Chapter 66 Part 1

Zhong Nian felt dazed. By the time he snapped out of it, the man had already led him upstairs and back home.

With a “clang,” the front door shut behind them.

Zhong Nian came to his senses and realized they were now alone in a private space. He quickly clutched the flowers and pulled back a little.

The man seemed oblivious to his guarded posture. He shrugged off his trench coat and hung it on the coat rack in the entryway, then changed his shoes.

“Have you made friends with those people from earlier? What did you talk about?” As he spoke, he turned and saw Zhong Nian standing a meter away. He chuckled. “Aren’t you going to change your shoes?”

“I…”

“Let your husband help you.” The man took a pair of smaller slippers from the shoe cabinet and knelt on one knee in front of Zhong Nian.

In that short time, Zhong Nian thought through a lot.

In this game, his assigned role actually had a husband… Judging from the state of the items he’d observed earlier, they must be newlyweds.

He had originally thought it might be some other relationship, like brothers or something.

He was clearly a guy—why was it like this?

Any other relationship would have been fine, but this one left Zhong Nian completely at a loss.

Seeing the man kneel down to change his shoes, Zhong Nian couldn’t help but panic. He wanted to step back, but the man grabbed his ankle.

He lost his balance and instinctively reached for support. His hand landed on the man’s slightly lowered head, fingers gripping the black strands of hair.

The moment he realized what he’d done, he yanked his hand back.

But the man didn’t seem to mind at all. He focused solely on changing Zhong Nian’s shoes.

“The other one.”

Flustered, Zhong Nian followed the man’s guidance and lifted his other foot. Once it was done, the man stood up. Zhong Nian could clearly see that the man’s neatly parted short hair had a few strands messed up.

As the culprit, Zhong Nian felt a twinge of guilt. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if he should point it out or fix it himself.

While he hesitated, the man had already walked away. After putting away his shoes, he headed to the kitchen. He saw the untouched simple sandwich and milk in the microwave and asked, “Did you sleep until noon again and skip breakfast?”

“Uh… yeah.” Zhong Nian, who had indeed just woken up not long ago, touched his nose.

“I’ll order something now. What do you want to eat?” the man asked again.

“Anything’s fine,” Zhong Nian replied. He set the flowers on the table and stood there awkwardly.

After that, he watched as the man bustled around the apartment. He made the ordering call, heated up breakfast and brought it out to fill Zhong Nian’s stomach first, then found a new vase. He unwrapped the Manta Rose, trimmed the stems, and placed them in the vase filled with fresh water.

Holding the vase, the man asked Zhong Nian, “Does Little Nian like today’s flowers?”

Zhong Nian nodded. “I like them.”

“Where do you want to put them?”

Zhong Nian chose the bedroom. Seeing the man carry the flowers inside, he thought for a moment, set down his half-eaten sandwich, and followed.

In the bedroom, the man placed the flowers on the nightstand. He made the bed, drew open the curtains and window for light and air, tidied up the room, then went into the bathroom. He wiped the water stains from the sink, took the dirty clothes from the laundry basket to the washing machine…

Once the washing machine was running, he turned around. Zhong Nian thought he was off to clean somewhere else, but instead, the man walked straight toward him. He placed a hand on the back of Zhong Nian’s neck, pulled him gently closer, and naturally leaned down to plant a light kiss on his forehead.

“It’s because your husband forgot to kiss Little Nian the moment he got home. It won’t happen again next time.” The man smiled as he watched the young man stare at him with wide eyes, frozen in place. “In the future, you can just call me out on it directly. You trailing behind me all aggrieved like that makes me a bit nervous. It took me a while to figure out what I’d done wrong.”

The spot where the man had touched him felt like it had been zapped by electricity—numb and hot.

Zhong Nian’s back broke out in goosebumps. His whole body went rigid, and it took immense self-control not to push him away.

He remembered the game’s conditions: players had to play their roles well.

—A wife shouldn’t reject her husband’s affection.

He hadn’t expected that simply curiously observing the man’s behavior would lead to this. He’d been misunderstood as sulking because he hadn’t gotten a kiss…

He wasn’t even sure if he should explain.

The man spoke warmly again. “Do you remember the Apartment Rules? In a harmonious family, problems should be voiced and resolved right away. A lack of communication creates rifts in our relationship, and that’s no good.”

Hearing the man mention the key point, Zhong Nian’s long lashes trembled. “Got it.”

“Mm.” The man ruffled his hair and continued with his tasks.

Zhong Nian kept following, weighing his words before asking, “That Apartment Rules thing—do the people living here take it really seriously?”

“Of course. That’s beyond question. Why would Little Nian even ask something like that?” The man looked mildly surprised, as if Zhong Nian questioning it was abnormal.

On instinct, Zhong Nian didn’t press further and changed the subject. “Just wondering… Hey, has the food not arrived yet?”

Right on cue, the doorbell rang. It was the delivery person.

“Mr. Mo Heng, your order.”

Zhong Nian, who had been listening intently, finally learned his husband’s name.

The meal the man had ordered wasn’t from some hole-in-the-wall joint. It came in a wooden box without insulation, yet the dishes in the bowls steamed with heat—nothing like regular takeout.

“I heard the restaurant at the apartment entrance got a new chef. Give it a try and see if it suits your taste.”

Mo Heng’s words cleared up Zhong Nian’s confusion.