"...I understand, I'll be more careful next time."
After saying that, he quickly turned his back to pour the noodles, his face burning with embarrassment.
He... he wasn't doing it because the air conditioning wasn't on; he was just thinking about something inappropriate.
Of course, Gu Zheng must not know this.
Without giving it much thought, Gu Zheng turned and left this time.
Xia Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief after Gu Zheng left.
Thankfully, Ah Zheng didn't keep asking, otherwise he wouldn't know how to answer!
Xia Ran patted her still slightly flushed face and then took the noodles out.
Gu Zheng sat expressionless in the living room. Xia Ran placed the noodles directly in front of him and said,
"Ah Zheng, you should try some."
He handed the chopsticks to Gu Zheng with both hands.
"Thank you," Gu Zheng said and started eating.
Xia Ran paused for a moment, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything and just sat down next to Gu Zheng.
Gu Zheng ate his noodles at a leisurely pace, and every gesture he made was very graceful.
Xia Ran suddenly had an idea: if Gu Zheng were to do mukbang (eating broadcast), he would definitely have a lot of fans.
Realizing her own thoughts, Xia Ran couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Gu Zheng going to do mukbang? That idea of his is really too unrealistic.
Furthermore, he didn't want so many people to see Gu Zheng, because that would make him unhappy, sad, jealous, and so on...
Xia Ran's laughter made Gu Zheng look up at him.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah? No...nothing." Xia Ran stammered, shook her head, and then quickly nodded.
"I have something I want to give you."
Xia Ran's face started to burn again.
Gu Zheng didn't speak, but his eyes clearly showed that he was waiting for Xia Ran to say the next thing.
Xia Ran was a little embarrassed and hesitantly took out a photo frame from behind her pillow.
He took a deep breath, mustered his courage, placed the photo frame in front of Gu Zheng, and said,
"Ah Zheng, this is a new picture frame I bought. I broke your picture frame the other day, and I'm so sorry. I'll buy you a new one, okay? Please don't be angry anymore."
After he finished speaking, he quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at Gu Zheng.
Gu Zheng was taken aback by his actions. His gaze first fell on the photo frame, and then on the top of Xia Ran's head.
Xia Ran's hair is very soft, and now that she's looking down, it's even more limp and flat, though some strands still stick up.
Xia Ran was very familiar with this look. Back then, when someone was punished by him for doing something wrong, they would bow their head like this.
The difference is that the boy back then looked aggrieved, while the young man in front of me now looks nervous and apprehensive.
Gu Zheng sighed inwardly, and involuntarily raised his head, ruffling Xia Ran's hair with a practiced yet somewhat awkward touch.
"Thanks."
He took the picture frame down and placed it aside, then continued eating his noodles.
Xia Ran was completely stunned at this moment, and didn't even hear Gu Zheng's thank you. His whole mind was still on the feeling of Gu Zheng rubbing his head.
Gu Zheng's hands were large, and the way he reluctantly rubbed them earlier even made Gu Zheng feel a little warm.
Xia Ran cautiously looked up at Gu Zheng and saw that he had already started eating noodles as if nothing had happened, which made her feel a little disappointed.
He thought that Ah Zheng would say something more to him.
But Xia Ran had already gotten used to healing herself, and even finding sweets to eat on her own.
Ah Zheng just patted his head. Online sources say that patting someone's head usually means that they like and dote on them.
So, could he also think that Ah Zheng has started to like him a little bit and wants to spoil him?
Chapter 20 My legs are too weak to walk
Just thinking about it made Xia Ran burst into silly laughter.
Gu Zheng had already finished his noodles. When he heard Xia Ran's laughter, he looked at her again and asked,
"What are you laughing at?"
Xia Ran shook her head with a smile, "It's nothing, I'm just happy!"
Gu Zheng looked puzzled. Why was he suddenly so happy?
Seeing the doubt in Gu Zheng's eyes, Xia Ran suddenly felt guilty and quickly stood up to say,
"Then I'll put the bowl away first, you can go back to your room."
However, his hasty escape only made Gu Zheng more suspicious.
After thinking for a moment, Gu Zheng still walked towards the kitchen.
Xia Ran was washing dishes in the kitchen, completely unaware that someone was standing behind him. So when Xia Ran finished washing the dishes and turned to leave the kitchen, he was startled by Gu Zheng standing at the door.
"Ah... Ah Zheng, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"
Whether it was out of fear or nervousness, Xia Ran stammered a bit.
Gu Zheng frowned, beckoned to Xia Ran, and gestured for her to come over.
Xia Ran would certainly not refuse Gu Zheng, so she walked over directly.
"What's wrong, Zheng?" He walked up to Gu Zheng and raised his head slightly.
Gu Zheng originally had something to say to Xia Ran, but when he saw Xia Ran's actions, the words that were on the tip of his tongue suddenly became stuck in his throat.
He lowered his head slightly and moved closer to Xia Ran, whose heart raced and face burned.
"Ah..." Xia Ran opened her mouth, wanting to speak, but Gu Zheng did not give her another chance to speak.
Xia Ran held her head slightly up as she endured Gu Zheng's advances, her lips brushing against his delicate, tender touch, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow.
"Ugh..." He couldn't help but let out a sweet moan, and his hand couldn't resist grabbing Gu Zheng's clothes in front of him.
His legs went weak...
Noticing Xia Ran's actions, Gu Zheng immediately hugged her waist, and Xia Ran breathed a sigh of relief.
He was really afraid that his legs would give way and he wouldn't be able to stand up, and it would be embarrassing if he fell.
Uncle Gu originally came out to get some water, but unexpectedly stumbled upon this scene in the kitchen. His face turned red instantly, and he could only turn around and go back to his room.
Young people these days are far too open-minded.
Gu Zheng and Xia Ran were completely unaware that Uncle Gu had already seen it, and they both fell silent after stopping.
Xia Ran was so embarrassed that she could only lie in Gu Zheng's arms and pretend to be dead.
No one knew what Gu Zheng was thinking. His chin was resting slightly on Xia Ran's head, as if he was also trying to calm himself down.
"Why are you so timid?" Gu Zheng suddenly said, his voice sounding a little hoarse. "It's just someone standing at the door, is it really necessary to be so scared?"
Gu Zheng was saying what he had originally wanted to say to Xia Ran, but Xia Ran had stopped him from saying it.
Xia Ran didn't understand Gu Zheng's meaning at first, until Gu Zheng said the last sentence.
His face grew increasingly hot; in fact, he was quite timid.
Xia Ran didn't speak, and Gu Zheng didn't ask any more questions, only saying,
"Let's go back to sleep."
He was about to turn and leave when Xia Ran grabbed his clothes.
"Wait...wait a minute..." Xia Ran's voice was very low, and she seemed quite embarrassed.
"Hmm?" Gu Zheng gave a soft "hmm" in confusion.
Xia Ran, nestled in Gu Zheng's arms, felt his face burning hot. He bit his lip, seemingly hesitating about something. After a while, he whispered,
"Ah Zheng, could you... could you carry me upstairs? My... my legs are weak..."
If there were a hole in front of Xia Ran right now, Xia Ran would definitely crawl into it!
Waaaaah, this is so embarrassing! It was just a kiss, and his legs went weak and he couldn't walk!
Gu Zheng was taken aback. He hadn't expected Xia Ran to say this, and he looked a little uncomfortable.
"Mmm." He gave a soft "Mmm" and then picked Xia Ran up.
Perhaps because of shyness, Xia Ran didn't dare to wrap her arms around Gu Zheng's neck. She could only hold onto the front of Gu Zheng's clothes, keeping her head down and not daring to meet his gaze.
Gu Zheng's mood wasn't much better than Xia Ran's. He still looked calm on the surface, but if someone looked closely, they would notice that his ears were already slightly red.
He carried Xia Ran directly into the room, and even considered carrying her to the bed.
However, Xia Ran was afraid that Gu Zheng's movements would wake Gu Chen, so she asked Gu Zheng to put him down.
"Ah Zheng, put me down first. I can walk by myself now. You'll wake Xiao Chen up if you do that."
He spoke softly, struggling to get down from Gu Zheng's arms. Gu Zheng frowned, somewhat reluctant, but still put him down.
"I'm going back to my room first," Gu Zheng said coldly, his meaning clear: he wouldn't sleep here, but in the room next door.
Xia Ran had gotten used to it, and although she was a little disappointed, she didn't show it.
"Okay, then go back and get some rest. Good night."
He spoke softly, then closed the door to avoid waking Gu Chen.
Gu Zheng stood outside the door, staring coldly and silently at the closed door for a while before turning back into the room. The aura emanating from him seemed icy cold.
The next day, Xia Ran was woken up by someone touching him. Soft hands kept lingering on his face and neck, making him unbearably itchy.
Xia Ran opened his eyes and found that it was Gu Chen who was messing with him.