Good night, baby

News of the court's verdict came on Wednesday morning.

When Sister Ling called, I was sitting on Zhao Yin's balcony waiting for him to make coffee, with the phone pressed to my ear, listening to her quickly say "We won the case."

"Lin Jinze needs to make a public apology and pay compensation."

"I understand, Sister Ling." I tried to make my voice sound calm, but the last part of my voice still trembled. "Thank you, and thank you to the team for your hard work during this period."

After hanging up the phone, I turned around and saw Zhao Yin standing at the balcony door, holding two steaming cups of coffee. "From your expression, I know it's good news." He walked over and handed me one of the cups. "What did Sister Ling say?"

"The court ruled in our favor," I took the coffee and took a sip. "Lin Jinze must make a public apology and pay compensation."

He nodded and sat down next to me. "I told you we'd win," he looked at me. "Can you rest assured now?"

I hummed, leaning closer to him. "Actually, last night I was wondering what I'd do if I lost," I whispered. "Luckily, I have you, Teacher Chen, and the team..."

"There's no 'if,'" he interrupted, reaching out to pull me into his arms. "Our evidence is sufficient, and the law won't favor unreasonable people." He paused, then added, "But now it's good. This matter is completely over. From now on, I can focus on promoting 'A Thousand Years of Letters.'"

Speaking of "A Thousand Years of Letters," I suddenly remembered the message the director sent yesterday, saying there would be a premiere next week and asking us to make time in advance. "By the way, Brother Yin," I looked up at him, "the director said the premiere is next week. Do you have any plans for that day?"

"It's been free for a long time," he smiled and reached out to ruffle my hair. "Sister Ling has discussed this with my studio. I'll be with you the entire time at the premiere."

Sunlight streamed in through the balcony glass, falling on his face and tinting his eyelashes a pale gold. I stared at his eyes for a moment, and suddenly remembered a fan on a variety show who said his eyes were like stars. Before, I could only secretly agree with him in my private tweet, but now I could see him up close and even reach out to touch his eyelashes.

Perhaps my gaze was too direct, and he was stunned for a moment, then he turned his head and kissed me lightly on the forehead. "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly staring at me?" He said in a low voice, with a hint of a smile.

"Nothing," I quickly looked away, my ears burning, "I just feel... it's pretty good like this now."

There were no online gossips, no Lin Jinze's entanglement, only him by my side, the aroma of coffee, and the warm sunshine. Days like this were like stolen candy, so sweet that I couldn't bear to blink.

In the afternoon, we went to the publicity studio of "A Thousand Years of Letters" together to discuss the process of the premiere with the director.

The director held up a schedule and pointed to one of the items. He said, "There will be an interactive session on the premiere day. You two will be required to answer questions from fans and perform a small show. What do you think you will perform?"

I was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Zhao Yin. He was looking at me with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Performing a show..." I scratched my head. "I'm not very good at singing, and if I were to act, I don't have the props on set."

"We can sing a duet," Zhao Yin suddenly said, looking at the director. "It's the theme song for 'A Thousand Autumns' Letter'. We've recorded a demo before, so we can perform it on stage after a little practice."

The director's eyes lit up: "That's great! The theme song is already very suitable for the movie. If you two sing it together, the fans will definitely like it."

He handed us the sheet music of the theme song and said, "Take this and practice it when you get home. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me."

When I came out of the studio, it was already getting dark. Zhao Yin drove me home. On the way, I looked at the sheet music in my hand and felt a little worried: "I haven't sung for a long time. What if I sing out of tune?"

"No," he glanced sideways at me, "When you sang 'Not In Time' in the practice room before, your pitch was very good, but you just sang it less often later on."

I was stunned for a moment and turned to look at him: "How did you know I sang "Not In Time" in the practice room?"

His hand gripping the steering wheel paused for a moment. “I’ve seen it before… in the fan videos your fans posted.”

My heart moved, and I suddenly remembered the small fan meeting five years ago. At that time, I only sang "Not In Time", and because I was too nervous, my voice broke in the last sentence.

Later, a fan posted the video online. I didn’t dare watch it a second time, but I didn’t expect that he had actually watched it.

“I didn’t sing well back then,” I whispered, “and my voice cracked on the last line.”

"No, it sounds good," he said seriously, "much better than Lin Jinze's version of 'Unspoken'."

I couldn't help but laugh: "You are biased."

"That's the truth," he laughed, his car just parked downstairs from my house. "Come on up. I'll send you the demo of the theme song tonight and we can practice singing over video."

"Okay." I nodded and unbuckled my seatbelt, but didn't get out immediately. He saw that I didn't move, nor did he say anything. He just looked at me with a little doubt in his eyes.

I stared at his lips for a while, then suddenly leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Then I'll go upstairs," I said, quickly opened the car door, and ran upstairs without even daring to look back.

When I got home, I leaned against the door, touched my lips, and my heart was beating fast.

That kiss just now was too impulsive. I wonder if he will find it strange...

Just as I was thinking about it, my cell phone rang. It was a WeChat message from Zhao Yinfa: "Why are you running so fast? I won't eat you." It was followed by a smirking expression.

I looked at the screen, couldn't help laughing, and replied, "Who told you not to dodge just now?"

He quickly replied: "Why should I hide?"

I stared at this sentence for a long time, not knowing how to respond. In the end, I had to send an emoticon saying "going to bed", threw my phone on the sofa, and ran to wash my hands.

When I was practicing singing via video in the evening, I was indeed a little nervous and I was out of tune when I sang the chorus the first time.

I was a little discouraged and slumped over the table: "Forget it, I'd better not sing. I'll let you sing alone then."

"Don't give up," his voice came from the phone, very gentle, "Sing again, I'll sing with you, just look at me, don't be nervous."

I looked up and looked at him on the phone screen.

He sat in the study with a bookshelf behind him, music sheet in his hand, his eyes serious.

I took a deep breath, followed his rhythm, and started singing again.

This time, his voice was in tune. It mixed with mine and came through the receiver of the phone, surprisingly matching well.

After singing the last line, I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him on the screen: "I finally finished singing, and I didn't go out of tune."

"Yeah, it sounds good," he nodded with a smile in his eyes, "Just practice a few more times, and there will definitely be no problem on the premiere day."

We practiced it twice more until I could sing it fluently. When we hung up the video, he said to me, "I'll come to your house tomorrow, we'll cook together and practice the nursery rhyme some more."

"Okay," I nodded, "I'll go buy the ingredients tomorrow morning."

"No, I bought it on my way this morning," he said. "Just wait at home and don't run around."

After hanging up the video, I lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling, my heart full of anticipation.

Tomorrow I could cook with him, practice singing with him, and even... spend the whole day with him? Days like this never seem to be enough...

The next morning, I woke up early, washed up, and sat in the living room waiting for him.

At about nine o'clock, the doorbell rang and I hurried over to open the door.

He stood at the door with a bag full of ingredients.

"I bought some shrimp you like, and the brand of flour your mom mentioned," he handed me the bag. "We'll make shrimp dumplings and a cake later. We can have them as snacks while we practice singing this afternoon."

I took the bag and looked at the ingredients inside. "How do you know the brand of flour my mom mentioned?" I asked puzzledly.

"Last time when I had dinner at your house, Auntie mentioned to me that you liked to use that brand of flour to make snacks." He smiled, walked in, and changed his shoes. "I made a note of it."

In the past, I always said that he was an "iceberg" in my private chat, but only I knew how much tenderness was hidden under his "iceberg" shell.

We worked together in the kitchen, he was responsible for processing the shrimp and I was responsible for kneading the dough.

He was very skilled in handling the shrimps, peeling the shells with his nimble fingers, and occasionally passing the peeled shrimps to my mouth.

"Try it, is it fresh?" he said with a smile.

I opened my mouth and took a bite of the shrimp, nodding: "It's very fresh, and tastes better than the last time I bought it."

"Of course, I spent a lot of time choosing," he said. "If you like it, I'll make it for you often in the future."

When kneading the dough, I accidentally got flour on my face.

He saw it and reached out to gently wipe the flour off my face.

"How can you be so careless," he said with a laugh, "like a kitten, getting flour all over your body."

I didn't say anything, just lowered my head and continued to knead the dough. He looked at me, didn't say anything, and just continued to process the shrimp.

It was already noon when the shrimp dumplings were ready.

We sat at the dining table, eating steaming shrimp dumplings and drinking tea he made.

"Is it delicious?" He looked at me with anticipation in his eyes.

"Delicious," I nodded and took another shrimp dumpling. "It's even better than the ones made in restaurants outside."

He smiled and reached out to pick up a shrimp dumpling for me: "If you like it, eat more. Singing practice in the afternoon will consume a lot of energy."

After lunch, we cleared the dishes and sat on the sofa in the living room to practice singing.

He held the sheet music and I leaned over to him, singing along with his rhythm. When he reached the chorus, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked puzzledly.

"Nothing," he smiled and put his arm around my waist, "I just think... this is pretty good."

His palms were on my waist, which made me a little nervous... I looked up at him, his eyes were very close to me, and I could clearly see myself in his pupils.

Maybe the atmosphere was too good, he slowly came over and kissed me on the lips.

The kiss was so light that it made my heart beat faster. I closed my eyes, put my arms around his neck, and responded to his kiss.

His kiss gradually deepened, and his palms slowly tightened, holding me tighter. We moved from the sofa to the bed in the bedroom. He pressed on me, with some emotions in his eyes that I couldn't understand, but it was very gentle, without any coercion.

"Xiao Xi," his voice was a little low and breathy, "Is it okay?"

I opened my eyes, looked into his eyes, and nodded.

He put his hand into my clothes, it was warm, my face turned slightly red, and I let him do whatever he wanted.

Zhao Yin's movements were light and gentle. I could feel his body temperature, his heartbeat, and how much he cherished me... For a moment, I felt like I was in the clouds and didn't want to wake up.

"Venxi... look up..."

He asked me to turn my back and raise my head. I was about to scold him, "Don't go too far," but Zhao Yin pushed me harder, making my whole body go limp and I instantly lost all my strength. As a result, he asked me to turn over and bent down to kiss my lips.

"Zhao Yin... don't kiss me for too long... I don't... can't breathe...!" Zhao Yin smiled and pinched my waist unconsciously. Although I looked thin, I still had some flesh on me.

After it was over, he held me in his arms and lay on the bed, gently patting my back with his hands to help me calm down.

"Are you tired?" he whispered in my ear.

"A little bit," I leaned into his arms, my voice trembling a little, "you just..."

"What happened just now?" He smiled and reached out to touch my head.

"Nothing," I quickly shut up, "I just feel like... you seem different than usual."

"What's the difference?" he asked.

"It's just..." I thought about it, "You are usually very calm, but just now you were a little anxious."

He was stunned for a moment, then chuckled: "It's because you are so likable."

He paused, then continued, "By the way, you seemed to be pushing me and groaning just now. What's wrong? Don't you want to be on the bottom?"

I was stunned for a moment, my face instantly flushed, and I quickly buried my head in his arms: "Who...who doesn't want to be down there! I'm just a little nervous."

"Oh? Nervous?" He said with a smile, reaching out to pinch my chin, "Then I'll let you be on top next time, okay?"

"No!" I quickly refused, my voice changing.

He chuckled and held my arms tighter: "Just kidding, whatever you want is fine, as long as you feel comfortable, does it hurt?"

I leaned in his arms, listening to his heartbeat, "It hurts... It hurts so much... So, I'm going to punish you by making you stay by my side forever."

I closed my eyes, rubbed against his chest, and whispered, "Zhao Yin, I seem to like you more and more. It's more love than just like."

His body paused for a moment, then he lowered his head and kissed me lightly on the top of my head: "Me too, Xiaoxi, me too." Zhao Yin adjusted his posture and said, "Good night, baby."

"good evening."