Chapter 287, Change Back

Zhuo walked outside, first taking a slow walk to relax his muscles, then jogging for less than an hour. Afterwards, in order to cool down his body, he chose to walk back home and prepare to go to the supermarket to buy some things.

When running, the brain will not think about other things. Maybe thanks to this period of time when he concentrated on exercise, he felt that his heart was no longer a mess. At least his mind was not always full of thoughts about Zero. Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief and returned home, but did not see a familiar figure at the entrance. Zhuo shouted loudly, "I'm back," but there was no response.

With doubt, he put on his indoor shoes, put the eco-friendly bag of beef he just bought in the kitchen, and then went back to the bedroom and came out again. The apartment was not big and it was easy to walk around. The light in the living room was on, which meant that Ling was still at home, otherwise the thoughtful Ling would definitely turn it off - then it could only be in the bathroom.

I looked at the light coming through the frosted glass in the middle of the bathroom door. I didn't hear the sound of water, so I guess he was taking a bath. It's been so long, the water wouldn't be at a suitable temperature for bathing - he left home an hour ago. But I think Zero is cautious and won't take a bath with cold water, so I'm not too worried.

Zhuo sat on the sofa waiting boredly. The house was so quiet that he could hear the birds singing outside the window. Ling, who was soaking in the bathroom, showed no sign of appearing.

A lot of time had passed, but maybe because Zero had only been in there for a short time, he wanted to soak in the bath for a while longer.

"Ms. Romanoff, are you still not well?"

Still no movement.

This was the first time that Zero didn't respond after hearing his voice, and it was in his own home, so it was impossible for him not to be shaken. He had a lot of thoughts, danger? Not here? Or something else...

After a brief thought, Zhuo made a decision.

Then, Zhuo quietly opened the door of the bathroom.

It was quiet inside, and no one was seen outside. The frosted glass on the inner layer was not closed... Although Zhuo felt that Ling did not close this door because he trusted his character, Zhuo was a man after all, so she should be a little more cautious... There was no one on the small bench under the shower. Looking forward, she could clearly see Ling in the bathtub, sleeping soundly.

However, if there is any difference, it may be because Ling is taking a bath, although only the "little lotus just showing its pointed tip" and "the lotus flower emerging from the water is jealous of its flower head" can be seen, and his hair is stuck to his face and head like seaweed soaked in water.

She lowered her head, her light blond hair darkened after being soaked in water, but the first impression she gave was still that she was pale. She was of adolescent stature, bigger than a lolita, more tender than a girl, straight, with only a slight twist in between, where the river should be. Now that she had taken off her outer clothes, she actually looked thin. Her face was delicate and beautiful. But she still looked pale.

Zhuo knew the dangers of falling asleep in hot water. Whether he turned around, closed the door and banged on the glass to wake Ling up, or walked over and pushed her awake himself, both were reasonable choices at the moment.

But the scene before his eyes gathered from the bottom of his eyes, turned into biological electricity and transmitted to the brain center, and then turned into a ball of fireworks that exploded in his skull.

I can neither advance nor retreat, my mind is blank, there is nothing left.

Then, before Zhuo had time to collect his thoughts, Ling's eyes slowly opened.

A pair of unfocused, unoverlapping, hazy blue eyes looked at Zhuo... to be precise, they were looking in Zhuo's direction.

Zero's wooden expression still had the afterglow of a sleepy face, making him look weak and vulnerable, and endearing. Or rather, his half-asleep, half-awake eyes were clearly conscious and in a trance, making Zero look even more childish than usual - like a hedgehog that had completely removed its protection.

Ling showed a dull look that Zhuo had never seen before due to his carelessness. He stared fixedly in Zhuo's direction, then lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes again.

Zhuo regretted it very much. He should have woken her up immediately and shouldn't have stood there like a fool. But all this was hindsight.

……

"Princess, can you hybrids also breathe with gills...like dragons?"

"I'm sorry. I was careless."

Zhuo complained to her with a red face, while Ling admitted his mistake obediently.

Perhaps he was trying to hide his embarrassment of being 'stupid', or perhaps he was angry at Ling's dangerous behavior just now, or perhaps it was a bit of both - in short, because of his mood, Zhuo's voice was louder than before, and his expression seemed more excited than usual.

At the same time, Zhuo also thought that Ling fell asleep in the bathtub because of his part-time job. This made Zhuo feel complicated, and he began to think about how much work Ling did.

Ling did not refute a word and just nodded to admit his mistake. He also chose to stare at him from beginning to end, as if he was thinking about something, which also made him very concerned.

"I don't mean to scold you... Well, can you tell me how many jobs you have now?"

"Emm..." Ling tilted his head as if thinking.

"Come on, this doesn't fit your personality at all. Is the question difficult? For a five-year-old genius who can take apart a broken radio and remove unnecessary parts to improve and repair it."

"Four. And I'm not a genius, those are my words."

When Zero saw and heard his complaint with his eyes drooped (dead fish eyes), Zero immediately returned to normal and answered the question calmly.

Zhuo was a little scared when he heard Ling's answer. Although it was a little rude to Ling, Zhuo felt that just four part-time jobs would not tire the princess out. There must be other factors that could make the princess worry. As for what other factors they were, Zhuo had no choice but to admit it. It must be related to him.

"Even if I knew that we were having financial difficulties recently, I wouldn't have to work so hard... Is there a reason?"

Zhuo has a basis for what he said. Part-time jobs in Japan are guaranteed a minimum wage, but the general level is about 4000 yen per hour, which is an hourly wage system (about 200 RM). Although the cost of living in Tokyo is higher, they have already rented a house and removed the biggest expense, so they don’t need to do so many part-time jobs. What’s more, the two of them also cook their own meals at home, which can save more money. So it’s completely unnecessary.

So why does it take so much money?

Zhuo almost instantly thought of some bad things, including the idea that Ling was planning to leave. I shouldn't ask... Zhuo felt a little regretful in his heart, and Ling asked in a puzzled voice.

“Have you ever thought about opening a shop?
“Given the rent of a store in Tokyo, even if I use my vacation time to work part-time, it still wouldn’t be enough. I can help with technical issues, but there are also issues with the necessary equipment, which also requires a lot of money.

"I don't mean to deny your efforts, but if there is no reasonable plan, I'm afraid the funding issue will be delayed for a long time."

Ling's calm and gentle voice once again told Zhuo that Ling was explaining to him and calming him down. It was Ling who was so tired that he fell asleep in the bathtub, but now Zhuo was worrying her because of his own problems.

Zhuo opened and closed his mouth upon hearing this, opened and closed it again, and finally said, "...That was a long time ago."

"It goes very quickly."

"..."

Zhuo didn't know what to say.

Time flies. The second year of high school is about to end and it is time to enter the last year of high school.

Was Ling's words a plan for what would happen after that? Zhuo certainly understood that Ling was acting out of kindness. She was planning for Zhuo's future, providing some help that she could for Zhuo's future ideas, which was only related to herself and had nothing to do with others, to help Zhuo. Zhuo understood this.

But these thoughts were also reminding Zhuo that Ling was planning to leave - so that after she left, Zhuo could take good care of himself and live a good life, and go to work to raise funds for him.

Thinking of this, Zhuo lowered his eyebrows, looking a little angry and a little sad - but Zhuo knew that whether he was angry or sad, it was all due to his personal emotional problems, and it was not Ling's fault - all of this was naturally seen by Ling, and Ling had to touch his head with helpless confusion, hoping to wipe away the uneasiness in his eyes.

"...I feel like it took you a lot of preparation."

"No, this is what I want to do. I do this in my free time, and it's not a big deal for me."

"Well, I understand... being well prepared is your style."

"…I am only doing this for those who want to do their best."

Hearing these plain words, Zhuo felt a surge of heat in his throat.

Before he could spit it out, Zhuo quickly picked up the water on the table and swallowed it back. He just felt that the water today was particularly sweet. Normally, drinking water was just ordinary distilled water, no different from usual, but he felt it was quite sweet.

Zhuo didn't know how to react to this sweet feeling that he didn't hate, or to Ling's words. He could only deceive himself by looking at the curtains on the side.

Then, today’s events were turned over in such an understatement.

Because Ling still had work to do in the evening, she went out again after preparing dinner. Zhuo was unable to concentrate on doing other things because of the scene he saw in the bathroom, Ling's attitude of not mentioning a word about "I saw her in the bathtub", and the last sentence, so he could only stare at the TV in a daze.

Ling's calm whisper kept lingering in Zhuo's mind.

Although Zhuo knew that he had a very good relationship with Ling - to be frank, he thought he was one of the people she trusted most in the world. So Zhuo knew that under this premise, there was no problem for Ling to act for him. But when she said that, it seemed as if she also had an unusual fondness for him.

In Zhuo's opinion, Ling definitely likes him, and no matter how much he tries to deceive himself, he cannot ignore this fact.

But in any person's life, the light emotional value of "liking" is not the whole of life. There are many more things that occupy and influence our actions.

——No, maybe it's not what he thinks. It could also be that Zero is simply worried about him, so he wants to take better care of me, and that's why he's so thoughtful. This is understandable.

It is better to say that this situation is more likely. After all, Zhuo also knows how useless he will be after leaving Ling.

Although there is no problem in surviving alone, I am afraid it is just about surviving.

……

"I say, Zero...why are you in such a hurry to do that?"

Before I knew it, it was night again.

The door opened and closed. At the entrance, Lingzheng hooked his calves, took off his shoes from behind with his fingers, and then put on indoor slippers.

Zhuo looked at the time on the wall clock. It was already nine o'clock.

Are you going to be busy until so late?

Zhuo stood at the door, hesitantly asking the question he was concerned about. In fact, he was very hesitant about whether he should ask. Zhuo couldn't control this timid feeling - the terrible thing about emotions is that the ending of the story is determined from the moment things are revealed. Once Ling said something like "Because after I left...", Zhuo felt that his life and spirit would be completely decadent.

In every sense, it was hard for Zhuo to leave her - or rather, he couldn't leave her, nor did he want to leave her. Of course, liking her was the most important reason.

If I confessed my love and then got dumped, seriously speaking, I would be on the verge of death both mentally and physically.

But when the time came, my mouth asked the question faster than my body. Although I was caught off guard and I didn't know if I was prepared, it was a relief.

Hearing this question, Zero blinked several times, then slowly raised his head and looked at him.

Maybe it was an illusion, Zhuo suddenly felt that Ling was smiling.

how is this possible.

It must be an illusion.

She still had no expression.

"Why do you think that is?"

"I feel that I will become unable to take care of myself after you leave, so I will help you to the end. I will support you no matter what happens. I will leave this matter to you. Will you help me arrange all the ways out?"

Zhuo said so many words in rapid succession that he wanted to slap himself in the face - this nagging guy, is he possessed by Lu Mingfei?

However, if you think about it a little, you will understand your own heart. When people try to hide their emotions, they always say a lot of nonsense in order to deceive others and divert attention.

"Is that so?" Zero asked back.

"Hehe..." Zhuo laughed dryly without any emotion: "Yes, I am a waste, that's why I need Her Majesty the Queen to work so hard for me."

"That's not what I'm asking..." Then, Ling, not knowing what he was thinking, took two steps towards Zhuo and leaned his body forward.

Ling didn't really stick to him, he just leaned into his arms. He approached Zhuo from the front, looked up - and then stroked Zhuo's face with one hand.

"Is it just that I can't take care of myself?... It seems I need to keep working hard."

Ling seemed to have entered her own little world, caressing his cheek while looking at him dimly. And Zhuo also looked at her, forgetting even to breathe.

She said this as if she was talking to herself in a dream, and then felt a sense of satisfaction. Looking at the frozen Zhuo, she withdrew her hand that was caressing Zhuo's face, said "I'm going to wash up" and walked towards the bathroom.

Zhuo watched her go, his face feeling as if it was burning.

(End of this chapter)