We arrived home quickly.

Lin Jindu put the groceries he bought into the kitchen on his own, then turned to ask Ji Chengyi, “Should we cook now, or wait until later, President Ji?”

Ji Chengyi placed a light bag of vegetables on the island counter, raised his eyes and replied to Lin Jindu, “If President Lin isn’t in a hurry, let’s cook later. I want to go upstairs and take a shower.”

Lin Jindu agreed, “Sure, I’ll freshen up too.”

After that, the two went upstairs to their respective rooms to freshen up.

The photographer and the staff in front of the monitoring screen left behind couldn’t help but laugh.

What a peculiar conversation it was heading towards.

Upstairs in Lin Jindu’s bedroom.

Lin Jindu was a bit of a clean freak; he always had to shower when coming back from outside.

So as soon as he entered the room, he grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom.

He took a quick shower, finishing in less than five minutes.

When he came out, he quickly dried himself off and started getting dressed.

Just as he finished putting on his pants, he suddenly remembered something, stopped his movements, and walked over to the washbasin.

The mirror on the washbasin was fogged up, Lin Jindu raised his hand to wipe it clean.

Once the mirror reflected his entire upper body, he stopped, took two steps back, creating some distance from the washbasin, and carefully looked at himself in the mirror.

Lin Jindu was someone who enjoyed working out; he believed that exercising could release a lot of stress and fatigue from work.

But he had never really observed the muscles he had developed through his fitness routine.

Now, as he looked at himself in the mirror, from his strong chest muscles, to his well-defined abdominal muscles, and the smooth lines of his obliques…

Thoughts involuntarily surfaced in his mind the words Ji Chengyi had said earlier.

Tall, robust, and exuding a very strong hormone scent…

What does this mean?

Does it mean that his physique is good and sexy?

Lin Jindu pursed his lips, feeling that such an evaluation was a bit superficial.

After all, the excellence of an adult man is not necessarily reflected in his physique.

However.

Lin Jindu tried to think like that, but he couldn’t help but think of Ji Chengyi’s ex-boyfriend.

He didn’t know how his physique was.

Lin Jindu looked at the muscles in the mirror that remained clearly defined even through the fog.

As his gaze deepened, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was better than him?

He heard that many male actors couldn’t even lift female actors.

Yet he could do eight reps of 100kg bench press.

With this in mind, a hint of imperceptible disdain flashed in Lin Jindu’s eyes.

It was as if he didn’t understand how Ji Chengyi could have such an ordinary boyfriend… oh no, ex-boyfriend.

With a sense of disdain towards Ji Chengyi’s ex-boyfriend, Lin Jindu put on his shirt, dried his hair, and in a rather good mood, he prepared to leave the bathroom.

Just as his hand reached out, not even waiting to touch the doorknob, it suddenly stopped again.

After a moment’s pause, Lin Jindu withdrew his hand.

His gaze fixed on the empty palm, but his thoughts involuntarily drifted to the moment he had wrapped his arms around Ji Chengyi’s waist in the supermarket.

Lin Jindu didn’t have a concept of other adult men’s waistlines, but in comparison to his own.

Was President Ji’s waist…

Is it a bit too slim?

……..

Ji Chengyi came down before Lin Jindu.

Thinking that Lin Jindu had already come down, he went straight to the kitchen.

However, Lin Jindu’s figure was nowhere to be seen in the kitchen.

With Lin Jindu, who could cook, absent, Ji Chengyi wasn’t sure what to do first.

After some thought, he decided to take out the prepared food and vegetables from the bag first.

“Do you often cook, President Ji?” the staff member asked at the right moment.

Ji Chengyi gently raised his head and asked, “Another interview?”

The staff member hesitated for a moment, then smiled, “Not an interview, just chatting, no need to be nervous, President Ji.”

“Ah.” Ji Chengyi nodded in understanding. It seemed they thought the scene was too silent, so they came to chat with him to get him to talk more.

Ji Chengyi cooperated and replied in a gentle tone, “I’m usually busy with work and don’t have much time to cook for myself. I usually eat at the company canteen.”

The staff member was so enchanted by Ji Chengyi’s gentle voice that their subsequent questioning tone involuntarily softened a bit, “What about President Lin? Does President Lin also not eat at home usually?”

“President Lin…” Ji Chengyi pondered, “President Lin usually has breakfast at home, but for lunch and dinner, he mostly eats at the company or at social gatherings.”

The staff member nodded and asked again, “So today is the first time President Lin and President Ji are cooking together, right?”

Ji Chengyi nodded, “Yes, you could say that.”

Although he wasn’t very good at cooking, helping out a bit still counted as cooking together, didn’t it?

However, Ji Chengyi’s seemingly mundane words had a surprising effect on the staff member’s ears.

Even though she had a mask on, a smile spread from her eyes.

Ji Chengyi found her laughter a bit inexplicable but politely waited for her to continue questioning.

The staff member noticed Ji Chengyi waiting for her and suppressed her smile, preparing to continue.

But before she could speak, footsteps were heard coming from the stairs.

The staff member instinctively turned to look, then quickly averted her gaze.

Lin Jindu exuded a strong presence, accustomed to being in a position of authority, and his deep eyes always carried an unconscious sharpness.

Therefore, the workers didn’t dare to make eye contact with him at all.

Ji Chengyi, on the other hand, didn’t notice the staff member’s subtle movements. Upon seeing Lin Jindu approaching, he greeted in a calm tone, “President Lin, you’re here.”

“Sure,” Lin Jindu responded and walked over, “What’s President Ji working on?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Jindu caught a whiff of a sweet fruity scent wafting from Ji Chengyi’s direction.

This time, he didn’t furrow his brow.

However, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was his imagination, but he felt like Ji Chengyi’s scent seemed even more fragrant than before.

“I’m preparing a vegetable salad,” Ji Chengyi raised the vegetables in his hand.

The aroma became even more pronounced as he moved.

Lin Jindu: “…”

Still unable to bear the sweet fragrance, Lin Jindu picked up another bag, “Then I’ll clean these shrimp and beef.”

He turned and headed to the sink.

Unaware that Lin Jindu was intentionally avoiding his scent, Ji Chengyi placed all the vegetables in the vegetable washing basin and then carried the basin to the sink.

There were two sinks on the island counter.

Lin Jindu occupied one, so Ji Chengyi went to the one next to him.

There was no distance between the two sinks.

So Lin Jindu could still clearly smell the scent coming from Ji Chengyi.

Lin Jindu: “…”

Ji Chengyi didn’t sense Lin Jindu’s discomfort and continued selecting and washing vegetables.

However, Lin Jindu really didn’t like the sweet fragrance; it made his head feel dizzy after a while of inhaling it. But he couldn’t directly tell Ji Chengyi because he didn’t have the right to interfere with Ji Chengyi’s preferences.

Unable to bear it, Lin Jindu hastened his movements, intending to quickly finish cleaning the sink and then move to the stove area.

However, as he washed, his gaze involuntarily landed on Ji Chengyi’s hands as he selected the vegetables.

Ji Chengyi’s hands were undeniably attractive, with distinct knuckles, slender and well-proportioned fingers, and nails neatly trimmed to a translucent pink hue.

The green vegetables flipped back and forth in his hands, accentuating their whiteness.

After only a brief glance, Lin Jindu couldn’t help but recall the sensation of holding that hand for the first time.

Soft.

Ji Chengyi’s hand was surprisingly soft.

He never expected that a grown man’s hand could be as soft and delicate as a gentle rain in the Jiangnan region.

As he was pondering, Lin Jindu suddenly heard a faint exclamation.

Following the sound, he saw Ji Chengyi startled, retreating far back from the sink.

Lin Jindu was puzzled, “President Ji, what’s wrong?”

Ji Chengyi pointed at the sink, “President Lin, your shrimp…”

Lin Jindu:

Lin Jindu followed Ji Chengyi’s gesture and saw the shrimp that he was supposed to clean now floundering in Ji Chengyi’s sink.

Approaching to retrieve the shrimp, Lin Jindu looked at Ji Chengyi, “President Ji, are you afraid of shrimp?”

Ji Chengyi denied, “No, it just came too suddenly, and I didn’t notice it.”

Lin Jindu clearly didn’t believe him but still replied, “Oh, I see.”

Ji Chengyi: “…”

Ji Chengyi pursed his lips, “Hmm.”

He returned to washing the vegetables at the sink.

Lin Jindu tactfully didn’t say anything further, silently admiring Ji Chengyi’s hands, now even more translucent under the running water, before averting his gaze and speeding up his own movements.

Although they didn’t speak afterward, the image of the two standing side by side at the sink remained quite beautiful.

After struggling to come up with even five sentences in the morning, the program team was now quite satisfied with the exceeding completion of the task in communication.

Without inserting more topics to encourage further conversation between the two, they silently enjoyed the overly pleasing scene before them.

……..

Ji Chengyi’s preparation of the vegetable salad was quite simple. After washing and tearing the vegetables, he poured in the salad dressing and vinegar, giving it a toss, and that completed the dish.

Ji Chengyi preferred slightly cooler salads, so he wrapped the completed salad in plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator.

Upon returning, he asked Lin Jindu, who was cutting broccoli on the cutting board, “President Lin, do you need any help?”

Lin Jindu was about to say he didn’t need help, as he actually enjoyed the cooking process.

However, when his eyes met Ji Chengyi’s beautiful, clear eyes, the words on the tip of his tongue changed to, “If it’s not too much trouble, could President Ji help me wash some cherry tomatoes and button mushrooms?”

Ji Chengyi glanced at the island counter, “Is it the white mushrooms?”

Lin Jindu nodded, “Yes.”

“Alright.” Ji Chengyi went over and washed the white mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

Cleaning these two items was even simpler, and Ji Chengyi quickly finished washing them.

“President Lin, should I put these washed items here?” Ji Chengyi brought over two plates of separated cherry tomatoes and white mushrooms.

Lin Jindu reached out directly, “Give them to me.”

“Sure.” Ji Chengyi handed over the two plates.

Lin Jindu reached out to take them.

As Lin Jindu took the two plates, Ji Chengyi asked again, “Is there anything else you need help with?”

Ji Chengyi’s offer to help was out of politeness and courtesy.

But asking Ji Chengyi to help further would seem somewhat impolite.

Lin Jindu politely declined with a faint smile, “No, I’m good with the rest. President Ji, you can go and rest.”

Ji Chengyi was equally courteous, nodding, “Alright, if you’re busy, I won’t disturb you, President Lin.”

With that, he left without a moment’s hesitation.

Lin Jindu: “….”

Program team: “….”