Chu Yao was utterly absorbed, and before she knew it, she had finished the pizza. Her hand touched the empty box, and she turned her head to look—it was gone.
Zhou Wenshi took in the whole scene. Chu Yao's face showed obvious regret, her eyes seeming to say, "How is it already finished? Sigh."
She sat cross-legged, hugging a cushion, her chin buried in it as she smiled with contentment. She radiated a lazy, comfortable air, rubbing her soft, glossy nose against the cushion, most of her face buried in it like a squirrel clutching a large nut.
Her long hair lay languidly scattered over her shoulders and back.
Every strand carried her unique essence.
Chu Yao suddenly turned her head to look at him. "What are you doing? Aren't you watching?"
The light projected from the cartoon flickered across his handsome, well-defined face, obscuring his dark, striking eyes, like the night sky beneath the stars.
The light in Zhou Wenshi's eyes dimmed, enveloped by the surrounding darkness. Chu Yao couldn't quite read the emotion in his gaze—it felt somehow distant, not quite tangible.
Zhou Wenshi: "I'm watching."
Chu Yao didn't dwell on it and turned back to the cartoon. She let out a small sigh: "I haven't watched cartoons in so long. All my memories of them are from when I was a kid. Thinking about it now makes me a bit nostalgic."
Zhou Wenshi's voice lowered: "You can watch as long as you want today."
Chu Yao's attention was clearly on Tom and Jerry, and Black Cat Detective too. She hummed in acknowledgment.
Zhou Wenshi didn't raise his voice to disturb her. He simply placed an order on his phone, waited twenty minutes, and quietly retrieved a takeout box from outside the door.
As Chu Yao watched, she caught an increasingly familiar aroma. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she turned around. Zhou Wenshi had already put on his gloves, torn off a piece of hot pizza, wrapped it up, and handed it to her.
Chu Yao was overjoyed: "Wow—when did you order this? How did you even notice? I wasn't going to order more."
She took it happily: "Wow—it still smells amazing. Eating something while watching a show is the most comfortable thing."
"Zhou Wenshi, you're so thoughtful!"
Chu Yao bit into the fresh pizza, her happiness index soaring straight up, her smile especially radiant.
When Zhou Wenshi saw she was almost done, he handed her another slice.
After eating two slices, Chu Yao realized belatedly: "Wait, I haven't seen you eat anything? It all went into my stomach."
Zhou Wenshi still had his disposable gloves on, the box beside him half open. His fair fingers rested on the edge of the box: "I'm not hungry."
Chu Yao: "So I'm the only one eating?"
Zhou Wenshi's dark, ink-like eyes simply looked at her as he tore off another slice and passed it over: "Yes, this box was ordered for you. If you want more later, I'll order again."
Chu Yao went "oh, oh" and took it without hesitation: "I'll transfer the money back to you later."
As for now, of course, she was going to enjoy this rare taste of childhood nostalgia.
She tapped open her phone screen and scrolled through her list: "What do you like to eat?"
Zhou Wenshi: "Anything works."
Chu Yao was thoroughly puzzled: "How can 'anything works' be an answer? Here, look through it yourself and order. These are basically the places I usually order from—the food's all pretty decent."
She handed her phone to Zhou Wenshi.
It had a pink kitten phone case with a crystal bead charm hanging from it.
Zhou Wenshi took off his gloves and browsed through Chu Yao's favorite restaurants. Among them was a congee shop with an astonishing fifty-nine order records.
The records showed the same order every time: shrimp congee.
Zhou Wenshi edited the name and address, and placed an order under his own name.
Her order history would always have his name mixed in among the entries.
"Done."
Chu Yao: "That fast? Let me see."
She spotted the congee Zhou Wenshi had ordered. "You like this one too? Their congee really is pretty good."
And just like that, Zhou Wenshi earned a look of approval from Chu Yao. He simply watched her with quiet eyes, listening as she spoke.
Chu Yao: "I've noticed you're a bit quiet, but it's different from how you were this morning."
Zhou Wenshi followed her lead and asked, "Different how?"
Chu Yao's gaze briefly swept over his cool, defined brow—features that remained sharp and clear even in the shadows, with a pronounced cupid's bow on his lips.
Without overthinking it, she said, "I feel like you're… actually pretty happy right now?"
She wasn't entirely sure, and asked curiously, "Did I guess right?"
She was like a child playing a guessing game, her eyes full of lively sparkle.
Zhou Wenshi suddenly didn't want to dampen Chu Yao's enthusiasm. He let out a soft laugh. "Yes. Congratulations, you guessed correctly."
Chu Yao giggled. "Yay."
"Then, as a reward for you," Zhou Wenshi said, holding out a slice of pizza, "your pizza."
Chu Yao found it amusing. She let out a little "heh" and grasped Zhou Wenshi's fingertips, accepting it with exaggerated solemnity. "Okay, okay, okay."
Zhou Wenshi played along with her mood, speaking with mock gravity. "Congratulations, Player Chu Yao, on your victory. Let me applaud you."
"But I only have one hand."
He extended his free palm.
Slap.
Chu Yao completed the high-five with him.
She beamed and let out a playful "oh-ho." "I've discovered you're really fun to be around."
She looked at him like she'd found some novel new toy.
Zhou Wenshi gave a light laugh, his cool features rippling with warmth. "Really fun?"
For a single instant, Chu Yao felt herself enchanted by him—an indescribable, inexplicable feeling that was especially pronounced in the dimming atmosphere where his expression was hard to read.
She thought to herself, This won't do.
Zhou Wenshi, you can't.
She said, "Suddenly I don't think it's that fun anymore. People aren't toys, after all."
Zhou Wenshi said, "They can be."
Chu Yao: "Young man, that's not okay. How can you be a toy?"
Emotion surged in Zhou Wenshi's eyes. "I can be."
Chu Yao shoved a throw pillow into his arms. Zhou Wenshi hadn't expected it, instinctively circling his arms around the pillow that carried her scent and warmth.
Chu Yao pointed at it. "This is the toy you should have."
Zhou Wenshi stroked the spot she'd been holding, where her warmth still lingered. A strange heat rose and rushed straight to his chest. He hugged the pillow tighter.
Seeing that he wasn't speaking, Chu Yao waved her fingers in front of his face before he snapped back to attention.
Chu Yao: "What are you spacing out about?"
He can zone out just from holding a pillow? That's weird.
"I'll admit it's comfortable, but you don't need to space out that obviously."
Zhou Wenshi buried his face in the pillow, his voice coming out a little slow. "…It's very comfortable."
He tightened his hold on the pillow, breathing in its scent carefully.
Warm.
Just like that day.
Clearer than in his dreams.
He let out a soft "mm," burying his face deeper, unwilling to pull away.
Chu Yao stared at him, dumbfounded. "…You like it that much?"
Hugging it so tightly—does he not own a pillow of his own?
She'd never pegged Zhou Wenshi for having this kind of habit.
Falling for a standard hotel pillow.
Chu Yao thought to herself, This is really strange.
She didn't understand it, but she respected it.
Zhou Wenshi stayed buried in the pillow, unable to surface. "…I like it."
Chu Yao's expression turned odd. "Alright, then."
She liked it too, but not to the extent Zhou Wenshi did—she just kept three or four extra ones on her bed so she could hug them and roll around whenever she wanted.
She quickly turned her attention back to the cartoon.
She didn't notice that after Zhou Wenshi finished sniffing, he rested half his face on the throw pillow and naturally let his gaze settle on her.
In his eyes was unmistakable tenderness.
It softened his usual air of detachment.
Chu Yao had been watching cartoons for quite a while, and at one point she'd asked if there was anything he liked to watch—they could watch it together.
Zhou Wenshi told her to just pick whatever she liked.
Chu Yao didn't stand on ceremony and watched to her heart's content.
Zhou Wenshi kept an eye on the time, noting when it was time to eat, and asked her if she was hungry when the moment came.
Chu Yao: "Not hungry, not hungry."
Like a little kitten, meowing away.
Zhou Wenshi found the mental image adorable. He let out a muffled laugh, not even noticing that his bathrobe had come loose, the collar slightly disheveled.
Chu Yao accidentally caught sight of him—the bathrobe on his shoulders looked about to fall open, and its owner remained completely unaware of it. "…"
She quietly averted her gaze.
What should not be seen should not be seen.
Zhou Wenshi was a bit too careless, not bothering to tie his bathrobe properly, just leaving it wide open like that, inviting all and sundry.
That wasn't good.
They stayed in the hotel until seven or eight in the evening.
By that point, Chu Yao was feeling a bit hungry. She stretched her limbs, yawned, and rubbed her waist and wrists.
"I'm going out to grab something to eat, then I'll head back to A University."
Zhou Wenshi: "Okay."
He seemed to just now notice his untied bathrobe, but even after seeing it, he made no move to tighten it. It hung even more open as he walked, completely unconcerned about whether it was too revealing, heading to the bathroom to change back into the shirt and trousers he'd worn today.
Chu Yao pulled open the curtains, and the light of night streamed in.
Zhou Wenshi walked out into the night, his figure tall and lean, his steps unhurried, carrying an air of one draped in the starlight of the evening.
Chu Yao couldn't understand how someone could still manage to look picture-perfect in a scene like this.
The moment she remembered her infuriating photography skills, and how the photos hadn't managed to embarrass Zhou Wenshi, she inexplicably found his face irritating again.
His failure to be embarrassed by her photos was, in itself, an embarrassment to her.
In life, face mattered too.
She reined in her smile a little, deciding not to smile too brightly at Zhou Wenshi, as a tribute to her deceased photography skills.
Zhou Wenshi seemed to remember something and reminded her: "You can practice taking photos."
Chu Yao's smile vanished instantly. "…"
Zhou Wenshi had no idea why.
Chu Yao said with a straight face: "Oh."
Zhou Wenshi was bewildered. "…" Had he done something wrong?
He hesitated: "Not taking them?"
Chu Yao: "Taking them."
She picked up her phone and snapped a bunch of random shots at him, utterly perfunctory, so fast that it took less than half a minute.
Zhou Wenshi saw her wrap up and gestured: "Done?"
Chu Yao smiled: "Yeah. You wouldn't think that was too perfunctory, would you?"
Zhou Wenshi paused: "No."
"Can I take a look?"
Chu Yao froze. "…Retake."
She'd been so sloppy that she couldn't very well show him those. Her skills might not have been good to begin with, but at least she should have the right attitude.
"Stand there, just stand there."
Zhou Wenshi was very obedient—stood however she told him to, moved wherever she directed.
Chu Yao found an angle and looked through the lens at Zhou Wenshi's focused gaze and crane-like bearing, and suddenly felt that whether there was an angle or not, it didn't make much difference.
Chu Yao bit her lips together, puzzled.
Zhou Wenshi completely failed to highlight how terrible her photography was. What use was he, then?
Recalling how she had struggled last time and still failed, this time was no exception, so her enthusiasm for taking photos had faded.
Chu Yao still carefully found an angle and snapped three photos of him.
Yeah, about the same level as last time.
This attempt to find fault had also failed.
She couldn't help but ask, "When are you at your most disheveled?"
He might be fine normally, but finding a moment when he was disheveled—that shouldn't be a problem, right?
Chu Yao was impressed by her own cleverness.
This question stumped Zhou Wenshi. "After I wake up?"
Could his image have already fallen to the level of disheveled?
For the first time, Zhou Wenshi stood there feeling a bit anxious, though his expression remained barely composed. "Is there something wrong with me?"
Had she formed a bad impression of him?
Why else would she want to see him disheveled?
Chu Yao said, "Quite the opposite—every single moment, you're radiant."
Zhou Wenshi was relieved, but then puzzled. "Then why ask about when I'm disheveled?"
Chu Yao paused. "That's not something you need to ask."
Zhou Wenshi understood and promised, "I'll maintain my radiant appearance every day."
Chu Yao didn't feel like joking. "…Oh, well, congratulations to you then."
Zhou Wenshi realized he'd said something wrong, but he didn't understand what was off.
In a romantic relationship, didn't girlfriends want their boyfriends to maintain a good outward appearance?
Last time was the same.
After the photos, she'd gone cold.
Could it be that he hadn't maintained his image well enough?
After deep thought, Zhou Wenshi couldn't think of any other reason.
He'd never had appearance anxiety before—he'd been the exemplary child his whole life, excelling at everything, including looks.
But clearly, his girlfriend didn't think so.
That was a real problem.
He couldn't help touching his face, which had only just matured not long ago. Could it be… she thought he was getting old?
Zhou Wenshi was actually uncertain.
Should he, perhaps, use a face mask to maintain a better condition?
Wasn't it said that a husband's appearance was the wife's glory?
He couldn't possibly tarnish his wife's glory.
This was important.
He made his decision, and his expression turned serious. "Chu Yao, I'll maintain a better condition. Don't dislike me—my current state might not be good enough. I'll start taking care of myself as soon as I get back."
Chu Yao: ?
She thought to herself, Is this human speech?
His condition was already good enough—he wanted to go even further?
Chu Yao: ??
"You…" she hesitated, unable to ask whether he'd met true love, or whether the female lead had appeared, and that's why he was telling her he needed to start skincare.
"Forget it. If you want to take care of yourself, that's fine, but don't use those products carelessly. Eighteen is already young enough. I don't understand why you've gotten this idea, but since you want to, go ahead."
She couldn't very well stop the male lead from becoming a better version of himself.
Zhou Wenshi had always been good at grasping key points, and he shifted the topic. "You think my condition is good?"
Chu Yao: "Mm."
Zhou Wenshi: "Then why ask when I'm disheveled? Do you want to see me like that?"
Faced with this kind of question, Chu Yao found it hard to answer. She couldn't very well say it was her competitive nature at work.
She just wanted to take one imperfect photo of him to prove her photography skills were truly bad and she hadn't been lying.
But the result was that Zhou Wenshi standing there was the birth of a masterpiece.
It completely stumped her.
So really, being too good-looking was also a kind of fault.