Chapter 28

At seven o'clock in the morning, Li Ye had been lying in bed for half an hour after waking up. He didn't even dare to pick up his phone. There was still half an hour before it was time to get up. Adjusting his schedule was such a hassle.

Actually, it's possible to get up earlier. There's only one bathroom in the house, and if both of us get up at the same time, we'll clash. If one of us gets up at a different time, it won't happen. She also thought of going out for a morning run and coming back at the right time.

Thinking of something and doing it, Li Ye stood up straight from the bed, quickly changed into the outfit she had chosen half an hour earlier, grabbed her phone, spent five minutes washing up, combed her hair into a low ponytail, put on her sneakers, and went out for a morning run.

Li Ye kept his movements as quiet as possible throughout, unaware of the struggles coming from Zhou Yuan's bedroom.

The air was indeed fresher in the morning. Li Ye jogged slowly around the neighborhood where she lived. Since there were no public activity areas nearby, she jogged to the nearest riverside park, walked around it, and then jogged back.

I quickly ran to the riverbank, where I saw a blue sky and green water. The trees on both sides of the river were already lush and green. The rising sun cast its rays, which fell on the sidewalk through the branches, creating dappled light and shadow on the ground. Most of the people walking on it were young people on their way to work or school.

Li Ye blended in without feeling out of place. She curiously observed everyone who passed by: people rushing to work, children chatting with their classmates on their way to school, parents dropping their children off at school, adults nagging, and children remaining silent.

Li Ye felt extremely out of place standing in the crowd. Her relaxed state of having nothing to do clashed with their pervasive sense of urgency. Going against the flow and changing direction was not a good idea, so Li Ye took out her phone map and successfully diverted the crowd at a fork in the road.

She arrived at an old residential area and saw people queuing in the distance. Was it a breakfast shop? Out of curiosity, she stood at the end of the line and, after receiving a positive answer, Li Ye sent a message to Zhou Yuan that she would bring breakfast back.

At 7:40, Li Ye returned home with breakfast. Zhou Yuan took the food at the door. He had already changed into his work clothes, his shirt was neatly ironed, and he looked exceptionally energetic in them.

“I’ve seen it a few times and I still find it amazing that you have this skill.” Li Ye was referring to Zhou Yuan’s ironing skills, which she learned from when she was learning to make clothes last year.

Zhou Yuan walked to the dining table in his slippers, opened the two bowls of wonton noodles that Li Ye had brought back, placed them side by side, took apart the disposable chopsticks, sat down, picked up a small strand of thin noodles and put them in his mouth.

After changing into slippers, Li Ye washed his hands first. He sat opposite Zhou Yuan with a grape scent that smelled of hand sanitizer. After taking apart the chopsticks, he first tasted a mouthful of noodle soup, with an expression that said, "I knew it."

Reaching for the vinegar on the table, Li Ye found the flavor too mild for him. He added a small spoonful of vinegar, then mixed the noodles and wontons with his chopsticks. Li Ye and Zhou Yuan finished their breakfast one after the other.

Zhou Yuan was cleaning up the mess when Li Ye went to the bedroom to move the computer and drawing board to the left side of the desk in the living room. Zhou Yuan's study materials had been left in the living room since the time was changed to the morning.

The computer was still on, so Li Ye went to the kitchen to brew a pot of fruit tea. It was hot, so he needed to drink more water. Zhou Yuan took their teacups and went to the living room first.

The freshly boiled tea was placed near the teacups on another, lower table in the living room, usually used as a coffee table. Li Ye poured himself a cup to cool. "Zhou Yuan?"

"Yes." Li Ye also filled Zhou Yuan's teacup to about seven-tenths full. Zhou Yuan carried out his clothes rack and steam iron from the bedroom. "The iron is in the bedroom. Do you want me to bring it out?"

"You've already taken it out," Li Ye said without refusing. She also had this type of advanced product, but they were all at her hometown. "If you don't mind the living room being too crowded, you can put it here. I might borrow it."

“Li, just use it, no need to ask.” Zhou Yuan placed these in the corner of the living room, then sat to Li Ye’s right, moving closer to her with a body temperature noticeably higher than Li Ye’s.

The man bent down and shoved his head between Li Ye and the computer, his eyes suddenly conjuring up a dog-like gaze as he questioned, "Li got up early again."

Li Ye reached out and touched Zhou Yuan's hair. How could it still be so stiff at this length? She looked down at Zhou Yuan, not to explain anything, but to say, "My biological clock has been set for many years and it's not easy to change it in a short time. I've been lying in bed until seven o'clock these past few days. I'm not sleepy at all and can't take a nap."

After living together for a few days, the two had more physical contact. Although it was still just Li Ye touching Zhou Yuan's face, like now, she cupped the handsome face of the person in front of her with both hands and turned the chair so that the two were now facing each other.

However, Zhou Yuan did not reject this contact. On the contrary, he looked for various opportunities to make Li Ye take the initiative to make contact.

Recently, Li Ye has really enjoyed pulling Zhou Yuan close to her face. She was preparing herself mentally. The distance between the two chairs was obviously not close enough, so she stood up and took the initiative to move closer to Zhou Yuan's embrace.

Her hands, which had been cupping her cheeks, now rested on her shoulders and chest for support. Her lips parted near her ear, and Li Ye deliberately asked in a breathy voice, "So, what time did you get up today?"

After saying that, he prepared to leave, but Zhou Yuan used his chest, which was so hot that Li Ye could feel it even through his shirt, to pull him down. This time, Zhou Yuan whispered in Li Ye's ear, "I heard you close the door."

"Let's change positions, I still want to draw." Li Ye was being held with her legs bent, and her face was already red. She closed her eyes and tried to get close to Lai Zhouyuan, but stopped at their noses touching.

Zhou Yuan laughed out loud: "You need to change your posture. Remember to tilt your head next time."

Zhou Yuan gently rubbed Li Ye's nose with his large, calloused hands. Under Li Ye's warning look, he withdrew his hands and placed them on her waist. With a forceful upward pull, Li Ye ended up sitting on Zhou Yuan's lap, completely embraced by him.

With their heads close together, it was easy to chat. Zhou Yuan asked, "I'm in charge of making breakfast this week. Is it not good?"

Li Ye didn't even need to lower her voice; a mosquito flapping its wings would make more noise than that. Only Zhou Yuan, who was almost face to face with her, could hear what she was saying: "I got up first, so it's strange to see you get up later to make breakfast."

“It would have been better if we had eaten separately from the start.” Li Ye was startled by the sudden closeness of Zhou Yuan’s face. Zhou Yuan was clearly unhappy. “Breakfast should ideally be within an hour of waking up, it’s better for your health.”

Zhou Yuan buried his head in Li Ye's shoulder, and the warmth of his breath seeped through the not-so-thick hoodie onto Li Ye's shoulder, making his whole body stiffen. Even the body heat that wasn't his own, coming from the lap he was sitting on, became particularly noticeable.

"Zhou, Zhou Yuan, I'm going to paint, put me down." Li Ye knew the atmosphere wasn't quite there yet, but she started to get scared and urgently called a halt to this attempt at intimate contact.

Zhou Yuan buried his head even deeper, and Li Ye almost thought they were skin to skin. It was so hot! Were all boys' body temperatures this high? She reached out to feel his forehead; adjusting her sleep schedule could indeed cause a fever.

The two hands around his waist tightened again, and Zhou Yuan put Li Ye back in place. The movement was sudden, and Li Ye's movement of sticking his forehead out was also forced to change. His fingers brushed past Zhou Yuan's suddenly pursed lips.

Zhou Yuan interpreted Li Ye's outstretched hand as an attempt to push him away, a fearful reaction stemming from his failure to immediately loosen his embrace. Zhou Yuan didn't want things to turn out this way, and he also needed to calm his body; his blood felt like it was boiling, especially now.

Subconsciously, Li Ye pulled his hands back to his chest, his fingers that had touched his lips only a little distance away. He quickly put both hands back on his knees, like a child who had done something wrong, with his head down, his face flushed with embarrassment, even the tips of his ears were red as if they were bleeding.

After a long silence, Li Ye decided to break the ice first, "The issue of timing..."

“Let’s study first.” Zhou Yuan and Li Ye spoke almost simultaneously, their words clashing. After a brief silence, Li Ye spoke first.

"Regarding the issue of spending time together, changing it to having dinner together is much more feasible. As for wake-up time, let's just go with our own habits, that way we'll still have time together in the morning."

"The bedroom is mainly for sleeping. Other activities can basically be done in the living room, so we can keep each other company anytime."

Zhou Yuan probably really wanted to hug Li Ye, but fearing that Li Ye might not accept it, he turned his outstretched hand to cover Li Ye's small hand that was still on his knee.

Li Ye grasped Zhou Yuan's hand in return, their fingers intertwined, their hands tightly connected. "Alright, this shouldn't interfere with the painting."

Zhou Yuan's tightly pursed lips relaxed, and the corners of his lips even turned up slightly: "Then we need to switch places."

The two stood up to switch seats at their usual desk in the living room, when Li Ye suddenly noticed the tea on the coffee table that had cooled to room temperature. "I'd like to have a cup of tea first," he said.

Zhou Yuan, who desperately needed to cool down, naturally agreed. The two walked hand in hand to the coffee table, each taking a cup of tea with a sweet and sour fruit flavor. For some reason, Li Ye thought that it was like drinking a toast together.

The hand he was holding on the left suddenly tightened even more, and Li Ye felt incredulous: "Did I just say what was on my mind?"

Zhou Yuan didn't respond, but just kept drinking glass after glass of water. He was stopped by Li Ye on the fifth glass. "Reading is the fastest way to calm down. It's not good to drink so much water at once, especially not so fast."

Li Ye half-pushed Zhou Yuan back to the desk, and this time the two naturally switched seats. Li Ye pushed the textbook to the left, and Zhou Yuan picked up the computer and drawing board and put them on the right. What remained unchanged was that the two held hands all the time.

"Ring ring!" When you're immersed in work or study, time seems to fly by.

When it was time for Zhou Yuan to leave for work, Li Ye saved her progress. Today, she was driving Zhou Yuan to work. She had only driven the new car for a couple of days, and after getting used to it, she felt that she could drive it today.

Zhou Yuan sat in the passenger seat, and also took on the responsibilities of the passenger seat, pointing out the way to the company to Li Ye and reminding Li Ye of the precautions to take while driving.

"I passed the test on the first try, so there shouldn't be much difference between theory and practice." Li Ye fastened his seatbelt and spoke a little nervously, "If everything goes smoothly, I'll drive you to and from get off work every day to practice driving. Be sure to be a good passenger."

Zhou Yuan wasn't nervous at all. The road conditions in both of these periods were not complicated, and the journey only took about ten minutes, which was just right for practicing driving.

"I look forward to going to and from get off work every day." Zhou Yuan couldn't be happier.