Gu Qiu led Qin Zhiyi into his home.
He found a clean pair of cotton slippers in the shoe cabinet and tossed them at her feet.
“They might be a bit big. Just make do with them.”
Qin Zhiyi didn’t mind.
He was a single bachelor living alone… having women’s things in his house would be the abnormal thing!
She took off her little white sneakers, but while changing into the slippers, she accidentally pulled at the blisters on her feet. She immediately frowned and sucked in a sharp breath.
“Hiss~”
Gu Qiu, carrying the snow fungus soup toward the sofa, glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
Qin Zhiyi didn’t put on a pitiful act. She quickly adjusted her composure and expression, then walked slowly to the center of the living room and looked around.
She had learned from the teacher who managed the apartments that the units in the teacher housing complex came in different sizes.
The larger units were generally provided to couples or elderly retired teachers, while young and single teachers like them lived in these smaller units of about fifty-plus square meters.
Although the space wasn’t large, it had all the essentials like a kitchen and bathroom. For one person, it was more than enough!
Gu Qiu’s place wasn’t luxuriously renovated, so some areas looked about the same as the move-in-ready unit next door. But every arrangement here was just right, and with everything cleaned spotlessly, it was a pleasure to look at.
In a daze, Qin Zhiyi recalled that in his previous life, Gu Qiu had always kept their home looking beautiful too.
As for herself, not only did she never help him with anything, she even forgot to praise him when she saw and enjoyed the results of his efforts.
At that thought, guilt showed in her eyes.
While Qin Zhiyi was spacing out, Gu Qiu had already put away the bath towel he had left lying around earlier, along with the clothes he had changed out of in the bathroom. He then grabbed a fresh set of towels and held them out to her.
“No more bathrobes. Just put your own clothes back on after you shower!”
As he spoke, he glanced at Qin Zhiyi a couple more times and voiced the doubt he’d been harboring:
“By the way, you hadn’t even showered. Why did you change your clothes?”
Qin Zhiyi had already snapped out of it the moment he opened his mouth. The corners of her lips curled up slightly as she smiled gently:
“Because I was going to see you!”
Ever since being reincarnated, she had been doing her best to change. Some of those changes were deliberate, while others came about subtly over time.
Dressing up specially every time before seeing Gu Qiu was one of those changes.
She had even put on light makeup and fixed her hair before going out. It was just that this dense man’s attention had gone entirely to her clothes…
At the same time, learning that Qin Zhiyi had changed her clothes specifically to see him, Gu Qiu found it especially novel.
In his previous life, that had rarely ever happened.
But on this point, he didn’t blame Qin Zhiyi.
After all, back then, that silly woman had poured her whole heart into her work. She didn’t care about her attire or appearance at all, generally just aiming for “presentable”…
The two had different thoughts on their minds, yet in the next second, they tacitly stole glances at each other.
The moment their eyes met, both their hearts tightened, making the atmosphere turn subtle and tinged with a hint of awkwardness.
Fortunately, Qin Zhiyi broke the stalemate quickly!
Carrying her toiletry bag toward the bathroom, she didn’t forget to tilt her head and look at Gu Qiu just before closing the door, blinking playfully.
“I’m going to take a shower!”
“You wouldn’t peep, would you?”
“Again…”
Gu Qiu was about to reflexively answer, “It’s not like I haven’t seen it before,” but fortunately, his mouth hit the brakes in time and he instantly changed his tune.
“What’s there to look at!”
“Hmph!”
“This young lady’s figure is so good. It’s your loss if you don’t look!”
Qin Zhiyi muttered in a voice he couldn’t hear, then closed the door.
Gu Qiu didn’t sit idle either. He walked straight over to the sofa.
His sofa was a foldable model. When fully unfolded, it was like a small bed. He had just never used that feature before. He never expected that the first time would be for Qin Zhiyi!
After moving the coffee table aside and fiddling with it for quite a while, he finally got it assembled.
Then, he retrieved a box of ointment, two quilts, and a pillow from the bedroom in turn.
After simply making the bed, his phone suddenly rang.
Gu Qiu walked over slowly. After seeing the contact’s name, he instinctively glanced sideways at the wall clock.
Seeing that it was almost twelve o’clock, he quickly answered and asked in surprise:
“Grandma, why aren’t you asleep yet?”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, followed by a warm and kindly voice.
“Aren’t you still awake too?”
“This morning, A-Long told me he was coming over on Saturday. But my memory’s bad and I forgot. Then I dreamed about you and suddenly remembered. I was afraid I’d forget again, so I thought I’d give you a call. That way, when you see it tomorrow morning, you can call me back. I didn’t expect you to still be up at this hour!”
“A-Qiu, you need to take care of your health. Don’t wear yourself out!”
Gu Qiu listened patiently, then replied with a smile:
“Something came up today and delayed me. I’m not usually this busy.”
But who would have thought that hearing him say that, the voice on the phone immediately carried a hint of complaint.
“If you’re not busy, why don’t you come visit your grandma?”
“Are you tired of this old woman?”
Gu Qiu quickly denied it.
“Not at all. I can’t miss you enough. How could I be tired of you!”
Little did he know that as he said those words, the sound of running water in the bathroom had already stopped.
If Gu Qiu had turned his head to look at that moment, he certainly would have noticed the alluring silhouette pressed against the frosted glass door.
But at that moment, his entire attention was hung up on the phone call.
“Alright, I know I was wrong!”
“Didn’t we agree I’d come over on Saturday? I’ll buy plenty of groceries then. It’s just been a while since I last cooked, so I don’t know if my skills have gotten rusty!”
“I’m not a little kid anymore… okay, okay, okay, I’ll go to sleep like a good boy!”
“…”
Listening to those unusually intimate exchanges, Qin Zhiyi’s eyes grew dim.
She suddenly recalled what Gu Qiu had said yesterday about returning to reality. She had assumed that was just an excuse to avoid her. She never expected… that he really was dating someone else?
Qin Zhiyi couldn’t bear to, nor dared to, think any further.
She quickly threw on her clothes and rushed out of the bathroom, her long hair still dripping wet.
Gu Qiu had just hung up the phone. Seeing Qin Zhiyi’s flushed appearance, like a lotus rising from the water, he couldn’t help but freeze.
After abruptly snapping back to his senses, he coughed twice and reminded her:
“The hair dryer is in the cabinet under the sink.”
Then, remembering his promise to Grandma to go to sleep right away, he stood up and yawned.
“I’ve made the bed for you!”
“I’m a bit sleepy. Going to bed first!”
With that, Gu Qiu walked toward the bedroom without looking back.
Qin Zhiyi gazed at his retreating back until it disappeared. Only after the bedroom door closed did she sit down on the sofa, utterly deflated.
She had really wanted to ask him clearly just now.
But thinking it over carefully, she and Gu Qiu were at most friends at this point. Even if he was dating someone, he had no obligation to tell her.
“Things shouldn’t be developing like this!”
“Or is this Heaven’s punishment for how I let him down in my previous life?”
Qin Zhiyi’s emotions spiraled into chaos. Two lines of hot tears silently slid down from the corners of her eyes, mixing with the water droplets falling from her hair.
Worried that the sound of her sobbing would be heard by Gu Qiu, she bent down and buried her face in the pillow.
After an unknown amount of time passed.
Qin Zhiyi was tired from crying, but her chest still heaved unsteadily.
She turned her head to the side and took a few breaths through her mouth.
The next second, her gaze was drawn to the empty bowl and the ointment on the table.
Qin Zhiyi quickly sat up, reached for the bowl that had previously held the snow fungus soup, and checked the ointment. She discovered it was for treating blisters, and she instinctively glanced down at her feet.
Wait a minute!
Knowing Gu Qiu’s personality, if he had a girlfriend, how could he let another woman stay overnight at his place?
Let alone eating her food and thoughtfully preparing ointment for her!
He was very handsome. In his previous life, even after they got together, he would frequently get hit on when they went out, but he had always rejected them all. And after marriage, even though she treated Gu Qiu so badly, he still never messed around with other women, not even having a woman to confide in!
In an instant, her mood improved a great deal!
But then again, who had been on the phone with him just now?
Qin Zhiyi urgently wanted the answer, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t help but run her fingers through her damp hair.
“Ah, you annoying Gu Qiu!”
After muttering under her breath, she suddenly had the idea of sneaking into the bedroom to check his phone.
Unexpectedly, just as Qin Zhiyi looked toward the bedroom, the door opened, startling her.
Gu Qiu looked groggy, glanced at her, and then showed a puzzled expression.
“Big sister, why haven’t you dried your hair yet?”
“If you’re really not sleepy, just turn off the light first. The light coming through the crack in the door is keeping me awake.”
As he spoke, he was about to turn off the light, but then he noticed the redness at the corners of Qin Zhiyi’s eyes.
He froze.
“Have you been crying?”
Qin Zhiyi pouted and gave a small snort.
“It’s all your fault, you lousy man!”
Gu Qiu felt a little baffled.
“How is this my fault again?”
“Am I bothering you just by sleeping?”
“Don’t tell me you really want to sleep in the bedroom?”
“Qin Zhiyi, this is my place. Don’t push your luck!”
His muttering seemed to hit some funny bone in Qin Zhiyi, and she couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
But she immediately shot him a glare and coldly snorted.
“Fine, go back to sleep!”
Gu Qiu couldn’t make sense of the situation, and he didn’t want to provoke her at this moment, so he tossed out a line and returned to the bedroom.
“And remember to turn off the light!”
After the bedroom door closed again, Qin Zhiyi secretly clenched her fists.
“Saturday, huh!”
“I’m going to find out exactly who it is!”