Chapter 70 part 1
Lin Zheng’s hands pressed lightly against the wall as he watched that face draw closer and closer.
A scorching breath washed over him, like a hot wind skimming across a lake, stirring restless ripples.
It was like a leaf, blown from a tree by a gentle breeze, drifting softly downward.
But just as the leaf was about to touch the ground, time came to a standstill.
Lin Zheng’s palm flattened against Gu Lin’s firm chest, his head turning away.
Gu Lin’s lips stopped just millimeters from Lin Zheng’s cheek.
He asked in a low, husky voice, “No?”
Lin Zheng stammered, “N-no, I have other things to do right now.”
Not now. It’s not time yet.
“What other things do you have to do right now?” Gu Lin’s breath ghosted over the delicate skin of Lin Zheng’s cheek.
Lin Zheng’s ears turned a shade of pink.
The proximity to Gu Lin made his mind fuzzy, robbing him of the ability to think.
It wasn’t until his eyes landed on the cup on Gu Lin’s desk that he remembered the rock sugar and pear soup he had simmering in the kitchen.
“I have something cooking in the kitchen,” he blurted out.
Gu Lin paused. “The kitchen?”
Since moving in, Lin Zheng had barely set foot in the kitchen. In fact, it seemed he and the kitchen had some sort of mutual disagreement. Hearing that he was actually cooking something was genuinely surprising.
Having found his excuse, Lin Zheng pressed on, “Yeah, so I have to go check on it. If I leave it too long, the pot will burn.”
With that, without waiting for Gu Lin to react, he bent down and slipped out from under Gu Lin’s arm. “I’ll go check on it now.”
Gu Lin’s strength was nothing to scoff at. Lin Zheng knew he couldn’t possibly overpower him, so he chose another escape route.
As the old saying goes, there are many roads; which one you take doesn’t matter, as long as you get where you’re going.
Gu Lin watched the hasty retreat, amused and a little exasperated as Lin Zheng stumbled over the doorway in his rush.
Lin Zheng sprinted out of Gu Lin’s bedroom and straight into the kitchen. But the first thing he did wasn’t to check on the rock sugar and pear soup simmering on the stove. Instead, he leaned against the counter, trying to calm the frantic fluttering in his chest.
He had already set a timer for the soup to turn off, so he didn’t need to worry about it. It was just an excuse, an excuse to get away from Gu Lin.
The heart has its own designated place, but right now, Lin Zheng felt as if his had leaped somewhere else entirely, only to come ricocheting back. If it beat any harder, it felt like it might just burst out of his chest.
He raised a hand to his hot cheek and patted it a couple of times.
Get a grip, get a grip.
Can’t let myself be dazed by a handsome face right now.
Just wait a little longer. As soon as Gu Lin’s illness is better and the plan is in motion, he’ll be yours. Then you can do whatever you want.
But for now, wait. Just a little longer.
After a quick mental pep talk, Lin Zheng let out a heavy breath.
“As long as everything goes according to plan, it will be perfect.”
A perfect confession, a perfect romance.
That was what Lin Zheng wanted.
In a relationship, he didn’t care who made the first move or who confessed first. For him, as long as the process and the ending were happy, that was all that mattered.
After simmering over a low flame for about an hour, Lin Zheng lifted the lid, and a sweet, clear fragrance filled the air.
The rock sugar and pear soup reminded him of his younger brother.
Lin Zheng had never made it before, but whenever he was sick with a cough, a bowl of it would almost always appear on his table.
Lin Zheng’s cooking skills were poor—to be precise, they were nonexistent. In his previous life, his meals were either bought from outside or handmade by his younger brother.
It was a pitiful situation for the kid. While other children were being spoiled by their parents, he had to cook for his older brother from a young age.
Lin Zheng had told him several times to focus on his studies and not to bother coming home just to cook, but the kid was stubborn and picky, claiming he couldn’t get used to takeout and hated seeing the house cluttered with containers. So, he insisted on cooking himself.
Lin Zheng could never win an argument with his brother, so he just went along with it. The kid had developed the habit early on and took charge of everything food-related in the house, including all the meals Lin Zheng ate when he was sick.
When other people got sick, they lost their appetite, but when Lin Zheng got sick, his appetite went into overdrive. Not only could he eat, but he could eat a lot.
On top of that, he would crave all the things he was supposed to avoid while on medication.
It was fine when he was alone, but once his brother was around, he was put under strict supervision. Raw, cold, fried, or grilled foods were all off-limits. Mouth tastes bland? Drink some sugar water. Sugar water not enough? Then level it up with a bowl of cooked rock sugar and pear soup.
At first, Lin Zheng refused to touch it, but after trying it once, he discovered it was actually quite delicious.
It was from that first bowl that Lin Zheng realized he had such a sweet tooth.
After that, his journey into the world of sweets was unstoppable.
Later, whenever he got sick, whether his brother was there when he woke up or not, a bowl of clear soup with translucent fruit would always be waiting for him on the table.
Recalling the small details of his past life, Lin Zheng felt a deep sense of contentment from the bottom of his heart. But after that contentment, the thought that he and his brother were now in two different worlds, perhaps never to meet again, brought a profound sense of emptiness.
Before meeting his brother, Lin Zheng was alone. After meeting his brother, he had someone by his side. He had grown accustomed to those many years of depending on each other. Suddenly having that person torn away from his side, that indescribable emptiness filled his entire being.
Lin Zheng looked at the crystal-clear soup in the pot, and his nose suddenly tingled.
But there was no point in thinking about these things now.
Lin Zheng shook his head, using a ladle to scoop the soup and fruit into a bowl. Thinking of Gu Lin, he rallied his spirits.
It’s okay, you still have Gu Lin now.
Lin Zheng placed a ceramic spoon in the bowl and walked out.
Gu Lin had already changed and come out. He was in the living room on the phone. Seeing him, he gave him a small smile and continued his call.
Looking at Gu Lin, someone he could see with his own eyes and touch with his own hands, someone standing not far from him at this very moment, Lin Zheng’s restless heart suddenly felt at ease.
That unplaceable sense of anxiety also gradually dissipated.
After finishing the call, Gu Lin walked over.
He saw the bowl in Lin Zheng’s hand, a hint of surprise in his eyes. “This is…”
Lin Zheng said, a little embarrassed, “This is rock sugar and pear soup I made for you. It’s my first time, so I don’t know if it’s any good. Uh, but I followed the tutorial carefully. It’s not complicated, so it probably won’t taste bad eight or nine times out of ten.”
Gu Lin looked at the clear soup in the bowl, his eyes softening. “So, you prepared this especially for me.”
When he heard Lin Zheng say he was preparing something in the kitchen, he had originally thought Lin Zheng was just craving something or had a sudden whim to practice his cooking skills. He hadn’t expected that it was neither a craving nor a whim, but that he had gone into the kitchen specifically for him.
They sat on the sofa together, and Lin Zheng handed him the bowl. “Try it?”
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