Ji Qingyan unhurriedly folded the handkerchief and put it back in his pocket, his tone calm. “So what? We’ve slept in the same bed before, but we haven’t slept together.”
“By your logic, does sleeping with someone mean you’re close? That’s quite a unique way to get familiar with someone.”
Hearing the obvious teasing in his words, Ji Qingyan didn’t get angry. Instead, he calmly corrected him. “Don’t twist my words. That’s not what I meant. We’re not discussing whether we’ve slept together or not.”
Seeing the faintly fierce expression on Lu Qi’s face, Ji Qingyan couldn’t resist teasing him. He reached out and touched Lu Qi’s earlobe, looking into his eyes as he asked softly, “Your ears turned red again just now. What were you looking at?”
Touching someone’s earlobe was an intimate gesture. In Lu Qi’s view, it was something only couples did. He had always disliked physical contact with others, but strangely, he didn’t resist Ji Qingyan’s touch.
Feeling his ears gradually grow warm, Lu Qi grabbed Ji Qingyan’s wrist and stared straight into his eyes, as if trying to discern something from them.
He was like a proud and fierce wolf cub, but his imposing aura weakened in the next moment. “R-Really?”
“Mm.” As he spoke, Ji Qingyan gently pinched his earlobe, and his wrist was gripped even tighter.
Lu Qi narrowed his eyes, a hint of warning in his gaze. “Let go. Don’t pinch.”
He’s riled up the little wolf cub.
Ji Qingyan gave another light pinch before reluctantly letting go. Looking at Lu Qi’s flushed face, he bluntly called him out. “So innocent, your face is all red.”
Lu Qi was still holding his wrist. Hearing this, he gave Ji Qingyan’s hand a light, harmless pat and said, “Frivolous.”
Hearing this, Ji Qingyan glanced down at his patted right hand and chuckled softly, his voice low and pleasant. Lu Qi instinctively scratched his ear, and then the other man withdrew his hand and walked out.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ji Qingyan noticed Lu Qi following him. He asked, “Want to have lunch together?”
The person behind him caught up and walked alongside him. Lu Qi turned his face toward him. “What are we eating?”
“Is there anything you don’t like to eat?”
“No, I’m not picky.”
Ji Qingyan nodded. “That makes you easy to feed.”
Lu Qi raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.
He drove Lu Qi to a small alley where there was a beef noodle shop with excellent flavor. Ji Qingyan often came here and was considered a regular customer.
Lu Qi glanced around. The place was quite clean and hygienic.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Same as you.”
Ji Qingyan ordered two bowls of the signature beef noodles. The two sat on stools and ate quietly.
Ji Qingyan ate with refined elegance. Lu Qi glanced up at him several times without meaning to. It was the first time he’d noticed a man eating in such a pleasing manner. Thinking of how his own friends ate, the contrast was stark.
Lu Qi ate quickly but not messily, clearly showing good upbringing. From the moment they sat down to eat, they hadn’t exchanged a single word.
“Boss, another bowl of beef noodles, a large one.”
Ji Qingyan, who had been quietly eating, suddenly looked up at Lu Qi and the empty bowl in front of him. Even the broth was gone. The bowls they had ordered earlier were large and generously portioned. Sometimes, Ji Qingyan couldn’t finish his own. He stared at his own half-full bowl, lost in thought.
“In my sports training days, I underwent high-intensity workouts every day, which burned through energy quickly, so my appetite was naturally big,” Lu Qi explained.
“No wonder.”
No wonder he grew so tall, with such firm and well-defined muscles.
Following this topic, Ji Qingyan asked with interest, “Let me guess—were you a basketball player?”
“No.”
“Track and field?”
Lu Qi shook his head. “Neither. I played tennis—surprised?”
This genuinely caught Ji Qingyan off guard. He was no stranger to tennis; in fact, he played quite well. During university, he joined the tennis team, participated in several competitions, and achieved decent results.
Wasn’t this a perfect opportunity?
Adjusting his glasses, Ji Qingyan smiled and said, “How about we have a match sometime?”
Lu Qi looked surprised. With Ji Qingyan’s refined and scholarly appearance, it was hard to imagine what he’d be like on the court.
“You play tennis?”
“I play a few rounds with friends occasionally, just for fun. But I’m definitely no match for a professional like you.”
“Sure, whenever you’re free, just let me know.”
Lu Qi agreed enthusiastically. Neither Zhou Chiye nor Shi Zaiqing were cut out for sports, and he’d been struggling to find a tennis partner. Now, here was a ready-made one.
In that moment, he completely forgot about what Ji Qingyan had done to him earlier, acting like an impulsive rookie.
After the meal, Lu Qi took the initiative to pay the bill. As he pushed open the glass door, a wave of heat rushed in, and they stood together in the shade by the entrance.
“Where are you headed? Need a ride?” Ji Qingyan asked.
“No need. I have some errands to run—I’ll just take a taxi.” Lu Qi would be staying in Binxi for quite some time to handle company matters, and he needed to move his luggage to his new place first.
With that, he stepped out into the sunlight. The scorching rays fell on him, and Ji Qingyan shook his head slightly, thinking how he didn’t seem to mind the blazing sun.
“Lu Qi, let’s keep in touch.”
This was the first time the other had called him by his name. The two syllables sounded different coming from his lips.
Hearing this, Lu Qi paused, turned back, and met Ji Qingyan’s seemingly affectionate peach-blossom eyes.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Ji Qingyan’s lips as he raised the phone in his hand—they had just exchanged contact information.
Lu Qi nodded expressionlessly to acknowledge the gesture, then turned and continued on his way.