Chapter 67: Don’t Think About Kissing Me Today

Chapter 67: You're Not Kissing Me Today

Almost everyone’s gaze turned to Song Shimu, while only three pairs of eyes remained fixed on Qin Xu.

The looks directed at Song Shimu were filled with amusement, but those aimed at Qin Xu grew sharper and more hostile with each passing moment.

Suppressing the urge to lash out, Song Shimu playfully addressed the shareholders, "My computer wallpaper looks good, doesn’t it?"

"..."

"It looks great."

"Very nice, the photography is excellent."

...

Song Shimu’s words momentarily stunned the shareholders, who then obligingly played along.

It wasn’t their first time seeing the computer, and they knew exactly whose it was. But they all understood that this was a private family matter, and with the family present, it wasn’t their place to interfere.

Moreover, regardless of the relationship between Qin Xu and Song Shimu, the only clear message the wallpaper conveyed was that they were on good terms.

So no one made a fuss. Instead, they tactfully exited the conference room, leaving the space for the family of four.

Qin Xu remained unperturbed, disconnecting the screen share and closing his laptop.

Song Shimu walked up to him, reached around to his lower back, pinched the flesh there, and squeezed harder. Through gritted teeth, he whispered, "Are you getting back at me?"

"No, my wallpaper cycles. I didn’t expect it to switch to that one after I closed the presentation," Qin Xu explained, his lips tightening slightly.

Qin Song took the handkerchief handed to him by Tan Manjin, wiped his hands, and glared angrily at Qin Xu. "Can’t you show some restraint?"

Qin Xu replied, "It was an accident. The shareholders didn’t say anything anyway. Think of it as a heads-up for them."

"Are you two even stable enough for a 'heads-up'?" Qin Song frowned.

"Dad, you always say you want the student to surpass the teacher. When you first started dating Mom, you announced it to the world. The fact that Shi Mu and I didn’t make it public the same day we got together was already out of respect for your wishes," Qin Xu said calmly.

"You taught him well," Tan Manjin murmured under her breath.

"..." Qin Song took Tan Manjin’s hand with his clean one. "I didn’t teach him this..."

Tan Manjin didn’t respond. Qin Song turned back to Qin Xu and retorted:

"Did I tell you to surpass me in this? Even if you were going to be with a man, did it have to be with your brother?"

"I told you, I met Shi Mu first. If you’re worried about what people will say, just kick me out of the Qin family."

"Hey." Song Shimu pinched Qin Xu’s waist. "Don’t say things like that."

"You’ve planned this well, haven’t you? If I kick you out, the next step would be to take Shi Mu and get a marriage certificate, right?" Qin Song snorted coldly.

"We will eventually," Qin Xu said.

"..." Qin Song was left speechless, his anger growing. "Don’t speak so confidently now, only to end up being the one who cheat—"

"Dad!" Song Shimu cut in sharply.

Tan Manjin elbowed Qin Song. "Have you lost your mind? How could our son, whom we’ve raised for so many years, do something like that?"

"..." Qin Song’s jaw tightened. He realized he had misspoken but had no intention of apologizing. An apology would mean conceding.

"There’s no chance of that," Qin Xu replied.

Tan Manjin glared at Qin Song before turning to her two sons. "Qin Xu, Shi Mu, this is both of your first relationships. It’s normal to be idealistic and caught up in the excitement. Mom thinks it’s okay for you to date. You can even go public with it during this time, but you’ll have to face the criticism on your own. Once you’ve gotten through it and stabilized, you can make further plans. Is that alright?"

"Okay."

"Sure." Qin Xu and Song Shimu nodded.

Qin Song looked at Tan Manjin in disbelief, his expression seeming to say, *How did you suddenly accept this?*

"Also, let’s avoid having such photos appear in public settings from now on. Don’t leave room for that possibility," Tan Manjin said, looking at Qin Xu.

"Okay."

Having said her piece, Tan Manjin prepared to leave, taking her husband’s hand. "Don’t be angry. We should get going to catch our flight."

Qin Song frowned, feeling inexplicably abandoned. "You’re just accepting it like that?"

"What else can we do? Qin Xu met Shi Mu first. If they had gotten together earlier, we might have been able to recognize Shi Mu sooner, resolve the child-swapping incident earlier, and even have a proper talk with the in-laws."

"..." Qin Song fell silent.

Tan Manjin continued, "Besides, if we force them to break up, not only will you end up with two sons who want to cut ties with you, but you’ll also break up this family."

...*She had a point*...

Tan Manjin walked up to Song Shimu, ruffled his hair affectionately, and said gently, "We’ll be away on business for half a month. Take good care of each other during this time, and don’t get injured again."

"We definitely won’t," Song Shimu nodded obediently.

"Okay," Qin Xu also nodded.

"Alright, we’re leaving now. Bye."

"Have a safe trip, Mom, Dad."

"Safe travels."

After Tan Manjin and Qin Song left, only Song Shimu and Qin Xu remained in the conference room. Qin Xu picked up his laptop and started to leave but was stopped by Song Shimu.

Song Shimu narrowed his eyes at him. "You took that photo of me without asking?"

Qin Xu looked down at Song Shimu, a slight smile curling his lips. "You looked too beautiful. I couldn’t help myself."

"Smooth talker," Song Shimu said, hooking his arm around Qin Xu’s neck as if to kiss him.

Qin Xu smiled, tugging down his mask and leaning in. But when their lips were just five centimeters apart, a force pushed against his shoulder, pushing him back two steps.

When he looked at Song Shimu again, he saw his own phone in Song Shimu’s hand.

The screen was pointed toward him, and a second later, face ID unlocked it.

Qin Xu laughed quietly, stepping forward to wrap his arms around Song Shimu. His gaze was tender, with a touch of helplessness. "If you wanted to look, you could’ve just said so."

"That’s your punishment. You’re not allowed to kiss me at all today," Song Shimu said, opening Qin Xu’s photos. The first image that greeted him was a photo of his own sleeping face.

The ones that followed were also pictures of him asleep, and judging by the poses and the rumpled sheets, they were all from the same time...

"It looks like just today's sleeping shots take up several rows," Song Shimu looked up, said exasperatedly. "Are you using me to practice taking pictures?"

"No, I just thought they looked good, so I took them."

"One or two photos from the same day would be enough. Taking so many is just kinda creepy, you know?"

Song Shimu kept scrolling through the gallery and found that aside from work-related content, it was almost entirely photos of him. Every single action was captured in dozens of shots—one might mistake this for a professional photographer’s phone.

Qin Xu thought for two seconds, then nodded. "Alright, then just one or two photos a day."

"Hey, wait, what’s this?" Song Shimu’s scrolling finger paused as he tapped open a blurry image of a person.

The photo mainly showed a frosted glass panel, behind which the outline of a tall, fair-skinned figure was clearly visible...

"Ahem, this..." Before Song Shimu could figure it out, Qin Xu snatched the phone back, saying, "Recently, my gallery’s only got you in it."

Song Shimu snatched back the phone defiantly. "Why explain? The more you explain, the more guilty you look, you know?"

"..."

Song Shimu studied the picture closely. Through the frosted glass, only a blurry figure could be seen, with fair skin and lighter hair color, clearly in the middle of showering.

Looking away from the center of the image, Song Shimu noticed the carpet captured at the bottom of the photo. It looked familiar... as if he’d seen it in some hotel...

The Molanti Hotel—where he and Qin Xu had stayed a few days ago.

Qin Xu wouldn’t take a selfie, and he’d immediately said the person in the photo was himself!

"You took nude photos of me!" It hit Song Shimu, his eyes widening. Who would have thought that Qin Xu, who always seemed so cool and collected, would secretly take nude photos of him while he was showering!

Caught in the act, Qin Xu yanked his hand back, straightened up, and tried to escape, but Song Shimu was faster, pushing him back and pinning him against the desk.

Song Shimu slid a leg between Qin Xu’s, smiling at him. "President Qin, doesn’t this count as sexual harassment? Abusing your power to indulge yourself?"

Qin Xu’s eyes darted around before he grabbed Song Shimu’s hand, which was resting on the edge of the table, and pressed it against his own chest. "You can do the same to me."

Song Shimu pulled his hand back and shot him a look. "I’m not as perverted as you."

"Really?" Qin Xu’s gaze drifted toward Song Shimu’s pocket.

Noticing this, Song Shimu took out his phone, unlocked it, and opened his gallery to show Qin Xu. "My phone has none of your photos. Unlike you, who takes dozens of shots of the same pose like some total stalker."

Qin Xu took the phone and slowly scrolled through, finding mostly work-related content, occasional food photos, and some scenery shots—but not a single person in any of them.

Qin Xu grumbled, "You have no desire to keep any photos of me?"

"We see each other every day. Why bother? It’s not like it’s some special occasion," Song Shimu said.

"...It seems I don’t attract you enough." Qin Xu’s eyes lowered, his thick eyelashes veiling his gaze, making him look weirdly pathetic.

"Are you pretending to be pitiful now?" Song Shimu saw right through him.

"Then I’ll have to use this method to save them," Qin Xu muttered.

Song Shimu didn’t catch it and reflexively asked, "What?"

But before he could finish, Song Shimu’s lips were captured in a kiss, and simultaneously, a "click" sounded beside them.

Song Shimu froze, not expecting Qin Xu to be so hung up on getting pictures.

In that moment of surprise, Qin Xu took advantage to rapidly press the shutter, taking several photos in a row—the "click" sound going off nonstop.

The sound of the camera snapped Song Shimu out of it, and he raised his hand to push Qin Xu away. But just then, a sound different from the camera shutter suddenly came from the doorway—

"Thud!"

A dull thud. Song Shimu shoved Qin Xu off and looked toward the door, where Assistant Wen stood, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. One hand was clutching something black tightly, while the other hung empty but still held in a grasping position.

The sound had come from a roll of tape dropped on the floor.

"...I—Chairman Tan asked me to bring garbage bags and tape. He said a cup broke... You, you carry on." Assistant Wen stood frozen for a long moment, stammered an excuse, stood there a little longer, then dropped the garbage bag and quickly fled.

"..."

"..." Song Shimu shoved Qin Xu. "Did you do this on purpose?"

"It really was a coincidence," Qin Xu said helplessly.

"Mom and Dad told us to keep it low-key, and now your 'coincidence' has spread news of us kissing throughout the whole company?"

"...Let’s catch him later."

Song Shimu snorted and held out his hand to Qin Xu. "Gimme my phone."

Qin Xu handed it over. Song Shimu opened a group chat Yu Hua had created. The first message that caught his eye was, "The real and fake princes are together!!!!!"

The message must have just been sent—there were no replies yet. Song Shimu turned the screen to show Qin Xu. "Too late."

"...Which group is this?"

"Never mind which group it is—no kisses for you today." Song Shimu put away his phone and walked out without a backward glance.