Be Passionately In Love

Speak of the devil, and Xu Guangji's call came through. The two exchanged a silent glance. Xu Zhi looked at her phone and whispered to him, "It's my dad."

Chen Luzhou quietly stood up and went to sit on the sofa. For some reason, he felt a bit uneasy—after all, he had just done something reckless with her daughter.

Xu Zhi leaned against the headboard, watching him sit silently on the sofa, scrolling through his phone while she absentmindedly chatted with Old Xu.

"Why aren't you asleep yet? It's so late," Old Xu asked.

"Yeah, I'm catching up on homework."

Hearing this, someone on the sofa glanced up, his gaze in the dim, ambiguous room full of meaning. Not a blush, not a skipped heartbeat—lying without batting an eye.

Xu Guangji hummed in acknowledgment. "You haven’t called me much lately. Has it snowed in Beijing? The weather forecast said it might snow today."

Xu Zhi’s heart skipped a beat. Old Xu must really miss her. They had hardly ever been apart for so long. She looked out the window—thick snowflakes nearly burying the eaves, the pane a blur of white. "Yeah, it’s snowing. I can build a snowman tomorrow."

Xu Guangji didn’t have much else to say, just reminded her to bundle up for her first northern winter before hanging up.

Xu Zhi sighed after ending the call, threw off the covers, and got out of bed. Chen Luzhou, as if reading her mind, locked his phone and tossed it aside, spreading his legs. She naturally settled between them, looping her arms around his shoulders. They kissed quietly at first, the muffled, intimate sounds gradually filling the room. Their tongues tangled lazily, neither teasing nor hurried, as if just passing time with kisses. At one point, Xu Zhi opened her eyes and found him already watching her—his gaze tender yet indifferent. Both found it amusing and pulled apart.

Xu Zhi: "What are you looking at?"

He grinned back: "What are you looking at?"

Xu Zhi realized she might be oblivious to others, but when it came to Chen Luzhou, she was hyper-aware. Even distracted, he’d been thinking about something mid-kiss.

"What were you thinking about just now? The math modeling competition?" she asked.

"Nope."

His mind was far from that tonight—any academic focus had long since been derailed.

Folding his arms behind his head, he lounged comfortably against the sofa, watching the silent dance of snowflakes outside. Half-joking, half-serious, he said, "I was just thinking, with how easily you lie, if you ever took a lover, I’d probably be the last to know."

"As if," Xu Zhi laughed. "If I took a lover, I wouldn’t just keep you in the dark—I’d bury you six feet under."

Chen Luzhou lifted his legs, pulling her flush against him. His hand slipped under her clothes, fingers digging into her waist with playful menace. "Looking for death, are you? Who else would you even want? That guy from the art school—want me to dig up his name for you? I’ll take odd days, you can switch it up on even days with him. How’s that? Am I generous or what?"

Xu Zhi was utterly defenseless—she was ridiculously ticklish. Laughing uncontrollably, she collapsed against him. "Chen Luzhou, you’re such a jealous freak."He laughed too, stopping his antics to quietly watch her.

For a brief moment, neither spoke. The room was silent, save for the soundless fall of thick snowflakes outside the window. Xu Zhi listened as he began humming again, his low, faintly indifferent voice laced with a teasing edge.

"No matter how you put it, it all feels like hypocrisy. After all this time by your side, you call it suffering. From then till now, who did you take me for? You fickle butterfly..."

Xu Zhi: "..."

Leaning back, he grinned at her before switching to another song. Despite his smug expression, the lyrics pouring from his mouth were all messy, heartbroken ballads.

"Leaving me no escape from this cruel ending... I’m no one, just seeking a title to claim. Who am I waiting for? Only my own solace remains. Must deserts turn to oceans, waves retreat, before your tears will fall for me..."

Xu Zhi: "..."

"I’ll take the bet, refuse to lose. Loving you is my only wager. Blame my naivety, reality’s too cruel. Spent all my strength, yet found no harbor..."

His voice was too clear and pure, making him sound like an absolute romantic at heart.

Just as Xu Zhi opened her phone to record, he stopped singing.

"Don’t stop. I want to post this on my feed and let all the senior girls see how the so-called 'celibacy king' usually picks up girls."

Amused, he snatched her phone and tossed it aside, inexplicably pleased. "...Bully at home."

It was nearly midnight, and neither had fallen asleep. Chen Luzhou lounged lazily against the headboard, wearing only pants and an unzipped jacket—nothing underneath. Xu Zhi leaned beside him, idly playing with the zipper at his chest as they talked. Accidentally tugging it down, she found bare skin beneath, the clean, defined lines of his chest muscles disappearing into his clothes, lean and powerful. A smaller shirt would probably pop its buttons. Her thoughts wandered, her hands continuing downward without restraint.

Chen Luzhou didn’t stop her, just watched her with a smirk, indulging her mischief while feigning innocence. "Hey, girl, what’re you doing? Harassing your boyfriend?"

Xu Zhi thought he actually knew quite a lot—in every sense. Earlier in the bathroom, his movements had been so practiced it was clear he wasn’t inexperienced.

She had much to say to him, but exhaustion from the sleepless night finally caught up. Drowsily, she murmured, "Chen Jiaojiao."

"Hmm?"

"I know even if Li Ke hadn’t asked you to join the math modeling competition, you weren’t planning to go back for New Year’s," she said. "Come back after the winter break competition. If you’ve got nowhere to go in Qingyi, we’ll build our own home."

She didn’t say come to my place .

That was what stunned Chen Luzhou the most. Whenever someone told him, come to my place , he’d feel like he was being taken in, like a ball being kicked around—an awful feeling.

Truly terrible.

So she said, we’ll build our own home .

He leaned down, whispering in her ear, "How many times are you planning to make me cry tonight?"

Xu Zhi chuckled. "Faucet spirit."She lazily added another sentence, "You know what? Our design teacher said I have issues with aesthetics, that the things I like are too perfect. She said real artworks all have flaws—nothing in this world can be perfect. Perfect things end up seeming fake. Many designers intentionally add elements to their work that seem incomprehensible at first glance but make the piece memorable. She said people are drawn to things with imperfections because flaws make them stick in your mind. Like footprints in snow, black spots on a white dog, roses growing out of manhole covers, or even ambiguous affection. She said what I give is too straightforward—my work is what it is, but lacks depth. Do you get it?"

Chen Luzhou, someone brimming with artistic talent, naturally understood. He gave an acknowledging hum. "Got it."

"Then I'm sleeping," Xu Zhi said, flopping down and pressing her face into the pillow.

—What she meant was, she knew all those tricks. She was a designer full of creative flair, relying on that intuition to make her mark. Yet despite this, she still wanted to give him unequivocal love. Love didn’t need that kind of depth—some things lose their essence when overanalyzed.

After a pause, she lifted her head again, unable to let it go, and complained to Chen Luzhou with lingering disbelief, "But it’s so annoying—she actually said I lack the creative spark in my work."

Xu Zhi still hadn’t fully grasped it. She genuinely didn’t know how. She wasn’t a designer brimming with creative flair.

This was perhaps her most endearing trait—she remained blissfully unaware of her lack of talent in this area, confidently believing herself to be a naturally gifted designer. It wasn’t that she couldn’t; she just couldn’t be bothered.

Chen Luzhou, on the other hand, had seen right through her after all her attempts to justify herself. Her so-called straightforward, unambiguous affection was simply because she didn’t know how to play games. She had always been a direct person, so everything she gave—including promises—was blunt. She said what she meant, like when she told him before, Let’s not tie our futures to each other. Let’s make the best decisions for ourselves first. And now, Let’s build our own home.

Chen Luzhou leaned against the headboard, shoulders shaking with silent laughter, careful not to make a sound. Xu Zhi like this was just too adorable. He glanced down at her smug expression and couldn’t help but tremble with suppressed amusement. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to crush her confidence.

Xu Zhi sensed it and opened her eyes to look at him. By now, she might have started to realize. Hesitantly, she asked, "Am I really that bad at it?"

"Honestly?" He looked down at her, his gaze helpless yet fond. "I used to think you were pretty good at it. But now that I think about it, maybe I was just overanalyzing. You really don’t know how. The first time we met, Zhu Yangqi even called you a ‘siren.’ He said if you weren’t one, he’d change his name to Zhu Yangqi the Stylish."

Xu Zhi couldn’t even be bothered to lift her eyelids. "...Really? My teacher said I lack that kind of spark, but then she added, Your boyfriend seems full of it. Was she complimenting you on being smooth?"

"How does your teacher even know me?"

"We’ve run into each other a few times. She asked which department you were in—she thought you were from the art school.""I'm a bit better at this than you. You're quite easy to read. Like when we were watching a movie at my place, I knew you'd kiss me, but I still let you come over. Get it? That's what fishing is—knowing exactly what the other person will do and just giving them the hook," Chen Luzhou straightened up from the headboard, casually took off his jacket and tossed it aside, then slipped under the covers bare-chested. Pillowing his head, he turned to look at her and said, "I told you before, if you really want to play with me, you won't win. It's just that I can't bear to play you."

Xu Zhi: "..."

Chen Luzhou lowered his head and silently watched her for a while before finally asking, "But why architecture? You weren't telling the truth before, were you?"

"You remember when you told me you really liked Qingyi City's landmark? You said it always felt warm to you. That was designed by my mom. But I actually hated that landmark. During the years she worked on that project, my mom missed several of my birthdays. Every winter and summer break, I was sent to my grandma's. My grandma has congenital spondylitis—she could barely take care of herself, let alone me. Once at her place, I took the wrong medicine and almost died. The doctor said if I'd arrived half an hour later, I might not have made it. Even then, my mom didn't come. I knew she was busy. Back then, we fought all the time. Right before she died, we had a huge argument. She said I didn't understand her, and I said she never tried to understand me either. She told me if I ever did her job, I'd get it. I thought, fine, it's just some lousy architect job—I'll do it then." After saying this, she opened her eyes and suddenly had an idea. "How about starting tomorrow, you fish for me a bit? I might find some inspiration."

Chen Luzhou had been completely drawn into her emotions, but her last line made him laugh. After a moment's thought, he looked at her and said, "Alright, then tomorrow I'll go have breakfast with that girl from the foreign languages department?"

"I meant for you to fish, not to two-time," Xu Zhi said, now fully awake.

Chen Luzhou burst into laughter, half his face buried in the pillow, exhausted and hoarse-voiced: "That's exactly what fishing means—making the other person think you're keeping your options open. Get it? The hook's with me, but everyone thinks you might give it to them. It's like your designs—when people see them and feel that resonance, that's what your professors call 'spark.'"

Author's Note: 200 red envelopes.

This chapter's BGM (three songs):

"No matter how you say it..." — "Kiss Too Real"

"Leaving me unable to escape this cruel ending..." — "Title"

"I'll bet, but I won't concede..." — "Floating Life"

Actually, according to my original outline, this story should have ended long ago. But as I wrote, I felt these two kids' daily lives might be worth exploring too. What follows are just ordinary days—no sudden jumps to marriage, and definitely no major plot developments. So don't expect too much progress.

Just some little everyday moments.