Chapter 71: Can You Pinch Here?

His eyes darkened. This time, Yin Zhi didn’t pull away. Instead, he let his beast tail show.

He hesitated for a moment, then stuffed his beast tail into Wen Qian’s hands. Pressing his lips together, he looked at her with his slightly reddened eyes. "Qianqian, could you... pinch here too?"

A flicker of confusion crossed her eyes. In the dim light, Wen Qian couldn’t clearly make out Yin Zhi’s expression.

She just thought that the thick, long tail in her hand felt exceptionally good to the touch. The next moment, unable to hold back, she really did give it a couple of pinches.

The next second, the man buried his head in the crook of her neck and let out a low whimper.

Her soft fingers toyed wantonly with the young man’s tail as she felt his breathing grow heavier... It wasn’t until he started fumbling at her waist that Wen Qian finally sensed something was wrong.

’What the hell?’

Raising an eyebrow, Wen Qian grabbed his ear, trying to pull him up and off of her.

He slowly rose, following the pull of her hand. Only then did Wen Qian realize the man’s eyes were brimming with tears.

’Wait...’

’This...’

Even she wasn’t so dense as to not know what this meant. Wen Qian quickly pulled her collar shut and turned her back to him.

For some reason, she suddenly felt nervous.

The young man’s breaths were heavy and ragged. Wen Qian could hear them clearly, even with her back turned. Her face flushed bright red as she fought the urge to turn around.

The person behind her, as if afraid of startling her, made no further moves. He just curled up, pressing even closer against her.

Wen Qian’s body tensed. ’He’s not... doing *that*, is he?’ she thought.

About five or six minutes passed.

Wen Qian only snapped out of her daze when a hand snaked around her waist from behind.

Wen Qian was startled again.

’No way, he couldn’t have finished that fast, could he...?’

The image of his nearly perfect face flashed through her mind. Wen Qian pursed her lips, suddenly thinking it was a bit of a shame.

Yin Zhi had been feeling uncomfortable, but as long as she didn’t push him away, the feeling would gradually subside.

He had thought she was asleep, which was why he dared to reach out his hand...

’But... wasn’t she asleep? Why is she shaking her head?’

’Ah, whatever, forget it... Qianqian didn’t kick me out of bed today. I should hurry up and get some sleep.’

...

It seemed Gu Mian had timed his arrival perfectly.

Wen Qian had barely woken up when he came knocking on the door.

Yin Zhi, having changed into an outfit he was particularly pleased with, sat on the sofa with a cold expression, obviously waiting for him.

But the other man didn’t even spare him a glance, simply handing the breakfast to Wen Qian before leaving.

’What new trick is this?’

But Yin Zhi quickly figured it out. That guy was just trying to make his presence felt, because every single day that followed, he delivered breakfast.

Sometimes early, sometimes late, but as soon as Wen Qian was awake, he would invariably appear.

「Near the apartment complex’s flowerbeds.」

"Don’t you think there’s something wrong with him?" Yin Zhi complained to Ling Xuan in a corner, his arms crossed.

"Could it be a tactic..." Ling Xuan murmured, pinching his chin, even though he really didn’t want to think about such things.

But...

Before, he only had to think about these things because the Young Master was being a love-sick fool.

Things were different now. This had escalated to a matter of pride between the Tiger Clan and the Snake Clan.

The Young Master had said that a race as upright and majestic as theirs couldn’t possibly lose to an insidious and cunning existence like the Snake Clan, right?

However, at the time... Ling Xuan still didn’t know what PUA was.

"You’re saying he’s trying to get Qianqian’s attention?" Yin Zhi stroked his chin, looking thoughtful as well.

"It’s more than that..." Ling Xuan’s thin lips pressed into a line. After a moment, he lowered his voice. "For human females, habits are very important. Studies have shown... it only takes twenty-one days to change a person’s habits."

Ling Xuan declared, "That snake is probably trying to make the human female unable to live without him!"

Raising an eyebrow, Yin Zhi was clearly unconvinced. "Get her used to what? Having breakfast delivered?"

’I don’t believe any of that. Habits, sch-mabits... It’s all just mumbo jumbo! Total nonsense!’

But a second later, he grew anxious again. "Qianqian and I have lived together for so long, she must have gotten used to me being around, right? So if I run away from home, won’t that break the habit? Could this also be part of that damn snake’s treacherous plan?"

"..."

Ling Xuan stared at the sky, speechless.

’They say love makes you stupid.’

’But if it makes you *this* stupid, I’m starting to think being single is pretty great.’

The sunlight was perfect today—warm on the skin, yet carrying the unique crispness of an autumn day.

Wen Qian had brought a small stool out to the balcony, where she sat grooming Chi Heng. Meanwhile, Li Jiu, in his little bird form, was nestled atop her head, sunbathing.

He had his round little belly exposed, his two tiny claws twitching gently.

"If we don’t brush this fur, it’s going to get all matted." Wen Qian held a toothed comb, running it from the top of Chi Heng’s head downward and pressing faint vertical lines into his fluffy wolf fur.

Since she was ultimately responsible for Chi Heng ending up like this, she was determined to take very good care of him.

Squinting his eyes in enjoyment, Chi Heng raised his chin and let out a contented wolfish whine.

The sound was quiet, but the pleasure in it was unmistakable.

"Looks like you really enjoy being brushed, huh..." Wen Qian gave his side a few more strokes with the comb.

Chi Heng didn’t make a sound this time, but the tail behind him gave a couple of gentle wags.

’Oh, right. I almost forgot his tail.’

She grabbed the tip of his tail with one hand, and the next second, the wolf’s body went completely still.

Ripping his tail from Wen Qian’s grasp, Chi Heng retreated warily into a corner.

"What are you dodging for?" Wen Qian asked, startled. Displeasure flashed in her almond-shaped eyes.

The stool was small to begin with, and his struggle nearly sent her tumbling to the floor. Even Li Jiu was jolted from her head, flipping over in the air before fluttering his tiny wings and landing on Wen Qian’s shoulder.

"Awooo—"

Chi Heng stared with wide, round eyes, trying to explain, but Wen Qian clearly didn’t understand what he meant.

"If you don’t want me to brush it, then I won’t," she said with a frown.

"Awooo—"

The wolf, who had been cowering in the corner, was clearly getting anxious. He sidled up to her, nudging her arm appeasingly with his head.

His nudge pushed up the hand holding the comb. Wen Qian blinked. "You mean you do want me to brush you?"

He nodded vigorously, his eyes sparkling.

’No one had ever brushed my fur before. It feels... really nice.’

"Then you’re not allowed to dodge," Wen Qian said, then added, "I’ll do my best not to hurt you."

His tail wagged twice more. The next second, as if he’d thought of something, Chi Heng shifted his body to tuck his tail underneath himself.

With his tail safely tucked under his belly, Chi Heng’s soft ears twitched. ’This way, there won’t be any misunderstandings.’

Noticing his little maneuver, Wen Qian finally understood.

’Looks like a Wolf Beastman’s tail is also very sensitive...’

’But then again, were his injuries really that severe?’

’Li Jiu had his wing bones removed, and he only needed one or two weeks to recover.’

’But Chi Heng... he still hadn’t been able to transform back into his human form.’

’Could it be related to body size? The bigger the Beastman, the slower they heal?’

As she thought about this, Wen Qian turned her gaze to Chi Heng again.

As if sensing something, Chi Heng immediately buried his head between his front paws and pretended to be asleep.