Chapter 042 【Cooling Down】 (Seeking Recommendation Votes!)

Gu Feng returned to Pearl Apartment just after eleven.

Given the late hour, most residents had already gone to bed, and the entire building was extremely quiet.

From a distance, Gu Feng could see that the lights in his apartment were on.

Earlier that afternoon, before heading to Temple Street, he had called Lin Jiaying and instructed her to stay at Xu Qin’s place. Seeing the lights now, he instinctively frowned.

After entering the building, Gu Feng climbed the stairs as quietly as possible. Upon reaching his door, he carefully examined the floor but found no signs of disordered footprints.

This eased his mind—Lin Jiaying must be inside.

He took out his keys and unlocked the door. Sure enough, Lin Jiaying was lying on the sofa in her pajamas. Unlike the previous day, she wasn’t asleep this time; instead, she was watching TV.

When Gu Feng walked in, Lin Jiaying didn’t greet him—her gaze remained fixed on the screen. In fact, before his return, she had nearly worn out the remote control buttons. While most people stick to one channel while watching TV, she used it purely to vent—switching channels so rapidly that each appeared for less than a second.

“Didn’t I tell you to go back and stay there? Why did you come back?” Gu Feng asked as he changed into his slippers.

After receiving Gu Feng’s call that afternoon, Lin Jiaying had convinced herself he planned to bring a woman home that night. Though she knew she didn’t like him, she still refused to let him bring someone else back. To verify her suspicion, she hadn’t returned to Xu Qin’s that evening—and when she saw Gu Feng come home alone, her earlier irritation subsided.

“I… I was afraid Mom would scold me when she got home,” Lin Jiaying lied.

“Oh.” Gu Feng gave her a puzzled look and noticed she couldn’t meet his eyes. He instantly realized she was lying—though he had no idea why.

“What did you do tonight?” Lin Jiaying gathered her courage to ask—then immediately regretted it.

“Went to Temple Street to take care of some things.” Gu Feng walked over to the cabinet, took out some tea leaves, placed them in a cup, and headed to the water dispenser for hot water.

“That’s not how you brew tea.” Seeing Gu Feng waste the expensive Da Hong Pao, Lin Jiaying couldn’t help but point it out.

Gu Feng shrugged and smiled. “No matter how it’s brewed, you still drink it—it all ends up the same.”

Lin Jiaying was somewhat dissatisfied with his wastefulness, yet she didn’t know how to voice her objection—especially since the tea had been brought from the mainland. After a moment’s pause, she asked, “Could you take me to Temple Street sometime? They’ve got lots of snack stalls there.”

“Mm.” Gu Feng nodded lightly in agreement.

“Hey—could you be a bit more… romantic? No—I mean, a bit more sincere?” Lin Jiaying had originally intended to say “romantic,” but quickly corrected herself, feeling it inappropriate. As soon as the words left her mouth, she lowered her head, secretly observing Gu Feng—and blushed faintly without realizing it.

Gu Feng wasn’t paying attention to Lin Jiaying at all and failed to notice the shift in her expression. Instead, he glanced at his watch and said, “It’s getting late—you should go to sleep.”

“You…” Lin Jiaying was utterly exasperated. For a moment, she was speechless, frustration welling up in her chest until she felt physically uncomfortable.

In the end, she lowered her raised hand and stormed angrily into the bedroom.

Naturally, Gu Feng had no intention of dwelling on these messy complications. He fully understood that Lin Jiaying’s recent change in attitude stemmed from guilt—and it never crossed his mind that her opinion of him might shift significantly within just a day or two.

After quietly finishing his cup of tea, Gu Feng took a cold shower and retired to his bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, Lin Jiaying sat propped against the headboard, clutching a turtle-shaped pillow.

In the dim room, she glared furiously at the pillow in front of her and muttered, “Stupid turtle! Smelly turtle! So heartless! Who are you being so serious for? Hmph! I’ll poke you to death—poke you to death!”

Then, the beloved turtle pillow became Gu Feng’s stand-in as she viciously abused it.

“Why am I even angry at that country bumpkin?” After venting, Lin Jiaying couldn’t help but ask herself. That question clarified everything—and her anger evaporated. Setting the pillow aside, she settled down peacefully to sleep.

As usual, by the time Lin Jiaying woke up, Gu Feng had already prepared breakfast.

Glancing at Gu Feng busily arranging things in the dining area—and recalling last night’s events—she deliberately raised her voice: “I’m not having breakfast today.” Without waiting for his response, she strode straight into the bathroom.

Hearing this, Gu Feng—who had been tidying up in the kitchen—frowned slightly.

A few minutes later, Lin Jiaying, fresh from washing up, went directly into the bedroom, picked up her schoolbag, and prepared to leave.

“Why aren’t you having breakfast? Is it because what I made isn’t good? What would you prefer? I can go to the supermarket this afternoon to buy it.” Unlike his usual stern demeanor, Gu Feng spoke with genuine concern—not severity.

His unusual tone made Lin Jiaying pause momentarily. She hesitated for a few seconds before replying, “I’m trying to lose weight.”

“Skipping breakfast is what leads to weight gain.” Gu Feng said earnestly, “If you skip breakfast—or eat too little—you’ll inevitably overeat at lunch. Poor digestion and absorption are most likely to cause subcutaneous fat accumulation, which affects your figure.”

Sometimes, identical words delivered with different tones produce entirely different effects.

Though Gu Feng’s words conveyed concern, his serious tone made Lin Jiaying feel uneasy—even though she believed what he said was true.

“I can’t communicate with you.” Seeing Gu Feng revert to his usual solemn expression, Lin Jiaying snapped angrily.

“Communication isn’t necessary—but you *must* eat breakfast!” Gu Feng replied firmly.

“You…” Infuriated by his tone, Lin Jiaying stomped her foot. “Who forces someone to eat?”

Gu Feng didn’t respond further—only frowned as he looked at her.

Seeing signs that Gu Feng was growing irritated, Lin Jiaying reluctantly set down her schoolbag and went to the dining area to eat—her expression thoroughly unpleasant.

Clearly, the recently improved relationship between them had cooled again due to their generational gap.

P.S.: Lin Jiaying is one of the novel’s main female leads—and won’t be easily won over by the protagonist. Their personalities are fundamentally incompatible.