Chapter 7

That evening, Lin Shizhao arrived home earlier than Gu Helin. She cooked tomato and egg noodles, served them in bowls, and set the table, waiting for Gu Helin to return. After waiting for a while, she became drowsy and fell asleep. Gu Helin entered the house with heavy steps, making quite a bit of noise. The sound woke Lin Shizhao, and she saw that the young man's hair was messy, his pants were torn, and his face looked terrible. Gu Helin avoided looking at Lin Shizhao, as if trying to escape her gaze, unwilling to let her see him in such a disheveled state. He grabbed a towel and hurried into the bathroom, shutting the glass door heavily behind him. Sensing something was wrong, Lin Shizhao chose not to ask questions. Instead, she turned to reheat the food. Once the food was warmed, she sat at the dining table again, waiting for him. Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, Gu Helin let cold water run over him again and again, trying to numb himself. Childhood memories surged through his mind like a flood, overwhelming the small, helpless boy he had once been. Gu Helin's mother had died in childbirth, leaving him motherless from birth. Instead of receiving sympathy and pity, he had been surrounded by gossip and cruel whispers—people blamed him for his mother's death, saying his existence had caused her passing. The emptiness deep within him was something no one could ever fill. A single careless remark from someone else was enough to send him spiraling into despair, reopening wounds he had tried to seal away. After finishing his shower, Gu Helin stepped out with a white towel wrapped around his waist. His upper body was exposed, already showing the contours of a grown man—broad shoulders, a lean waist, and a faint, clean scent clinging to his skin. Lin Shizhao carried the reheated meal upstairs and knocked on his door, but there was no response. She tried turning the doorknob, only to find it locked. "Gu Helin, Gu Hel..." The door suddenly opened, revealing the young man's bare upper body. His hair was still damp and slightly messy, his skin fair, his collarbones pronounced and strikingly attractive. Lin Shizhao's face turned a shade of pink. She quickly lowered her head, strands of hair slipping down to frame her cheeks. "Um... I made these noodles for you. Eat them before you sleep." Her face burning, she hastily placed the bowl in his hands and fled the scene. Gu Helin stood there holding the bowl, watching her retreating figure. His lips curved slightly as he smirked—her flustered, hurried steps reminded him of a playful little girl skipping away. Back in her room, Lin Shizhao couldn't calm her racing heart. Waves of emotion crashed within her. Suddenly, she remembered the love letter. Finding a nice-looking sheet of paper, she sat at her desk and began copying the contents of the letter. She felt guilty reading someone else's letter, but since she had agreed to deliver it, she needed to follow through. She couldn't just hand it directly to Gu Helin, after all. Under the dim light, Lin Shizhao carefully imitated the original handwriting, copying each word meticulously. "Hello, Gu Helin! I am Mu Xueqin from the art class. I think you’re very handsome and talented. You seem really interesting, so I’d like to get to know you. If you’re not interested, we could still be ordinary friends." The young girl, delicate and refined, wrote the letter with great seriousness. When she finished, she let out a breath of relief, folded the paper neatly, and placed it in her school bag. The next day, the two of them acted as if nothing had happened. Everything was as usual, and Gu Helin seemed normal, his emotions steady. During a break, when Gu Helin was away, Lin Shizhao quietly slipped the love letter into his desk, placing it somewhere noticeable. When Gu Helin returned, the letter caught his eye immediately. Without opening it, he prepared to toss it into the trash. "Hey! Don’t throw it away!" Lin Shizhao hurriedly stopped him. "Is it yours?" The young man raised an eyebrow. "No, someone asked me to give it to you," Lin Shizhao shook her head. "Are you stupid? Just because someone asks you to do something, you do it? Don’t put things like this on my desk again." Gu Helin knocked her lightly on the forehead. "I already agreed to help her. Besides, she just wants to get to know you. Is that such a big deal?" "Even just getting to know me is not an option." The young man flipped through his textbook, the corners of his mouth curving slightly. For some reason, Lin Shizhao felt an inexplicable excitement, a hint of happiness bubbling up inside her.