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Rhetorical Question Part 1

When Rong Zhouzhong finished filming, it was already 1:30 in the morning. He quickly changed out of his wet clothes and said goodbye to the crew members who had gathered to celebrate his wrap. He then hurried towards the villa.


 His assistant, who knew a little bit about the situation, followed closely behind and handed him a towel while saying, "Ah Zhong, it's so late. Mr. Shi is probably already asleep. Why don't you go tomorrow? You've been soaking in the water for so long, it's best to take a hot shower as soon as possible to get rid of the cold on your body. You should also dry your hair. It's windy at night, and you might catch a cold."


 "He's still waiting for me," said Rong Zhouzhong, politely declining the towel offered by his assistant without even turning his head. "I'm fine. Just let Director Wang know that we don't need to celebrate tonight. I'll treat everyone when we all have time." With that, he walked past the security personnel guarding the bridge and took a few steps onto it.


 The assistant wanted to follow, but was stopped by the security personnel. He could only watch as Rong Zhouzhong walked away, unable to resist the urge to grab his hair in frustration.


 "What's going on?" he muttered to himself. It had been so long, but this was the first time he had seen Rong Zhouzhong with such a serious and heavy expression. He couldn't help but feel a little worried.


 "I hope nothing bad happens," he continued to mutter, standing in place and waiting for a while. When Rong Zhouzhong didn't come out, he resigned himself to turning around and walking towards the direction of the film crew.


 ......


 As he walked halfway across the long bridge, Rong Zhouzhong saw Shi Jin. The other man was leaning his head on a rattan table near the balcony, as if he was asleep.


 He was actually still waiting, was he stupid?


 Rong Zhouzhong furrowed his brow. But suddenly, his heart, which had been tense all night, relaxed. He had thoughts like, "Ah, I also have someone waiting for me," "No wonder Shi Jin is the dumbest kid in the Shi family," and so on.


 Unconsciously, his steps stopped, and he stood at a distance, staring at Shi Jin's figure for a while. Suddenly, he ran towards him, and when he reached the balcony, he instinctively slowed down and walked slowly towards Shi Jin, looking at his sleeping face.


 A big man sleeping on a table full of snack wrappers was not a pleasant sight, but Rong Zhouzhong looked at it very seriously. When Shi Jin is asleep... he looks much less harmful than when he's awake. He won't show various expressions that make people either itchy or sad, nor will he say things that make people want to hit him but also want to love him. He also won't look at you with those eyes that are dragged down by memories, disturbing your conscience.


 "He really is a troublemaker." Rong Zhouzhong muttered, glancing at the snack bags on the table, all of which he had previously given to Shi Jin. He rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes tightly, suddenly sitting on the ground.


 Is he a child? Eating so much at once, isn't he afraid of getting sick?


 He put his hand down and looked at Shi Jin again. After sitting down, he could see more clearly the face of Shi Jin, who had half-buried his face in his arm. It was a face that had nothing in common with his own, and one that he had always assumed belonged to a villainous character. But ironically, it turned out that he was the one playing the villain.


 His younger brother.


 He thought of the serious face of Xiang Aoting, and the face of Li Jiuzheng, who looked like he deserved a beating. His face darkened, but he eventually focused on Shi Jin, who looked even more innocent when he was asleep.


 Oh, little brother.


 He smirked and suddenly reached out, pinching Shi Jin's cheek that was exposed outside of his arm and pulling it outwards.


 Shi Jin's eyes snapped open, and after a moment of confusion, he quickly regained his senses and without hesitation, used a wrist lock to grab the hand that was brought to his face and twisted it in the opposite direction.


 "Ah!" Rong Zhouzhong howled in pain.


 Shi Jin was startled by the loud scream and finally woke up. He sat up straight, turned his head to look around, and gradually recalled his memories before falling asleep. He lowered his head and saw Rong Zhouzhong sitting on the ground, his face twisted as he tried to pull his hand back.


 Shi Jin was speechless for two seconds, then let go of Rong Zhouzhong's hand and said, "Are you stupid? You actually attacked a police officer at night. If I had used a little more force, your wrist would have been broken."


 "What police officer? Just a freshman..." Rong Zhouzhong rubbed his wrist and retorted with a frown.


 Is the police officer the main point here? Isn't the main point the fact that you attacked someone at night?


 Shi Jin looked at the intellectually disabled man with a loving gaze for two seconds, then bent down and took his wrist. With a swift motion, he helped the man massage his joints before releasing his hand and standing up.


 He glanced at the blanket that had slipped off the chair, then at the screen on the balcony used to block the wind. His eyes softened, and finally he turned to look in the direction of the film crew, stretching lazily.


 "It seems like your scene is already finished. What time is it?" He asked, stretching his body and looking down at Rong Zhouzhong.


 Rong Zhouzhong adjusted his wrist, which was no longer in pain, and looked at him. He noticed that his perspective was off and quickly composed himself, standing up with a model-like pose, trying to salvage some of his image.


 "It's almost two in the morning. Actually, you don't have to wait for me all this time. I..."


 "What did you say, 2am?!" exclaimed Shi Jin, without hesitation he turned and ran to the floor-to-ceiling window in the master bedroom, carefully pulling it open and peeking inside.


 Lian Jun was lying on the bed with his back facing the window, seemingly already asleep.


 Shi Jin breathed a sigh of relief, feeling grateful that Lian Jun didn't stay up late with him. Just as he was about to leave the room and let Lian Jun rest, a head suddenly appeared from behind.


 "While you were outside, he was able to sleep peacefully in the room? How did he--"


 Shi Jin's expression changed, and he slapped Rong Zhouzhong's face with the back of his hand as he leaned in, then turned and pushed him out, carefully closing the floor-to-ceiling window and warning, "Speak softly, don't wake him up."


 Rong Zhouzhong's face turned black. "If your boyfriend doesn't care about you, why bother with him? Just dump him and I'll introduce you to someone better."


 "Are you asking for a beating?" Shi Jin raised his fist, full of killing intent. "Lian Jun is the best. There's no one better looking than him, no one more gentle than him, no one smarter than him. And no one loves me more than him. If you dare to introduce me to someone else, I'll introduce you to the King of Hell."


 Rong Zhouzhong felt a sharp pain in his body when he saw Shi Jin's fist. He gritted his teeth and said, "I think you've been cursed by him. You don't know a good person when you see one, you little brat..."


 "Hmm?" Shi Jin threatened as he turned his fist.


 Rong Zhouzhong felt frustrated and kept his mouth shut. He was annoyed by his "rebellious" attitude and said in a bad tone, "Don't you want to watch a movie? If you're not going to watch it tonight, I'm going back to sleep!"


 As soon as these words came out, both of them were stunned.


 Oh right, the movie.


 Rong Zhouzhong glanced at Shi Jin and saw his expression instantly become distant and cold. He irritably ran his fingers through his hair and turned his head to look at the screen on the balcony without saying a word.


 Shi Jin slowly unclenched his fist and said, "Let's watch it. The sooner we watch it, the sooner we'll be relieved."


 Rong Zhouzhong looked at him from the corner of his eye, his lips moved as if he wanted to ask what he meant by "relieved", but the words were swallowed back down. He just followed up and said, "Okay, let's watch it."


 ......


 The two of them walked around to the living room and entered the villa through the balcony door. Shi Jin arranged for Rong Zhouzhong to sit on the sofa. He handed him a towel and a hair dryer, and poured a cup of hot drink in front of him, saying, "Dry your hair first, then have some hot drink to warm up. I'll go to the kitchen to get the cake."


 When Rong Zhouzhong heard the word "cake", his fingers stiffened and he nodded in agreement.


 After Shi Jin left, Rong Zhouzhong looked at the hot drink in front of him and the hair dryer already plugged in on the coffee table. He covered his face with a towel and let out a sigh.


 This was truly a long night...


 ......


 With his hair dry and the hot drink finished, Rong Zhouzhong slumped on the sofa, staring in the direction of the kitchen. He was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open, and he didn't even see Shi Jin coming out of the kitchen.


 Did he fall asleep in the kitchen? He frowned, thinking to himself, "Maybe I can skip the movie today," and got up to head towards the kitchen.


 Unfortunately, luck was not on his side today. As he turned the corner, he could clearly see through the half-open kitchen door that Shi Jin was wearing an apron and standing in front of a small table, diligently spreading cream on an eight-inch cake with practiced movements.


 The scene was so warm and homey that Rong Zhouzhong instinctively took out his phone and captured the moment.


 Shi Jin heard the sound and looked up, noticing Rong Zhouzhong's arrival. He slightly quickened his movements and apologized, "Sorry, I took too long. It's almost done. Can you wait a little longer?"


 As Rong Zhouzhong regained his senses, he put away his phone and walked over to take a closer look at the slightly rough cake in his brother's hand. "Did you make this?" he asked.


 "Yeah," Shi Jin nodded, putting away the cream and picking up a plate of fruit to start laying it on top of the cream.


 Watching his brother's slightly anxious movements, Rong Zhouzhong asked, "Why did you make it yourself?"


 Shi Jin carefully laid the sliced strawberries around the edge of the cake without looking up, and replied, "You only told me this afternoon that we were going to watch a movie tonight. I figured I wouldn't be able to order a cake in time, so I just made one myself. My skills are average, don't judge me."


 Rong Zhouzhong replied, "Why would I judge you... Is making a cake troublesome?"


 "It's not too much trouble. The cake base was baked earlier and kept ready. Now we just need to add some filling and decorate the surface. Actually, it's my fault. I accidentally fell asleep, otherwise it would have been done earlier and you could have eaten it right away," replied Shi Jin.


 He put down the plate of fruit and picked up a small bowl of crushed almonds and a large sieve for sifting almonds. With a smile, he said, "Thanks to the kitchen auntie for preparing all the necessary ingredients in advance, otherwise it would have taken a while to make."


 The crushed almonds were evenly spread on top of the cake through the sieve. Shi Jin was satisfied and put down the bowl of crushed almonds. He then picked up the chocolate sauce and drew a slightly ugly smiley face on the almonds. After that, he carefully inserted a few chocolate decorations onto the almonds and made some final adjustments. The cake was finally done.


 "It looks so ugly," was the first thought that came to Rong Zhouzhong's mind when he saw the finished product.


 "But it should taste good," was his second thought when he smelled the sweet aroma of the cake.


 The taste of the cake was the most important thing, and the appearance didn't matter. So, this cake was actually quite good-looking, considering the high-quality ingredients used. This was his third thought when he saw Shi Jin's satisfied and accomplished expression.


 "Let's go to the second floor," Shi Jin took off his apron and looked at Rong Zhouzhong. As Rong Zhouzhong nodded in agreement, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of the cake while Shi Jin turned around to put on his apron.

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Chapter 118 - Rhetorical Question Part 1

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