Ruan Yu was lying on her back when she saw the message, her hand trembling so much that her phone came crashing down on her face.
She let out a pained "Ouch," and finally, there was movement outside the door. Xu Huaisong knocked three times and asked, "What happened?"
Ruan Yu clutched her forehead, curling up like a shrimp in pain, and replied with a strained voice, "It's nothing, my phone just hit me in the face..."
The hallway fell silent for a moment before Xu Huaisong's voice came again, "Get some sleep early."
Then came the sound of footsteps gradually fading away.
Now, Ruan Yu couldn’t even focus on the pain anymore. She grabbed her phone and started typing furiously: He didn’t even come in to check on me after my phone hit my face!
Shen Mingying: Why did your phone hit your face in the first place?
Ruan Yu: Why didn’t he come in to check on me?
Shen Mingying: Oh dear, you girls who’ve just fallen in love… If a guy is too polite, you complain he’s too cold—does he even like you? But if he actually makes a move, you’d probably cry and say, “We just started dating, how dare he get handsy?” Being a man isn’t easy, you know.
After sending that, Shen Mingying went to sleep, leaving Ruan Yu alone under the covers, biting her lip and clutching her phone.
On the other side of the door, Xu Huaisong was also frowning deeply, his fingers occasionally sliding across his laptop’s touchpad. On the screen in front of him was a full page of psychological reports, a mix of Chinese and English.
Even though Lü Shenglan had only mentioned it in passing and said it was probably nothing serious, Xu Huaisong had spent the entire flight back consulting a high school classmate who was now a psychologist about Ruan Yu’s condition.
His friend told him that even watching a horror movie could leave lingering fear, so Ruan Yu’s recent behavior wasn’t necessarily indicative of a deeper issue. He suggested observing her for a couple more days—if her condition didn’t improve or even worsened, then they could consider further diagnosis.
This observation meant seeing whether Ruan Yu could fall asleep normally without relying on his voice.
Originally, Xu Huaisong was supposed to leave her alone at home without telling her it was a test, cutting off all voice contact. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that, so he compromised—leaving her alone in her room while he remained on standby.
Not wanting to disturb her rest, he hadn’t turned on the main light in the living room, only keeping a floor lamp on. The glow from his laptop screen seemed especially bright in the dimness, and after staring at it for too long, his eyes ached from the strain.
After finishing the tenth psychology report, Xu Huaisong took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Just then, his phone buzzed with a notification.
A Weibo update from a special follow.
Wen Xiang: Hit 1000 points! [So happy]
Attached was a screenshot of her high score from the WeChat mini-game "Jump Jump."
"..."
Here he was, straining his eyes researching her psychological state, while she was completely ignoring him, playing games in her room and even bragging to her fans about her score?
Xu Huaisong took a deep breath to calm himself—and failed. He put his glasses back on, stood up, and went to knock on her door.
From inside came rustling sounds, followed by Ruan Yu’s voice: "What’s up?"
"Open the door."
Ruan Yu quickly scrambled out from under the covers, sat up, smoothed her hair and pajamas, turned on the bedside lamp, and adjusted the lampshade before saying, "It’s not locked."
Xu Huaisong pressed the handle and stood in the doorway, his expression stern. "It’s half past midnight, and you’re still playing games?"Ruan Yu blinked as she sat on the bed, "How did you find out so quickly? Did you set my Weibo as a special follow?"
She was clearly feigning ignorance.
Xu Huaisong didn’t beat around the bush either: "Of course."
She chuckled dryly, "When I can't sleep, I just play a few rounds."
Xu Huaisong tensed slightly, wondering if her condition truly warranted a professional diagnosis, when suddenly something felt off.
The overhead light in the room was off, only a warm-toned bedside lamp illuminated the space. The lampshade seemed to have been adjusted, focusing all the light onto Ruan Yu, casting a perfect soft glow on her face.
She looked especially beautiful.
After a brief pause, he suddenly lowered his head and laughed softly.
So he’d fallen into her trap too.
Ruan Yu coughed lightly, "I said I couldn’t sleep—what’s so funny about that?"
Xu Huaisong didn’t answer. Instead, he turned and switched off the floor lamp in the living room. When he returned, he said, "If I stay with you, will you be able to sleep then?"
The door clicked shut behind him. Seeing his meaningful smile, Ruan Yu momentarily lost her words, a sudden sense of having invited a wolf into her home washing over her.
Just as Shen Mingying had said. When he was distant, she felt uneasy, but now that she’d schemed to lure him over, she was nervous again.
A classic case of a troublesome love-struck fool.
But nothing she feared actually happened.
Xu Huaisong simply sat down on the edge of her bed. "Alright, I’ll just sit here. You can sleep peacefully now. Lie down and hand me your phone."
Gentle commands sometimes worked better than stern ones.
Ruan Yu complied willingly, handing over her phone and burrowing under the covers. The air conditioner hummed softly at a comfortable 28 degrees Celsius. With Xu Huaisong blocking the light source, the room dimmed to a soothing level. Closing her eyes felt like swimming in a spring breeze.
Gripping the edge of the blanket, Ruan Yu secretly smiled to herself.
They’d found the perfect balance—neither too distant nor overly intimate. It was just right.
Noticing her upturned lips, Xu Huaisong brushed her bangs aside with one hand while pulling out his phone with the other, texting his doctor friend: If she’s scheming to lure her boyfriend into her room, doesn’t that mean her psychological trauma isn’t too severe?
Zhu Lei: Can’t you just consult without shoving dog food down my throat at midnight? Your girlfriend might be fine, but now I’m traumatized, got it?
Xu Huaisong chuckled at his phone, only to suddenly feel a chill down his spine.
Turning his head, he found Ruan Yu staring at him wide-eyed.
Instinctively, he locked his screen, then heard her muffled voice: "Who are you texting in the middle of the night?"
"A male classmate from high school," he answered immediately.
"Then why do you look like a teenager harboring… spring feelings?"
Xu Huaisong paused, then laughed. "Because we were talking about you."
Ruan Yu perked up. "What about me?"
"You wouldn’t want to know."
Frowning, she sat up. "Were you badmouthing me?"
Xu Huaisong shook his head. "No."
Ruan Yu eyed him. "Fine, keep your secrets."
"Alright." Xu Huaisong cleared his throat, amused. "We were discussing how I got tricked into my girlfriend’s room."
"……"
Watching her stunned expression, he added in a low voice, his gaze almost innocent, "I told you you wouldn’t want to know."Ruan Yu's face flushed crimson in an instant. She took a deep breath, yanked the blanket up, and burrowed under it with her back to him, muffling her voice inside, "Xu Huaisong, you can leave now."
He chuckled and leaned closer, "Are you angry? If you hadn't insisted on getting to the bottom of things, I wouldn’t have exposed you."
Ruan Yu covered her ears, refusing to listen.
Xu Huaisong climbed onto the bed and inched even closer, "Alright, it was my own idea to come keep you company, okay?"
"If you bring this up again, don’t even think about staying in the living room!"
He surrendered, "Fine, I won’t mention it. Come out now, you won’t sleep well buried under there."
Ruan Yu wasn’t staying under out of stubbornness—her face was burning so hot it felt like it might drip blood, leaving her no choice but to stay hidden.
Unaware, Xu Huaisong propped himself up on one elbow and tugged at her blanket.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" She clung desperately to this last shred of dignity, refusing to let him pull it away. After a brief struggle, he still managed to drag her out. Panting, she smoothed her hair and glared at him resentfully.
Xu Huaisong laughed, "You read all 300-plus of my texts, saw through every trick I had, and yet you didn’t say a word."
"That’s what you deserved! Serves you right for smugly reading my novel before, for forcing me to recite..." She abruptly clamped her mouth shut.
She had truly touched a sore spot.
Sure enough, the next second, Xu Huaisong let out a soft "hiss" and asked, as if genuinely puzzled, "What did I force you to recite?"
She turned to lie back down, "Nothing. Let’s sleep."
Xu Huaisong grabbed her arm, "We’ll sleep after you explain."
Ruan Yu hesitated, then decided this was something that needed clarification. Raising her hand in a vow, she declared solemnly, "Then let me make this clear: that part was purely fictional, written to entertain readers. I absolutely never did anything like... like that..."
Xu Huaisong lowered his head and smiled, murmuring so softly even he could barely hear it, "But I have."
"What did you say?"
He looked up, grinning, "I said, you made it sound pretty convincing. Never been in a relationship, yet you write kissing scenes so realistically?"
Ruan Yu smoothed her bangs, straightened her back, and mustered her bravado, "Of course! In our line of work, how could we get by without real skill? If you’ve never eaten pork—"
Mid-sentence, she suddenly noticed Xu Huaisong removing his glasses and leaning in.
Baffled, Ruan Yu stared at his face now mere inches away, "Wh-what are you doing?"
Xu Huaisong blinked, his lashes casting faint shadows in her vision, and smiled, "Thought I’d let you taste pork."
"…?"
Before she could react, something soft and cool pressed against her lips—Xu Huaisong, sitting sideways on the bed, one hand braced on the pillow and the other cupping her face, kissed her.
A blinding white light exploded in Ruan Yu’s mind. Her heart skipped wildly, and in her dazed state, she instinctively scooted backward.
He didn’t deepen the kiss, breaking it after that brief touch—but though their lips parted, their noses remained pressed together.
At this proximity, both of them held their breath.
Ruan Yu clutched the bedsheet, her grip tightening as she fought to keep from gasping, her face turning redder by the second.
Xu Huaisong curved his lips and nudged her nose with his before pulling away, tilting his head slightly with an air of serene satisfaction.
He looked utterly unruffled—just like eight years ago when he’d lied about "grabbing the wrong hand" without a trace of guilt.But Ruan Yu couldn't. That fleeting kiss and the look in his eyes had left her dizzy, as if colorful fireworks were exploding before her eyes. She turned to flee from the bed.
Xu Huaisong caught her from behind, pulling her into his embrace and pressing her left ear against his heart.
Ruan Yu froze for a moment before hearing his amused voice above her head: "You can't tell from expressions. You have to listen. It's really more intense than fireworks exploding."
Author's note: Shocking! Famous director Gu Liaozhi finally takes to the streets selling pork!
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