Lu Xixiao noticed her unusual behavior, but had no time to dwell on it at the moment.
He pressed his hand against the back of Zhou Wan's head, his slender fingers threading through her hair, forcing her to tilt her head up as he kissed her with an overwhelming sense of aggression.
Their breaths intertwined, and an intimate atmosphere spread.
Even though they were already so close, it still felt insufficient.
Lu Xixiao wrapped his arm around Zhou Wan's waist, lifting her onto his lap. Her back pressed against the dining table as she passively accepted his advances, completely enveloped by him.
Lu Xixiao wondered if he was the one with a fever—his entire body felt scorching hot, his rationality teetering on the edge.
Zhou Wan's waist was slender, and she carried the pleasant scent of shower gel.
Winter had passed, and with the heavy coats shed, Lu Xixiao could even feel the delicate curve of her waist.
He couldn't help but apply more pressure, his fingertips tracing the line of her waist with intensity.
Yet it still wasn't enough. Lost in the moment, he could no longer restrain his actions.
He pulled Zhou Wan tightly into his embrace, his fingers slipping beneath the hem of her clothes.
When his burning fingertips touched her skin, Zhou Wan stiffened for a moment, her back straightening, yet she made no attempt to struggle or resist.
Lu Xixiao could sense her discomfort, but she was forcing herself to endure it.
His gaze darkened further, his Adam's apple bobbed, and the clenching of his jaw accentuated the sharp line of his jaw.
Just then, the thermometer rolled off the table and shattered on the floor.
Lu Xixiao snapped back to reality, suddenly aware of what he was doing.
His eyes shadowed, he forced himself to pull away. Taking a deep breath, he readjusted the hem of Zhou Wan's clothes and set the girl aside.
Zhou Wan saw the broken thermometer on the floor, the mercury scattered in tiny beads. Instinctively, she bent down to wipe it clean, wanting to tidy up.
But as soon as she reached out, Lu Xixiao intercepted her hand. His voice was hoarse as he spoke, "Don't touch it."
Zhou Wan paused and withdrew her hand.
Lu Xixiao went to the kitchen, fetched a cloth, knelt down to clean up the mess, and threw it into the trash.
After washing his hands, he pulled Zhou Wan back into his arms. This time, however, he didn't repeat his earlier actions. Instead, he gently kissed the tip of her nose and asked with a smile, "What brought on this sudden affection?"
Zhou Wan sniffled. "Those clothes—were they all bought for me?"
Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow. "You found out so quickly."
"Don't be so good to me," Zhou Wan murmured, resting her forehead against his shoulder and lowering her head. "When you treat me this well, I don't know how to repay you."
"What you did earlier was quite nice."
Lu Xixiao tilted his head with a smile. "Trading a few pieces of clothing for your initiative—I'd say I came out ahead."
"..."
Lu Xixiao patted her head. "It's late. Weren't you saying you were tired earlier? Go to bed now."
After watching Zhou Wan return to her room, Lu Xixiao sat alone in the living room and lit a cigarette.
Now that he was sober and calm, he could more clearly sense Zhou Wan's unusual behavior. In the past, even a simple kiss would leave her blushing for a long time. Yet earlier, despite his actions, she had stubbornly endured without saying a word.
It was as if... she was staking everything on a single decision.
...
After his shower, Lu Xixiao stood in front of the mirror.
The tattoo on his collarbone stood out vividly, its edges reddened by the hot water, reminiscent of Zhou Wan's tearful, red-rimmed eyes.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he lowered his head, cursing under his breath in a hoarse voice.
The next morning, Zhou Wan planned to go to the hospital first before heading to school.
"Why are you going to the hospital?" Lu Xixiao asked."Could you help me find the doctor who used to treat my grandma?" Zhou Wan kept her head down while eating breakfast, not looking at him. "He took great care of grandma during her illness over the years. I want to go thank him."
"Alright." Lu Xixiao didn't question it. "Then I'll go with you."
Zhou Wan looked up at him and smiled faintly. "Okay."
After buying a bouquet of flowers outside the hospital, Zhou Wan turned to Lu Xixiao and said, "There's a place nearby that serves really good soup dumplings."
"Do you want some?" Lu Xixiao asked.
"Mhm." Zhou Wan looked at him, blinking slowly. "But I heard the lines are always extremely long every day, making them hard to get. Not sure if we can still buy them at this hour."
"I'll go check." Lu Xixiao said. "You go to the hospital first."
"Okay."
Carrying the flowers, Zhou Wan entered the hospital alone and went to Dr. Chen's office.
Seeing her, Dr. Chen stood up. "Wanwan, what brings you here?"
"Grandma passed away so suddenly, and I wasn't in a good state before, so I never got to thank you properly." Zhou Wan placed the sunflower bouquet on Dr. Chen's desk. "Thank you for taking care of grandma all these years and for always looking out for me."
"No need to thank me, it's just my duty." Dr. Chen looked at Zhou Wan and said, "Wanwan, you've lost a lot of weight."
Zhou Wan lowered her head with a faint smile. "I had no appetite for a while, but I'm doing much better recently."
"You're still young, you must pull yourself together. Your grandma wouldn't want to see you like this from above."
Zhou Wan's eyes grew warm, and she nodded.
After a moment, she spoke again. "Dr. Chen, I wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"Was my grandma really not suitable for a kidney transplant back then?"
Dr. Chen paused.
Zhou Wan watched every subtle change in his expression. Her eyelashes fluttered, and her heart began to ache again. "It was grandma who told you not to proceed with the transplant, wasn't it?"
"Wanwan." Dr. Chen sighed. "You were only 16 at the time. The surgery would have cost hundreds of thousands. Your grandma just didn't want you to go down the wrong path because of money."
Zhou Wan hung her head, tears falling on the back of her hand, unable to speak.
Worried she might dwell on this even more, Dr. Chen added gently, "Besides, there really wasn't a matching organ available at the time. Later, there was a suitable one, but by then your grandma's health had deteriorated so much that surgery was no longer recommended."
"So, Wanwan, don't blame yourself or feel guilty. Sometimes, certain things just can't be changed. You did your best."
She wiped her tears forcefully and murmured, "Mhm."
"I understand, Dr. Chen." Zhou Wan stood up. "I'll be going now."
Zhou Wan went to the restroom to wash her face, then left the hospital. She saw Lu Xixiao walking toward her, the bright sunlight spilling over him, making it seem as if he were stepping through light.
He stopped in front of Zhou Wan and held up the bag of soup dumplings in his hand. "Got them."
Zhou Wan smiled and thanked him.
She ate two herself and gave the remaining three to Lu Xixiao.
...
When they returned to school, English class was in session. Zhou Wan had asked Gu Meng to request leave for her that morning. The English teacher waved her in.
Jiang Yan turned and asked quietly, "Where did you go?"
"Went to the hospital."
"Are you sick?"
"No." Zhou Wan smiled at him. "Just went to see the doctor who treated my grandma."Jiang Yan nodded and handed her the class notes from the two lectures she had missed that morning.
Zhou Wan paused, then said, "Thank you."
"I've checked the answers for the Physics Competition. You did well—there's a good chance you'll qualify for the direct admission offer."
"Really?" Zhou Wan was genuinely happy for him. "Congratulations."
"So keep working hard over the next year or so, Zhou Wan. It's just a different path, but the outcome will be the same."
"Mm."
The English teacher was reviewing the midterm exam papers. Zhou Wan had nearly a perfect score, losing only a few points on the essay section, so she didn't pay much attention to the explanations. After copying Jiang Yan's notes, she turned her head to gaze out the window at the bright sky outside.
The longer she looked, the sadder she felt.
After half a minute, she turned back. "Jiang Yan."
"Hm?"
"Can you give me Lu Zhongyue's phone number?"
Jiang Yan was taken aback. "What do you need it for?"
"Can I not answer that?" Zhou Wan hunched over, resting her head on the desk. "It's just... I have to put an end to this sooner or later."
Jiang Yan hesitated for a long moment before saying, "I can give it to you, Zhou Wan. Keeping this hidden any longer really isn't right, but please don't do anything that might hurt you."
"Okay." Zhou Wan replied, "Thank you, Jiang Yan."
Jiang Yan wasn't sure what Zhou Wan intended to do.
But he could guess—most likely, she planned to confess that she was Guo Xiangling's daughter, break up with Lu Xixiao, and put a stop to this absurd mistake.
Deep down, Jiang Yan was glad to see her break up with Lu Xixiao.
They were simply not meant for each other and shouldn't have been entangled in this mess because of these circumstances.
He copied Lu Zhongyue's phone number onto a sticky note and handed it to Zhou Wan.
Zhou Wan memorized the string of digits, then tore the note into pieces and threw it into the trash bag.
The school bell rang, echoing across the campus.
The last period for Class One had been changed to math, and the teacher was still explaining the final problem on the exam paper.
Lu Xixiao waited in the hallway outside Class One, his backpack slung over one shoulder, hands resting on the windowsill as he leaned against it—casual and eye-catching.
Since Zhou Wan had returned to school, their relationship had become even more conspicuous. Not only did they come and leave school together every day, but Lu Xixiao often waited for her openly outside her classroom.
The teachers were well aware, but since Lu Xixiao's grades had improved significantly and Zhou Wan's hadn't dropped, they chose to turn a blind eye.
Before, the school forum was always buzzing with discussions and bets about how long Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao would last.
Now, everyone was starting to wonder if Lu Xixiao had truly changed—could he really have become so devoted?
Class finally ended. Zhou Wan packed her bag and walked out of the classroom.
Lu Xixiao took her backpack from her, holding it naturally in his hand. "What do you feel like eating?"
"Anything is fine."
"There's a new mall that just opened recently. Let's go check it out."
"Sure."
Many shops in the new mall were running opening promotions. Zhou Wan picked a lamb hot pot restaurant.
After dinner, they wandered around the mall's basement level for a while. Suddenly, Zhou Wan noticed a self-service Photo Stickers booth out of the corner of her eye.
When she was younger, she used to see these Photo Stickers machines in old malls all the time, but it had been years since she'd come across one.
Many couples were waiting in line to take photos.
"Lu Xixiao."
Zhou Wan tugged at his hand, pointing toward the booth. "Let's go take some photos there."
He raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly. "Alright."
The Photo Stickers retained the non-mainstream style from ten years ago, with colorful borders. Many people came out laughing uncontrollably after taking their photos.After queuing for about twenty minutes, it was finally their turn.
The two lifted the curtain and entered the small booth, where various frames and filters were available to choose from.
Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao stood together in front of the camera, looking at their faces blurred by the heavy filter on the screen.
Lu Xixiao’s striking bone structure was noticeably softened, yet it had to be admitted that his face could withstand any unflattering angle—no matter how it was captured, he still looked handsome.
After taking a few photos, Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow and asked, “How about a kiss?”
Zhou Wan paused. “Huh?”
“Isn’t that what you do in this kind of photo?” Lu Xixiao said with a laugh.
He lowered his head, lifted Zhou Wan’s chin, and whispered, “Anyway, the curtain’s closed. No one can see.”
With that, he leaned in and kissed her, pressing the shutter button with his other hand as the moment froze in the frame.
Lu Xixiao had always despised taking such photos before, finding them boring and childish.
He never imagined that one day he would be doing the same.
They took about twenty photos in total. After paying, the stack of small, one-inch photos was printed out from the slot nearby.
Zhou Wan examined each one carefully. “Lu Xixiao.”
“Hmm?”
“Can I keep these photos?”
As her final memento.
Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow. “Sure, but let me borrow them for a moment.”
He casually snapped a picture of the stack of photos and posted it on his social media feed. Instantly, it received numerous likes and comments, mostly from his rowdy friends.
[Hahahahaha damn, I was so shocked I thought I’d traveled back in time.]
[Brother Xiao’s going all out to flaunt his relationship.]
[A Xiao, have you completely abandoned your image for the sake of dating?]
…
Sitting in the taxi, Lu Xixiao scrolled through the comments and showed them to Zhou Wan. “Don’t you think those photos are handsome?”
Zhou Wan: “…”
The small preview made his face even less clear, showing only the flashy, ornate frames. No wonder some people thought the style was straight out of another era.
She curved her eyes, pressed her lips together, and praised him, “They’re quite handsome.”
“Just ‘quite’?”
“…” Zhou Wan glanced at him, couldn’t help but laugh, and corrected herself, “Very handsome.”
After laughing for a while, Zhou Wan looked at Lu Xixiao’s face and suddenly felt her nose sting.
She hurriedly turned her head away, gazing out the window.
That night, after her shower, Zhou Wan found herself unable to sleep.
She sat by the window, looking out at the desolate, overgrown garden. Back when Shen Lan was still alive, flowers bloomed in that garden all year round, meticulously tended and beautiful. But after Shen Lan passed away, no one had cared for it since.
She thought of how Lu Xixiao had begged Shen Lan in his dream not to jump.
She thought of Lu Xixiao on the school rooftop, paralyzed by acrophobia, drenched in sweat.
Zhou Wan sat by the window like that, from late into the night until the first light of dawn began to break.
She looked at the photos and wept, her tears drying only to fall again.
When the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, splitting the sky open,
Zhou Wan finally made her decision. She picked up her phone, dialed a string of numbers, and sent a text message to Lu Zhongyue.
[Zhou Wan: President Lu, hello. I am Guo Xiangling’s daughter. I hope to meet with you. There are some matters I need to discuss with you in person—matters that concern you and also concern your son.]
She knew that Lu Zhongyue had not yet secured full control over the Lu family’s business, with an older sister eyeing his position from the sidelines. That was why he would fear making any mistakes.Marrying Shen Lan in the first place had been a mistake, which was why he now chose someone like Guo Xiangling—a woman with no power or influence, no longer young but still beautiful.
And Zhou Wan’s message was like a ticking time bomb.
Lu Zhongyue would definitely meet her.
And before that, he wouldn’t tell anyone about it.
Her fingers trembled slightly before she finally pressed “send” with force.
As if all strength had drained from her body, her phone clattered to the floor.
She sat with her hands hanging limply, staring fixedly at the beams of light breaking through the clouds. The surroundings brightened, and the sounds of people and traffic began to fill the streets.
Only Zhou Wan remained seated there, shrouded in shadows.
Lu Xixiao hadn’t slept well the night before either.
He used to think that if Zhou Wan didn’t want to talk about something, he wouldn’t push her. As long as he was sure she liked him, he could wait for everything else. It didn’t matter much anyway—he could wait until the day she was willing to tell him on her own.
But now, he could clearly sense that Zhou Wan was unhappy.
There were many times when she seemed on the verge of tears but forced a smile instead, just like earlier in the taxi.
He had noticed how flustered she looked when she turned her face away.
Lu Xixiao didn’t want her to be upset.
“Uncle Zhang,” Lu Xixiao made a call.
Uncle Zhang had been the butler of the Shen family back in the day and was highly trusted by his grandfather.
Later, when the Shen family went through a series of misfortunes, Uncle Zhang had taken good care of Lu Xixiao during that time.
“A Xiao?”
They hadn’t been in touch for a long time, so Uncle Zhang sounded surprised. “What’s the matter, calling so early?”
“Nothing much,” Lu Xixiao replied casually, though his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I just wanted to ask if you’ve heard about Lu Zhongyue marrying some woman recently.”
“I did hear people mention it, but I heard they didn’t register the marriage.”
“They didn’t, but who knows what might happen in the future,” Lu Xixiao said. “So, there is something I’d like to ask of you today.”
“A Xiao, just say the word.”
“Help me look into that woman, Uncle Zhang.”
He spoke in a joking tone, “Someone like her must have some skills to stand by Lu Zhongyue’s side. I don’t want anyone competing with me for the Lu family’s assets later on.”
“Alright, I understand. I’ll have someone look into it right away.”
Lu Xixiao stood in front of the mirror, looking at the half-exposed tattoo peeking out from the collar of his pajamas. He smirked and said with a laugh, “Thanks, Uncle Zhang.”
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