiletto practically injecting him.

It hurt like hell! What a miscalculation!

"Help me up first," he said. "I’ll go sit on the bed and rest for a bit."

Getting up was a challenge. His neck was stiff, so he didn’t dare exert too much force, and now his leg was injured too. It took him ages and considerable effort, but he finally managed to stand and slowly shuffle to the bed. Along the way, he even righted the trash can beside the bed—one he’d prepared for Xu Qingqiu in case she needed to throw up again, though it hadn’t been used.

"Are you okay?"

"I’m fine, I’m fine. You sit down and rest too. After all, hitting someone is pretty exhausting."

Seeing Chu Tian still had the energy to joke, Xu Qingqiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, feeling even more guilty.

Chu Tian, however, didn’t blame her. He could tell she was genuinely terrified and hadn’t done it on purpose.

It was just... he’d really paid the price for his inexperience this time. This beating was so undeserved.

For a moment, they both sat in silence.

When the atmosphere felt a bit heavy and the pain in his body had lessened somewhat, Chu Tian spoke up, "Are you thirsty? There’s water over there, help yourself."

Xu Qingqiu checked herself. She was indeed thirsty. Not only that, her stomach was empty, and her head was splitting. Still, she pushed through it, fetched a bottle of water, and took a careful sip, her eyes fixed on Chu Tian with concern. Compared to him, her own discomfort seemed trivial. Her main worry now was how badly Chu Tian was hurt.

"Does your leg still hurt? Do you want me to take a look at it?"

The thought of her two-inch stiletto heel hitting him made her worry she’d seriously injured him.

Chu Tian looked at her, speechless. Take a look? How, exactly? By taking off my pants? Ridiculous...

"I’m fine. Now that you’re awake, you should go back. I need to rest."

"I... you..."

Only then did Xu Qingqiu realize she was in Chu Tian’s house.

"How did I get here?"

Seeing her confused expression, Chu Tian was genuinely speechless.

"Did you black out from drinking? Want me to help you remember?"

"Ah? I... Did I drink too much last night? I didn’t say anything I shouldn’t have, did I?"

Even someone as slow on the uptake as Xu Qingqiu, seeing Chu Tian’s teasing expression, finally understood the situation. Her face instantly turned crimson, and she averted her gaze as she asked.

Chu Tian barely suppressed a laugh. Thinking back to her antics last night, his biggest regret was not having recorded it. If he had recorded it and showed it to Xu Qingqiu now, would she be so mortified she’d want to find a hole to jump into?

[DING. The system can provide last night’s video footage. Would you like to exchange for it?]

Chu Tian was smiling when he suddenly heard the system notification in his mind, and the smile froze on his face.

Wait, is this system for real? How did it even think of offering something like that? What kind of system neglects its proper duties for such useless nonsense? Is it nuts?

Muttering to himself, he performed a lightning-fast operation to redeem and save the footage, then pretended he hadn’t seen a thing and continued to grin at Xu Qingqiu. His smile grew wider, becoming increasingly eerie and gleeful.

"What’s so funny?" Unable to stand his laughter any longer, Xu Qingqiu, flushed with a mix of embarrassment and anger, raised her fist as if to strike him.

"Stop! Wait a second! Don’t hit me!" Seeing her fist about to connect again, Chu Tian, already traumatized, panicked. Could he really handle new injuries on top of old ones?

However, he moved too abruptly, aggravating his stiff neck and making him grimace in pain.

"Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Here? Or here?"

"Did I hit your neck just now? Let me see." Thinking she might have accidentally hit his neck, she rushed to check for a wound.

But in her haste, her left hand pressed down on Chu Tian’s injured leg. The pain made him instinctively jerk his leg up, hitting Xu Qingqiu’s own leg.

This was a disaster. Xu Qingqiu lost her balance from the jolt and tumbled onto Chu Tian, her "headlights" pressing uncomfortably against his neck. For a moment, both of them froze, neither daring to move.

Xu Qingqiu was stunned by their awkward position. Forgetting to get up, she could only lower her head, her eyes wide and shimmering as she looked at Chu Tian, her mind a complete blank.

She was dazed, but Chu Tian was about to pass out! His neck was stiff, his leg was injured—the pain from both was bad enough. But now, his windpipe was being crushed by two ’nuclear bombs.’ Soft, yes, but damn, they were heavy too! He could barely breathe!

"Uh... um... could you maybe get up first? I can... hardly... breathe..."

"Ah? Oh! Sorry, sorry!" Realizing what was happening, Xu Qingqiu shot up like a startled rabbit and scrambled to the side, her face burning with a mixture of shame and vexation. She stood there, flustered, her hands fidgeting in front of her, unsure whether to clasp them or let them hang, looking utterly bewildered at Chu Tian on the bed.

At this point, it wasn’t just her who was flustered; Chu Tian was too.

Were they just naturally incompatible? In such a short time, he’d suffered more injuries than in the entire previous month! First his neck, then his leg, and now a direct chokehold—who could possibly endure all this?