After swallowing the last bit of bread in the bag, Jiang Lin took a sip of milk, and the straw made an empty "sizzling" sound.
The topic on the screen had just begun when he wanted to get another bottle of milk. When he stood up, he felt dizzy and sat down again.
The screen of the mobile phone next to the computer lit up, and Lu Zhe sent a video call invitation.
He pressed the connect button, and in the screen, a handsome boy was fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan. The midsummer sun penetrated the branches and leaves and fell on his head and body. When the wind blew, fine and dense golden shadows swayed gently on his body, creating a peaceful and beautiful feeling like a picture in an illustration.
Thinking of the relaxing summer vacation time he would have after returning, Jiang Lin felt envious and asked, "Where are you now?"
"Beside the pond near my grandmother's house," Lu Zhe cut the screen to the rear camera to show Jiang Lin the surrounding environment, then cut back and looked at him on the screen, "You look sick?"
Jiang Lin's voice was a little hoarse, and his complexion was not good enough. He smiled after listening and leaned back in his chair: "I have a slight fever."
"Did you catch a cold that day?"
"No, I just started having a low-grade fever last night."
"Why do you suddenly have a fever?"
Jiang Lin held up his left hand to show Lu Zhe. Lu Zhe said, "What's wrong with this eczema? It's much worse than before. Have you been to the hospital?"
"I saw the doctor yesterday and he said I may have come into contact with something unclean which caused a severe allergy," Jiang Lin puffed up his cheeks and sighed, "I can't remember what I touched, but I'll take some medicine and observe. The fever may be related to this."
"Then you should pay attention to your temperature. If it doesn't go down after two days, you have to go to the hospital."
"Um."
"By the way, did Ji Minglun look for you?"
Hearing this name, Jiang Lin tilted his head back. Lu Zhe saw his eyelashes tremble gently like two small fans, and then he lowered his head and looked at himself: "No."
"Or is it turned off?"
"That should be it."
"What do you mean by 'should be'?" Lu Zhe asked suspiciously, "You didn't fight again?"
After a moment of silence, Jiang Lin said, "I can't fight anymore."
This time, the person on the other side of the screen fell silent.
Lu Zhe already knew what happened at Fantawild that day. Lu Zhe said, "If you don't want to fight, don't fight. He will naturally come to you when he figures it out."
Thinking about the remaining time in summer vacation, his temples began to ache again. After chatting with Lu Zhe on video, Jiang Lin got up and went to the kitchen. He wanted to make a cup of coffee to refresh himself. When he was filling the kettle with water, he habitually leaned out the window. However, he was stunned when he saw it. He didn't even hold the kettle firmly and dropped it into the sink.
After turning off the water, he felt a little overwhelmed and looked outside again.
I don't know how long the car parked downstairs has been there. Even though the license plate number cannot be seen from this angle, one can guess that it is Ji Minglun's car just by its outline and the flirty aurora blue color.
Ji Minglun is here.
That person came to see him? !
With his fingers resting on the edge of the pool, Jiang Lin continued to stare at the car. After watching for a while, he didn't see anyone coming down. Could it be that Ji Minglun had already gone upstairs
As soon as this thought came to his mind, the doorbell rang from behind him. He walked quickly to the entrance, looked through the peephole to see who was outside, and opened the door. Then he realized that he hadn't figured out how to greet him, but Ji Minglun had already come in and grabbed his arm as soon as the door closed.
He was unexpectedly bumped into another chest, and a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind to trap him. Ji Minglun's breath caught up in it like a densely woven net, and his heavy breathing fell into his ears, making him so itchy that he couldn't help but shrink, but he was hugged even tighter.
After staring at the brown-red wooden door for a moment, Jiang Lin's eyes became hot and he raised his hands to hug Ji Minglun's neck.
The chests pressed tightly together could hear each other's rapid breathing, which made him wonder if Ji Minglun was panting because he ran up the stairs.
This person just hugged him like this. Does that mean he is not angry with him anymore
"What did you unfinish on WeChat?"
"Tell me now."
The person holding him spoke, and his deep, hoarse voice penetrated deep into his ears, making his already out-of-control heartbeat faster and faster.
The words that I once couldn't wait to tell the other person lingered in my throat again, as if they were blocked by something and couldn't come out.
But Jiang Lin knew that Ji Minglun really wanted to hear it, and he also wanted to tell it and wanted to let Ji Minglun know right away.
"I," he opened his mouth and tried several times. When his face turned red, he finally said it completely.
"The person I like is you."
Although the last two words were spoken softer, the arm around his waist became tighter because of these words. He felt uncomfortable, but did not want to push him away. Instead, he stuck to that person more obediently.
Until Ji Minglun took a deep breath, turned his head and whispered in his ear: "I feel like I'm dreaming. How come I can't feel it's real even though I'm holding you so tightly?"
Jiang Lin understood this feeling. Not to mention him, even he himself felt like he was in a dream. His feet were clearly on the ground, but they felt soft and he felt unstable.
but-
"If you push any harder, I won't be able to breathe."
In order to prevent Ji Minglun from continuing to exert force, Jiang Lin had to remind him. The arm on his waist loosened, Ji Minglun let him go, and the two looked at each other face to face again. Jiang Lin couldn't resist it first, and looked away and said, "Why didn't you say anything before you came?"
"Your face is so red." Ji Minglun said.
Jiang Lin was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Ji Minglun. When he noticed the smile in that man's eyes, he felt a little embarrassed. He turned around and took Ji Minglun's slippers from the shoe cabinet and put them on the ground. Just as he was about to ask Ji Minglun to change his shoes, his fingers were grabbed.
Looking at the back of his hand, Ji Minglun frowned: "Why is the eczema so serious?"
The warmth of another person's palm came from his fingertips. Staring at the hand he was holding, Jiang Lin became absent-minded again.
When he didn't hear a reply, Ji Minglun looked up at him and noticed that his face had turned even redder. He asked again, "The sound isn't right either. Do you have a fever?"
The other hand that was not held reached out, and Ji Minglun touched his forehead with the back of his hand. Feeling that the temperature change was not very obvious, he pulled him into the second bedroom and found that the computer was turned on on the desk. In addition to the bag of bread and milk, there were also three empty bottles of Red Bull.
Jiang Lin's attention was on his hand, and he didn't recover until he heard Ji Minglun ask, "You drank so much Red Bull at once?"
Raising his eyes, he met the long-lost concern in those eyes, and couldn't help but confess: "I haven't slept well these past few nights, and I feel sleepy during the day."
"How can your body handle this?" Ji Minglun raised their hands and asked him again, "What's wrong with your eczema? Have you been to the hospital?"
"I've checked it." Jiang Lin was embarrassed to look at each other's hands in front of Ji Minglun, so he looked at the side and said, "The doctor said it's just a serious allergy, and it will be fine after taking some medicine."
The eczema on his hands was more severe than any other time, and all ten of his slender fingers were red and swollen to varying degrees. Ji Minglun was not fooled by him, and went to the living room to find an electronic thermometer to measure his temperature. When he found out it was 37.9 degrees, he stopped him from touching the computer. When he learned that he hadn't eaten lunch yet, Ji Minglun asked him to lie on the bed, and when he was about to cook, he grabbed his wrist.
"Minglun, you won't misunderstand me again, right?"
Jiang Lin was concerned about this matter. Although Ji Minglun was no longer angry, he still wanted to make things clear if they had not been made clear.
The person with his back to him was silent for a moment, then squatted down beside the bed and looked at him at eye level: "I'll go cook noodles first, and we'll talk slowly after you're full."
Their eyes met, and Jiang Lin belatedly felt a sense of shyness, so he let go of her hand and said, "Okay."
Coming to the kitchen, Ji Minglun opened the refrigerator. The vegetables inside were not fresh, and there was not much kitchen waste in the trash can. He only saw the bread bag on the table. It was estimated that Jiang Lin did not eat well again.
After taking out all the usable ingredients, washing and cutting them, Ji Minglun cooked a pot of sumptuous noodle stew. When he wanted to get a bowl to serve it, he touched a hand.
Jiang Lin handed over two white porcelain bowls. He took them, filled them and gave them to Jiang Lin, then filled his own bowl. When he came out with chopsticks, Jiang Lin had already sat down at the table.
Handing a pair of chopsticks to Jiang Lin, Ji Minglun sat down next to him, looked at him and said, "Eat, be careful of the heat."
"You eat too." Jiang Lin said.
Ji Minglun picked up a mouthful of noodles, blew on it and put it into his mouth. While chewing, he looked up and saw Jiang Lin holding the chopsticks without moving, his attention all on his face.
After swallowing the noodles, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Lin shook his head, picked up the noodles in the bowl with chopsticks, raised the corner of his mouth and said: "It just reminded me that the last time we had a meal together was in Xi'an."
After saying this, Ji Minglun recalled the night when they went to Defachang for a midnight snack. Later, Jiang Lin got drunk and kicked his toe, so he was carried back by him. At that time, Jiang Lin asked a question.
Putting a few crispy fried pork belly strips on the noodles into Jiang Lin's bowl, Ji Minglun said, "How could you not tell me when you drank too much that night?"
Putting down his chopsticks, Jiang Lin looked at him and said, "In fact, I almost couldn't help it several times, but I didn't dare to say it. I don't know what you think now."
Ji Minglun also put down his chopsticks: "Then why don't you ask me?"
Jiang Lin leaned back in his chair, tucked his chin in, and his dense eyelashes hid the emotions in his eyes: "Because I'm afraid."
"What are you afraid of?"
"I'm afraid that if I ask, we won't even be friends anymore," Jiang Lin buttoned the soft fabric of his home pants, "I'm afraid this time it will be your turn to never want to see me again."
"So you ran away a year ago because you didn't want to see me again?"
Ji Minglun deliberately misinterpreted Jiang Lin's meaning. Jiang Lin was indeed anxious. He straightened his back and said, "No, I was just too panicked at that time. I don't know what happened. I just..."
He was so anxious that he raised both hands to the table. Ji Minglun held his left hand and sighed, "It's my fault too. I was also wrong that time. I didn't prepare you mentally."
The fingertips were wrapped in the warm palm of that person again. This intimate touch had an indescribable soothing effect. The body unconsciously relaxed. After a moment, Jiang Lin said: "Minglun, you really still like..."
"Yes," Ji Minglun admitted without waiting for him to continue, "So when I heard that you might be interested in Deng Feng, I couldn't face it."
—I can’t face you, let alone myself.
Jiang Lin moved his lips. After a while, Ji Minglun waited for him to say, "I'm sorry, I should have explained it to you earlier."
Stroking his fingers, Ji Minglun said, "Did you catch a cold when you fell into the swimming pool that day?"
"No," Jiang Lin smiled, "The weather is too hot, it's actually quite cool."
Although Jiang Lin's tone seemed indifferent, thinking of the fact that he did not pull him up that day, Ji Minglun said with guilt: "I was wrong not to pull you up that day."
Jiang Lin smiled again: "You were so angry but you still asked Shen Ran to help me, so I don't feel bad, and it was just an accident."
"I made it clear to Deng Yi that day that if she continued to act willfully and didn't keep her distance, her brother and I would no longer have any contact."
Not wanting to talk about Deng Yi any more, Ji Minglun let go of Jiang Lin's hand, picked up the chopsticks and handed them to him: "Okay, let's talk about the rest later, eat the noodles first, otherwise they will become clumpy."
After dinner, Ji Minglun went to wash the dishes. When he came out, he brought a cup of warm water for Jiang Lin. Seeing that Jiang Lin had taken three kinds of medicine, he took the instructions of the three medicines and read them carefully.
Jiang Lin was full and began to feel sleepy. He couldn't help but yawn. Ji Minglun asked him to lie on the bed. He said, "I will sleep after you leave."
"Go to sleep," Ji Minglun continued to read the instructions, "I won't leave. I'll stay here with you."
The people around him were silent for a moment. When Ji Minglun turned to look at him, he asked in a low voice: "Then do you want to take a nap too?"
Ji Minglun didn't say anything, but his dark pupils looked straight into Jiang Lin's eyes. Although he didn't say anything, Jiang Lin inexplicably became nervous.
Thinking that Ji Minglun hadn't adapted to the change in their relationship, Jiang Lin wanted to save face. Before he could think of the words, Ji Minglun reached out and held his hand again.
"Okay," Ji Minglun leaned forward slightly and whispered in his ear, "I'll sleep with you."