Chun Chang responded instantly: What's up?
Cen Jin took a deep breath, carefully choosing her words: I think I just saw the kind of young, fresh, beautiful, and clean physique you mentioned before.
Chun Chang immediately perked up: !!!!!!
Chun Chang: Li Wu?
Cen Jin: Mhm.
Chun Chang never hid her inner perv: How much did you see?? Did you take a picture?? Share with your bestie!
Cen Jin: As if I'd take a picture. Just the upper body.
Chun Chang: Aaaaaaah, describe it to me.
Cen Jin thought back, her cheeks inexplicably warming, and tossed out three words: Pretty well-built.
Chun Chang: Is that the best a copywriter can do?
Cen Jin: Then how should I put it?
Chun Chang: Did it turn you on? Make you lose control instantly?
Cen Jin: ? Not really.
Recalling the lines and shadows in the light, which inexplicably conveyed restraint and control—like a leopard poised to strike before the hunt—Cen Jin admitted: Objectively speaking, there was a bit of allure. What surprised me was how good young guys' bodies are these days?
Chun Chang: What surprises me is how you saw it.
Cen Jin: He brought the wrong clothes while showering. I happened to be working in the living room and saw him.
Chun Chang: Damn, this is straight out of a steamy novel.
Cen Jin: ???
Chun Chang was exasperated: How can you be so restrained? I'm going to call you "Restrained Jin" from now on.
Cen Jin: What am I restraining?
Chun Chang: A good-looking, talented, well-built, and well-behaved guy like that—don't you want to do something with him? Especially during this special period, with a man and woman under the same roof, hehehehe.
Cen Jin asked: Would you ever think about doing something with your cousin?
Chun Chang, who had no filter when it came to banter: ...No need, my cousin's too ugly. The other person's looks determine my morals.
Just as Cen Jin was about to scold her, a shadow fell over her. Without looking, she knew who it was. Cen Jin quickly exited the chat interface, pretending to be calm as she looked up.
Li Wu had already put on a white T-shirt and was looking down at her, holding out a pair of black earphones.
His face still seemed flushed, as if the warmth hadn't faded, and his eyes were always bright and clear.
Cen Jin took them, examined them briefly, cleared her throat, and said, "Have you been using these earphones for your online classes lately?" Li Wu: "Mhm."
Perhaps still reeling from the earlier incident, Cen Jin felt a bit disoriented. She turned the earphones over. "It's been so long since I used them, I don't even remember which side the Bluetooth button is on."
He leaned down to inform her, "Bottom left."
The movement brought him abruptly closer. With just a slight lift of her eyes, Cen Jin could glimpse the skin and collarbone visible through the open collar of his shirt.
A certain image from a few minutes earlier seemed burned into her mind, replaying over and over.
Irritated, she just wanted to shoo both the image and its subject away as quickly as possible: "Got it. You can go do your own thing."
"Mhm." Li Wu stood up to leave.
Cen Jin stopped him, hinting indirectly: "You should wear something thicker."
Li Wu: "..."
Cen Jin fabricated an excuse: "It's not spring or summer anymore. If you catch a cold during this time, it'd be hard to deal with."
But Li Wu understood perfectly. Too embarrassed to argue, he could only reply, "Okay."
His earlier state, parading around the shared space at home, had indeed been an affront to Cen Jin.
Cen Jin had thought this incident would be nothing more than a fleeting moment. But to her surprise, in the days that followed, an Eskimo had taken up residence in the house.The constant 27°C underfloor heating had been turned into an arctic survival challenge by Li Wu. The boy bundled himself up tightly, layer upon layer without a single gap, making Cen Jin feel inexplicably insulted, as if she were being assumed to have some latent fetish.
A week later at the dinner table, Cen Jin finally lost her patience. She put down her spoon and asked Li Wu, "Aren't you hot?"
The boy paused his chopsticks, stopping from shoveling rice: "Hot."
"Then why have you been like this these past few days?"
"Afraid of catching a cold." He used the same excuse she had given him before.
"Dressing like that actually makes you more likely to get sick," Cen Jin decided to be straightforward. "I didn't even mind what happened last time. What's the big deal about a boy being shirtless?"
"Mm." Li Wu responded quietly, but the tips of his ears gradually turned red.
Cen Jin shot him another glance and commanded: "Take off the padded jacket."
"Okay." Li Wu immediately stood up, removed his coat, and hung it on the back of his chair.
The big clumsy bear had transformed back into a slender poplar tree, finally looking more presentable. Satisfied, Cen Jin picked up her spoon and continued eating.
During this period, Li Wu had been handling all the cooking and cleaning. Cen Jin couldn't just take this kind of treatment for granted.
She had initially considered using this to offset the money she spent last year when she brought Li Wu out from Shengzhou, but upon reflection, she found it too vulgar and potentially hurtful to his pride. So she found another way to balance her conscience—taking this opportunity to online shop for Li Wu, buying him various things: clothes, shoes, a mouse, models, the "Three Years of College Entrance Exams, Five Years of Simulation" workbook (......)...things that no top high school boy would dislike. Of course, it was always Li Wu who went to retrieve the packages, large and small, stacked almost taller than himself.
After unboxing, Cen Jin would always make Li Wu try everything on for her. Dressing him up had become one of her few leisure activities while working from home. Every time she looked over the transformed boy from head to toe, Cen Jin would sincerely marvel at how entertaining this real-life version of "Miracle Li Li" could be.
Li Wu, however, didn't feel quite as comfortable. Watching the guest room closet gradually fill up, he only felt increasingly indebted, his sense of obligation doubling.
The sun warmed, awakening hibernation; all things blossomed in spring. During these days of staying indoors, the spirit of the solar terms quietly arrived.
Outside the window, grass grew tall and swallows returned, crabapple trees began to bloom. The gentle breeze drifted into the house, drawing more people outside. The streets regained some vitality, with flowing crowds still wearing masks, cautiously testing and adapting to this familiar yet strange world.
BN's Bluetooth earphone advertisement was successfully launched as a topview ad on a short video app. Millions of clicks brought impressive sales, with a noticeable increase in the proportion of female buyers.
The creative concept for the short video came from Cen Jin's team at Aoxing. In just one minute, they presented a rich and vivid visual feast.
It began with a bleak, gray, and empty street, the world in black and white.
A short, petite woman with cropped hair stood with her back to the camera in the center, wearing a beanie and bulky, unremarkable clothing.
After a brief pause, she took out pink earphones from her pocket, put them on, and began to jog.
Music started, accompanying a first-person long shot and dynamic rhythm. The entire screen gradually transformed into vibrant colors—tall buildings became bouncing frequency spectrums, flower-laden branches shed musical notes, sidewalks turned into bouncing piano keys, bridge railings vibrated like guitar strings, no-entry signs saw their arrows jumping out with red slashes, wall graffiti danced in groups... She seemed to be the master of this world.At the end of the video, the woman was bumped to a stop by a gray-clad passerby. She removed one earbud, the surroundings fell silent, and the environment restored itself.
After catching her breath for a moment, she put the earbud back in, and the music started playing again. She looked back at the sky, and surprisingly, the woman's smiling face was etched with wrinkles—she was a radiant little old lady.
The slogan followed immediately: BNXT20, Follow Your Heart, Move Without Limits.
The revenue this advertisement brought to the client and the company far exceeded expectations. Teddy praised everyone in the group chat one by one, especially Cen Jin, and even the boss personally singled her out for praise.
Cen Jin wasn’t particularly excited; she felt more relieved. Her team felt the same way. From concept to filming, then to editing and special effects, the video had been revised over and over again. Who could have imagined how a mere sixty-second video had driven them to the brink of exhaustion, nearly making them collapse?
Closing the group chat, Cen Jin sprawled out on the soft bedding and finally slept her first worry-free, sound sleep since the holiday began.
It was noon when Cen Jin was gently awakened by a sliver of sunlight filtering through the curtains.
After freshening up, she draped a cashmere cardigan over her shoulders and walked out of the bedroom to look for the other person in the house, only to find he wasn’t there at all.
Just as she was about to message him to ask where he was, she noticed a message he had sent ten minutes earlier in WeChat.
Li Wu: I went out to print test papers. I’ll be home soon.
Cen Jin raised an eyebrow and replied: What test papers?
Li Wu: Science comprehensive. There’s an exam this afternoon.
Cen Jin: At home?
Li Wu replied: Yes.
Cen Jin: We have a printer at home.
Li Wu: …
Cen Jin: Letting profits flow to outsiders.
Li Wu: …
Cen Jin didn’t press further and returned to the topic of the exam: Aren’t your teachers worried students will just search for the answers online?
Li Wu replied: The teacher said a parent has to proctor.
Cen Jin: ?
Li Wu: I don’t need to.
Cen Jin: I know you’re very self-disciplined.
Even so, after lunch, Cen Jin went to the study ahead of time and sat nearby, feeling entirely justified in her role.
Her work had reached a lull, leaving her with rare free time. But the problem was, she felt an almost compulsive reaction to this idleness, wanting to slot herself back into some necessary role.
For instance, acting as Li Wu’s temporary exam proctor.
The young man was clearly surprised to see her arrive, but he didn’t ask any questions. He pulled out a pen and waited patiently for the test to begin.
The room was quiet, with sunlight leisurely strolling across the spines of the books on the shelves.
Li Wu skimmed through the questions in advance, silently calculating answers, idly twirling his pen and occasionally switching up the tricks. The black ballpoint pen spun deftly between his slender fingers, moving smoothly without ever slipping.
Cen Jin watched and snorted, “You’re pretty good at spinning that pen, huh?”
As soon as she spoke, the carefree pen came to an abrupt halt, firmly reclaimed by its owner and placed squarely in the middle of the test paper.
Li Wu lifted his eyelids slightly, looking sheepish. “Just messing around.”
Cen Jin, feeling playful herself, glanced at his black pencil case and reached over to pull it toward her. “Lend me one. I’ll try it too.”
Li Wu felt as if struck by lightning, nearly jumping to his feet, his mind buzzing intensely.
The woman had already lowered her head, earnestly rummaging through his pencil case, comparing the weights of the pens. Soon, she had pulled out several writing instruments.
Li Wu watched her movements without daring to blink, his throat tight, his heart racing so fast he felt like he might collapse.
Fortunately, Cen Jin didn’t delve deeper into the case in search of something she couldn’t find. Instead, she set the pencil case aside and focused on the pens in front of her. She tried each one, testing how they felt, but remained unsatisfied. Lifting her eyes, she asked, “Don’t you have any other pens?”Li Wu was so flustered that his tone came out sharp: "There aren't any left!"
"Why so fierce?" Cen Jin was startled by his raised voice, completely baffled.
His voice softened: "The exam's about to start..." He retrieved his pencil case while putting on an act: "I need my eraser. You can give me the pencil too."
Only when his secret base was back under his control did Li Wu feel his soul return to his body.
Unable to find a pencil that felt right, Cen Jin lost interest. She was about to hand over the pencil when a mischievous idea struck. She placed the 2B pencil back on the table, circled her thumb and index finger, took aim, and flicked it toward Li Wu.
The pencil hit the boy's knuckles, stinging sharply. He looked up at her in confusion.
Unexpectedly, the woman was already resting her cheek in her hand, gazing out the window as if to say "I don't know anything, I wasn't even here."
Li Wu curved his lips, rubbed his hands together, and lowered his eyes to hide his growing smile.
At exactly two o'clock, the test began.
Li Wu clicked his mechanical pencil, like a sword being drawn from its sheath, immediately entering battle mode.
Cen Jin started playing with her phone. The company group chat was discussing return-to-work dates, soliciting opinions from everyone. People held different views, and the messages were scrolling too fast to read. Soon, the boss grew tired of it and directly initiated a group voice chat.
Cen Jin joined perfunctorily, glanced at Li Wu who was frowning slightly while focused on solving problems, and muted the interface.
After a while, the deputy director texted her in the group: @Gin, why aren't you speaking? Are you just idling?
Cen Jin: ...Wait a moment.
She got up and walked to the balcony. Li Wu noticed her movement and followed her with his eyes as she left.
Pressing the phone to her ear, Cen Jin looked back through the window at the room.
Their eyes met across the distance. She made a two-finger eye-poking gesture - first toward herself, then toward Li Wu - looking quite fierce.
Li Wu froze, as if actually poked, and buried his head, actually pressing his lips together to suppress a smile. Who could withstand such back-to-back cuteness?
While divided between listening to Cen Jin's conversation and working on the test, Li Wu's muscle memory took over as he smoothly calculated on scratch paper before filling in the correct option in parentheses.
Unfortunately, her voice wasn't loud, and she had closed the door, so he couldn't hear clearly.
After a moment, probably because a familiar colleague was teasing her, Cen Jin's voice suddenly rose: "My student is taking an exam, shut up already."
The pencil tip paused momentarily, then the young man began writing furiously on the scratch paper again.
His handwriting took flight, nearly cursive, as if venting - venting the extreme pride and pleasure that phrase, that prefix, had brought him.
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