After taking a shower, Lin Zhuo lay down on the sofa and casually pulled up a movie to cast onto the television screen.
The crisp visuals paired with surround sound provided an experience that could rival an average movie theater.
Raindrops pattered against the glass window, resembling countless mottled starlight points.
Winding streams of water beaded together like silver tearstains sliding down into the temples.
Lin Zhuo had gotten a bit wet in the rain, and since his constitution was not the best, he sneezed several times in a row.
He felt his forehead; thankfully, there were no traces of a fever.
He sprawled across the sofa like he had no bones in his body, lazily staring at the screen.
Hearing movement coming from the kitchen, he shifted his body and looked over curiously, only to see a tall figure moving back and forth inside. In about five minutes, Fu Baizhou walked out of the kitchen carrying a bowl.
Feeling a bit curious, Lin Zhuo propped himself up to take a look. The liquid inside looked utterly unappetizing, and he retracted his gaze with a hint of disdain.
Before he could say anything, Fu Baizhou sat down beside him. “Wife, drink some to drive away the cold.”
“What is this stuff?” Seeing Fu Baizhou hand the bowl over, Lin Zhuo could not help shrinking back.
Even though he had not smelled anything yet, he had already subconsciously shielded his sense of olfactory perception.
The soup was somewhat murky and steaming hot.
Fu Baizhou said, “This is ginger soup.”
Lin Zhuo leaned closer and took a sniff; it was indeed ginger soup.
He disliked the taste of ginger. Using it as a seasoning was acceptable, but boiling it into a soup all by itself was a bit beyond what he could handle.
However, Fu Baizhou had gone straight into the kitchen to brew it for him right after taking a shower. It was a well-intentioned gesture, and he certainly could not let it go to waste.
Frowning slightly, Lin Zhuo took the bowl and, fighting through the discomfort in his stomach, gulped down a little over half of it in one go.
Sense of smell and taste were interconnected; the moment it went down, his mouth and nasal passages felt entirely choked up by the pungent taste of ginger.
His stomach churned, and the next instant, he almost threw up.
“Wife, what is wrong?” Fu Baizhou never expected a bowl of anti-cold ginger soup to trigger such a massive reaction from Lin Zhuo, and he patted his back in a flustered panic.
Lin Zhuo raised a hand and waved it to signal that he was fine.
“Don’t make this for me anymore. I do not like ingredients with such a heavy flavor.” Lin Zhuo did not want to dampen Fu Baizhou’s feelings, but he genuinely could not consume this stuff.
He did not know if he was just a picky eater, but aromatics like scallions, ginger, garlic, and cilantro could only be added to dishes or soups as minor seasonings; eating them on their own or having too much of them was entirely unacceptable to him.
Fu Baizhou drooped his face. “Wife, I am sorry.”
Lin Zhuo smiled comfortingly. “It is fine. Stop fussing over it, and come lie down with me to watch a movie for a bit.”
Obediently slipping off his slippers, Fu Baizhou sat down on the other end of the sofa, and the two of them shared a single blanket.
Once his whole body grew warm and cozy, Lin Zhuo’s upper and lower eyelids began to fight each other, and shortly after, his head tilted to the side while Fu Baizhou’s palm steadily caught and supported his face.
Fu Baizhou turned his head, planting a light, tentative kiss that failed to stir up any flirtatious or sensual undertones.
The matter of looking into the school kept getting pushed back.
Originally, Lin Zhuo had wanted to just look at it with Fu Baizhou and be done with it, but An Wan was worried about the two of them going alone, so she told them to wait.
A week passed, and one afternoon, An Wan called to ask Lin Zhuo if he had time later.
At the time, Lin Zhuo was hanging out playing video games with Fu Baizhou. Upon receiving An Wan’s call, he immediately replied that he was completely free.
He had been staying at home all this time, and Fu Baizhou had taken care of all the housework; cooking, sweeping, and everything else was handled entirely by him.
Lin Zhuo was practically turning into a piece of useless furniture from all this lounging.
Knowing nobody in this unfamiliar place and having no idea where to go out for fun, he could only hole up at home, passing the time by playing games and binge-watching shows.
Hanging up the phone, Lin Zhuo told Fu Baizhou and hurried to his room to change into a new set of clothes.
The two of them stood outside their residential complex for about ten minutes before an Audi came slowly into view.
It was his aunt’s car; he recognized it.
The car pulled over and stopped by the roadside. Lin Zhuo pulled open the rear passenger door, and An Wan was sitting behind the driver’s seat.
He climbed inside, and seeing Fu Baizhou about to squeeze into the back seat as well, he hastily blurted out, “You blockhead, sit in the front.”
Fu Baizhou neatly closed the back door, pulled open the front passenger door instead, and got into the car.
Aunt and nephew had not seen each other in a week. Looking at the faint dark circles under An Wan’s eyes, Lin Zhuo figured she must have been extremely busy lately.
Even with such a busy schedule, she still kept him in mind. Lin Zhuo thought that even his own parents might not have been able to go to such lengths for him.
Before Lin Zhuo could bring up a topic first, An Wan smiled and looked at him, asking, “You drag him with you wherever you go?”
She was naturally referring to Fu Baizhou.
Lin Zhuo had already prepared his excuse beforehand. “His brain got scrambled from a fall, so I am worried to leave him home alone.”
With a trace of probing in her tone, An Wan asked, “You two are this close?”
Lin Zhuo was sometimes exceptionally sharp-witted, yet at other times his brain felt completely rusted over; he completely missed the underlying meaning in An Wan’s words. “We get along pretty well.”
With that, the corners of his lips and eyes curved upward as he rested his head against An Wan’s shoulder, acting spoiled. “He is nothing like me; after all, I have such a great aunt.”
Although it was blatant flattery, these words were also entirely sincere coming from Lin Zhuo.
He was well aware of how well An Wan treated him.
“You child.” An Wan gently tapped his forehead, her tone overflowing with indulgence.
As they spoke, the vehicle had already arrived at the school.
Since An Wan was a member of the school’s board of directors, her license plate was naturally registered in the system, and they sailed right through without obstruction.
When Lin Zhuo was studying back in school previously, he had thought his campus was already big enough, but he realized what a frog at the bottom of a well he truly was.
He pressed his forehead against the car window, staring unblinkingly at the scenery passing by outside.
Because it was a day off, very few students were visible along the way.
Before he started working, he had never paid much attention to academic credentials, until hitting wall after wall while job hunting made him gradually realize the importance of degrees, causing him to feel insecure about his credentials as a mere junior college graduate.
An Wan asked, “Do you like it here?”
Hesitantly, Lin Zhuo asked, “Aunt, can I really come study here?”
“Of course. If you do not like this place, we can always choose a different one.” An Wan agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
Anyway, throwing money at one school versus another made no difference, but since this institution had shares belonging to her and boasted excellent faculty, she naturally favored it more.
A wave of emotion swelled in Lin Zhuo’s nose, and he fought hard to keep his tears from falling. Ever since his grandmother passed away, no one else had cared for him like this or considered his interests at every turn.
At this exact moment, he desperately wished all of this was real.
“Thank you, Aunt.” Lin Zhuo could not put his current feelings into words; it felt as though he had just won a ten-million-dollar lottery ticket, and the sheer joy was almost enough to dizzy his mind.
“Silly boy.” An Wan smiled tenderly, patting Lin Zhuo’s shoulder. “Go on down and look around.”
The driver pulled over to the side of the road. After the group stepped out of the vehicle, An Wan exchanged a few words with the driver, and the car drove away out of sight.
The moment Fu Baizhou stepped out, he immediately attracted several wandering gazes.
Lin Zhuo felt a wave of envy, jealousy, and hatred; if he possessed a face like that, he would not still be single right now.
Still, there were girls who liked him; Xiaoling was the best girl in the entire world.
As they strolled along the path, Lin Zhuo suddenly caught snippets of conversation nearby.
“Are those a female CEO and her loyal younger pup?”
“Oh my god, they look so well-matched.”
“Isn’t that bodyguard next to them a bit too feeble-looking?”
Lin Zhuo grasped his role in the scenario almost instantly, and inwardly raged in helpless fury: Who is a bodyguard?
He glared fiercely at Fu Baizhou, then immediately hooked his arm through his aunt’s. “Let us ignore him.”
Fu Baizhou tilted his head in confusion, wondering why his wife was angry again.