After Lin Qingle left the room, he closed the door for him.
She really didn't leave after that. She sat in the living room, dealing with work matters.
After finishing her work, it was already time for dinner. She guessed that Xu Tingbai probably hadn't eaten much today, so she turned off the computer and went to his kitchen.
He still couldn't eat very meaty or greasy food today, so she made porridge as usual, and then made two side dishes with the ingredients in the refrigerator.
After everything was ready, she knocked on the door and pushed it open.
"Xu Tingbai, you need to eat something." She lowered her voice.
Xu Tingbai was a light sleeper, and he woke up when she knocked on the door: "Okay, I'll get up."
"No need, just lie down and I'll bring it in."
Lin Qingle said this as he trotted to the kitchen and brought in the prepared porridge and side dishes.
Xu Tingbai sat on the bed, watching her carefully put the things on the bedside table, and then picked up the porridge: "You'd better drink porridge these two days. Here."
Xu Tingbai lowered his eyes to take a look and took it: "Thank you for your help."
Lin Qingle: "It's not a big deal to cook porridge... You can't just not eat anything, right?"
Xu Tingbai took a bite, and the soft and glutinous rice grains slid down his throat, with a hint of sweetness. "Have you eaten it?"
Lin Qingle: "I'll go eat a few bites later."
"You can eat something else. You don't have to accompany me to drink porridge."
"I cooked a lot, it would be a waste if I didn't eat it."
Xu Tingbai hummed: "But there are steaks and meat under the freezer."
"Okay, got it."
Xu Tingbai drank the porridge mouthful by mouthful while Lin Qingle watched from the side.
Originally, she wanted to wait a while to see if he needed anything else. But he never asked for anything else, and she became a little absorbed in watching him.
The room was lit with soft warm light, and when he lowered his eyes to eat, the silhouette of his eyelashes fell on his face.
His eyelashes were so thick... and his skin, she couldn't even find pores when she looked so closely.
"Are you hungry?" He suddenly raised his eyes and looked over.
Lin Qingle was caught off guard and met his eyes. He was stunned for a moment and quickly turned his eyes away: "No... I saw that you were eating happily, so I thought the porridge should be cooked well."
She was used to staring at him, and she used to do so often because he couldn't see her.
"Even if it doesn't taste good, I can still enjoy eating it." Xu Tingbai said softly.
"Ah? So, it's not delicious?"
Xu Tingbai smiled and said, "No, I mean, I enjoy eating whatever you cook."
Lin Qingle was stunned: "...Oh."
—
After finishing the meal, Lin Qingle cleared the dishes and ate a little in the kitchen. While eating, all he could think about was what Xu Tingbai had just said: I can enjoy eating whatever you cook.
She felt that this was just like her when she was a child. At that time, she thought that as long as he gave her something, she would like it very much and be very happy...
After dinner, Lin Qingle was still not very reassured, so he returned to his room and said, "Let's take your temperature."
Xu Tingbai nodded and handed her the ear thermometer from the drawer.
Lin Qingle took it and measured his temperature, which was 37 degrees.
She breathed a sigh of relief: "Your fever has subsided."
Xu Tingbai frowned slightly: "Oh."
"Then I will—"
"Do you want to watch a movie?" Xu Tingbai suddenly asked.
"ah?"
Xu Tingbai pointed to the large projection screen in his room and said, "I don't know what to do after sleeping for the whole afternoon. It's boring to live alone. Can you watch a movie with me?"
Lin Qingle actually wanted to tell him that his fever had gone down, or she would go home first, but when she saw his pale and slightly expectant eyes, she felt too embarrassed to say it.
Living alone can be quite lonely sometimes.
Xu Tingbai: "Do you have an appointment in the evening?"
Lin Qingle: "That's not the case..."
"Then sit down." Xu Tingbai smiled, threw the pillow under the bed, and went to find the remote control, "What do you want to watch?"
"Um... whatever."
"Okay, I'll look for it."
Xu Tingbai threw back the quilt and got out of bed, sitting down casually on the floor. But it wasn't really a floor, he had laid a thick carpet here, and there was even a small table in front.
Coupled with the blank wall and projector directly opposite, Lin Qingle felt that he just liked watching movies in this position.
"Sit." He patted the seat next to him.
"oh… "
Xu Tingbai handed her a blanket, and then stood up to get some juice. Seeing him busying around, Lin Qingle couldn't help but stop him and said, "Well, just tell me what you want, aren't you still sick..."
Xu Tingbai didn't listen to her at all. Twenty minutes after the movie started, he went out again. When he came back, he was holding a bag of food in his hands.
Lin Qingle was stunned as he watched him place the snacks and cakes on the small table one by one.
Lin Qingle: "When did you buy it?"
"I just called someone outside to deliver it."
Lin Qingle said worriedly: "But you can't eat these now."
Xu Tingbai glanced at her sideways: "I know, it's for you to eat."
"Well, then I can't finish it..."
"If you can't finish it, leave it there and come back for more next time."
She probably wouldn't always come to his house to eat snacks even if she had nothing to do.
Seeing that she didn't move, Xu Tingbai reached out and opened a bag of potato chips for her: "Don't you like it? Or do you want to eat something else? Tell me and I'll have someone bring it over."
Lin Qingle shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, don't buy any more, these are enough."
"good."
Xu Tingbai helped to dismantle the cake. After putting it away, he leaned back and finally watched the movie seriously.
Lin Qingle looked at the pile of food in front of him and silently picked up the bag of potato chips.
This is a bit too much...
But I have to say that Xu Tingbai is very good at choosing places to watch movies. She originally thought it was weird to watch movies here, but later she found that it was very comfortable to sit like this, and the screen was big enough, so she enjoyed watching it.
However, the type of movie that was being played now was something that Lin Qingle rarely watched. She herself did not particularly like this type of fantasy fighting genre. Moreover, the movie was very long... She was so bored that she almost dozed off while watching it.
But she occasionally stole a glance at the people next to her, and he looked very focused, as if he was enjoying it. So she was too embarrassed to say it wasn't good, and forced herself to cheer herself up with snacks.
Two hours passed...
The movie seems to be quite long.
Lin Qingle changed his sitting position, hugged the small pillow, rested his chin on it, and his eyelids began to droop...
But this time it only lasted ten minutes.
When the war song started playing, her head finally couldn't hold on any longer and she leaned back without reacting.
Xu Tingbai noticed from the corner of his eye that she was shaking her head, and watched her fall asleep.
Originally, he didn't want her to leave so quickly, so he deliberately picked a very long movie, but he didn't expect... she fell asleep while watching it.
Xu Tingbai turned down the volume and covered her with a blanket. He stopped watching the movie and focused his eyes on her face.
She slept very well, with her head leaning back on the edge of the bed, her whole body curled up.
As he watched, he couldn't help but want to touch her, but when his hand was about to touch her face, he stopped.
He knew it was inappropriate and was afraid of waking her up.
Buzz—
Just then, the cell phone next to her suddenly vibrated. Xu Tingbai quickly turned around and pressed the answer button to prevent it from disturbing her.
"Speak." He lowered his voice.
On the other end of the phone, Xia Tan asked, "What will the evening meeting be like? Is eight o'clock ok?"
Xu Tingbai: "Let's move it to tomorrow."
"Ah? Why?"
Xu Tingbai glanced at someone who was sleeping soundly and said, "I'm sick and can't open the door."
Xia Tan: "Sick?? Really? Is it serious?"
"I had a fever, but I'm fine now."
"Are you home?"
"Um."
Xia Tan: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? If you had told me earlier, I would have come to look after you. How would I explain to your aunt if your condition became serious? Wait a minute, I'll be right over—"
"Don't come over here."
Xia Tan: "Why, what happened?"
Xu Tingbai: "There are people at home, it's not convenient."
“… … ”
Xia Tan was stunned for a long time before slowly reacting: "Who is in your house? Don't tell me it's Lin Qingle."
Xu Tingbai smiled and said nothing.
But for Xia Tan, this was a tacit agreement. "Damn... you can do it. Well, it's still there."
"Asleep."
Xia Tan immediately got confused: "What? Already asleep? You, you guys—"
"She fell asleep while watching a movie."
Xia Tan was so breathless that he almost suffocated himself: "I thought... oh, I was scared to death, I thought you were such a beast."
Xu Tingbai paused slightly and glanced at the defenseless person sleeping next to him.
Then he restrained himself and looked away, stood up, and walked out of the room: "Okay, you can arrange it. There will be a meeting tomorrow afternoon."
—
Lin Qingle felt like she had a very long dream. In the dream, she went back to the time when she first met Xu Tingbai in high school. She bought a bowl of rice noodles at the intersection of the alley and went to his house.
The door opened and sixteen-year-old Xu Tingbai stood behind it, asking her to go away.
He spoke very fiercely, especially fiercely, and said that he didn't want to see her at all.
She was very sad in her dream. She wondered why Xu Tingbai was still so fierce. When could he be a little gentler to her
"I won't eat anything!" He pushed the rice noodles out of her hand, and the noodles fell out and splashed on her hand.
Of course, you wouldn’t feel hot in a dream, but Lin Qingle was startled and then woke up.
She suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling of the room, her breathing unstable.
Ah... it was a dream.
Lin Qingle breathed a sigh of relief, but the next second, the unfamiliar environment made her breathe a sigh of relief again.
She immediately sat up from the bed. Only the bedside lamp was on in the room. It was a soft light suitable for sleeping, but at this moment, it was enough for her to see the surrounding environment.
Xu Tingbai's...
Wait, weren’t we just watching a movie
Oh, she fell asleep.
Then why did she go to bed and sleep
Lin Qingle got out of bed immediately, put on her slippers, and walked out of the room.
"Why did you wake up?"
As soon as he walked into the living room, he saw Xu Tingbai. Lin Qingle glanced at the blanket on the sofa and was stunned.
She took up the patient's bed and pushed someone onto the sofa.
Lin Qingle's face became hot: "I, I fell asleep."
"I know." Xu Tingbai stood up and walked over. "I saw that you were not sleeping well, so I carried you to bed."
Lin Qingle's eyes widened slightly. She hadn't even woken up yet! How deep was her sleep
Xu Tingbai glanced at her messy hair and curled his lips slightly: "It's late, go back to sleep, the room is yours."
"No, no, no, that's not necessary." Lin Qingle said seriously, "I'll go back. I'll go back now."
"It's too late to go back now."
"It's okay! I'll take a taxi!"
Seeing her insistence, Xu Tingbai had no choice but to compromise: "Then I'll take you there."
"You are a patient, you don't need it."
"Touch it."
"What?"
Xu Tingbai suddenly leaned over, took her hand and put it on his forehead, "Is it not hot at all?"
His voice was low, and in the darkness of the night, it seemed to carry a hint of temptation.
Lin Qingle looked at his focused and gentle eyes and forgot what she should say. She just nodded blankly.
Xu Tingbai smiled and said, "Can I take you there now?"