Chapter 48: The Shyness That Old Love Letters Can't Hide
Not only in relationships, but in other matters as well, Zhou Yu has developed the habit of weighing the pros and cons. She cares about the consequences, whether her efforts will be rewarded accordingly, and whether the time and energy spent are worthwhile.
Liu Xianya's words enlightened her: love is simple, pure, and unconditional.
When Zhou first realized that she loved him more than any reason, she wanted to surrender to herself.
Even if it was a dream, it was an incredibly beautiful dream, one that she was willing to immerse herself in and treat as a real dream.
Her breathing was still erratic, but her voice was crystal clear: "Okay."
Chen Jingchi removed his hand from her face and said in a low voice, "Say it again."
Zhou wanted to do as he wished, repeating clearly, "Be your girlfriend."
The kiss landed forcefully, even more aggressively than before. Zhou Yu learned quickly, this time knowing to stick out her tongue after opening her mouth, but she still couldn't keep up with his rapid pace. When she couldn't breathe, she wanted him to slow down, but her voice disappeared between her lips and tongue until Chen Jingchi pulled away to let her breathe, laughing at her for not knowing how to breathe properly.
She didn't have much time to catch her breath; Chen Jingchi showed little patience in kissing her. She quickly felt her brain suffocating from lack of oxygen, and she didn't even have the strength to respond before he finally stopped.
He used the sleeve of the clothes he had worn at the concert to wipe the drool from the corner of her lips. It took Zhou Yu a while to recover, and her first question was how expensive the clothes were.
"I don't know," Chen Jingchi laughed, "but I definitely won't wear it a second time."
Zhou Yu pursed her lips, which were slightly numb from the kiss, still thinking about the task Du Heng had given her, and pushed him away, saying, "I'm going to give you a hot compress."
Chen Jingchi wanted to kiss her one last time before letting go, but after one kiss, he wanted a second. Their lips were pressed together, reluctant to separate, until Zhou Yu whispered a reminder: "The driver will be waiting for a long time."
“His salary is much higher than other drivers.” He pulled her into his arms and tightened his embrace. “Let me hold you for a while.”
Zhou Yu leaned quietly against him, wanting to reach out and hug his waist, but was afraid of touching the injury on his back and not knowing if it would hurt him. After thinking about it, she didn't dare to move.
The Chen Jingchi on stage was very different from the one he was with her in private. He concealed some of his flamboyance and revealed his most tender side to her. Zhou Yu's heart was melting at his sight. She thought to herself, "So this is what love feels like. Even though we're already so close, we still want to get even closer, like a hungry person who can never be satisfied."
From simply wanting to get close to him, to wanting to be with him, with him filling her heart and eyes, yet she had to restrain herself from showing it too obviously. Zhou Yu couldn't figure out why, but each day she realized more and more deeply that her feelings for him were growing stronger, becoming inseparable and inescapable.
Chen Jingchi released her, the intense emotions in his eyes subsided somewhat, and his voice was still a little hoarse: "Come with me."
Seeing him turn to go to the kitchen to boil water, she finally had a chance to look around his house. The furniture and decoration were very new, obviously a new house that he hadn't lived in for long. The house was very large, with three bedrooms, two living rooms and an open-air balcony, much more spacious than his apartment in Jiangbei.
He probably doesn't live here often, because there were no signs of habitation in the house. Zhou Yu followed behind him, waited for the water to boil, then added cold water, soaked a towel in the hot water, and told him to lift up his clothes.
What was originally a large red mark had now turned into a mixture of blue and purple. Zhou Yu couldn't bear to look at it. She gently placed a towel on it and asked, "Does it hurt when you wear the in-ear receiver?"
"It's alright," Chen Jingchi said. "It looks scary, but I don't really feel anything."
Zhou Yu remembered the holiday Du Heng had mentioned and asked, "How many days off do you get?"
"Two days."
"Is this what you call a holiday?" Zhou Yu couldn't help but complain. "It's too short."
"There's no other way," Chen Jingchi said, turning his head away. "I have to return the leave I took from the company before."
Although he took leave from the company, he was not idle during those months and kept creating.
"Are you coming over tomorrow?" he asked.
Zhou Yu changed his towel without saying anything.
"I'll be very busy until the start of the semester, so I don't know if we'll be able to meet," Chen Jingchi added.
Zhou Yu thought to himself that he clearly knew exactly how to manipulate her. She lowered her voice slightly and asked, "What time are you coming?"
Chen Jingchi chuckled: "Any time is fine. I'll send you the gate password later."
It was quite late after the hot compress was finished. Zhou Yu noticed that Liu Xianya hadn't messaged her, so she guessed she was waiting at home. She got up to leave but stopped him, saying, "Don't go downstairs. Go remove your makeup."
With his wrist held, Chen Jingchi listened to her words but also made a request: "Give me a kiss before you leave."
Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment. Their first kiss had lasted a long time, and she was afraid that Chen Jingchi might not be able to resist keeping her for another ten minutes or so. But the hesitation was too short. In about a second, she took the initiative to stand on tiptoe and tilt her head back to kiss the corner of his lips.
She smiled at him, then turned and left in a flustered manner, unable to hide her shyness.
The sound of the door closing brought him back to reality; the soft touch of her body still seemed to linger on his lips.
*
When she got home, Liu Xianya was indeed waiting for her on the sofa. It was almost midnight, but she was not sleepy at all. She looked at her with a bright and energetic expression.
Zhou knew what she was waiting for, so he skipped the preamble and immediately told her the result as soon as he entered: "Chen Jingchi and I are together."
Liu Xianya quickly stood up and said with a smile, "I knew it. With such a big fuss, no girl could resist."
Zhou was momentarily lost in thought, before Liu Xianya's voice pulled her back to reality, "Did he just bring you back?"
“No, the driver brought him here,” Zhou Yu explained. “He had a few drinks tonight and couldn’t drive.”
"Oh, oh." Liu Xianya realized, "Celebrities probably don't need to drive themselves."
Zhou wanted to turn off the TV and urge her to go to bed and wait for her, but Liu Xianya insisted on following closely behind her, inquiring about Chen Jingchi's family situation.
Zhou Yu told her everything he knew. When she heard that her parents were divorced, Liu Xianya's smile faded, and she said, "Then it must have been really tough for him all by himself."
Zhou Yu paused in washing his face, rinsed off the foam, straightened up, looked at her, and suddenly said, "Mom, do you think we'd be better off as lovers than friends?"
She suddenly remembered what Chen Jingchi had said when he first confessed his feelings to her.
Let's not be friends, let's be boyfriend and girlfriend.
Although they had only just started dating, Zhou Yu felt a vague fear in her heart. If they couldn't be boyfriend and girlfriend one day, they couldn't possibly go back to being just friends.
Liu Xianya was taken aback, wondering why she would ask such a question. She said, "Lovers can develop into family. Although friends can accompany you for a lifetime, it's different from the companionship of a lover."
Zhou Yu looked into her eyes and asked softly, "Can we become family?"
These words silenced Liu Xianya as well. She seemed to understand the unspoken meaning behind them. What Zhou Yu was worried about had always been a thorn in their side.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Zhou Yu suddenly realized that he shouldn't have said too much at this time, so he quickly went up and hugged her: "I was just talking nonsense, don't overthink it, I'm very happy today."
Before going to bed, Zhou Yu habitually opened Weibo, only to remember Du Heng's words telling her not to look at Weibo. She hesitated for a second, but still clicked on it.
The previously mentioned terms are still trending at the top of the hot search list, and Weibo is almost flooded with topics related to Chen Jingchi. Everyone is shocked by his public confession tonight.
Various marketing accounts reposted the video of Chen Jingchi saying that, and Zhou Yu was tagged countless times. Surprisingly, most of the comments on the platform were blessings, with only a few aggressive insults appearing occasionally.
Zhou Yu's Weibo followers are also skyrocketing. She never reads private messages or comments, and after clearing her messages, she logged out. The person in question posted a Weibo at 9:30 pm tonight, along with more than ten official photos from the concert, thanking all the audience members who attended.
One look at the text and you know it wasn't written by him. Zhou Yu opened the comments section and sure enough, the fans were in an uproar. His girlfriend fans and music fans were arguing fiercely. Some thought that his relationship was a betrayal of his fans, while others supported and blessed him. There were also many passersby who came to join in the fun and ask if he had succeeded in getting the girl. The three sides were arguing fiercely.
The top-rated comment even has 50,000 likes:
【You eloped with her, what will happen to our little goldfish? [smile]】
"Little Goldfish" is what his fans call themselves.
Second most popular comment:
[The money spent on your album's chart ranking was just for you to use to woo your girlfriend?]
The comments at the top are all from his super topic's big names, with yellow V badges. Zhou Yu dared not imagine what kind of bloody storm would be stirred up in the super topic.
Chen Jingchi made a bold move tonight, but he has to bear the consequences. Public anger is hard to quell, and many fans have publicly announced that they are unfollowing him, with their words so intense that it seems as if Zhou Yu really stole her boyfriend.
She exited the app, not daring to look any further. Liu Xianya, who had been scrolling through her phone, turned off the sound and, after what seemed like a long period of thought, said, "Xiaobao, nobody knows what will happen in the future. The most important thing is to cherish the present and enjoy it."
Zhou wanted to put his phone aside and turn to look at her.
“When we start doing something, we never have the mindset that we will mess it up sooner or later, so I will just do a shoddy job. Everyone wants a good result. Even if we don’t succeed in the end, at least you will gain a lot in the process.”
Liu Xianya patted her hair. "This is your first relationship. There are many things you two need to explore together. But sometimes your thinking is too pessimistic. I'm worried that if you have conflicts in your relationship, you will also tend to deal with them in a passive and permissive way."
Zhou Yu lowered his head and remained silent.
As she said, from the very beginning when she never even expected to become friends with him, to now, step by step, she has walked on thin ice, proceeding with extreme caution. Perhaps there are external factors, or perhaps it is a flaw in her personality; she lacks confidence not only in herself but also in their relationship.
She has many fears, and in her interactions with Chen Jingchi, she is always in a passive position.
She thought that it was indeed time to start making changes.
"I understand," Zhou Yu replied softly. "I will give myself some confidence."
Let's also give them some confidence in their relationship.
*
The next day, Zhou Yu woke up early. Although Chen Jingchi said he could come anytime, she knew he was very tired and didn't want to disturb his sleep, so she waited until almost noon before leaving the house.
On the subway, at exactly twelve o'clock, she saw a Weibo notification from someone she was following. Chen Jingchi had released a new song.
@Chen Jingchi:
I've always dreamed of it.
It is true love and freedom.
[Web link][Runaway - Live Version]
The audio of the other songs performed at the concert has not yet been released, but "Run Away" is the only one that was officially released, even though it was the last song performed.
Zhou was about to leave when he realized he hadn't brought his earphones with him, so he couldn't listen to music for the time being and planned to wait until he got home to listen to it.
Because of Du Heng's reminder, I paid special attention to the surroundings when I arrived at his building, and only dared to go upstairs when I didn't see anyone.
Although he gave her the password, Zhou Yu still knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman opened the door. She was wearing an apron, wiped her hands on the apron, and said with a smile, "Are you Miss Zhou? I'm the cook. The dishes are all ready, just waiting for the rice to cook. Now that you're here, I'll be going now."
Zhou Yu nodded to her, and seeing her take off her apron, he reached out and took it: "Give it to me."
"Thank you." The woman bent down to put on her shoes and left through the door.
Zhou hung her apron in the kitchen. There was no one in the living room; they were probably still asleep. A table was laden with dishes, and it was clear the woman was a very good cook—the presentation and presentation were impeccable, comparable to a five-star restaurant.
The rice would be cooked in a few minutes. Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment between letting him sleep and waking him up to eat, and finally decided to go to his room to check on him.
Two rooms were open. One was a recording studio with a piano and recording equipment. There were some retro-style posters on the walls, and a record rack with some vinyl records collected by Chen Jingchi. Zhou Yu immediately noticed that the five records she had given him were also on the list and placed in the most conspicuous position.
The other open room was the music room, which contained various musical instruments. Zhou Yu thought that Chen Jingchi was best at playing the piano, but he didn't expect that there were guitars, basses, violins, and even an old erhu.
Zhou Yu dared not touch these things, afraid of breaking them. She only stood at the door for a glance before leaving. The innermost room was the bedroom. She went up to it, pressed her ear to the door, and listened for a while. There was no sound. She belatedly realized that her behavior was very strange, like that of an eavesdropper.
She gently turned the doorknob; the room was dark and gloomy, and sure enough, the person was still asleep.
Zhou wanted to close the door, so she walked as quietly as possible to the bedside, relying on the faint light filtering through the curtains. The similar scene quickly reminded her of New Year's Day, when she lost a game of rock-paper-scissors with her friends and was sent upstairs to wake him up.
The air conditioner was set very low, and the cold air was blowing directly on him. Chen Jingchi was only covered with a thin blanket, and he wasn't even wearing any clothes on his upper body. He wondered if he would catch a cold if he slept like this.
Zhou Yu watched him by the bed for a while when her phone rang. The sound was abrupt in the quiet room, and she saw Chen Jingchi move slightly.
Zhou Yu's first reaction was to put his phone on silent, but then he remembered that he was just calling him to get up and eat, so he gave up.
When Chen Jingchi opened his eyes, there was someone standing by the bed. He thought he was dreaming. He reached out and put his arm around her waist, then pulled her onto the bed.
Zhou Yu gasped in fright and tried to brace herself, but her hand touched his bare chest, leaving her momentarily helpless and too afraid to move.
He pulled her into his arms, only waking up when he heard her voice, but he kept his eyes closed, not wanting to get up, and asked in a low voice, "Why did it take you so long?"
Zhou Yu heard her own heart pounding. She tried to pull her hand away, but then her palm touched something else. The skin beneath her palm was warm and elastic; she could almost feel the lines of its muscles. Her face flushed red, and she inwardly scolded him for sleeping in his pajamas, not caring if he caught a cold!
"Don't touch me." Chen Jingchi's fingers touched her burning earlobe and gently pinched it. "I can't take it now."
"Who told you not to wear clothes?" Zhou Yu said, then realized something was wrong and added in a low voice, "I didn't mean to."
"I've been waiting for you since seven o'clock," Chen Jingchi whispered in her ear, "and I've been waiting until now."
He held her tightly, and she could clearly feel his change when their bodies were pressed together. Zhou Yu felt a jolt of numbness all over her body. She flinched, unaccustomed to such close proximity, wanting to pull away but afraid of falling off the bed. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Didn't you sleep until now?"
He chuckled softly, "I went back to sleep. I've already eaten breakfast."
Noticing her slight tremor, he lowered his head and kissed her forehead before letting her go, saying, "Go outside and wait for me."
Zhou Yu felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He propped himself up on the bed and sat up. Before leaving, he turned back and asked, "How long will it take you?"
Chen Jingchi smiled at her meaningfully: "I don't want to keep you waiting for too long, but I'm also afraid you'll think I'm not good enough."
Zhou was speechless and dared not respond. He turned around and quickly closed the door.
She took out her phone intending to see who had sent the message that had just rang, but her gaze immediately drifted to the upper right corner to check the time.
It was a message from the group chat. Tan Bei posted a picture of the airport in the group, saying that they had already departed to return to Jiangbei.
Zhou wanted to reply to her: 【Have a safe trip】
While waiting, she went to the kitchen, filled two bowls with rice, and placed the bowls and chopsticks on the table. Feeling bored while waiting, and thinking it would be a good opportunity to listen to music, she opened her music app and played "Run Away".
The sound quality of the live version is much better than when I heard it live yesterday. There was no whole audience singing along, only his tender and gentle voice, which made Zhou Yu truly feel that this song was sung for her alone.
When the game played for the third time, Chen Jingchi finally came out of the room. She glanced at the time again, confused, and then realized what she had been counting. Her face turned bright red, and she buried her head, wishing she could disappear into a hole.
It's all his fault!
Why say "yes" or "no" when there's no reason to say anything?
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Author's Note: Thank you to reader "彤彤266" for the +1 nutrient solution [pink heart]
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