How about I make do and sleep in your room for one night…
If it were a relative, he would remind them to pay attention to how they dress at home.
If it were a friend… first of all, he would never let a female friend stay at his house.
Liang Huaixu stiffly turned back around. Seeing that she had already adjusted her clothes, he let out a breath of relief, his cheeks slightly warm. “Before was before.”
Even as he said this, he did not dare tell Zhuang Fuyao to be mindful of how she dressed.
He knew she did not like being restricted.
If someone’s ideas clashed with hers, she would definitely do what made her comfortable. Occasionally, when she felt annoyed, she would even deliberately challenge the rules and do things that went against convention… and in the end, the one who suffered would still be him.
Zhuang Fuyao’s gaze landed on his faintly pink earlobes, and she gave a soft snort.
She did not even have to think to know that this person was definitely thinking about rules and discipline.
She could not be bothered with him.
…
The restaurant’s opening date had been set. Before that, there was still a lot of preparation to do: permits, hiring, pricing, promotion, and so on.
She went out early in the morning and did not return until nearly ten at night.
Liang Huaixu sat on the sofa and asked if she wanted clam rice noodles.
“……”
She actually wanted to lose weight, but she really craved it.
Back in university, she had ordered clam rice noodles almost once a week.
In the end, she could not resist the temptation of good food and nodded honestly. “I do.”
She followed him into the kitchen and watched Liang Huaixu make the clam rice noodles.
Clams needed about three hours to spit out sand. A whole basin of fresh clams clearly showed that he had prepared them in advance.
Zhuang Fuyao asked, “When did you learn to make clam rice noodles?”
Liang Huaixu paused. “I learned online today.”
He rolled up his sleeves and began handling the clams. His arms were lean and strong, and below his forearms were a pair of very beautiful hands, with long fingers and large palms that could completely envelop her hands. When he exerted force, the veins stood out clearly.
She had a slight hand fetish. Back when they were intimate, she had loved kissing his hands, following the lines of his veins with her lips little by little, or pressing them lightly, feeling their strength…
Zhuang Fuyao’s own cooking skills were actually not bad. Back in 2008, there had been no food delivery apps. As a foodie, when she did not live at home, she had worked hard to practice cooking.
In the early days, she followed recipes. As long as she followed the steps, the taste would not be bad. It was just that when she first started learning, she had to glance at the recipe several times midway.
Liang Huaixu did not need that when learning a new dish. His memory was exceptional. After looking once, he could remember it.
But perhaps it was precisely because he was so gifted in all aspects.
Heaven had closed a window for him.
This person was particularly slow when it came to emotions. Even now, he probably still thought that he had been the one to win her over.
The truth, however, was that Zhuang Fuyao had liked him first, then deliberately made plans and step by step led this little sheep into her hands.
…
The clam rice noodles Liang Huaixu made were very flavorful, infinitely close to the taste from their university days.
Seeing him sitting across from her without moving, Zhuang Fuyao asked, “Aren’t you eating?”
“I’m not.”
“…Oh.”
She thought to herself that he was really quite considerate, making her late-night snacks for many nights in a row without eating any himself.
“But it’s really, really delicious. Don’t you want to try a bite?” She blinked at him, tempting him.
“……”
Ever since turning thirty, Liang Huaixu had quit eating late-night snacks. His usual diet was also low in oil and salt.
After that, because of depression, his appetite had worsened. No matter what he ate, he rarely felt any desire for it.
However, Zhuang Fuyao had a strangely subtle pull. Watching her eat so heartily now, he unexpectedly began to feel hungry as well.
He stood up, intending to get a clean bowl and chopsticks.
“You can just use mine,” Zhuang Fuyao said behind him.
Liang Huaixu paused for a moment, but still went to take his own.
Zhuang Fuyao immediately became unhappy. “Now you’re even finding fault with me? I never found fault with you!”
“I’m not finding fault with you,” he said calmly. “I just think this isn’t appropriate.”
Here it was again.
Over this period of time, Liang Huaixu had finally stopped avoiding her. He was attentive and considerate, even asking whether she needed help with the restaurant.
Zhuang Fuyao had once thought he had finally figured things out.
Only now did she realize that this was not him coming to his senses at all. He had genuinely begun to treat her as family.
“Fine.”
She appeared magnanimous on the surface, as though such a matter was not worth getting upset over.
But when she went to bed that night, she lay there irritably kicking the blanket.
She was already unable to sleep, and to make matters worse, a mosquito had flown into the room, buzzing nonstop near her ear and driving her crazy.
She turned on the light and searched for a while, trying to swat it. But the mosquito was too clever. The moment the light came on, it disappeared.
Once she turned the light off and lay back down, it flew over again.
So annoying.
She sat up and simply left the light on, waiting for the mosquito. She had no idea how long had passed. She was already growing drowsy when the mosquito finally appeared again.
“Smack.”
She tried to hit it, but missed, only alerting it instead.
Just as Zhuang Fuyao was worrying about how she was going to fall asleep tonight, she suddenly heard the faint sound of a toilet flushing outside. An idea struck her.
When Liang Huaixu came out after washing his hands and saw Zhuang Fuyao standing there holding a blanket, he froze. “What are you doing?”
“There’s a mosquito. I can’t sleep.”
“Then I’ll go make up the bed in the downstairs room for you.”
“It’s already so late.” Zhuang Fuyao yawned repeatedly and negotiated with him. “How about I just make do and sleep in your room for one night?”
Liang Huaixu’s expression grew serious. Going to make up a bed at this hour really was unrealistic. Those blankets had been stored for a long time and had not been aired out again. If she slept on them, she would very easily have a skin reaction.
But letting the two of them sleep in the same bed was even more inappropriate.
After weighing it carefully, he said, “You can sleep in my room. I’ll go sleep in Liang Chaoluo’s room.”
“Why make things so troublesome in the middle of the night?” She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the room. “We’ll each sleep on one side, with our own blankets, and won’t bother each other.”
After entering his room, Zhuang Fuyao spread out her blanket and very consciously drew an invisible boundary. “Here. I promise I won’t cross this line.”
“Of course, you shouldn’t cross it either,” she added, then happily climbed into bed.
After a moment, seeing Liang Huaixu still standing there stiffly, Zhuang Fuyao narrowed her eyes. “Comrade Old Liang, you’re not worried that I’ll take advantage of you, are you?”
She looked utterly righteous. “Am I that kind of person?”
Liang Huaixu shook his head. He had never thought that.
He knew she only wanted to sleep in his room because the mosquito had kept her awake.
As for why she did not let him sleep elsewhere, aside from thinking it was troublesome, she probably also felt it would be impolite to make him give up his own room.
She might be carefree, but she also had a thoughtful side, and at times she was very considerate of others.
It was just that he truly did not mind sleeping somewhere else. Compared to that, the current situation was torture for him.
He thought that if he had been firmer before entering the room, things might have been better.
But if he left now, and she thought he was worried she would take advantage of him, then he would truly have no way to save face.
In the end, he lay down, staring rigidly at the ceiling.
The lights went out.
Zhuang Fuyao relaxed completely.
Liang Huaixu’s room felt very comfortable. A faint scent of incense lingered in the air, restrained and subtle, just like him.
Without the mosquito disturbing her, she quickly fell asleep.
The Liang Huaixu beside her, however, was not so fortunate.
The fragrance on her body was like wildly growing vines or waves surging ashore, slowly encroaching, squeezing out the original incense until none remained.
Just as he was finally beginning to drift into sleep, Zhuang Fuyao suddenly turned over, one leg resting on him. He jolted, silently drawing in a breath as he tried to move her leg away.
Zhuang Fuyao smacked her lips in dissatisfaction and instead wrapped herself around him, locking onto his waist.
“….”
He did not know why she liked hugging people in the posture of a sloth clinging to a tree. By the moonlight filtering in through the window, Liang Huaixu saw her brows relaxed, sleeping deeply and soundly.
His breathing grew heavier for a moment. Unable to push her away, he could only resign himself to closing his eyes. Even if he could not sleep, resting his eyes was better than nothing.
Since childhood, Zhuang Fuyao had never slept very peacefully. When she was young, she often rolled off the bed in her sleep and had been scolded by Madam Ji many times for it.
Later, when she lived in a dormitory, she had to restrain herself to avoid falling from the upper bunk with its low guardrail.
After marrying Liang Huaixu, she developed a new bad habit. When sleeping, she liked burying her face against Liang Huaixu’s chest.
Subconsciously, she burrowed toward his chest. The sensation felt different, so she rubbed around until she finally found the right spot, slipping from beneath one blanket into the other.
Her hand rested at his waist and, out of habit, began to move downward…
Liang Huaixu was so startled that all his drowsiness vanished instantly. He stopped her movement, his expression darkening. “Zhuang Fuyao?”
When she did not respond, he raised his voice and called again, “Zhuang Fuyao!”
If this continued, neither of them would be able to sleep tonight.
Zhuang Fuyao made a soft “Mm?” Her voice was thick with sleepiness.
She had a tendency to be irritable when woken. As her awareness returned, she was just about to complain about why he had woken her in the middle of the night.
But she was shocked a step sooner by their current position.
If she was not mistaken, she was lying inside Liang Huaixu’s blanket? And her leg was still draped over him?
Wait. Why was he holding her hand?
She lowered her head to look. The moment she realized what she had been doing, a rush of heat shot to her head. If the light were on, it would be obvious that her entire face, ears included, had turned red.
Zhuang Fuyao had not expected that in her sleep she would almost… take advantage of him.
“I’m sorry, I’m used to grabbing onto something when I sleep…”
“…………”
As soon as she said it, the situation became even more awkward.
Liang Huaixu had no idea how to respond to the kind of intimacy they had shared sixteen years ago.
He sighed. “Maybe I should still go sleep in another room.”
“No need.” Zhuang Fuyao very convincingly placed a pillow between them and declared with confidence, “Trust me. We’ll definitely sleep well for the rest of the night.”
Liang Huaixu considered for a few seconds, then replied helplessly, “Alright. Then go to sleep.”
To stop herself from rolling over to his side again, Zhuang Fuyao silently told herself that she was in a school dormitory. If she did not control her sleeping posture, she would fall off the bed.
Under this mental suggestion, she behaved fairly well for the rest of the night.
Liang Huaixu was finally able to catch up on some sleep.
But the peace did not last long.
She was well-behaved in the latter half of the night, but as dawn approached, she began to move freely again.
The difference this time was that after the tossing and turning earlier, Liang Huaixu was sleeping deeply. The two of them ended up holding each other until they were jolted awake by the morning alarm.
When they opened their eyes and met each other’s gaze, they were both startled.
Zhuang Fuyao was extremely embarrassed at first. Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed their positions and immediately relaxed.
Although she knew it was probably still her fault, she still had to put on an innocent act. She raised both hands. “This time it’s not my fault.”
“…Mm.”
Liang Huaixu’s lips were pressed into a straight line, his expression dark as deep water, his waist slightly bent.
He knew that this time he was the one in the wrong. He did not know what had happened, but when he woke up, he found that he had somehow moved over to Zhuang Fuyao’s side, and he was even covered with her blanket.
Moreover, his arm was wrapped around her slender, soft waist, holding her whole body in his embrace.