Chapter 22

In the height of summer in July, the cicadas chirped endlessly, and Jiangcheng entered a long stretch of hot days.

The temperature kept rising, and the air seemed to be filled with heat waves. Even Wen Ci, who wasn’t afraid of the heat, couldn’t help but turn on the air conditioning.

On the first night of her summer vacation, Dou Yiqing’s call came flying in. After Wen Ci answered, she put the phone on speaker and placed it on the bed.

“Ugh, I’m so jealous! How come you’re on vacation already? I still have to work tomorrow, sob sob sob—” Dou Yiqing said, pretending to choke up.

Elementary schools started summer vacation a week earlier than high schools, and Wen Ci was already free, leaving Dou Yiqing to suffer alone.

Wen Ci laughed, “You’re almost there, just one more week.”

“Such a long week… What are you doing now?”

Wen Ci paused.

She looked down at the open suitcase on the floor, the several hats resting on the table, and the two small dresses she had just taken out to compare in front of the mirror.

Honestly, starting to pack for a vacation a week in advance… that seemed a bit strange.

So, Wen Ci lied again: “I’m reading.”

“Of course it’s you. No worries, just keep making me work until I’m eighty, I won’t resist,” Dou Yiqing replied, “Right now, all I can think about is vacation. I want to go have fun, go to an island, surf, swim.”

“I feel the same,” Wen Ci admitted softly.

Dou Yiqing snorted, “Stop pretending, you don’t even want that.”

“…”

Now the truth wasn’t even believed. Wen Ci looked up at the sky, feeling a bit sentimental.

“Alright, go enjoy your happiness. I’m preparing lessons. I have to use the last few days to drill them on the key points—wait, why do I have to cram for their finals?!” Dou Yiqing cursed and hung up.

Wen Ci smiled for a moment, sent a “good luck” sticker to Dou Yiqing, and was about to continue trying on clothes when a new message popped up.

【Zhou Wu: What are you doing?】

Lately, their chat history had suddenly become much more lively.

For some reason, Zhou Wu had been sending her messages from time to time. Although the conversations weren’t long, compared to their previous chats, which were all about room numbers, Wen Ci was already very satisfied.

Wen Ci’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly replied: [Packing my luggage.]

After the previous incident, Wen Ci had quietly decided in her heart not to lie in front of Zhou Wu as much as possible in the future.

[Zhou Wu: Watching the dog?]

[Wen Ci: I want to watch.]

Wen Ci thought the other party would send a picture, but to her surprise, the phone vibrated and a video call came in.

Wen Ci froze for a moment, hurriedly fixing her hair, which had become messy from trying on clothes, and answered the video call.

Coconut’s big face was shoved directly into her phone screen.

Just looking at the cute dog was enough to lift anyone’s mood, and Wen Ci couldn’t help but smile, gently calling, “Coconut.”

Coconut barked once, its tail just beginning to wag, but a large hand pressed down on its head, coldly informing it: “Alright, you can go now.”

Wen Ci hadn’t reacted yet when the person on the other end grabbed the phone, and the cute dog turned into Zhou Wu’s face.

Zhou Wu had just finished showering and was drying his hair. The camera angle was low, and Zhou Wu’s eyelids were half-closed. He lingered for a moment on her crescent-like eyes before moving his gaze away and casually scanning her background.

Wooden furniture, patterned wallpaper, neatly arranged books on the bookshelf, two shelves holding picture frames. Since she was packing clothes, her wardrobe was slightly ajar, and the clothes were sorted by color and season, all very orderly. The only messy thing in the video was the half-open suitcase in the bottom right corner.

It was a room that suited Wen Ci, clean and comfortable.

Wen Ci also scrutinized Zhou Wu’s environment. Behind him was not the familiar top-floor suite, but a spacious, somewhat exaggerated minimalist-style living room. “Are you outside?” she asked.

“No, at home,” Zhou Wu’s gaze returned to her face. “Just bought this house, so we won’t need to go to hotels anymore. You can come here directly.”

No need to go to a hotel?

Go straight to Zhou Wu’s house?

Wen Ci looked at Zhou Wu through the screen, her expression momentarily stunned.

She asked, “Does Coconut live with you too?”

“Yeah, just brought it over after moving in,” Zhou Wu glanced at the suitcase in the corner of the screen, “Why are you packing so early? Planning to travel?”

Wen Ci nodded, “Because I haven’t traveled in a long time.”

She didn’t mention that this was her first time traveling alone.

Zhou Wu initially wanted to tell her not to bring too much, as most things were available at the hotel. But then his peripheral vision caught sight of a plastic bag tucked in the corner of the suitcase.

The bag was open, and the items inside were exposed. From far away, it was hard to tell what it was, but Zhou Wu had seen it many times and recognized it just by the color and shape.

Hearing a few low barks, Wen Ci smiled, “Has Coconut gotten used to it?”

“Not bad,” Zhou Wu raised an eyebrow, looking at her through the camera. After a moment, he suddenly smiled.

Wen Ci froze for a second from his smile, and just as she was about to speak, Zhou Wu lazily asked, “Why are you packing another set of sheets, Teacher Wen?”

“…”

Wen Ci was stunned.

She raised the camera awkwardly, and her face turned red at a visible speed.

Her mind buzzed with embarrassment, and she heard herself say, “You said you don’t like using the sheets in hotels, so when I passed by the convenience store today on my way home, I… just bought one.”

To avoid raising suspicion at home and to make the trip easier, they had agreed that Wen Ci would stay at home for a few days.

Zhou Wu let out a long, subtle sigh, holding back the urge to suggest that she jump out of the window again tonight.

“How many boxes did you buy?”

“… One box.”

“Too few,” Zhou Wu smiled lightly, “If Teacher Wen passes by the convenience store again these days, can you bring me another box? Thanks.”

Wen Ci moved out of the camera’s view, “Okay… okay.”

Wen Ci spent a week on edge, but fortunately, the trip went smoothly.

Her parents had left a few days ago to attend a seminar. Wen Ci got two photos from the teacher who was selected for the training and sent them to her mom, and her mom didn’t suspect anything.

The second day of Dou Yiqing’s vacation, the two of them had breakfast together and then headed to the airport.

Dou Yiqing had been replying to parents’ messages all night and had to pack, so she didn’t sleep until midnight. As soon as she got into the taxi, she leaned her head on Wen Ci’s shoulder, softly complaining, “I’m so sleepy.”

Wen Ci adjusted her posture to make her more comfortable. She patted Dou Yiqing’s head and smiled, “I told you, you could rest for two days before we left.”

“Who wants to rest at home? I want to rest by the sea! I want to rest on the beach!” Dou Yiqing suddenly remembered something and took out her phone, muttering, “By the way, why hasn’t Qin Yun replied yet? He still hasn’t sent me the resort’s location. He’s not still asleep, is he?”

Qin Yun said he wanted to go to the car exhibition, and two days ago, he and Zhou Wu went to Binhai City first.

Wen Ci replied, “It’s fine, we still have a two-hour flight, so he should reply before we land.”

Just as she finished speaking, Wen Ci’s phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and froze.

She hesitated for a moment, thinking about hanging up first. Dou Yiqing turned her head to look over, confused, “Why is Zhou Wu calling you on video?”

Wen Ci stopped herself from hanging up and said, “… I don’t know. Maybe he pressed the wrong button.”

“Why don’t you answer?”

Wen Ci reluctantly answered the call.

Once she saw the screen, her expression froze.

The worst-case scenario had happened.

In the video, Zhou Wu wasn’t looking at the camera. He had probably placed the phone aside after calling her.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt, with his back to her as he made coffee. His back muscles were clearly defined. His hair was messy as if he had just woken up. “Have you set off for the airport?”

Feeling the scrutinizing gaze of the person beside her, Wen Ci’s brain immediately went into alarm mode. She stiffly responded, “Mm…”

“Send me the screenshot of your flight information, I’ll pick you up. Tonight—”

“I’m in a taxi with Yi Qing!” Wen Ci quickly interrupted him, using the volume she would normally use in class. “She’s right next to me! We’ll be at the airport in about ten minutes! We should arrive in Binhai around 3 PM!”

Zhou Wu: “…”

Dou Yi Qing: “…”

Zhou Wu turned around, meeting the gaze of the two pairs of eyes on the video.

Luckily, the phone wasn’t placed too far away, only showing the upper half of Zhou Wu’s chest.

“We’ve planned for a barbecue tonight. Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll buy it when I pick you guys up.” Zhou Wu finished speaking.

“Beef, pork, lamb, I want one of each kind of meat, thank you,” Dou Yi Qing immediately rattled off the menu.

Wen Ci: “… I’m fine with anything.”

“Got it,” Zhou Wu replied calmly. “See you in the afternoon.”

“… See you in the afternoon.”

Wen Ci hung up the video call and turned off her phone. She stared at the black screen, locking eyes with Dou Yi Qing for a few seconds.

Dou Yi Qing: “You’re okay with a video call, but why did he call you without even wearing his shirt properly?”

“I don’t know,” Wen Ci stumbled over her words. “Maybe… he’s just used to it. Didn’t he study abroad in the U.S.? Maybe over there, people aren’t so particular about these things.”

Dou Yi Qing’s suspicion flared up for a moment, but then she thought about it and realized it made sense. At Qin Yun’s birthday party a while ago, there were plenty of men walking around shirtless.

But Zhou Wu was still a bit different from those guys.

She glanced at the taxi driver in front of them, leaned toward Wen Ci, and whispered, “Damn, did you see Zhou Wu’s muscles?”

“I did.”

“I’ll admit, I don’t like muscular men, but Zhou Wu’s muscles are just perfect, you know? Not exaggerated, not too soft. It’s pleasant to look at, and his chest muscles—” Dou Yi Qing clicked her tongue, “I’ve seen it on some apps, they say muscles feel really nice, soft… don’t know if that’s true.”

Wen Ci thought about it for a moment: “…Maybe.”

Dou Yi Qing’s phone rang. She checked it and snorted coldly. “Qin Yun’s just now replying to my messages. A late reply is worse than no reply at all. I’m ignoring him now.”

Distracted by the phone call, Dou Yi Qing finally stopped continuing their earlier conversation.

As they stepped out, Wen Ci felt a bit uneasy. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and silently vowed to be extra cautious in Binhai. She couldn’t afford to slip up in front of Yi Qing.