Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

Early morning, at Lin Yuan's home.

Sunlight slanted through a thin gauze curtain, reflecting the dust particles that floated leisurely in the air.

Lin Yuan slept until he naturally woke up. After several days of travel in London and more than ten hours of international flight, he slept soundly and felt a sense of relaxed comfort throughout his body.

He groggily reached out and touched his side, only to find it ice-cold—Gu Zhiwan wasn't in bed.

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow in surprise. Usually at this time, this proud actress would be wrapped in a down comforter with only a few strands of hair showing, looking like a spring roll. Why was the sun rising in the west today?

As soon as I put on my silk bathrobe and stepped out of the bedroom, an extremely strange and indescribable complex smell rushed straight to the top of my head from the living room on the first floor!

It was a strange, smoky aroma that blended the bitterness of Chinese medicine, the burnt smell, and the "explosion" of some unknown organism under high temperature.

Lin Yuan gasped, gripped the stair railing, and peered down the stairs.

The kitchen was filled with smoke, making it look like Lao Tzu's alchemy room was on fire. Gu Zhiwan was wearing a pink apron with a Kapibal pattern and holding a huge wooden ladle, staring intently at the casserole on the table, which was bubbling with strange purple bubbles.

"Zhiwan... are you preparing a compound potion for the magic academy?" Lin Yuan leaned against the kitchen doorway, his lips twitching violently.

"ah!"

Gu Zhiwan was startled and turned around abruptly. Her originally fair and delicate face was now covered in a patch of black charcoal ash, which, combined with her cute apron, made her look both disheveled and comical.

"You...you're awake?" Gu Zhiwan's eyes were a little unfocused. She quickly tried to shield the casserole pot behind her, which was still emitting strange black smoke, with her delicate body, and forced herself to save face. "Ahem! It was an accident before. Today, this great chef personally prepared a soup for you that embodies the wisdom of Eastern health preservation—'Ten-Ingredient Nourishing Black Chicken Soup'!"

"A complete tonic?" Lin Yuan leaned forward and glanced into the casserole.

At the bottom of the pot lay a black object that resembled a "meteorite fragment," and the broth was an extremely deep, dark purple. There were even a few goji berries that had long since been stewed until they lost their shape.

Lin Yuan silently took two steps back, looking at her with a solemn expression: "Gu, tell me honestly, did your ancestor have a colleague named Rong Momo? If you take one sip of this soup, I reckon you won't need to participate in the next episode of 'Eternal Voice,' you can go straight to see my great-grandmother."

"Lin Yuan! Stop teasing me!" Gu Zhiwan blushed and poked the "meteorite" in the pot with a soup spoon. Her voice trailed off. "I... I followed the food blogger's tutorial step by step. First I put in the codonopsis, then the astragalus, and finally the black-boned chicken... Who knew this black-boned chicken was so fragile? It just... melted into the soup."

"This isn't melting; it's turning into wisps of wronged spirits protesting against you."

Lin Yuan sighed, picked up a critical illness insurance policy and a pen from the table, and solemnly handed them to Gu Zhiwan:

"Come on, Chef Gu, I'll drink this in consideration of your hard work this morning. But before we drink, let's sign this first, with you as the beneficiary. That way, if I happen to 'ascend to heaven' on the spot, you can get some compensation."

"Get lost! Lin Yuan, you bastard!" Gu Zhiwan laughed in anger, slapped the insurance policy aside, and chased after him with a soup spoon in embarrassment and annoyance. "Fine, don't drink it then! This chef isn't serving you anymore!"

In the midst of their playful banter, Lin Yuan seized her wrist and gently pinched her sleeve with his other hand, tenderly wiping away the smear of black ash from her face.

Looking into Gu Zhiwan's bright, clear eyes, so close to his own, Lin Yuan gently stroked the tip of her upturned nose.

"Alright, stop messing around. The kitchen is a treasure of human civilization; let's give it a break. Come on, let's order takeout—thirteen-spice crayfish and ice-cold beer!"

Gu Zhiwan had initially wanted to maintain her "chef" dignity, but upon hearing the words "Thirteen-Spice Crayfish," her rumbling stomach completely betrayed her. She swallowed hard, snorted, and went along with it.

"For the sake of the crayfish... I'll let you off the hook today!"

Half an hour later, the extremely down-to-earth Thirteen-Spice Crayfish and ice-cold beer arrived.

The two completely abandoned the dining table, instead laying a placemat on the living room carpet and sitting cross-legged.

The large television screen was playing Lin Yuan's nonsensical comedy "Flirting Scholar," with hilarious lines and exaggerated sound effects echoing throughout the living room.

Wearing disposable gloves, Lin Yuan's fingers flew across the screen as he peeled the shrimp with practiced ease.

After peeling a plump shrimp that was soaked in rich broth, Lin Yuan casually held it to Gu Zhiwan's lips: "Here, Chef Gu, try this delicious dish that doesn't require 'alchemy'."

Gu Zhiwan was laughing heartily while staring at the TV screen. When she smelled the aroma, she naturally opened her mouth and took a big bite of the shrimp meat, chewing it with relish.

"Mmm! Delicious! Much better than the one next door!" Gu Zhiwan mumbled indistinctly, her big eyes crinkling into crescent moons with laughter.

"That's right, look who peeled it." Lin Yuan raised his eyebrows smugly.

Gu Zhiwan turned her head and looked at Lin Yuan's extremely smooth profile, feeling a sweet warmth in her heart. This "Great Demon King" who could impress the Western music scene with "Apologize" on stage and scare the entire online readership to the point of not daring to light candles in the southeast corner with his novel "Ghost Blows Out the Light" was now wearing slippers without any regard for his image, intently peeling crayfish for her.

"Why are you looking at me? Do I have shrimp paste on my face?" Lin Yuan turned his head.

"Yes, there is!" Gu Zhiwan blinked and suddenly grinned mischievously.

She quickly peeled a peanut, then reached out and said, "Open your mouth, this is a reward from the CEO."

Lin Yuan opened his mouth without warning, but Gu Zhiwan's small hand trembled and deliberately stuck a peanut on the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth, leaving a small mark of butter. Then she laughed so hard that she bent over backwards, her delicate body trembling wildly on the beanbag chair.

"Fine, Gu Zhiwan, you're trying to ambush me, aren't you?!"

Lin Yuan's eyes flashed with danger, and he made a move to smear his shrimp paste-covered hands onto her rosy cheeks.

"Ah! It's so dirty! Lin Yuan, how dare you!!" Gu Zhiwan let out a soft cry, and jumped up like a nimble little deer, grabbing a Kapibala cushion from the sofa and slapping it at Lin Yuan.

The two chased and played around in the spacious living room, cushions flying everywhere, their laughter almost bursting through the roof. Finally, Gu Zhiwan slipped and fell directly onto the sofa. Lin Yuan followed her, pinning her down among the cushions, and reached out to tickle her soft waist.

"Hahahaha... I can't take it anymore! I was wrong, I was wrong! Lin Yuan! Lin the Great Demon King! Spare me, hahahaha..."

Gu Zhiwan laughed until tears welled up in her eyes. She twisted and struggled wildly in his arms, her whole body going limp like a puddle of water. In the end, she could only beg for mercy repeatedly. Her crisp laughter sounded especially sweet in the afternoon sunlight.

The carefree time spent slacking off always flies by, and before you know it, it's completely dark.

It's 10:30 p.m.

After washing up, the two gathered again in the media room.

"Are you sure you want to watch this?" Lin Yuan held the remote control and pointed at the hardcore horror movie on the big screen with an extremely eerie poster that read "The Haunted House." He looked at Gu Zhiwan, who was wrapped in a blanket beside him, with some suspicion.

"Look! Why wouldn't you look?!" Gu Zhiwan raised her delicate chin high, patted her chest confidently, and said, "I'm a professional actress! I've seen plenty of these kinds of atmospheric camera shots, it's all about sound, light, and electricity, how could I possibly be afraid?!"

"Alright, you said it yourself." Lin Yuan grinned mischievously, pressed the play button, and turned off all the lights in the home theater.

In the pitch-black room, only the eerie, pale light emanating from the large screen remained.

Five minutes later.

In the movie, the heavy wooden door creaks with a sickeningly loud sound, and the protagonist, holding a flashlight, walks step by step into the dark southeast corner of the ancestral hall.

"Hiss..." Gu Zhiwan subconsciously gasped, and her delicate body, which was originally leaning against the edge of the sofa, moved half a meter toward Lin Yuan without her realizing it.

Ten minutes later.

The background music suddenly stopped, and the scene fell into a deathly silence as the protagonist slowly brought his face closer to the crack in the wooden cabinet—

"Lin...Lin Yuan, there's definitely nothing in this cabinet, right? This is all just a suspenseful illusion created by the director..." Gu Zhiwan muttered softly, her small hands gripping Lin Yuan's robe sleeves tightly, her knuckles turning slightly white.

"Hard to say, but at this pace, the next second will be—"

Lin Yuan hadn't finished speaking!

"roar--!!"

The cabinet door on the screen suddenly burst open! A pale, blood-soaked ghost face, accompanied by a piercing scream, suddenly covered the entire 75-inch screen!

"Ah—! Mommy!!"

Gu Zhiwan let out a high-pitched scream, and like a startled cat, she sprang up from the sofa and then, with an extremely agile and explosive motion, slammed into Lin Yuan's arms!

She wrapped her arms tightly around Lin Yuan's neck, burying her head in his collarbone, her body trembling violently, her voice trembling with sobs:

"Turn it off! Turn it off now! Waaaaah... It's so scary! Why is it right up to my face?!"

Lin Yuan groaned softly from the impact, but feeling the soft, warm, and fragrant body in his arms, he felt an immense sense of satisfaction.

He casually put his arm around Gu Zhiwan's slender waist, gently patting her back, but couldn't help but curl a mischievous smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Zhiwan..." Lin Yuan lowered his voice, speaking in an extremely deep and dark whisper in her ear, "Don't you feel... the temperature in our home theater has suddenly gotten colder?"

Gu Zhiwan's body stiffened, and she buried her head in his chest, not daring to lift it. She whispered, "You...you're scaring me!"

"I wasn't trying to scare you." Lin Yuan quietly raised his cool fingers and gently placed them on the back of her smooth neck, while blowing a breath into her ear. "Look... isn't it hovering right above our heads, watching you...?"

"Click".

The air froze for a second.

The next moment, Gu Zhiwan finally realized that Lin Yuan was teasing her!

Under the dual stimulation of extreme fear and shame, the long-dormant "physical defense instinct" within actor Gu completely erupted!

"Lin! Yuan! You! Big! Bad! Guy!!"

Gu Zhiwan suddenly raised her head, her big eyes red, and grabbed the heavy Kapibala body pillow next to her, delivering a powerful "skyrocket" to Lin Yuan's chest!

"Bang!"

"Awooo!!"

With a scream from Lin Yuan, the poor Demon King Lin was once again slammed onto the carpet by a pillow thrown by his terrified classmate Gu, and even rolled twice in the process.

"Serves you right for scaring me! Serves you right for using the air conditioning! You might as well die on the sofa tonight!!"

Gu Zhiwan pressed the TV remote to turn off the screen, then, like a startled rabbit, she scurried out of the home theater in her slippers, slamming the master bedroom door shut behind her.

Half an hour later.

The living room lights were turned back on.

Lin Yuan rubbed his aching chest, lying listlessly on the spacious leather sofa, hugging the "culprit" Kapibala pillow, and sighed deeply while looking at the ceiling.

"It's fun to court death for a moment, but if you keep courting death, you'll be sleeping on the sofa forever..." Lin Yuan muttered to himself.

The living room was extremely quiet, with only the ticking sound of the clock on the wall.

It's 1:30 a.m.

Just as Lin Yuan was drifting off to sleep, he suddenly heard a very faint "click" sound coming from the corridor.

The master bedroom door was pushed open a crack.

A slender, pink figure, crouching low, slipped out with the utmost gentleness, like a thief.

Gu Zhiwan was holding a thick, soft silk quilt in her arms. Her bare feet were on the carpet, and she tiptoed to the sofa without even wearing shoes.

She looked at Lin Yuan, who was lying on the sofa "sound asleep," and her lips twitched slightly. She muttered under her breath, "Serves you right for scaring me... You might as well freeze to death."

Despite her complaints, her actions were extremely gentle.

Gu Zhiwan bent down and carefully draped the thick, warm silk quilt over Lin Yuan, even folding the corners of the quilt neatly for him.

Just as she was about to slip away back to her room—

A warm, large hand suddenly emerged from under the covers and precisely grabbed her slender, delicate wrist!

"Ah!" Gu Zhiwan exclaimed in surprise.

Before she could react, an irresistible, gentle pull came, and Gu Zhiwan lost her balance, falling onto the sofa with a cry of surprise and into Lin Yuan's broad, warm embrace!

"I caught a little cat that sneaked out in the middle of the night to check on its boyfriend." Lin Yuan closed his eyes, a smug smile on his lips, and pulled the blanket over them, completely wrapping the two of them in the thick quilt.

"Lin Yuan! You...you're not asleep?! You're pretending to be asleep!" Gu Zhiwan's face flushed red instantly, and she squirmed slightly in his arms.

"I was asleep, but a silly girl named Gu Zhiwan kept calling me in my dream, so I woke up." Lin Yuan rested his chin on the top of her soft hair, his arms around her waist tightening slightly, his voice slightly hoarse and dazed. "Okay, stop fooling around. The sofa is big enough. Sleep with me for a while."

Feeling the familiar and reassuring refreshing scent emanating from Lin Yuan, Gu Zhiwan's struggling hands slowly stopped.

She nestled against Lin Yuan's chest, listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat. A slight smile involuntarily crept onto her lips. Her face pressed against his shirt, and she let out a soft, contented moan.

"This is a one-time exception... If I get a stiff neck tomorrow, you're dead."

"Understood, Gu."