TLDMDTBS Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Is your face all messed up?

Ji Ruan broke free from Gu Xiuyi’s embrace and immediately opened the front camera on his phone.

…His face really is a mess.

There were several patches of orange and red on his cheeks and chin, and his fingertips were heavily affected, having pressed against his eyes, leaving his eyelids smeared with dark gray paint.

Adding to that his face flushed with embarrassment, at this moment he looked like a palette, colorful and vivid.

“Oh my…”

Ji Ruan was stunned by his own appearance, no longer caring about his shyness, and rushed to the sink to clean up.

The fragrant and soft boy in his arms slipped away, and Gu Xiuyi barely exhaled, pinching his slightly numb fingertips and shoving them into his pants pocket.

He glanced at the painting on the wall, trying to ease the tension, and cleared his throat, “You painted the sun really well.”

In his peripheral vision, Ji Ruan’s back froze for two seconds, then he acted as if nothing had happened, “Thank you.”

Gu Xiuyi found himself at a loss for words.

Actually, the responsibility for what just happened lay entirely with him. It was only natural for someone to make sounds during a massage, whether it was because it felt good or was painful.

Ji Ruan was just doing something very normal, and it was he who reacted so strongly to that sound that was the real issue.

Gu Xiuyi remained silent, trying to calm his emotions, while Ji Ruan stayed still without making any sound.

By the time Gu Xiuyi had completely composed himself, Ji Ruan was still bent over the sink, the faucet dripping a fine stream of water. It seemed like he was bent over too long and couldn’t clean it off, occasionally straightening up to smack his waist.

Gu Xiuyi furrowed his brows, went over, and pulled Ji Ruan up, turning off the faucet.

The tap water was cold, freezing in winter. After washing for a while, Ji Ruan’s hands had turned a bright red, and his cheeks were red too, but at least the paint was mostly washed off, except for his eyelids which still bore the dark smudges.

Gu Xiuyi pressed the back of his hand against Ji Ruan’s cheek, which was freezing, causing his heart to skip a beat, “What’s going on?”

Ji Ruan felt helpless.

The paint they used for their art was difficult to wash off. The soap could clean the paint from his hands after scrubbing a few times, and he hadn’t smeared too much on his cheek, so he thought gritting his teeth and using soap would work.

But for his eyes, Ji Ruan really didn’t dare to use soap; he was only wiping with clean water, which had hardly any effect.

“I can’t wash it off…” Ji Ruan sighed helplessly.

“Don’t use cold water for now,” Gu Xiuyi led Ji Ruan to the resting area and handed him a few tissues, “Wipe it off.”

Ji Ruan folded the tissues and dabbed at the water on his face bit by bit, looking still a bit wilted.

Gu Xiuyi scrolled through his phone while asking, “The internet says you can use makeup remover oil for this?”

Ji Ruan looked up and blinked, “Yeah, that seems to be the case, but I don’t have any of that right now…”

Gu Xiuyi pondered, “Are you going to paint again later?”

Ji Ruan shook his head, “My part is pretty much done for today. The senior sisters will come to take over later.”

Gu Xiuyi sat down next to Ji Ruan, continuing to use the tissue to help wipe off the dampness from his eyelashes, proposing, “How about coming home with me? Tomorrow’s the weekend, I can buy a bottle of makeup remover oil for you on the way, and you can clean up properly when we get back?”

Ji Ruan’s eyelashes were drenched, making it hard for him to see clearly. Gu Xiuyi was very gentle, and instinctively, Ji Ruan closed his eyes and relaxed a bit, pondering slowly.

Gu Xiuyi wasn’t in a hurry, gently drying his face, and even touched the outer corner of his eye with his fingertip.

“That makes sense,” after a while, Ji Ruan spoke up, “If I go back to the dorm, Han Xiaolin and the others will definitely make fun of me. It’s better to go with you, and I want to eat the spicy shrimp made by Aunt Zhao.”

Gu Xiuyi’s lips curved into a satisfied smile, “Okay, I’ll tell her.”

He picked up Ji Ruan’s down jacket and put it on for him, taking Ji Ruan’s hand and walking outside, “Let’s go home.”

·

Before dinner, the aroma of spicy shrimp filled the entire villa, and Xiao An couldn’t help but circle around Aunt Zhao, sniffing the air.

Upstairs, Ji Ruan was in the bathroom using makeup remover oil on his eyes, wiping and swallowing hard.

Gu Xiuyi leaned against the doorframe and laughed, “Look at you, drooling over food. Why don’t you go eat first before you wipe?”

“No way, the longer I wait the harder it is to wash off,” Ji Ruan focused on the mirror, casually chatting with Gu Xiuyi, “The school anniversary is next month. Are you coming to school?”

Gu Xiuyi replied lightly, “I received an invitation.”

Ji Ruan waited quietly for a moment but didn’t hear anything else, turning his head, “And then? Aren’t you coming?”

Gu Xiuyi pursed his lips, not responding directly, but instead asked, “Do you want me to come?”

“Um…” Ji Ruan actually started to think seriously, slowly saying, “I do want you to come, and I want you to see the complete version of my painting.”

When he said this, he tilted his head slightly, brushing aside the hair that was blocking his eyes, making his hair appear very soft.

Gu Xiuyi’s fingertips suddenly began to tingle again, feeling like he had been burned by the warmth that blossomed in his heart.

“Alright,” Gu Xiuyi’s throat felt a little dry, so he covered his lips to clear his throat, “I’ll be there on time.”

Ji Ruan didn’t notice Gu Xiuyi’s subtle emotional change, completely absorbed in the paint on his eyelids, slowly wiping it off bit by bit.

Gu Xiuyi watched Ji Ruan for a while, finally unable to resist stepping forward to snatch the cotton pad from him, pinching Ji Ruan’s chin, quickly and efficiently cleaning the paint off his eyelids.

Ji Ruan was very thin, with a delicate and pointed chin. After Gu Xiuyi cleaned it, he found himself a bit reluctant to withdraw his hand.

“All done,” Gu Xiuyi curled his fingers, as if wanting to instinctively preserve the warmth in his fingertips, “Let’s eat.”

Ji Ruan washed his face and casually applied a bit of lotion before heading downstairs with Gu Xiuyi.

On the table was a platter of aromatic spicy shrimp, and Aunt Zhao prepared several home-cooked dishes along with a seaweed egg drop soup.

Ji Ruan picked up a shrimp, and just as he twisted off the head, the bright red oil dripped down his fingertips, fragrant and tempting.

To take care of Ji Ruan’s stomach, Aunt Zhao would not make the spicy shrimp too hot, focusing instead on flavor and freshness. For this dish, Ji Ruan would gladly eat three extra bowls of rice.

But he only thought about it; if he ate too much, his stomach wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Gu Xiuyi sat across from him, eating leisurely and watching Ji Ruan’s fingers quickly get covered in red oil, his lips turning bright and glossy.

Though he ate in a refined manner, his good looks made it extra appetizing for those watching.

Gu Xiuyi kept an eye on Ji Ruan, seeing that the red oil was about to drip from Ji Ruan’s fingertips to his wrist, he timely handed him a napkin:

“Slow down, be careful peeling the shrimp.”

Ji Ruan paused, didn’t argue, and indeed slowed down his movements.

Last time, he’d eaten spicy shrimp and got so into it that he peeled too hard, cutting his finger on the shell; the cut was small, but it hurt immensely from the spicy oil. After washing, the bleeding had taken a while to stop.

The next moment, a perfectly peeled piece of shrimp suddenly appeared in his small dish.

Ji Ruan looked up to find Gu Xiuyi was peeling shrimp while wearing gloves. Although his movements seemed casual, they were quick and skilled, and in just a few moments, a lovely piece of shrimp was added to Ji Ruan’s plate.

Ji Ruan: “?”

Gu Xiuyi didn’t even look up, maintaining a calm expression: “Go wash your hands.”

Ji Ruan almost doubted his ears, “You… want to help me peel?”

Gu Xiuyi still had little expression, as if doing something very ordinary: “What else? What if you cut yourself again? Aren’t you going to paint later?”

Ji Ruan’s heart skipped a beat.

By the time he returned from washing his hands, his small dish was full, all bright red, glistening pieces of shrimp, just looking at them made him feel happy.

“Thank you so much…”

Gu Xiuyi took off his gloves and smiled, “You can only eat this much, or your stomach will hurt again.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Ji Ruan’s eyes sparkled, the arc of his smile particularly beautiful, “This is enough already, thank you!”

He was always generous with expressing his emotions; when he was happy, his dimples would pop up, bright enough to look like he had honey on his cheeks. It seemed that with each bite, the sweetness inside him was about to overflow.

Gu Xiuyi went to wash his hands, returning to quietly watch Ji Ruan eat.

Ji Ruan’s eyelids were a little puffy, probably from scrubbing off the paint earlier, and his entire eye area was red. He sniffled and scooped the shrimp meat with rice, looking as if he was crying from the deliciousness, subconsciously licking his lips.

That little bead of moisture on his lips was a rosy red, really beautiful.

·

On the day of the school anniversary, Gu Xiuyi arrived as promised, but Ji Ruan was late.

As a special guest, Gu Xiuyi entered the exhibition hall with the volunteers. First, there was a long and wide corridor.

The interior was brightly lit; on the left was a timeline of significant events in the century since Jing Da’s founding, while the right featured a long painting, with every image corresponding to the timeline.

The ten-meter-long scroll was laid out straight like a dragon diving into the abyss.

Every historical phase in the painting was shown from the perspective of the students of that time looking at their alma mater.

Initially, Jing Da seemed like a sacred hall on their educational journey, which later transformed into a battlefield under their pens; as they moved further, it became a peak climb under the dawn light… eventually turning into the sun high above the clock tower, signifying a boundless future.

“Such beautiful painting…”

“It feels like watching a documentary…”

“Looking at it alongside the timeline is so well done; my scalp tingled at the part where the pen became a gun…”

“The mountains of dawn are also… My grandma still regrets missing the college entrance exam back then…”

“The final sun is so beautiful… What should I do? I feel a bit proud to have gotten into our school…”

The discussions from the surrounding students were endless, and Gu Xiuyi slowly walked through the crowd, his blood heating up from the moving scenes depicted in Ji Ruan’s work.

The century-old anniversary of Jing Da attracted a lot of societal attention, with numerous media outlets present, reporters filming in front of cameras, and countless flashes going off.

“Jing Da truly has many talented individuals…”

“I heard that the students painting aren’t even professional painters; they’re all amateurs…”

“The spirit captured in this painting is really prestigious…”

This corridor, originally not meant to be a focal display, served merely as a bridge to attract people into the exhibition hall for a better appreciation of other works.

However, interestingly, the corridor became the liveliest spot, where students, professors, and guests alike converged, making the interior of the exhibition hall feel a bit deserted.

Gu Xiuyi walked slowly, fully engrossed in admiring this historical painting, feeling unsatisfied even when he reached the end.

At the signing area of the painting, the names of the principal artists were inscribed. Gu Xiuyi focused on the two characters “Ji Ruan,” silently staring for a long time.

A volunteer approached and asked, “Sir, do you need me to introduce the principal artists of the historical painting?”

Gu Xiuyi came back to his senses, looked at the volunteer and smiled, his words dripping with subtle pride:

“No need, I know him.”

It was agreed to meet at eight in the exhibition hall, and now it was already thirty minutes late, yet the main artist everyone was discussing had yet to make an appearance.

Gu Xiuyi called Ji Ruan, but after ringing until it timed out, there was no answer.

He turned and walked outside, dialing again. After a long wait, he finally heard Ji Ruan’s voice: “Huh?”

His tone was groggy and unclear. Gu Xiuyi halted his steps and sighed with a smile, “You really overslept, didn’t you?”

There was silence for two seconds on the other end, and then sudden chaos erupted.

Gu Xiuyi had to raise his voice to stop him: “Stop, stop Ji Ruan… Don’t rush, just take your time. I’ll wait for you downstairs at the dormitory.”

The exhibition hall was not far from the boys’ dormitory. Just as Gu Xiuyi had reached the bottom of the stairs, he ran into Ji Ruan rushing out.

His hair was a bit messy, and he hadn’t even had time to put on his scarf, which he was grasping in his hand. Although Gu Xiuyi told him not to rush, it was clear that the kid had quickly tidied up before dashing out; the blush from sleep still lingered on his face.

Gu Xiuyi smiled and gently rubbed his cheek, which was warm: “Why did you oversleep?”

Ji Ruan took a breath and put on his scarf, “I was at the exhibition hall looking at the paintings last night, then waited around to adjust the lighting, took too long, and ended up late returning, so I couldn’t wake up this morning.”

Ji Ruan still felt somewhat drowsy, his brain in a standby mode, feeling a bit muddled, and he had no strength in his limbs.

He had dark circles under his eyes, indicating he was indeed tired recently. Gu Xiuyi tidied his hair and led him towards the cafeteria: “If I had known, I wouldn’t have called you, so you could sleep a bit longer.”

“It’s fine,” Ji Ruan shook his head, “I happen to be a bit hungry, too.”

Upon entering the cafeteria, Ji Ruan bought a few soup dumplings and a cup of soy milk, while Gu Xiuyi sat across from him waiting for him to eat.

“Did you see the painting?” Ji Ruan sipped his soy milk and asked.

“Yeah,” Gu Xiuyi smiled, “It was even more shocking than I imagined.”

Ji Ruan looked like a child praised, his cheeks flushed as he grinned, “Honestly, I’m quite pleased with it too. So, how about it, I’m pretty great, right?”

“Of course,” Gu Xiuyi said warmly, echoing his sentiment, “I’m very proud of you.”

He had always known Ji Ruan was excellent; in fact, that initial “excellence” was one of the standards Gu Xiuyi had used when choosing Ji Ruan as his marriage partner, but his mindset had shifted now.

The current Ji Ruan was extraordinarily appealing simply by thinking of him.

Ji Ruan chuckled at the title “senior,” covering his face with his hands and quietly nibbling on his dumplings.

After finishing breakfast, the campus suddenly buzzed with more people, as various activities for the school anniversary began to unfold, the atmosphere lively.

“Do you want to go back to the exhibition hall to see the paintings?” Gu Xiuyi asked.

Ji Ruan pondered for a moment, “Let’s skip it. I’ve already seen the final exhibition last night. Let’s go to the auditorium; they have performances there, right?”

He shrank his neck, “I feel a bit cold.”

“Okay.”

In the auditorium, various clubs were continuously showcasing their performances. By the time they arrived, it was just the street dance club’s turn, with loud music and cheers erupting.

Ji Ruan and Gu Xiuyi sat in the last row in a corner. The heating indoors was strong, and Ji Ruan took off his scarf.

However, he seemed to struggle with the overly loud music; after sitting for a short while, he felt a bit of a headache.

Fortunately, each club only performed one act, and by the time Ji Ruan and Gu Xiuyi arrived, the street dance club was nearing the end, soon transitioning to gentle guitar music.

Ji Ruan relaxed his tightly clenched hands, quietly exhaling a sigh of relief.

Midway, Gu Xiuyi stepped out to take a phone call, leaving Ji Ruan alone inside, chatting with Han Xiaolin for a while.

But whether it was because the auditorium was too stuffy or he hadn’t quite recovered from the energetic performance, Ji Ruan felt a pulse of pain at his temples.

Messages from Han Xiaolin kept popping up on his phone screen, and he seemed to be having a great time outside, but Ji Ruan found his eyes spinning from the rapidly scrolling messages, his heart flipping, and he almost felt nauseous.

He hurriedly turned off his phone, bent over and pressed his hands at his stomach, gritting his teeth as he tried to recover from the wave of unease.

As his vision gradually cleared, he broke out in a cold sweat on his back, feeling dizzy and his eyes were sore.

Ji Ruan touched his face, sensing that he might be running a fever…

He despairingly closed his eyes, having a bad premonition.

When Gu Xiuyi returned, he saw Ji Ruan leaning against the back of his chair, looking unwell.

The lighting in the auditorium was dim; Gu Xiuyi came closer and finally noticed Ji Ruan’s complexion—flushed cheeks, red around the eyes, but his lips were a bit dry and cracked.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Xiuyi asked softly, “Where do you feel uncomfortable?”

Ji Ruan slowly opened his eyes, resting his hand on his stomach, looking a bit dazed: “I think I might have a fever again…”

Gu Xiuyi’s heart tightened, and he immediately checked Ji Ruan’s forehead with the back of his hand; it felt somewhat warm.

He gently wrapped his arm around Ji Ruan’s shoulders, his fingertip resting on the skin behind Ji Ruan’s left ear: “How do you feel now? Does this hurt?”

Ji Ruan shook his head weakly, “My head hurts and I feel a bit nauseous.”