After a long, long silence.
Lu Ping looked at the back of the foreign friend leaving and said blankly, “I thought I had passed the Level 4 English test, so why can’t I understand some of what he said?”
Wang Quan also spoke blankly, “Yeah, I don’t understand either.”
Lu Ping said, “Does beauty’s boyfriend mean Gu Gu’s boyfriend?”
Wang Quan replied: “Beauty’s boyfriend means Gu Gu’s boyfriend ah.”
“So…”
The two of them looked at Gu Jiqing blankly and in unison.
Gu Jiqing was very calm and frank: “That guy just now tried to invite me last night, and Zhou Cibai said he was my boyfriend to help me out.”
It sounds reasonable, and the expression seems sincere.
“But the teeth marks on you guys’ necks…”
The two of them once again looked at Zhou Cibai in a daze and in unison.
Zhou Cibai finally realized what had happened. After hearing Gu Jiqing’s explanation, his first reaction was that Gu Jiqing didn’t want to be misunderstood as a couple. Of course, he couldn’t just say that they were friends with benefits; otherwise, it would have a bad impact on Gu Jiqing.
So he blurted out without thinking: “The British man didn’t believe it and insisted that we prove it. It’s impossible for two grown men like us to kiss each other, so we bit each other. That’s it.”
Zhou Cibai, with his very handsome and cool face and red ears, threw out these words at a very fast speed, and the homestay fell silent again.
Xia Qiao and Shen Zhao wanted to help cover up but suddenly didn’t know how to start: “……”
Gu Jiqing, who confirmed that Zhou Cibai cannot lie, “……”
Lu Ping and Wang Quan were stunned by the unexpected answer: “……”
After a long silence.
Finally, a roar of shame and anger broke out in the homestay: “Zhou Cibai! Do you think I look like a fool?!”
I can’t say that you don’t look like it anyway.
Zhou Cibai apologized to Lu Ping with guilt in his heart.
But he would never allow anyone to interfere with his plan of boiling the kitten in warm water, so he could only bear the complicated gazes of everyone in the living room, bite the bullet, and say with an extremely convincing and cold expression, “Why would I lie to you? If you don’t believe me, go ask that British man yourself.”
That’s not it?
Is this a question of whether I believe it or not?
Don’t you think this explanation is outrageous? !
Lu Ping felt like he was being treated like a fool, but before he could retort, Xia Qiao next to him slapped his forehead, and he exclaimed, “Ouch!”
Lu Ping turned his head.
Xia Qiao said with a look of sudden enlightenment, “I remember now! When I came back last night, I did saw the British man being thrown to the ground by Zhou Zhou, and Zhou Cibai was protecting Gu Gu. At that time, there were already teeth marks on Gu Gu’s neck. If you don’t believe me, ask the boss lady.”
Every word Xia Qiao said was true, so there was no trace of lying.
Lu Ping: “???”
Why bring a witness?!
He looked at Gu Jiqing in disbelief again.
Gu Jiqing squatted on the ground, holding Zhou Zhou, and met his gaze with a calm and innocent face. His dark eyes looked gentle and clear under the warm yellow light of the homestay. He said nothing but was frank, sincere, and innocent.
It was as if, if Lu Ping said anything dirty again, it would be a heinous crime to defile the holy beauty.
Lu Ping: “……”
Is it true that he is overthinking?
But he still felt that this was not right.
But what Gu Jiqing and Xia Qiao said didn’t sound like lies, so he couldn’t tell what was wrong.
He could only turn around and try to find the answer from Wang Quan, but Wang Quan was as confused as he was.
“No, do you really think…”
“No what no! Can we team up to deceive you?” Without waiting for Lu Ping to finish, Xia Qiao put his hands on his waist and said confidently, “You want our Gu Gu and your Zhou Cibai to come to Ananya to play together, isn’t it to make them reconcile? Now that they have finally reconciled, you are still not happy. Do you want them to continue the cold war?!”
When did he want Gu Jiqing and Zhou Cibai to continue their cold war?!
Lu Ping, who was suddenly blamed, was so upset that he didn’t know what to do.
Then, the next second, Xia Qiao pulled him away. “Alright, alright, didn’t you just want to eat something delicious? Then let’s go to the kitchen together, whoever wants to eat can make it themselves, make as much as you want, no one will be starved.”
After saying that, a group of people crowded into the kitchen.
Lu Ping and Wang Quan were blocked in the mouth by Xia Qiao, each holding a carrot. But they couldn’t help themselves. They pulled out the carrots, looked at Gu Jiqing, and asked, “Gu Gu, are you and Zhou Cibai really not in a relationship?!”
If they asked Gu Jiqing if there was anything going on between him and Zhou Cibai, Gu Jiqing might not be able to answer.
But since the question was whether he was in a relationship or not, Gu Jiqing felt that he should still maintain his reputation as a pure and straight man, so he washed the tomatoes in his hands very calmly and said softly, “Well, no.”
It was so gentle and frank that it definitely didn’t sound like he was telling a lie at all.
Lu Ping and Wang Quan could only choose to remain silent again.
“……”
Maybe it really is just a misunderstanding.
The two of them reluctantly lowered their heads and began to wash the carrots, but they always felt that something was not right.
They frowned and began to wonder if there was something wrong with them.
Zhou Cibai didn’t care whether they felt it was right or not, he only cared whether Gu Jiqing was unhappy or not.
After all, Gu Jiqing said that he didn’t like the troublesome relationship between lovers.
Therefore, Zhou Cibai was afraid that Lu Ping and the others’ gossip exploration would bring some burden to Gu Jiqing. If Gu Jiqing was unhappy, he would not want to maintain this kind of relationship anymore, and the plan of boiling the kitten in warm water would fail halfway.
Fortunately, Gu Jiqing was just washing cherry tomatoes leisurely beside him. His expression was naturally calm, and he didn’t look unhappy at all. Zhou Cibai breathed a sigh of relief.
“You didn’t get enough rest yesterday. Go back and have some sleep first.” Zhou Cibai was preparing the pork ribs nearby and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear.
Gu Jiqing didn’t raise his head. “Aren’t you afraid that Lu Ping and the others will notice something else?”
When Zhou Cibai heard this, he looked up and saw that Lu Ping and Wang Quan were squinting at this side of the kitchen, as if their faces were full of “Lu Lu is watching you.”
“……” Zhou Cibai lowered his head again. “Then you wash the tomatoes, I’ll do the rest.”
“Okay.”
With Gu Jiqing’s slow washing method, he can probably spend more than half an hour washing a basin of cherry tomatoes.
Zhou Cibai, who was next to him, was much more efficient. He rolled up his sleeves, lit two stoves at the same time, and cut ingredients into pieces noisily while preparing the food. He also tossed the wok a few times, which was totally unnecessary, to show off his amazing waist and arm strength as a man while maintaining a relaxed and calm expression.
Totally shining.
Xia Qiao watched from the side and turned to ask Shen Zhao, “Is he always so flashy on the basketball team?”
Shen Zhao rolled up his sleeves and made fried rice for him: “No, peacocks only spread their feathers when they are courting.”
“Oh.” Xia Qiao thought of his clever and hard work in covering up, and he couldn’t help but click his tongue twice in disdain. “He looks like a male creature in the mating period. What’s the point of covering up? I bet he will be exposed within a month.”
Shen Zhao calmly shook the spoon. “I bet ten days.”
However, Zhou Cibai himself had no idea that he had been defined as a “male creature in the mating period,” and he was still thinking that he must not expose it before Gu Jiqing truly accepts him, so as to avoid Gu Jiqing being under the pressure of gossip.
So during the meal, he just sat diagonally opposite Gu Jiqing out of humiliation.
Gu Jiqing didn’t think too much about it. He just felt that he was indeed a little hungry, and the sweet and sour pork ribs with pineapple made by Zhou Cibai were indeed the best sweet and sour pork ribs he had ever eaten, so he buried his head and ate more.
Then the green peppers that he had just secretly picked out of the sweet and sour pork ribs were picked back.
“Don’t just eat meat, eat more vegetables to supplement your vitamins.”
After eating the green pepper, he ate a piece of carrot.
“It’s good for the eyes.”
After eating the carrots, have a spoonful of whitebait and egg custard.
“Add protein.”
After eating the egg custard, he picked up some mushrooms.
“Improve immunity.”
Xia Qiao, who was sitting opposite Gu Jiqing, looked at the hands that kept reaching out to him and couldn’t bear it anymore, so he slammed his chopsticks. “How about I give my seat to you?”
“……”
Feeling the sharp gazes from Lu Ping and Wang Quan, as if they were catching someone cheating, Zhou Cibai paused slightly, then whispered, “Don’t be picky about food,” and quickly started to dig into the rice in his bowl.
Gu Jiqing looked at the slight trace of grievance in the corners of his eyes and couldn’t help but lower his head and smile.
He remembered that there was a time when he had respiratory disease and Yin Lan did not allow Zhou Zhou to sleep with him, and Zhou Zhou had the same expression.
Perhaps compulsive clinging is a common problem among large dogs.
When large dogs can’t stick to people, they will feel very aggrieved.
For example, after dinner, everyone went out to visit the famous scenic spots in Aranya as planned, taking photos and strolling around.
In winter, Aranya has a lonely and gentle romance because there are no crowds in summer. It is especially suitable for loving couples to take a leisurely walk on the beach with a beautiful big dog.
However, when a pair of straight men who always try to catch the cheating couple appear among the couple, the atmosphere becomes less relaxed.
Zhou Cibai held the brainless and silly Zhou Zhou and followed Gu Jiqing and Xia Qiao all the way. They didn’t even hold hands during the whole process, and there was not even a separate photo taken with them.
But he couldn’t act coquettishly and complain to Gu Jiqing.
Because in Gu Jiqing’s mind, he was just a s*x buddy. How can a s*x buddy go shopping hand in hand and even take photos together?
The more Zhou Cibai thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt.
So when they returned to the homestay after having dinner outside and sent Zhou Zhou back to the pet area, his unhappiness was almost written directly on his face.
Gu Jiqing realized something was wrong and followed him. Just as he was about to ask Zhou Cibai what happened, he heard a voice behind him: “Gu Gu, do you want to watch a horror movie together later?”
Gu Jiqing remembered that Zhou Cibai seemed a little scared when he was watching a horror movie on Christmas night and was about to refuse.
Zhou Cibai’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly responded, “Watch!”
Gu Jiqing: “?”
Seeing Gu Jiqing’s confusion, Zhou Cibai avoided his gaze uncomfortably: “Well, I seem to remember that you said you like watching horror movies, so I wanted to watch it with you.”
So that’s how it is.
Zhou Cibai actually remembered the preferences he mentioned casually.
Gu Jiqing looked into his eyes and whispered, “Zhou Cibai, you are really good.”
Zhou Cibai, who was thinking about turning off the lights when watching a horror movie, lowered his eyelashes guiltily: “En, I think so too.”
Lu Ping and the others were just mindless male college students, playing for an afternoon and half an evening, and then forgetting about most things that happened in the afternoon.
Coincidentally, there was nothing to do at night, and besides them, there was only the British guest who was busy with dating in the homestay.
So after seeking the boss’s opinion, a few people requisitioned the audio-visual room.
Lu Ping was responsible for closing the door of the audio-visual room, Wang Quan was responsible for turning on the projector, and Xia Qiao was responsible for selecting a Thai horror movie from many years ago. Then he quickly turned off the lights and rubbed into Shen Zhao’s blanket.
There were exactly three blankets in the theater room.
Xia Qiao and Shen Zhao occupied one, and when the lights were turned off, the room was pitch black. When the background music of a horror movie started, the two cowards, Lu Ping and Wang Quan, were so scared that they huddled into the blanket closest to them, hugging each other and shivering.
Zhou Cibai then legitimately draped the other half of the blanket over Gu Jiqing’s shoulders.
The two people sat side by side with their legs bent in the corner of the tatami mat, tightly pressed against each other. Zhou Cibai felt his heart start to beat faster.
Gu Jiqing seemed to have completely gotten used to Zhou Cibai’s body temperature, smell, and touch. He sat next to Zhou Cibai naturally, wrapped himself and the two of them in the blanket tighter.
Zhou Cibai’s palms were sweating from nervousness.
He remembered that his sister-in-law had told him before that the first time his brother asked his sister-in-law out was to watch a horror movie. When the scary scenes came out, his sister-in-law was scared and ran into his brother’s arms. His brother took the opportunity to hug her. When the two looked at each other, they were so passionate that they had their first kiss.
This is called the suspension bridge effect in love.
Zhou Cibai thought about it, and his hand hidden in the blanket began to move quietly towards Gu Jiqing’s hand, trying to hold his hand firmly the first time Gu Jiqing got scared and give him enough sense of security.
Then Gu Jiqing turned his head, blinked, and asked softly, “Are you scared?”
Zhou Cibai, whose fingers just touched the back of Gu Jiqing’s hand, “No…”
Before he could come up with a reasonable explanation for his attempt to hold hands secretly, a loud noise suddenly came from the speaker.
Zhou Cibai looked back and saw the bloody face of a child with only black eyes but no whites suddenly appeared in front of him.
Zhou Cibai was so frightened that his breathing stopped, and he froze in place.
It was not until Gu Jiqing chuckled that he realized that he had grasped Gu Jiqing’s hand tightly without knowing when. He quickly let go of his hand, blushing, and explained in panic: “Well, I’m not afraid, I am atheistic…”
However, before he could finish his words, he felt his palm, which was already covered with a thin layer of sweat, being gently and steadily held by another cool but soft hand, under the cover of the blanket, out of the sight of everyone.
Zhou Cibai paused.
Gu Jiqing looked at the screen and said, “I’m scared, so please let me hold your hand for a while, okay?”
His voice was almost inaudible amid the terrified screams of others, but it landed firmly in Zhou Cibai’s ears and heart.
Zhou Cibai looked at his gentle and perfect profile under the lights of a horror movie. He felt his breathing stop, but his heart almost jumped out of his throat.
It turned out that the butterfly effect is real.
It’s just that he didn’t hook Gu Jiqing, but Gu Jiqing hooked him.
This act of holding hands secretly while being in a crowd without anyone knowing actually made Zhou Cibai feel an unprecedented secret and exciting sweetness, and his heart was overloaded.
Fortunately, Xia Qiao and Lu Ping were soon frightened to the point of completely losing their minds. They screamed and rushed over, trying to seek comfort from Gu Jiqing, who seemed to be the calmest. Zhou Cibai was able to let go of Gu Jiqing’s hand before he suffered a sudden cardiac death.
Then he quickly said, “I didn’t get enough rest last night. I’m a little sleepy. I’m going back to sleep first.” And he fled back to his bedroom in a panic.
Gu Jiqing looked at his fleeing back, pondered for a while, and left the audio-visual room twenty minutes later for the same reason.
Because the time interval was long enough, Lu Ping and the others didn’t think much about it.
Gu Jiqing returned to the bedroom, took out his mobile phone, and clicked on [A Cute Zhou Cibai].
Send: [Are you unhappy today?]
As soon as Zhou Cibai came out of the shower, he saw Gu Jiqing’s WeChat message and quickly replied while wiping his hair: [No]
Gu Jiqing sent another message: [Then is it because you are afraid?]
How can a man say he is afraid?!
If he admitted that he was afraid of ghosts, how could he hold his head up in front of Gu Jiqing in the future?!
How can he give Gu Jiqing a sense of security?!
Zhou Cibai didn’t even think twice and quickly typed out a 200-word explanation to defend his pride and dignity as a 1.9-meter-tall and fierce top.
Then Gu Jiqing sent a message: [If you are scared at night, you can sleep with me]
“……”
Three seconds later, Gu Jiqing received a word: [Scared]
Then there was a knock on the door.
Zhou Cibai stood at the door with a towel to wipe his hair, his ears red, and said awkwardly, “Well, I have been able to imagine things since I was a child. After watching horror movies, I will imagine things in my mind, and the more I imagine, the scarier it gets, and the scarier it gets, the more I imagine, so…”
“So I’ll sleep with you tonight.”
After Zhou Cibai said this shamelessly, he took a step forward and closed the door.
Although it’s a bit shameless, it’s better than not being able to be alone with Gu Jiqing.
After all, everyone else’s rooms are on the second floor, and only he and Gu Jiqing’s rooms are on the third floor. Even if other people pass by, they won’t pass by here either, so they are unlikely to be disturbed or discovered.
But it was clearly a s*x-buddy relationship with a signed agreement, so how come it suddenly became like an affair?
Zhou Cibai pursed his lips.
Gu Jiqing noticed the displeasure in his expression and asked softly, “Are you unhappy today?”
Zhou Cibai decided to take advantage of Gu Jiqing’s soft heart and started to play the victim: “En, there is a little bit, because Lu Ping and the others…”
“Gu Gu! We ordered a barbecue! We want to eat on the big terrace in your room! Is that okay?” Before he could finish his words, Lu Ping and the others’ were heard from outside the door.
Zhou Cibai: “……”
F*ck!
Only he and Gu Jiqing’s room was on the third floor and had a terrace, and everyone’s room fee was paid at the same rate, so Lu Ping and the others’ request was reasonable.
But if they opened the door now and saw him in Gu Jiqing’s room, he would be finished.
But he couldn’t just hide, wouldn’t that really be an affair?!
Before he could think it through, Gu Jiqing had already seen through his thoughts and pushed him into the bathroom: “It’s okay, wait for me to call you.”
After saying that, he opened the door.
As expected, Lu Ping and the others came in happily, each carrying a large bag of midnight snacks. “Gu Gu, let me tell you, we knocked on Zhou Cibai’s room, but he didn’t open it. He must have fallen asleep. His portion is yours now. It’s all the food you liked to eat at our last dinner party. You can eat anything.”
Xia Qiao looked around the room and found nothing unusual, so he happily took Shen Zhao to the terrace.
Wang Quan, who was the last to come in, picked up the hair towel that was accidentally left behind by Zhou Cibai and asked, “Hey, why is this at the door?”
Gu Jiqing took the towel calmly: “I was just about to take a shower, so you guys eat first, I’ll come after I finish my shower.”
“Oh, okay, then you wash first, and we’ll save the food for you!”
Gu Jiqing’s room is very big, with the terrace and the bathroom at the far end, separated by several dozen square meters and a floor-to-ceiling window. As long as they don’t run to the room before Gu Jiqing finishes taking a shower, they will not bump into each other.
So Wang Quan and the others were very tactful and closed the floor-to-ceiling windows after going up to the terrace.
Gu Jiqing pushed open the bathroom door, looked at the tall boy sitting on the toilet seat with grievance, and said softly, “How about you go back first and come back after they leave?”
They can only do that.
Zhou Cibai stood up gloomily, and when he felt his pocket, he realized that he had forgotten to bring his room card. He sent a WeChat message to the propertress, but it turned out that she had gone out to purchase something and would not be able to come back until 20 minutes later.
So…
Zhou Cibai raised his head.
“It’s okay, just wait here for a while, if you play two games, it will be quicker.” Gu Jiqing said and locked the bathroom door, “I want to take a shower, do you mind?”
Take a shower?!
He’s still here, and Gu Jiqing wants to take a shower?!
He doesn’t mind, but isn’t it too exciting?!
Before Zhou Cibai could finish his sentence, Gu Jiqing had already taken off his coat, picked up his toiletries, walked into the bathtub with a calm face, then turned around and quickly closed the shower curtain, blocking Zhou Cibai’s sight.
Zhou Cibai: “?”
Gu Jiqing unbuttoned his clothes in the shower curtain and explained softly, “I’m afraid that someone will need to use the bathroom later, so it’s better to take a real shower; otherwise, they might be able to discover it when I go out later.”
“…Oh.”
Zhou Cibai realized that he had overthought everything and quickly came to his senses. He couldn’t help but curse himself for being dirty. Then, with his ears flushed, he quickly looked away and sat down awkwardly on the toilet lid.
After Gu Jiqing took off his clothes, he reached out through the gap in the shower curtain and put the clothes on the rack opposite Zhou Cibai.
Zhou Cibai watched helplessly as the piece of underwear that he had stained last night hung in front of him, and then he remembered that Gu Jiqing had not had a chance to change today, so…
F*ck.
Zhou Cibai sat with his legs apart, his elbows on his knees, and his hands clasped tightly against his forehead, listening to the sound of water splashing from across the curtain. For the first time, he truly felt what it meant to be sitting on pins and needles, to have a thorn in the back, and to have something stuck in the throat.
He felt that this was just what torture was all about.
The light-colored shower curtain casts a complete silhouette under the light.
The superior profile, the slender neck, the butterfly bones that seem to be flapping wings for flight, the extremely narrow waist, and the slender and straight legs all reveal beauty.
Especially when he bent down, the water column hit his back, splashing water and then sliding down. Zhou Cibai could imagine the water droplets flowing through the snow-white valley.
Zhou Cibai’s knuckles had turned white from clenching, his throat was dry, and he began to feel restless.
He tried hard not to look or think and kept repeating: “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form (It is a phrase from the Heart Sutra (Buddhism) the fundamental doctrine that all things in this world that have a connection or reason have no intrinsic essence.).”
Then Gu Jiqing opened the shower curtain and asked, “Can you help me get the bottle of white ointment off the sink?”
Zhou Cibai’s mind had completely stopped working. He could only stand up immediately and frantically search for a bottle of white ointment among a pile of bottles and jars that he couldn’t even name.
After finally finding the same ointment as Gu Jiqing described and preparing to hand it over, he suddenly saw four words on the bottle—promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis.
He couldn’t help but ask, “What is this medicine…”
“There’s a little bruise on my waist. I’ll rub it, and it will be fine. It’s okay.” Gu Jiqing answered lightly.
Zhou Cibai suddenly remembered his crime last night, and a layer of blood suddenly appeared on his face: “Is it convenient for you to apply the ointment yourself? Do you want me to help?”
He just remembered that the bruise should be on the lower back and was afraid that Gu Jiqing couldn’t reach.
Gu Jiqing did feel that it would be more convenient for him to apply it for him than for someone else to help him. Besides, he and Zhou Cibai were already like this, and it would be hypocritical to be more cautious, so he replied, “Well, you can just help me apply to the area on the lower back.”
After saying that, he completely opened the shower curtain and stood in the bathtub with his back to Zhou Cibai.
Zhou Cibai finally realized what it meant to be trapped in one’s own web.
The abrupt cinnabar and snow blue on the fragile and transparent, thin white porcelain-like body can always stimulate people’s senses to the greatest extent.
Moreover, the hot water flow in the narrow space is constantly flowing down, white mist is steaming and swirling, and the temperature is also constantly rising.
But he couldn’t make that kind of request to Gu Jiqing at such a time; otherwise, it would be too inhumane, and he could only hold it back forcefully.
Zhou Cibai dares not look at Gu Jiqing any longer. He could only lower his head and fumble around randomly. The more anxious he became, the more panicked he became. He didn’t pay attention and exerted force on his hand, and Gu Jiqing gasped in pain. He turned around and was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed something was wrong with Zhou Cibai.
Then the air was so quiet that the only sounds left were the splashing water and the occasional muffled laugh from the terrace.
Zhou Cibai stood there holding the ointment, his back straight, his head lowered, his knuckles clenched tightly, his jawbone too tense, and his ears flushed in anxiety. He looked like a high school boy who was at a loss after doing something wrong.
Gu Jiqing paused slightly.
He didn’t know if all 19-year-old male college students were so healthy, but his physical strength was indeed not as good as or able to keep up, and the bruise on his waist also had not healed yet.
But Zhou Cibai seemed a little too aggrieved the whole day.
Even though he just wanted to satisfy his own feelings at first, when he saw the grievances Zhou Cibai had endured, he just wanted to make Zhou Cibai happier at this moment.
So after a brief silence, he asked gently, “My waist still hurts a little, but are you willing to try some other methods?”
