“This place is really nice.”
His serious expression made Ruan Xingmian nervous. She followed him as he stood up, supporting her overfull waist.
She began introducing this three-hundred-yuan room to him.
“The layout is square and proper, the bedroom faces the sun, and there’s even a small balcony inside with an open view. There are blooming bougainvillea across the way. The kitchen is spacious enough—in the future, I can cook for you here…”
“The Research Institute has Staff Apartments available for rent,” Gu Xing turned and interrupted her. “At least there, the floors are tiled.”
Ruan Xingmian argued her point: “What’s wrong with concrete? Where I used to live, there were even earthen walls and dirt floors…”
She quickly stopped herself, nearly revealing too much.
After the age of six, the original host had lived with her aunt’s family in the Teachers’ Staff Apartments, later moving to a residential complex—she had never lived in a place with earthen walls.
“The stairwell doesn’t even have motion-sensor lights.”
Gu Xing’s face was stern.
The slightly downturned corners of his eyes suddenly tightened, and a trace of urgency emerged in his cool, composed features.
Ruan Xingmian walked over.
Looking up, her eyes were close to Gu Xing’s.
She saw the concern and self-blame in his eyes, and her tension gradually dissipated.
They shouldn’t be confronting each other, each speaking their own piece.
Clearly caring for each other, yet ending up making each other unhappy.
It was immature.
“I really like it here. Most of the residents are elderly, with regular routines, and it’s close to the Farmers’ Market,”
Ruan Xingmian softened her voice, explaining patiently, “You’re right, the Staff Apartments are definitely better than here. But renting there would require going through your professor’s connections. I know you’re not someone who likes owing favors.”
She reached for Gu Xing’s hand, her tone unconsciously turning coquettish. “Don’t be angry, okay?”
As her palm met warm softness, Gu Xing’s heart melted.
“I’m not angry.”
How could he be angry?
He was just blaming himself.
If he were Lu Tian, wherever he studied, he would buy a home in that school district.
Then his girlfriend wouldn’t have to endure such hardships.
But he was merely a student from a farming family.
Ruan Xingmian poked his arm. “Let’s stay here temporarily, okay? This place is perfect for my renovation videos.”
Seeing him stiffen without a response, she mustered the courage to tug at his sleeve, holding on tightly and directly closing the distance between them.
“I’ve already written the script outline. Do you want to take a look?”
Her fingers were enveloped in warmth as he clasped her cold hand. Gu Xing’s initiative made her heart flutter—she knew they had reached an understanding.
The first season would have ten episodes, with the theme: “Low-Cost Transformation into an Instagram-Style Rental.” The highlights would be handmade crafts and food pairings, showcasing the contrast from nothing to something, from dirty and chaotic to a warm, cozy home.
Despite these forty square meters being worn and shabby, with peeling walls and outdated furniture, every inch of space exuded an air of “making do.”
She believed that through her careful design and meticulous planning, she could transform this place into their warm, temporary haven.
“Gu Xing, you’ll support me, right?”
Ruan Xingmian lowered her voice, gently shaking Gu Xing’s hand, openly acting coquettish.
Seeing Gu Xing’s tense expression and only his Adam’s apple moving, she tentatively moved closer, slowly pressing her face against his chest.
Gently, she nuzzled against him.
“Don’t blame me for acting on my own, okay?”
Ruan Xingmian knew she could be stubborn at times, having made her own decisions since childhood.
It was easy to overlook Gu Xing’s opinions.
This introverted boy.
To her, he was no longer just a pitiable character on paper.
But a living, real, flesh-and-blood person.
The living being she could touch.
She cared more and more about his joys and sorrows.
She heard Gu Xing’s strong heartbeat.
It made her feel both reassured and sweet.
“You sit, I’ll clean.”
Gu Xing flusteredly turned his body, with the warm and soft jade in his arms, he felt his chest burning, his neck also burning.
Their bodies separated.
Ruan Xingmian knew he was persuaded. Moreover, Gu Xing did not resist her closeness.
“Can I take a few shots?”
Gu Xing, holding an old broom only a quarter of his height, stood in the crowded living room, momentarily stunned.
He nodded and said, “As you wish.”
Ruan Xingmian happily became like a little bee, eagerly fiddling with the camera, looking for angles.
“The bedroom is already swept, only the kitchen and living room remain.”
“Okay.”
The camera turned on, Gu Xing stood in the shot.
Bright eyes and starry gaze, very photogenic, the tips of his ears tinged with a suspicious pink.
He was rummaging through boxes and cabinets to tidy up, dust flying everywhere.
“Gu Xing, wait a moment!”
Ruan Xingmian brought a black apron: “The landlady gave it, she also asked if you take one-on-one tutoring.”
Ruan Xingmian just wanted to find a topic.
She saw Gu Xing tying the apron, seriously thinking, giving a sincere answer: “Monday to Friday is fully scheduled with classes, weekends are for rushing projects I’ve taken on, I’m afraid I have no time.”
“It’s fine, her grandson is only in Kindergarten Senior Class, still far from needing tutoring.”
Gu Xing nodded, “Mm.”
Ruan Xingmian asked again: “Have you ever done tutoring?”
“Yes, in high school.”
Ruan Xingmian was very surprised: “You had to take the college entrance exam yourself, yet you still tutored others?”
“It was for Lu Tian.”
Ruan Xingmian’s mind went blank for a moment.
In Gu Xing’s world, did she know Lu Tian or not?
According to the book’s information, it seemed she did.
Gu Xing was the one Lu Tian brought to her sister’s birthday party.
Making the original host shamelessly pursue him.
“I don’t like him.”
Ruan Xingmian spoke bluntly.
Gu Xing wiped the cabinet, the corners of his mouth slightly pursed: “Me neither.”
Ruan Xingmian let out a simple, natural laugh, “Then who do you like, Academic God Gu?”
Gu Xing didn’t speak.
Avoiding the camera’s gaze, he worked even more diligently.
His flushed ear tips were very obvious in the shot.
He avoided the camera, Ruan Xingmian followed by avoiding his gaze.
She herself didn’t know why she was feeling shy along with him.
“Gu Xing,” after calming down for a while, she steeled herself and walked over, “mask.”
Gu Xing reached out, his palm covered in dust.
“Let me help you.” Ruan Xingmian stood on tiptoe.
In a place she couldn’t see, Gu Xing slightly bent his knees.
“How tall are you?” Ruan Xingmian couldn’t help but ask.
“Last physical exam, barefoot 187.”
Ruan Xingmian let out a very soft “wow.”
She was only 172, the shortest Fashion Show Model in her class, destined never to walk a High-end T-stage in this lifetime.
She gently looped the mask around Gu Xing’s ears, carefully adjusting its position to ensure it fit snugly against his face.
“Wow, what does that mean?” Gu Xing suddenly asked very seriously.
Gu Xing was also trying to find a topic, Ruan Xingmian shyly pursed her lips and smiled, “Gu Xing’s height, my glory?”
As she finished saying this, her fingers inadvertently touched Gu Xing’s cheek.
She reflexively looked up and found the gaze above her had been there all along.
In that instant, their eyes met.
Everything around them seemed to stand still.
Only the sound of their accelerating heartbeats was exceptionally clear in the silence, like a magnet meeting iron, pulling them closer and closer.
She suddenly wanted a kiss.
Ruan Xingmian was the first to pull away from those drowning eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed as she whispered, “It’s on.”
As she averted her gaze.
Gu Xing straightened up, shifted his eyes away, and swallowed silently.
Tall and long-limbed, he worked efficiently, several times faster than Ruan Xingmian.
Once all the trash was bagged, he hesitated for a moment before asking, “Are you going back to the rental this afternoon, or staying here?”
“I’ll take a nap here. My roommate is coming over later, and we planned to go shopping for home goods.”
Ruan Xingmian played with her phone, not daring to look up at Gu Xing.
“Okay.”
Gu Xing walked over and opened his large backpack.
From it, he pulled out a crumpled black plastic bag.
He placed it in front of Ruan Xingmian.
“What’s this?”
Snacks?
They hadn’t finished yesterday’s yet.
Ruan Xingmian opened the crumpled bag to find five neatly stacked bundles of pink banknotes lying quietly inside.
Sweat still clung to Gu Xing’s brow.
He said, “Use this to buy things.”
Then he explained earnestly, “You can only withdraw fifty thousand a day.”
“…” Ruan Xingmian pursed her lips, her emotions a tangled mess.
When she refused, Gu Xing insisted again and again, his entire body tense, visibly nervous and expectant.
“…Okay.” He truly kept his word. They had agreed to raise the baby together, so Ruan Xingmian accepted it openly.
She noticed.
The tension in Gu Xing’s lips eased again and again.
He bent down to pick up the trash bag, lowered his head as if smiling faintly, and walked downstairs with steady steps.
The smile was too brief, disappearing before Ruan Xingmian could fully take it in.
The rental was unnervingly quiet. Ruan Xingmian sat with the black plastic bag, poking it gently, her eyes growing warm.
She quickly looked up at the ceiling, unable to hold back another smile.