Chapter 38

Yan Qingqiu's composure was fracturing. She wanted to kill the System, but at this moment, the System seemed to want to kill her even more. Its electronic voice scolding her devolved into a cacophony of noise, like a broken speaker emitting choppy bursts of static. It was on the verge of crashing at any second.

The robot was speaking in a language she couldn't understand, and she shouted as she scrambled out from inside. She wanted to just run, but the System screamed frantically, "I've temporarily got some of the wives under control—close the door! Close the door! Do you want them running out to scare people?!"

Yan Qingqiu couldn't care less about who they might scare. She just wanted to run—to survive. She had no time to worry about whether someone might see and get frightened. She bolted, not pausing to listen to the System at all.

The System was furious. "Run my ass! Look at their faces! See who's going to suffer when they get out!"

Yan Qingqiu stopped in her tracks and whirled around. She didn't want everyone to end up like Song Qingre, after all.

She had no choice but to go back and close the door. As she turned, she came face-to-face with all the wives. Their expressions weren't particularly vicious, but panic surged through her, her composure completely shattered.

Those non-human creatures had never been fully restrained. Some were genuinely fast, and the metal robot was especially aggressive—it broke free of its restraints in an instant, raising its hand as if it could smash the iron gate to pieces.

Yan Qingqiu frantically slapped at the electronic lock on the door. Close the door! Close the door!

The robot pressed its hand against the wall, while the jellyfish tentacles slowly drifted over. Yan Qingqiu shrieked, "Don't touch! Take your hand off!"

The metal face tilted in confusion for a moment, then, surprisingly, slowly withdrew its fingers.

The jellyfish tentacles were still there. Yan Qingqiu squeezed her eyes shut, grabbed them, and flung them back inside. As if zapped by electricity, they retracted with a whoosh.

The pink cheeks were now visibly flushed.

Damn, it was even getting shy.

Yan Qingqiu noticed her hands were sticky. She realized the metal person couldn't understand her speech, but might be able to understand her words—and obey her. The jellyfish tentacles were so sticky, so slippery.

"Qiuqiu, what are you doing?" A voice sounded from behind her. She turned her head—it was another Song Qingre. How did this one get out?!

Shit!

Yan Qingqiu felt like she might drop to her knees. This was the social elite Song Qingre. She pressed her back against the wall and pointed at the door. "Go in! Hurry, get in there!"

Song Qingre's gaze swept into the courtyard. Strange shadows reflected in her pupils, and she took a step forward.

"Don't come over here! Stop right there—get back!" Yan Qingqiu reached out to hit the door lock again, desperate to put her back inside. This one looked exactly like Song Qingre.

If this one ran into the real Song Qingre, it would be a battlefield of rivals—no, it would be the end of the world.

Fucking hell.

The door had just opened a crack when the System reacted first: "Close the door! Close it! This is the real Song Qingre!"

"Fuck!" Yan Qingqiu's fingers had gone numb, completely unresponsive. She kept opening and closing the door on repeat. At this rate, even a cripple could make it to the entrance. "Hurry up then, goddamn it! This is all your fault!"

In the instant the door shut, she saw the real Song Qingre's expression shift—like she was seeing some incomprehensible monster... Did she see them?

If she didn't, she'd have to be blind.

"Qiuqiu..." Song Qingre frowned at her and kept walking over.

"Don't move. Don't you move." Yan Qingqiu forced herself to stand straight, then sprinted over as fast as she could.

She wanted to block Song Qingre's view, but Song Qingre was taller than her. In a moment of madness, she stood on her tiptoes, hooked her arms around Song Qingre's neck, and pressed her lips against hers.

Their noses were touching. She angled her face, and they started kissing deeply. The other woman's expression was laid bare before her—Song Qingre didn't even blink, her expression seeming to say: What are you doing?

Yan Qingqiu locked her hands around the back of Song Qingre's neck, pushed forward, then slowly shifted direction so Song Qingre's back was to the gate. She sucked on Song Qingre's thin lips.

She let out an "Mm," then said, "Kiss me... Little Re, kiss me."

Song Qingre exhaled, seemingly stirred by her. A moment later, she kissed back, her fingers threading through Yan Qingqiu's hair, their lips and saliva mingling.

Yan Qingqiu's heart pounded. The door was shut, right? None of the wives saw, right?

She kept swallowing air until it turned into a constant swallow while kissing Song Qingre. So embarrassing—she was literally drinking Song Qingre's saliva.

Yan Qingqiu grabbed Song Qingre and pulled her back, opening the car door behind her. She pushed Song Qingre inside, then quickly bent down and pressed in after her. She felt eyes on her but couldn't afford to care anymore.

She straddled Song Qingre's lap, holding her face in both hands, completely blocking her view.

She kissed Song Qingre's lips, her teeth lightly biting down.

"Mm..." Song Qingre let out a muffled grunt.

Luo Xi's car drove by again. This time she didn't get out. She sat in her car, watching with her mouth agape. Just moments ago it was metal play, and now they were back in the car for... road head?

Yan Qingqiu was utterly shameless. And Song Qingre tried to get up, but Yan Qingqiu pushed her back down and kept kissing her, rocking so hard she could feel the car moving.

God, that woman really knew how to enjoy herself. Was she planning to run through eighteen different positions in one day? Absolutely shameless. Did she even think about turning off the lights at night?!

Luo Xi watched for ten minutes, then slowly turned her car around.

She raced home. Not long after, she dismissed the maid, grabbed her telescope, and stood on the balcony to watch. They were still in the car.

In broad daylight! Shameless!

Thinking about it—maybe Yan Qingqiu really didn't like Brother Fu anymore. If those two love rivals were together, didn't that mean she had a chance?

But strangely, she couldn't feel happy about it.

She couldn't understand how Yan Qingqiu had let go so quickly. First it was pretty models, then eighteen bodyguards, and now she was pulling eighteen positions with Song Qingre.

Why was she starting to feel envious?

··

Inside the car, their lips parted. Song Qingre's hands slipped into her clothes, gripping her slender waist. Their breathing quickened. Yan Qingqiu swallowed hard and watched Song Qingre's lips move. She waited for Song Qingre to tease her.

Today, Song Qingre could do whatever she wanted with her—as long as she didn't look behind her, as long as she could forget everything that had just happened.

"I just saw a Medusa—a snake-woman thing," Song Qingre said, parting her lips to breathe. Her black hair stuck messily to her cheeks as she exhaled, flushed from Yan Qingqiu's kissing.

Yan Qingqiu was terrified of snakes, but she could understand why there was a snake-woman wife.

She'd known since childhood that snakes were naturally lecherous—they coiled together, often in groups. Many novels wrote about snake-women... but she'd only ever heard about it, seen it in books, heard about it in stories!

She thought Song Qingre now looked like one of those enchanting seductresses—if her hair turned into snakes, she'd become seductive, breathtakingly beautiful.

That setting would look weird on anyone, but on Song Qingre it just fit.

Why did they all have her face?

So weird. So weird.

Yan Qingqiu couldn't decide. She asked, "System, what do I say? Should I tell the truth? I probably can't, right..."

But that wouldn't explain anything either.

The System said a few words, but she couldn't make them out. It spoke again—still like it was broken, all she heard in her head was a crackling "zzt zzt."

Her head throbbed. She frowned.

Song Qingre's fingers touched her cheek, tapped lightly, then slid up. Her elbow pressed against the seat, making it creak as she said, "I want to go inside and take a look."

Yan Qingqiu's face heated up. She shyly turned to look out the window, confirming none of the wives had escaped, then looked back. "No. Doing it in the car for our first time—I'm afraid it'll hurt." She blinked and added, "You're so bad."

Song Qingre didn't respond, just pinched her cheek. The meaning was clear: You think I'm stupid? I can see you're trying to change the subject.

"Actually, I was preparing a surprise. You know what cosplay is, right? I'm a model, so—I'm working on a personal piece for this upcoming runway show, and I hired some actors to come play dress-up."

"They can imitate transparent bodies?" Song Qingre's tone was skeptical.

Yan Qingqiu swallowed. She'd seen the jellyfish—but why didn't she ask about that first? She'd saved it for later, and now Yan Qingqiu was left speechless.

How to explain? How to explain?

"Can we... talk about this somewhere else? Let's talk while we drive. It's a long story."

"Can't I meet those actors?" Song Qingre pressed.

Yan Qingqiu closed her eyes. Her voice dropped, her bravado crumbling. "Please."

She took Song Qingre's hand and pressed a kiss to it. Song Qingre was silent for a moment, then her fingers brushed the skin under Yan Qingqiu's eyes and she said, "Get up. I'll drive."

They'd been kissing in the passenger seat. Yan Qingqiu didn't want to get out at all—she was terrified, her legs shaky. She squeezed through the gap into the back and flopped onto the rear seat. Song Qingre got out, opened and closed the door, then glanced toward the villa. She opened and closed the door again before getting into the driver's seat.

Yan Qingqiu leaned forward, thought better of it, and crawled back to sit in the back again.

Wah.

Why were there jellyfish?

She swore she'd thought about some weird stuff before, but she'd never imagined them coming to marry her. Wasn't it too absurd that the System conjured them all up to romance her?

"System? System? System?"

She called out repeatedly, but the System didn't respond. She was getting worried—not that the System had crashed, but that if it died, these wives would stay in the world. That would be the end—she and Song Qingre would both be doomed.

"System? Say something?"

No response.

"Qiuqiu?"

"Ah? What?" Yan Qingqiu snapped back to reality.

"I've been calling you for ages. Why aren't you answering?" Song Qingre said. "Have you figured out how to explain?"

Wasn't this over yet?

No, she had no idea how to explain.

"There's electrolyte water in the drawer beside you, and tissues too." Song Qingre glanced at her in the rearview mirror, her tone steady. Yan Qingqiu caught a glimpse of herself—her face was deathly pale, cold sweat beading on her forehead, like she'd just encountered something horrifying.

No wonder Song Qingre didn't believe her.

Song Qingre probably hadn't noticed that all those things had her face, right? She couldn't have—the ones leading the charge were all non-human creatures, each one bizarre, with weird hair that made it hard to make out their faces.

Yan Qingqiu lowered her head to rummage through the drawer. She fumbled in there for a long time, then grabbed a bottle, unscrewed it, and took a sip. She couldn't even taste it.

She said, "It's special effects—3D, high-tech stuff. You've never seen that before, have you? You know those robots at Universal Studios? It's stuff like that, borrowed. You're just so sheltered... heh."

Song Qingre said, "You borrowed that many? I saw a whole mass of them."

Sure, Yan Qingqiu was wealthy, but not rich enough to rent that much high-tech for a show. Besides, she still owed Song Qingre a ton of money.

"It's not like I borrowed them. Stop asking, stop asking—you're annoying me." Yan Qingqiu's voice cracked, weak, clearly trying to change the subject.

Her composure was in shambles. If you ask again, I might just go crash into a wall.

Song Qingre didn't push further after that. She drove quietly, at an even pace, her attitude impossible to read.

A normal person would believe her, right? Everyone's been educated...

But humans, no matter how much they trust science, occasionally entertain the supernatural. Like that period when she really believed in tarot cards—whenever she couldn't decide something, she'd draw cards to make a choice.

Yan Qingqiu thought it was over, but Song Qingre drove to some random place and stopped. She opened the door—of course, she'd picked a new spot to continue the conversation. She got out first and said, "Qiuqiu, give me a chance to see this high-tech stuff sometime."

That single sentence made Yan Qingqiu find Song Qingre more terrifying than all those creatures. Song Qingre's hand fell on her hair, gently stroking. "Don't be scared."

She'd driven them to the riverside. The wind blew, and Yan Qingqiu calmed down considerably. She'd been drenched in sweat moments ago, but now she felt much better.

"Actually, I just..." Yan Qingqiu's temples throbbed. The System was nearly dead, yet it was still torturing her. She just kept lying. "Actually, you can be so gentle sometimes. It's driving me crazy."

Song Qingre opened the car door, and the two of them faced the wind.

Yan Qingqiu exhaled, standing there for a long while until she steadied herself.

Song Qingre got back in the driver's seat, saying she'd take her home. Yan Qingqiu hastily said, "I'll go to work with you today! Take me!"

Song Qingre asked, "You want me to drop you at your company?"

"No, I want to go to work with you."

Yan Qingqiu sat in the back and buckled her seatbelt. She planned to keep an eye on Song Qingre all day. "I'm staying with you today."

If Song Qingre got curious and went to check out the villa, there was no way to explain it.

Besides, she was anxious and scared, wah wah wah.

Those wives looked so desperate and perverted.

And right now, she had no idea if they'd escape. Damn it, why wasn't the System coming out? It wasn't deliberately going offline, was it?

·

Yan Qingqiu was on edge.

Before they reached the company, she heard Song Qingre answer a call. But Song Qingre didn't let her listen—she chose to use her Bluetooth earbuds instead. Yan Qingqiu was nervous, squinting at her, leaning slightly forward to eavesdrop. Song Qingre just hummed twice and hung up immediately.

She asked, "Who were you talking to?"

Song Qingre was still on the phone. When she finished, she said gently, "A business partner. I'm having my secretary send her a gift."

"Oh, oh, oh." Yan Qingqiu wanted to ask what it was, but felt that would make her seem overly sensitive, so she dropped it.

When they reached the company, Yan Qingqiu suddenly remembered—her house had surveillance cameras! She could just check the footage to see what was going on inside. Why had she gone there in person?

I'm so stupid!

She was about to head upstairs to pull up the cameras when a jumble of static sounded in her head. She quickly pulled back her hand from the car door.

The System was finally back online. She could make out a bit of what it was saying.

Yan Qingqiu nearly burst into tears. She cursed the System in her head but immediately reached out to it: "Look how ridiculous you are. What kind of wives did you cook up? Are you deliberately trying to screw me over?"

The System's voice was still choppy, but she could faintly detect its fury. It said feebly, "Blame me? Can't you think of something normal? Like—like something human, 365 normal people. Why did you think of something so weird? And now you're blaming me?"

She'd only been joking when she said she wanted 365 wives—just running her mouth. It was the System that insisted on giving them to her.

And it claimed to satisfy her weird kinks! But she didn't even know how big her kinks were herself!

Yan Qingqiu cursed, "Ridiculous! Ridiculous! Your game is ridiculous—a garbage game, I hope you all crash and go bankrupt!"

Something scared the System. This time it didn't curse back at her. It patiently explained, "Host, this isn't ridiculous at all. If you want wives, inserting 365 NPCs is simple—it's standard storyline stuff, just a small data update to the game. The problem is that you're the abnormal one, which is why all this junk appeared. Are you... a little too perverted?"

Yan Qingqiu didn't answer right away. She'd spotted something.

So the System had no idea what it was summoning? No wonder it hadn't shown her the photos last time.

The game could update its data... She'd been here too long, almost assimilated into forgetting this was a game world.

Yan Qingqiu: "Sometimes I'm perverted even by my own standards."

System: "Host, I'm doing this for your own good. You messed this up yourself. You could have had 365 normal wives, but your own degeneracy summoned non-human ones."

Yan Qingqiu snorted coldly: "Isn't it your garbage game's fault for not detecting what I wanted before rushing to insert them?"

The System was so good at pretending. She knew perfectly well that the System had been itching to summon those wives so it could threaten her with 365 of them forever.

Having 365 wives was not a good thing.

She'd end up living in hiding. Even if she had all those wives to enjoy, what about afterward? Would it be a battlefield of rivals every day, sneaking around like an affair? She didn't have the guts for that!

If she hadn't wanted to try summoning Miss Yan, she'd have been stupid to attempt something so dangerous.

If she triggered her heat period, it wouldn't just be seven days and seven nights.

It'd be seven days and seven nights times 365 wives.

The System was malicious—it wanted her dead. Absolutely.

Still, she felt a little wronged and regretful. She hadn't managed to summon Miss Yan. She wasn't a particularly great person, but if she could summon Miss Yan, it would really... be worth it.

Dad, Xing Xing, and Song Qingre would all miss her, wouldn't they?

Actually, if Miss Yan came back, she could move out of the Yan residence, even return the body to her. Everyone here was so kind. She couldn't just casually occupy someone else's body.

Call her a saint or whatever—she didn't care.

She believed people weren't always evil or selfish.

At least she wasn't a bad person.

Yan Qingqiu looked up. Song Qingre had stopped the car. She glanced out the window—they were at the studio entrance. Why hadn't Song Qingre called her to get out?

"Song Qingre?" Yan Qingqiu tested the waters.

"Done daydreaming?" Song Qingre tapped the steering wheel with her fingers.

Yan Qingqiu nodded. More or less.

Song Qingre pushed the door open and got out. Yan Qingqiu scrambled out and hurried to catch up with her. Then she noticed that when she got close to Song Qingre, the System seemed to disconnect.

No matter how she called, the System wouldn't respond.

Upstairs, Song Qingre went into her office. Yan Qingqiu deliberately stayed away from her, standing by the window to call the System—and it came back.

The studio door opened, and Sheng Huajian walked in. She glanced at Yan Qingqiu, who was spacing out, blinking without a break, looking like she was holding a telepathic conversation with someone. It was kind of cute.

Sheng Huajian didn't make a sound. She tiptoed over to Song Qingre and asked, "Boss... the drone is ready. Are you going to use it yourself?"

Song Qingre kept her voice equally low. "Just release it. I'll control it myself."

"Okay."

Sheng Huajian glanced at Yan Qingqiu once more and slipped out as quietly as she'd come.

·

Yan Qingqiu was still standing on the balcony, spacing out, sighing every now and then.

Honestly, being pressed against the door had been a little thrilling.

Song Qingre looked so sexy like that.

Her fingers were firm.

She quickly glanced at Song Qingre. Song Qingre looked sexy at work too—just a shirt, two buttons undone at the chest, fingers tapping across the keyboard.

Then she looked at Song Qingre's long, straight legs, her exposed ankles, black leather boots on the floor.

Tread on me, not the floor.

She pressed her temples. Communicating with the System was painful, and being too close to Song Qingre made it cut out constantly.

The System spoke up on its own: "It's probably because you summoned too many women with Song Qingre's face. Think of them as fragments of her. The monsters carry traces of her data, so now I can't distinguish whether she's the real Song Qingre or one of the non-human things you summoned. It's a bit..."

Yan Qingqiu cut it off: "So, you're glitching?"

She heard the System grinding its teeth.

The System babbled on for a while, but she didn't catch all of it. Her head ached from listening, and she felt like the System was deliberately covering something up.

Yan Qingqiu asked, "Or maybe it's not my fault at all—you're infected? The game's infected? I swear I had weird thoughts, but I never thought you'd summon those wives."

The System was silent for a long time, possibly questioning itself, but its tone was dripping with sarcasm as it shot back, "What do you think? Do you think I'd deliberately summon monsters? This is a legitimate erotic game—a modern setting. All these bizarre non-human creatures appearing now—am I trying to destroy myself?"

After it spoke, she felt a jolt of pain in her head.

That nasty System was zapping her brain again.

Like it was deliberately getting revenge.

Bitch.

How laughable. The System couldn't keep up with her thought process, and now it had the nerve to blame her.

A system and an erotic game, and it had never seen tentacles, metal foxes, or any of that grand stuff, yet it claimed to be an erotic game. Not even remotely lewd.

How was this not modern? If they added all this to a modern setting, let players go wild for even a second, and the download numbers would explode. No wonder their game felt like a scammy web page.

Yan Qingqiu couldn't be bothered to keep talking to it.

The System's tone was odd as it said, "Also, you managed to imagine 365 faces as the same face? As a pervert, aren't you embarrassed?"

Yan Qingqiu thought to herself: No, I'm not. I think it makes me even more of a pervert.

Take that.

Yan Qingqiu: "Maybe I'm just loyal. You lured me with Song Qingre's lewd content, so now when I get in the mood, I only think about her."

As she said it, she moved herself to tears. Wah, I'm so loyal.

The System definitely expected her to imagine 365 different beautiful faces, all dropped into this world at once... How wicked.

She also wanted to ask why they all had the same face.

Yan Qingqiu shifted the blame and asked, "Isn't it your bug? The game crashed, and out popped all these creatures with Song Qingre's face? Instead of checking for bugs, you blame my perverted brain. Careful—the game might completely break down."

The System said nothing.

Yan Qingqiu felt she'd won. Maybe it was questioning itself now.

After a moment, the System said, "I'll investigate."

Yan Qingqiu didn't trust the System at all. She firmly believed that dragging her here for tasks—without even asking her consent—was evil, garbage, malicious.

Suddenly, it hit her. Maybe... the System was up to something!

Oh god.

Yan Qingqiu broke out in a cold sweat again.

She suddenly felt grateful she wasn't normal. The System couldn't grasp her perverted thought process and hadn't summoned anything normal. If it had been 365 Song Qingres... she might not have been able to tell them apart. But now, each one was so distinctive, she could definitely recognize them!

Maybe the System had been trying to mislead her just now.

Sensing the System about to zap her brain again, she darted toward Song Qingre. Song Qingre stopped what she was doing and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Yan Qingqiu stared at her computer, then leaned in and whispered, "Just looking at what you're doing."

The pain faded a little—not as sharp as before.

She looked at Song Qingre in surprise.

"You're weird," Song Qingre said, meeting her gaze.

"I just thought your lips looked sweet, and I wanted to kiss your face."

Song Qingre didn't seem suspicious anymore. She just looked at her and said, "That... always kissing cheeks and hands and eyes gets boring, doesn't it? Why not kiss the lips?"

Why did that sound so familiar?

If she remembered correctly, it was something Miss Yan had once complained about to Miss Song.

When she'd first read the butler's article, it had stuck with her.

Yan Qingqiu quietly backed away.

Yan Qingqiu stayed there all day. She secretly checked the surveillance footage a few times. The first time she didn't dare look—she turned it on and immediately off. The second time she watched more carefully and spotted several wives soaking in the swimming pool.

One wife's fish tail slapped the water. Whether she'd sensed Yan Qingqiu or not, she looked directly at the camera, and Yan Qingqiu nearly jumped out of her skin.

They weren't mindless creatures. The wives didn't fight each other—they each busied themselves with their own business.

But Yan Qingqiu worried: how would they sleep at night?

All of them.

Good thing she'd bought those bunk beds.

Sigh, she wondered if they'd actually use them.

Midway through, she got a call from Su Xingjie, who asked, "When are you coming to work?"

It was Sunday today—Yan Qingqiu didn't have to work anyway.

She was too stressed about the wives to think straight. She glanced at Song Qingre. Could she bring a plus-one to work? Probably not.

Su Xingjie said, "Qiu Bao, I've lined up a collaboration for you. Come to the office when you're free."

A lightbulb went off. What if she got Song Qingre to collaborate with ER? Then she could stay with Song Qingre every day!

I'm so smart!

"Okay!" Yan Qingqiu agreed quickly.

No matter how focused she was on the surveillance footage, she kept one eye on Song Qingre. She followed her everywhere, not missing a step. Song Qingre didn't try to send her away either—she let her tag along, only saying, "Don't keep your head down staring at your phone."

"Okay, okay, okay."

·

Finally, night came. Yan Qingqiu was exhausted from the day. She had no appetite in the evening and only ate a little.

Back in her room, she didn't dare sleep. Her mind kept replaying the System's warnings to stay alert—it said some creatures only came out at night but might appear in the dark.

Yan Qingqiu thought she understood why that setting existed.

At night, the urge for lewdness was strong, so the wives were probably more restless.

Even thinking about it scared her. She was mainly afraid the bizarre creature-wives would come find her. What if they pinned her down? She wouldn't even have time to fight back.

She had a feeling the System could send the wives back, but it wouldn't admit it. Probably a temporary malfunction from her messing up the game.

Good thing she'd only summoned 365. If it were double, she'd be done for!

She thought it over, back and forth, then hugged her blanket. She didn't even dare get into bed. Carefully, she crept to the next room and knocked on the door.

At first, there was no answer. She called Song Qingre's name, still nothing. She pulled out her phone to call when the door swung open.

Song Qingre asked, "What's the matter?"

"Um... I noticed you seemed lonely at night, so I figured I'd keep you company for a sleepover." Yan Qingqiu stammered.

Even as she said it, she wanted to slap herself. Do you hear yourself?

But it was already out. Can't be a coward now. Yan Qingqiu, whether she agreed or not, squeezed her way in sideways. "Tonight you seduced me, so I'm sleeping with you."

"Should I welcome you then?" Song Qingre said softly behind her.

Yan Qingqiu instantly relaxed. She walked into the bedroom, sizing up Song Qingre while kicking off her shoes, then dove under the covers. She called the System—nothing. Crashed again, probably.

Useless piece of junk. 365 wives and you're this overwhelmed!

Song Qingre apparently hadn't showered yet. She found clothes in the wardrobe, grabbed them, and headed to the bathroom. The room fell empty, and Yan Qingqiu lay there terrified. She slipped out of bed and stood by the door, listening to the sound of the shower.

Water rushed.

Her mind flashed to the image of the siren in the pool.

Hair wet, Song Qingre's face wet.

The water stopped. Yan Qingqiu dove back under the covers.

Song Qingre came out, wet hair hanging over her chest, her long nightgown slightly damp. Yan Qingqiu couldn't help staring at her legs, wondering if she had a fish tail.

Sigh, how strange. She'd never really fantasized about Song Qingre like that. Why was there a siren wife? Was her brain perverted enough to have limitless potential?

Song Qingre blow-dried her hair, and when it was dry, she climbed into bed and placed a tablet on her lap, starting to type. Yan Qingqiu snuck a glance—she was chatting with someone in some foreign language Yan Qingqiu couldn't understand.

"Sleep first," Song Qingre said gently.

I don't dare.

Yan Qingqiu thought: You're acting weird tonight. Why tell me to sleep first? Before, you'd always touch my body and massage me—even though I'm not running a fever tonight.

Her mind started wandering again. Was this Song Qingre even real? What if she was one of those superpowered wives in disguise?

The thought frightened her, so she slammed the brakes on her imagination. She lifted her body a bit and noticed Song Qingre glance at her from the corner of her eye, so she lay back down.

Her heart was racing. If she lost control and Song Qingre discovered a pile of strange things, what then?

Song Qingre looked at the computer for a while longer, then said, "Lights off. Sleep."

Yan Qingqiu was about to say "Don't—leave them on," but keeping the lights on would make it too easy for her to be caught. If one of the wives came looking, a fight between the fake and the real would be the least of her worries—what if Song Qingre got scared?

Song Qingre's arm reached over to turn off the light on Yan Qingqiu's side, passing over her body. Yan Qingqiu flinched. "So cold!"

"Mm? Sorry. When autumn comes, my hands get icy."

"R-right?" Yan Qingqiu's heart was pounding. It felt like she was lying. Those strange, beautiful non-humans were cold like that. She turned over, face burning, and pressed Song Qingre's hand to her cheek. "Since you're so cold, I'll warm you up."

"Thanks, Qiuqiu." Song Qingre stroked her cheek and gave it a sharp pinch.

Song Qingre let her fuss. The heat in Yan Qingqiu's face subsided, and she held Song Qingre's hand, squeezing it until it grew warm. Finally, she relaxed.

But soon she felt Song Qingre's breath heat up too. In the dark, Song Qingre's eyes were pitch black and bright, her breath landing on Yan Qingqiu's nose as she said, "Qiuqiu's squeezing feels really good."

That kind of praise was fatal. She blushed, let go of Song Qingre's hand, and tried to retreat under her own blanket. But suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist from behind. Her nose caught the faint scent of sea salt and citrus.

She even heard a lazy moan—a sweet, melodious sound, like something out of a myth.

Yan Qingqiu struggled to swallow. It's here. How did it get in?

Panic. What to do?

Soon, Song Qingre's arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, and a sweeter, richer scent enveloped her. She pressed against Song Qingre's chest and felt a thumping sound—it was her own heartbeat, not Song Qingre's. She took a deep breath and caught the faint smell of soap. Song Qingre was perfectly calm, but she was burning up. The hotter she burned, the more it reassured her.

If the lights had been on, she would have seen the purple-gold fish tail of a deep-sea siren behind her. The siren's purple-gold hair draped possessively over her shoulder, trying to tangle with her golden hair, while the black-haired woman embraced her from the front, holding Yan Qingqiu calmly, her hand firmly clamped around the siren's throat.

Yan Qingqiu breathed rapidly. She was a sandwich cookie.

Song Qingre couldn't see, right?

She felt Song Qingre look down at her.

The next second, Song Qingre applied a subtle force, and the siren tumbled to the floor with a splash. Song Qingre rolled over and pressed Yan Qingqiu beneath her.

Their eyes met. Yan Qingqiu swallowed. Song Qingre pushed herself up and asked, "Did you hear something fall?"

Yan Qingqiu turned her head away, only to whip it back around—because outside the window, a glowing jellyfish pressed its tentacles against the glass. Yan Qingqiu struggled to breathe. "N-no, I don't think so."

She wanted to cry.

Song Qingre let out a muffled hum. She took Yan Qingqiu's hand, slowly raised it above her head, and with the other hand traced a line from her chin to her lips. "Since no one's bothering us, let's do it."