She typed a few words into the chat before deleting them again. Finally, she sent the words, “Um, Wei Zilin?”

As soon as she sent it, she regretted it. Hugging her phone, she rolled around on her bed. What the heck did she mean by sending something like that?

It sounded really cold, as though she did not want to be friends with him. What if he misunderstood her attitude?

She locked her screen and unlocked it again, but she did not see any reply from Wei Zilin. She locked her screen again, but unlocked it barely a few seconds later, and there still was no reply. After repeating that process a few more times, she felt her heart grew ever more nervous. She almost wanted to come out and tell Wei Zilin what she really felt, explaining that she was not cold towards him and refusing to add him as a friend. However, she did not know how to start wording that.

He had not even replied yet, so if she suddenly started monologuing like that, it would be extremely weird and impractical.

A while later, her phone finally vibrated. Xu Moyan was still rolling about, but she immediately stopped, unlocking her phone in excitement and anxiety. When she looked at his reply, however, she saw that it was a voice message.

“Sorry, I sent you a friend request, but since I didn’t get an immediate response, I thought perhaps you weren’t on WeChat. So I went to take a bath, and I just got out of the bathroom. Oh, and yeah, it’s me, Wei Zilin. We’re already friends, so I thought it was weird that we don’t know how to contact each other. That’s why I asked Shen Zongyi for your WeChat ID. Hope I didn’t scare you.”

Xu Moyan had no idea how to react anymore. She had frozen stiff, her mouth hanging stupidly open as her mind flooded with images of him in the bath.

The voice message he sent was perfectly enunciated, and it emanated the pleasure after a bath. His voice had something of a lazy drawl, quite unlike his usual crisp tone. Instead, his lazy voice sounded slightly hoarse.

From his voice alone, she could almost feel the comfortable warmth from the steam in the bathroom surrounding him like a fog. In the images in her mind, he had no clothes on, and his skin was fair and clean, his chest well-toned. From what she had seen of his build, he probably had defined abs. Her imagination ventured lower…

Xu Moyan raised her head and stuffed her nose, a little afraid to continue imagining. Well, she could not really imagine the rest, anyway.

She should… She should see it for herself to be sure.

Since he sounded so lazy and laid-back, she could not help but imagine how he was dressed right now. Was he wearing nothing but a bath towel around his waist, revealing his toned and slender calves? Or was he wearing a loose T-shirt? Maybe he was wearing something even more casual, sweats, or pajamas.

Was he lying on his bed, or was he slumped in a couch? Could he be walking around his house, or sitting down as he sent out that voice mail?

Regardless of which scene she considered, every single one was candy to her mind’s eye.

Xu Moyan could not help but listen to the voice message over and over, only to find that she had forgotten to reply.

She had heard his voice when he was being interviewed, formal and solemn, yet dashingly handsome. She had also heard him when he was dubbing Qi Shaofeng, his voice sometimes gentle, sometimes cold, and other times tragic.

However, she had never heard him sound this lazy and carefree. She hit repeat on that voice message over and over again, hypnotized.

Suddenly, she felt another vibration in her palm. He had sent her another voice message, asking, “Are you still there?”

Xu Moyan thought it over. He had sent her voice messages, and she was not engaged in anything right now, so it seemed rather rude to reply by text. To be honest, in front of him, she had very little confidence in her own voice.

Even so, she pressed the voice message button and said, “I… I’m here.”

She laughed hastily. “I was just a little shocked. I didn’t think you’d send me a friend request. It… um… kinda feels like a great honor.”

Immediately after that, she added, “But it wasn’t too sudden, really. I… I’m really happy.”

It felt like her idol was talking to her directly. Her fangirl side took over, and she was so excited she could barely keep herself together.

This time, he replied extremely quickly. Xu Moyan could not help but think he was sitting down and not moving around, chatting with her whole-heartedly without getting distracted by anything else.

It felt great to think she had his full attention. She could feel his sincerity, as though he placed a lot of importance in their conversation.

Xu Moyan wondered if this was because Wei Zilin was just raised well. Maybe he acted like this to everyone, and not just her. Even so, she was happy that he took her seriously.

She tapped on the voice message and immediately heard his light chuckle. When she heard him face to face, she would get distracted by his face and his every action.

Now, she was only hearing his voice and nothing else. She held her phone to her ear, as close as it could go, so she could hear his voice wafting straight from the speakers and into her ears. This way, it was clearer and more focused. The temptation in his laugh was magnified and its power intensified, making her heart beat wildly and bumps rise on her skin.

That critical hit had come at the very beginning of the message, taking Xu Moyan completely by surprise and nearly sending her sprawling onto the bed.

“I’m happy that you’re happy. Could you give me your number? That way it’ll be easier for me to contact you next time.” Xu Moyan was slightly stunned. To be honest, she had wracked her brain and still could not figure out any situation that required them to communicate.

Still, since Wei Zilin had brought it up, she was more than happy to exchange phone numbers with him.

She hurriedly keyed in her number and checked it three times to ensure it was error-free. As soon as she sent it, she got out of bed and went to her drawers, pulling out her earphones and plugging them into her phone.

If she was listening to her idol’s voice, she should use earphones to get the best sound quality.

To her surprise, however, her phone began to ring. In place of the caller ID, she saw an unknown string of numbers.

Xu Moyan’s hand shook. She had just sent her phone number to Wei Zilin, and now she was getting a call from an unknown number. Could it be…

Xui Moyan hastily pulled out her earphones and sat up straight. She cleared her throat twice and even stupidly vocalized into the air, saying “ah, ah” to adjust her voice. She just wanted to steady her voice so that she did not embarrass herself too much.

Finally, she picked up the call and said, “Hello.”

“It’s me, Wei Zilin.” Wei Zilin’s lazy, soothing voice came through the phone. It was like a cup of warm tea in the cold night, but after the leaves were used a few times, so the taste of the tea had faded somewhat in intensity. It was faintly fragrant and comfortably warm, perfect for soothing the throat in the cold of the late night, comforting and sweet.

“Uh.” Xu Moyan nervously took a deep breath, but her voice still shook slightly despite herself. “I thought it might be you.”

“Yeah, this is my phone number.” He might have sensed her nervousness, but he was kind enough to overlook it, chatting with her as though nothing was off. It calmed the tension in her body and the anxiety in her mind. “If you need anything in the future, you can call this number.”

Xu Moyan was dazed for a moment, and the first reaction in her mind was, what could she need from Wei Zilin? She would definitely be too shy to ask him for help.

Even so, she obediently replied, “Okay.”

“What did you eat tonight?” Wei Zilin asked in his low voice. It sounded as though it was resting in his throat, floating through the phone and faintly reaching her ears.

Since she was alone at home, there were no televisions or videos playing in the background. Her surroundings were perfectly quiet, and she could hear his voice clearly. Xu Moyan’s voice was not very loud either, crisp and clear. Just as Wei Zilin described it, it was a very clean voice.

The two of them spoke quietly, as though whispering to each other. It somehow sounded extremely intimate, and yet Xu Moyan was completely oblivious to tat. She did not know that the way she spoke softly and gently to Wei Zilin over the phone was just like a girl in love. It was as though an invisible circle had been sketched into the air, keeping the cold out and forming a small space around her. The space was saturated with a pink aura, warm and sweet.

“Yuntong went out for a date, and I was alone at home, so I made myself some mini wontons with pork, mushrooms, and corn. As soon as winter hits, I prepare some bone soup and keep it ready at home. I brew it every time I’m at home, and after a few brews, it tastes very flavorful. I used that broth for the wontons’ soup base, and I added some beaten eggs, pickled vegetable bits and green onions. Then I added a few drops of sesame oil into the soup, two spoonfuls of vinegar, and some pepper. I love eating wontons that way.” Xu Moyan described everything in detail.

Even across the phone, Wei Zilin felt as though he could smell that sweet fragrance. Although he had already eaten, he suddenly felt rather hungry again, and he was tempted to call for delivery.

He could not help but laugh. “I really miss your cooking. You made me hungry again, and now I’m craving mini wontons. I’m sure the ones I order via delivery won’t be as tasty as yours, though.”

Xu Moyan almost had the urge to go to the kitchen and make a few more, sending them over to Wei Zilin.

She glanced at the time and seriously considered this course of action before she said, “It’s too late now, and it’s not good for your digestion to eat anything more. You won’t be able to digest it before you sleep. Hmm, but you’re working tomorrow, and if I cook the wontons before sending it to you, the skin will go soft, and it won’t taste nearly as good. If I give them to you raw, it won’t be easy for you to cook them in your office. What did you eat tonight?”

“I had home-cooked food made by the aunty at home. Tomato fried egg, meat and fungus, and sweet-and-sour fish. Still, it was a whole fish and not slices, and the sweet-and-sour sauce wasn’t as good as yours.”

Xu Moyan laughed and suddenly thought it was true, that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach.

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