A beautiful dream
We meet again, Cheng Zhou, the male ghost who feels both familiar and strange.
The man remained tall and handsome, but his eyes were now shrouded in a misty, dark blue, like a thin fog swirling around a desolate snowfield.
Her delicate features, like those in a traditional Chinese painting, were hidden behind the misty haze, and her tender gaze was like a fleeting glimpse of sunlight shining through tiny ice crystals.
Hu Tong actually felt a little shy under their gaze.
"cough!"
She cleared her throat, reached out to poke Cheng Zhou's dark circles, but at the last centimeter, she abruptly pulled her finger back and hid it behind her back.
"Unbelievable, Cheng Zhou! In such a free university campus, you managed to get panda eyes!" Hu Tong said, his forced fierce expression unable to hide the embarrassment in his eyes.
Cheng Zhou gently curled the corners of his mouth, the snow and mist dissipating, and said with a smile, "I'm not you."
He left with that puzzling remark, turned and went into the restaurant, where he was seated by the waiter.
"What about me? Explain yourself, Cheng Zhou!"
Hu Tong kept asking questions until he sat down opposite him and finally got an answer.
"Unlike you, I'm not a genius."
Cheng Zhou stared at her as she finished speaking, word by word, then suddenly lowered his head, pretending to study the menu. A belated blush made his ears burn bright red.
Hu Tong blinked blankly, and in that brief moment that was infinitely close to eternity, he could only hear the sound of his own heart pounding.
Then, the noisy world surged in.
The restaurant, which she had carefully chosen, now felt as unfamiliar as another dimension.
Melodious music swirled beneath the crystal chandelier, people conversed softly, and the clinking of cutlery created a delicate, crisp sound. A subtle fragrance permeated the air, and the clear glass windows slowly closed, creating a warm and gentle ambiance—perhaps what could be called romance.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, cars and lights blaze, making the restaurant seem like a dreamlike crystal ball floating on a river of light, rising and falling, with everything tilting towards it.
Including Cheng Zhou.
That's strange.
She usually boasts about being a genius and never feels embarrassed, so why does he make her blush...?
Unconsciously, Hu Tong started biting his lip. Looking at Cheng Zhou, who was just across the table but seemed so close, he felt dizzy, his ears were burning, and he couldn't breathe properly. His tongue even got tied in knots.
After a long pause, Hu Tong finally straightened his tongue and complained leisurely, "You're exaggerating too much..."
"I'm not exaggerating—thank you."
Cheng Zhou pushed the menu towards Hu Tong, then hurriedly took the buckwheat tea from the waiter and brought it to his lips. His gaze swept lightly over her, landing on the rim of the porcelain teacup.
Hu Tong flipped through the menu and casually asked him, "What would you like to eat?"
"have no idea."
Cheng Zhou replied with a guilty conscience.
Hu Tong looked up, amused. "Then what were you doing with the menu just now?"
He straightened his posture: "Memorizing vocabulary."
Hu Tong and the waiter laughed together, while Cheng Zhou pursed his lips shyly.
"That's all then." Hu Tong closed the menu, handed it to the waiter, narrowed his eyes, and stared at him probingly. "You're acting very strange today, Cheng Zhou."
Actually, it was her who was acting strangely, but Hu Tong was good at turning the tables.
Cheng Zhou picked up his teacup again, took a sip, and asked, feigning composure, "Is there?"
"have!"
Hu Tong glared indignantly at Cheng Zhou.
The whole world collapsed into his clear black eyes, and she was the most prominent silhouette in the very center.
"Where?" Cheng Zhou put down his teacup, looked at her obediently, and humbly asked for her guidance.
Her long, dark eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes were clear and bright, with a soft halo surrounding Hu Tong.
It seems like I can only see her.
He only wanted to look at her.
Only her.
Hu Tong was startled by the sudden thought and slapped himself in the face.
Pshaw, being love-struck is no good!
"What are you doing?" Cheng Zhou was also startled, leaning forward and grabbing her wrist.
Hu Tong angrily shook off his hand, and said righteously, "It's all your fault! Who told you to praise me as a genius! You almost made me get cocky, and I had to slap myself!"
"Chairman Mao said that pride makes one fall behind. Are you trying to make me fall behind?"
Cheng Zhou was stunned for a moment, then clenched his fist and put it to his mouth, but couldn't hide the corner of his lips from twitching. He didn't dare to look at her anymore, afraid that she would feel offended and become really angry.
He then drew out his words, feigning sudden realization, but the final syllable involuntarily rose in pitch, "Oh—"
A cheerful phone ring broke the strangely sweet atmosphere. Cheng Zhou apologized, took out his phone, and answered.
"Hello... Oh, yes, I want to return the item... Can I come tomorrow morning? Okay... Thank you."
He tapped the screen twice, put away his phone, and smiled helplessly at Hu Tong. "It's Grandma's package. She heard that things are cheaper online, so she makes me buy everything online. Inevitably, I encounter items of poor quality, and I have to return them. Returning is more troublesome than buying. The courier point is far from home, but Grandma loves to go out and doesn't find it tiring at all."
Listening to his description, Hu Tong could already picture the sprightly old woman running along the country lanes, and couldn't help but smile, her eyes crinkling. She playfully scolded him.
"What do you know, Cheng Zhou? Maybe this is Grandma Cheng's little trick to force herself to exercise more!"
"Speaking of which, it seems like it's been a long time since I've been back..." Hu Tong asked excitedly, "How about we go back to our hometown together for summer vacation to train? I'll even time you; you're not allowed to go back to school until you've tanned two shades darker!"
"OK."
Cheng Zhou readily agreed, but after a moment, he spoke with some concern, "Actually, I think Grandma is too lonely."
“A few days ago, my grandmother told me that she attended the funerals of two of her old friends within a month. Although she said it in a joking tone, I was still very worried.”
Hu Tong raised an eyebrow knowingly: "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking... after summer vacation ends, I'll bring Grandma to the city."
While we were talking, the waiter started serving the dishes.
As Cheng Zhou helped set the table, he said, "The house my mother left behind has been rented out. I plan to notify the tenants to move out a few months in advance. I'll go back during the summer vacation to clean it up and install surveillance cameras everywhere except the bedroom and the bathroom, so I can see my grandma anytime and talk to her."
"Grandma can go chat with Aunt Lele when she has nothing else to do."
Hu Tong gave him a thumbs-up: "I support you!"
"real?"
Cheng Zhou tilted his head, his eyes curving downwards, "Then there's something else I want to tell you."
"What?" Hu Tong became alert. "Borrow money?"
Cheng Zhou mischievously widened his eyes and looked at her with feigned admiration, "You're a genius, Tongtong."
"Okay, how much do you want to borrow?"
Hu Tong rolled his eyes and readily agreed.
Before the other party could launch into a barrage of questions, Cheng Zhou was stunned for a moment, then turned his face away, his eyelashes trembling like the long branches of a pine tree about to collapse under the weight of snow.
Oh? Are you about to cry?
Hu Tong was completely baffled.
I don't understand this person. He used to be happy when his mother punished him, but now he's crying because she's willing to lend him money!
Hu Tong stared blankly, picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks, chewed it, and seeing that Cheng Zhou's emotions were gradually stabilizing, she carefully asked, "Um, you're not going to borrow a lot of money, are you? Getting involved in online loans?"
Cheng Zhou was amused by her erratic thinking. She turned around, her eyes still glistening with tears, and said, "Don't worry, I don't owe any money, and I won't ask you for any."
"What I meant was that at the end of this semester, you'll have to fly back to Jinshi by yourself. I'm going with a team to participate in a landscape design project—although my role is supposed to be just serving tea and water and running errands, I won't be free for another month."
Hu Tong curled his lip: "Tch, that's all? You scared me."
Cheng Zhou looked at her with a hint of resentment, subtly reminding her, "I'll be gone for a month, and I won't be able to return to Jin City until halfway through summer vacation."
"Oh—I understand."
Hu Tong raised his chin and instructed Cheng Zhou to place the extra spicy dish in front of him. He couldn't wait to pick up his chopsticks and said, "Okay, let's eat first. I specially ordered extra spicy, otherwise I won't have an appetite."
Cheng Zhou sighed softly, forcing a look of curiosity as he asked, "Ah, why don't you have an appetite?"
Hu Tong immediately poured out her grievances: "Because of your roommate, wow, he's so ridiculous! One minute he's showing off his local residency to me, the next he's asking me to try his food. Doesn't he care about hygiene? And he even said to me that I'm like a primary school student!"
With a snap, Hu Tong slammed his chopsticks on the plate and declared, "He's not a good person!"
"You need to keep your distance from him!"
Cheng Zhou didn't care whether Zhou Jin'an was a "good person" or a "bad person." Looking at the indignant Hu Tong, he just felt a pang of tenderness in his heart.
“Okay, I’ll keep my distance from him,” he said softly.
"This child is teachable..."
Hu Tong nodded in satisfaction, raising his hand to stroke a non-existent beard.
Cheng Zhou smiled and said, "Master, your food is getting cold."
"What!"
The scream that pierced her voice froze the romantic atmosphere in the restaurant for a moment. Hu Tong covered her flushed face, avoiding the curious or accusatory gazes. Cheng Zhou suppressed a laugh and picked up the serving chopsticks to choose dishes for her.
A few breaths later, soft laughter and whispers resumed, and soothing music once again filled every corner.
The soft, warm orange lighting transforms the restaurant into a dreamlike space.
Looking at Hu Tong's bright smile, Cheng Zhou was convinced that this was all a beautiful dream.
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