Chapter 7: Starting to Live Together
“Do you never consider the consequences before you speak?”
Fu Rangyi stood beside the sink with his arms crossed, staring darkly at Zhu Zhixi, who was washing his face.
After splashing cold water on his face several times, Zhu Zhixi sobered up quite a bit.
He grabbed his damp bangs and pushed them back, revealing his whole face, still dotted with water droplets, and looked at this very troublesome contract husband.
“Then can you think of a better solution?”
This time, Fu Rangyi fell silent too, but he still stared straight at his face.
Zhu Zhixi had drunk too much. His cheeks were flushed, and he looked a little dazed. He blinked several times. Water droplets got into his eyes and felt very uncomfortable, so he lowered his head and rubbed them with his hand. After only a few rubs, a tissue appeared in front of him.
“Thank you.”
He took it and wiped his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but did not speak right away. Instead, he suddenly moved closer.
The distance between them narrowed until they were almost pressed together.
Fu Rangyi could even smell the faint fragrance on him. Obviously, it was not pheromones, nor did it seem like perfume. Most likely, it was the scent of laundry detergent or body wash on him. A fruity smell.
After all, this was a public restroom. Zhu Zhixi stood on tiptoe, swaying slightly, and leaned close to Fu Rangyi’s ear, plotting in a voice only the two of them could hear.
“Actually, even if I hadn’t mentioned moving in with you, we couldn’t avoid this anyway. What newlywed couple doesn’t live together? How could that be possible? Me going to your place is already the best option. If you really hate me moving in that much, then how about… accepting your dad’s plan?”
To say he had no selfish motives at all would, of course, be impossible.
Being able to live together meant he would have a much greater chance of having physical contact with Fu Rangyi and pausing that damned countdown.
If that were his only purpose, then living with the elders would actually be better. After all, with them around, Fu Rangyi would have no reason to reject his touch. Even if he had to act, he would have to keep acting.
But at the dinner table, when Zhu Zhixi saw Fu Rangyi’s unwilling expression, he still felt a vague emotion.
He wanted to live a little longer, but he did not want to force Fu Rangyi or make him uncomfortable and uneasy. That was why he had stood up.
The mirror reflected their side profiles, quiet and paired.
A stall door suddenly opened, and an unfamiliar Alpha walked out. He came to the sink and washed his hands while staring at the two of them in the mirror, especially at Zhu Zhixi.
Fu Rangyi gave him a cold glance.
The man tactfully left.
Seeing that Fu Rangyi was not speaking, and that his gaze was still following the departing stranger Alpha, Zhu Zhixi suddenly reached out, cupped Fu Rangyi’s face with both hands, and turned him back to face him.
“If you can’t bring yourself to say it, should I go say it?” He really was drunk. His hands were very hot, and his speech was sticky and slurred, the ends of his words dragging out for a long time.
This made Fu Rangyi think of the way Zhu Zhixi had looked on the day of their blind date.
“No need.”
Fu Rangyi also placed his hands on Zhu Zhixi’s shoulders, but it was not an intimate touch. Instead, he forcibly pressed him downward until Zhu Zhixi’s heels landed on the floor.
“Let’s just do it this way.”
“Just treat it as having an extra roommate,” he added.
“Okay, roommate… I’ll pay rent.”
“I don’t need that little bit of money from you.”
“Teacher Fu, how generous.”
After solving the big trouble, Zhu Zhixi planned to slip away directly. Unexpectedly, after taking only a few steps, he was called back. His walking was already unsteady, and with such a sudden stop, he nearly tripped.
“Wait for me.”
“Huh? Oh.” Zhu Zhixi froze in place like a tumbler toy.
Fu Rangyi slowly dried his hands, walked out, and stood beside him. Then he said very casually, “What newlywed couple doesn’t walk together?”
You’re deliberately using my own words to disgust me, aren’t you?
Forget it. Great Lord Xiao Zhu is magnanimous and won’t argue with you.
Their two sets of footsteps were completely out of sync. One was sober, one was chaotic. Side by side, they fell onto the carpet, stepping on overlapping shadows, moving forward step by step, little by little becoming synchronized. As they walked, that bad habit started acting up again.
Closer and closer, tighter and tighter.
In the not-so-spacious corridor, Zhu Zhixi squeezed against Fu Rangyi as they moved forward.
“You stepped on me.”
“Huh?” Zhu Zhixi was holding a moving box and looked up somewhat innocently, giving Fu Rangyi, who was also holding a box, an awkward smile. “Sorry. The box is too big and blocked my view. I couldn’t see the floor…”
“You stepped on me plenty when you could see too.” Fu Rangyi stopped in front of his door and placed the large box on the ground.
“When? I don’t remember. Don’t falsely accuse me.”
With a beep, the password lock opened, and Fu Rangyi pushed the door open.
“Last time at the hotel dinner, on the short walk of a few dozen meters from the restroom back to the private room, you stepped on me twice. I suggest you get your cerebellum checked.”
How petty! That was three days ago.
Yes, three whole days. Only now were they finally seeing each other again. Thanks to the countdown, every second Zhu Zhixi spent apart from him had been full of fear and panic.
In the past, he had never understood how couples in the honeymoon phase could be so clingy and inseparable. Now he empathized. He wished he could turn into a little figurine and hang off Fu Rangyi, following him to class, to the gym, and home to sleep. That way, he would never die in this lifetime!
“I drank too much that time,” Zhu Zhixi muttered softly and put down his box too.
Besides, who did I drink for? So heartless.
“Just these two boxes?”
“Mm. Clothes and stuff were brought over yesterday.” After saying this, Zhu Zhixi lifted his eyes and looked inside.
How was this the small apartment Fu Rangyi’s father had mentioned?
The living room was spacious and open, with 270-degree floor-to-ceiling windows. It was absolutely the setup of a large flat. Wide areas of black, white, and gray were paired with cool-toned color blocks. Stainless steel and leather furniture could be seen everywhere, along with deliberately exposed beams. It was a very typical, very lifeless industrial Bauhaus-style interior, so neat it almost had no traces of human life.
There seemed to be aromatherapy burning in the room, with a faint sandalwood scent.
This had absolutely nothing to do with the “cozy” he had blurted out two days ago. It was the kind of homestay style he would not choose even if he saw the photos on Airbnb. Such a huge living room, and not even a rug.
“Your place is really clean,” Zhu Zhixi politely praised.
“Mm.” Fu Rangyi was not polite at all. “I hope it stays just as clean after you move in.”
Zhu Zhixi fake-laughed twice. “Okay, roommate.”
Fu Rangyi brought him to the guest room across from the study. It looked like no one had ever lived there before. Even the bedsheets had not been laid out. Fu Rangyi opened the wardrobe, took out a neatly folded gray four-piece bedding set, and placed it on the bed.
“Do you know how to make a bed?” He stood beside the bed and looked over with doubtful eyes.
Zhu Zhixi suspected this was how he usually looked at his students.
I can even quickly set up an extra-large camping tent weighing over a hundred jin, okay?
He deliberately asked, “If I say I don’t, will you help me?”
“If you don’t know, then learn.” The great professor coldly left the guest bedroom. “Make good use of search engines, young master.”
Knew it.
“Okay, eldest young master.”
Good thing this was only a fake marriage. Zhu Zhixi began to sympathize with Fu Rangyi’s future real marriage partner.
But before long, he felt Fu Rangyi seemed even more likely to grow old alone, turning into a harsh little old man who sat in his office wearing reading glasses, nitpicking students’ papers. By then, no student would still be able to put a heavy beauty filter on him because of his appearance.
When Zhu Zhixi was smoothing the little wrinkles on the bedsheet for the third time, there was a knock at the door.
Fu Rangyi leaned against the doorframe with a piece of A4 paper in his hand. He had already been standing there and watching for one minute, because the way Zhu Zhixi made the bed reminded him of a pet video he had recently seen.
In the video, a dwarf rabbit lay on a small blue blanket, repeatedly pushing forward with its front paws, dutifully repeating the motion of flattening it. Someone in the comments explained that this came from a rabbit’s instincts: they habitually flatten the dirt they dig out, and if there is no dirt, they flatten rags instead.
Strange rabbit. Strange short-video recommendation algorithm.
“What? Are you inspecting my homework too?” Zhu Zhixi turned back to look at him. “Are you addicted to being a teacher?”
Only then did Fu Rangyi come back to himself.
“Finished tidying?”
“Yes. What is it?”
Fu Rangyi waved the paper in his hand. “Since we’re living together under force majeure, it’s still necessary to list some rules in advance to avoid unnecessary friction.”
Zhu Zhixi suddenly had the illusion that he had returned to being twenty years old and studying abroad while living with a host family.
He had changed into home clothes and was shuffling along in slippers, slowly walking toward the living room and coming to the long walnut dining table.
The two of them sat at opposite ends, separated by the entire table.
“First, maintain indoor cleanliness, especially in public areas such as the living room and kitchen. Do not move any furnishings in the home without permission. Do not enter the study or master bedroom without permission.”
The first rule was already this long…
Zhu Zhixi raised his hand. “For this kind of requirement, both sides should write it to be fair, right? You can’t casually enter the guest room either.”
“Don’t worry. Even if you invite me, I won’t go in.”
Zhu Zhixi ignored that and pointed at the paper. “Write it down, Teacher Fu.”
Fu Rangyi had no choice but to comply.
“Second, respect each other’s schedule. After ten at night, loud noise is forbidden in public areas. Bringing outsiders home without permission is strictly prohibited…” Reading up to this point, Zhu Zhixi looked up again. “Then what if it’s you?”
“What do you mean?”
“When we discussed the contract last time, didn’t we say that although we have a marital relationship, both parties still have the freedom to make friends? If we meet someone we like, we can also date them.”
Zhu Zhixi propped his face up with both hands. “Teacher Fu, this is your apartment. If one day you suddenly have someone you like and insist on bringing them back to spend the night, wouldn’t that be very awkward for me?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not that shameless. All rules restrict both sides equally. Besides…”
He looked at Zhu Zhixi, his tone serious. “I have absolutely no possessiveness toward your private life. That is your freedom. But after all, we are married to the outside world. As your husband in name, if, in the future, you have someone you’re dating, please hide it a little deeper. Don’t let anyone else find out. I don’t want to suddenly be pitied by people around me one day. Can you do that?”
“Of course. I promise.” Zhu Zhixi cupped his cheeks with both hands. “If you have someone you truly like in the future, I’ll definitely help cover for you properly. I believe you’ve also discovered over the past few days that my acting skills are first-rate.”
After saying this, he even winked his left eye at Fu Rangyi.
But Fu Rangyi did not look very pleased. “Is that so? I think they’re terrible.”
Now that he had already moved in, Zhu Zhixi also began to boldly speak his mind.
“Your opinion isn’t important. You’re a teacher, not a Golden Lion or Silver Bear jury member.”
The strange countdown, the sudden marriage, the forced cohabitation… Ever since the day he returned to the country, his life seemed to have been stuffed into a terrible, uncontrollable plot.
But he was a natural optimist, a seed with extremely vigorous vitality. No matter where he was thrown, he could survive well, take root, and sprout.
Even after moving into an ice cellar, Zhu Zhixi remained full of enthusiasm for life. Like a squirrel hoarding food for winter, he was endlessly busy, bringing home many things every day.
Numerous art pieces from his collection, little animal plushies, a penguin pillow, a bright yellow mushroom lamp, a thick red apple-shaped cushion, an oversized fluffy beige blanket, a mini tent hung with golden star lights, a Christmas tree he had decorated quite exquisitely… In just two short days, this bedroom was completely transformed.
When Fu Rangyi passed by and glanced inside, his footsteps paused. For a moment, he almost thought he had accidentally entered another world.
Through some unknown supernatural ability, Zhu Zhixi, who was sitting on the rug reading, actually noticed him stopping and looking. He raised his head, wearing a penguin-patterned face mask, stretched his neck, and loudly interviewed him.
“Isn’t it super cute—”
Fu Rangyi did not know what to say and walked away directly.
Perhaps because he had just seen Zhu Zhixi’s room, and his retinas had been overly assaulted by highly saturated colors, when he returned to the master bedroom, he actually felt a little unused to it, even somewhat cold.
So the floor heating was turned up several degrees again, making Zhu Zhixi so hot he wished he could sleep in short-sleeved pajamas.
Since middle school, Fu Rangyi had attended boarding school. Because his differentiation period was too long and his pheromones remained unstable for a long time, after the age of fifteen, he had always lived in single rooms.
Now that another person had suddenly appeared in his home, he was extremely unaccustomed to it. On the first night Zhu Zhixi moved in, he even suffered from insomnia until three in the morning.
He had an early class the next day. In order to force himself to fall asleep, he went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and wanted to pour a glass of red wine. Unexpectedly, five or six bars of chocolate had appeared on the side of the fridge, their packaging colors bright and varied.
He picked up one opened bar. The wrapper read: Pistachio, Hazelnut, Crispy Rice Filled Milk Chocolate.
A lethal sugar content. Eat one piece, and two days of training would be wasted.
Looking more carefully, he saw a narrow colored sticky note attached to the packaging, almost blending into it.
[Fu Rangyi, eat it if you want. Zhu Zhixi is very generous.]
He had deliberately written the full name too.
Fu Rangyi was somewhat speechless. He put the chocolate back where it was, took out the wine bottle, closed the door, and opened the glass cabinet to get a glass and pour the wine. But then he froze for several seconds.
Among the neat matrix of transparent glass cups, several extremely conspicuous colorful little cups had unexpectedly appeared: handmade ceramic cat and dog cups, a coffee cup so realistic that at first glance it looked like a real apple, hand-painted glasses with elephants, penguins, and flamingos on them…
He felt as if he had not become a married man, but had directly skipped that step and started raising a child.
And one who talked a lot and had an extremely strong presence.
“Fu Rangyi, can I sit on the living room sofa?”
“I bought floor socks. Do you want a pair? They have reindeer patterns and are super comfortable.”
“Ah, Fu Rangyi, I forgot to buy body wash. Can I borrow yours first?”
“Hi, I ordered pizza. Want to try some?”
“Teacher Fu, can I use the printer in the study?”
…
Therefore, after being called by name for who knew how many times, Fu Rangyi finally removed his glasses, walked out of the study, and said to his overly enthusiastic roommate, “Actually, we don’t need to communicate this much.”
“Ah, this time is different.”
It was indeed different. This time, Zhu Zhixi was the one waving two sheets of A4 paper around.
“There’s something especially important we have to discuss. Come here, quick.”
He directly grabbed Fu Rangyi, clutching a small bit of pajama fabric at his elbow, and pulled him to the dining table. Then he sat down next to him.
“The past few times, we almost exposed ourselves. I reviewed the situation, and in the end, the root cause is that we’re too unfamiliar with each other.” Zhu Zhixi handed him one of the papers in his hand, like a salesman desperately needing to hit his performance target.
“So I think we really need to quickly understand all kinds of information about each other, although this method is a little like cheating.”
Fu Rangyi glanced at it. Centered on the first line was written—
Fu Rangyi Personal Information Questionnaire Survey (For Fake Marriage Use Only).
What a terrible title.
The moment he opened his mouth, it was full of professional habit. “Can’t you make the title sound nicer?”
Zhu Zhixi pondered for a moment, then nodded happily. “Sure.”
Then he took a pink acrylic marker out of his pocket and drew a little pink heart in front of the three characters “Fu Rangyi” in the title. He added a few little flowers, even switched to a gold one, and added several stars. Finally, he tilted his head and winked at Fu Rangyi, clearly afraid he would not be annoyed enough.
“Is it pretty enough now, great professor?”
Author’s Note:
Xiao Zhu: I know the great professor dislikes my title, but I won’t change it. I’ll just draw flowers on it and make him mad.
Yesterday, I saw a reader comment that from Big Zhu’s perspective, Xiao Zhu is basically a ninety-nine-percent-new, naturally integrated little menace. That was truly too accurate, hahaha. On this point, Teacher Fu and Big Zhu may share a very deep resonance. This is the brotherhood between the wife’s older brother and the younger brother-in-law. What a bizarre way to put it.
