*Disclaimer: For this chapter, there is a photo included in this chapter but I can't upload photos on webnovel so please check my stories in Wattpad instead - https://www.wattpad.com/892693665-against-fate-eternal-love-of-dream-pillow-book
After Dong Hua and Feng Jiu solved their misunderstandings, Feng Jiu's stomach growled loudly.
"Glutton is hungry." Dong Hua teased her. Feng Jiu then replied, "I didn't eat that much last night since I was also worried about you."
"You were worried about me? It looked like you had a lot of fun." Dong Hua replied.
"Well... I noticed that you looked upset and I kept looking over to check on you." Feng Jiu frowned.
Dong Hua smiled and replied sarcastically, "Oh? Guess you like peeping at guys after all."
Feng Jiu pouted and rebutted, "No! I don't even peep at guys. Wait. I mean, I did peep at you, but that was because I was worried about you."
Dong Hua patted her head gently and replied lovingly, "Fine, fine. I won't tease you. I'm glad that you're worried about me, Xiao Bai."
"Of course! I'm always worried about you. By the way, do you feel unwell today since you drank so much last night? If you are, I'll stay behind and take good care of you." Feng Jiu smiled sweetly.
Dong Hua then dramatically lay down on the sofa and replied softly, "Yeah, my head hurts. You need to stay behind to take care of me." Then he closed his eyes and pretended to have a hangover. In reality, he did have a slight headache, but he exaggerated it.
"Okay! You should go lie down on your bed and have some rest. I'll cook some porridge for you now." Feng Jiu then dragged Dong Hua up and pushed him towards the bedroom. Then she made him lie down and tucked him into bed. "Don't get up and just rest. I'll get you a cup of water first."
Then she ran towards the kitchen and prepared a water bottle for Dong Hua. "Okay, I'll leave this bottle beside your bed. Yell out to me if you need anything." Feng Jiu said.
"Xiao Bai, I just have a hangover, and I'm not a patient in the hospital." Dong Hua chuckled.
"I don't care! I said that I'd take responsibility so I'll take good care of you. I know you got drunk because you were upset about me lying. Listen to me, and just rest well! I'll be your maid today!" Feng Jiu then pulled the blanket up to his neck and went back to the kitchen.
Dong Hua thought to himself, "Xiao Bai is so cute even when she's demanding. She even said that she would take responsibility for me. Does this mean that she likes me too...? Wait. Don't overthink or have any expectations first. Remember the plan and stick to it. Wait until the competition is over."
----------------------------------------
Feng Jiu happily looked into the fridge. "Wow, lobster?!" She exclaimed.
Then she ran back into Dong Hua's room, holding the packet of lobster. "Dong Hua... Can I cook this?" She asked shyly.
"Xiao Bai, you can eat or have anything in my house. You don't have to ask me for permission." Dong Hua smiled. Feng Jiu then nodded her head and ran back to the kitchen.
"Maybe I'll make some lobster porridge." She started preparing the lobster and boiled the water. Then she realized that she couldn't reach the top cabinet, and she needed to take some bowls down.
Feng Jiu walked into Dong Hua's room again and asked softly, "Dong Hua... Are you asleep?" She asked. Dong Hua had his eyes closed, and his back turned away from her.
Since there wasn't any response from Dong Hua, Feng Jiu slowly leaned over to check on him. Upon noticing that Feng Jiu was 'peeping' at him again, he turned his body and grabbed Feng Jiu. Then he pinned her down against the bed and said sarcastically, "Were you trying to take advantage of me again?"
Feng Jiu blushed and replied shyly, "No! Why would I? I was just checking to see if you're still awake. I can't reach the top cabinets." Then she giggled.
Dong Hua smiled and stared at her flushed face. "Xiao Bai, you're so beautiful." Feng Jiu blushed even harder, and then she nervously thought to herself, "If I don't get out now, I'll lose control of myself." Feng Jiu then pushed Dong Hua away.
Then she got up the bed and replied softly, "I boiled some water, so I need to check on it." Feng Jiu then ran back out to the kitchen.
Dong Hua smiled and thought to himself, "You boiled up something in me too." Then he stood up and walked towards the kitchen.
"Umm! What did I say about lying down and resting?!" Feng Jiu glowered at Dong Hua.
"Oh? Didn't you say you can't reach the top cabinets?" Dong Hua replied calmly.
"Oh! I forgot about that. I need two bowls from up there." Feng Jiu giggled, and she pointed up to the top cabinet.
Dong Hua effortlessly took it down and replied casually, "I need to shift all of them down to the bottom cabinet so that you'll be able to reach it."
"Don't need to go through the trouble! Just get me a small stool, and I can climb up by myself." Feng Jiu smiled. Dong Hua nodded his head and replied, "Okay, we shall get you a small stool then."
"Go back to your room, and I'll call you when food is ready!" Feng Jiu pushed Dong Hua out of the kitchen.
"Are you sure you don't need my help anymore?" Dong Hua asked.
"No! Get back to bed." Feng Jiu said. Dong Hua then left and headed back to his bedroom.
----------------------------------------
Dong Hua took a short nap since he had a slight hangover. Then he dreamt about Feng Jiu, and they were kissing passionately in his dream.
He immediately woke up after that, and he thought to himself, "It's not fair that I didn't remember the kiss with Xiao Bai last night."
At this moment, Feng Jiu came walking into his room and noticed that Dong Hua was in a daze. "Food's ready. Want to come eat now?"
"Yes." Dong Hua briefly looked at Feng Jiu and then onto her lips. "Not fair." He thought to himself.
Feng Jiu then turned and prepared to leave. Dong Hua immediately grabbed on her arm gently, and she turned back to look at him. "Xiao Bai, can we kiss again? It's not fair that I don't remember how you took advantage of me."
Feng Jiu blushed and replied nervously, "Uh... Uh. You were drunk, and we accidentally kissed. So it's nothing, and isn't it weird to just kiss for that reason?"
Dong Hua frowned and replied sadly, "But... I always thought that the first kiss would be special, and I don't even remember it." He said a white lie since his first kiss was already 'stolen' by drunk Feng Jiu.
Feng Jiu nervously thought to herself, "What should I do? I mean Dong Hua is right too... But I'm too shy to kiss him. Okay, maybe he can kiss my forehead." Then she replied shyly, "Okay, fine. You can kiss my forehead then."
"Just the forehead...?" Dong Hua replied hesitantly. Feng Jiu pouted and replied, "It's okay if you don't want it."
Dong Hua immediately stood up and hugged Feng Jiu's waist to pull her closer. Their hearts started pounding heavily, and Feng Jiu closed her eyes.
Dong Hua slowly leaned in and kissed her gently on her forehead. Then he closed his eyes, and they stayed like this for a good few seconds.
After a while, Feng Jiu opened her eyes and said shyly, "Is this fair now?" Dong Hua then backed off and replied lovingly, "Hmm... I guess so. Let's go eat now." He also thought to himself, "I guess it's better than nothing."
Then they smiled sweetly and each other. After that, they went out of his bedroom and walked towards the dining table.
"Wow, is this lobster porridge? One of my favourites too. You know me so well, Xiao Bai." Dong Hua looked at the porridge excitedly.
"That's one of my favourites too!" Feng Jiu exclaimed, and she took the ladle to pour some porridge into Dong Hua's bowl. "You can eat more since you're the patient today." She said.
Dong Hua then fished out the big lobster pieces and placed it into Feng Jiu's bowl. "You'll have more lobster since the patient usually just eats porridge."
----------------------------------------
After they were done with their brunch, Feng Jiu nudged Dong Hua to rest again.
"Xiao Bai, I don't want to rest more. I want to spend more time with you since it's New Year's Day." Dong Hua said.
"But... You're not feeling well. Maybe I'll make you some tea so that you'll feel better." Feng Jiu replied worriedly.
"Okay. But would you still stay here if I felt better?" Dong Hua asked.
"I will stay if you want me to. I don't have any plans today too. Usually, I just stay at home since it's crowded everywhere, and we already celebrate last night." Feng Jiu smiled.
Dong Hua immediately smiled brightly and replied, "Of course I want you to stay. It's even better if you stayed overnight. From my apartment, you could see the fireworks clearly. I used to watch it alone, but now that I have you, we could watch it together."
"Oh! I would love to see the fireworks. I went to see it once when I was younger, but it was way too crowded. I can't see any from my apartment, so I could only watch them on TV. Okay! I'll stay the night then." Feng Jiu replied excitedly.
"Oh? Guess we could watch it together tonight then. I'll get you some clothes to change into now." Dong Hua said casually. Then he thought to himself, "Oh? Hangover becomes stay over."
Feng Jiu shook her head and replied, "I'll head back home quickly to pack up some essential stuff and clothes. Then I'll come back here. You don't have to drive me back home since I can take a cab. It's not safe for you to drive now."
"You could just wear my clothes, and we can get the essential stuff downstairs." Dong Hua replied casually.
Feng Jiu bowed her head and replied shyly, "Yeah, but I need to change my....."
"Change what?" Dong Hua replied casually
"Uh... uh... My private clothing." Feng Jiu blushed since she was too shy to mention the word 'underwear.'
"Private clothing?" Dong Hua still didn't get what she meant by that.
Feng Jiu immediately turned away and whispered, "My underwear..."
Dong Hua blushed upon hearing that, and he reminded himself again, "No nose bleeding. Don't think about dirty thoughts, and it's just underwear. Wait, don't mention the word. Is it just me, or it's getting hot in here?"
Then he calmed himself down and changed the topic instantly, "Okay, I'll head downstairs to get some food ingredients for tonight. The glutton is staying overnight, so I need to prepare snacks too."
"Hmph! You better buy more snacks then. I want milk candy too." Feng Jiu pouted.
Then Dong Hua called his personal driver to pick his car up from the hotpot restaurant. He also requested him to send Feng Jiu home and then back to his place. Usually, Dong Hua likes to drive on his own, but he still needs a personal driver since he drinks with his business associates from time to time.
Dong Hua send Feng Jiu down to the car park before walking to the nearby convenience store. "I'll be back soon!" Feng Jiu said. "Okay, don't take too long." Dong Hua replied, and then they bid each other goodbye.
----------------------------------------
Nearly two hours later, Feng Jiu arrived back at Dong Hua's place. She brought a big bag of clothes and essentials items.
Dong Hua looked at her big bag briefly and said sarcastically, "Are you moving into my place?" Then he chuckled.
"Well, you said that I could bring some of my clothes here for future uses. Since the deadline is in two weeks, I'll probably need to spend nights here if I got into the second round. I'm just preparing in advance!" Feng Jiu pouted.
"You're right, Xiao Bai. You should just treat this as your second home. I can buy you more clothes and essential items if you want. Oh yeah, I bought something for you." Dong Hua then stood up and headed into his bedroom.
Feng Jiu followed him into the room like a curious cat. "What did you get for me?" She asked curiously.
Dong Hua reached to the top shelf in his walk-in wardrobe and pulled out a whole box of pink items. It consisted of a cup, toothbrush, towel, bedsheets, and everything that he thinks Feng Jiu needed.
"Wow! All pink! I love it!" Feng Jiu excitedly rummaged through the box and she smiled brightly. Dong Hua smiled upon seeing her so happy, and he replied lovingly, "Let's bring these to your room. It's all yours now, and let me know if you need more."
Feng Jiu nodded her head and smiled. Then she followed after Dong Hua into her own room, and she thought to herself, "Dong Hua is so sweet! Although he's not good with words, his actions seem to prove that he really cares about me."
Feng Jiu then started unpacking her clothes and put them into the wardrobe. She also took out the items from the box and placed them in the right place. "Now, I really feel at home!" She exclaimed.
Dong Hua patted her head and replied, "I'm glad that you feel at home, Xiao Bai. We are starting to feel like a real family now. Anyway, get changed into comfortable clothing first." Then he smiled and left the room.
Dong Hua went into his study room and started working. Even though it was a public holiday, he was still a workaholic and wanted to finish his work as soon as possible.
Feng Jiu happily hopped out of her room after getting changed into her home clothes. "I feel so comfortable now!" Then she noticed Dong Hua was working in his study room and she headed in.
"Huh? You still have to work on New Year's Day?" She pouted.
"Yes. My headache is gone, so I figured I could get some work done." Dong Hua replied and briefly looked up at her.
"But... It's a public holiday! Are you sure your head feels better now? I'll massage it for you now." Feng Jiu asked worriedly, and then she walked over to Dong Hua.
She stood behind him and started massaging his head. "Oh. Xiao Bai is good at massaging, huh? It feels nice." Dong Hua smiled.
"Of course! I used to do this for my dad when he gets stressed out for work. I also helped massaged my mom's shoulders whenever she gets too tired as well. You want to try my shoulder massage too?" Feng Jiu smiled sweetly.
Dong Hua nodded his head, and Feng Jiu began rubbing his shoulders. "Does this feel good? Your shoulders feel so tense!" She asked.
"Yes, I really needed a good massage. But I hate it when others are touching me, so I didn't go to a massage parlour. You're different, Xiao Bai. You're the only person who I allow to come this close to me." Dong Hua turned back and smiled warmly at Feng Jiu.
"It's okay! I'll massage it for you, and you can continue to work. If you need one next time, just let me know." Feng Jiu smiled brightly, and she continued pressing on his shoulders. Dong Hua then touched her hand and replied lovingly, "I knew that you're the best, Xiao Bai." Then he thought to himself, "Xiao Bai is so filial and caring. I didn't pick the wrong girl. How did I get so lucky that my first love is so perfect? My unfortunate past doesn't matter anymore as long as she's in my future."
Feng Jiu smiled and thought to herself, "Poor Dong Hua. He must have been traumatized by his past that he hates it when others touch him. No wonder he has trust issues. But he can rely on me, and I won't do anything to hurt him!"
After massaging for 30 minutes, Feng Jiu felt tired after standing for such a long time. Dong Hua then immediately told her to rest, and he didn't realize it was that long since he was so busy with work while enjoying the massage. "I'm sorry, Xiao Bai. Go sit there and have a rest now." Then he pointed towards the sofa on the other side of the study room.
----------------------------------------
Feng Jiu then ran out of the study room, and Dong Hua looked at her leave. "What is she up to?
After a few minutes, Feng Jiu came in with her hands filled. She brought a throw blanket, some snacks, and two bottles of soft drinks. She also brought some magazines that she found in the living room.
"Since you're going to work here, I'm going to make myself comfortable and accompany you here." Feng Jiu smiled. Then she left a bottle of soft drink on Dong Hua's table, on top of a drink coaster. She also left a few milk candy on his table. "Tell me if you want more." Feng Jiu said.
Dong Hua smiled and replied, "Oh? You should make yourself comfortable then. It won't take long to finish my work. Do you want me to order food delivery tonight?"
"No. I'll be cooking for you later on. I already checked the fridge, and you still have some stuff in there. I'm sure I'll be able to make something out of it. I already took the frozen pork out from the freezer to defrost it. Should I make you Fried Pork Chops tonight then?"
"That sounds nice. Okay, make yourself comfortable, and I need to finish up my business proposal now." Dong Hua smiled.
Feng Jiu laid against the side of the sofa and covered her legs with the throw blanket. She picked up a lifestyle magazine and started reading it.
She flipped through the magazine casually until she found an interesting article. 'Top 5 voted most eligible bachelors.'
The column wrote about the basic background of the bachelors and their personality based on observation.
#1 was Dong Hua, and #2 was Su Moye. Feng Jiu couldn't hold back her laughter when she saw that Su Moye's picture was scribbled with silly faces. Su Moye even had a 'gap tooth and unibrow' in his picture.
"What's so funny, Xiao Bai?" Dong Hua asked curiously upon seeing her laugh so hard. Feng Jiu immediately stood up and brought the magazine over to Dong Hua.
"What's this, Dong Hua?" Feng Jiu asked, and she still couldn't stop laughing. Dong Hua blushed and replied, "Nothing." Then he tried to take the magazine away from her. In reality, Dong Hua was jealous of Su Moye, so he drew a gap tooth and unibrow on his picture.
"You drew this because you were jealous of him, right? But you're #1! I didn't expect that you'll do such a thing." Feng Jiu chuckled. Dong Hua avoided eye-contact and replied, "I was just bored."
Feng Jiu then tried to stop herself from laughing and replied, "It's nothing shameful, I actually think it was funny and cute. At least it shows that you have emotions, unlike what they said about you here. I don't like how they wrote about you in the magazine since it's not true at all!"
"Well... What they wrote is true. Although they didn't state it clearly, they are actually saying that I am a cold-hearted person. I'm still cold to everyone else except you. I can't be cold to you, Xiao Bai. I feel warm whenever you're around me." Dong Hua smiled sweetly at Feng Jiu. In his heart, he was thinking, "Sometimes I feel even more 'warm' when we are 'close.' I even had to try to cool myself down so that I won't have a nose bleed."
Feng Jiu smiled and replied shyly, "Well... It's nice that you're only warm towards me because I feel special. But it would also be nice if you're less cold towards your friends like Lian Song and Si Ming. They really do care for you as well."
"You're always special to me, Xiao Bai. I could lose anyone but you." Dong Hua smiled. Feng Jiu's heart starting pounding, and she thought to herself. "I guess Su Moye is right; Dong Hua indeed has special feelings for me. But how do I ask him if we are dating now? I guess I should just stick to the original plan to ask him after the competition. I need to focus on this competition and I can't afford any distractions now so that I could win."
"You're special to me too, Dong Hua." Feng Jiu smiled sweetly. Dong Hua's heart also started pounding, and he thought to himself, "I guess I really do mean something to Xiao Bai. I'll definitely confess to her after the competition. I don't want to distract her now, and I also like how things are between us now."
Then they both went back to do their own things until it was time for Feng Jiu to cook dinner.
----------------------------------------
"I'll go prepare dinner now! Don't work too hard while I'm gone!" Feng Jiu said before leaving the study room.
"I'll miss you, Xiao Bai." Dong Hua nodded and smiled. Feng Jiu giggled and replied shyly, "Me too." Then she ran into the kitchen to start cooking.
"Dong Hua already got me a stool?" Feng Jiu thought to herself upon seeing a new small stool in the kitchen. It turned out that Dong Hua went to buy her a stool at the convenience store when she went back home. "That is so sweet of him. I feel like I'm falling more and more in love with him..." Feng Jiu smiled.
Then she took out the veggies and defrosted pork from the fridge. After that, she breaded the pork chops and stir-fry the vegetables. She also cooked rice and made an omelette. "This would be good enough for the two of us." Feng Jiu said.
After she was done serving the dishes, she ran back into the study room. She popped her head into the room and said, "Dong Hua, the food's ready. Come eat now while it's still hot."
Dong Hua quickly saved his work and stood up to head towards the dining area. "Wow, it looks good. I missed your home-cooked food." Dong Hua smiled.
"You just ate my porridge this afternoon!" Feng Jiu chuckled. Dong Hua then sat down and smiled, "I won't ever get sick of your cooking."
Then they both started digging in, and Feng Jiu ate really quickly since she was famished. "Slow down before you choke." Dong Hua said, and he put more pork chops into her bowl.
Feng Jiu then smiled and asked curiously,"What time do the fireworks start?" Dong Hua then replied casually, "I think it's 8.30 PM. We have plenty of time, and it's only 6 PM now."
"Oh! I guess we could find something to do after dinner then. You're done with work, right?" Feng Jiu replied.
"Not really, I still have a lot to do. But I'll leave it to tomorrow so I can spend time with you tonight." Dong Hua smiled.
Feng Jiu smiled brightly and replied, "You're the best, Dong Hua! Let me think of something that we could do. Hmm... Maybe we could build a fort near the windows so that we could 'camp' in it and watch the fireworks?"
"Build a fort? I have heard of that, but I don't know how to build one. But that does sound nice." Dong Hua replied.
"But I'm good at it! You just have to follow my instructions and help me out. So we will need tons of pillows and blankets! We also need chairs. I'll see what I could do later. I can't wait to build a fort with you, Dong Hua!" Feng Jiu replied excitedly.
Then they quickly finished their dinner and washed the dishes together.
----------------------------------------
After dinner, Feng Jiu instructed Dong Hua on what to do. They dragged a few sturdy chairs to the living room, and they also took some bedsheets.
Dong Hua also took two thick blankets and laid it on the floor, in between the chairs. They also gather as many pillows as they have and placed them into the fort. They even set up a line across the artificial plants to make their fort higher. Feng Jiu was an expert in building forts since she did it a lot when she was younger.
After spending a long time setting up their fort, it was finally ready. "Now, we need some small lights in it, and then we will switch off the living room's lights." Feng Jiu said.
"I don't have small lights, would a small lamp work? Wait... Maybe I have something." Dong Hua then walked into his storeroom and brought out a LED Starry Night Sky Projector Lamp. It was a gift from a company that he used to work with. He quickly put four batteries in and tried to turn it on. "Oh, it's still working well."
Then he brought it over to the living room and surprised Feng Jiu. He made her close her eyes first while he's setting it up. "Don't peek, Xiao Bai. I'll let you know when it's ready. I think you might like this." Feng Jiu closed her eyes and nodded her head.
She waited impatiently for Dong Hua to set it up, and she thought to herself, "What is Dong Hua doing? I can't wait to see it!"
Finally, Dong Hua managed to set up the lamp in the fort. Then he told Feng Jiu to open her eyes.
*There is a photo included here but I can't upload photos on webnovel so please check my novel in Wattpad instead - https://www.wattpad.com/892693665-against-fate-eternal-love-of-dream-pillow-book*
"Do you like it, Xiao Bai? I got this lamp from an old client, and I didn't have a chance to use it until now." Dong Hua smiled.
"Wow! I absolutely loved it! It looks so cozy in here. Now, I want to live in the fort forever!" Feng Jiu smiled brightly, and she crawled into the fort.
"Come lie here beside me, Dong Hua! It's so comfortable that we could even sleep here tonight." Feng Jiu spoke without thinking, and she lightly patted the pillow beside her to gestured Dong Hua to come in.
"Oh? You want us to sleep together again?" Dong Hua said sarcastically.
"No! I don't mean it that way. What I wanted to say is that it's super comfortable and cozy in here." Feng Jiu pouted.
Dong Hua then crawled in and lay beside Feng Jiu. "Oh, you're right. It's really comfortable in here. I need to take a photo of us in the fort since it's my first time building one."
"Yes! It's almost 8.30 PM, so I'll go grab some snacks too. Let's go!" Then they both crawled out of the fort and took the stuff that they needed.
Feng Jiu quickly took some drinks and snacks, then she placed them outside the fort. Dong Hua also took his phone and crawled back into the fort.
"Xiao Bai, let's take a selfie of us in here before the fireworks start." Dong Hua said. Feng Jiu immediately crawled into the fort and smiled warmly. "Yes, we need to take pictures since our fort is really beautiful!"
Then they both tried to take pictures. Luckily, there weren't many clouds today, and the moon shone brightly into their fort. "You need to come closer to me, Xiao Bai. We can't get a good photo together if you're lying so far away." Dong Hua said.
Feng Jiu then wiggled her way closer to Dong Hua. "Is this better?" She asked. Dong Hua shook his head and pulled her really close. "This is much better." Feng Jiu laid on his shoulders, and then they smiled and took a few pictures.
"Let me check the pictures!" Feng Jiu exclaimed. Dong Hua casually handed her his phone and said that she could feel free to look through it. Feng Jiu smiled at the pictures and forwarded all of them to herself. "I love every single picture." She said.
Right at this moment, they heard the sound of fireworks, and they quickly sat up to look out of the window. It was 8.30 PM, and the fireworks show begins.
"Maybe we could create some fireworks between us tonight?" - Dong Hua