Chapter 2646: South City Has Rain Tonight 08

When he woke again, the room was pitch black.

When he had fallen asleep it was still daytime, but now night had fallen outside the window.

Xie Linzhou sat up holding the quilt, feeling a little dazed, surrounded by boundless loneliness, dazedly unaware of what day or night it was, with the illusion of being abandoned by the flow of time, his heart feeling empty and vast.

He sat on the bed for a while before reaching out to feel for his phone on the bedside.

The screen lit up, showing it was nine p. m., with many unread messages from Jin Chen on the lock screen.

Xie Linzhou pulled the quilt tighter and placed a video call.

He now really wanted to hear Jin Chen's voice.

The call connected quickly. Xie Linzhou didn't speak first, wanting to hear Jin Chen speak.

"Zhouzhou." Jin Chen's voice came through, soft, the background seeming somewhat empty, with a faint wind.

Jin Chen answered the call on the balcony, then turned and walked back into the room.

Only then did Xie Linzhou seem to regain his voice, asking softly, "Did I disturb you?"

"No." Jin Chen sat on the sofa, "I've resigned, and just came back from checking out a site outside."

Xie Linzhou momentarily didn't know whether to ask about the new site or say something else; silence spread across both ends of the call, yet it wasn't awkward.

He gazed at the thick night outside the window and suddenly asked, "Milan didn't have rain today; what about South City?"

Jin Chen turned his head to glance at the balcony window, "South City is raining."

Immediately, Jin Chen heard Xie Linzhou murmur almost inaudibly on the other end: "No wonder..."

The voice was very faint, like an illusion; Jin Chen frowned slightly, wondering, "No wonder what?"

He thought a moment, then said, "Zhouzhou, are you unhappy?"

Xie Linzhou felt he hadn't shown any emotion, yet couldn't hide his surprise: "A little... how did you know?"

Jin Chen said, "You said it, and I knew."

Xie Linzhou stared, wondering if he had said it—he had only asked whether South City was raining...

So subtly, could Jin Chen also know?

He buried his face in the soft quilt, never expecting this; it felt as if Jin Chen's keen thoughts had knocked him down, his heart softening, almost melting, and finally a hint of warmth spread through his empty chest.

"A design team tried to steal the project," Xie Linzhou said softly, "but I snatched it back."

Jin Chen sensed Xie Linzhou didn't want to elaborate, so he simply praised him: "Great."

"Zhouzhou, the package I sent over—you've signed for it."

Xie Linzhou lifted the quilt, a little surprised: "It arrived this fast? Today?"

At the same time he opened the team group's messages and indeed saw An Yu say in the afternoon that a package for him had been signed for and left at the door.

Xie Linzhou held the phone in one hand, got out of bed, walked to the door and opened it.

"Good thing it arrived today," Jin Chen's voice carried a smile, "Can it make you a bit happier?"

"Yes." Xie Linzhou hugged the box back to the room, set it on the bed, and began to unpack.

Inside was a bottle of red wine, plus a bag wrapped in cotton cloth.

He picked it up, puzzled, and smelled it—it was a warm spice blend of orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and cardamom.

"Is this a spice packet for heated red wine?" Xie Linzhou immediately recalled that, probably during a video chat sometime ago, he had casually mentioned the weather turning cool and that he felt like drinking hot red wine.

A remark he himself might not have even taken to heart.

"Yeah, you weren't wanting a drink?" Jin Chen said warmly, "Turn on the video, I'll teach you how to make it."

Xie Linzhou's voice brightened, "Okay."

At the moment the video connected, Xie Linzhou lifted his gaze to the screen; only a few warm yellow wall lamps were lit in the room, casting a faint watery glint in his eyes.

He looked at the person on the other end of the screen, his voice softer than during the phone call, an unconscious reliance: "Jin Chen."

"I'm here." Jin Chen switched to computer video, adjusted the angle, and indeed the same bottle of red wine and spice packet lay on his desktop.

He looked at Xie Linzhou, his cool eyes breaking into a smile: "Learn with me."

"Mm." Xie Linzhou nodded, looking obedient—this was truly rare.

He had never, from childhood onward, listened to anyone this obediently; even facing his older brother Xie Qiu Dong before, he had never shown such compliance.

Following instructions, Xie Linzhou placed the spice packet into the glass jar—a step requiring no thought, he just needed to focus on Jin Chen, inevitably drifting off.

He felt Jin Chen was really somewhat contradictory.

Clearly indifferent to everything, like cold black jade that no one warms, yet it made people want to entice him into feeling.

Jin Chen saw no movement from that side, lifted his gaze to the screen, curled the corners of his mouth, tapped his knuckles lazily.

"Come back to yourself, Zhouzhou."

Xie Linzhou's eyelashes fluttered lightly; he hurriedly followed Jin Chen's example, pouring red wine into the jar, even controlling the markings.

He lowered his head slightly, revealing a neck side flushed with red, unknowingly alluring.

Jin Chen's gaze lingered on that patch of skin for an instant, his fingertip stroking it once.

The red wine heated, a faint bubbling sound gradually arose.

Xie Linzhou didn't bother with it anymore, set it aside, and earnestly watched Jin Chen on the screen, chatting intermittently.

Meanwhile, the phone Jin Chen had set aside rang; he shifted his attention—it was Ren Xian.

"Whose call?" Xie Linzhou asked upon hearing the ringtone.

"My former boss." Jin Chen had no intention of answering and hung up directly.

Immediately, Ren Xian's message came through: "Answer the call, I have something urgent to discuss."

He even had time to send a message first; it seems this urgency isn't going anywhere.

Jin Chen tapped the screen, replying: "Say I'm busy in the message."

Then he promptly placed the phone screen face down on the desk.