Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 551 The Little Demon 12

Chi Jingchen even glanced at the empty bowl with some doubt, as if he couldn't believe that his stomach could hold so much food, and... the process was so natural.

The warmth from eating a full meal slowly spread from his stomach, and even his cold fingertips seemed to warm up a little. This long-lost sense of satisfaction from "finishing a meal" made Chi Jingchen's tense body relax noticeably.

He put down his bowl and looked up at Yun Chu, who was standing by the bed, watching him eat quietly. Her eyes were bright, with a subtle hint of anticipation and a little pride.

"...It's delicious." Chi Jingchen's voice was still low, with a hint of weakness after the illness, but his tone was very sincere, even mixed with a hint of surprise and satisfaction.

This was the first time in a long time that he had truly felt comfortable after eating a meal, rather than uncomfortable. He paused, then added softly, "Thank you."

Seeing the thermos completely cleared out, with only a few bits of crispy pickled cucumbers left, Yun Chu finally felt relieved, a sincere smile spreading across his eyes.

"I'm glad you like it. This makes me happier than giving me a five-star rating."

Chi Jingchen's pale face seemed to show a bit of life. He leaned against the soft pillow, his eyes fixed on the empty bowl. His voice was a little stronger than before, but still with the hoarseness and fatigue of someone who had just recovered from a serious illness: "It's been a long time... I haven't felt that food is so delicious."

He paused, then looked up at Yun Chu with a rare sense of relief and a hint of explanation, "I've been so exhausted lately... I just finished a series of performances and recordings, and I finally got two days off. I wanted to go back to my apartment... Well, it's not far from here, so I can have a couple of days of peace and quiet."

As Yun Chu put away the dishes, he said naturally, "You should rest well during the holidays, especially with your work intensity."

She thought about how her heels hurt when the restaurant got busy, not to mention the idols who had to sing and dance. "Going home and getting a good night's sleep is the right thing to do. But...how did I end up fainting from hunger in front of a convenience store last night?"

Speaking of this, a trace of embarrassment passed across Chi Jingchen's face, and the pale tips of his ears seemed to be stained with a very light blush.

"I only realized... the refrigerator was empty when I got home." He pulled the corners of his mouth helplessly, like a child who hadn't planned an outing. "I wanted to buy something to fill my stomach, but..."

The rest of the words are self-explanatory. Hunger, fatigue and the coincidental collision with Yun Chu became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"Which neighborhood is it in? There are quite a lot of convenience stores nearby, so this one is quite close for you..." Yun Chu asked casually, gently closing the lid of the cleaned thermos bucket with gentle movements.

Chi Jingchen reported the name of a community.

Yun Chu's hand instantly stopped on the lid of the thermos, his eyelashes suddenly raised, and his eyes were full of incredible surprise.

"You mean...Chenxi Community? Building B?" Yun Chu's voice involuntarily rose a little.

Chi Jingchen nodded, his eyes a little confused, not understanding why she was so surprised: "Yeah, yes. Unit 01 on the top floor."

"Top floor... Unit 01..." Yun Chu muttered, her eyes widening. "My sister and I live across from you! Unit 02!" She pointed at herself, as if confirming her location. "It's the unit with two units per elevator!"

Now it was Chi Jingchen's turn to be stunned. His eyes, which had been somewhat vacant, suddenly focused and fell directly on Yun Chu's face. His mouth was slightly open, and he was obviously completely shocked.

"Opposite...house 02?" He repeated subconsciously. The neighbor who always kept the door locked and remained silent?

The place where the tempting aroma of food occasionally wafts out, leaving him hungry and curious when he returns from dance practice late at night?

The ward fell into a strange silence for a moment.

The morning light outside the window grew brighter, filtering through the gaps in the blinds and casting several golden streaks of light on the floor.

The smell of disinfectant seemed to be diluted by the sudden revelation of the neighborly relationship between the two people, and the air seemed to still linger with the sweetness of rice porridge and the wheat aroma of buns.

"So... you were planning to go home yesterday, but you didn't make it back home," Yun Chu finally found his voice, speaking with a sense of absurdity that was both laughable and sad. "Then, downstairs in your own neighborhood, a stranger like me used a door to 'send' you to the hospital?"

The more she thought about it, the more bizarre this coincidence seemed, like a plot from a novel, and she couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.

Chi Jingchen also reacted. He looked at Yun Chu and couldn't help but smile apologetically. There was no deliberate sympathy or distance in that smile, only pure surprise and a little subtle sense of fate.

He couldn't help but twitch the corners of his lips, pulling out an extremely faint but absolutely sincere smile.

This smile dispelled the usual aloofness and sickly paleness on his face, and even gave him a bit of the refreshing aura of youth.

"Now that I think about it," he said with a slight hint of teasing in his voice, "this is probably... the most 'drastic' way to welcome a neighbor home?"

After he finished speaking, he lowered his eyes slightly because of this unprecedented relaxed expression, and his long eyelashes cast a shadow.

"It seems that my welcome ceremony was really..." Yun Chu smiled and shook his head, "too ingenious. Next time, remember to say 'good luck in the new year'. It's better to say it with your mouth, but never with your actions."

She paused, looking at Chi Jingchen, who looked much better than he had in the early morning. The regret in her heart lessened a little, and the embarrassment of "bumping into the neighbor" turned into a kind of cordial connection. "Since we are neighbors, we should visit each other more often in the future."

"Well, the soup is still hot. Do you want to drink some more? Or maybe you should just get some sleep?"

Chi Jingchen looked at the sky outside the window, and felt the comfort brought by the long-lost warmth and fullness in his stomach. He shook his head gently: "No, really... I'm full."

He paused, then looked up at Yun Chu again. His beautiful eyes were no longer as hollow and wary as before, but instead held a palpable warmth and sincerity. "Thank you... um... my neighbor next door. The breakfast... was really delicious."

The sunlight moved a little further, shining brighter on the side of the bed.

The harshness of winter was finally softened by the spring breeze, and the buds quietly emerging from the branches announced the beginning of a new semester.

Yun Chu packed his bags and stepped onto the campus again, starting his journey of the second semester of his junior year.

This semester's schedule is more intensive than ever before, the difficulty of professional courses has increased sharply, and internship preparations are coming one after another. The library has become her second "home".

Sometimes, when she was in the elevator late at night on her way back to Chenxi Community, she would subconsciously glance at the closed door of Unit 01 opposite, thinking about her neighbor idol named Chi Jingchen, wondering if he had overdrawn himself like last time.

Fortunately, my sister Luo Yunshuang moved back. She had just finished filming a low-budget art film and was taking a break to prepare for her next project - a highly anticipated urban workplace drama, which she was about to join.

My sister joined a film crew at a film and television studio in another city. The days flew by as I shuttled between books and the library. The plane trees outside my window turned from tender green to lush green, and as the cicadas began to chirp, the May Day holiday finally arrived.