Chapter 11: It’s Not Like We Haven’t Slept Together Before
Hearing his words clearly, Lin Zhile’s cheeks rapidly turned crimson inch by inch. He defended himself: “Don’t spout nonsense, oh. This is merely appreciation between members of the same sex.”
Gu Jingxiu chuckled softly and used his stylus to draw a circle on the screen. The word ‘captured’ in the script was immediately encircled in red.
At Lin Zhile’s age, it was very easy to grow curious about mature men. Gu Jingxiu just hadn’t expected that a single sentence could tease him to the point of blushing, so he had to stop.
Lin Zhile shrank to the side, hugging his chest with both hands to pretend to be cool, when in reality he was just trying to cool down his face.
He hadn’t expected the dignified Best Actor to speak so frivolously.
After a while, Lin Zhile withdrew his gaze from the night scenery sweeping past the window and couldn’t resist speaking up again: “Ge, dressed so formally, did you go on a blind date?”
Gu Jingxiu looked up at him: “Why do you say that?”
Lin Zhile leaned in slightly and sniffed the air. Gu Jingxiu’s gaze fell upon the face leaning toward him.
He noticed the fine glitter on Lin Zhile’s eyes. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and his pale lips parted and closed, “You even sprayed perfume?”
“Is the other party good-looking? Are they to your liking? A man or a woman?”
At this age, caught between a man and a boy, Lin Zhile was very curious about the affairs of someone older than him.
Lin Zhile had a pair of long, narrow phoenix eyes that were exquisitely shaped. Because he was slender, his chin appeared slightly pointed.
With this kind of facial structure, the moment he stopped talking and remained expressionless, it was very easy to make people feel he was fickle and cold.
Yet, as fate would have it, he possessed two plump lips that made him look very full of desire.
Gu Jingxiu completely lost all motivation to read his script. He said, “Asking in such detail, are you planning to moonlight as a matchmaker?”
Lin Zhile curled his lip: “I’m just caring about my empty-nest older cousin’s love life. It’s clearly out of pure sincerity; why would you think of me like that?”
Gu Jingxiu replied, “Flipping back and forth through a several-dozen-page document for three hours, arguing over a single clause with a white-bearded old man sitting opposite me… no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t count as a blind date, right?”
Gu Jingxiu had wrapped up his scenes early, and his next project hadn’t been decided yet. Lin Xiaofang had finally seized his free time and temporarily appointed him to negotiate a collaboration deal.
Toward the end, the negotiation devolved into a long, drawn-out tug-of-war. The other party continuously refused to let go of their final demand, and Gu Jingxiu didn’t feel there was any point in dragging it out further.
He terminated the meeting on the spot, which finally made the other party panic. They restarted the meeting half an hour later and quickly resolved all the issues.
Lin Zhile instantly realized he had guessed wrong. He rolled his eyes and went along with it: “Wow, working so diligently, Fangfang-ayi must be very moved.”
Gu Jingxiu: “Yes, so moved that she sent me a little rabbit to keep me company.”
Lin Zhile: “…”
“Honestly speaking,” Lin Zhile stealthily scooted over a bit, “Ge, what is your ideal type?”
“A man or a woman? Tall or short? Fat or skinny?”
Gu Jingxiu stayed perfectly still, letting him scoot over. After hearing the questions, he answered with a very good temper: “None of the above.”
“Also, as a university student, shouldn’t you be focusing wholly on your studies? Why are you thinking so much about romance and love?”
Lin Zhile argued, “Isn’t university a place for romance and love? Could it be you never dated in university?”
Gu Jingxiu: “No, but listening to your tone, it seems you have quite a lot of experience?”
Lin Zhile, however, shook his head: “No, a wise man does not fall in love. I haven’t been polluted by a hopelessly romantic love brain.”
Gu Jingxiu began to laugh: “Then I want to ask you.”
“What kind of person would it take to pollute Lin Zhile?”
The question was tossed back.
Lin Zhile leaned back against his seat. His gaze fell upon the starry sky roof of the car, the large and small shining points of light scattered abundantly, making him feel as though he truly were under a starry sky.
Lin Zhile closed his eyes: “My ideal type…”
Gu Jingxiu waited for a moment, but he didn’t hear Lin Zhile answer. He turned his head and saw that the other person had closed his eyes, his breathing long and steady.
Lin Zhile had fallen asleep.
It seemed his ideal type didn’t exclude the Duke of Zhou.
Gu Jingxiu’s gaze lingered over that sleeping face before he slowly withdrew his eyes. He raised his hand to turn up the temperature in the cabin, and only then did he pick up his script to continue reading.
When Lin Zhile woke up, the car had already stopped.
Seeing him open his eyes, Gu Jingxiu, sitting beside him, turned on the cabin lights.
Clutching his cuffs, Lin Zhile was just about to ask the time when he heard the person beside him say: “What a coincidence. In another minute, it will be exactly midnight.”
Only then did Lin Zhile realize he had slept for almost an hour.
He felt a bit bashful. His eyelashes fluttered, and he stammered, “Actually, you could have woken me up.”
He had fallen asleep and made Gu Jingxiu wait alongside him.
Gu Jingxiu unbuckled his own seatbelt: “It’s fine, you haven’t been sleeping for very long.”
Lin Zhile truly looked very exhausted. Waking him up would have seemed somewhat cruel.
“Do you want to rest and gather yourself for a bit longer?”
Having delayed for so much time, Lin Zhile naturally felt too embarrassed to rest any longer. He shook his head and pushed the door to step out.
Gu Jingxiu called out to stop him, however: “Wait a moment.”
He took off the suit jacket he was wearing and handed it to Lin Zhile: “There are no blankets, so you’ll have to make do with this. It’s a bit cold outside, and you just woke up, so this is to prevent you from catching a cold.”
Lin Zhile froze for a moment, reaching out to take it. The scent of arborvitae wood immediately reached his nose, and the clothes seemed to still retain residual warmth.
If a haute couture piece worth over a million yuan was called “making do,” wouldn’t the clothes he was wearing need to be thrown away?
Lin Zhile looked at Gu Jingxiu with starry eyes, suddenly feeling that having a Ge was so nice.
“Thank you, Ge.” He draped the suit jacket over himself. It obviously felt quite a bit larger, and the sleeves were a little long.
Just as Gu Jingxiu had said, the outdoor temperature at this hour was very low. Lin Zhile shuddered the moment he stepped out.
The two walked quickly into the villa. Only after entering the door did they feel waves of warmth.
He returned the clothes to their rightful owner. The two parted ways and each returned to their own rooms.
Perhaps because he had just slept, after taking a shower, Lin Zhile actually felt increasingly energized.
He also finally remembered that he had missed a meal today: dinner.
During the program recording, everyone had to maintain 120% focus. Even someone like Teacher Dongjing couldn’t casually call for a break.
Even going to the restroom was inconvenient, let alone eating.
This resulted in Lin Zhile completely forgetting about dinner.
Right now, his stomach began to rumble, reminding him of the fact that he had failed to make timely offerings to his internal organs.
Click.
The door to the upstairs guest room was opened, and Lin Zhile stepped out.
His destination for this trip was the kitchen, to see if there was any food that could fill his stomach and was easy to digest.
Thanks to Jin-jie’s arrival, the four-door double refrigerator was no longer a mere decoration.
The fresh produce section was filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, and the freezer was also packed to the brim. In it, Lin Zhile successfully discovered a large box of freshly wrapped wontons.
The starving, late-night Lin Zhile’s eyes instantly lit up.
However, he closed the refrigerator door. These wontons were technically Gu Jingxiu’s private property. If he wanted to use them, it would be better to tell him first.
Lest the other party had already gone to sleep and be woken up by him, Lin Zhile walked slowly to the master bedroom door and saw a sliver of white light leaking from under the door frame.
Mm, looks like he wasn’t asleep.
Lin Zhile immediately pulled out his phone and, separated by the door, sent Gu Jingxiu a message.
[Ge~ Are you asleep?]
About half a minute later, the other party replied: [No, what’s wrong?]
Lin Zhile gleefully drafted: [Ge, I have always known that you are not only handsome and dashing but also incredibly magnanimous!]
As the saying goes, one never visits the temple for no reason. Coming out of the bathroom and seeing this message, Gu Jingxiu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Immediately after, Lin Zhile continued: [So, may I make a tiny little request?]
Gu Jingxiu: [Let’s hear it]
Lin Zhile: [It’s nothing major, really. It’s just that the little wontons on the second shelf of your refrigerator’s freezer look truly delicious. Can I eat them?]
This time, he didn’t receive an answer from Gu Jingxiu. Lin Zhile found it a bit strange and was just about to send another message.
Then he saw the door in front of him suddenly open.
Wearing his bathrobe, Gu Jingxiu opened the door and saw Lin Zhile holding his phone, furiously poking at it.
He had already changed into a light blue loungewear set and removed the makeup from his face. His slightly damp bangs fell over his eyebrows and eyelashes, returning him to the cute authenticity of his age.
Gu Jingxiu said, “Chatting on our phones separated by a door, is this some new type of social interaction? Why didn’t you just knock?”
Lin Zhile put away his phone: “No, I was afraid of disturbing you. Plus, invading your private space… what if I accidentally touch upon some privacy? That wouldn’t be good.”
Stepping out of the room, Gu Jingxiu shot him a glance upon hearing this: “It’s not like we haven’t slept together before. Isn’t it a little late to be saying this now?”
Lin Zhile: “…”
Although he had slept in the master bedroom’s bed, why did that sentence sound so weird?
Lin Zhile: “So can I or not?”
Gu Jingxiu went to the water bar to fetch a drink, pouring a glass for the closely-following Lin Zhile: “I thought you would have known by now.”
Lin Zhile: “Known what?”
Gu Jingxiu said, “You can use anything in this house. You don’t need to report and ask about every little thing.”
Lin Zhile was very polite, but he seemed incredibly tense every single second he was here. No matter what he did, he strove to avoid taking a single wrong step.
He was even a bit overly observant of others’ expressions.
This didn’t seem to be a trait that a child who grew up showered with love should possess.
Having received his answer, Lin Zhile immediately went to boil the wontons, brimming with joy.
At this hour, Jin-jie had long since gone to sleep. How could he have the nerve to ask someone else to cook it? So he did it himself.
There was also chicken soup in the stew pot beside it. Lin Zhile curled the corners of his lips; even the soup base was ready-made.
He scooped out two bowls of chicken soup and heated them up. Once the wontons were cooked in clear water, he scooped them out and placed them into the chicken soup. A fresh bowl of chicken soup wontons was ready.
Gu Jingxiu had originally planned to go back to sleep after drinking water, but how could Lin Zhile let him go?
“Ge, do you want some too~”
Lin Zhile carried out a bowl and placed it on the dining table. The white jade-like wontons floated in the savory chicken soup, with some seaweed added for flavor and chopped green onions for color.
Gu Jingxiu paused his steps, inexplicably changing his course: “Aren’t you going to eat first?”
Lin Zhile said, “It’s livelier when two people eat together. This other bowl will be ready soon too. I don’t eat green onions. Why don’t you try it first?”
Gu Jingxiu had no choice but to follow the true intentions of his heart. Sitting down on the dining chair very shamelessly, he said, “I’ll wait until you’re done, we’ll eat together.”
Within two minutes, Lin Zhile’s portion was ready, and indeed, it didn’t have green onions.
The two sat facing each other at the dining table. Gu Jingxiu asked, “You don’t eat green onions, what about cilantro?”
Hearing ‘cilantro’, Lin Zhile raised his arms and crossed them in a big ‘X’ over his chest: “It’s clearly a stinky vegetable. I won’t eat it, I won’t.”
His hatred for cilantro could be described as incredibly intense.
Gu Jingxiu smiled and lowered his head to take a sip of the soup.
With the underlying flavor of the chicken soup, it was hard for the wontons not to be delicious.
Lin Zhile bit into a wonton, the savory and fragrant taste filling his mouth, making him instantly feel entirely satisfied. Just as he was about to scoop up a second bite, he suddenly froze.
He looked at the spoon in his hand, and then looked at the one his Ge was using across the table.
Wait, he was doomed.
“Ge, I think I took the wrong cutlery.”
Gu Jingxiu looked at him: “?”
“Just now, I used your spoon to taste the soup for salt.”
So Gu Jingxiu had just used the spoon he had used…
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