When the doorbell rang, Lu Jiaheng was surveying the house to find potential sleeping spots.
Though the bedrooms were fully renovated, they lacked pillows, blankets, and sheets—sleeping there meant lying on bare wooden boards.
When Lu Jiaheng had followed Chu Zhi back, he hadn’t considered these details at all. He’d assumed the house would be spotless and fully furnished, ready for him to move in.
So when he opened the door and saw the girl’s expression shift from confusion to sudden realization, he felt rather awkward.
Chu Zhi held a bag of instant noodles with Wang Han’s face printed on it, which trembled with her movements. They stood at the doorway staring at each other for a while, Lu Jiaheng hesitating, unsure whether to invite her in.
The plastic film on the newly installed security door hadn’t been fully peeled off—half of it hung down like a leisurely cloud floating between them.
Despite the mess behind him, Lu Jiaheng looked as if he were standing at the entrance of a royal hotel.
The cement dust on his pants wasn’t really cement dust, but rather a print design by a famous Milan designer.
The man shifted slightly and asked smoothly, “Coming in?”
“…”
Now it was Chu Zhi’s turn to hesitate.
After some thought, she carefully stepped inside, navigating around the scattered items on the floor. All the houses in this row had split-level layouts, with the same square footage upstairs as her family’s home.
However, while Chu Zhi lived with two parents and a cat—and sometimes her grandparents would stay for short periods—with plenty of space to spare, the thought of Lu Jiaheng living alone in such a big house seemed rather scary in its emptiness.
She glanced toward the kitchen. As expected, it was in terrible shape.
Chu Zhi abandoned her plan to explore further and turned to Lu Jiaheng behind her. “Senior, are you hungry?”
Lu Jiaheng remained silent.
Chu Zhi felt she’d asked a stupid question. They hadn’t eaten since getting in the car—of course he was hungry. She immediately nodded and continued, “Why don’t we order takeout? My parents aren’t home, so we can eat together.”
As she spoke, she walked toward the door. Opening it, she turned around at the entrance, seemingly waiting for him.
Lu Jiaheng stared at the girl’s natural sequence of actions, taking a moment to process her words. He stood there, dazed.
Finally, he slowly asked, “At your place?”
His voice came out slightly hoarse, though barely noticeable.
Chu Zhi nodded, sincerely inviting him: “Would you like to come?”
“…”
Lu Jiaheng felt this wasn’t quite right.
His heart seemed to skip a beat—he felt happy, yet inexplicably unhappy at the same time, and somewhat angry.
Though the lights were installed and the bright living room lights illuminated the entire space, Lu Jiaheng remained standing there, showing an expression that was both amused and exasperated, with a hint of helplessness. “Little Zhizi, you can’t invite a man to your home when your parents aren’t there.”
Chu Zhi blinked, one hand on the doorknob, tilting her head as she looked at him: “It’s fine because it’s you.”
Lu Jiaheng’s eyelid twitched.
“Senior is a good person,” Chu Zhi continued.
“…”
Lu Jiaheng’s feelings were complicated.
He looked at the young girl standing at the door with a complex expression, raised his hand to press his brow bone, and sighed softly before walking over. “Let’s go.”
Seeing him take his keys, turn off the lights, and lock the door, Chu Zhi walked downstairs, turning back curiously to ask, “Senior, do you actually want to come to my place or not?”
Lu Jiaheng didn’t answer directly: “Why do you ask?”
“You look like you both want to come and don’t want to come,” Chu Zhi said cheerfully as she hopped down the last two steps.
Lu Jiaheng paused, looking up at her without speaking.
By this time, Chu Zhi was already at the door, opening it. As she went in, she crouched by the shoe cabinet to find him slippers while asking, “Senior, what would you like to eat?”
Chu Zhi’s home was decorated very simply, without many decorations—just plain-colored wallpaper and furniture, clean and cozy.
Lu Jiaheng closed the door behind him, looking down at the girl who had placed a pair of men’s slippers by his feet. That feeling of frustration and irritation was becoming hard to control.
Instead of changing his shoes, he suddenly crouched down while Chu Zhi was still getting up.
The two of them crouched face to face in the entrance hallway, though even like this, he was still higher than her by a bit.
Lu Jiaheng pressed his lips together and slowly spoke: “Chu Zhi.”
It was the first time he had seriously called her full name.
For some reason, Chu Zhi felt a bit scared hearing it.
The feeling was like being called on by a teacher to stand up and answer a question when she was young, or when she had done something wrong at home and her mother would calmly call her name to trick her into coming over.
—”Chu Zhi, come here, mom won’t hit you.”
Chu Zhi unconsciously swallowed, looking somewhat nervous.
Lu Jiaheng’s eyelashes lowered slightly, his dark intense eyes staring straight at her: “From now on, don’t let anyone else come to your home.”
Chu Zhi: “…”
Chu Zhi opened her mouth wide, looking up at him: “Huh?”
Lu Jiaheng narrowed his eyes slightly: “Nod.”
Chu Zhi nodded.
Lu Jiaheng’s lips curved up, seeming finally somewhat satisfied: “Say okay.”
Chu Zhi: “Oh, okay.”
Her soft demeanor looked so obedient that the inexplicable irritation he had been feeling simply vanished without a trace.
Chu Zhi stood up and walked into the house, suddenly turning back: “Senior.”
“Hmm?”
“Why can’t other people come to my house anymore?”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
Lu Jiaheng smiled: “Who else did you want to invite?”
Chu Zhi thought for a moment: “Tong Tong wants to come play next weekend.”
Lu Jiaheng made an “oh” sound and walked in wearing the slippers: “No boys allowed.”
Chu Zhi sighed in relief: “I wouldn’t casually let boys come to my house anyway, I only brought you back.”
“…”
Lu Jiaheng stopped in his tracks, his shoulders suddenly slumping.
He stood still in the middle of the living room looking down at her, letting out a long breath, his voice very low with a hint of defeat: “How can you be so… aggravating.”
Chu Zhi didn’t take it seriously at all, saying cheerfully: “Senior, are you a domineering CEO? Oh you little temptress!”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
Chu Zhi was starving, so she ordered mala hot pot from the restaurant with the shortest delivery time, adding extra potatoes and kelp knots.
When the takeout arrived and the aroma wafted through the air, the tightly closed bedroom door inside opened slightly.
Lu Jiaheng took out the plastic containers inside and placed them on the table, stepping back only to feel something warm against his leg.
Looking down, a cat was standing by his feet, its fluffy big tail swishing back and forth. It had thick fur, a beautiful ruff, and a patch of seal-colored fur on its face.
Its bright blue eyes stared at him intently, its small head held high as it let out a soft “meow.”
Whether it was the voice or that little look, it was exactly like a certain young girl.
Chu Zhi brought over spoons and chopsticks, swaying as she walked over while talking to her: “You’ve been hiding in the room without a sound since I got back, but you come out as soon as you smell food? You can’t eat this, it’s spicy. Meowing won’t work, you can’t have this.”
As she spoke, she put down the chopsticks and opened a can of cat food, placing it by her feet. The cat with the black patch on its face bounced over and started licking the food.
Whether it was his imagination or not, Lu Jiaheng thought the cat also swayed a bit while licking the food.
He found it amusing and smiled, casually asking: “What’s the cat’s name?”
Chu Zhi blinked: “Guess.”
Lu Jiaheng laughed: “How would I guess?”
Chu Zhi: “His name is You Guess.”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
You Guess ate quickly. By the time Chu Zhi and Lu Jiaheng were halfway through their meal, his can was empty, so he bounced over again, rubbing against Chu Zhi’s leg while meowing.
Chu Zhi was almost full too. She picked him up and held him in her arms, casually taking some nutrient paste from beside her, unscrewing it and squeezing a bit out for him.
The cat’s pink little tongue came out and started licking around the tube. When it was gone, he would lick Chu Zhi’s fingertip that held the nutrient paste to remind her, and she would squeeze out a bit more for him.
The young girl smiled sweetly, holding the cat while softly chatting with him as if the little fellow could understand everything. The scene was wonderfully heart-warming.
The dining room lights were gentle, and the air was filled with the aroma of food. Lu Jiaheng suddenly felt that no moment in his life had ever felt more like home than now.
He held his chopsticks and looked up at the young girl across from him. The cat suddenly stopped licking the nutrient paste and turned his head, his bright blue eyes staring straight at him.
Lu Jiaheng shifted his gaze from Chu Zhi, his black eyes meeting blue ones. You Guess suddenly opened his mouth and “meowed” at him, no longer looking cute but rather fierce.
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
Chu Zhi exclaimed delightedly: “He likes you!”
“…”
Lu Jiaheng thought this fierce look didn’t seem like liking him at all.
Sure enough, the next second, You Guess suddenly stood up on Chu Zhi’s leg, turned around, and faced his bottom toward Lu Jiaheng while burying his small head in Chu Zhi’s arms.
Not satisfied with just that, he kept nuzzling and rubbing against her chest.
Chu Zhi was ticklish from the rubbing, laughing while petting him.
The cat just kept nuzzling and purring, showing affection for quite a while until Chu Zhi pulled him up. Only then did he reluctantly raise his head, slowly turning around to face Lu Jiaheng across the table with his bright blue eyes again.
After another three seconds of staring contest between man and cat across a table of mala hot pot, You Guess defiantly “meowed” twice at him, then haughtily turned his seal-colored head away and nuzzled Chu Zhi’s chin with his nose.
His fluffy little paw suddenly raised up and patted Chu Zhi’s chest.
Lu Jiaheng “…”
Lu Jiaheng’s lips twisted into a horrified smile as he gritted his teeth, his voice coming out between them: “…Is it a male cat?”
Chu Zhi couldn’t understand why the cat had suddenly become so clingy today and lifted her head from the fur with a puzzled look: “Yes, how did you know?”
Lu Jiaheng: “Hehe.”
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