Chapter 45

At that time, Chen Xi’s sensitivity to luxury goods was far inferior to what it would be later.

Staring at the wristwatch for a long time, she feared her uncle might notice. She tucked the watch along with the unopened wallet deep into a small box hidden inside her closet.

She had specifically bought a lock for it. Inside were locked the photographs of her parents, her bank passbooks—everything that mattered to her.

And now, the gifts from Zhou Yanzhou were equally precious to her.

That night, Chen Xi suffered a rare bout of insomnia.

Lying in bed, aided by the faint moonlight spilling in from the courtyard outside, she finally managed to clearly see the calligraphy scroll hanging on the wall.

It was written by Professor Xu from Renmin University whom Zhou Yanzhou had taken her to meet in Beijing. Upon returning from Beijing, she had specifically paid to have it framed and only hung it on the wall yesterday.

Staring at those two lines of graceful, flowing poetry, Chen Xi felt as though she could genuinely envision the spirited young hero galloping on horseback across Chang'an Avenue.

She could do it too, couldn't she?

Beijing—she had to go there no matter what.

On the night of New Year's Eve, her uncle and aunt quarreled over some trivial matter. Clutching her son, ignoring the uncle's dissuasions, the aunt hailed a taxi and headed straight for her parents' home.

Left standing on the steps, the uncle was caught in a difficult dilemma.

Sensing his inner conflict, Chen Xi offered an obedient smile and said considerately, "Uncle, you should go check on Auntie. I made plans with a classmate to go to People's Square to watch the fireworks show."

After hesitating for a long time, Xu Jingqian ultimately remained worried about his wife and drove off in pursuit.

Before leaving, Xu Jingqian took five hundred yuan in cash from his wallet, stuffed it into Chen Xi's hand, and told her to have a good time out.

Clutching the money and standing at the courtyard gate against the biting winter wind, Chen Xi watched her uncle leave.

Not until the vehicle completely vanished from sight did she release a long breath of relief.

Early in the morning, Zhou Yanzhou sent a text message asking what time the fireworks show would start, to which Chen Xi replied eight o'clock in the evening.

Believing he would no longer reply, she was surprised when another text arrived: "Having lunch together later? A new Western restaurant just opened in People's Square. I'll take you to try it out."

Sometimes, Chen Xi found herself slightly annoyed by Zhou Yanzhou's excessive politeness. He always handed the power of choice over to her, yet made it abundantly clear that among the options he provided, rejection was simply not one of them.

And Chen Xi allowed herself to be willingly ensnared.

She splashed her face with cold water, letting the piercing winter chill beat against her skin in an attempt to lower the temperature on her cheeks. Unfortunately, it failed.

After fussing around in her bedroom, she eventually relented and accepted Zhou Yanzhou's invitation to lunch.

Originally, she had worried about finding an excuse to leave the house on New Year's Eve, but her aunt's sudden, unprovoked tantrum had provided her with the perfect reason.

Seeing her uncle off, Chen Xi rushed eagerly up to the second floor, pushed open the bedroom door, and dug out the outfit she had chosen right after waking up. Kicking off her slippers in a flurry, she shed her coral-fleece pajamas, slipped into a sweater and jeans, and finally threw on her usual down jacket. With her rose-shaped bag slung over her shoulder, she stepped out, beaming with excitement.

Before leaving, she did not forget to retrieve the perfume Zhu Qing had given her from the desk, spritzing a few times behind her ears and on the insides of her wrists.

It was not a designer brand, but the scent was delightful.

The moment she finished spraying, a light jasmine fragrance diffused into the air. Chen Xi sniffed, glanced at her reflection in the bathroom mirror with satisfaction, and headed downstairs.

After locking all doors and windows securely, Chen Xi stood by the courtyard gate, hailing a taxi while checking the time.

It was a little past one in the afternoon. She wondered if Zhou Yanzhou was even awake yet.

Lately, he had been busy socializing with government officials and worked late every single day.

Sometimes, when Chen Xi sent him a message, he would only reply to it around dawn.

By that hour, Chen Xi would already be fast asleep, and she wouldn't see the reply until the following day.

It wasn't that Chen Xi had never suspected whether he might be entangled with other young women. She had covertly searched his social media platforms and checked his Instagram account, but every time she visited, his profile page remained completely blank.

His following count was zero, though he had a few dozen followers.

When bored, she would deliberately search for his Weibo account online, trace through his follower list one by one, browse their profiles and who they followed, and sometimes even check their likes.

After browsing a few times, she had roughly figured out the kind of people they were.

The one with the most followers and the most frequent daily shares on social media was Jiang Chi, Zhou Yanzhou's friend who operated a tourism business in Yunnan.

Those who frequently reposted communications from the government and the People's Daily were people like Meng Xianzhi. Chen Xi remembered him; he appeared extremely composed and rational, friendly to everyone, yet his smile never quite reached his eyes.

She also stumbled upon a few micro-celebrities and minor influencers, whose heavy makeup always startled Chen Xi to the point where their features were barely discernible beneath the cosmetics.

Instagram styles and smoky eyes were popular back then, with exceptionally heavy eyeliners. Chen Xi searched back and forth but failed to find a single bare-faced photo.

So she had no choice but to give up.

After browsing for a long time, she gradually realized that Zhou Yanzhou did not seem chaotic in his romantic relationships.

She spotted Zhou Yanzhou's figure in many of the group photos posted on Jiang Chi's Weibo, but in every picture, he stood completely alone.

He seemed to dislike sitting in the most prominent spots, always curling up in a corner, crossing his legs, either holding a cigarette and smoking indifferently, nursing a glass of alcohol and taking occasional sips, or idly toying with his mobile phone out of sheer boredom.

That side of Zhou Yanzhou was unfamiliar to Chen Xi.

Even though he was surrounded by crowds at gatherings, an aura of loneliness and solitude always clung to him—as if he lacked close confidants and harbored no particularly grand expectations for the world.

Yet he lacked nothing; how could he feel so solitary?

Chen Xi could not comprehend it.

A taxi pulled slowly to the curb, and the driver rolled down the window to ask if Chen Xi was getting in. Snapping back to reality, she shook off the chaotic thoughts swirling in her head and hurriedly scrambled into the car.

Giving her destination, Chen Xi sat in the back row, clutching her phone and texting Zhou Yanzhou to ask if he was awake.

Her message sank like a stone in the ocean, and Chen Xi understood: either he was busy or he simply hadn't woken up at all.

When the taxi arrived at People's Square, Chen Xi handed over a hundred-yuan bill. Waiting for the driver to hand back the change, she stuffed it unceremoniously into her rose bag, pushed the door open, and ran without looking back into the second-tallest building in People's Square.

That was the place Zhou Yanzhou frequently frequented lately. Chen Xi had been here at least five times and was already well-acquainted with it.

During the Spring Festival, an influx of people suddenly appeared in Xiping. Normally, one didn't even need to wait for the elevator, but this time there was a lengthy queue.

Standing midway through the line, Chen Xi suddenly remembered that there were several restaurants upstairs, frequently booked out for wedding banquets, birthday parties, or housewarming celebrations.

Today, two celebrations were underway: one wedding banquet and one full-month baby celebration.

The guests immediately surrounding Chen Xi were all heading to the banquets. A second earlier, Chen Xi overheard the guests to her left discussing in whispers how the groom's family had provided eighty-eight thousand yuan in bride price, and how many quilts the bride's parents had sent, ultimately concluding that the two families were a perfect match.

Before Chen Xi could even process that, she heard the guests on her right gossiping about how the mother of the baby at the full-month banquet had thrown a massive fit because the mother-in-law despised her daughter-in-law for giving birth to a girl.

How should she put it? Utterly messy.

Even Chen Xi, who was still years away from the legal age for marriage, could not help but shake her head. What on earth did marriage actually bring to people?

Before she could puzzle out the answer, Chen Xi had already reached the elevator doors.

The instant the elevator opened, the people inside rushed out indiscriminately, flooding forth like water from a breached dam.

Unable to dodge in time, Chen Xi was almost knocked over by a middle-aged man in his forties.

Her newly replaced white sneakers were stepped on twice, leaving dusty footprint smudges across the uppers.

Before she could look down, she was pushed into the elevator by older women and wedged tightly into the farthest corner.

Trapped in the narrow gap, she called out, asking if someone could press the 22nd floor.

The moment she spoke, a chubby little hand reached out and pressed 22 for her.

Chen Xi was immensely grateful.

The eighth floor was where the banquets were held. Once they reached it, the people inside the elevator emptied out completely, leaving Chen Xi entirely by herself.

Staring at the vacant elevator, Chen Xi exhaled a mysterious sigh of relief.

Glancing down at her shoelaces, she realized her sneakers were already so soiled that their original appearance was unrecognizable. Sighing helplessly, she muttered a complaint, "My new shoes..."

*Ding.* The elevator arrived at the 22nd floor. Waiting for the doors to slide open, Chen Xi stepped out in one breath.

Rounding two corners, Chen Xi stood before the corner suite, drew a deep breath facing the door number, and pressed the doorbell heavily.

She pressed it four or five times consecutively with no response.

Left with no choice, Chen Xi began to knock. She started off lightly, but the force of her knocks grew progressively heavier as time went on.

After knocking for goodness knows how long, the sound of light, shuffling footsteps finally drifted from inside.

Hearing the commotion, Chen Xi immediately stopped pounding.

Holding her breath, she took a few steps back, preparing to weather Zhou Yanzhou's morning temper.

With a sharp *click*, the door was pulled open from within.

Scanning from bottom to top, Chen Xi first caught sight of a pair of black silent-foam slippers, followed by matching cotton pajama pants and a sleep shirt, before finally meeting a strikingly handsome face that could invoke the wrath of both gods and men.

At that moment, the owner of that handsome face was brimming with sleepiness, his hair a disheveled mess, eyelids half-closed, his upper body leaning bonelessly against the doorframe.

With one hand tucked into his pocket, he cast a sideways glance at Chen Xi standing at the threshold, his voice raspy as he asked, "So early?"

With that, the man turned sideways to give Chen Xi some clearance, signaling for her to come inside first.

Chen Xi looked at Zhou Yanzhou in bewildered surprise, somewhat astonished that he wasn't throwing a tantrum today.

Taking in every bit of her tiny reaction, Zhou Yanzhou rolled his eyes, hauled her bodily into the room, slammed the door shut with a loud *bang*, and sauntered lazily toward the bedroom.

When the door closed for the second time, Chen Xi instinctively covered her ears to avoid having her eardrums shattered by the noise.

Having visited several times, she was already intimately familiar with the suite's layout. Calmly bypassing the beer bottles, mineral water bottles, coats, and neckties scattered on the floor, she made her way to the sofa, picked up the remote control, turned on the television to a variety show, and plopped down onto the couch, silently staring at the screen.

The variety show was intensely boring; after a few minutes, Chen Xi lost interest entirely.

Sitting decorously on the sofa, she pricked up her ears to listen to the movements inside.

She had no idea what he was doing in there, but a series of clattering noises echoed from within.

By the time things finally quieted down, Chen Xi was nodding off from sleepiness.

Having finished changing his clothes, Zhou Yanzhou emerged, swept his gaze across the suite, and spotted Chen Xi curled up on the couch dozing off. He strode over unhurriedly on his long legs.

Perhaps because her vigilance was far too weak, Zhou Yanzhou was already standing right in front of Chen Xi while she still sat there with her eyes closed, catching up on sleep.

Frowning slightly, Zhou Yanzhou nudged her shin gently with his foot.

Chen Xi snapped awake instantly, jumping to her feet with a reflex action, her face plastered with panic.

Amused by her reaction, Zhou Yanzhou burst out laughing.

With both hands tucked into his pockets and his chin lifted, he asked lazily, "Didn't sleep well last night?"

"Drool is literally leaking down to your chin."

Subconsciously, Chen Xi touched her chin. It was bone dry—where on earth was any drool!

Realizing Zhou Yanzhou was deliberately teasing her, Chen Xi glared at him with entirely non-threatening eyes and muttered under her breath, "So annoying."

Watching her wrinkle her pretty little face, Zhou Yanzhou couldn't resist reaching out to cup her cheek, deliberately pinching it into a smile.

Chen Xi: "..."

Ignoring her displeasure, Zhou Yanzhou said in a calm tone, "Why are you frowning at such a young age? Look how pretty you are when you smile."

Chen Xi: "..."

She wasn't selling smiles for a living!

Seeing her struggle, Zhou Yanzhou released her, turned around, and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows to gaze down at the bustling square below, casually shifting the topic:

"I'm hungry."

Rubbing her flushed cheek, Chen Xi glared daggers at Zhou Yanzhou's back and snapped irritably, "Who told you to get up so late?"

Hearing her complaints, Zhou Yanzhou leaned sideways against the window, lowering his gaze to look down at her, and retorted ungraciously, "I didn't finish socializing until three in the morning last night, and by the time I got back to the hotel, showered, and got into bed, it was past four. Then I was woken up by a phone call this morning and handled work online for over two hours."

"Up to now, I've slept less than five hours in total."

"And you, instead of feeling sorry for me, have the nerve to complain that I got up late."

At this, Zhou Yanzhou lifted his eyelids, speaking in a helplessly resigned tone, "Little ungrateful wolf."

Chen Xi: "..."

She had no idea he had slept so late last night... Perhaps intimidated by Zhou Yanzhou, Chen Xi actually felt a shred of pity for him. Blinking her eyes with an innocent expression, she asked, "Do you want to go back to sleep for a bit?"

Amused to the point of anger, Zhou Yanzhou rested both hands on his hips and asked chillingly, "How am I supposed to sleep when you've already woken me up?"

Chen Xi: "..."

If he hadn't invited her out for lunch, could she have arrived this early?

Zhou Yanzhou was merely teasing her. Seeing her lower her head with an expression of seething resentment yet daring not to speak up, the last remnants of his morning irritability vanished completely.

Remembering something, he turned on his heel and walked back into the bedroom.

When he reappeared, he had a mobile phone in his hand.

Unlocking it to check missed calls and unread texts, Zhou Yanzhou noticed the text Chen Xi had sent half an hour ago. Raising an eyebrow, he read it aloud right in front of her:

"Are you hungry? Should I bring you some dumplings?"

"Are you awake yet? If I get to the hotel and you're still asleep, I'm ignoring you!"

"Zhou Yanzhou, are you still asleep? I knew you were lying to me again!"

Never expecting him to read her messages out loud to her face, Chen Xi burned with embarrassment, her face turning scarlet as she lunged forward to snatch the phone, only to find that Zhou Yanzhou had anticipated her move entirely.

Extending his arm straight out, he let Chen Xi jump in frustration as she swiped wildly at the air around him.

After a while, completely exasperated by her failure to snatch the phone, Chen Xi gave up in self-abandonment and declared, "Do whatever you want!"

Pocking the phone back into his pocket, Zhou Yanzhou shrugged and said with complete composure, "Your nerve is getting pretty big, calling me directly by my full name."

"Tell me, where did I lie to you?"