After half a round of mahjong, Gu Yuanting’s expression gradually turned serious.

He stared at the tile he had just drawn and realized… this wasn’t going to be simple.

…

After one full round of mahjong, Gu Yuanting lost.

After two rounds, he lost again.

Gu Yuanting: “…”

Su Mama cheerfully collected the money she had won, yet still pretended to be dissatisfied:
“Tingting, I told you not to go easy on us. Why are you being so disobedient?”

Gu Yuanting: “…I didn’t. You just played really well.”

Su Mama beamed. “You really didn’t go easy?”

Gu Yuanting said, “I really didn’t.”
…He really hadn’t.

This wasn’t at all like what he had planned—he had intended to discreetly feed his parents good tiles and only lose slightly, maybe win a round or two without being too obvious…

But seeing his parents so happy, and Ranran enjoying herself too, he set that plan aside and continued playing with them.

Still, he was silently stewing over it inside.
Was his skill level actually similar to the original host’s?

After three and four rounds, Gu Yuanting’s small stash of cash was completely gone.

Su Yiran won a round, and seeing that Ting-ge had no more money, generously slapped fifty yuan down in front of him:
“It’s okay, Ting-ge. I’ll lend you some.”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

He used Ranran’s money to play another round with the parents—and promptly lost it all again.

Su Yiran teased him:
“Ting-ge, your luck’s awful today. Your face is completely black.”

Su Mama had won a lot and was very happy too. She chimed in:
“Yeah, even back home last year, Tingting didn’t lose this badly, hahaha!”

Gu Yuanting stiffened.
“…Just bad luck today. It’s getting late. Ranran should rest. Dad, Mom, let’s call it a night.”

Su Papa looked at the time:
“It’s almost nine already. It’s late. Go wash up and sleep.”

Su Yiran still wanted to keep playing, but remembering that his parents were usually early sleepers back home—bedtime by 8 or 9—he gave up:
“Let’s go, Mom. If you want to play, we can play again tomorrow.”

As they left the game room, Su Yiran noticed Gu Yuanting glance back at the mahjong table, as if he was still hung up on it.

He smiled and nudged him:
“Stop looking. Dark-faced Ting-ge.”

Gu Yuanting looked at Su Yiran’s sly, lip-pressed smile, and once their parents had turned the corner ahead, he couldn’t resist leaning down to steal a quick kiss on his lips.

“Hey…” Su Yiran was caught off guard and quickly glanced toward the hallway.
Seeing their parents had already turned the corner, he relaxed, took his hand, and shook it:
“Let’s go.”

Gu Yuanting had just gotten a taste and already felt itchy with desire.
He didn’t move, raised his chin, and kissed him properly on the lips.

Since his parents arrived, he hadn’t been able to get close to Ranran all day.
Normally he could kiss or hug him whenever he liked—but not today. Now that he finally got a taste, he didn’t want to stop.

Su Yiran’s face turned red from the kiss.
Realizing he was going in for a deep kiss, he quickly pushed him away and whispered:
“My parents are here. Let’s save it for tonight… in our room.”

Gu Yuanting, having only gotten two kisses, still felt unsatisfied—but his words were like a hook.
He looked at him and nodded seriously, whispering back:
“Okay. Tonight, in the room, I’ll kiss Ranran properly.”

Su Yiran: “…”
Seeing the way Gu Yuanting looked at him, he quickly looked away in embarrassment and tugged him toward the stairs.

As they reached the corner, he couldn’t help but warn him again:
“While my parents are here, you better behave. Don’t be like before—stealing kisses and touches whenever they weren’t looking.”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

“…Stealing kisses… stealing touches?”
He suddenly grabbed his hand, stopping in his tracks.

Su Yiran, flustered by him repeating his words, said:
“Anyway, just behave this time. No messing around.”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

How did he kiss him?
How did he touch him?

His chest rose and fell, jealousy boiling inside.
Suddenly, he pulled Su Yiran into his arms, lifted his chin, and kissed him hard on his soft lips—like he wanted to devour him.

Su Yiran was stunned by the suddenness of it.
He tried to push him away but couldn’t. All he could do was take it.
After a while, when he was out of breath, he finally let go.

Gu Yuanting asked in a low voice:
“Was this how I used to kiss you?”

Su Yiran was dizzy and didn’t quite catch what he said.
Just as he was trying to recover, he kissed him again—and this time, his hand slid under his shirt.
He finally heard him clearly:
“Was this how I used to touch you?”

Su Yiran didn’t know what nerve he had suddenly hit.
And this was the corner of the hallway! His parents were just on the other side!
One step and they’d see everything!

He panicked.
But under Gu Yuanting’s relentless kissing and touching, he got hot and dizzy.
Nervous, flustered, scared of being caught—yet utterly weak.

Downstairs, Su Mama had gone to get a hot water bottle but couldn’t find it.
Noticing the two hadn’t come down yet, she called out:
“Baobao, what are you two doing? Do we have a hot water bottle in the house? Help me look.”

Su Yiran panicked when he heard her voice.
He quickly pushed Gu Yuanting away and answered breathlessly:
“In your guest room—I’ll go find it.”

Hearing her agree, Su Yiran breathed a sigh of relief.
His lips felt numb from all the kissing. He glared at Gu Yuanting, completely fed up.

He had just been warned—and immediately broke the rule.
On purpose.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Gu Yuanting saw Ranran was mad and realized he’d messed up.
He sheepishly tried to hug him:
“Ranran…”

Su Yiran didn’t want to talk to him at all and shoved him off, walking ahead.

Gu Yuanting wanted to hold him again but didn’t dare, trailing behind him, full of guilt.

When Su Yiran entered the guest room where his parents were staying, he saw Su Mama rummaging through the bedside drawer.
He said,
“Mom, it’s in the corner cabinet.”
Then went to retrieve the hot water bottle and handed it over.

“Ah, so it was there. I looked forever.”
Su Mama took it and looked up—then paused.

Su Yiran’s eyes were misty, lips red and slightly swollen.
Meanwhile, Gu Yuanting behind him didn’t show anything obvious on his face—just stared at Su Yiran with guilty, slightly nervous eyes.

Su Mama understood immediately.

She was happy to see the young couple getting along so well, but still coughed meaningfully and said:
“Found it. You two go to bed now.”

Su Yiran couldn’t shake the feeling her cough was full of implication—but maybe he was overthinking it.
How could Mom possibly know what had just happened?

He nodded and was about to leave when Su Mama called out again:
“Wait a moment.”

She suddenly grew serious and said to them both:
“I know you two are very close, but during pregnancy, you need to practice restraint. Bear with it a little…”

Su Yiran: “…”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

Gu Yuanting felt like Su Mama had shot several arrows into his chest.

He had been restraining himself.
And yet—up to now—he still hadn’t succeeded in sleeping with Ranran…

Thinking of the difference between himself and the original host, Gu Yuanting quietly took a deep breath to calm himself and stay composed.

Back in the master bedroom, as soon as the door shut behind them, he immediately apologized:
“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Su Yiran twitched his eyebrows.
It felt like he’d been hearing this same apology every week for the past two months.

He couldn’t do anything about Ting-ge, so he just said:
“Don’t do that again. What if my parents had caught us? That would be so awkward.”

They had been married for years, sure—but being caught doing that by his parents? Just thinking about it made him cringe.

Gu Yuanting nodded obediently:
“It won’t happen again.”

Then he went to the small lounge next to the master bedroom, poured a glass of milk, and handed it to Su Yiran:
“Ranran, have some milk.”

Su Yiran took it and started drinking.
As he drank, his anger slowly melted away.

“…Am I too easy to appease?”
He wondered.
“Too easy to bully? That’s why Ting-ge always dares to tease me.”

Oh well.
Forgive and forget. Be the bigger person.

Gu Yuanting saw Ranran had finished the milk, took the cup away, and hugged him gently.
Seeing he wasn’t pushing him away, he pulled him fully into his arms—and, of course, leaned in to kiss him again.

Su Yiran: “…”
Fine.
The kisses… felt nice…

Gu Yuanting kept kissing, but the sour jealousy inside him bubbled up again.

He couldn’t help thinking: the original host had kissed Ranran like this too. Who knows how many times?
The jealousy boiled over.

While kissing, he suddenly asked:

“Was the old me better at kissing, or am I better now?”

As soon as the question left his mouth, his heart started pounding.
He was hopeful—surely he was a hundred times better than the original host.

Su Yiran: “…”

He was instantly reminded of what had just happened.

Ting-ge seriously had the nerve to ask whether his kissing technique had improved?!
His shamelessness knew no bounds.

So Su Yiran deliberately said:
“The old you was better. You’ve made no progress—actually, your kissing has gotten worse.”

Gu Yuanting:
“………………!!!”