Yue Linze, sensing her fear, immediately helped her straighten her clothes after confirming there was nothing serious, and held her in his arms again, saying in a muffled voice: “You know, I will absolutely never do that again. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“…I believe you, you fool. Why else would I bring you back?” Tao Yu paused, then said with some difficulty, “It’s just that I can’t adapt right now, don’t take it to heart. It’ll be better in a couple of days.”
“Mm, sleep,” Yue Linze nodded, moving to the edge of the bed, trying to keep as much distance from Tao Yu as possible.
Tao Yu knew he was doing this to help her relax, but it made her feel worse. After a while, she couldn’t help but pull his hand, saying plaintively in Yue Linze’s stunned moment: “I’m a bit cold, hold me.”
Her soft voice carried a plea, and Yue Linze immediately lost all principles. By the time he realized, he was already holding her.
“Is this okay?” he asked uncertainly.
Tao Yu found a comfortable position in his arms: “Of course. Didn’t you hold me for a long time today?” She only had a temporary shadow over that incident, it didn’t mean she was afraid of Yue Linze himself. He was clearly overthinking.
Yue Linze relaxed, adjusted his position, and patted her back like soothing a child. After ensuring she was asleep, he stared at her for a long time until the sky began to lighten, then slowly closed his eyes.
Unfortunately, he didn’t sleep long before Tao Yu woke him up. Yue Linze sat up in a daze, squinting at her: “…It’s not even dawn yet.”
Tao Yu, rarely seeing him so groggy, laughingly cupped his face and pecked at him like a chick, until he laughed in a daze and pulled her into his arms.
Tao Yu shrank slightly, laughing: “Don’t sleep. We need to go back to solitary confinement.” No one could bring him back at night, but during the day they needed to take him out before anyone woke up, to prevent Lao Chang from suddenly deciding to check the solitary confinement room.
