Porcelain Doll
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Qiu Yu never thought she would be in a relationship with Chen Cebai.
And after marriage, no less.
Even more unexpected was that Chen Cebai had another side that was so…
Qiu Yu thought for a long time before finally coming up with a word.
Shameless.
But it was understandable. High-intelligence groups did seem to have less of a sense of shame compared to ordinary people. They were accustomed to thinking about problems without emotional involvement.
Yet if this trait was applied to relationships, it would be particularly… blush-inducing.
Yesterday, after Chen Cebai picked her up and brought her home, she went straight to take a shower, looking utterly exhausted.
—Ever since they confessed their feelings to each other, she had been in an extremely excited and lively state the entire way, occasionally wanting to kiss him.
Qiu Yu hadn’t lost her reason; she merely leaned over during red lights to plant soft kisses on his cheek or the back of his hand.
Chen Cebai’s expression remained indifferent, and he ignored her, but the car’s speed was noticeably faster than usual.
He had always driven more smoothly than autopilot, rarely overtaking or speeding. At this moment, though his speed wasn’t excessively high, it was already approaching the city’s upper speed limit.
Qiu Yu felt a subtle sense of satisfaction.
She thought she might be a bit perverse, actually enjoying the sight of Chen Cebai losing control.
Once they got home, her excitement had faded. Yawning repeatedly, she went to take a shower.
When she came out, she was dressed in a nightgown as usual, combing her hair. She was just about to slip under the covers when Chen Cebai suddenly grabbed her wrist.
She was so sleepy that she couldn’t even open her eyes properly, nor did she know from which direction his hand had reached out.
Like a predator lurking in the shadows, waiting patiently for her to approach before striking swiftly and unerringly.
With a single tug, she stumbled into his arms.
“I’m a little sleepy…” Qiu Yu naturally wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his cold collarbone as she murmured.
“Go to sleep.” Chen Cebai lifted her in his arms and placed her on the bed, turning off the light embedded in the bedside table. In the darkness, he silently watched her.
As if to accommodate her exhaustion, he neither kissed her nor engaged in any other intimacy. He simply remained motionless, gazing at her.
His eyes, like a damp and sticky brush tip, slowly traced the contours of her existence. If Qiu Yu had opened her eyes at that moment, she would have realized that the sensation of a “double gaze” was not an illusion.
In the darkness, it was as if Chen Cebai was turning into the observer. Or perhaps, the observer was becoming Chen Cebai.
They loathed each other, despised each other, yet they had no choice but to reach a consensus—to become despicable and hypocritical accomplices.
At first, Qiu Yu slept deeply, unaware of anything. But after passing through her deep sleep phase, she vaguely sensed an unbridled gaze.
A suffocating pressure, akin to sleep paralysis, crept over her. Her palms were slick with sweat, and she felt as though that gaze was slowly devouring her.
Half-dreaming and half-awake, she couldn’t help but reach out a hand uncomfortably. “Chen Cebai…”
In that instant, she felt a flicker of unease, fearing that—like before—he would offer no response.
But soon, her hand was grasped by another—ice-cold to the touch.
Chen Cebai’s hand.
Not only did he hold her hand, but he also lightly kissed her palm. “I’m here.”
Qiu Yu barely managed to open her eyes and saw that he was still sitting by the bed. In a dazed, coquettish tone, she murmured, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”
Chen Cebai lowered his eyes and looked at her.
One could only say that she was a genius at handling intimate relationships. Once she entered one, it became her domain. On the contrary, it was the state of being neither close nor distant that made her uneasy, leaving her caught in a dilemma.
“I’ll sleep in a bit.”
Qiu Yu drowsily blinked her eyelashes and rolled to the side, offering a warm space in the blanket. “I want you to sleep now.”
Chen Cebai ran his fingers through her hair and found his palm damp with sweat. “Hot?”
Qiu Yu shook her head. “I feel like… that person is still watching me.”
She wasn’t actually that scared, but to lure Chen Cebai into lying down, she deliberately shivered and said, “I’m a little afraid. Sleep with me, okay? I want to hold you.”
Chen Cebai didn’t speak.
After a while, he finally said, “Wait for me.”
He got up and went to take a shower.
Qiu Yu was no longer sleepy. She turned on the bedside lamp and played on her tablet while waiting for him.
More than ten minutes later, Chen Cebai came out of the bathroom and glanced at her. “You’re holding it so close. You might as well use the chip—it wouldn’t hurt your eyes at least.”
Qiu Yu had just watched a few short videos and was now completely awake. Hearing his voice, she immediately beamed. “Hurry up and sleep with me!”
Chen Cebai’s hair, freshly dried, appeared fluffier than usual, giving him a look that was both cold and languid.
He stared at her for a moment, then walked over and turned off the bedside lamp.
Darkness once again filled the room.
Qiu Yu tilted her head. Maybe it was just her imagination, but ever since they had confessed their feelings, she felt he had become more inclined to watch her in the dark.
Almost as if the dim environment made it easier for him to scrutinize her without restraint.
Before she could think further, her lips were sealed by Chen Cebai’s.
He held her lips between his own, slowly laying down beside her. As their lips and tongues entwined, he closed his eyes, as if intending to fall asleep just like that.
Qiu Yu couldn’t help but push him lightly.
She couldn’t see his face, but she could feel that he had opened his eyes.
Those cold, narrow eyes of his had an overwhelming presence.
“What?”
Human nature was truly strange. Clearly, they had already done the most intimate things, yet simply pressing lips together still made her heart race.
“…You’re not planning to just sleep like this, are you?”
“Didn’t I already say,”
He reached out, clasping the back of her neck, pressing her head down slightly. Then, leaning in close to her ear, he spoke in a voice so eerily calm that it was almost unsettling:
“You have to let me put something in your mouth. Otherwise, I’ll want to bite you.”
Qiu Yu’s drowsiness vanished completely. She covered his mouth in exasperation and said, flustered, “Just go to sleep!”
Chen Cebai let out a quiet laugh, his breath brushing softly across her palm.
It seemed like his teeth were truly itching. His breath was colder than ever before, sending a shiver across her skin and raising goosebumps all over her body. However, he made no further movements. After pulling her into his embrace, he seemed to fall into a deep sleep.
Lying in his arms, Qiu Yu found herself caught between the warmth of the blanket and the coldness of his body. It was clearly a hot summer night, yet she felt as though she had burrowed into a warm blanket on a snowy day, giving her the same kind of security as listening to falling snow under the eaves.
After she fell asleep, Chen Cebai suddenly opened his eyes.
His expression remained unchanged, his palm still resting on the back of Qiu Yu’s neck. His tongue lightly pressed against his canine teeth.
It really was itching.
In the pitch-black darkness, he stared at Qiu Yu without moving, his cold and sharp eyes gradually filling with bloodshot heat, veins bulging darkly across his forehead.
For an instant, faint, blade-like fangs flashed between his lips.
The urge to bite down surged through him.
To make her grow a gland that only he could mark.
From that moment on, her body would carry only his scent. Only he would be able to smell her, to soothe her.
Only he would be allowed to protect and care for her.
In the darkness, his desire for control grew like wild weeds.
Perhaps because she had woken up once during the night, the next morning, Qiu Yu found herself unable to wake up at all.
Chen Cebai called her twice, but she merely mumbled and coaxed him with sleepy murmurs.
Five minutes later, she felt herself being lifted up.
Chen Cebai said nothing.
His expression remained calm as he naturally began washing her face. Then, using his fingers, he pried open her lips and teeth, preparing to brush her teeth.
Hearing the buzzing sound of the electric toothbrush, Qiu Yu finally snapped awake. She shot up abruptly, reaching out to snatch the toothbrush.
But Chen Cebai didn’t let her.
“You can keep sleeping,” he said lightly.
With that, he held her chin in place, facing her directly, and began brushing her teeth.
“……”
How was she supposed to sleep now?
Chen Cebai lowered his gaze, looking as calm and professional as a dentist, meticulously and precisely cleaning her mouth.
Yet there was an indescribable trace of malice hidden in his movements—he only let go of her jaw when the toothpaste foam was about to spill over from her mouth, watching as she spat into the trash bin beside them.
From the moment she had woken up, his eyes had never left her.
Not even now.
A strange tingling sensation spread across Qiu Yu’s chest. She couldn’t shake the feeling that every single strand of saliva hanging at the corners of her lips had been observed with excruciating clarity.
By the time she finished brushing her teeth, she was fully awake.
She took a deep breath, using her palm to cool her burning cheeks. Her mind was filled with the scene from just now when she was rinsing her mouth—Chen Cebai held a cup of water in one hand, gripped her cheek with the other, and while feeding her water, coldly ordered, “Spit.”
Qiu Yu felt utterly conflicted at this moment.
She didn’t know whether she should continue lazing in bed in the future or not.
…Having Chen Cebai brush her teeth was just too stimulating.
Even after dozens of seconds had passed, her heart was still pounding wildly.
Lying in bed, she let her mind go blank for a moment. Just as she was about to get up and head to the dressing room to change, she saw Chen Cebai walking in, carrying her clothes—everything from her outerwear to her underwear.
He grabbed hold of her foot just as she stretched it out of the blanket and looked down at her from above.
“I’ll help you change.”
Qiu Yu thought that he was either trying to make up for three years’ worth of missing care all at once, or he had never gotten the chance to play with dolls as a child and was now making up for it with her.
As the thought crossed her mind, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Spreading her arms out, she grinned and said, “Alright, go ahead.”
Chen Cebai stared at her for a few seconds.
She had no idea how dangerously his need for control was expanding, still facing him with an innocent, carefree smile.
But merely taking over her daily routine wasn’t enough.
He wanted to keep her within sight.
Within reach.
Preferably so close that he could clasp the back of her neck at any moment.
His urge to protect, control, and possess her continued to swell, terrifyingly so.
Even Chen Cebai himself couldn’t predict just how far these desires would expand in the end.
He seemed to have turned into an insatiable, bottomless vessel—one that could only feel a twisted sense of satisfaction if he locked her inside.
Chen Cebai adjusted the bedroom temperature a little higher before walking over to help her dress.
Qiu Yu turned her back to him, completely unguarded as she pulled off her nightgown.
Her shoulder blades were delicate, spreading gracefully like a swan’s wings.
As he reached out to slip her clothes onto her, she shivered slightly—just like a swan caught in a hunter’s grasp.
For a fleeting moment, he had the thought that he could seize both of her wrists with one hand, just like pinning down a swan’s wings, and then swiftly bite down on her throat.
The thought lasted only a second.
A second later, he resumed his usual expression and helped her into her coat.
Then came her pants, socks, and shoes.
He knelt in front of her, and aside from the way he restrained her ankle as he put on her shoes, there was no visible trace of the terrifyingly expanding control inside him.
Qiu Yu simply found the experience novel and joked with a laugh, “You’re not planning to feed me breakfast too, are you?”
Chen Cebai glanced at her through his glasses and said calmly, “That was my intention.”
“…I was just joking.”
To avoid turning into a doll that only knew how to eat, Qiu Yu claimed she was going to be late and insisted on having breakfast in the car.
Chen Cebai had no objections.
Previously, it had always been the family driver who took her to work. Now that it was suddenly Chen Cebai, Qiu Yu found the experience novel, and the excitement from yesterday seemed to be creeping back.
As she nibbled on her sandwich, she seized the moment just before a red light turned green, quickly tilting her head to steal a kiss from him.
This way, all he could do was shoot her a warning glance, completely helpless against her.
But when they arrived at her company, before she could open the door and escape, she heard a soft click—the car doors had been locked.
Qiu Yu turned back just in time to see Chen Cebai taking off his glasses, revealing a pair of narrow, sharp eyes brimming with aggression.
He glanced at his watch, confirmed there was still time, and then suddenly reached out, forcefully gripping the back of her head before leaning down to kiss her.
The reason Qiu Yu called him “shameless” was precisely because he felt no shame at all. He even carried a hint of a male animal’s instinct to flaunt his possession. He pressed down the car window and, in front of several people walking toward them, calmly yet fervently sucked on the tip of her tongue.
At first, Qiu Yu was mortified, her ears burning hot and numb. But when she recognized those people as colleagues who had once gossiped about her, a strange sense of vanity and revenge was subtly satisfied.
—Those colleagues were staring at them in stunned silence.
Chen Cebai cast them a cold, indifferent glance before rolling the window back up.
Qiu Yu grabbed his hand, pressing it to her cheek in an attempt to cool down.
For some reason, even though his palm was so cold, the moment it touched her skin, her face only grew hotter and hotter.
With her ears still burning red, Qiu Yu changed the subject. “…Do you need my help?”
Chen Cebai shot her a questioning look.
“The watcher… do you want me to try and get ‘him’ to talk?”
Chen Cebai stared at her. “And how do you plan to get ‘him’ to talk?” He paused, then lightly pinched her burning earlobe with his thumb. “By dating ‘him’?”
“Huh?” Qiu Yu was baffled. She had only meant to fish for the watcher’s contact information.
What was Chen Cebai even talking about?
But he seemed to have fallen into one of his irrational states again. He gripped the back of her head once more and kissed her deeply, his tongue fiercely entangling with hers.
As he did, he let out an audible swallowing sound right beside her ear, his voice cold as he interrogated her:
“If ‘he’ demanded to kiss you like this, would you agree?”
Qiu Yu’s ears burned painfully, completely unable to handle this tactic. “…Of course not! I just wanted to get ‘his’ contact information!”
Chen Cebai locked his gaze onto hers, his sharp features gradually taking on an almost deranged intensity, as if struggling to suppress something yet failing to do so.
After a long silence, he finally withdrew his hand and shifted his gaze away. In a calm tone, he said:
“I don’t need you to do that.”
“Letting you remain under someone’s watch was already my failure. I won’t let you step into another kind of danger.”