Chapter 12
Like a puppy that's been forced to take a bath and is now expressing its dissatisfaction.
On the first day of her holiday, Josh planned to sleep in, but she forgot about her annoying biological clock. Even though she deliberately stayed in bed, she still got out of bed before eight o'clock.
As I passed through the living room while washing up, the house was quiet, and the clear sunlight shone in, filling the entire room.
Chen Zhiyu's bedroom door was closed, and there was no sound.
Josh touched her stomach. After a night of exertion, she was starving. She had every reason to suspect that she would make up for the calorie deficit of the past six months in these seven days.
Josh grabbed a hair tie, casually tied her long hair up in a simple bun, and was about to head to the kitchen to cook.
Just then, the door opened, and Chen Zhiyu walked in from outside.
Chen Zhiyu wore a black and white sporty short-sleeved shirt and shorts today. The simple sportswear made him look more sunny.
His bare arms were fair and smooth, with well-defined muscles and faintly visible veins standing out beneath the skin. Having just returned from outside, his cheeks and hair were damp with a light sheen of sweat, glistening in the bright sunlight.
"Good morning," Josh greeted him, raising an eyebrow at his appearance. "Going to work out?"
He responded softly, his chest still rising and falling slightly. Sweat soaked through his clothes, the entire front of his chest clinging to his skin, revealing his shapely waist and abdomen. When his gaze turned to her, he tilted his head slightly, his profile exquisite, beads of sweat still clinging to his chin. He wiped them away with his bare hand, exuding a strange sense of pressure.
"Here you go, I'm going to take a shower first." Seeing that she still looked like she hadn't woken up yet, Chen Zhiyu handed her the things he was carrying and turned to go to the bathroom.
Josh took it and realized it was breakfast.
I made him some simple soy milk and fried dough sticks, then turned to him and asked, "You don't even know how to rest more during your holiday?"
"Once I wake up, I can't fall back asleep."
"He's really young, with inexhaustible energy," Josh muttered as he went to the kitchen to find bowls and chopsticks.
Chen Zhiyu took a quick shower, and three to five minutes later he came out with his short hair still wet. He held a towel in his hand, stood in the sunlight and vigorously dried himself a few times. Then, like a dog that had been forced to take a bath and was expressing its dissatisfaction, he shook his head violently. Only when his hair was no longer dripping did he put away the towel and go to the dining table.
Josh had already ladled the soy milk from the bag into two bowls, one for each of them. She yawned, sat down, and asked, "Is this from Uncle Zhang's again?"
"Yes, the shop was closed for a month for renovations and only reopened this month," Chen Zhiyu replied, sitting opposite her.
Josh took a sip of soy milk and commented, "It still tastes the same."
"Uncle Zhang's house should have been renovated a long time ago. There are only five tables in total, and the house is still dark. No one who doesn't know about it would go there. It's a real pity that no one goes to eat such good food." She took a bite of the crispy fried dough stick and thought about tomorrow's breakfast. "Let's have wontons tomorrow."
Having been away for half a year, her mind was filled with the delicious food she wanted to eat but couldn't get.
"We can go eat there at noon today."
Josh shook her head. "No, we'll save the rest for lunch." A simple bowl of chicken soup wontons wasn't enough to convince her for lunch.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner must strictly adhere to her meticulously crafted menu.
Chen Zhiyu nodded, and after a while suggested, "Bringing wontons back to eat can easily affect the taste. Why don't we go downstairs to eat them together tomorrow?"
Josh, biting into his fried dough stick, thought for a moment and agreed, "Okay."
Chen Zhiyu then said, "Then I'll wake you up when I get up tomorrow."
What time did you get up today?
Six o'clock.
"Are you crazy?" Josh stared at him with wide eyes. She wanted to eat delicious food, but she didn't want to waste her precious sleep time, so she backed down. "Then forget it, you can bring it back. I don't care if it affects the taste."
"We can also go for a run together," Chen Zhiyu continued, trying to entice him.
Josh didn't want to run and shook his head firmly, "No, no, I don't want to run."
"Haven't you been exercising in a long time?" Chen Zhiyu narrowed his eyes, staring at her intently.
"What?" Josh looked up from the bowl, not quite understanding at first.
Chen Zhiyu lifted his eyelids and glanced at her, then bluntly stated, "Since you said that, it means you haven't practiced at all in the past six months."
Josh buried his face in the bowl and didn't say a word.
Josh enrolled him in a class once a week. Chen Zhiyu has excellent physical coordination and a strong learning ability; he can basically learn everything the teacher teaches after just one lesson and can perfectly replicate it.
After he finishes learning, he will excitedly run over to teach her again.
Josh was initially somewhat interested. Later, she probably realized she wasn't really good at this kind of sport, so she stopped aspiring to be a reclusive martial arts master and just hoped it would help her stay fit. Later still, especially after moving to another city, the daily grind of working life had already drained her of too much energy, leaving her with no free time for anything else.
At the dinner table, Chen Zhiyu, like an experienced coach, earnestly advised, "You can loosen up your muscles and bones; sitting in the office all the time is bad for your health."
Josh was convinced by his nagging and said, "If you say we'll practice, then we'll practice."
Seeing that she had finally agreed, Chen Zhiyu looked up, checked the time, and said, "I'll go listen to some English listening practice first, and then we'll begin."
*
After the two finished their warm-up exercises, they got down to business. Chen Zhiyu told her, "If you encounter danger and can't escape, you can try attacking the opponent's weak points."
"For example? Eyes."
“Yes.” Chen Zhiyu walked behind Qiao Xi, bent down and pressed his strong chest against her back.
Hot breath sprayed on the side of his neck, and the surrounding air was dry. Josh felt a tingling sensation in the back of his neck and instinctively flinched away.
"Don't move." A deep voice came from beside my ear.
Josh froze, feeling the breathing behind her growing heavier. Her movements stiffened, and a fine, dense itch spread across her back, as if several ants were crawling on it. Then, her hand, which was hanging by her side, was grabbed.
Chen Zhiyu's large hand completely enveloped her fist, slowly raising it forward, then pulling her back to draw her strength before striking out again, all while continuing his instruction, "Eyes, nose, groin, these are all vulnerable areas."
Chen Zhiyu behind her took a step forward, his thigh parallel to hers, and pressed his knee against the back of her knee. "Bend your front knee and press your leg down."
"A sudden, forward kick."
Suddenly the sun rose higher, and the intense light shone in, making Josh's head spin and his thoughts wander wildly.
Chen Zhiyu was standing too close to her, and Qiao Xi couldn't help but wonder if her coach taught her like this. But seeing his normal demeanor, she thought she was just overthinking it.
He had just taken a shower, and the faint scent of citrus, with a hint of fresh lemon, blended harmoniously, surrounding the two of them, floating in the air, and then, fermented by the sun, releasing a warm and enchanting aroma.
It was very comfortable and gave her a sense of peace. Following this softness, Josh's thoughts drifted further and further away.
"Josh, concentrate."
Like cleaving through vibrant aromatic molecules with a blade, Josh's breath caught in her throat, snapping her out of her reverie. In her confusion, she didn't even notice how the other person addressed her.
......
The entire teaching process was very long, and Chen Zhiyu taught almost everything step by step.
Josh started to drift off halfway through the course. This course gave her the experience of simply looking down to pick up a pen during math class and then being unable to understand anything anymore.
This situation continued until the end.
"I'm here to assess your teaching results. Now you're treating me like an enemy." Chen Zhiyu crossed his arms and looked down at her.
Before Josh could react, his right hand swiftly struck, precisely gripping her wrist. The burning sensation jolted Josh awake, and she quickly twisted her wrist, trying to break free.
But Chen Zhiyu seemed to have anticipated this, and with a forceful pull of his arm, he pulled her forward and wrapped his arms around her.
Josh pressed his forehead against him, his brain racing. Following the instructions, he bent his knees and thrust forward, but halfway through, he changed direction and bumped into Josh's thigh muscles.
Unexpectedly, Chen Zhiyu suddenly retreated, skillfully dodging the attack, and then wrapped his arms around her.
Josh leaned against his chest, looked up at Chen Zhiyu, and sighed again, "This brat, how did he grow up so fast?"
As he sighed, Chen Zhiyu lowered his eyes and met her gaze. His dark eyes were fixed on her, his expression calm, like an ancient well. Though he seemed to be in deep thought, his strength in his arms remained undiminished.
Feeling the pressure, Josh frowned, unable to break free no matter what she did. She was firmly held in place and shouted angrily, "Chen Zhiyu!"
After being warned by a roar, Chen Zhiyu finally let go and explained with a smile, "I just wanted to tell you that what you need to do is to increase your running speed. If you really encounter an emergency, being able to run away quickly is more useful than anything else."
After struggling for more than half an hour, Qiao Xi was drenched in sweat. She forcefully shook off Chen Zhiyu's hand and said, "I'm not practicing anymore. I want to rest and take a shower."
Chen Zhiyu pressed further, "So, are you going for a run tomorrow?"
"Run, run, run!" Josh complained, getting impatient with his question.
"Self-defense skills should still be practiced."
"You really need to be taught a lesson." The only response he got was the sound of the bathroom door closing.
The old, dilapidated neighborhood had poor sound insulation, and soon the sound of rushing water could be heard from the bathroom.
Chen Zhiyu casually picked up an erasable pen from the coffee table in the living room, lazily dragged his feet to the acrylic door panel of the kitchen, gripped the pen tightly in his right hand, and quietly gazed at the 180 sunflowers on the door.
Each row was neatly filled with twenty flowers, and there were nine columns in total.
Each flower represents a point in time, and the gaps between the flowers symbolize the deepest longing.
He immediately picked up his pen and carefully began to draw, starting with the first flower and then moving around each one, sketching them with continuous strokes.
The winding curves are like an inescapable mountain road, but eventually the path turns and leads to the end, to the last sunflower, adding another stroke, a magnificent flower filling the entire gap.
Chen Zhiyu admired his painting with satisfaction, standing quietly in place for a long time.
When Josh came out of the shower, he had changed into a clean set of loungewear: a cream-colored short-sleeved shirt and baggy pants.
This outfit was bought for her by Tang Ning; she herself rarely wears this color.
I didn't like it when I was a child, and I like it even less now that I'm older.
She had a hair drying cap on her head and went straight to Chen Zhiyu, who was sitting on the sofa, as she walked, asking, "Have you washed your face?"
Chen Zhiyu had worked up a sweat while exercising. Since Qiao Xi was in the bathroom, he went straight to the kitchen to wash his face. He looked up and lazily replied, "I've already washed."
Upon looking up, Chen Zhiyu noticed the outfit Qiao Xi had changed into. He rarely saw her wear this color; the light yellow suited her well and made her skin look even whiter.
When was the last time she wore clothes of this color?
“That’s perfect.” Josh walked towards him with one hand, then wiped his face with his index finger. Chen Zhiyu’s face turned cold, and he subconsciously shrank his neck.
"I pressed too many at once, you got a good deal, don't waste them."
After dispensing the excess face cream, Josh sat down on the other side of the sofa, pressed her palms together, and then evenly applied the face cream to her face.
Chen Zhiyu reached out and, following her example, rubbed the refreshing face cream onto his face little by little. The light scent lingered in his nostrils.
Fortunately, this smell instantly transported him back to a few years ago. Through a layer of mist, he finally found the answer. Chen Zhiyu suddenly said, "Qiao Xi, let's watch another movie together."
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