Originally, Gu Junxing and Nian Suian had planned to return on Sunday, but after checking the weather forecast and seeing that Jinjiang might experience heavy snow over the weekend, they worried their flight might be canceled. So they made a last-minute decision to head home on Friday afternoon.
On Thursday night, before going to bed, Gu Junxing asked Nian Suian, "After signing the contract tomorrow morning, I need to have lunch with some business partners. Would you like to join?"
Earlier today before lunch, when he called Nian Suian to remind her to eat, one of his colleagues overheard and teased him about it. Gu Junxing then naturally mentioned that his wife had come with him on this trip.
"They said they'd like to treat us to lunch tomorrow, to show their hospitality. Would you like to go?"
"Sure," Nian Suian agreed, thinking it would be impolite to decline their hosts' kind offer.
"Alright, I'll come back to pick you up tomorrow at noon."
This was their second night sharing a bed, and Nian Suian felt much more at ease compared to her initial nervousness the night before.
The TV was on as background noise while they both lay in bed looking at their phones.
"You use Weibo too?"
Nian Suian turned her head, surprised to catch a glimpse of Weibo on Gu Junxing's phone screen.
"Just browsing," he replied.
Gu Junxing was reading an article by a financial blogger. He had registered for Weibo after they were photographed at a banquet and became a trending topic. Since then, he would occasionally log in to check things out.
"What's your username?"
"GujunXing111." When registering, he had wanted to use his real name, but it was taken. He had to add three "1"s before the username became available.
"What a boring name... I'll follow you."
Nian Suian opened her own Weibo account, which she had registered recently.
Gu Junxing's account was completely blank, not even having a profile picture. With the string of "1"s after his name, it looked like a bot account.
Nian Suian complained, "How come you don't even have a profile picture?"
"I just browse occasionally, no need for a picture." Gu Junxing noticed his follower count increase from 2 to 3, with the new follower having a cat avatar and the username "EatsEggTartsButNotTheCrust."
Of his previous two followers, one was automatically assigned by the platform, and the other was Assistant Li.
"Tangyuan?" Gu Junxing recognized the avatar.
"Yes, give me your phone, I'll set a profile picture for you."
Gu Junxing handed over his phone without hesitation.
Nian Suian didn't take it right away, playfully asking, "I'll need to look through your photo gallery to set a profile picture. Are you sure you want me to see it?"
"There's nothing to hide."
When Nian Suian finally took his phone, she was surprised by the home screen.
"Isn't this the photo we took with Zhijing on the couch? When did you set this as your wallpaper?"
"That day."
Nian Suian couldn't help teasing him: "How thoughtful of you."
Opening the gallery, she was surprised again. The first few photos were mostly documents, with their group photo followed by more document photos occasionally interspersed with some landscape shots.
Having no other choice, Nian Suian selected a photo of Tangyuan from her own phone, sent it via WeChat, saved it, and set it as Gu Junxing's Weibo profile picture.
After she returned his phone, Gu Junxing immediately clicked into Nian Suian's profile.
Nian Suian was casually scrolling through her own Weibo when she suddenly froze.
She quickly snatched the phone back from Gu Junxing.
"Maybe you should unfollow me."
She hadn't realized until now... her Weibo account was full of fan girl moments, excited outbursts, and random thoughts.
These three states often appeared simultaneously.
For example: "Ahhhhh baby is so handsome, hubby look at mama!"
"I saw it."
Just as Nian Suian was curling her toes in embarrassment, Gu Junxing's four words became the final straw.
"Hubby? Hmm?"
"Ming Chuan? I don't know this husband of yours."
"Please stop."
Nian Suian curled up, hugging her knees tightly and burying her face in them.
Ming Chuan was her latest idol crush, and in her excitement, she would occasionally repost his handsome photos with enthusiastic comments.
Nian Suian thought Gu Junxing would mock her, but instead, he said with a hint of dejection: "You've never called me hubby."
Good heavens, she actually heard genuine disappointment in the voice of this man in his thirties.
"Um... when I call him hubby, it's not like a real husband, it's just internet speak, you know? It's just an expression, not referring to anyone specific. Do you understand what I mean?" Nian Suian tugged at his sleeve while explaining.
Gu Junxing just looked at her without saying whether he understood or not.
Calling someone "hubby" online was completely different from saying it to a real person face to face.
Despite her mental preparation, Nian Suian couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Let's just sleep."
She turned off her phone and employed her pretend-sleeping strategy, pulling up the covers and lying down.
After closing her eyes and listening quietly for a while, she noticed there was no movement from Gu Junxing's side.
Unable to resist, she sneaked a peek to the side, only to find herself making eye contact with him again.
She quickly shut her eyes again...
Perhaps a few minutes passed, or maybe just a few seconds, when Nian Suian felt Gu Junxing turn off the TV and lie down.
With her eyes still closed, Nian Suian whispered, "Could you turn off the lights too?"
When she opened her eyes again, darkness surrounded her.
Nian Suian inched closer to Gu Junxing's side, carefully feeling her way in the dark.
She moved close to his ear and whispered two words.
Just as she was about to pull away, Gu Junxing suddenly flipped her over, pinning her beneath him.
"You..."
Nian Suian was so nervous she forgot to breathe.
"Say it again."
"Say what?" Nian Suian turned her head, playing dumb.
Aliali: 6744813cc4f3f33ac44271f6"What you just said. Call me that again." Gu Junxing leaned close to her ear, just as she had done.
His breath was hot, his body too. Nian Suian felt like a snowball next to a heat source.
To prevent herself from melting completely, she gave in.
"Hubby."
"Once more."
"Hubby!" Having said it once, the second time came easier.
"Again..."
"This is endless! Should I just record it for you to listen to three times a day?" Nian Suian said impatiently.
"Could you?"
"No way! Go to sleep!"