Chapter 10

Su Louzhi opened her mouth, but no sound came out—she was genuinely stunned by the proposal.

Watch a movie? Have a meal together? Then take a nap at his place?

They had only met yesterday.

Wasn't this moving a bit too fast?

She lowered her head to type out a polite refusal—

But her fingertips met empty air.

Ji Kailan's hand gently covered her phone screen, blocking the keyboard she was about to tap.

Su Louzhi looked up.

His eyes were on her.

No pressure, no force—he was simply looking at her, quietly.

"Zhizhi," he asked softly, his tone exactly the same as before, as if he were asking the simplest question, "may I?"

Su Louzhi looked into those eyes, and for some inexplicable reason, she nodded.

By the time she came to her senses, she was already seated in the passenger seat, scenery flashing past the window as Su Louzhi stared blankly at her own hands.

A pretty face leads people astray.

It was definitely a pretty face leading her astray.

How on earth had she nodded just now? He just looked at her with those eyes, and her mind went completely blank—she couldn't say a single word of refusal.

Su Louzhi silently scolded herself for three seconds.

Then she sneakily glanced at Ji Kailan, who was driving, through the rearview mirror.

—Well, he was indeed good-looking.

After a ten-minute drive, Ji Kailan parked in the mall's underground garage.

Su Louzhi unbuckled her seatbelt and got out with him. The underground garage lighting was a bit dim, and Ji Kailan walked half a step ahead and to the side of her—close enough, not too far, just right.

"The cinema is on the fourth floor," he said. "There's an elevator over here."

Su Louzhi nodded and walked beside him, her eyes involuntarily roaming around.

This mall was bigger than she'd imagined, and the interior was quite upscale.

Ji Kailan noticed her gaze. "Zhizhi hasn't been here before?"

Su Louzhi nodded and typed: [Mhm, first time.]

Ji Kailan finished reading, his brow lifting slightly. "Then I'll have to give Zhizhi a proper tour." He paused. "Doesn't Zhizhi usually hang around the campus area?"

Su Louzhi nodded again and typed: [I'm probably a bit of a homebody.]

Ji Kailan looked at the line of text, the corner of his mouth curving up. "Speaking of which," he said in a casual tone, "I still don't know where Zhizhi is from."

Su Louzhi's fingers paused.

City A. The information the system gave her said City A.

She typed: [I'm from City A.]

When she held it up, her face betrayed nothing, but inwardly she was a little nervous.

This extra's background information the system had given her was pitifully sparse—just a few lines, which she'd long since memorized by heart. But if Ji Kailan kept asking, like which district in City A, which high school, what local specialties—then she'd probably slip up.

Ji Kailan looked at the line of text, his gaze flickering slightly.

City A.

Of course he knew she was from City A.

After discovering yesterday that she was his cure, he'd had someone dig up everything on her that very night. From her birth certificate to her school records, from her parents' information to her relatives' relationships, plus traces of her daily activities—all of it was now sitting in the drawer of his study desk.

He'd asked on purpose, wanting her to say more.

Talk about her background, her family situation, how her parents had passed away—that way he could follow up naturally, comfort her, close the distance, build a deeper connection.

Unfortunately, she didn't seem to want to talk about it.

Ji Kailan lowered his eyes, lightly glossing over the topic without pressing further.

Su Louzhi quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

When the two walked into the cinema, there were still about ten minutes before the movie started.

Ji Kailan picked up the tickets, glanced at the time, then turned to Su Louzhi. "Zhizhi, want to buy something? Popcorn okay?"

Su Louzhi nodded. She wasn't picky about food—popcorn was fine.

Ji Kailan walked to the counter and ordered a cola-and-popcorn combo.

Su Louzhi stared at that cup of cola and blinked.

One combo... did that mean they'd share it?

She thought for a moment, glanced at Ji Kailan again, then walked to the counter herself, showing her phone to the clerk: [One mango pomelo sago, please.]

The clerk quickly made it and handed it to her. Su Louzhi carried the cup of mango pomelo sago, walked back in front of Ji Kailan, and raised the cup to him with curved, smiling eyes.

Ji Kailan looked down at that cup of mango pomelo sago and froze.

"...For me?"

Su Louzhi nodded, still holding the cup up.

Ji Kailan forced the corners of his mouth upward and took the cup. "Thank you, Zhizhi."

Su Louzhi's eyes curved as she typed: [You're welcome.]

Ji Kailan looked at the line of text, then at the mango pomelo sago in his hand, his mood somewhat complicated.

He really didn't like sweet drinks, but...

He took a quiet sip.

—

The two entered the screening room and found their seats.

The movie started soon after.

Ji Kailan had chosen a light comedy—not sappy, not awkward, with a brisk pace and dense jokes. Su Louzhi got absorbed as she watched, forgetting even the bucket of popcorn in her hand, just grinning foolishly at the screen.

Ji Kailan sat quietly beside her, occasionally turning his head to glance at her.

The movie was halfway through, entering a transitional segment, when Su Louzhi finally remembered there was a bucket of popcorn beside her. She reached over, grabbed a handful, and stuffed it into her mouth, then looked down at the bucket—

Huh?

Why was there still so much left?

She froze for a second, then turned her head toward Ji Kailan.

Ji Kailan was staring at the screen, and he had taken a few sips of the mango pomelo sago, but the popcorn... he probably hadn't touched a single kernel.

Su Louzhi thought for a moment, then pinched a piece of popcorn and held it up to him. Her original intention was for him to take it himself.

But Ji Kailan seemed to have misunderstood.

He lowered his head slightly, and right by her hand, opened his mouth to take the popcorn.

His soft lips brushed across her fingertips.

Su Louzhi's fingers shrank back slightly.

It was very light—like a tiny electric shock.

She instinctively wanted to pull her hand back, but that would feel like too big a reaction, too strange.

So she froze in place, her fingers keeping that position, letting that tingling sensation spread from her fingertips.

Ji Kailan finished the popcorn, turned his head to look at her, the corner of his mouth lifting: "Thank you, Zhizhi."

Su Louzhi's face felt a bit hot.

She silently picked up the entire bucket of popcorn and held it out to him, signaling with her eyes: you eat.

Then she quickly turned her head back to the screen, pretending nothing had happened.

Ji Kailan looked down at the bucket of popcorn, then at her slightly flushed profile.

The smile in his eyes deepened.

The screening room was very dark.

The light from the screen flickered on and off, casting shifting shadows across Su Louzhi's face.

But Ji Kailan's eyesight was excellent.

As an Enigma, his physical abilities surpassed every other gender. This bit of darkness was no different from broad daylight to him.

He could clearly see her slightly flushed cheeks.

Could see her pretending to focus on the screen, the way her lashes trembled gently.

Could see her quietly pursing her lips, then taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

Ji Kailan's gaze slowly moved from her cheeks to her eyes.

The screen's light reflected in them, bright and glistening. Those eyes were pretending to watch the movie, but actually taking nothing in.

Ji Kailan suddenly felt like laughing.

So adorable.

He'd met all kinds of people. Cunning ones, worldly ones, pretentious ones, those playing hard to get.

But never anyone like this.

Couldn't hide a single thought, everything written on her face. She blushed when shy, retreated when nervous, and when caught, pretended nothing happened.

Like a blank sheet of paper.

He lowered his eyes and let out a soft breath.

Then he felt something deep inside his body slowly stirring from its slumber.

—

Su Louzhi waited for a while, but never felt Ji Kailan reach out to take any popcorn from the bucket she was holding. She was a little puzzled—could it be that Senior Ji wanted her to feed him?

Thinking this, she went ahead and did it. Sure enough, when she pinched a second piece of popcorn and held it to Ji Kailan's mouth, he opened his mouth and ate it.

Ji Kailan smelled the popcorn fragrance so close at hand. He snapped back to attention, lowered his eyes to look at the hand in front of him, and his thoughts raced—he instantly understood what Su Louzhi had assumed, but he had no intention of clarifying. He simply opened his mouth and ate the popcorn by his lips, except this time, he was careful that his lips didn't touch her again.

Su Louzhi watched Ji Kailan eat the second piece of popcorn, thinking: sure enough, Senior Ji wants me to feed him. Though they'd only known each other for two days, and it felt a bit abrupt, Senior Ji had helped her yesterday, and since Qingyan also called him Master Ji, he was probably just a young master with that sort of temperament—unwilling to lower himself to eat by hand? Well, whatever. It was just feeding the young master a bit. And on the second feed, the young master had clearly noticed the slip the first time and hadn't touched her, so what was there for her to fuss about?

Then she pinched a third piece.

Ji Kailan watched her movements, the smile in his eyes almost spilling over.

The little kitten was truly too adorable.

She'd been so shy just moments ago, the tips of her ears flushed red, yet she still bore through the embarrassment, feeding him piece by piece, cheeks flushed, eyes bright, confident that her deduction was correct and she was doing great.

He lowered his head and ate that piece of popcorn again.

Desire slowly surged through his body, but he had no intention of suppressing it anymore.

After all, the screening room was this dark.

And the little kitten couldn't see.