Chapter 1
The news said that Beijing will usher in the hottest summer in nearly 50 years starting this month.
There was no air conditioning in the old little house, and it was baked into a living steamer by the scorching sun, with even the air becoming thin.
Ji Ruan was awakened by the vibration of his cell phone. He opened his eyes, but had no intention of answering the call. He just stared blankly at the ceiling.
Still no change.
The room was cramped and small, less than five square meters, with yellowed and peeling walls. On the wooden door was a calendar from an unknown year, with the edges badly damaged and faded, and a corner of it drooping after being degummed by the hot air.
Ji Ruan was lying on the bed, the bed surface under his back was so hot that it seemed to be on fire, and the sticky wetness all over his body forced him to admit that he had indeed traveled through a book.
It was still an old, melodramatic and abusive novel, in which the poor bottom agreed to marry the top and was tortured physically and mentally eight hundred times.
I don't remember the title of the article, I just know that the poor little protagonist has the same name as me, and the old top who agreed to marry him is named Gu Xiuyi.
Ji Ruan spent the last two years of his life seriously ill in bed, almost cut off from all communication with the outside world. His only pleasure was listening to his cousin telling all kinds of melodramatic novels.
The protagonist of one of the books had the same name and surname as him. At that time, his cousin even teased that his name sounded like a bottom, saying that in traditional melodramatic novels, the domineering CEO must have the surname Gu, and the weak bottom must have the surname Ruan.
At that time, Ji Ruan still had some strength. He stood up and hit her on the back of the head. The cousin covered her head with her hands and angrily cursed him for being in a book.
Unexpectedly, my words came true.
Ji Ruan really traveled through time after his death.
Although he only lived to be 20 years old, Ji Ruan came from a wealthy family and had no shortage of food and clothing. He had never lived in such a shabby little house, nor had he experienced a summer that was as hot as a sauna after waking up from a sleep.
The high temperature made Ji Ruan's brain stop working. The phone beside his pillow kept vibrating, and he mechanically reached out to touch it.
——Special Assistant Song.
The most capable assistant around Gu Xiuyi. As far as he could remember, when signing the marriage agreement, it was always this assistant who brought the lawyer to talk to the original body, and the protagonist, Mr. Gu, never showed up once.
The cell phone was a very old model, and it had broken down several times. The touch screen was extremely unresponsive, and Ji Ruan clicked several times before hanging up the call.
The signal was received over there, and then several WeChat messages popped up.
[Mr. Ji, are you ready? I'm on my way to pick you up.]
[We will arrive in about 20 minutes.]
Ji Ruan stared at the screen for two seconds before he remembered that he was going to pick her up and take her to Gu Xiuyi's house.
Although Ji Ruan can possess the memories of his original body, he does not have all of them. They will only be activated when he comes into contact with related plots. It is as if the world in the book is also being lazy and is too lazy to complete what Ji Ruan cannot see.
He and Gu Xiuyi had an agreed marriage, which meant that after being taken to Gu Xiuyi's home, he would soon get a marriage certificate with this man he had never met before.
Ji Ruan's fingertips holding the phone trembled slightly.
Finally, he picked up the plastic-wrapped agreement at the end of the bed and quickly flipped through it. Even though Ji Ruan once had a wealthy family, when he saw the zeros following the string of numbers that he could get after the expiration of the agreement, he couldn't help but open his eyes slightly.
After a moment, Ji Ruan typed calmly.
[I've packed it, thank you.]
Special Assistant Song gave him a big smile in return.
Putting down the phone, Ji Ruan lowered his head and let out a breath. The thin T-shirt on his body was wet and wrinkled after being hot all night. He tugged at the collar in disgust, stood up and walked to the bathroom.
Less than two seconds after the shower sounded after the bathroom door closed, it was opened again. Ji Ruan stepped out barefoot in a panic, leaving a row of wet footprints on the floor tiles.
He took a small object from his right ear, black and shaped to fit perfectly behind the ear.
Ji Ruan tore off two pieces of napkins to wrap the small thing, pressed it down, and put it back behind his ear. He concentrated on feeling it for a few seconds, and his slightly tense shoulders and back finally relaxed. He took off the small thing and put it on the table, and then went into the bathroom.
He is hearing impaired.
He has hearing loss in one ear and is almost completely deaf in the other, and can only make ends meet with the help of a cochlear implant he received as a child.
One part of the cochlear implant is implanted into the body through the skin behind the ear, and the other part is a behind-the-ear device outside the body. You can hear when you put it on, but you are almost deaf when you take it off.
This kind of precision parts are expensive and fragile, and cannot be bumped or wet. Ji Ruan was not used to taking over this body yet, so he went to take a shower while wearing it.
However, his body's conditioned reflex told Ji Ruan that this little toy was very valuable. Almost at the moment the water splashed on his body, his heart tightened. He jumped away in a hurry and almost slipped, which scared him a lot.
Hot water poured down, covering Ji Ruan from head to toe. He closed his eyes and wiped his face, secretly remembering not to fall or get wet in the rain, and to protect his little ears well. After all, he could hear sounds thanks to this seemingly inconspicuous little thing.
Special Assistant Song said he would be there in 20 minutes. Ji Ruan did not waste time and quickly took a shower and came out.
Without the cochlear implant, the world is completely silent; even the sound of the hair dryer is vague. It feels like there is a stone blocking his ear, but not too tightly, so some gaps can be seen. However, this tiny gap only makes the sounds Ji Ruan hears appear distorted and weird, which is better than nothing.
The completely unfamiliar feeling made Ji Ruan's back numb. He increased the speed of blowing his hair, but when his fingertips touched behind his ears, he bounced back as if he had been electrocuted.
Ji Ruan stood there in a daze, his chest heaving slightly. After a while, he raised his hand and touched the skin behind his right ear again.
The hard, slightly raised round outline is extremely clear at the fingertips.
——It is an artificial cochlear implanted in the body.
The original body's hair was relatively long, not reaching the tips of the ears, and usually even the small black external device was covered. To the naked eye, he looked no different from an ordinary person.
Ji Ruan didn't expect it to be so obvious when touched.
A strange part melted into his flesh and took root in his bones and blood. It was not until this moment that Ji Ruan truly felt that this was indeed a new body and he had come to another world.
Ji Ruan put down the hair dryer and raised his hand to wipe the mirror. The misty mirror surface suddenly became clear, reflecting the face of a young boy.
It looks exactly like Ji Ruan's original appearance.
To be precise, it is exactly the same as the eighteen-year-old Ji Ruan.
He was diagnosed with a terminal illness when he was eighteen, and his health deteriorated rapidly. By the time he died at the age of 20, his family had not allowed him to look in the mirror for a long time.
Ji Ruan could probably guess that he must have looked very ugly at that time, lying on the hospital bed with tubes inserted all over his body, looking lifeless and haggard.
But now the boy in the mirror, although thin and malnourished, has plump cheeks and extremely clear eyes, which is Ji Ruan's most lively appearance.
Ji Ruan's eyes were burning. Although he was traveling through a book, it seemed as if God had given him another life.
Ji Ruan returned to the small room. There was a small silver suitcase next to the desk. It contained all the things he had packed to take away.
There was a blue doll on the handle of the suitcase. Ji Ruan took a look and found that it was the mascot of Kyoto University. The suitcase also had the Kyoto University emblem printed on it.
The original character setting was a poor but tough little white flower, who was a good student and was admitted to the Chinese Department of Peking University.
Ji Ruan was admitted to such a good university, but was unable to report because of illness.
He sat down on the ground, leaned on the suitcase, rested his head on his arms, and looked up to see the towering trees outside through the small window.
This is a very old residential area. Over the years, the trees have grown thick and strong with lush branches and leaves. The green leaves are wilted by the scorching sun. The cicadas' chirping should be very loud, but it sounds a little distorted in my ears.
Ji Ruan closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the back of his hand.
It doesn’t matter if you have poor hearing, at least you can survive.
This time I want to live a little easier and happier...
Ji Ruan was thinking aimlessly. After only sitting for a short while, the floor tiles beneath him seemed to start to get hot.
It's too hot.
Ji Ruan felt suffocated and dizzy, so he took out a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi water from the drawer according to his memory, put in a straw and drank it.
Just after taking a sip, his cell phone started vibrating and there seemed to be a knock on the door. Ji Ruan got up and went out to open the door, and saw the familiar face of Special Assistant Song in his memory.
They always wear suits when working in the office, and today is no exception. However, probably because it was too hot to climb the stairs, Assistant Song took off his coat. A small spot on his shirt collar was wet, and his forehead was covered in sweat.
Ji Ruan was stunned for a moment, then tore off two pieces of tissue paper and handed them to him: "There is no elevator here, thank you for walking up."
Special Assistant Song was well-mannered. Upon hearing this, he just took the tissue and smiled, "This is my job."
On such a hot day, Ji Ruan certainly would not invite him to have tea in his furnace-like room. He nodded to Special Assistant Song and went back to the room to get the suitcase without delay.
Song Ling stared at Ji Ruan's back. The boy was wearing an old T-shirt and shorts. He lived in a bare house. He had never had a good life since he was a child, but his skin was still fair and translucent.
They had always sat down when signing the agreement before, but it was the first time that Song Ling discovered that Ji Ruan had a very nice walking posture. He did not try hard to straighten his back, nor was he as timid and cautious as the information said. Instead, there was a unique kind of natural relaxation in his manner, which was out of place in the shabby little house.
Song Ling inexplicably felt that his boss taking Ji Ruan away was like pulling a white radish out of a quagmire, taking it home and washing it, and then surprisingly discovering that it was a piece of mutton-fat jade.
The car stopped downstairs. After Ji Ruan got in, the air-conditioned air gave him goose bumps all over his body, but at least he finally cooled down, and even the headache caused by the heat was much better.
The high-end black sedan carried Ji Ruan out of the dilapidated neighborhood, through the city of steel and iron, and finally drove into a villa area in the west of the city.
This place is completely different from the community where I lived originally. It is surrounded by green trees, the road is spotless, and there are single-family villas scattered around. Each villa is separated by a considerable distance to ensure sufficient privacy.
The car drove all the way to the innermost part before stopping. This is an emerging wealthy area. The villas are built in a unique way. The appearance of the villa in front of us is very unique.
——It has no edges.
The sharp corners required by normal buildings are replaced by smooth curves, and the overall color is gray and white. A gray staircase extends from the open-air balcony on the left side of the second floor and disappears into the backyard in a perfect arc.
Against the backdrop of the green forest, the entire villa looks like a glittering gray moonstone.
"There's an outdoor swimming pool in the back," Song Ling followed Ji Ruan's gaze and said, "If it's on the second floor, it would be much closer to go down from there."
The sun was scorching, and after standing for a while, Ji Ruan's cheeks became red and his lips dried.
Song Ling held up a black umbrella and walked quickly with Ji Ruan across the well-manicured lawn.
In fact, they could have gone through the side door into the underground garage and taken the built-in elevator up, so they wouldn't have to be exposed to the sun.
But Gu Xiuyi specifically instructed that Ji Ruan should enter through the main gate.
Special Assistant Song didn't understand why the wedding ceremony from eight hundred years ago should be followed for a marriage of arrangement with no emotional basis. He would have to let his young wife, whom he had never met, walk through the front door and get sunburned in vain.
But Mr. Gu always likes to quibble over these details.
The style inside the villa is completely consistent with that outside, all in a cool and minimalist style, without a single unnecessary decoration.
Standing at the entrance was a kind-looking woman in her fifties. Song Ling introduced her, "This is Aunt Zhao. She has been taking care of Mr. Gu and is now responsible for your daily life."
Everyone around Gu Xiuyi was very polite. Aunt Zhao smiled and called out, "Mr. Ji."
This body is only eighteen years old. Even when Ji Ruan died, he was only twenty. Ji Ruan felt a little uncomfortable being called "sir" so politely by his elders.
He touched the tip of his nose and said with a smile, "Hello, Aunt Zhao, you can just call me Xiao Ruan."
Aunt Zhao didn't refuse and smiled and said, "Oh, by the way, this is Mr. Gu's cat, named Xiao An."
As she spoke, she rubbed the head of the big cat beside her legs. It was a huge light silver Maine Coon cat, and when it squatted, it was almost above Aunt Zhao's knees. At first glance, Ji Ruan almost thought it was a medium-sized dog.
Xiao An looked fierce and noble. Under the guidance of Aunt Zhao, he only rubbed Ji Ruan's calf symbolically and then walked away slowly.
Aunt Zhao smiled and glanced at Big Cat, then took Ji Ruan upstairs to see the room.
To be fair, Gu Xiuyi did not treat his marriage partner badly - his room was very spacious, well-lit, and had a cloakroom and bathroom. The area of the cloakroom alone exceeded that of Ji Ruan's entire small house.
It was specially renovated, and its style was completely opposite to the minimalist style of the entire villa. It was very - Ji Ruan looked around and couldn't help laughing - cartoon-like.
There were two big stuffed bears on the bed, the floor was covered with khaki plush carpet, and even the fabric curtains were printed with silly cartoon bears. On the desk stood a Q-version lucky cat that didn't look too smart.
Song Ling felt a little embarrassed when he saw Ji Ruan didn't say anything.
At that time, Gu Xiuyi only asked him to decorate the room to make it a little cozier, but when he gave instructions to the decoration company, he added a sentence: The owner of the room is young, so the colors should be lively.
I didn’t expect the final result to resemble a child’s room.
Song Ling coughed and threw the blame to the boss without changing his expression: "Mr. Gu hopes that you will have a comfortable stay, so he specifically asked that the room style should be warm."
Ji Ruan flicked the lucky cat's paw with her slender white fingers. She didn't know what she was thinking about, but a faint smile appeared on her lips: "Thank you, I like it very much."
·
Three days later, in the car.
The man in the back seat closed his eyes slightly to rest, his tall body hidden in the shadows.
Song Ling, who was in the co-pilot seat, turned his head and took a look. Knowing that he was not asleep, he reported in a low voice: "The wife knows that you are getting married, and she is a little impatient."
The dim light outside the window reflected the cold corners of the man's lips. Gu Xiuyi's expression did not change, and even the fingers on his thigh did not pause for the slightest. He said lightly: "When she can calm down, I will look up to her."
When Song Ling heard this, he pursed his lips and said no more.
After a moment, Gu Xiuyi's low voice came from the back seat: "Ji Ruan, what do you think of him?"
How about it?
This question is too broad.
Song Ling nodded. Ji Ruan was one of the many poor students sponsored by Gu Xiuyi. He was hearing-impaired, weak, and both his parents had passed away, but his academic performance was excellent.
Gu Xiuyi hates anything troublesome and tedious. Even the selection of a marriage partner is left to his subordinates. It's like selecting employees. Resumes are screened through layer by layer, coldly and impersonally.
Ji Ruan is the perfect candidate because he is excellent but weak, knows everyone's background and has no relatives, and can be free from all worries.
Song Ling hesitated for a moment, then said carefully, "Very quiet, doesn't talk much, and never does anything during the three days he's been at home. He says thank you to Aunt Zhao before meals, pushes his chair back very gently after meals, and wipes his mouth from left to right..."
Gu Xiuyi frowned.
Song Ling paused: "...What's wrong?"
Gu Xiuyi pressed his brows and said, "No need to be so detailed."
He doesn't care at all whether his future partner wipes his mouth from left to right or right to left.
Song Ling said "Ah" and said awkwardly: "Okay."
Gu Xiuyi put down his hand: "Nothing else?"
Song Ling thought for a moment and said, "By the way, Mr. Ji changed his bed yesterday morning, saying that... he was not sleeping well."
There is just a bed. If Gu Xiuyi hadn't asked Song Ling, he wouldn't have remembered it for a while, so it shouldn't be a big deal.
Sure enough, Gu Xiuyi closed his eyes again, obviously not taking it to heart.
Song Ling looked ahead and asked, "We're almost there. Do we need to contact them first?"
"No, just go in."
There is an open kitchen on the first floor of the villa. As soon as Gu Xiuyi got out of the elevator, he smelled the faint aroma of mung bean soup. Aunt Zhao was about to start cooking dinner.
Although Xiao Anbai has a tall body, he is actually very clingy to people he knows, and he rubs against Gu Xiuyi's trouser legs.
Gu Xiuyi rubbed the big cat's head, took off his suit jacket and handed it to Aunt Zhao, then glanced around the living room and asked casually, "Where is he?"
Aunt Zhao understood and took the suit: "He was taking a nap in the room before, and he must have woken up now."
Gu Xiuyi nodded, his face showing no emotion, and went to the sink to wash his hands. "Is he easy to get along with?"
Aunt Zhao has been in charge of taking care of Gu Xiuyi since he was ten years old. They have a close relationship. In short, "The child is very well behaved, but I think he is a little weak. He may have been too hot in the past few days. He has a poor appetite recently and prefers to eat fruit."
She laughed as she spoke, "But he was still very serious about eating. He must really like my cooking."
Aunt Zhao is a good cook, and what makes her happiest is that other people like the food she cooks.
Gu Xiuyi also smiled and wiped his hands: "I'll go up and take a look."
"Yeah, okay."
While the boss turned around, Song Ling quickly stuffed a piece of apple that Aunt Zhao had cut into his mouth and followed quietly.
The room that Gu Xiuyi chose for Ji Ruan had very good lighting. Even with the door mostly closed, there was still dim natural light coming through the gap.
Gu Xiuyi glanced through the crack in the door and was about to raise his hand to knock on the door symbolically, but he suddenly stopped when he saw something.
Seeing his boss stop in his tracks, Song Ling suddenly became curious and bravely moved forward.
The bed had indeed been changed. Ji Ruan was lying on it in her short-sleeved pajamas, her right hand constantly touching something behind the pillow.
Then, he was shocked to see that Ji Ruan took out a small remote control and pressed it twice. The head of the bed suddenly rose slowly, and moved forward together with the wooden table at the foot of the bed and stopped at the appropriate position.
It is a bed provided for critically ill patients in the hospital, which can minimize the amount of activity.
Ji Ruan turned on the TV but didn't turn on the sound, as he seemed to only need to read the subtitles.
On the table above the bed there was a bowl of juicy cherries and a lucky cat that was originally used as decoration in the room, except that the cat's claws had been removed and replaced with a wooden stick that looked like the clip in a claw machine.
There is a thin rope connected to the wooden stick. Ji Ruan only needs to move his fingers and the lucky cat will grab a cherry from the glass plate and feed it into his mouth accurately.
Song Ling was so shocked that his mouth opened wide and he looked quickly at Gu Xiuyi.
Mr. Gu’s frown was so tight that it could kill a mosquito.
Gu Xiuyi has always been a self-disciplined and hardworking person. Since Song Ling became his assistant, he has never gotten up after 6 o'clock.
He was almost certain that this was the laziest scene his boss had ever seen in his life.
Gu Xiuyi turned his head, his expressionless but his eyes were frighteningly cold, as if carrying a silent question.
Song Ling felt a chill down his spine when he was stared at, and tried hard to remain calm.
Ji Ruan was carefully selected by their secretarial team and is the most suitable marriage partner for Gu Xiuyi. He cannot let his boss question his work ability.
Song Ling gritted his teeth and looked at Ji Ruan who was being fed repeatedly by the lucky cat. He said calmly, "An Jing, you see he doesn't even turn on the sound when watching TV. He doesn't have to bother others when he wants to eat cherries."
Song Ling bowed and said, "It completely meets your requirements for the other side, boss."
Gu Xiuyi's eyes swept over the assistant, he took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
The young man inside noticed the visitor and quickly sat up straight, put his legs on the edge of the bed, and looked at Gu Xiuyi with watery eyes.
His pajamas were off-white, with a loose collar, and the fabric looked particularly soft on his body.
The sitting posture changed, but the lucky cat that was trying to feed Ji Ruan did not stop. Another cherry was thrown up and bounced on the side of Ji Ruan's neck. He exclaimed and reached out to catch it.
But I didn't receive it.
The bright red cherry slid across the snow-white skin and fell into the collar from the thin collarbone. The boy tried frantically to stop it, but it still escaped from under the hem of his clothes and fell to the ground.
Then it rolled all the way to Gu Xiuyi's feet.
Gu Xiuyi could see that the boy was confused for a moment, but his eyes were no longer slow and unfocused like when he was lying on the bed.
Gu Xiuyi bent down to pick up the cherries, then walked step by step to Ji Ruan. The boy had to look up to look him in the eye.
His hair was very soft, and his forehead was exposed when he tilted his head back. The ends of his hair brushed the tips of his ears, and the skin on the sides of his neck where the cherries had touched was white and thin.
Gu Xiuyi glanced at the cherries in his hand, put them back on the table, and looked into the boy's light-colored eyes: "Ji Ruan?"
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