Chapter 3

Chapter 3

On my day off, Gu Xiaojing went out to buy groceries while I lay on the bamboo mat, practically plastered in front of the fan.

This tiny apartment always felt like an oven, roasting me where I lay like meat on a cutting board.

Someone knocked on the door in silence. I got up and pulled on Gu Xiaojing’s T-shirt. His shirts were big and loose, long enough to cover my hips, which made them convenient for briefly seeing people.

The weather was too hot. I wanted to peel my own skin off. If I was staying home and not going out, I wouldn’t even bother with clothes or pants.

Anyway, I wasn’t the one who’d be uncomfortable looking.

I opened the door. The man standing outside the rental apartment was as tall and solid as a wall, blocking everything out.

“Can I help you?”

He Wei’s presence was far too aggressive. I couldn’t help but stick one foot behind the door, just in case he tried to force his way in.

But he didn’t.

He only held out his hand. “You left something in the bathroom.”

In his rough palm lay a hair tie. Gu Xiaojing had given it to me.

I reached out and took it. My cool fingers brushed against his burning-hot palm, lingered for the briefest moment, then quickly withdrew.

“Thanks. I must have dropped it there by accident.”

“Mm.”

It seemed there was no reason for him to stay any longer.

He Wei thought for a moment. Just as he was about to turn and leave, I called him back.

“Have you been heading north lately? I heard fruit is cheap in the cities along the way. Could I trouble you to bring me some?”

I leaned against the doorframe and casually slipped the hair tie around my wrist.

I knew I probably didn’t look like a particularly upstanding citizen right then, wearing my boyfriend’s clothes and, for the sake of keeping a little cooler, not even bothering with shoes.

Yet there I was, bold as anything, opening the door for someone, taking back my own thing, then pushing my luck by asking him to bring me fruit.

The moment I asked, He Wei lifted his eyes and looked at me.

In the past, he had never dared meet my gaze, as if the second our eyes met, I would see right through whatever unspeakable thoughts he was hiding.

But now he dared. It was as though my question had given him some enormous courage, or as though he had received some kind of unspoken permission.

He Wei swallowed, his gaze darting away as he answered quietly.

I smiled at him, thanked him, and closed the door.

Through the slowly narrowing gap, I saw heat rising into his face, though it wasn’t obvious beneath his darker skin.

I took off the shirt and lay back down on the bed in front of the fan, waiting for the person buying groceries to come home and cook for me.

The barrage comments were scrolling like crazy. I had no idea what they were getting so excited about.

[Isn’t this supposed to be a clean novel? Where the hell have you taken me?]

[Are the male lead and second male lead still going to date the female lead? At this point, just seeing the two of them in the same frame as the female supporting character is enough to get my blood pumping.]

[The female supporting character just met the second male lead while wearing her boyfriend’s shirt. Does no one else think that’s hot?]

[Bare legs, bare feet, leaning against the door, sweat beading because she’d stepped away from the fan, making a request with that heavy breathing… Just the two of them standing face-to-face is enough to give me a nosebleed.]

[It would’ve been even better if she’d invited him in. Even better if they’d kissed.]

[Mommy, please take a couple bites of the second male lead before the plot arrives.]

[Am I the only one who noticed that hair tie looked like the female supporting character left it there on purpose?]

As usual, I ignored all that nonsense and focused on recording what would happen in the future.