A warm night, and your foolish self.

After seeing the bearded man off, Xu Lin was left dumbfounded. It seemed Chu Qingchan’s desire to find a professional music studio wasn’t simply because she wanted to sing herself.

“Auntie, Uncle, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Well, I think Xu Lin has a real talent for music. Of course academics are important, but I don’t want his talent to go to waste. I’d like to find a professional teacher to guide him.”

“Qingchan, you’re not joking with us, are you?”

“This boy, Xu Lin, ever since he was little, all he’s liked has been watching anime and playing games. We’ve never seen him show much interest in music, let alone singing. As for the guitar, that was just a hand-me-down from his uncle.”

“But the other day at Grandma’s house, he sang an original song of his own. I think his voice is very well-suited for this path, though it needs refinement. And his ability to write music is remarkable as well.”

“This afternoon, I also happened to see some other lyrics he’d written in his bedroom. They were all excellent, so I thought it would be good to have a professional teacher give him some guidance.”

“If singing doesn’t work out, at least he won’t waste his talent for songwriting. Learning some professional music theory would be a useful skill.”

“Hmm… Miss Chu makes a good point. In the past, we had him try drawing and other things, but none of it really stuck.”

“But if someone from the industry like you actually sees something in our son, we certainly won’t say no.”

Compared to Mrs. Li, Xu’s father was more open-minded. He always thought academics were important, but not in a rigid way.

“What about you, Auntie?”

“I’m just worried it will affect his studies. He’s already in his second year of high school, and the college entrance exams are only a year away.”

“If he falls behind because of this… Of course, I’m not saying your idea is wrong, Qingchan, I know you mean well for Xu Lin.”

“I think Mr. Xu can balance both music and academics.”

“Wait a minute, did anyone ask me what I thought? I never said I wanted to study music.” Xu Lin abruptly cut in with a well-timed silence.

“You really don’t want to go?”

Seeing Xu Lin’s mild resistance, Chu Qingchan steadied her emotions; if he truly didn’t want to, she would never force him.

“It’s too much trouble. We barely have weekends or holidays at school, and I can’t keep taking time off.”

“If I miss too many classes, I won’t be able to catch up. And I’m not switching to an art track or planning to apply through the arts route.”

In truth, Xu Lin wasn’t completely opposed to singing or making music. In his past life, after being accepted to university, he’d even posted singing videos online.

But in this life, he just wanted to settle down and do some of the things he’d always wanted to do but never got around to.

If he had to study at school and take extra lessons outside, he’d have no time for anything else.

“You’re not wrong. All right, let’s put off meeting with Ms. Guan for now!”

“Let’s finish filming the short project first. If it gets good reviews, it’ll be much easier to talk to your school about everything else.”

Chu Qingchan thought for a moment and offered a solution. Xu Lin nodded at her and said,

“But you’d better go visit her soon.”

“Why?”

“If you don’t go and build a relationship with her early on, do you think a master of her level will just help us out of the blue?”

“I almost forgot the most important point. I’ll go, don’t worry.”

“For now, let’s not talk about anything else. Just meet and chat first, see how it goes. If she’s not seeing visitors, don’t press it—just take your time.”

“I know, you don’t have to teach me that.”

“Besides, you mostly want to sing yourself, don’t you?”

“No!” Chu Qingchan immediately waved her arms.

“Hmph~ That’s why your business is more important than mine. You go check things out first.”

Standing to the side, Xu Lin’s parents watched their son behave so maturely. They unconsciously clasped hands and exchanged a glance; their son had grown up, and could handle his own affairs now. As parents, they could finally relax a little.

After that, the four of them had a dinner that was fairly simple by Chu Qingchan’s standards, and prepared to rest, as Xu Lin had to be up by six for school the next morning.

Their home had three bedrooms and two living rooms, but the smallest bedroom had been turned into a walk-in closet, so there were only two bedrooms, and one of them had a single bed.

In the end, Xu Lin, being the man of the house, was banished to the living room sofa, while Chu Qingchan, as their guest, slept in his bedroom.

“Sigh, I really must be their biological child—if I were adopted, they wouldn’t make me sleep on the sofa.”

He couldn’t help but grumble as he lay on the sofa, reviewing English and geography, the two subjects he struggled with most. But after half an hour, he was growing drowsy.

A glance at his phone revealed it was already ten o’clock. He quickly put down his book, lay down, and within seconds drifted into a deep sleep.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when, in a half-dreaming, half-waking state, Xu Lin felt cold. His breathing was heavy, and his throat was starting to ache.

“Cough! Cough… Water…”

He tried to get up for a drink, but his body felt unbearably heavy. Rolling over, he tumbled off the sofa with a thud.

Gritting his teeth, he checked his phone—3:30 a.m. He felt icy cold, but his skin was burning. Clearly, he’d caught a fever from getting soaked in the rain.

He wasn’t surprised. With a constitution of three points, this body was still weak—even after a recent boost, it wasn’t enough to shrug off a rainstorm.

He struggled to his feet, poured himself a glass of hot water to let it cool, and headed for his bedroom. The living room had no fever medicine; all the medicine was kept in the bedrooms.

But when he reached the door, he found it locked from the inside. Sighing, he planned to wake his parents for some medicine—he still had school in the morning, after all.

But just then, his vision blacked out. He pitched forward, hitting the door with a dull thud.

“Hoo… cough, cough.”

Stifling another cough, he tried to lower his voice so as not to disturb Chu Qingchan. She’d had a long day and needed her rest.

The door swung open, and a beautiful face appeared. Seeing him slumped against the frame, she hurried over to support him.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Idiot.” She glared at him, but her tone softened.

“Don’t come too close, I might get you sick. I just need to grab some fever medicine and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“It’s fine. You’ve got a fever?”

Her sharp, phoenix eyes were lowered, and in place of her usual seriousness and coldness, there was a surprising tenderness. Xu Lin, who’d been feeling weak and scatterbrained, was suddenly a bit more clear-headed.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine after I take the medicine.”

“I told you you should have shared the umbrella with me earlier. Now you’ve caught a cold, haven’t you?”

“That umbrella was too small. We’d both have gotten soaked.”

“And you call yourself a bad guy? What villain would take care of someone so well—getting sick just from a little rain. Come in.”

She helped him sit on the bed and asked, “Where’s the thermometer and the medicine?”

“In the lower drawer.”

She immediately bent down to rummage for the thermometer. In her short pajama shorts, she unwittingly presented a rounded curve directly to his line of sight, making his cough even worse.

He quickly turned his head away. With her taking such good care of him, it would be disrespectful to let his thoughts wander in that direction.

“Found it. Take your temperature first, and then we’ll decide what medicine to give you. It’s not right to just take a whole packet at once.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll go get you some water.”

She hurried out and returned just as quickly, bringing him a glass of warm water.

A few minutes later, the thermometer beeped—a glaring 39.7 degrees.

“Take your medicine.”

After swallowing the fever pills, Xu Lin leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes as a wave of drowsiness washed over him. He snapped his eyes open.

“I’ll go back to sleep now.”

“Don’t go. Just sleep here.”

“Then you take the sofa. My mom will scold me if I take your bed.”

“I’ll just stay here with you.”

“Oh, well, thank you, Superstar Chu.”

“If you’re still able to joke around, your fever can’t be that bad! Go to sleep. I’ll turn on the air conditioner. You sleep inside; I’ll stay on the outside.”

Xu Lin nodded, his mind wandering to those scenes in novels where the next morning, he and the girl would wake up in each other’s arms.

But when he turned to look, she was already wearing a jacket and long pants over her pajamas. He closed his eyes, resigned—so much for those benefits.

He muttered, “Thank you, Superstar Chu,” then, pressed by his discomfort, fell asleep within seconds.

Chu Qingchan watched him fall asleep so quickly, then climbed into bed herself, noticing that Xu Lin had wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, huddled in the corner.

She instantly understood: he was afraid he’d move around in his sleep and accidentally touch her. Was this boy a bit silly, not even wanting to take advantage of the situation?

She lay down too, gazed at Xu Lin’s handsome profile, and reached out a finger to gently poke his cheek.

“No need to thank me, silly Mr. Xu. Good night.”

The corners of her mouth lifted in a genuine smile. When she realized it, she was taken aback.

“Lately, I don’t seem so expressionless anymore…”