Once there was a first time, the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth times all seemed quite natural.

Just like that, Qin Zhi developed the habit of taking afternoon naps with Su Duan.

Although the first few times he only laid there without sleeping, staring at the person in his arms for dozens of minutes, after a few days, perhaps having gotten used to it, his body calmed down and Qin Zhi began to truly feel sleepy, unknowingly falling asleep while holding the other person.

The feeling of an afternoon nap was even better than he imagined. Not only did he feel more clear-headed when working in the afternoon, but the act of holding Su Duan while sleeping was enough for him to spend the remaining majority of the day in a good mood.

Half a month passed like this. Although there was no particularly great tension, at least Su Duan could now sleep completely unimpeded while nestled against him. Qin Zhi was still quite satisfied with this progress.

After all, for this kind of slow-witted prey, it was best to use the tactic of boiling a frog in warm water.

That day, Qin Zhi waited as usual until the breathing of the person in his arms became steady. Estimating that he had fallen sound asleep, Qin Zhi gently kissed Su Duan's hair a few times, taking his daily dose, then closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

But what he didn't know was that just a few minutes after he fell asleep, the person in his arms opened his jet-black eyes.

With his head against Qin Zhi's chest, Su Duan blinked, not daring to move at all for fear of waking the other person.

Last night he had gone to bed a bit early at the Su residence, so today his drowsiness during the afternoon nap wasn't as heavy. When Qin Zhi kissed him, he vaguely sensed it a little and completely woke up.

Su Duan pursed his lips, feeling uncomfortable all over. After being dazed for a moment, he immediately wanted to crawl out of the arms of Assistant Qin who had done strange things to him. But his instincts told him that if Qin Zhi discovered he was awake, things might develop in an even stranger direction, so he restrained himself from moving.

Once Qin Zhi fell asleep, he definitely couldn't move then.

After spacing out on his own for a while, Su Duan managed to drag his dazed thoughts back and asked the system in his mind: "System, did Qin Zhi just...kiss me?"

The system replied: "Detected that three minutes ago, the treatment target's lips made contact with the host's head five times, lasting 5 seconds, 7 seconds, 12 seconds, 8 seconds, and 6 seconds respectively. That's right, the treatment target just kissed the host five times!"

Five times...there were actually this many!

Su Duan lay curled up in Qin Zhi's arms, his eyes wide and round, almost unable to restrain the urge to move.

He felt his heartbeat uncontrollably speeding up, like a pounding drum, making him dizzy with each beat.

After being dazed for half a minute, Su Duan quietly asked the system in his mind: "By kissing me, does he want to...become partners with me?"

Even if he felt slow in some aspects, he knew that in human behavioral norms, the meaning of a kiss was very unique. Only when one developed the desire to have a partner relationship with another person - whether short-term or long-term - would they kiss like this.

As a spiritual herb that couldn't take human form, Su Duan had never seen plants on Earth in the same situation as himself. Even making friends was very difficult, let alone having a partner more intimate than a friend.

Therefore, he was a spirit herb that had been single for several thousand years.

The system said: "The system has comprehensively analyzed the treatment target's behavior patterns for the host. Congratulations host, your guess is correct!"

Su Duan: "..." What's there to congratulate about this.

Su Duan composed himself and continued asking the system: "Can you analyze when Qin Zhi started having this idea?"

The system said: "Okay, okay, please wait a moment host. Because there is too much data to analyze, please be patient and wait one to two minutes."

Su Duan said: "Alright."

Two minutes later, the system reported its analysis results to Su Duan: "Reporting to the host, the system has conducted five analyses of the treatment target's behavior since the start of the mission, combining multiple real-world cases from human society. The final conclusion is that there is an 83% probability the treatment target developed feelings of a 'secret crush' for the host within ten days of the mission starting two and a half years ago."

Su Duan: "...?"

"Of course, because human emotions are very complex, conclusions derived from data analysis cannot guarantee absolute accuracy, so please use your own discretion host, and appropriately refer to your own intuition." The system added.

The very unintuitive Su Duan: "...??"

Perhaps sensing Su Duan's inner confusion, the system considerately asked: "Does the host have any other questions?"

Su Duan collected himself and said: "Um...no more, you can go rest, thank you." In any case, asking the system wouldn't yield much...

The system: "You're welcome! The host can summon the system anytime with any questions~"

Su Duan: "Okay."

After ending the chat with the system, Su Duan began arduously sorting through his memories.

Within ten days of the mission starting was when Qin Zhi was still a servant at the Su residence. Su Duan carefully recalled his memories from that time and found - he still couldn't see at all that Qin Zhi wanted to be partners with him.

Su Duan thought until his mind could barely turn anymore, but still couldn't figure out just what kind of mental journey Qin Zhi had gone through to come to like someone he should have originally greatly disliked.

Was it because he didn't harm Qin Zhi like in the original plot and helped him a little bit? But come to think of it, his older brother seemed to have helped Qin Zhi even more, so why didn't Qin Zhi go and like his older brother?

Su Duan: "..." No good, his head was spinning, he even felt so dizzy he was about to faint.

Just then, Qin Zhi's body suddenly moved and the hand around Su Duan's back also shifted position, moving to his waist.

Su Duan thought he had accidentally made some movement that woke Qin Zhi up. Frightened, he hurriedly closed his eyes and played dead. But after that movement, Qin Zhi didn't stir at all, seeming to just be unconsciously shifting in his sleep.

Only after cautiously confirming with the system that Qin Zhi was still sound asleep did Su Duan dare to open his eyes again.

Because of the earlier movement, a lock of Qin Zhi's black hair brushed against his face, tickling his cheek.

It just so happened that Su Duan's hands were curled up and resting against his chest. Feeling it was unbearably itchy, he timidly moved his hand up, brushed away that lock of hair, and scratched his cheek.

His cheeks seemed to be a bit flushed, Su Duan thought, but now his whole body was very hot. Qin Zhi's body temperature was too high, like a moving furnace, completely different from himself who often had cold hands and feet. In the past half month of taking afternoon naps together with Qin Zhi, every time he woke up, his body was warm and cozy.

Su Duan wanted to withdraw his hand, but just as he took a breath, his movement paused in confusion.

Because he wanted to lift his hand without disturbing Qin Zhi, he slightly retracted his upper body a little bit, causing his lower body to arch forward due to the reaction force, sticking even closer to Qin Zhi.

As a result, he suddenly felt something pressing against him.

— What was that?

Not sure what the situation was, Su Duan once again sought help from the system.

The system said: "Host, that is the treatment target's [beep—], which is in an excited state, preliminarily speculated to be due to external stimulation."

So that's what it was—

Compared to the long thousands of years he had lived as a plant, the two and a half years he had been a human were really too short, so he didn't immediately realize where the human reproductive organ was located.

Su Duan was in a daze for a full half minute before he asked with difficulty, "Does he... does he want to pollinate with me?"

System: "..."

"The host can also think of it that way, but that kind of behavior between humans is generally not called pollination." After an eerie silence for two seconds, the system gave Su Duan an affirmative answer.

Su Duan suddenly panicked.

Qin Zhi wanted to pollinate with him, but he had grown up to this age — and had never bloomed before!

Author's note:

Su Zheng: ??? Why bloom??? (Soulful questioning.jpg)

Su Duan: QVQ Eh? Eh? Eh?

#Today's big brother also has no scenes and is very angry#