When Chu Zhi finally found her phone in her coat pocket an hour later, she had taken a shower, her clothes scattered one by one from outer to inner layers on the floor. She picked them up one by one, and when she got to her underwear, the tips of her ears turned blood red.
Taking out her phone from the coat, there were over a dozen missed calls and a pile of text messages and WeChat messages – a few from Xue Niannan, and the rest all from her father.
Chu Zhi: “…”
Chu Zhi stood at the bedroom door holding lace-trimmed underwear, her face draining of color inch by inch from what had been bright red just a moment before.
Chu Zhi’s little face turned pale white as she crouched by the bed with trembling fingers, completely panicked.
She had forgotten to tell her father.
She hadn’t gone home all night.
Chu Zhi let out a wail. Lu Jiaheng walked in carrying a glass of milk and looked down at her: “What’s wrong?”
Chu Zhi looked up, her expression on the verge of tears: “Lu Jiaheng, my dad is going to kill me.”
Lu Jiaheng paused.
Chu Zhi continued: “He called me three thousand times, I forgot to tell him I wasn’t coming home last night.”
Lu Jiaheng pressed his lips together and handed her the milk: “Take it.”
Chu Zhi obediently accepted it, watching as he took her phone and sat on the bed.
Chu Zhi thought he was planning to come clean with her father and nervously swallowed, sitting down next to him with her milk glass and watching as he found Xue Niannan’s number and called it.
Lu Jiaheng spoke calmly and steadily: “Chu Zhi’s family called.”
“Mm, okay.”
“Thank you for your help.”
After a pause, he turned his head and glanced at her: “It’s fine, she’s awake.”
Chu Zhi: “…”
Lu Jiaheng hung up.
The whole process took less than five minutes. Chu Zhi stared dumbfounded as he handed her phone back to her: “Done. Your phone was off, you were with your roommate last night, going home in an hour.”
Chu Zhi took the phone, blinking at him: “I thought—”
“Thought what?” he raised an eyebrow.
“Thought you were going to be honest with my dad,” Chu Zhi cleared her throat, “Hello uncle, I’m Chu Zhi’s boyfriend. Chu Zhi was with me last night, that’s why she didn’t go home.”
Lu Jiaheng gave a half-smile: “I’d like to, but if his little girl got that drunk and spent the night alone with her boyfriend, your dad might throw me off the seventeenth floor.”
He leaned close, extending his index finger to poke her forehead: “If you were my daughter, I’d hold you down and give you a beating.”
Chu Zhi glared at him, leaning her upper body back: “Do you have violent tendencies?”
When she moved, the fabric of her white t-shirt rubbed against the wound on her left breast, making her wince and curl up in pain as she reached up to pull at the fabric around her chest.
She looked up, glaring at him with resentment and embarrassment: “Lu Jiaheng, are you a dog?”
Biting while kissing, biting while doing anything.
Lu Jiaheng licked his lips and smiled: “I’m a wolf.”
Chu Zhi kicked off her slippers and angrily sat on the bed to kick at him, but he firmly grabbed her ankle. She flailed her legs while he held her, but was afraid to move too much for fear of spilling the milk in her hands.
When she leaned back, her clothes rubbed against it again.
The sharp pain made Chu Zhi’s eyes turn red.
Seeing this, Lu Jiaheng pressed his lips together and let go of her: “Does it hurt a lot?”
She glared at him with red eyes, looking pitiful with wet eyes.
Lu Jiaheng leaned over supporting himself with one hand on the bed, his other hand grabbing her t-shirt as if to lift it up.
His clothes were big on her, long enough to wear as a dress reaching her knees when standing. Sitting on the bed it was slightly shorter, covering her upper thighs. When he lifted it, it exposed her white tender thighs and a bit of lace trim.
Chu Zhi was frightened silly and slapped his hand down: “W-w-what are you doing! It’s daytime!”
Lu Jiaheng looked up, frowning: “I want to look.”
“…”
Chu Zhi blushed and struggled for words before cursing him: “You pervert!”
His hand was firmly pressed down by her, gripping the fabric against her fair thighs. Though his fingers were cool, they seemed to burn with scorching heat, making her afraid to move.
Lu Jiaheng obediently withdrew his hand, lowering his head to coax her gently: “Then lift it up yourself, let me see, be good.”
Such embarrassing words, yet he said them calmly as if they were perfectly natural.
Chu Zhi escaped his control, her heels pushing against the bedsheet as she quickly retreated to the edge of the bed, even wanting to throw the half cup of milk in her hands at his face.
He had changed clothes, wearing long sleeves and casual pants with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing smooth, firm muscle lines on his forearms.
In contrast, she was still wearing only his oversized t-shirt.
Chu Zhi climbed off the bed, putting the half-finished glass of milk on the bedside table. Standing barefoot on the carpet, she rubbed her toes together and said softly: “You go out first, I need to change clothes.”
Lu Jiaheng raised his eyebrows, leaning back lazily with one hand behind him supporting his weight on the bed, showing no intention of leaving: “Go ahead and change, I’ve already touched you, already bit you, what else is there to—”
“…”
Chu Zhi didn’t let him finish, grabbing the pillow from the head of the bed and throwing it at his face: “Lu Jiaheng are you a hooligan?! You bastard!!!”
An hour later, Chu Zhi went downstairs and, unsurprisingly, was severely criticized by her father.
From childhood until now, her father had never even spoken harshly to Chu Zhi. This time was no different – though it was called criticism, it was actually silent—
In the quiet living room, Chu Zhi hung her little head as she stood by the coffee table while her father sat on the sofa, looking at her.
His gaze was resentful and sad.
After a while, he sighed, sounding tired and old: “Never mind, my daughter has grown up, doesn’t love dad anymore, goes out with friends and stays overnight without telling dad.”
The guilt and nervousness of doing something wrong mixed together, making Chu Zhi feel she deserved death, her conscience condemned: “Dad I was wrong, I’ll never do it again…”
Her father secretly raised his eyes a bit, still very sad: “It’s dad’s fault for being too strict with you, you’re almost graduating.”
Chu Zhi was about to cry: “Dad wuu wuu wuu…”
Ms. Deng sat nearby cracking sunflower seeds like she was watching a show: “That’s right, she’s almost graduating. Being too well-behaved isn’t good either. How come she hasn’t dated anyone during these great college years?”
Chu Zhi blinked, raising her head to carefully look at her parents before saying softly: “Actually—”
Her father sneered: “What’s good about dating those little boys in college? Look at those young men nowadays, all skinny as bamboo poles without two ounces of meat on them, looking weak and effeminate without any masculine spirit! I could take them down one by one!”
“…”
Chu Zhi shut her mouth.
The next day, Monday, Chu Zhi didn’t wait for Lu Jiaheng and left early for the company by herself.
She left earlier than usual, and when she arrived there weren’t many people at the company. Only one person stood by the elevator. Chu Zhi was halfway there when the doors opened.
She quickly ran over, reaching out to stop the door. The half-closed elevator doors reopened.
Chu Zhi looked up and met eyes with the person inside.
It was the one she had accidentally bumped into in the hallway when delivering documents last time.
Last time he had Lu Jiaheng’s little secretary following behind him.
Chu Zhi blinked, adjusted her bag, pressed the office floor number, and stood to the side.
As the elevator’s red Arabic numerals climbed floor by floor, Lu Jiaheng’s call came in.
Chu Zhi couldn’t help smiling, feeling a childish sense of achievement like a kid who successfully pulled off a prank. She answered with a “hello.”
Her voice sounded very cheerful. Lu Jiaheng paused: “Where are you?”
Chu Zhi giggled, then composed herself and said seriously: “I’m at the company already. New week, new start – coming to work early shows my attitude.”
Lu Jiaheng made an “oh” sound: “I just waited for you at your house for a long time but you didn’t come out, so I knocked.”
Chu Zhi froze.
She opened and closed her mouth, swallowing nervously: “Are you still in one piece?”
Lu Jiaheng had probably expected her to run ahead, and was already on his way – there were car horns in the background.
He gave a meaningful laugh: “You can check if I’m in one piece yourself later.”
Chu Zhi’s phone volume wasn’t loud, but the elevator was so quiet that she instinctively felt others could hear his voice.
Chu Zhi unconsciously looked up at the second person in the elevator.
That man was also looking down at her.
Chu Zhi was startled for a moment.
After two seconds of eye contact, Chu Zhi looked away.
She felt a bit unnatural, not knowing why, but felt his gaze carried a hint of scrutiny and something indescribable that made her uncomfortable all over.
She said a few casual words to Lu Jiaheng and quickly hung up, looking up to glance at the floor number the man had pressed.
Also the top floor.
Chu Zhi was stunned for a moment.
The elevator doors opened just then.
She had no time to think about it and walked out toward the office.
Behind her came the sound of leather shoes stepping on marble floor, then becoming soft as they moved from the elevator onto carpet.
That man had also come out following her.
Chu Zhi could even feel his gaze still on her.
She took a deep breath, slightly tilting her head up as she walked to the office.
There weren’t many people in the office yet. The research supervisor was talking to the returnee when Chu Zhi came in and greeted them.
The research supervisor looked up, saw the person behind her, and his expression changed instantly as he closed the document in his hands and called out “Deputy Chairman Lu.”
Chu Zhi: “…”
Chu Zhi: ???
How many high-level executives surnamed Lu did Jing Heng have?
She turned back, a bit dazed.
The research supervisor stood behind her, holding a rolled up document that he used to gently poke her back.
Chu Zhi came to her senses and quickly greeted him.
This man who appeared to be in his forties but well-maintained gave a mild “mm” sound. Something seemed to have hit a nerve, as his expression became even more unpleasant than before. He didn’t speak, just looked at her.
Chu Zhi lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together uncomfortably.
She had just arrived and hadn’t had time to put on her work badge. The man frowned and suddenly asked: “What’s your name?”
Chu Zhi looked up honestly: “Chu Zhi.”
He narrowed his eyes, looking somewhat inscrutable: “Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?”
Now this was terrifying.
The vice president of the company you’re interning at, a man who looks to be in his forties or fifties, uses a cliché pickup line on you at work.
This was too intense.
Chu Zhi looked around – the research supervisor had just been called away by someone from sales, leaving only the two of them at the office door.
She swallowed and lowered her head, speaking quietly: “Vice President, I have a boyfriend…”
Lu Hongsheng: “…”
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