Chu Ge got out of bed, awkwardly scratched his head, "So... should I go?"

Qin Ruojing's gaze returned to the computer screen, "Mm, go ahead."

Chu Ge took a couple of steps toward the door, turned his head again to ask, "Should I really go?"

Qin Ruojing's gaze still didn't leave the computer, "Mm, go quickly."

Chu Ge stood for a few more seconds, seeing that Qin Ruojing didn't seem to have anything else to say, finally turned toward the door and continued walking.

"Click"

"Chu Ge"

The sound of Chu Ge turning the doorknob and Qin Ruojing's voice came at the same time, making Chu Ge stop immediately and turn back to look at Qin Ruojing.

"You..." Under Chu Ge's gaze, Qin Ruojing showed a somewhat complex smile, hesitated for two seconds, and eventually shook her head, "Never mind, it's nothing, you can go."

Chu Ge stood still, "Wife, if there's something you want to ask, just ask, no matter what it is, I'll tell you."

"In your phonebook... is it that you haven't saved my number at all, or did you give me some other alias?"

Being asked this by Qin Ruojing, although Chu Ge felt a bit awkward, he immediately said, "I gave you another alias."

Qin Ruojing nodded, "What is it?"

Chu Ge was just about to speak when Qin Ruojing quickly said, "Forget it, better not to tell me now, let me guess myself, alright, you go ahead."

Chu Ge hesitated for a moment, but eventually said nothing more, opened the door and stepped out. Carrying a complex set of emotions, he arrived in front of Qin Ruoying's bedroom door and gently knocked twice.

He waited a few seconds but didn't hear Qin Ruoying's voice, Chu Ge knew she must be even more awkward than he was, so he didn't knock again and gently opened the door.

As the door opened, in Chu Ge's sight, Qin Ruoying was wearing a light pink nightgown, her hair still wet, sitting against the headboard like Qin Ruojing but without a laptop on her legs, with her right leg draped over the left, gazing somewhat lost at the curtain, leaving Chu Ge a delicate profile.

Clearly, she was lost in her thoughts and hadn't heard Chu Ge's knocking at all.

Chu Ge stood for a couple of seconds; seeing Qin Ruoying still didn't notice him, he had to cough to remind her that there was suddenly another person in the room.

Qin Ruoying finally snapped back to reality, her body trembled slightly as she turned her head to look at Chu Ge, showing a very awkward smile, and softly greeted, "Brother-in-law."

Chu Ge was actually very awkward too, but he knew that as a man, if he acted coyly now, it wouldn't be appropriate, so he tried his best to smile openly, went over and sat down beside Qin Ruoying.

"What are you thinking about? So lost in thought? Didn't notice a live person entering the room?"

"Thinking... thinking..." Qin Ruoying shook her head, smiled a bit flustered, "Actually, I don't even know what I'm thinking, just a bit dazed. Oh, brother-in-law, are you thirsty? I can get you a glass of water."

"No need, I'm not thirsty."

Chu Ge waved his hand, the two looked at each other for a few seconds, and Qin Ruoying then turned her gaze away.

"Xiao Ying, about yesterday, I'm really sorry, I..."

"Brother-in-law, you don't need to apologize, actually..." Qin Ruoying interrupted Chu Ge, hesitated a bit, then said, "Actually, I have to thank yesterday's accident. If it weren't for that, you wouldn't be here today, I... don't blame you, I'm willing too."

Listening to Qin Ruoying's soft words tinged with a trace of grievance, Chu Ge's heart was filled with emotion.

He was about to turn his head to say something when suddenly Qin Ruoying's fingers blocked his lips. He saw Qin Ruoying shake her head, gently removed her soft hands, closed her eyes, and slowly leaned in.

A trace of hesitation flickered through Chu Ge's eyes. Just as there were only two to three centimeters left between him and Qin Ruoying, Chu Ge suddenly raised his right hand, just like Qin Ruoying had done moments earlier, blocking her lips.

Qin Ruoying's body trembled, she slowly opened her eyes, and in those eyes like autumn water, there was a faint mist of tears.

"Brother-in-law, do you mean all those things you said about liking me were just lies?"

Seeing Qin Ruoying's eyes starting to turn red, Chu Ge suddenly panicked more. He of course knew how much his previous action ruined the mood, and he surely understood what a great hurt this was to a girl.

"No, of course not." Chu Ge hurriedly shook his head firmly, awkwardly said, "I... I haven't brushed my teeth, um, wait a moment, I'll, I'll go take a shower too."

Qin Ruoying was momentarily stunned, watching Chu Ge's rare look of clumsiness, quickly broke into laughter, and pushed Chu Ge lightly, "Brother-in-law, you're so annoying."

Chu Ge chuckled awkwardly and finally let out a long breath, only then realizing that sweat had already accumulated on his forehead.

Getting out of bed, Chu Ge walked to the doorway when suddenly Qin Ruoying's voice came from behind, "Brother-in-law, you'd better not make me wait too long, otherwise... if I get angry, I'll make you sleep on the sofa in the living room."

Chu Ge turned back and smiled, then went out to the bathroom.

Warm water poured down from the showerhead as Chu Ge stood beneath it, letting the water wash over him, brushing his teeth carefully, while his mind kept pondering over the matters with the Qin sisters.

Rinsing off the foam, Chu Ge dried himself off, dressed neatly, and returned to Qin Ruoying's bedroom.

Qin Ruoying was still somewhat lost in thought and didn't notice Chu Ge pushing the door open until he coughed, bringing her back to her senses.

"Brother-in-law."

"Mm-hmm."

The two met each other's gaze, both a bit awkward, neither quite sure what to say.

Chu Ge sat down on a single sofa, scratched his head, and laughed, "Xiao Ying, did you watch 'Ikkyu the Little Monk' when you were young?"

Qin Ruoying was taken aback at first, then nodded, "Yes, I did, why?"

Though it felt like trying to make conversation out of nothing, saying something was better than not knowing what to say, and Chu Ge wanted to ease this atmosphere by playing a game.

Chu Ge sat cross-legged on the sofa, placing his thumbs on his temples, emulating Ikkyu, drawing circles on his head with his index fingers, and laughed, "Let's play Ikkyu's game, shall we?"

Qin Ruoying asked curiously, "Ikkyu's game? What's that?"

Chu Ge grinned, "Since you've watched 'Ikkyu the Little Monk,' you should remember there's a segment where someone asks questions, and Ikkyu responds. Let's do a Q&A session between us now."

Qin Ruoying thought for a moment, "Okay, you go first, then?"

Chu Ge nodded, "Alright, I'll ask a question now."

After speaking, Chu Ge smiled, "Question: Why would a guy stop pursuing a girl halfway through?"

Qin Ruoying was stunned for a moment, then imitated Chu Ge's style, sat cross-legged, placed her thumbs on her temples, and twirled her index fingers around her head.

Half a minute passed, Qin Ruoying made a sound effect of "ding" with her mouth, as if humorously acting out the cartoon gag where a light bulb appears over someone's head, and then she said "Answer."

Chu Ge smiled, "Go ahead."

Qin Ruoying laughed too and said, "Since you asked me this question, the answer surely isn't going to be the standard. So, I can't treat it like an ordinary question; it's more like a brain teaser or something. So, my answer is..."

Watching Qin Ruoying look all serious, Chu Ge was really curious about her answer, only to see her drag out the suspense for a few seconds before saying, "Because the guy suddenly realized he's just a backup option?"

Chu Ge chuckled and shook his head, "Wrong."

Qin Ruoying rolled her eyes at Chu Ge, "How is that wrong? This question itself is pretty nonsensical; how could there be a standard answer? My answer also definitely has some possibility."

Chu Ge scratched his head, "You're right; that answer is also a possibility. It's just that my answer is a bit different from yours."

"I don't care if you say my answer isn't wrong, that's enough. So, what's your answer?"

"Alright, my answer to the question is because there's no progress bar; who knows how far along they are—just starting, or about to succeed?"

Qin Ruoying giggled, "That's quite an interesting way of saying it, and it's not wrong. But even if there's a progress bar, so what? You thought it's free software, but after installing, you realize it's paid software, and if it's bundled with malware, it's even more frustrating."

Chu Ge laughed heartily, "Yeah, what if it's not just malicious but also comes with bloatware and even demands superuser access, that would be even worse."

Qin Ruoying's imagination ran wild, "What if the system has been flashed anew, that's worse."

Following Qin Ruoying's lead, Chu Ge laughed, "The system has an admin portal."

Qin Ruoying continued in the same vein, "What's even more annoying is there's a cracked version, maybe even shared by someone else."

Hearing Qin Ruoying say this, Chu Ge laughed even brighter. The same question when told to different people indeed brings different effects.

If he posed this question to Qin Ruojing, Chu Ge estimated she wouldn't have such an imagination, not spinning out all these quirky ideas.

It's likely he'd laugh to himself for ages, and all Qin Ruojing would calmly say is, "Oh, I see," and then there would be no follow-up. In that case, the joke would completely turn into a cold one.