Chapter 61

In a secluded café, Chen Xi sat in her chair, locked in a silent standoff with Zhou Yanzhou.

Jiang Chi returned with the coffee and, walking into this scene, vaguely sensed that the atmosphere was wrong.

After deliberating for two seconds and wearing an innocent smile, he walked over, bent down to place the coffee before Zhou Yanzhou, and then pulled out the chair between them to sit down. He looked to the left and right, and finally brought up casually as if nothing were amiss, "Is lunch break almost over?"

Chen Xi reacted first. She scooped up her phone tossed on the round table to check the time and saw it was already 13:45. Turning her head, Chen Xi forced a smiling face for Jiang Chi and said politely, "Brother Jiang Chi, I have to go to work now. Goodbye~"

That "Brother Jiang Chi" sounded exceptionally pleasing to Jiang Chi's ears. He nodded with a radiant smile, and without forgetting to pull out a business card from his pocket to stuff into Chen Xi's hand, he said with burning enthusiasm, "Well then, let's keep in touch."

"I'll treat you to dinner another day. My company is right on the floor above your internship unit."

Chen Xi took the business card, smiled, and agreed, "Alright, thank you, Brother Jiang Chi."

Her smile was as sweet as could be.

Sitting across from them, Zhou Yanzhou watched as Chen Xi didn't even cast a single glance in his direction, his expression instantly plunging into darkness.

Did she call every Tom, Dick, and Harry "Brother"?

Before leaving, Chen Xi exchanged WeChat contacts with Jiang Chi, and when she walked away, she did not forget to pick up the cup of iced Americano meant for Amy.

Jiang Chi was thoroughly flattered by Chen Xi calling him "Brother Jiang Chi" over and over, completely failing to notice that the man beside him had a face as dark as foul weather.

It wasn't until Chen Xi walked out of the café that Jiang Chi remembered the evening's business dinner and turned his head to consult with Zhou Yanzhou, only to be greeted by a foul expression.

Jiang Chi's heart skipped a beat, thinking something was wrong. Had he gotten a bit too carried away just now?

Perhaps because it was almost time to get back to work, the patrons of the café left in waves until only Jiang Chi and the other man remained.

Jiang Chi slanted his eyes to steal a glance at the man beside him, who was sitting with his legs crossed, eyes fixed on the direction of the door, taking small sips of coffee with an inscrutable expression on his face. Embarrassed, Jiang Chi scratched the back of his head and asked tentatively, "What's the deal between you and little Xi?"

"How come I feel like she doesn't think much of you?"

As if you needed to tell me!

Zhou Yanzhou's coffee-drinking motion paused. He turned his head away, his cold gaze sweeping over Jiang Chi, frightening Jiang Chi into shrinking his neck back, almost thinking his head was about to part from his shoulders.

Yet with just this single glance, Jiang Chi understood one fact: his brother had been spurned.

Just now, little Xi hadn't even glanced in his brother's direction. If that wasn't being spurned, what was?

Still, that shouldn't be right.

Could it be that his own charm surpassed the man beside him?

Thinking of this, Jiang Chi felt quite pleased.

Yet he wasn't pleased for long before the man beside him unmercifully exposed him: "Are you sick? You got made a fool of by a single 'Brother Jiang Chi'?"

"You seriously think she feels close to you? If she really felt close to you, would she be so polite?"

"Out of your mind. A man in his thirties and you get played around like a top by a girl in her early twenties."

Zhou Yanzhou's scolding was so ruthless that Jiang Chi almost thought he had committed some heinous crime.

Yet upon careful thought, hadn't he just greeted little Xi, bought her a cup of coffee, and exchanged contact info? How was he being played around like a top?

Those words made him sound like some desperate, fawn-like sycophant.

He didn't even like her romantically; what kind of sycophant was that?

Jiang Chi was completely baffled, but not daring to argue with Zhou Yanzhou while the latter was in a fit of rage, he let out a hiss and sighed, "Brother, you've changed."

Zhou Yanzhou cast a sideways glance at him. Jiang Chi touched his chin and said with theatrical solemnity, "You used to never be this moody. Lately, you're acting like a woman on her period, your mood changing every single day."

Hearing this, Zhou Yanzhou let out a cold laugh. He set down his coffee, stood up, and looked down from his height as he dropped a single sentence: "Out of your mind."

Jiang Chi: "..."

Who on earth was out of their mind?

It was Chen Xi's first day of internship, and there was nothing pressing to do. Amy hadn't assigned her any tasks, so she could only sit at her workstation, open her computer, and stare blankly at the screen.

After staring for a while, her eyes grew a bit strained. Chen Xi lowered her head to rub her eyes, and when she opened them, she accidentally caught sight of the business card placed at the corner of her desk.

She glanced around the room and saw that everyone else was busy with their own work, with no time to pay attention to this corner.

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Xi picked up the business card and flipped it over to look at the content.

The card had a blue-and-white theme, and the front read:

Jiang Chi
Vice President, Xinchuang Gaming
Phone: 188553947**
Address: 33rd Floor, Tower A, China World Trade Center Phase 3, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Chen Xi stared at the words "Xinchuang Gaming" for a long time before realizing that the gaming company Amy had just mentioned was actually Jiang Chi's company.

Was Zhou Yanzhou the boss Amy had spoken of?

Didn't he run a tech company? How did he end up opening a gaming company as well?

Chen Xi only found out later that this gaming company came about because Zhou Yanzhou had been obsessed with an online game around that time and wanted to develop a new game of his own, so he opened the company purely as a whim.

After reading Jiang Chi's title, Chen Xi tucked the business card into the book she had been reading frequently recently, *Rain on the Western Window*, and cast it to the back of her mind.

On her first internship, seeing everyone around her busy while she sat idle by herself, Chen Xi felt somewhat awkward.

She glanced at Amy's workstation, saw her busy stamping documents, and silently withdrew her gaze, picking up the *Guide for Intern Lawyers* nearby to read.

Reading through it directly carried her all the way to closing time.

Working overtime was routine for lawyers. Chen Xi noticed that almost nobody in the office was leaving, with most people remaining at their workstations to continue working, leaving her at a loss for what to do.

Just as she was hesitating, Amy had already picked up her Chanel handbag, fished a tube of lipstick from it, touched up her makeup using a mirror, and then walked out calmly in high heels and flowing waves.

Halfway through, catching sight of Chen Xi sitting motionless at her workstation like a quail, Amy frowned, walked over, and tapped twice on Chen Xi's desk.

Chen Xi snapped her head up with a start, her gaze clear as she looked at Amy.

For a second or two, Amy was dazzled by Chen Xi's clean eyes.

She blinked, her bright red nail-polished fingers pinching a lock of hair to toy with for a moment, and asked with a puzzled look, "Not leaving?"

Chen Xi licked her lips and said in a small voice, "Nobody else has left yet. Wouldn't it look bad if I left this early?"

Amy burst out laughing. She raised her chin slightly and said, "That's because they haven't finished their work yet. Besides, there's nothing much to do back home anyway, so they might as well put in a bit of overtime. Furthermore, after eight o'clock, the law firm provides meal and transportation subsidies. Why wouldn't they?"

"It's your first day of internship, and I haven't assigned you any work. What are you even sitting here for?"

Chen Xi: "..."

She hadn't expected it to be for that reason at all.

She had thought working overtime was the norm; if she left early, she feared the boss might not like her.

Seeing Chen Xi unable to wrap her head around it, Amy couldn't help rolling her eyes and urged, "Hurry up and pack your things to go home. There's no point in sitting here like a dummy."

Chen Xi half-believingly agreed.

She only had a few books anyway and not much else.

The books were specifically brought to be read at the firm and didn't need to be taken back.

Chen Xi only needed to carry her handbag.

Walking out of the law firm shoulder-to-shoulder with Amy, the two stood at the elevator lobby waiting for the elevator.

Amy glanced at Chen Xi and only then noticed that her outfit was actually quite modest, yet her fine posture lent her an otherworldly aura.

Her gaze falling on the R University anniversary canvas tote bag hanging from Chen Xi's wrist, Amy's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness: "A campus merchandise item?"

Chen Xi was startled, looked down at the bag in her hand, and nodded gently.

Seeing that Amy seemed to genuinely like it, Chen Xi thought for a moment and asked hesitantly, "Amy, do you want one? I have a brand new one back in the dorm, I can give it to you."

Amy nodded excitedly, hugged Chen Xi, and said, "Great! Thank you, junior."

Chen Xi: "..."

Why did she feel like Amy didn't resemble a sophisticated urban career woman who had spent years navigating the corporate world at all?

The two parted ways in the lobby on the first floor, as Amy's boyfriend had come to pick her up.

Chen Xi stood at the intersection waiting for the traffic light, and turning back, she saw Amy get into a Porsche with Beijing plates.

The driver's-side window was half down, revealing the upper body of a young man wearing a black T-shirt and sunglasses.

Once Amy got into the car, she and the sunglasses-wearing man shared a passionate, lingering kiss.

Chen Xi blinked, suddenly realizing that the city of Beijing truly was a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons resided.

No wonder Amy left right on the dot when quitting time arrived, and no wonder the people at the firm had to look at her mood before getting her to stamp anything. As it turned out, Amy genuinely possessed the strength to back it up.

When Chen Xi looked up again, that silver-gray Panamera had already vanished into the stream of traffic.

Just then, the pedestrian light turned green. Chen Xi withdrew her gaze, took a deep breath, and walked toward the subway station with a feigned calmness.

Halfway there, a blast of a car horn stopped her in her tracks.

The horn was extremely close, barely half a meter away, almost as if it had been blaring right beside her ear.

Startled awake, Chen Xi instinctively turned her head, only to crash right into a pair of unfathomable eyes.

The man was sitting inside the car with his hazard lights flashing, his gaze heavy and fixed upon her.

The two stared at each other across the air for a moment before the man broke first. He rolled down the passenger window, leaned out, and called out to her, "Get in the car."

Chen Xi stood still without moving.

This hour was right in the middle of the evening rush hour, and the road was packed with cars, filling everyone with irritable anxiety.

Zhou Yanzhou's car was blocking the intersection, and numerous drivers were complaining and honking their horns; the scene looked quite intimidating.

For a second or two, Chen Xi felt her legs grow weak.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, the man disregarded the surrounding traffic entirely, pushed open the door, stepped out, strode past one car after another, and walked right up to Chen Xi, coming to a halt.

Chen Xi felt her scalp tingle under his gaze and took half a step back. Just as she tried to make her escape, Zhou Yanzhou grabbed her wrist and forcibly pulled her toward the Porsche.

*Thump.* The car door shut.

The man glanced at Chen Xi, who was stunned into stillness, leaned across toward her space, pulled the seatbelt from beside her head, and clicked it into the buckle.

With a sharp *click*, Chen Xi jolted back to her senses, and as she raised her head, she collided squarely with Zhou Yanzhou's face.

Her nose bumped against his chin, causing a slight sting.

Zhou Yanzhou hadn't anticipated this either. He lowered his gaze to look at the tip of Chen Xi's nose, which had turned red from the collision, and without a second thought, reached out to rub it gently.

His warm fingers brushed against her skin, causing Chen Xi's fair face to instantly grow piping hot, flushing with a faint rosy hue resembling the evening clouds in the sky.

Zhou Yanzhou nonchalantly swallowed hard. If the timing hadn't been wrong, he really would have kissed her right then and there.

After fastening her seatbelt, Zhou Yanzhou retreated to his own seat, roughly buckled his own belt, and stepped hard on the gas pedal, shooting the car forward by a dozen meters in an instant.

Caught off guard, Chen Xi's head almost slammed into the windshield.

Seeing this, Zhou Yanzhou discreetly reduced his speed.

After driving for a stretch, Zhou Yanzhou finally remembered to ask her, "Where to?"

Chen Xi couldn't help twitching the corners of her lips. Closing her eyes, she let out a powerless sigh: "School."

Listening to the exhaustion laden heavy in her voice, Zhou Yanzhou turned his head to glance at her. Seeing her sitting sideways, turned away from him and gazing silently out the window, Zhou Yanzhou drew a breath and asked in a low voice, "Is the internship not going well?"

How could he possibly think it was an issue with the internship?

Chen Xi crossed her arms and denied it with a touch of annoyance: "No."

Zhou Yanzhou couldn't figure it out. He cast a sideways glance at her and asked again, "Is someone at school bullying you?"

Chen Xi: "..."

As if that were possible.

Seeming to recall something, Zhou Yanzhou furrowed his brows and said, "That boyfriend of yours—"

Before he could finish, Chen Xi bolted upright, tilted her head to look at the man, and cut him off: "My boyfriend is wonderful. Is there something you need?"

Zhou Yanzhou froze for two seconds, a flash of inexpressible sarcasm leaking into his eyes.

Recalling the scene he had witnessed earlier in the R University library, an irrepressible heat welled up inside his chest. He gripped the steering wheel, stared at the daytime running lights of the car ahead, his expression darkening as his tone dropped two degrees: "I haven't even said anything yet, and you're already defending him?"

"Is he really that great? Worthy of this kind of trust from you?"

Without missing a beat, Chen Xi answered, "Yes, better than you."

Zhou Yanzhou laughed out of anger. It took him a good while to recover, before forcing a sentence through his teeth: "Just peachy."

Sensing the man's about-to-erupt temper, Chen Xi licked her lips, turned her head away, and continued staring out the window.

Ever since their reunion, they seemed locked in this kind of tit-for-tat antagonism, rarely managing to be calm with one another.

Sometimes Chen Xi felt it was all meaningless, yet she simply refused to resign herself to it.

Why did he get to walk away scot-free while she had to remain in that dark, damp corner, acting like someone who couldn't see the light of day?

Did she not deserve to find happiness? Did she not deserve a fulfilling life? Or did she not deserve a harmonious, pure campus romance?

She clearly hadn't asked for much, yet why did heaven always work against her?

Just as she decided to face a new life without Zhou Yanzhou, he abruptly broke back into her world. And just when she wanted to embrace a pure and beautiful romance, her boyfriend turned out to have suspected of infidelity.

Could it be that when she made her vows to the Buddha two years ago, her heart wasn't sincere, and the Buddha was deliberately punishing her?

Perhaps the interior of the car was too quiet, or perhaps the traffic jam had drained everyone of their temper. Zhou Yanzhou digested his emotions and prepared to talk things over properly with Chen Xi.

Only to turn his head and discover that Chen Xi was crying.

She was crying very quietly, with only two tears slipping silently down her cheeks without making a single sound.

Had she not occasionally raised her hand to wipe away her tears, Zhou Yanzhou would never even have noticed she was weeping.

Zhou Yanzhou instantly fell into flustered disorder. He irritably ruffled his hair twice, pulled out a couple of tissues, handed them to her, and apologized aloud: "My fault, my fault, alright? Stop crying."

Yet the moment those words left his mouth, Chen Xi cried even harder.

Initially restrained, her sobs gradually grew louder, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Terrified by this, Zhou Yanzhou felt as though the scene had regressed back to 2013. Just ahead happened to be a side road leading toward the entrance of a residential community.

Zhou Yanzhou quickly steered the car into the side road, parked by the curb, and killed the engine.

Watching Chen Xi curled up with trembling shoulders, sobbing inconsolably, a dense, prickling pain suddenly surged through his heart.

Regardless of whether it was his fault or not, Zhou Yanzhou apologized profusely.

When it came down to the end, Zhou Yanzhou let out a helpless sigh and accepted his fate: "Cry all you want, I'll stay right here with you..."

"Consider it keeping a gentleman company to the death."

Whether it was a particular phrase that amused Chen Xi, she let out a sudden chuckle, and lifting her tear-stained face, she looked up at the man.

Seeing her finally smile, Zhou Yanzhou couldn't help letting out a breath of relief.

He reached out to touch the back of his neck, which came away damp with a palm full of cold sweat.

Thank goodness he managed to coax her, otherwise he wouldn't have had a peaceful night's sleep tonight.

For the remainder of the journey, Zhou Yanzhou did not dare to provoke Chen Xi again, afraid he might make her cry once more.

He dutifully played the part of a driver, while inside his mind, a jumble of chaotic thoughts raced: Why was she crying just now? Could it be she had a fight with her boyfriend? That guy wasn't all that great anyway; they should just break up.

With those thoughts, Zhou Yanzhou couldn't help wondering: If she really liked him, wouldn't it be terribly hard for her to walk away if they broke up? Was she just supposed to stand by and watch herself get played for a fool by that pretty boy?

Wait, what was so great about that pretty boy anyway? How could one person after another fall for him?

Tang Yuan's eyes were blind, could Chen Xi be blind too?

If Chen Xi knew what was running through Zhou Yanzhou's head right now, she would definitely have given him a massive side-eye.

Was she really that foolish?

The car drove onto Xueyuan Road and headed straight toward R University. This time, Chen Xi forgot to tell him to stop, and the Porsche drove through the East Gate, passed the security checkpoint, and drove directly onto the campus.

Noticing the man driving with practiced familiarity toward the direction of the women's dormitory, Chen Xi belatedly realized that the man beside her was rather well-acquainted with this route.

Recalling the two times she had previously run into Zhou Yanzhou driving Lin Fan back to school, Chen Xi couldn't help frowning.

She really didn't want to stir up any unpleasant gossip, so as the car drove past a quiet stretch of road, taking advantage of the absence of people on either side, Chen Xi told the man to stop.

*Screech.* The man timely hit the brakes and parked the car beneath a row of ginkgo trees.

Against the backdrop of verdant summer foliage, Zhou Yanzhou looked at the banners strung up on both sides of the road specially for the upcoming sports meeting next week, feeling somewhat dazed for a moment.

He lifted his eyelids, turned his head to look at the young woman who had unbuckled her seatbelt and was tidying her skirt in preparation to get out of the car, and called out to stop her: "Aren't you going to invite me to dinner?"

Chen Xi paused mid-motion in opening the door. She bit her lip, settled back into the car, turned her head to look at the man in the driver's seat, and refused with a beaming, superficial smile: "I'm afraid the cafeteria food wouldn't suit your refined palate."

Zhou Yanzhou loathed that artificial, floating smile she wore, which looked entirely fake. He reached out to grab Chen Xi by the chin and leaned forward into her space.

The distance between them was barely half a centimeter, and the hand gripping her chin exerted considerable force, leaving Chen Xi unable to break away.

Seeing the panic clearly reflected on Chen Xi's face, Zhou Yanzhou let out a low grunt from his nose. The next second, he turned his head, leaned close to her ear, and murmured in a low whisper: "Playing me for a fool just now, were you?"

Chen Xi's mind buzzed, her gaze filled with astonishment as she looked at Zhou Yanzhou.

Having had his fill of watching Chen Xi's panic, Zhou Yanzhou released his grip on her chin and, without a second thought, leaned down to kiss those soft red lips.

He had wanted to do this for a long time.

Realizing that her crying earlier had been an act put on on purpose, Zhou Yanzhou had first been angry, and then found it rather interesting.

At this moment, all reason evaporated, leaving only a visceral, physical impulse. Sensing Chen Xi's struggle, Zhou Yanzhou reached out to cup the back of her head, pressing her firmly against his chest.

This kiss was anything but gentle; it carried an unreasonable, overbearing plunder. Chen Xi was choked for air, but the man refused to let her go. The hand pressing the back of her head exerted more and more force, as if he wanted to melt her directly into his bones.

Gradually, Chen Xi abandoned her resistance and let herself sink into the kiss.

Noticing Chen Xi's surrender, Zhou Yanzhou slowed his movements.

The hand that had been resting on the back of her head slowly slid down to her neck, while his other hand clamped around her slender waist, exerting strength to lift her right out of the passenger seat and directly onto the driver's seat.

Caught completely off guard, by the time Chen Xi came to her senses, she was sitting sideways across his lap.

The man seemingly hadn't kissed enough; wrapping his arm around her slender waist and cupping her face, he continued kissing her deeply.

Fortunately, there was hardly anyone on this path, or else anyone passing by would surely have witnessed the scene inside the car.

Chen Xi was kissed until her limbs turned weak; had she not been sitting on his lap, she probably would have collapsed to the floor.

After kissing her for a while, seeing that she was struggling for breath, Zhou Yanzhou reluctantly relaxed his grip on her lower lip, though he still couldn't bear to let her go.

Having just kissed her, Zhou Yanzhou's own breathing was somewhat ragged at the moment. The collar of his shirt had been crumpled into a wrinkled mess by Chen Xi, and his chin rested against her forehead, dark, heavy heat brewing in his eyes.

It was the first time Chen Xi had ever witnessed Zhou Yanzhou like this, and a trace of subtle disbelief flickered in her eyes.

I don't know how much time passed before the ringing of a mobile phone interrupted them.

Realizing this was still on campus, Chen Xi was startled into springing upright, scrambling away from Zhou Yanzhou's embrace and dropping heavily back into the passenger seat.

Zhou Yanzhou: "..."

Unflustered, he fished his phone from his pants pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and while answering the call, locked the car doors.

Hearing the heavy sound of the doors locking, Chen Xi widened her eyes, fixing a burning glare upon Zhou Yanzhou.

At this moment, Zhou Yanzhou found everything she did remarkably cute; he actually thought an angry Chen Xi looked quite vibrant.

Putting the phone on speaker, Zhou Yanzhou tossed the device onto the center console and leaned back into Chen Xi's space, cupping the back of her head to kiss her once more.

Through the phone, Teacher Meng's voice pierced through the screen, echoing throughout the entire car interior: "Zhouzhou, are you off work yet?"

"I just stewed some pork ribs, hurry home and try some. Your dad has something he wants to discuss with you."

Too terrified to move a muscle, Chen Xi didn't dare make a single sound. Savoring that sweetness once more, Zhou Yanzhou retreated with reluctant satisfaction.

He picked up the phone, turned off the speakerphone, and cast a sidelong glance at the young woman beside him who was frantically wiping her lips, his expression instantly freezing over.

On the line, Teacher Meng was repeating her usual refrain, urging Zhou Yanzhou that it was time to find a partner.

Annoyed by the nagging, Zhou Yanzhou let his tone carry an extra couple of notches of weight: "Could you please stop worrying about me?"

"I'll make my own decisions about my life. If you really want to hold a grandchild so badly, while you're still young, go ahead and have another one—there's still time."

Teacher Meng was infuriated, scolding Zhou Yanzhou several times over the phone.

Unable to listen any longer, Zhou Yanzhou hung up directly.

He had just tossed the phone back onto the console and was reaching for a cigarette to smoke before leaving when, unexpectedly, Chen Xi beside him abruptly squatted down with a guilty conscience, as if hiding from someone.

Zhou Yanzhou paused in his motion of lighting the cigarette. Holding the lighter, he raised his heavy eyelids to look over, only to see a male student walking out from the small grove of trees not far away.

Upon closer inspection, wasn't that Chen Xi's blind-as-a-bat boyfriend?

Zhou Yanzhou pulled the corners of his lips into a smirk, *clicked* the lighter to flame, bit down on the cigarette, and leaned toward the flame.

Amidst the swirling smoke, Zhou Yanzhou took a deep pull of the cigarette, his flat, indifferent eyes falling upon Xie Nanzhou in the distance as he couldn't help a sneer of ridicule: "Such a pretty boy—what on earth did you see in him?"

"How about I open the car door right now and let him see everything the two of us just did?"