Chapter 105: Wishes Best Kept in the Heart [Explosive Update 3]

"Are you alright? Should you go rest on the sofa for a while?"

Lin Luoyou watched him swaying as he stood before her, unable to bring herself to let go of the arm she was gripping.

Qin Shishen followed her gaze toward the dining area shrouded in darkness and shook his head. "It’s not that much trouble, I can just lean here for a moment."

If he were alone, he would have chosen without hesitation to lie down on the sofa or head straight to the bed upstairs—to hide in the shadows and let himself be enveloped and swallowed by that experience of despair. But with Lin Luoyou still in the shop, he found he was unwilling to let her see him in such a fragile and embarrassing state, even though this was already the second time she had caught him in such a predicament.

After helping Qin Shishen sit down, Lin Luoyou returned to her spot, idly stroking a cat with one hand while scrolling through her phone with the other. Yet, her eyes kept drifting toward him. Even her breathing gradually slowed, falling into a rhythm that matched the rise and fall of his chest.

Qin Shishen was well aware of her surreptitious glances; he simply chose to act as if he hadn't noticed. The way she tried to be subtle—though it was practically blatant—was something only she could think was well-hidden. It was actually quite amusing to watch her look down in feigned preoccupation whenever he accidentally lifted his brow, as if she were guilty of some petty theft.

The two sat opposite each other in silence, the shop so quiet that only the soft background music and the occasional whimper of a cat could be heard.

Watching this scene, Qin Shishen felt an itch to create, a sudden spark of inspiration. He reached under the counter to retrieve his tablet and began to sketch with his stylus. Before long, the rough draft of a 50-square-meter loft apartment took shape.

The entryway corridor should have a built-in shoe cabinet with a small stool for sitting. Further in, a semi-open kitchen. A retractable dining table would be best—pulled out for meals, it could seat up to five, and tucked away, it would function as a desk. By the floor-to-ceiling windows, he envisioned a sunken sofa area. The sofa itself should be a tatami-style or multi-functional sofa bed, turning the space into a home theater once the lights were dimmed. He would design the stairs as a double-folded floating structure, allowing for storage cabinets to be built underneath. As for the second floor, a small partition at the top of the stairs could serve as a walk-in closet, with a vanity desk against the wall. Next to that, there would be just enough room for a two-meter by one-point-eight-meter bed...

As he watched the interior design plan look more and more complete under his pen, a surge of impulse rose from the depths of his heart: If only she could be the mistress of this home, and they could share every beautiful moment together in these rooms... how wonderful that would be.

Without realizing it, he had poured his own longing into the design, straying miles away from the client’s actual requirements.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the unrealistic thought. A man like him, constantly on the verge of being swallowed by the abyss, was better off staying quietly in the dark, lest he bring trouble to those around him.

*I'll wait a while,* he thought. *When she becomes a permanent employee and decides to get a place of her own, I will give her this interior design plan as a gift.*

As for the current draft, it was mostly useless. Usually, he would discard such failed drawings into the trash without a second thought. But faced with this one, he found he couldn't bring himself to do it. After a moment's hesitation, he saved the file into a locked folder and named it: Home.