Chapter 27 — Jokes

After dinner, Su Yanyi returned to her bedroom. A number of shopping bags were sitting on her bed. She opened them.

Bunny pajamas, panda pajamas, tortoise pajamas, and monkey pajamas, some twinset and others onesies, were inside. One word could sum up all of them: Cute.

These were the things she had ordered Kang Zhong to prepare for her.

Now then… which one should she wear first? Would she be able to make Qin Jiran smile with this? For the sake of his smile, Su Yanyi had really gone all out this time. She understood that some sacrifices had to be made.

【 Master, this tortoise one is so cute. Can you wear it first, please? That green shell is just too cute! 】001 chimed in, the fictitious little girl’s voice small and excited, leaving Su Yanyi speechless. She could only hope that Qin Jiran had the same tastes as 001.

She changed into the tortoise pajamas and made her way into Qin Jiran’s study. The man was talking to someone on the phone. His eyes darted instinctually over to the door when he heard it open, and the moment he saw her, his eyes widened, and his body froze.

The voice of the person speaking on the other line suddenly became background noise.

“You, you…” Qin Jiran suddenly felt that all words had failed him.

When the person on the other line raised their voice to ask Qin Jiran what he said, the man finally snapped out of his daze. He hastily said a few words into the phone before hanging up.

“You may continue doing your own thing, don’t mind me,” Su Yanyi said. As she spoke, she calmly made her way to a nearby sofa and sat down.

Qin Jiran ran his gaze over her attire, cautiously taking in her green tortoise pajama set. He struggled internally for a bit before finally saying with feigned composure, “It’s nothing. Did you need something? How about we have corn porridge for breakfast tomorrow? Fresh corn tastes very good.”

The mention of food made Su Yanyi feel pretty happy, but disappointment replaced it when she saw that Qin Jiran’s expression was cool.

Why wasn’t he smiling? Could it be that not even this ridiculous getup was enough to make him smile?

Sulking, she got up and walked over to stand in front of him. Then, she lifted her head and stared unblinkingly at him. Her stare was so unnerving that he felt goosebumps rising on his skin.

He took an uneasy step back but kept his gaze fixated on her face, afraid that if he looked down and saw her tortoise pajamas, he would laugh.

That would be bad.

His lack of response filled Su Yanyi with more disappointment. It seemed that her decision to wear such a ridiculous outfit really was… quite ridiculous.

“Continue working,” she tossed out before turning around to leave. Since this tactic was ineffective, she would have to think of something else.

Leaving behind the oblivious Qin Jiran, she returned to her room and changed out of the tortoise pajamas. Then, she threw them, and the other pajama sets, into her closet. She decided to never play cute again; it was much too ridiculous.

Meanwhile, back inside of Qin Jiran’s study room…

He seemed to be making sure Su Yanyi was really gone, and only then did he allow the corners of his lips to turn up. Finally, a laugh slipped out from between his lips.

Right then, Su Yanyi —who had just finished tossing everything into the closet— heard the System beep.

Congratulations on accomplishing the task once!

+1 Point.

Progress: 7/10

Please continue working hard!

Qin Jiran… is your reaction speed really that slow? Su Yanyi thought gloomily.

【 Master, do you want to take the clothes back out? 】001 asked timidly.

“Since he has laughed from this method, it’s time to switch tactics,” Su Yanyi replied as an excuse.

Wearing those ridiculous clothes once was already enough. Chances were, Qin Jiran was laughing at her expense again. She didn’t want to think about how tragic his image of her must be by now.

Qin Jiran, on the other hand, was thinking: How nice would it be if he had taken a picture of her like that and kept it as a souvenir?

Su Yanyi decked out in those tortoise pajamas was seriously a sight too cute to bear. He wondered if she would wear them again in the future? If she did, then he would have to remember to hold back his laughter. He definitely couldn’t let her find out how happy seeing her in those pajamas made him.

…..

As an activist, Su Yanyi refused to waste any time or opportunity to make Qin Jiran smile. Therefore, the next night, she entered his study again after dinner. This time, she was wearing ordinary pajamas, comfortable and homely.

Although Qin Jiran was a bit disappointed that she wasn’t wearing the tortoise set, he wasn’t surprised. He looked at her and habitually wanted to ask if she needed something. After all, that used to be the only reason she would seek him out under.

However, when he thought about her abnormal behavior in the past few days, he swallowed back his words and tried something different.

“Have a seat. Would you like some tea?” He asked, though he had already taken out a cup and was pouring tea into it. He liked to brew a pot of tea for himself every night after dinner. Tonight, it was black tea. It should be fine, right?

Su Yanyi did not refuse.

“Let me tell you a few jokes,” she said after taking a sip.

Qin Jiran blinked. He felt that his auditory hallucinations liked to come and go and bring him anxiety each time as it did.

Without waiting for him to respond, Su Yanyi started, “A reporter interviewed the dean of an asylum and asked, ‘How do you determine if a patient has fully recovered?’ The dean answered, ‘We would test the patient by filling a bathtub with water and putting a spoon and a large bowl next to them and telling them to drain the water out.’ The reporter said disapprovingly, ‘Of course they would use the large bowl!’ The dean looked at him and said slowly, ‘A normal person would think to take out the bathtub stopper…’”

Rather than giving off the impression that she was telling a joke, it seemed more like she was reciting a poem. Every word came out crystal clear, and she made the joke sound so pleasant that Qin Jiran fell into a trance.

He was immersed in the tranquil atmosphere and completely missed the actual contents of the joke, so when Su Yanyi finished and looked at him expectantly, all she saw was the serene expression in his eyes. There were no traces of a smile!

Why didn’t he laugh? Was the joke not funny?

“That one wasn’t funny, I’ll tell you another one. You have to listen carefully!” Having purposefully searched up numerous jokes on Baidu earlier, she had come prepared. She was determined to keep going until he laughed or smiled!

“Two mental illness patients, Mr. A and Mr. B, recovered at the same time. The doctor in charge of them instructed them, ‘If one of you relapses, the other one must take him back here immediately.’ One day, the doctor’s phone rang. It was Mr. A, who told the doctor, ‘Doctor, oh no. This morning, Mr. B climbed into my toilet and insisted that he was my toilet!’ The doctor prompted, ‘Quick, get him to the hospital!’ Mr. A was silent for a moment, and then he responded, ‘Then, then does that mean I won’t have a toilet anymore?’”

This time, because Su Yanyi had specifically told him to listen carefully, Qin Jiran did exactly that. He paid very close attention and at the end, he didn’t know what kind of expression to show on his face.

VIN: I’ve been meaning to say this since like chapter 5, but I kept forgetting. So, in the raws, the words “smile” and “laugh” are kind of used interchangeably in Chinese. They’re both under the character “笑.” And yeah, that’s all.