Chapter 21

Hence, Jian Ci moved in with Zhou Bai.

Although it was a marriage out of formality, it was one that solved all their problems.

After Zhou Bai ended the ambiguous relationship with his previous partner, he did not eagerly seek out another one. On the bright side, he was showing great respect to Jian Ci, his collaborative partner. After he resigned from Bai Sheng, Jian Ci found a new job at an IT company, working as an UI designer. He used half of his salary to pay for their “living expenses”, to express his sincerity and gratitude.

It was a fairly big four-room apartment. The master bedroom and the study was Zhou Bai’s personal space, while Jian Ci had a bedroom of his own. The floor area of his room was not small; with a single bed in place, there was space for a computer table and a wardrobe. The kitchen, living room and toilet were shared common areas. This made them simply seem like housemates staying under the same roof, not interfering in each other’s lives.

To be honest, Jian Ci was very satisfied with this.

On a Saturday morning, Zhou Bai went to his company to complete some work and he returned home before ten. Entering the door, sounds of thriller music and ear-piercing screams of actors greeted him. His vision shifted to the television screen, showing blood and flesh splattering in all directions. Knitting his brows, he glanced towards the person who was nestled in the sofa.

Sensing movements, the person turned to where the sounds came from. “You’re back! Did you go to work? Going back on a rest day, it’s so tough being a president.”

What a load of bullshit.

“Mm,” Zhou Bai responded. This person was still asleep when he left for work, but now he’s awake. With a bunch of bed hair resting on his head, a piece of washed out t-shirt on his body, and a cherry tomato hanging from his mouth, Zhou Bai could not stand the sight of it. However, when he looked at Jian Ci’s appearance, Zhou Bai felt that the suit he was wearing was suffocating.

Removing his blazer and tie, he sat on the sofa. “What are you watching?”

The plot reached its climax and Jian Ci’s attention was pulled back to the television. “Final Destination 4,” he said as he gave a cherry tomato to Zhou Bai.

Water droplets were still dripping from the bright red fruit, making it look cute and alluring. The fair and slender fingers holding onto it looked clean too. In the heat of the moment, instead of using his fingers, Zhou Bai took it with his mouth.

A touch out of the ordinary caused Jian Ci to look at him with surprise. Noticing how Zhou Bai acted so naturally, as if he was just too lazy to move, Jian Ci calmed his mind. He secretly rubbed his fingertip, remembering the warm touch of the two lips.

Zhou Bai was a little annoyed as he ate the sweet and sour cherry tomato. Such an intimate move was unlike him at all. He did not know what came over him when he subconsciously did that.

“That film series which shows the different ways of death?” Zhou Bai remained his composure.

“Yes,” Jian Ci replied, “It was really scary in the beginning, but it was fine after watching it a few times.”

Zhou Bai looked at him.

Jian Ci was unable to stand the expression in his eyes and could only be honest, “Mm… I wanted to take the scenes as reference, after all, the way your previous wives died did appear in the film…”

“…”

Seeing that Zhou Bai’s face was turning sullen, he tried to redeem himself, “It has already been so many days and nothing has happened, it seems like those superstitions are untrue after all.”

“You’re regretting it,” Zhou Bai scoffed.

Jian Ci was blushing as he laughed, “I’m not, it’s just that I really don’t want to die now. Marrying you was a blessing to me, and everything became better.”

Zhou Bai’s pupils gradually shrunk. He remained silent.