Perhaps because the beer had low alcohol content, Yu Juan didn’t have a hangover when he woke up. It was just that he was a little confused since he couldn’t remember what had happened after he finished drinking.
He used his elbow to prop up his upper body, then reached out to the table with his other hand. He wanted to search for his phone, but instead he accidentally touched something.
It was a certain someone’s warm skin.
Yu Juan withdrew his hand.
He raised his head and saw Zhou Huiyue sleeping on the table with his forehead propped up, just like a good student who was secretly sleeping during class hours. His back was very straight and didn’t look stiff at all. If a teacher had their good student filter on and didn’t pay close attention, it was very likely that he wouldn’t get caught.
All of a sudden, Yu Juan was able to recall some fragments of what had happened last night.
Zhou Huiyue’s face flashing in the darkness, the other’s arm around his waist, he himself leaning against the table top and looking at a blurry figure while blabbering about some kind of nonsense.
Yu Juan, “…”
He didn’t even dare to think about what he had done yesterday.
He was in a daze for a moment and maintained this posture.
Zhou Huiyue’s side profile could be partially seen from this angle– he had a sharp jawline and really thin lips, looking incomparably cold and indifferent.
Yu Juan sighed lightly.
Cicadas suddenly started to chirp.
Yu Juan didn’t hate the sound, but then realised that Zhou Huiyue was still asleep.
The main thing was that, compared to himself, this person had been tormented for a whole night and was forced to sleep on a table. It seemed that he probably, no, really owed the other party a whole lot.
Thinking up to here, Yu Juan mustered up the courage to turn around and push the window open– but this just made him miss the moment Zhou Huiyue opened his eyes.
Zhou Huiyue slept very lightly and woke up from the muffled sounds of Yu Juan fumbling around the table with his hand.
For some reason, though, he didn’t open his eyes right away.
And at present, Zhou Huiyue was looking at Yu Juan’s back– the latter was sitting next to the pillow lazily, wearing loose shorts that went above his knees, and had his left calf hanging down along the edge of the bed. It swayed to and fro, and the ankle that was exposed was of a really pale pink color.
Zhou Huiyue’s gaze froze for a few seconds before he looked away.
The window was partially open, and Yu Juan had stretched his hand out as if he wanted to grab a branch that wasn’t too far away.
But Zhou Huiyue knew that he would never open the window screen.
A small shadow suddenly appeared on the glass, frightening Yu Juan into retreating backwards.
Zhou Huiyue called out Yu Juan’s name.
Yu Juan turned around, looking as if he was still in shock as he said, “You’re awake.”
The morning sun brightened those green eyes of his. Yu Juan grumbled, “So noisy.”
Yu Juan had already said he didn’t hate it, so as long as he didn’t see them, there was no need to drive them away.
Amidst the chirping of the summer cicadas, Zhou Huiyue understood Yu Juan’s purpose.
It seemed that Yu Juan merely hoped that he could continue sleeping.
So he said, “The cicadas are really noisy.”
He then propped up his arm and stretched out his hand, shook the window screen, before finally closing the window.
The cicadas flew away.
Yu Juan breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, tilting his head before looking at Zhou Huiyue and trying to find something to say. After hesitating for a while, he asked in a noncommittal manner, “Was it you who brought me back to my room last night?”
Zhou Huiyue seemed to remember something when he heard those words. “I ran into you in the corridor. You had beer, so you looked a bit drunk and were unable to stand steadily.”
Sure enough…
When he thought of all the kinds of improper and embarrassing things drunk people would do and then imagined himself in their place, Yu Juan’s entire face flushed.
He avoided Zhou Huiyue’s gaze and forcefully pressed his fingertips against the edge of the table, pretending to be indifferent as he pursed his lips and said, “There’s no need to tell me about whatever mess I made last night… Just, thank you.”
Zhou Huiyue remained silent for a while, waiting for Yu Juan to finish speaking. Then, just as Yu Juan thought Zhou Huiyue had understood his meaning, Zhou Huiyue raised his head to look at Yu Juan with a hint of a smile in his eyes and casually said, “No.”
Yu Juan immediately became nervous, thinking that this person wanted to talk about all the embarrassing things he had done yesterday, making their already crumbling enemy relationship worsen even more.
A second later, Zhou Huiyue said seriously, “You were very well-behaved, there was no trouble.”
Yu Juan was stunned for a moment, then simply asked back, “Really?”
Zhou Huiyue smiled as he replied, “Really.”
Yu Juan really wanted to believe as such. And since the sole victim and witness said so, it must indeed be true.
He looked at Zhou Huiyue and blinked, then unilaterally decided to reduce the hatred value between himself and this person.
It was still early in the morning. Zhou Huiyue hadn’t slept well yesterday, and since he was still a recovering person, it was necessary for him to rest at this time.
In the final conclusion, it was all because Yu Juan was such a drunkard last night, so Yu Juan naturally had to send this person back.
When the two of them went out the door, Yu Juan didn’t push the wheelchair and stood by Zhou Huiyue’s side instead. They then walked to the other side of the corridor together.
After pushing the door open, Zhou Huiyue said his goodbye. “I’ll be going to sleep.”
“Good morning.”
On his way back, the lights in the corridor suddenly lit up again– the power was back.
The fan that Zhou Huiyue had made with cardboard and wooden sticks was still on the table, no longer of any use.
However, it was as if Yu Juan could still feel that same gentle breeze that blew for a long, long time.
He looked at it again, then opened the drawer and placed the fan inside.
*
From that day onward, Zhou Huiyue was responsible for all of their meals.
Probably because Zhou Huiyue lacked energy, he’d spend the majority of the day resting in his room. He also had to take painkillers everyday, and would wear long sleeves even in the scorching summer heat. As a result, his complexion always looked really pale.
When they were together, Yu Juan would inevitably end up looking at Zhou Huiyue, though he’d move his gaze away before the other could notice.
Yu Juan occasionally found himself thinking about Zhou Huiyue– about whether the latter knew about his own predicament, and about whether he had a solution for it.
They had spaghetti for lunch today. It might have been because he hadn’t eaten it in a long time, but Yu Juan thought that it was very delicious.
The phone on the table vibrated once. When Yu Juan unlocked it, he saw that the small shop’s boss, Uncle Zhang, had sent him a message.
“Little Yu, I arrived.”
Since the person already came to the door, Yu Juan didn’t want to make them wait longer, so he put down his chopsticks with the intention of going out.
Zhou Huiyue looked at him and asked, “What happened?”
Yu Juan thought for a bit, then said, “Just a small matter.”
Zhou Huiyue asked, “Do you have to go out?”
Yu Juan, who had already walked to the door, turned his head back and replied, “No, just to the front gates.”
He went downstairs. The sun was high up in the sky, and the heat was like being in a furnace. Uncle Zhang’s electric tricycle was parked outside the iron gates, and on it was a huge package that had its logo directly facing the direction of the surveillance camera.
Yu Juan thanked Uncle Zhang before asking him to drive in through the gates, then they moved the item to the living room’s vacant space together.
Uncle Zhang was a really kind person. Yu Juan originally wanted to give him some more money, but he said that it was already enough and that it wasn’t troublesome to help move the product.
Yu Juan leaned back against the sofa and sent Zhou Huiyue a message: “Are you done eating? Come over to the staircase.”
A few minutes later, when Zhou Huiyue reached the end of the corridor, he noticed the brand-new wheelchair in the middle of the living room downstairs– since the packaging had already been torn off, there was an awful mess around it.
Yu Juan turned his head around, his mouth slightly parted in a complacent smile. It was as if he had just accomplished a great thing.
The wheelchair was heavy. Although Yu Juan was an eighteen years old youth, it wouldn’t have been this easy for him to carry this thing upstairs if he hadn’t turned on the switch.
When Yu Juan finally came upstairs, Zhou Huiyue asked one word at a time, “Is it for me?”
Yu Juan nodded.
The temperature outside was very high. Yu Juan’s hair was wet just from being out in the sun, so he had poured cold water on it in an attempt to cool down. Just like this, soaked from the heat wave of summer, Yu Juan stood in front of Zhou Huiyue and said, “This is only because…you’re my fiancé.”
He didn’t give Zhou Huiyue a chance to ask why and continued as if it was natural, “It’s boring being alone, and it’s much too narrow upstairs, so you have to come downstairs to keep me company.”
“Is this your tenth requirement?”
It was Yu Juan’s turn to be stunned.
