Peng! Peng! Peng!
Cheng Xi was abruptly woken up by someone knocking on her door, causing her to quickly spring up from her bed. She rubbed her hair to rouse herself and confusedly walked towards the door.
“Your phone’s about to die from ringing too much.” Her mother handed her phone over, her own face also still hazy with sleep.
“Oh.” Cheng Xi yawned, but quickly covered her mouth and frowned when she saw who was calling.
Since Cheng Xi had woken up earlier than usual this morning and ended up working for the entire day, she was exhausted by the time the restaurant closed. She obligingly ate a few bites of dinner before going to sleep; in that interval, she had somehow left her phone in the living room.
Her mother looked at her unhappily. “Who’s this Lu Chenzhou? He’s calling you so late and incessantly—you’d think his house is on fire or something.”
“A patient,” Cheng Xi dryly remarked with a laugh. Then she hugged her mother, and went back inside her room with her phone.
Before she picked up the call, she quickly glanced at the time; it was 11:25 PM. For people like her mother who had to wake up early in the morning, it was essentially the middle of the night.
Who knew what Lu Chenzhou was calling her about.
Cheng Xi didn’t want to answer the phone all that much, but after thinking about it some more, she finally picked up.
“Where are you?” Even through the phone, Lu Chenzhou’s voice was conspicuously devoid of warmth. “I want to see you.” His attitude was as direct as ever: simple and rough.
Cheng Xi, with her sensitive perception, immediately noticed that something was amiss with him. Lu Chenzhou was naturally aloof, but his normal coldness still carried with it at least a little refinement and courteousness. This wasn’t at all like his current tone, which was unapologetically frigid.
She recalled the earlier phone call from Baldy and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Where are you?” He kept pressing for an answer.
Cheng Xi could only tell him the truth. “I’m with my mom. It’s a bit far from the city.”
Doodoo! The call suddenly dropped. Cheng Xi clutched the phone in her hand, only remembering to call Baldy after a while.
She didn’t save his number, so she could only scroll through her caller history. It took her two tries before she found the right number, and Baldy exploded once he realized it was her. “And to think you’re a doctor! You didn’t even come help me when I was almost dead. F*ck, I almost died after the beating Boss Lu gave me. My hand’s half-crippled! You better compensate me!”
After he finished ranting, Cheng Xi asked, “What’s wrong with Lu Chenzhou?”
“Hm? What do you mean what’s wrong?”
“He called me just now, but he sounded off, so I’d like to know if something happened to him.”
“If something happened to him… Does wanting to see you but not being able to do so count?”
Cheng Xi frowned. “I’m not joking.”
“I’m not either. He really does just want to see you.” Baldy was serious, but it also felt like a joke to him. “Really, that guy… I think he really is crazy about you. He wants to see you beyond a shadow of a doubt, but because you cuckolded him, he refuses to do so. Dr. Cheng, our Boss Lu’s such a great guy, but why would you be so blind as to fall for that pretty guy instead?”
Cheng Xi took a deep breath, barely restraining herself from cursing, and hung up silently.
Ordinarily, it would take about one and a half hours to drive from the city to her mother’s place. But about thirty minutes after Lu Chenzhou had hung up, Cheng Xi got another call from him.
She’d guessed that he was going to drive to her, so not only did she give him her mother’s address, but she also changed her clothes in advance and crept to the front door as soon as his call arrived.
Suburban buildings weren’t as strictly guarded as those in the cities, and Lu Chenzhou had parked his car right underneath the building. As soon as Cheng Xi went outside, she saw the bright car headlights illuminating the nearby area.
Lu Chenzhou was sitting at the head of the car, the headlights like beacons against the backdrop of the night sky. Under the harsh light, Cheng Xi could barely make out his outline. His familiar figure was tall and handsome, but with an edge of coldness tonight.
Only when she walked a bit closer did she notice his unusual behavior. Despite the cold weather, Lu Chenzhou only had a thin shirt on. His gaze was firmly locked onto her, and he had a cigarette in his mouth.
When he saw her walk over, he flicked his cigarette to the ground. His heel crushed it a second later, and the star-like glow vanished into the night.
“Are you… alright?” Although Cheng Xi was worried about his mental condition, she didn’t dare approach him, and maintained a distance of a few paces from him.
Lu Chenzhou didn’t speak, only looking at her silently for quite a while. Then, he got up and slowly approached her, his figure leaving the lamplight.
Cheng Xi couldn’t help but feel like her head was about to explode. She was getting a dangerous vibe from him, and had to force herself to remain still and look back at him. Her voice was gentle as she asked, “How are you? Why are you wearing so little? It’s so cold outside, so why don’t you get into the car first?” As she said this, she stretched out her hand to pull him into the car, but when she touched him, she was shocked. His clothes were wet, and his whole body was as cold as a block of ice!
“You…” She stared at him in disbelief. “…didn’t fall into a river, did you?”
Cheng Xi disregarded everything else and tried to push him into the car, but Lu Chenzhou twisted his arm and firmly clutched her wrist instead.
His hand was cold and hard. Before Cheng Xi could even react, she had been pulled into his embrace, sticking tightly to his body.
She felt like she had been wrapped up by a block of ice. Her nose was touching his chest, and she was being hugged so tightly that the pain made tears well up in her eyes.
She thought that he was trying to hug her to warm himself up, but that wasn’t the case. Lu Chenzhou’s next moves were completely out of Cheng Xi’s expectations. After he hugged her, he backed up a few steps, turned around, and pinned her against the car. Then, with his free hand, he pinched her jaw, forced her to raise her head, and without another word, kissed her.
His lips were as cold as his personality, but very soft. Because he liked cleanliness, he was always clean-shaven and had no stubble. Despite his present condition, he still smelled good, his scent carrying a hint of smoky tobacco.
Cheng Xi was very impressed with her ability to process so much information despite her circumstances. But she was very quickly left incapable of thought, because Lu Chenzhou’s next move was to kiss her enthusiastically. He showered her with kisses, from her tightly closed lips to the bridge of her nose, her eyes, and finally her forehead. Unlike his lips, his tongue was warm and soft, raising layers of goosebumps as he licked her skin.
Cheng Xi tried to avoid his kisses, but he pinned her down tightly. As one hand pressed her down, the other even pulled open her jacket’s zipper, snaking into her clothes and down her collar.
Only then did Cheng Xi start to panic. She struggled forcefully, and yelled desperately at him as she wriggled in fear. “Lu Chenzhou, what’s gotten into you? Wake up!”
But he ignored her. As she spoke, he kissed her lips again. This time, he started sucking on her tongue without any sort of technique. It was instinctive, like the desperate struggle of someone who had been poisoned.
Cheng Xi knew that she couldn’t let the situation continue any longer. Her head was spinning as she tried to think of a way to extricate herself from this. As her logic slowly came back to her, she tried to relax her body. Once she stopped struggling, Lu Chenzhou’s actions also became more gentle. He wasn’t as forceful anymore, but he was still as rough as before…
As he was tearing her underclothes apart without any care for the consequences, Cheng Xi finally decided on her plan of attack. She leaned as far back as she could, and then punched him squarely in the nose.
Lu Chenzhou, who had been acting crazily for a while now, slowly fell down at her feet.
At this moment, someone in the house upon which the strong headlights were aimed poked his head out the window. When he saw the two of them hugging, he couldn’t help but yell out, “We’re almost blind from this light. Haven’t the two of you gotten intimate enough yet?”
Cheng Xi couldn’t even think of a response. “……”