Jiang Yanchen had been fraught with worry every single day lately.
He and Ji Zhaoxi had been together for several years now, yet she showed absolutely no intention of taking him home to meet her parents.
He had dropped hints several times, but she was completely oblivious to what was on his mind!
She would either look at him in surprise and ask, "Why do you suddenly want to meet them?"
Or she would give him a perfunctory peck and say, "As long as I like you, that's enough."
All these behaviors made Jiang Yanchen panic inwardly.
Was she holding off on introducing him to her parents because she planned to abandon him later?
If they ever broke up in the future, her parents probably wouldn't even know she had an ex-boyfriend.
At the mere thought of this, Jiang Yanchen's face would turn pale.
Ji Zhaoxi stretched lazily. Seeing the unhappy look on Jiang Yanchen's face beside her, she leaned over and gave him a kiss.
Jiang Yanchen's ears flushed red. He looked at Ji Zhaoxi, hesitating to speak.
Ji Zhaoxi gave him a puzzled glance, then cupped his face and planted several more kisses on him.
Then she went back to reading her script.
Ji Zhaoxi didn't pay much attention to Jiang Yanchen's strange reaction. He was often like this anyway, and he would be fine after a little coaxing.
Jiang Yanchen remembered the things he had read online: when a woman ignores your emotions, it means her heart is drifting away.
Who on earth was it?!
Who made her heart drift away?
When night came, Jiang Yanchen tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He looked at Ji Zhaoxi in his arms, not daring to wake her up directly, so he could only resort to kissing her awake.
Ji Zhaoxi groggily opened her eyes. Jiang Yanchen buried his face in her neck, his voice trembling, "Have you fallen for someone else... Have you always despised my performance on that show back then?"
Seeing that Jiang Yanchen was about to recount the entire series of events from planting rice, catching chickens, and picking lotuses to fighting for food, Ji Zhaoxi quickly covered his mouth.
How long had it been, and he was still dwelling on this ancient history.
Afterward, Jiang Yanchen would still worry from time to time, until one day, he overheard Ji Zhaoxi on a phone call with her parents.
From that day on, Jiang Yanchen never dared to mention meeting her parents again.
Ji Zhaoxi now had both fame and fortune, with a large portfolio of work, so there were often young male actors trying to take shortcuts, hovering around her every day.
Jiang Yanchen remained calm on the surface, but secretly, he silently intensified his workout routine.
Every day, he would work out shirtless at home, water the flowers in the garden shirtless, and fix the plumbing at home shirtless, even though he didn't know how to fix it.
This was the twentieth time Jiang Yanchen had walked past the study, and Ji Zhaoxi finally noticed him.
Her eyes lit up, and she reached out her hand toward him.
Jiang Yanchen only gave her a shallow hug before letting go. Ignoring the eager Ji Zhaoxi behind him, he took the hose and went to the garden to water the flowers.
This was playing hard to get.
Keeping things fresh in a relationship was very important. He could feel the burning gaze coming from the study; he had even learned these flower-watering poses from videos targeted at women.
Because Jiang Yanchen constantly went shirtless, on one rainy day, he finally caught a cold.
Ji Zhaoxi looked with heartache at Jiang Yanchen, who was lying in bed with a miserable expression.
"I told you not to always go without clothes. Just dress properly from now on."
Jiang Yanchen buried himself in her arms without a word.
After a long time, still feeling a bit aggrieved, he bit her lightly.
"Ji Zhaoxi, I hate that you're such a block of wood!"
Because of the cold, his voice was extremely hoarse, cracking with every word he popped out.
Ji Zhaoxi didn't understand him at all, only catching her own name.
"Mhm." She tried her best to give Jiang Yanchen a response.
Jiang Yanchen: ...
After Jiang Yanchen recovered from his cold, he found a stray cat in the house. It had even rolled all over the flowers in the garden; he had no idea where this little demon had come from.
Jiang Yanchen didn't like cats. It wasn't just that he didn't like cats; he disliked anything that distracted Ji Zhaoxi's attention from him.
His brother was utterly speechless at Jiang Yanchen's thoughts: "If you really feel neglected and that she's not as good to you as before, then just break up."
Jiang Yanchen frowned deeply and uttered that famous line: "Actually, she treats me pretty well."
Brother: ...
Afraid that his brother wouldn't believe him, Jiang Yanchen began to list all the ways Ji Zhaoxi coaxed him, how she would bring him gifts when she went out to film, and so on and so forth.
Brother: ...
Seeing that he had been talking for ages and his brother not only didn't praise his girlfriend but also didn't look at him with envy, Jiang Yanchen said,
"Brother, you really should get into a relationship."
Brother: If he ever listened to him complain again, he would be a dog.
He complained every time, but never broke up.
Later, Jiang Yanchen discovered that because of that ugly cat at home, Ji Zhaoxi came home much more frequently.
Then his daily routine became:
[When are you coming home to see us father and daughter? (Attached: a photo of Jiang Yanchen and the kitten)]
Or it would be:
[A motherless child is like a blade of grass. (Attached: a solo photo of the kitten with a blade of grass on its head)]
On the other side, Ji Zhaoxi couldn't help but laugh out loud when she saw these photos.
Lu Jun was sitting in front of the monitor. He raised an eyebrow: "Isn't he a bit too clingy?"
Ji Zhaoxi looked serious: "I just like him being clingy."
Lu Jun's mouth twitched. No wonder these two weirdos could be together.
When this later reached Jiang Yanchen's ears, he was overjoyed, wishing he could tell everyone around him about it.
That evening, Ji Zhaoxi finished filming early and came home. Jiang Yanchen clung to her and refused to let go, and he even posted a social media update that night.
[A family of three. (Attached: a group photo of Ji Zhaoxi, Jiang Yanchen, and the kitty)]
In no time, several comments appeared below.
[Mother Jiang: Are Xixi and the kitty coming home for dinner this month?]
[Brother: (Eye roll)]
[Ye Mubai: Such a happy family.]
[Director: (Basketball)]
[Xie Siheng: Life is complete.]
Jiang Yanchen looked at his brother's comment and found it an eyesore no matter how he looked at it, so he just deleted it.
He looked at the remaining comments; it was much more harmonious now.
After Lu Jun's filming wrapped up, Ji Zhaoxi finally had time to go traveling with Jiang Yanchen.
At first, Jiang Yanchen made a very detailed plan, determined to make sure Ji Zhaoxi had a great time.
However, they had only been there for a day when it started pouring rain, and the rain showed no signs of stopping.
So they ended up sleeping in their room for several days.
Jiang Yanchen held Ji Zhaoxi in his arms, bit her lightly on the shoulder, and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry."
She had finally found the time to come out and have fun, yet he had messed everything up.
Ji Zhaoxi groggily snuggled deeper into his arms: "It's okay. I don't want to travel; I just want to stay with you."
Jiang Yanchen was instantly appeased.
"I love you too."
Jiang Yanchen gave her a kiss.
He really wasn't lying; Ji Zhaoxi truly treated him very well.
Jiang Yanchen always felt that they were destined for each other. Otherwise, out of so many people, why were the rumors about just the two of them so widespread before they even went on the variety show?
This was a hint from heaven, and he had realized it so late.
In his dream, Jiang Yanchen returned to that village once again.
"Jiang Yanchen, what's wrong?" The Ji Zhaoxi in his dream looked at him with concern.
He calmly flicked the leech off his leg, while Ji Zhaoxi stood beside him, watching with a look of sheer admiration.
"There is nothing to be afraid of when it comes to leeches," the Jiang Yanchen in the dream said to Ji Zhaoxi.
This time, he was determined to change her impression of him!
On the large, rumpled bed, the blankets wrapped around two intertwined figures. Jiang Yanchen held Ji Zhaoxi in his embrace. His eyes were closed, and the corners of his lips unconsciously curled into a faint smile.
Outside the window, the gray clouds broke apart. Soon after, a few white streaks flashed past the glass. Sunlight, filtered through the moisture in the air, pierced the cloud cover and spilled across the sparkling surface of the sea.
