Chapter 8
After leaving the school gate, Lin Lu walked towards his residential area with his head down.
Occasionally, he brushed shoulders with students walking in groups on the sidewalk, listening to their conversations about love, which made him bury his head even deeper.
He had never seriously thought about his marriage with Xue Wensong. He always felt that the concept of marriage was too distant for him. Even though there was someone beside him every night now, he didn’t have any real sense of being married.
Come to think of it, he didn’t even know what love should be like, let alone marriage.
Lost in thought, Lin Lu suddenly felt a warm hand on his neck. He lifted his head to see Xue Wensong smiling at him. “What’s wrong, kiddo?”
Feeling guilty, Lin Lu turned his face away. “Oh, you’re out.”
Xue Wensong’s suspicions were confirmed. Lin Lu was indeed acting strange. He tilted his head slightly and asked while looking at Lin Lu’s profile, “Are you upset?”
Shaking his head, Lin Lu said, “No.”
Xue Wensong rubbed the short hair at the back of Lin Lu’s neck and deliberately spoke in a slightly cold tone. “I’ve told you, I don’t like guessing what’s on a kid’s mind.”
This move worked like a charm.
Lin Lu immediately shrank his neck, feeling unnatural as he said, “I-I just…”
“Hmm?” Xue Wensong patiently prompted, “Just what?”
Taking a deep breath, Lin Lu shrugged and said, “I just feel like you’re too outstanding.”
Xue Wensong raised an eyebrow in surprise, not understanding what Lin Lu meant.
“Are you… not willing to marry me?” Lin Lu looked up at Xue Wensong. “I’m so dumb. You’ve explained countless things to me, but I still don’t understand.”
Xue Wensong chuckled. “Are you upset because of that?”
Lin Lu nodded honestly. “I feel… I’m not good enough for you.” His voice grew smaller and smaller.
Xue Wensong couldn’t help but tease, rubbing Lin Lu’s fluffy head. “Are you confessing to me?”
“What?” Lin Lu widened his eyes in surprise and hurriedly explained, “You, you’ve misunderstood. I just feel sorry for you. You’re idolized by so many people, and I’m so useless…”
“Luck is also part of one’s ability,” Xue Wensong interrupted.
He casually draped his arm over Lin Lu’s shoulder, and Lin Lu was stunned for two seconds before asking, “What does luck have to do with it?”
Xue Wensong replied lightly, “Being able to marry me means your luck is better than most people’s.”
Lin Lu was shocked by this twisted logic. He blushed and said dryly, “…Narcissist.”
Xue Wensong chuckled and noticed passersby occasionally casting glances at them. He withdrew his hand from Lin Lu’s shoulder.
He tossed his suit jacket over Lin Lu’s arm. “Hold this for me.”
“Okay.” Lin Lu obediently held Xue Wensong’s clothes and followed him towards the residential area.
Not long after, Xue Wensong suddenly spoke up, “You just said I’m the idol of many people?”
“Yeah,” Lin Lu replied, “People in our field all know you.”
“What about you?” Xue Wensong asked.
“Me?” Lin Lu’s mind didn’t immediately catch on, thinking Xue Wensong was talking about before marriage. “Of course, I know you.”
“I mean,” Xue Wensong paused, “am I your idol?”
For this question, Xue Wensong was ninety percent confident and ten percent hopeful, but Lin Lu’s answer turned out to be the one percent chance.
“No, not really,” Lin Lu’s expression was too natural, causing Xue Wensong to pause slightly.
“Not really?”
Seeing Xue Wensong’s not-so-good expression, Lin Lu belatedly tried to remedy the situation. “Um, that, idols are something you chase after, a goal to strive for. But you’ve already become a god, unreachable by anyone, so you’re not suitable to be an idol.”
Lin Lu said it all in one breath, without pausing, and with such sincerity that Xue Wensong’s expression softened.
At this moment, Lin Lu’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw that Zhang Yihang was asking if he wanted to go out for dinner with two girls he invited.
Lin Lu hadn’t finished reading his book, so he naturally wasn’t interested in going out. Besides, he wasn’t particularly interested in girls. He replied with a “No,” but as soon as he clicked send, he felt his hand empty. In the blink of an eye, his phone was already in Xue Wensong’s hand.
Lin Lu explained, “A classmate invited me out, but I declined…”
But Xue Wensong didn’t listen to what he was saying. Instead, he returned to the home screen and pointed to the handsome man on the wallpaper, asking, “Who’s this?”
“Have you seen ‘Indigo Starry Sky’? He’s the male lead,” Lin Lu introduced generously.
Xue Wensong raised an eyebrow. “No wonder he looks familiar.”
“He’s a national actor,” Lin Lu said excitedly, “His name is Lu Shaoyang, he’s my idol.”
As soon as Lin Lu finished speaking, he felt a low-pressure atmosphere swirling around him, making him shiver even in this hot early autumn.
“Idol?” Xue Wensong teased with a slight smile. “A goal to strive for?”
Lin Lu was so scared he almost bit his tongue, as if he had seen that pacing tiger again.
“Just, just admiring, a star,” Lin Lu stammered.
Xue Wensong casually placed the phone back in Lin Lu’s hand, lazily asking, “So all your studying effort goes into chasing stars?”
Lin Lu wanted to say that he wasn’t just an ordinary fan, that he was devoted, but he didn’t dare, so he just said, “I’m not really chasing stars…”
Coincidentally, they arrived at a large supermarket near the entrance of the residential area. Lin Lu quickly changed the subject, “What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll cook for you.”
Seeing his little deer’s eager-to-please expression, Xue Wensong couldn’t bear to trouble him further. He rubbed Lin Lu’s head. “Anything is fine.”
Although Lin Lu had only moved to this residential area a few days ago, he was already familiar with this supermarket at the entrance. He walked ahead, selecting vegetables, while Xue Wensong calmly pushed the shopping cart behind him.
Before marrying Lin Lu, Xue Wensong mostly relied on takeout for his meals, and he never expected the kid to be so domestic.
“When did you learn to cook?” Xue Wensong asked casually.
“Um… probably after graduating from elementary school?” Lin Lu picked up two carrots and put them in the cart. When he turned around, Xue Wensong silently put back the carrots he didn’t like.
“Did your grandma teach you?” Xue Wensong asked.
Lin Lu’s hand paused. He looked at Xue Wensong. “How did you know…?”
“As a prospective spouse, I should know a little about you.”
“Oh, I see.” Lin Lu picked up an eggplant and put it in the cart. “I thought you didn’t care.”
“How could that be?” Xue Wensong said lightly, taking the eggplant out again.
“Grandma is getting older, so I cooked before going to university.” Lin Lu picked up a green pepper, seemingly lost in thought about the past. But he quickly regained his spirits and put the green pepper in the cart. “I think my cooking skills are pretty good, right?”
“Yeah, very good,” Xue Wensong said while Lin Lu was picking potatoes, then he took the green pepper out again. “Are you indifferent about marrying me?”
Lin Lu was taken aback. He hadn’t thought about this question before.
“I actually hadn’t thought about getting married,” Lin Lu started picking potatoes again, saying what came to his mind, “But Aunt Zhao said I’m already engaged.”
Xue Wensong casually asked, “Do you want to divorce me then?”
Lin Lu was startled. “Can we even divorce?”
Xue Wensong chuckled, “Of course not.”
“Then why ask…” Lin Lu casually put the picked potatoes into the cart. “But knowing it’s you, I feel relieved, at least I know you.”
Xue Wensong glanced at the potatoes and didn’t move. “What if it wasn’t me?”
“I don’t know…” Lin Lu wrinkled his brows in confusion. “I haven’t thought about it much.”
Xue Wensong didn’t ask further. His little guy’s brain capacity was small to begin with, and asking too much might give him a headache. He silently took out the cilantro Lin Lu had just put in and heard Lin Lu say softly, “If marriage means having one more person to eat with, then it’s not bad.”
Xue Wensong glanced at Lin Lu. His thoughts were so simple, so cute. He wanted to tease Lin Lu a bit, but they happened to arrive at the weighing station. Lin Lu looked at the empty cart, paused for a moment, then asked sternly, “Xue Wensong! Where are the vegetables I picked?”
Xue Wensong looked elsewhere and said casually, “I’m a carnivore, I don’t like vegetables.”
“You!” Lin Lu glanced at the staff member next to him, who was struggling to hold back laughter, and glared at Xue Wensong. “You picky eater!”
Xue Wensong found it amusing. If he was childish, then Lin Lu wasn’t much better.
After getting into bed at night, Lin Lu still held onto a book, his small face wrinkling in a struggle against the intimidating terms and concepts on the pages.
Beside him, Xue Wensong finished handling his emails, sorted out the details for the competition, then closed his laptop and took the book from Lin Lu’s hand. “You can continue tomorrow.”
Lin Lu sighed, looking at Xue Wensong with a hint of complaint. “It’s so hard.”
Xue Wensong raised an eyebrow. “Not writing your paper?”
Lin Lu pursed his lips, then suddenly with a hopeful gleam in his eyes, he said, “How about… you help me write it?”
“…” Xue Wensong looked at Lin Lu for a moment, realizing that Lin Lu was actually serious.
Veins popped on his forehead as he tried to suppress the urge to spank his little deer’s bottom. He asked, “What’s in it for me?”
The hope in Lin Lu’s eyes grew stronger. “I’ll cook delicious food for you every day!”
Xue Wensong chuckled inwardly, but outwardly remained calm. “LuLu, marriage isn’t just about eating together.”
Lin Lu was confused by being called “LuLu” and asked, “Huh?”
Without warning, Xue Wensong turned over and pinned Lin Lu beneath him, slipping a hand under his cotton t-shirt to gently massage his waist. He leaned close to Lin Lu’s ear and lightly licked his tiny earlobe. “There are many other things we can do.”
Lin Lu stiffened all over, his mind going blank.
As the warm hand on his waist gradually moved upward, intentionally or unintentionally brushing against that sensitive spot, and the tongue at his earlobe slowly moved to his Adam’s apple, Lin Lu finally came back to his senses, unable to bear it any longer and let out a soft “Hmm.”
“You… let go of me…” Lin Lu pushed against Xue Wensong’s chest, feeling bewildered. “I don’t want you to help me with my paper anymore.”
Xue Wensong rested his forehead against the pillow beside Lin Lu’s ear, chuckling softly. “Are you sure? A stellar graduation thesis is at your fingertips.”
Lin Lu bit his lip, thinking that this big tiger was really naughty.
