Chapter 71 Old Love Letter He lowered his head and kissed her fiercely.

This was an autographed gift she won at the concert. After receiving it, Zhou Yu put it in her phone case, intending to find a chance to keep it. However, with so much going on at the start of the semester, she completely forgot about it.

Until it fell out of the phone case right in front of Chen Jingchi.

Zhou Yu was so frightened that he held his breath. Those few seconds felt like an eternity. He wondered what the other man was thinking.

Will you find that you've actually been thinking about him all these years? Even though she was the one who broke up with him, and she left decisively and cleanly, she's never really let go.

He was the person she had liked since she was 15; how could she possibly forget him so easily? During the years they were apart, not a single day went by that she didn't think about him.

No matter how calm or unfamiliar she seemed, it was all an act.

A suffocating silence filled the air.

Chen Jingchi remained crouched and looked up at her.

“Zhou Yu.” His gaze softened, and he spoke in a joking tone, “You’re not thinking of selling my photos for money, are you?”

While others hide a hundred or two hundred yuan in cash in their phone cases for emergencies, she hides his autographed photo. It was taken in the dressing room at his eighth-anniversary concert, and only six copies were available to audience members. In terms of value, this Polaroid photo could fetch a good price.

The expected scene did not occur, leaving Zhou Yu speechless for a long time before finally finding his voice: "How much is it worth?"

Chen Jingchi laughed and put her phone case back in, leaving the photos inside intact.

He got up and returned the phone to her, saying, "Keep it; it won't fetch much money."

Zhou Yu hadn't intended to sell it; she only regretted not hiding it somewhere else. She had a vague premonition, but couldn't confirm it, and her mind was in turmoil.

Chen Jingchi took two steps back, placed his hand on the doorknob, and before leaving, he instructed, "Don't order takeout, I'll deliver it to you tomorrow too."

"No need." This time she refused decisively, "I can do it myself."

This time he didn't insist, but just glanced at her a few more times before closing the door.

He walked for a while before Zhou Yu sat down at the table with the thermos. He opened the lid, and a fragrant aroma wafted out: egg and loofah soup, steamed sea bass, and beef stew with carrots. Even though he didn't make it himself, it was still a token of his affection.

She didn't eat much at the staff canteen at noon because she didn't have a good appetite. After taking a nap, she was starving, and seeing the food finally whetted her appetite. Just after she finished eating, Chen Jingchi, as if he had a premonition, sent her a message on time, reminding her to take her temperature and take her medicine.

The fever subsided, and he took his medicine. Zhou Yu replied briefly with an OK sign.

Around 9 p.m., Zhou Yu received a message from Liu Cheng, asking her to do him a favor and reply when she had time.

Zhou Yu: [What is it?]

Liu Cheng called her on voice call, explaining that the air conditioner in her rented apartment was broken. He had just reported it to the landlord that evening and asked if she could stay at her place for a few days until the air conditioner was fixed.

Liu Cheng originally wanted to do part-time jobs to earn some pocket money during his freshman year. He accidentally posted a few photos on social media and became a minor internet sensation because of his looks. Later, he became a vlog blogger. He usually had to stay up late to edit videos and didn't want to disturb his roommates, so he moved out of the dormitory in the second semester of his freshman year and rented a house off-campus.

Zhou Yu currently lives in a two-bedroom apartment, with one of the secondary bedrooms already empty. Since autumn began and the temperature hasn't dropped, approaching 37 degrees Celsius, it's truly unbearable without air conditioning. She's the only relative living in Jiangbei, so he has no choice but to ask her for help.

“Come here,” Zhou Yu explained, “but I don’t have any extra blankets, so please bring your own.”

"Okay! Thank you, sis!" Liu Cheng assured her, "I'll just go over to sleep tonight, I won't disturb you, it'll be absolutely quiet."

Zhou Yu then asked, "What time are you coming tomorrow?"

There are no classes tomorrow, Sunday. Liu Cheng needs to edit videos during the day, so he asked, "Can I go over in the morning? Around ten o'clock?"

"OK."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou went into the second bedroom to tidy up. The master bedroom of this apartment had its own bathroom, and she left the outside toilet for him to use.

The next morning, Liu Cheng arrived with his suitcase. He had just changed into slippers when there was another knock on the door. He turned and opened it to find a middle-aged woman standing outside, carrying a bag of groceries. He asked, puzzled, "Who are you...?"

"I'm here to cook for Miss Zhou," the woman said with a smile. "Mr. Chen asked me to come."

Zhou Yu felt a headache coming on when she heard "Mr. Chen." She had said she could cook, but Chen Jingchi was still worried. The woman had even bought the groceries, so she figured he had already paid, and she didn't want to ask him to go back.

Liu Cheng was flattered after hearing only the first half of the sentence: "Sister, you're too kind. There's no need to treat me so formally. I can just have takeout."

Zhou Yu didn't explain to him, but let the woman in. She looked at Liu Cheng and asked, "Would this handsome guy like to eat with us? I'll make enough for two."

Zhou Yu nodded.

Hearing this, Liu Cheng finally realized that the woman hadn't come for him. Only after she went into the kitchen to prepare the vegetables did he whisper, "Sister, do you usually have a housekeeper come to cook for you? Don't you have a cafeteria?"

“I didn’t call him.” Zhou Yu was reluctant to talk about this with him.

Liu Cheng sensed a subtle shift in her tone and chuckled, "Could it be that I'm going to have a brother-in-law?"

When she was dating Chen Jingchi, Liu Cheng was just starting junior high school and knew nothing about it. Even though he later learned about Chen Jingchi through his work in social media, Zhou Yu had already faded from the public eye and disappeared from the internet. Liu Cheng had no idea that his cousin had once had a relationship with a big star.

He thought something was wrong.

"Then is it inconvenient for me to stay here?" he asked again.

Zhou Yu didn't like this title: "Don't talk nonsense, it's not true."

After the woman finished cooking lunch, she put the remaining ingredients in the refrigerator and said to Zhou Yu, "Ms. Zhou, Mr. Chen initially told me that he was cooking for one person. I didn't buy enough groceries for two meals. I'll buy some more tonight. What time do you have dinner?"

Zhou didn't want to trouble her and told her not to come again that night, but the woman seemed very troubled: "But Mr. Chen has already paid me, and I can't explain it to him."

Zhou Yu had no choice but to say helplessly, "Then come over at five o'clock."

In the afternoon, Liu Cheng hid in her room editing videos, while Zhou went to the school clinic for an IV drip. The doctor recognized her and teased, "Your ex-boyfriend didn't come today?"

She said succinctly, "He's busy."

While waiting for her IV drip to finish, Zhou Yu casually scrolled through Weibo and saw a trending topic about Chen Jingchi at the bottom of the hot search list.

#Chen Jingchi urges against buying high-priced small cars#

He has a performance for CCTV's back-to-school season tomorrow night. Today was a rehearsal, and he briefly appeared in the official live broadcast room for half an hour at noon to chat with the audience.

In one segment, Chen Jingchi asked his fans how much his current photocards could sell for.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu recalled what had happened yesterday afternoon, and his premonition seemed to be confirmed.

Comments flooded the screen: "[Those without autographs cost one or two thousand, those with autographs cost four or five thousand]."

"Four or five thousand?" Chen Jingchi asked in surprise. "What about the Polaroid camera I won at the last concert?"

Someone has listed the pink set on a fish market for 12,000 yuan.

Upon seeing this comment, even Du Heng, who was standing off-screen, was stunned: "No way? A photo costs that much? Does anyone actually buy it?"

In the live stream, Chen Jingchi looked up from the camera, presumably as his assistant showed him the product page. He looked away and said, "Don't waste your money buying this kind of thing, it's pointless."

After he finished speaking, he added, "Even if you don't like it, don't sell it or provide it to the market."

She was almost named.

Zhou Yu thought for no reason that Chen Jingchi went to such lengths to get her to keep that Polaroid photo, but upon closer reflection, she realized that if she really didn't want it, she wouldn't have messaged customer service to claim the prize.

It seems he really didn't think that way; she was overthinking it.

In the captured live stream clip, several people kept sending the same message, asking him about the progress of winning the person back, as he had mentioned before. The messages were sent very frequently, so Chen Jingchi couldn't have missed them; he just ignored them.

I logged out of Weibo and just then received a message from him.

Chen: Are you feeling better today?

Even though he was busy working in another city, he still took the time to check on her condition.

Zhou Yu replied: 【Much better】

He also reminded her to take her medicine on time and eat well.

*

Upon receiving her message, Chen Jingchi was free of his worries and instead asked his assistant if he had received a reply regarding the apartment rental.

"The landlord said he's traveling out of town right now and can't show the apartment yet; it might take four or five days." The assistant asked, "Are you in a hurry, bro?"

Du Heng quipped from the side, "Your brother is so eager to move in right now."

Chen Jingchi wanted to rent the house next to Zhou Yu's. He couldn't find an excuse to see her normally, so being neighbors would make things much easier.

She was sick and home alone with no one to take care of her, so he was always worried and asked the housekeeper to come over and cook for her.

He ate lunch with her at the staff canteen yesterday, and she barely ate anything. He assumed it was because the food was from a large batch and didn't taste good. This auntie had been cooking for him for several years, and the food was always to his liking. He wondered if Zhou Yu would be used to it.

"Just tell the landlord you want to see the photos," Chen Jingchi said, not asking for much. "The contract can be signed online."

Seeing his anxious look, Du Heng couldn't help but laugh: "Why don't you ask Zhou Yu to rent a room for you? Wouldn't it be closer if you shared an apartment?"

The assistant chimed in, "Anyway, she lives alone, so the extra room is just sitting empty."

Chen Jingchi looked at him: "Could you go and ask for me?"

Joking aside, the assistant quickly helped him negotiate with the landlord. When the landlord heard that he could pay more, he readily agreed to come back the day after tomorrow.

After settling the rental issue, Chen Jingchi suddenly asked Du Heng, "Would you put photos of your opposite-sex friends on the back of your phone?"

He kept thinking about the Polaroid photo he saw yesterday. He admitted that he was happy when he saw the photo, but he dared not be too confident that it could prove anything.

Perhaps she simply has nowhere to put it, or perhaps she doesn't know what to do with it, or even worse, she might actually be planning to sell it.

Du Heng is a shrewd person. Upon hearing this, he immediately recalled the topic he had discussed during the live broadcast at noon and asked, "Did Zhou Yu save your photos in his phone?"

Chen Jingchi hummed in agreement.

Du Heng chuckled: "Anyway, I wouldn't do something that could be easily misunderstood."

It wasn't that she intentionally wanted him to misunderstand. Judging from Zhou Yu's reaction yesterday, she didn't intend for him to know about this. It's just that her phone accidentally fell to the ground and he happened to see it.

“She’s not a fan of celebrities,” Du Heng pointed out. “She could have just posted a photo of herself or a picture with her friends. Why did she choose yours?”

Chen Jingchi didn't dare to reply, fearing that it was just wishful thinking and unrequited love, just as he had said.

“She probably still has feelings for you,” Du Heng advised him. “Don’t be so timid, go for it.”

So what if you've broken up? In Du Heng's mind, as long as he can see even the slightest spark, there's a chance to rekindle the old flame.

Perhaps it was his words that gave him confidence, Chen Jingchi felt much more relaxed and nodded.

*

After the rehearsal ended that evening and he returned to the hotel, Chen Jingchi finally had a moment to check his phone. There were two messages on the screen from the cook.

A bill and a forty-second voice message—Chen Jingchi didn't have the patience to listen to them, so he transcribed them into text.

[...These are the groceries I bought tonight. There are two people in Ms. Zhou's family, and I figured they could finish a chicken soup. She told me she'd eat at the school cafeteria tomorrow...]

Chen Jingchi glanced at the message and caught the words "two people". He thought Tan Bei had gone to her house, but then the aunt said, "You didn't tell me there was a boy at home."

He frowned, opened the input box, and typed: "Does she have a man in her family?"

It was nearly midnight, and his aunt should have been asleep, so he didn't receive a reply after sending the message. Chen Jingchi was afraid there was a mistake in the text conversion, so he opened the voice message and patiently listened to the entire 40-second message.

She made it very clear that there was another man at Zhou Yu's house who ate with her, both at noon and in the evening.

Chen Jingchi frowned, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Just then, the aunt suddenly replied with a voice message: "Yes, Miss Zhou lives with him. The boy is tall and quite handsome. He even secretly asked me who invited me over to cook for them."

In that instant, Chen Jingchi felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

—"What if I fall in love with someone else?"

The night their relationship began to break down, Zhou Yu said those words to him.

But he never imagined it would come true.

Chen Jingchi recalled the two times they had met since their reunion. She always avoided his gaze and refused to have any physical contact with him, not even holding his wrist.

He wasn't oblivious to her deliberate attempts to avoid suspicion, but he simply assumed that since they had just met and their relationship hadn't been repaired yet, being too close would make her feel uncomfortable.

He oversimplified things. From the moment he decided to pursue her again, he assumed she must be single.

It's not so much that he hadn't thought about it, but rather that he dared not think about it. He could accept that she didn't love him, but he couldn't accept that her heart already belonged to someone else.

It's just a photo hidden inside a phone case; it really doesn't prove anything.

He was too arrogant.

He couldn't wait to call Zhou Yu to ask if it was true, but as his finger hovered over her profile picture, Chen Jingchi restrained himself and ultimately didn't dial.

It's so late, she has to go to work tomorrow, she must already be asleep, he didn't want to disturb her.

A crazy idea popped into his head: he desperately wanted to go back and see for himself who the man beside her was. He had already opened the flight ticket page, but then he thought about the CCTV live broadcast tomorrow night, and ultimately gave up the idea.

He barely slept all night.

The next day, seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Du Heng asked in surprise, "Don't tell me you're too excited to sleep."

Chen Jingchi's complexion was noticeably worse than yesterday, and he seemed dazed. Du Heng was very familiar with this expression on his face; he was almost always like this after his breakup. He became more serious and asked, "What's wrong?"

Even though he had only heard about it and hadn't received confirmation yet, Chen Jingchi still gave himself one last chance for hope. He didn't explain, his voice a little hoarse: "It's okay, don't worry."

He has always been able to separate work and life, and only in rare, uncontrollable situations will his personal emotions affect his work, such as the music festival after he broke up with her.

Although he said he was fine, Du Heng didn't dare to be careless. He paid extra attention during the makeup and photo shoot, but didn't notice anything unusual.

After the live performance ended that evening, just as the group returned to the backstage dressing room, Chen Jingchi suddenly said, "Change my flight tickets, I'll go back tonight."

Du Heng sensed something was wrong: "It's almost nine o'clock. If we go now, we'll arrive before dawn?"

"I can go back by myself." Chen Jingchi had made up his mind. "I want to see her."

Du Heng had no choice but to resign himself to accompanying him in his pursuit of his wife. They changed their tickets to the next available flight and immediately headed to the airport to board.

Perhaps his plans changed too suddenly, and his fans and fansite admins didn't even have time to see him off at the airport before he left quietly.

*

After three days of intravenous infusions, Zhou Yu's cold improved, with only occasional coughing. After work on Monday, Tan Bei invited Zhou Yu to see a musical at a nearby theater, which ended after nine o'clock.

After getting out of the taxi, Tan Bei sent a message saying she had arrived home. Zhou Yu replied and then logged out, noticing the white profile picture below, and was momentarily lost in thought.

I reminded her to take her medicine on time the day before yesterday and yesterday at noon, but she missed it today.

She thought, habit is a terrible thing, and it's only been two days.

Upon arriving home, Zhou Yu saw Liu Cheng cooking in the kitchen and asked curiously, "Are you making a midnight snack?"

“It’s not for me to eat.” Liu Cheng opened his phone’s photo album and pulled up a recently taken photo. “When I came back today, I saw a kitten in the bushes in the community. It looked like it was just born not long ago.”

Zhou Yu saw a white patch in the grass in the photo. When he zoomed in, it turned out to be a small, all-white kitten, both cute and pitiful.

She leaned closer to take a look and saw that Liu Cheng had bought some chicken breast, blanched it, shredded it into small pieces, put it in a disposable paper cup, and asked before leaving, "Do you want to come with me to take a look?"

Since she had nothing else to do, Zhou Yu followed him downstairs. The place where they found the kitten was less than 100 meters from her apartment building. It was hiding under the bushes and seemed a little afraid of people. When they got closer, it shrank back.

Liu Cheng placed the chicken breast on the ground. After a while, the kitten finally poked its head out. It first sniffed it tentatively, then opened its mouth and took a small piece into its mouth. After tasting it, it began to eat it heartily.

Liu Cheng was recording a video on his phone when he asked, "Sis, do you like small animals?"

Zhou Yu understood what he meant. She had no experience in raising pets and was afraid she wouldn't be able to take good care of them, so she replied, "It's alright. You can take it with you if you want."

“It’s not impossible.” His landlord has already called a repairman to fix the air conditioner, and he can go back by the day after tomorrow at the latest. Liu Cheng said, “I’ll get used to it for another day or two and take it with me when I leave.”

Anyway, he lives alone, so no one cares if he keeps pets.

After the kitten finished eating, the two got up and walked back. Liu Cheng checked the weather forecast and said, "A typhoon is coming. It's estimated that it will rain heavily tomorrow."

Zhou wanted to ask him what to do.

"I'll go find a delivery box and cover it with a waterproof sheet later." He had many ideas. "I'll come back later."

Zhou Yu felt sleepy after taking cold medicine, so she went to bed early these past two days, before 10 p.m. Liu Cheng didn't dare disturb her and stayed in his room with the door closed, working on his group assignment. He finished the data around midnight when he suddenly remembered the cat downstairs. Afraid it wouldn't be able to get up the next morning, he quickly found a delivery box and made a makeshift house for it. In case the cat wouldn't come in, he even put some chicken breast inside the box.

After finishing, he went downstairs and placed the clothes in the bushes. When Liu Cheng returned, he remembered that the weather would change tomorrow, so he turned on the balcony light, took down the dried clothes one by one, and closed several windows to prevent rain from getting in tomorrow.

As he closed the window, he noticed that there seemed to be someone standing by the streetlight downstairs. He was a little nearsighted, and his vision was a bit blurry without his glasses, so he couldn't see who it was. He didn't pay much attention to it and went back to his room to sleep.

The next morning, when Zhou woke up, she checked the time on her phone and found an unread message on the screen. Chen Jingchi had sent it at 11:30 pm the night before, asking if she was asleep.

Knowing that Chen Jingchi had a performance out of town these past few days, she assumed he had just finished work and replied: [Asleep].

He wouldn't send a message for no reason. Zhou Yu felt that he had something to say, but after waiting all day, Chen Jingchi still hadn't replied.

She didn't ask any questions, and the chat page just sat there awkwardly.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the sky turned gloomy, with dark clouds covering the sky like a huge gray curtain. Several muffled claps of thunder exploded on the horizon, and raindrops began to fall. The students canceled their extracurricular activities and went straight to their dormitories as soon as get out of class ended.

Zhou Yu forgot to bring an umbrella again.

Fortunately, the English teacher in the next office saw her hesitating at the door and kindly offered to walk her there. However, the umbrella wasn't big enough, and even after just a few minutes, half of her shoulder got wet.

After arriving home, fearing her cold would worsen, she quickly took a shower and changed her clothes. She made a simple dinner, and just as she finished eating, Liu Cheng called, saying that it wasn't so hot because of the heavy rain, so he wouldn't bother her any longer. He said he would come over and take the cat and their belongings when the rain subsided.

Zhou Yu's home is a few kilometers away from Jiangbei University. Liu Cheng always rides his bike over. She tells him, "No rush. You can come tomorrow if the rain doesn't stop."

“I know, but I still have to go tonight,” Liu Cheng said. “I’m afraid the kitten will go hungry.”

Zhou opened the freezer compartment and saw half a chicken breast. He said, "Let me feed it for you."

“That’s not enough,” Liu Cheng thought for a moment and said, “I’ll buy some more later.”

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yu cooked the chicken breast, filled paper cups with it, and went downstairs. The heavy rain had been pouring down for over three hours without stopping, and the wind was strong outside. Thinking it was just a short walk back, she didn't bother to get a coat from the closet.

Holding an umbrella, she walked to the bushes and saw that the waterproof hut Liu Cheng had built had succumbed to the heavy rain; its corners and edges were already wet. Zhou Yu turned on her flashlight and shone it inside. A kitten was whimpering inside, its eyes glowing in the darkness.

She didn't have any special feelings for cats and dogs when she was a child; she just thought they were cute when she saw photos of them.

She placed the chicken breast inside and watched the kitten eat before getting up to leave. She took out her phone and texted Liu Cheng, telling him the box might not last much longer. Since typing with one hand was difficult, she sent a voice message: "How about we take it home tonight?"

She didn't dare touch the small animals, thinking that if Liu Cheng came back, she would let him take care of them.

Before she could get a reply, she walked to the eaves of the apartment building and had just put away her umbrella when a tall figure suddenly approached and trapped her in a corner.

She thought she was being sexually harassed and was so frightened that her whole body trembled and her heart pounded wildly. The next second, she smelled a familiar scent and suddenly let down her guard.

It was him.

But soon, she smelled a strong odor of alcohol mixed in with it.

"Zhou Yu".

His voice was so hoarse that even just hearing him call her name sent shivers down her spine.

Zhou Yu looked up, but he was backlit by the streetlight, so his expression was obscured in the dim light. He was very close, almost completely enveloping her in his arms.

He had initially felt the night breeze was a bit cold, but now he had completely blocked it, and even his breath felt hot.

She was certain: "You've been drinking?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Chen Jingchi wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her into his arms without saying a word, and kissed her fiercely.

-----------------------

Author's note: Thank you all for the landmines and nutrient solutions!

78462375 threw a landmine.

Yvonne :) threw a landmine

Reader "Yvonne :)" irrigated with nutrient solution +12

Reader "Awan" watered the plant with nutrient solution +2

Reader "keyee" added 1 unit of nutrient solution to the water.

Reader "chow" added 6 units of nutrient solution to the water.

Reader "Mint" irrigated with nutrient solution +20

Reader "Lily" watered with nutrient solution +10