Chapter 33 Love Letter He's a bit grumpy when he wakes up
The next day, Zhou Yu woke up to bright daylight. She had never slept so well. She picked up her phone and saw that it was five minutes to midnight, but there was no activity in the room or in the group chat.
With no one around, Zhou Yu threw off the covers and got up, pulling back the heavy curtains. The weather was quite nice today, and the midday sun was dazzling. She subconsciously raised her arm to shield her eyes.
The bathroom door opened, and Tan Bei came out after washing up. Seeing her standing by the window, she smiled at her: "You're awake!"
"Mmm." Zhou Yu picked up the hair tie from the bedside table, tied her hair up, and asked her, "Are you hungry?"
"I'm fine. I don't usually eat breakfast anyway," Tan Bei said, glancing at the time. "I'll just have lunch now."
Tan Bei sent a message in the group, asking if the boys were up yet.
Zhan Li replied instantly: [Beibei, the takeout is almost here, come down and eat.]
Downstairs, several boys were standing in the kitchen, plating the homemade dishes delivered by takeout and placing them on the dining table. Zhou Yu wanted to go over and help, but just as he reached the kitchen door, he heard Zhuo Wencheng's puzzled voice: "Strange, who drank the bitter melon juice I bought yesterday? I was thinking of using it as a punishment prop in today's game."
Zhou Yu paused, unsure whether to step forward, feeling uneasy.
While counting the chopsticks, Zhan Li chimed in, "Is it hidden somewhere in the back? Look for it."
"What are you looking for? It's right in the trash can." Zhuo Wencheng pointed to the kitchen trash can, looked up and saw Zhou Yu coming, and asked casually, "Zhou Yu, do you like bitter melon juice?"
"..."
Zhou Yu's mind was completely focused on the empty vegetable juice bottle in the trash can. Last night, she took a sip and the bitterness brought tears to her eyes. She vaguely remembered that Chen Jingchi took it, but she didn't know what happened after that.
The fact that the empty bottle is now in the trash can means that Chen Jingchi drank it.
Her lips touched the bottle opening when she drank, so wouldn't Chen Jingchi be...?
The moment the words "indirect kiss" popped into her mind, Zhou Yu felt incredibly aroused.
When Zhuo Wencheng didn't hear her response after he finished speaking, he noticed her blank stare and a suspicious blush gradually rising on her cheeks. He was even more puzzled: "Hey, don't blush. I didn't mean to blame you. Just drink it."
Fortunately, Chen Jingchi wasn't in the kitchen. Zhou Yu suddenly came to her senses, pressed her palm to her burning cheek, and said to him, "Don't look at me."
Zhuo Wencheng found her reaction amusing and looked behind her: "Brother Chi?"
Zhou Yu froze, immediately put his hands down, and stood at attention.
Zhuo Wencheng laughed so hard he bent over: "Just kidding."
Zhou was speechless with anger: "You...!"
Zhan Li came out of the kitchen with chopsticks in her hand and said to Zhou Yu as she passed by, "He just loves to act like a jerk. Don't believe a word he says from now on."
"Don't be angry, I was wrong." Zhuo Wencheng apologized with a smile. "Brother Chi is still sleeping upstairs. Why don't you go and call him to come for lunch? We're afraid he'll scold the rest of us."
Seeing her looking at him with suspicion, Zhuo Wencheng raised his hand and swore, "I really didn't lie to you this time. If you don't believe me, ask Xu Yue. They sleep in the same room."
Zhou Yu glared at him resentfully before turning and leaving the kitchen. She saw the table set with steaming hot dishes and bowls and chopsticks ready, waiting for them to start eating.
With one person missing from the group of six, Zhou Yu finally believed that Chen Jingchi was indeed still sleeping.
Xu Yue sat in the chair, not daring to go upstairs easily: "He's a bit grumpy when he wakes up. How about we play rock-paper-scissors, and whoever loses has to go wake him up?"
Tan Bei requested to withdraw: "I will not participate anymore."
The other three all looked at her, and Zhou Yu felt the pressure increase. Thinking that she shouldn't be so unlucky in a game of chance, she participated in one round, throwing paper while all three boys threw scissors.
"We have to go through the motions." Zhuo Wencheng suppressed a laugh. "Go ahead, it's the one near the stairwell on the third floor."
As Zhou walked up the stairs, he felt increasingly uneasy, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
Without knocking, he entered the room. The curtains were not yet drawn, and the light was dim. The person on the bed was fast asleep. Zhou Yu observed carefully, slowly approaching the bedside. He lay on his side facing the door, the blanket covering most of his face. He wondered if sleeping like this would obstruct his breathing.
With a pounding heart, Zhou Yu stood there for almost half a minute, thinking that everyone was waiting downstairs for dinner, and then he braced himself and called out his name.
There was no movement.
After another half-minute of hesitation, she finally mustered the courage to sit on the edge of the bed. She tentatively reached out and pulled the edge of the blanket covering his face down, then gently nudged his shoulder: "Chen Jingchi, get up and eat."
This time it worked. Chen Jingchi moved, then reached out his right hand from under the covers and grabbed her hand that was resting on his shoulder.
His hands were so hot; the heat traveled up her skin, burning her heart. Zhou Yu forgot what to do, letting him hold her without daring to move.
Chen Jingchi pressed his eyes to her palm, his voice hoarse from just waking up: "What time is it?"
The sound of his heartbeat was exceptionally clear in the quiet bedroom. Thump, thump, thump. Zhou Yu wondered wildly if the air conditioner was set too high. Why was he so hot?
"...12 o'clock."
After nearly ten seconds of blankness, Chen Jingchi finally opened his eyes. His eyelashes, like tiny brushes, tickled her palm, causing a tingling sensation.
Zhou Yu was getting restless, feeling like she was about to catch a fever. She didn't dare move the hand he was holding, and urged him softly, "Everyone is waiting for you downstairs for dinner."
Chen Jingchi simply gave a soft "hmm".
Another long silence of more than ten seconds followed, and Zhou Yu felt extremely tormented.
He finally regained his senses and naturally let go of her hand, unaware that there was anything wrong with his action. He propped himself up on the bed and sat up.
Xu Yue said he was grumpy when he woke up, but his complexion seemed fine now, and his eyes were gentle when he looked at her, which inexplicably reminded her of the first time she met him at his apartment.
"I'm changing my clothes," he said, looking at her.
Zhou Yu hurriedly stood up from the bedside, threw down the words "I'm going downstairs first" and rushed out of the bedroom.
As she descended the stairs, the hand he had held was still faintly burning. Zhou Yu knew she must be blushing again. Afraid of being noticed by the people downstairs, she went into the second-floor bathroom, washed her face with cold water, and only after completely calming down did she finally go downstairs.
The boys were talking about the ball game. When they saw her come downstairs, Zhuo Wencheng asked, "Are you up yet?"
Zhou Yu nodded.
"You're still the best," Zhuo Wencheng said meaningfully.
Zhou wanted to retort: "Who told you to be so good at rock-paper-scissors?"
Upon hearing this, Tan Bei immediately switched sides, pulled her to sit down, and exposed their trick: "The three of them teamed up to trick you, saying they all chose scissors, just guessing you wouldn't choose rock."
really.
Zhan Li laughed: "Whose side are you on?"
Tan Bei stuck out her tongue: "Hehe, I'm a fence-sitter."
A few minutes later, Chen Jingchi came downstairs and sat opposite Zhou Yu. When they looked at each other, he was quite open and honest, but it made her feel a little uncomfortable. Her hand holding the chopsticks seemed to reflexively start to heat up again.
Listening to them talk about the winter vacation schedule, Zhou Yu kept her head down and didn't join the conversation, just focused on eating.
Chen Jingchi finally had a day off for New Year's Day, but he has work scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday. Du Heng is coming to pick him up this afternoon. Zhuo Wencheng couldn't help but complain, "Is your company exploiting you too much?"
Chen Jingchi didn't seem to feel anything: "It's okay, I only feel anxious when I don't have a job."
"You truly have a natural physique for work," Zhan Li said gently, "Can your body handle it?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Yue also asked, "Has your throat been checked again?"
"Let's talk about it during winter break. I can still adjust now," Chen Jingchi said nonchalantly. "What are we doing this afternoon?"
Zhou Yu listened quietly, thinking that the packed schedule was probably Chen Jingchi's own wish, and it really couldn't be blamed on the company.
Zhuo Wencheng originally planned to hold an open-air concert in the villa's courtyard, but considering that Chen Jingchi rarely gets a break, he didn't let him sing and changed it to indoor games.
However, while playing, I should mention that Zhou Yu drank all the punishment props he bought.
Zhou Yu was speechless and couldn't explain. When she looked up and met Chen Jingchi's ambiguous smile, she felt even more uncomfortable, and her ears, hidden in her hair, started to burn again.
Now it's absolutely certain that Chen Jingchi drank the whole bottle of bitter melon juice for her.
Halfway through the game, Tan Bei brought out the cake she had made the night before. Since it was made by the two girls themselves, even Chen Jingchi, who doesn't like sweets, did the honor of trying a piece.
Zhou Yu rarely eats desserts, except on her birthday when Liu Xianya buys her a cake, which the two of them can't even finish. The cake they make isn't big; one slice is just right for each of the six people, and it's sweet but not cloying.
Around five o'clock, Du Heng called. With Chen Jingchi gone, everyone lost the will to stay and decided to hitch a ride back to school.
Before leaving, Zhuo Wencheng suggested taking a group photo together, as they didn't have many opportunities to get together, and it would probably be even rarer in the future.
Du Heng took photos for them, and on the way back, Zhuo Wencheng posted them in the group chat. Zhou Yu clicked on the pictures to view them.
During the photo shoot, Tan Bei thoughtfully switched places with Zhan Li, placing Zhou Yu next to Chen Jingchi. The two stood in the center, shoulders and arms touching without any gap, both smiling slightly at the camera.
This was her first photo with Chen Jingchi. She stared at it for a long time before saving it in her album.
After they parted ways at school, Zhou Yu quickly received a message from Tan Bei.
Tan Bei: [Baby, I opened the gift and it's super, super cute! I love it so much! I'll put it on my bedside table when I get home!]
Tan Bei: [Thank you for your New Year's gift, love you!]
She's so good at providing emotional value; just reading her words made Zhou Yu feel better.
She replied: 【I'm glad you like it [heart]】
She was very fortunate to have met Chen Jingchi's friends. During the 24 hours in the villa, she experienced the liveliness and fun of human community for the first time. Eating dinner together, staying up until midnight to welcome the New Year, watching the fireworks show, making cakes, chatting late into the night, and so on, all became a vivid part of her memory.
It's a moment that will make you smile unconsciously whenever you think back on it.
*
On Sunday afternoon, my roommates came back, and An Kejia immediately brought up the song that Chen Jingchi released at midnight yesterday.
"The Weibo square has been in an uproar these past two days." An Kejia, who loves to watch the drama unfold, said, "Chen Jingchi and Zhu Qi's fans were promoting their new song together peacefully before, but now they've turned against each other. It's hilarious."
Zhou Yu hasn't been online since forwarding Chen Jingchi's Weibo post yesterday, so he doesn't know anything about these things. He asked, "Why did they become enemies?"
Fan Xin explained: "Didn't Chen Jingchi have a cold face the whole time on New Year's Eve? Fans said he didn't even look at Zhu Qi and told Zhu Qi not to get involved. Zhu Qi's fans said he had a bad attitude and wanted to cut ties after he got involved. I stayed up all night eating this gossip, it was so exciting."
Zhou Yu had expected things to get a bit chaotic, but she didn't expect it to be this outrageous. She opened Weibo and saw that her message page was also full of 99+ messages.
“Zhou Zhou, you’d better not look at it,” An Kejia kindly reminded her. “I saw that the Weibo post you retweeted has also been attacked by Zhu Qi’s fans. They can’t win the argument with Chen Jingchi’s fans, so they’ve come here to attack you.”
“I saw it too,” Fan Xin said softly. “When I checked this morning, there were already over a thousand comments.”
Zhou Yu was quite sensible and immediately shut down his Weibo account.
"It's despicable to pick on the weak." Fan Xin felt indignant on her behalf. "You think Zhou Zhou doesn't have any fans? I can create a few alternate accounts to curse her out."
Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Never mind, I won't look at it."
Anyway, these people will calm down after a while. Zhou Yu had thought about the consequences when he forwarded the Weibo post. Fortunately, it was just a war between fans, and he could avoid getting involved by not going online.
After the solo version of "Falling Stars" was released, it topped the charts on several music platforms within two days, even surpassing the popularity of the previous duet version. Hearing that the school radio station was also playing Chen Jingchi's solo version, Zhou Yu finally felt relieved.
Chen Jingchi was busy as usual. Soon after New Year's Day, exam week arrived, and no one was chatting in the group; everyone was preparing for the exams.
This year's winter break came exceptionally early. By the end of January, all exams had finished, and students gradually returned home.
On the high-speed train back home, Zhou Yu looked at his account balance, thinking about buying Liu Xianya a gift. After Zhou Jinglong's incident, all the embezzled funds were recovered, and their previous house was seized and auctioned off by the court, leaving the family's savings depleted.
After moving from Quanshan to Xianhai, Liu Xianya sold many of her valuables. She works at a private hospital, earning a decent income that can support her and her daughter's daily expenses. The pressures of life have made Liu Xianya less focused on her appearance and more on skincare.
Zhou Yu's phone contains many photos from before the incident. Back then, Liu Xianya had blonde curly hair and looked as beautiful as a female celebrity in a shopping mall poster. Now, she has never dyed her hair again and tries to keep her clothing style low-key.
Zhou Yu noticed that she had switched from high-end skincare products to unfamiliar brands, her wardrobe hadn't been updated in years, and she only wore light makeup to work, keeping everything simple.
It was Friday, and fearing that Liu Xianya would take the day off to pick her up again, Zhou Yu simply didn't tell her about going home. After getting off the high-speed train, she picked out a set of skincare products that she had seen Liu Xianya use before at a nearby shopping mall, and also bought her a new outfit, then carried them home.
The house was as clean and tidy as ever, spotless. Zhou Yu took the clothes out of her suitcase and hung them in the bedroom, then texted Liu Xianya that she had arrived home.
Just then, a notification popped up on Weibo that someone Zhou Yu was following had posted an update. Zhou Yu clicked on it and saw that Chen Jingchi had just released a new song, the ending theme for an anime, which he was only responsible for singing.
Zhou Yu paid special attention to his IP address. Yesterday he was in Jiangbei, but today he had changed to Xianhai, which meant that he had returned as well.
A message pops up on the screen.
Mom: Why didn't you tell me you were coming back? I could have picked you up.
Mom: Are you hungry? There's bread in the fridge, eat some first, I'll be right back to make dinner.
Zhou Yu replied: 【I'm not hungry, don't leave early】
Mom: [I know, I'll leave work on time.]
She said she'd leave work on time, arriving home at 5:05. The hospital was a ten-minute taxi ride from home, and Zhou Yu sighed, "Won't they dock my pay?"
"It's okay, I'll ask Aunt Zhao to help me clock in." Liu Xianya put the groceries she was carrying in the kitchen, turned to look at her, and said, "You've lost weight."
"No, I don't think so." Zhou Yu took her hand and said, "Don't cook yet, I bought you some things, come and see."
Liu Xianya was taken aback, then laughed: "What did you buy for me?"
Zhou Yu pulled her into the bedroom and took out the white coat she had bought from the closet. Liu Xianya, who had used all sorts of designer brands before, was shocked when she saw the price tag and asked in astonishment, "Where did you get the money to buy this? Don't you eat?"
"This meal was bought with the money I earned," Zhou Yu said, handing her the skincare gift set as well. "And this too."
Liu Xianya glanced at the sign, quickly put the gift box aside, and asked anxiously, "What kind of part-time job can you do to earn so much?"
Zhou Yu had no choice but to tell her the truth, but he chose to only say one thing: "I wrote lyrics for a TV series theme song and earned six thousand yuan."
Liu Xianya was skeptical: "Song lyrics can earn this much? You haven't been scammed, have you? Who contacted you?"
Zhou Yu sent her the contract. After Liu Xianya spent five or six minutes reading it, she searched for the song title online, clicked play, and saw that Zhou Yu's name was indeed listed as the lyricist. Only then did she finally believe that it was true.
Before she could even be happy for her, Liu Xianya looked at her with worry in her eyes: "Why don't you use a pen name?"
Liu Xianya, as Zhou Yu's mother, knew all too well how much that incident had affected her. For several years afterward, she avoided writing essays and often left her Chinese exam essays blank, getting zero marks. It wasn't until her second year of high school, when most of the exams required writing argumentative essays, that her behavior improved.
On the one hand, she was pleased that her daughter was willing to pick up her pen again and write the words she loved. On the other hand, she was also worried that the name "Zhou Yu" might be linked to that incident from back then and be used by malicious people to attack her.
Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "I like my name very much. It's fine. There's no need to change it."
She recalled seeing a comment on Weibo that insulted her name after the press release was exposed.
No wonder he named his daughter Yu (欲), it's the Yu of greed!
It was incredibly ironic, and she really wanted to retort.
In today's language, the word "欲" (yù) is generally considered to have a negative connotation, associated with desires, lust, passion, and indulgence, making it easy to perceive as a very negative word. However, the original meaning of this word was simply "to want" or "to hope."
The word "desire" in these poems—such as "I want to ride the wind and return," "I want to see a thousand miles further," "I want to compare West Lake with Xi Shi," and "I want to compete with the heavens in height"—is so common that no one would associate it with any other meaning.
The name "Yu" given to her by her parents was originally intended to express their hope that she would get what she wanted and that she would have everything she desired. It was a name that reflected their loving wishes. Zhou Yu disliked others misinterpreting it maliciously.
Seeing her insistence, Liu Xianya simply sighed softly, looked at the gifts she had bought, and smiled: "You don't have to buy them all for me. Wouldn't it be better to keep them for yourself?"
"You can still make money, don't worry about it." Zhou Yu helped her put on her coat. "Take a look and see if you like it."
"I love it, of course I love it since my daughter bought it for me." Liu Xianya stood in front of the full-length mirror, looking at the expensive coat she was wearing, feeling a mix of emotions, and her eyes welled up with tears.
Over the years, Liu Xianya has often felt guilty towards her daughter. Her daughter should have been pampered after birth, but due to her parents' foolish mistakes, she was forced to grow up quickly at a young age. As a child, she was everyone's little princess, the most popular wherever she went, but after the incident, she became a pariah.
In such an environment, Zhou Yu's personality changed drastically. He could no longer see the light in his eyes and was even afraid to communicate normally with people. Fortunately, his situation has improved a lot in the past few years, and he has gradually become willing to open up and share his innermost thoughts with her.
It hasn't been easy for Zhou Yu to grow up healthy and safe today. Seeing her buy her the designer clothes she used to own, Liu Xianya felt both happy and heartbroken.
While having dinner, Liu Xianya was still listening to Zhou Yu's song "Evening Stars Falling" on her Bluetooth speaker. After listening to it several times, she felt it sounded very familiar and asked, "Who sings this song?"
She was looking at the lyrics page and only focused on Zhou Yu; she didn't even notice who the singer was.
“Chen Jingchi,” Zhou Yu said.
"Oh my! I knew that sounded familiar." Liu Xianya slapped her forehead and said, "I just saw him this afternoon."
Zhou paused in his eating, looked up at her, and asked, "Are you here for a follow-up appointment?"
“Yes,” Liu Xianya exclaimed. “What a big change! He used to be such a rebellious kid.”
On the last day of the National Day holiday during the first semester of senior year, Liu Xianya was assigned to daytime duty. Fearing that Zhou Yu would be home alone without food, Liu Xianya called her to her office to do her homework.
That day, Zhou Yu was working on a challenging math test. One derivative problem had stumped her for a long time, and she had run out of scratch paper. Just then, Liu Xianya came to check on the patients, so Zhou Yu looked on her desk to see if there was any paper she didn't need.
While searching, she happened to find a patient's medical record that they hadn't taken with them. She picked it up and saw a name that Zhou Yu recognized: Chen Jingchi.
Chief complaint: hoarseness for three days and sore throat.
Liu Xianya diagnosed her with acute laryngitis and prescribed medication.
Zhou Yu glanced at the time; it was yesterday's order.
When Liu Xianya returned from her rounds, Zhou Yu picked up the medical record and asked her about the situation. Liu Xianya recalled for a moment and remembered: "Oh, it was a tall boy who said he had a sore throat and couldn't sing."
Zhou wanted to ask, "Is it serious?"
"It's not serious." Liu Xianya didn't take it to heart. "It's normal for a seventeen or eighteen-year-old to get a little heaty."
Zhou Yu was relieved.
Until early November, one weekend when she returned home, Liu Xianya mentioned the boy she had seen at the clinic that afternoon during dinner.
"The art exams are coming up soon, and he's still smoking and drinking." Liu Xianya shook her head and sighed, "Boys are too stubborn."
Zhou Yu's heart skipped a beat, and she asked, "Is it Chen Jingchi?"
Liu Xianya asked in surprise, "You still remember him?"
“Classmates from the same school,” Zhou Yu explained.
“It’s him,” Liu Xianya said. “He was singing desperately even though he had a cold, and he didn’t abstain from smoking and drinking. Now he can’t speak at all and needs to do nebulizer treatments for a week. I hope it won’t interfere with his art exam.”
At that time, Zhou Yu was unaware of what had happened to Chen Jingchi during that period. Now it seems that the disbandment of the band, the loss of the CCTV stage, and the divorce of his parents all piled up at once, completely overwhelming him.
This is what Chen Jingchi mentioned in the interview: he had a period of self-abandonment.
After that day, Zhou Yu ran into Chen Jingchi on campus one evening, which was their first formal face-to-face meeting. She noticed the cigarette between his fingers and reminded him not to smoke, only to be met with a dismissive "mind your own business."
Unfortunately, Chen Jingchi no longer remembers this memory, nor does he remember that they had met like this at school.
Fortunately, he didn't remember, which gave Zhou Yu the courage to submit the lyrics to his email.
It turns out that everything has a traceable origin.
Chen Jingchi would come back for a check-up every few months, and even take the initiative to ask what he could eat to protect his voice. This made Liu Xianya very gratified, thinking that her child's rebellious phase was over and he had grown up.
Zhou wanted to ask, "How is he doing now?"
"I'm much better now, and I'm more conscious of my health," Liu Xianya said with a smile. "I never thought I'd be a singer now. This show is quite popular; Aunt Zhao watches it every day during her lunch break."
Zhou Yu didn't respond. After a moment, Liu Xianya suddenly asked, "Did he have anything to do with you writing these lyrics?"
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Author's note: Thank you for the nutrient solution, everyone!!
Reader "Wanxin" irrigated with nutrient solution +9
Reader "Qiqiqiqi" added 1 unit of nutrient solution to the water.
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