Chapter 214: [No title]
Cheng Xi didn’t say anything as she turned around, crouched down again, and hugged him forcefully.
In the future, Lu Chenzhou would ask her, “What would you have done if, after you ran in so recklessly, I hurt you?”
Cheng Xi would obstinately reply, “I had both steel drill bits and a brick in my bag, so I’m sure I would have been able to defend myself adequately.”
She wasn’t sure whether or not to be sad that Lu Chenzhou never gave her an opportunity to use her brick. But in the present, after she hugged him for a while, she found that his physical strength was terribly atrophied—his temples were sweating from just this brief exertion.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked in shock as she put a hand on his forehead. He wasn’t feverish; instead, his sweating had made his skin cold and clammy.
Lu Chenzhou didn’t respond as he weakly leaned into her embrace while his lips turned a pale white.
Cheng Xi was unable to rouse a response from him, so she grabbed his hand and took his pulse as she asked, “How long has it been since you last ate?”
He didn’t reply.
Cheng Xi was stunned by the implication. She pried his hands off of hers and helped him to the sofa. “Lie down for a while. I’ll make something for you to eat.”
Lu Chenzhou was somewhat unwilling to let go, and his hand firmly grasped the hem of her dress as he weakly pleaded, “…….Don’t go.”
“I’m not leaving. I already told you—I’ll stay here as long as you need me. But you still have to eat.”
Lu Chenzhou was truly famished. He had been excessively engrossed in his game, causing him to not realize just how hungry he was. But after he finally relaxed, he noticed that it had truly been quite a while since he last ate.
Thus, Cheng Xi went downstairs to make him some simple food. In his debilitating condition, he wouldn’t be able to eat anything overly rich; it’d be better to start with some sort of porridge to first replenish his strength and assuage his hunger before slowly nursing him back to health.
Meanwhile, Baldy, Lu Chenming, and Cheng Yang finally mustered up enough courage to enter after waiting outside this whole time; however, they were not courageous enough to venture past the first floor. When they saw her come down, Cheng Yang was the first to ask, “Are you alright?”
But Baldy was more concerned about Lu Chenzhou. “Is Boss Lu okay?”
And Lu Chenming just looked at her silently.
Cheng Xi smiled as she replied to all of them at the same time. “It’s no big deal. He’s just a bit hungry, so I’m making him something to eat.” She then looked at Cheng Yang. “Brother, will you get me some glucose from the convenience store?”
Cheng Yang wasn’t too happy that he had been assigned a task, but he eventually dragged Lu Chenming to go shopping together.
Baldy wanted to see Lu Chenzhou, and Cheng Xi nodded without protest. “Alright, he’s upstairs.”
After giving her permission, she entered the kitchen to focus on cooking. Lu Chenzhou’s kitchen was clean and spotless, and luckily, he had some ingredients in his pantry, which Cheng Xi used to make him a pot of porridge. By the time it was all ready, Cheng Yang and Lu Chenming had also returned. Cheng Yang was actually quite jealous that his sister was personally cooking for Lu Chenzhou, but he instantly felt better when he saw that it was just a plain pot of porridge. He slyly commented, “Why don’t you serve him a larger portion? He’s such a big man! How will this little bowl be enough?”
But how could Cheng Xi not see right through his intentions? She blocked him from switching out the bowl and said, “Don’t make a big fuss. He hasn’t eaten for a while, so he has to start with easily digestible food.”
Cheng Yang clicked his tongue in annoyance, but he did stop messing around and begrudgingly put the bottle of glucose on the kitchen counter. As Cheng Xi carried the porridge and glucose drink up the stairs, she ran into Baldy. He seemed particularly happy, and he animatedly told Cheng Xi, “Ah, Dr. Cheng, you’ve really done some good stuff! Boss Lu’s mood is great today.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because even after I talked to him for a long time, he didn’t tell me to scram!”
Cheng Xi was shocked by Baldy’s standards.
But what could she do in response? Nothing but smile. The fact that Baldy was this happy over just not being told to scram was a testament to how low his expectations were for Lu Chenzhou.
Regardless, at the very least, Blady was happy about it. As he walked past Cheng Xi, he even grabbed Lu Chenming, who was following Cheng Xi up, and dragged him downstairs. “Don’t be a third wheel, now. Your brother and his wife need some private time to talk.”
Cheng Xi heard Baldy say all this from behind her, causing her to pause and turn around. She wanted to say something, but the two of them had long since descended, leaving Cheng Xi with no other option but to clamp her mouth shut and continue forwards.
The porridge was bland and dull. Cheng Xi thought that Lu Chenzhou would complain about its tastelessness, but he actually cleanly finished the entire bowl. When he was done, he took the bottle of glucose and drank it all in one swig.
Lu Chenzhou’s complexion improved greatly after he ate the food and regained his strength. Cheng Xi was about to praise him for being so obedient when he suddenly grabbed her hand, placed it on his groin, and said, “I’ve thought about it.”
Cheng Xi was left speechless.
She felt his ardent gaze upon her and also a bulge developing underneath her hand. She looked at the brick that was still in her bag—she’d messed up. It was just out of reach.
She retrieved her hand and straightforwardly said, “Lu Chenzhou, I don’t want to be your girlfriend right now.” When she saw his face dim and the desire in his eyes dissipate away, she continued looking at him seriously as she continued, saying, “If getting better soon is the quickest way for you to be happy, then I don’t want to waste any time waiting for you to slowly clamber out of this cage that you’ve constructed around yourself. So, I’d like to go back to being Dr. Cheng. Can you treat me as your doctor again, at least temporarily?”
The desire in Lu Chenzhou’s eyes completely receded by the time she spoke her final words. He took his hand back and his lips pursed up tightly as he looked at her with cold and unforgiving eyes.
His whole body seemed to emanate a frigid aura of rejection, but this was still within Cheng Xi’s expectations. She then leaned over and hugged him. “I know that you don’t like my identity as a doctor. In the past, I felt that it would be better if I accommodated your wishes. If I couldn’t be your doctor, then I’d be your girlfriend and slowly change you for the better that way. In truth, that was my mistake, as our breakup revealed the fact that you didn’t fully trust me, and neither did I fully love you. In fact, it almost left an irreversible rift in our relationship. I don’t want you to ever suspect me again, and I want you to face your problems head-on. Lu Chenzhou, it’s been so many years that it’s time to let bygones be bygones.”
After saying this, she tilted her head ever so slightly as she looked at him once again. “If you believe me, let me help you walk out of the darkness, alright?”
Lu Chenzhou didn’t answer. He looked at her through half-lidded eyes. She was so close to him that he could smell the faint fragrance of her body, feel her supple body, and see her skin that was as white as porcelain. His senses were assaulted by the sensualness of her physical body, which was so much more real than his most lucid dreams. It was so real that he could kiss her if he just leaned down slightly, so real that if he just pushed with the slightest bit of force, he could break free from her restraints, shatter her wings, kidnap her, and lock her away so that she’d be his and his alone.
His heart was boiling over with desire, but his expression remained as cool as ever.
His almost maniacal lust was a result of him repressing his feelings for so long. He hated repressing himself like this, especially when it came to Cheng Xi. So he lowered his head to her neck, just like how he’d done so countless times in his dreams, lightly sniffed her scent, and softly rubbed his pale lips against her ear, the gesture intimate and sexual.
Cheng Xi felt her earlobe enter his mouth and then heard his soft but dangerous voice murmur, “And what if I say no?”
Her heart sank.
