“If you can’t sleep, do you want some milk? I’ll go to the kitchen and heat some up for you.” Ji Huaizhi clearly had no interest in drinking alcohol with Ning Shuang and made the suggestion proactively.
Ning Shuang pulled him down to sit on the rug in front of the coffee table.
“I’m not drinking alcohol anyway, so what are you afraid of? If you don’t want any, we’ll just have drinks.” Ning Shuang poured himself a glass of soda first.
Ji Huaizhi’s long lashes lowered as he compromised. “I’m fine with it. Pour me some wine.”
And so Ning Shuang poured Ji Huaizhi a glass of red wine, smearing the Truth-Telling Gu along the rim of the glass in the process. It would take effect about three to five minutes after drinking.
Ning Shuang wasn’t worried about dragging things out a little.
Deep down, he actually felt pretty guilty about it, but he also thought Lu Yuyang had a point.
Why was Ji Huaizhi so good to him…
Both of them drained their glasses.
When Ji Huaizhi tasted the wine, the hand holding the glass paused noticeably. After finishing it off, he eyed the glass suspiciously.
But when he spotted the soda residue on Ning Shuang’s lips, he quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it, gesturing for Ning Shuang to wipe his mouth.
Ning Shuang didn’t take it. Instead, he propped his elbow on the coffee table, cradling his chin in his palm, and looked at Ji Huaizhi with a troubled expression. Finally, he couldn’t hold back. “Ji Huaizhi, are you this good to everyone?”
“No,” Ji Huaizhi answered earnestly.
Ning Shuang felt a pang of sadness and pressed on. “I don’t think you’re the type to be good to just anyone either, but… it just feels off to me.”
He was the sort who couldn’t keep a secret to save his life.
By nature, Ning Shuang was straightforward about his likes and dislikes. His love at first sight for Ji Huaizhi was the one thing he’d hidden the longest. But thinking back to Ji Huaizhi’s evasion the night before left him feeling unhappy.
He wanted to hear a clear rejection.
He wasn’t the type to cling desperately. If Ji Huaizhi said he didn’t like him, Ning Shuang wouldn’t keep pestering.
“What’s so off?” Ji Huaizhi prompted.
Ning Shuang met his eyes.
They were beautiful—cool and distant, with an unfathomable depth that made Ning Shuang feel like he couldn’t see through him.
He shook his head. Guessing that enough time had passed, he lowered his gaze and began spilling his true feelings. “Ji Huaizhi.”
“Last night, I wasn’t that drunk. I knew what I was doing and what I was saying.”
Ji Huaizhi had of course noticed that. He hadn’t called Ning Shuang out only because he was willing to play along with any little tricks, gimmicks, or performances.
Ning Shuang kept mumbling. “I asked if you had someone you liked, and you said yes. I hoped that person was me, but you wouldn’t say who. I hoped you could like me a little because I like you.”
“I really like you.” He didn’t dare meet Ji Huaizhi’s eyes, because he’d used gu on him and felt truly guilty. Fortunately, it was just the Truth-Telling Gu—it wouldn’t affect Ji Huaizhi or leave any memories in his mind.
It was basically like Ning Shuang was confessing to Ji Huaizhi in his own dream.
Ji Huaizhi’s throat bobbed as his gaze settled on Ning Shuang’s long, fan-like lashes. Softly, he said, “I know.”
He knew Ning Shuang liked him. He also knew Ning Shuang could only like him.
“You know I like you? Then why won’t you clearly accept me… or reject me?” Ning Shuang lifted his head to ask.
Ji Huaizhi had no idea why Ning Shuang was suddenly bringing this up out of nowhere. Truth be told, it caught him off guard. Without thinking, he replied, “Why would I reject you?”
Not rejecting but not accepting either… wasn’t that just stringing him along?
Ning Shuang’s mind raced, and then he covered his face. He felt so sad he wanted to cry.
His eyes dropped again, landing on the wineglass on the table as he rambled on. “I’m absolutely sure it’s love at first sight for me with you.”
“If you like me too, I’ll confess to you tomorrow, so don’t reject me.” Ning Shuang said it as if talking to himself.
Ji Huaizhi’s hands on his knees clenched abruptly, and his heart began to race inexplicably.
He knew Ning Shuang liked him.
He had always known.
Even if that affection wasn’t entirely pure.
Of course, it wasn’t that Ning Shuang’s feelings were impure—it was the fact of Ning Shuang falling for him that wasn’t pure.
But hearing Ning Shuang’s serious confession still filled Ji Huaizhi with immense satisfaction.
He wanted to say, Father, are you watching? No one can stop me from getting what I want.
He and Ning Shuang would love each other forever.
Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself, because a faint flush rarely seen on Ji Huaizhi’s cheeks appeared.
His eyes brightened slightly, taking on an oddly innocent glow under the overhead light.
Ning Shuang went on. “So now, I want to ask you something.”
“Are you just stringing me along?”
Raising fish? That was clearly beyond Ji Huaizhi’s frame of reference.
Ning Shuang waited and waited for a reply, finally lifting his head in confusion.
The moment he did, he saw Ji Huaizhi’s face flushed, his eyes fixed intently on him.
“Huh?” Ning Shuang blinked. Was the blushing from the Truth-Telling Gu too?
It was Ning Shuang’s first time using this kind of gu, and he’d long since forgotten what the teacher had said about its effects.
“Ji Huaizhi, are you okay?” Ning Shuang leaned in close to ask.
Ji Huaizhi nodded, then dropped a bombshell. “I like you.”
Ning Shuang’s heart skipped a beat. His first reaction was joy, but the second was confusion: ?
No, that wasn’t right. He hadn’t asked that question. Under the gu’s effect, the victim wouldn’t volunteer answers outside the question.
He’d asked if Ji Huaizhi was stringing him along, so the answer should have been yes or no.
Not a sudden “I like you.”
Ning Shuang realized he’d probably made a mistake.
He jumped to his feet. “Stay right there. I need to go to my room for a second!”
He didn’t even bother with his shoes as he dashed back to his own room.
He yanked open the bottom drawer of the wardrobe.
Bottles and jars lay jumbled inside.
Truth-Telling Gu… Truth-Telling Gu…
Ning Shuang grabbed the bottle labeled Truth-Telling Gu.
The label was still pristine—it was one he’d stuck on last time when sorting the gu. Which meant he’d probably stuck it on the wrong one.
Swapped with what?!
Thinking of Ji Huaizhi’s reaction, Ning Shuang’s heart clenched in dread. Frantically, he found the bottle with the Love Gu.
He set the two bottles side by side and sniffed them.
Two minutes later.
Ning Shuang collapsed to his knees in despair, his suspended heart finally giving out.
He’d screwed up big time. He’d gotten the labels mixed up.
Before, he’d hesitated because the two gu smelled so similar, and that moment of hesitation had led to the mix-up.
So not only would Ji Huaizhi remember everything from tonight, but… he’d fall in love with Ning Shuang because of his confession?!!
No wonder he’d blurted out “I like you.”
This couldn’t be happening!
Ning Shuang scrambled for the antidote bottle and, clutching the white porcelain bottle, stumbled back to Ji Huaizhi’s room.
Seeing Ji Huaizhi still sitting quietly by the coffee table waiting for him, Ning Shuang hurried over and plopped down beside him.
“Um, are you still okay right now?” As he asked, Ning Shuang took Ji Huaizhi’s glass and poured in some of the Gu-Dissolving Medicine. He couldn’t worry about hiding it anymore—better to lift the gu first.
Ji Huaizhi nodded. “I’m fine.”
Then he asked, “What are you doing?”
Ning Shuang didn’t reply, just kept adjusting the ratio of medicine to water.
Ji Huaizhi wasn’t pleased and continued. “Ning Shuang, I said I like you. You don’t need to wait until tomorrow to confess. You can do it right now.”
Ning Shuang waved him off. “Just hold on. This is all an illusion right now. Sleep it off, and you’ll be fine.”
Ning Shuang had already put his earlier words out of his mind. All he cared about now was dissolving the gu in Ji Huaizhi’s system.
Ji Huaizhi frowned at Ning Shuang’s dismissive attitude and simply grabbed his wrist. The sudden movement caused Ning Shuang to knock over the half-mixed Gu-Dissolving Medicine onto the table.
Ning Shuang yelped in alarm. “Ji Huaizhi!”
It was the first time he’d shouted Ji Huaizhi’s name like that—he was truly panicked. He didn’t notice the tears welling in his eyes, or the clear droplet sliding from the corner, or the way his hands trembled uncontrollably.
But when he looked up, he saw Ji Huaizhi staring at him with clear displeasure. Then his hand was yanked hard, pulling Ning Shuang right up to Ji Huaizhi.
A kiss landed abruptly on Ning Shuang’s lips.
Ning Shuang’s eyes widened abruptly. He could feel the other’s soft, cool lips pressing lightly against his own, along with a faint, refreshing fragrance that lingered in his nostrils.
Ji Huaizhi pulled away after just that gentle kiss. “Ning Shuang, what’s wrong?”
“I… I…” Ning Shuang had no idea how to respond. His gaze drifted to the water stain slowly spreading across the table, then back to Ji Huaizhi, who was gazing at him with gentle concern.
He recalled that fleeting kiss from moments before—a brush as light as a dragonfly skimming water, brimming with profound reassurance.
“Ji Huaizhi… I’ve done something wrong,” Ning Shuang said.
Ji Huaizhi cupped his face and planted another soft kiss on his lips. “Whatever mistake it is, it can be fixed. It’s all right. Don’t panic.”
Panic…
Ning Shuang was panicking, that much was true.
The instant he realized he had used the wrong gu, it felt as though he had plunged into an ice cavern. His breathing grew labored, but his pounding heart betrayed his mounting fear and anxiety.
Yet Ji Huaizhi’s kiss had somehow soothed him.
What would happen after Ji Huaizhi drank the Gu-Dissolving Medicine? Would he forget all of this? He might not have liked Ning Shuang from the start, and perhaps he had only kissed him because of the Love Gu.
Would Ji Huaizhi eventually realize the truth…?
Ning Shuang’s mind spiraled into near-despair with these thoughts. Unbeknownst to him, another tear slipped from his eye.
In truth, Ji Huaizhi had sensed something amiss from his very first sip of wine. He had assumed Ning Shuang meant to slip him the Love Gu, and he admitted to a flicker of secret delight in his heart at the thought.
But then he had watched Ning Shuang stumble back in a panic to bring him the Gu-Dissolving Medicine, and he began to suspect that was not the young man’s true intention after all.
It was only when he saw a clear teardrop fall onto the back of Ning Shuang’s hand that he understood the depth of his fear. That was when he had suddenly pulled him close for that reassuring kiss.
“Ji Huaizhi…” Ning Shuang murmured.
“Mm, I’m here,” Ji Huaizhi replied.
Without lifting his head, Ning Shuang said, “What you just said… could you say it again?”
Ji Huaizhi seemed to know exactly what he meant. With firm resolve, he replied, “I like you.”
Ning Shuang raised a hand to cover his face.
He had made a grave mistake.
Then he looked up at Ji Huaizhi again. “Can you… kiss me once more?”
Ji Huaizhi leaned in, cradling Ning Shuang’s face in his hands. He pressed a feather-light kiss to his lips.
He had no real skill at kissing—just a gentle nibble and suckle at the soft flesh. Ning Shuang was equally inexperienced; his only response was to nibble back. He closed his eyes.
Now he was compounding the error…
