Fortunately, I Met You

When Cheng Xi finished her monologue, she exuded a calm and unhurried aura; there was a slight smile on her face, and her gaze was gentle.

She didn’t want to give Lu Chenzhou any impression that she was interrogating him or causing any discomfort to his mental state.

She simply wanted him to let go of his “life plan,” and then take a moment to think about whether or not it was truly necessary to walk down such a path.

Lu Chenzhou looked at her, and she looked right back at him. Under the resplendent lamplight of the street, this man stood ramrod straight in his standard uniform, proud and aloof. The backdrop was pretty and dazzling, but his presence seemed to make everything felt muted, even somewhat illusory.

“Am I chasing after you because I want to get married, or because I truly love you?” As he slowly repeated Cheng Xi’s words, he smiled, stretched his finger out, and cupped her cheek. “You’re not even pretty, and whenever I see this half-dimple of yours, I want to pull it off. To top it off, you’re even a little stupid in your constant endeavor to do your best for everyone. So… why am I doing this?”

Cheng Xi looked on as he seriously reflected upon his actions. The anxiety even gave her a stomachache as she silently swallowed the blood that had welled up from his comments. She was just about to help him analyze his feelings when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in the area where he had touched her; Lu Chenzhou had leaned over and bit down on her ‘ugly dimple.’

Cheng Xi instinctively tried to pull back, but couldn’t do so. Lu Chenzhou had extended his arms and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into his embrace.

The expression on his face didn’t change as he did this. It remained as cool as always, but his lips did take on a hint of a smile⁠—but it might have been better if he didn’t try to smile, as this hint would only make people terrified.

Cheng Xi’s head hurt because, given his shockingly shameless attitude, she was truly afraid that he would do something to her in public. Even worse, she didn’t even know how she had set him off. She desperately pounded against his chest, doing her best to remind him of where they were. “We’re still on the streets.”

So could you be more clear-headed, please?

Lu Chenzhou smiled. When he smiled, his visage was truly beautiful; even a blossoming winter flower couldn’t compare to its unusually refined gracefulness. He caught Cheng Xi’s hand, and as she tried to push him away, he trapped her between himself and a tall tree. With her locked firmly in place, he stared at her, calm and unruffled. He put his jaw against her shoulder, and softly whispered into her ear, “Are you scared? But why didn’t you feel scared when you asked me that question?”

His voice became even softer. “You’re still treating me as your patient, aren’t you?”

After he said this, he bit down on her ear, and Cheng Xi immediately felt like her whole body was about to go numb, and she quickly admitted defeat. “No! I…… I just suddenly recalled it, and then casually asked……”

“Is that right? He asked in a low voice as he rubbed himself against her face. His every action seemed to emanate danger, and they were also in a very suggestive position. “Then I’ll also say something casually,” he said as he kissed her earlobe. “Whenever I see you, I become hard and want to drag you into bed. Do you think that this is because I want to get married, or because I really love you?”

Cheng Xi stood there stiffly, not daring to move a single muscle. Her head was a complete mess, and she didn’t know what to say in the heat of the moment.

But Lu Chenzhou couldn’t wait, and he scraped his teeth against her earlobe, not too lightly or too heavily. “Come on, say it.”

Cheng Xi couldn’t help but shiver, feeling like a bolt of electricity had run through her entire body. Her face was entirely red; how on earth could she think properly under such a stressful situation? Finally unable to bear it any longer, she buried her head in his shoulder, and sullenly said, “How can I answer when you’re acting like this? It’s too much to ask from me!”

Lu Chenzhou made an ‘Oh’ sound.

Cheng Xi seriously said, “There are too many people around, and your handsomeness is distracting me, so I can’t answer you.”

Lu Chenzhou unexpectedly actually released her, looked at her, and then suddenly said, “Tomorrow’s the sixth.”

“Hmm?”

And then…… there wasn’t an ‘and then’ after that. He waved in the air, and a car that was parked nearby slowly drove over. Before he got into the car, he lightly pinched her cheek one last time. “Alright, you should head back now. Your face is so hot that I could cook an egg on it.”

“……”

She very much wanted to curse at him; who was the one who had made her face red in the first place? But she could only choke her words down and watch as Lu Chenzhou got into the car and left. 

Only when she went upstairs into the hotel room did Cheng Xi finally realize what Lu Chenzhou had meant when he had suddenly stated tomorrow’s date.

Tomorrow was the sixth, the day of their planned date.

So what was he trying to do by mentioning it so solemnly?

Cheng Xi had a feeling that Lu Chenzhou was going to try something big tomorrow, and she was also very curious about what it would be. It was only now that she started to slightly understand Cai Yi’s motivation for setting research as her career and her entire life, and Cheng Xi also suddenly understood Einstein’s words⁠—“I’m not particularly intelligent, just particularly curious.”

Curiosity was a major driving force behind the progress of humanity.

Cheng Xi’s self-indulgent flights of fancy stopped in their tracks when she saw her mother. Her father had drunk himself to sleep, and Cheng Xi was worried that her mother wouldn’t be able to handle him herself, so she had offered to sleep with her mother tonight.

Lu Chenzhou had booked a suite, so there was no concern about the space.

It was already quite late at night, but Cheng Xi’s mother was still awake, as if she were waiting specially for her.

Cheng Xi obediently sat down in front of her mother.

Her mother looked at Cheng Xi, her daughter who was almost thirty years old. In her memories, she still seemed like the little girl who followed shyly behind her grandmother, the little girl who sobbed and begged them to send her grandmother to the hospital when she had a mental breakdown. But who would have known that, in the blink of an eye, that same little girl would grow up, become a doctor, form her own opinions, and move out of her parents’ place.

As Cheng Xi’s mother reminisced on the past, her heart softened, and even the anger that she had originally harbored about Cheng Xi’s outwardly compliant but inwardly unruly behavior dissipated. She tenderly asked, “It’s going to be him, isn’t it?”

Cheng Xi truthfully replied, “I’m not sure.”

Cheng Xi’s mother was stunned by this reply. 

Her gentle mien broke down, and she stared at Cheng Xi with eyes wide open in disbelief. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

When she had said that she would prefer for Cheng Xi to not marry than to suffer, that was only if Cheng Xi would actually suffer; otherwise, Cheng Xi’s parents very much wanted her to quickly get married.

It was a bother for them to have such old children at home.

Cheng Xi smiled and lovingly grasped her mother’s wrists. “Mom, can you not be in so much of a hurry? I know that it gets harder and harder for a girl to find a suitor when she’s older, but suitors also don’t just drop down from the sky. So, rather than marry unhappily, I’d rather not marry at all……” But when Cheng Xi glanced up, she saw her mother’s murderous expression, prompting her to quickly change her tone. “Although I saw this, I’m seriously looking to get married. I can promise you this: I won’t insist on remaining single like my professor. But will you also promise me not to be in such a rush? Something like marriage needs to go through the proper process, and who knows if something will go wrong during this process?”

And, in this time and age, marriage was hardly a permanent thing⁠—though Cheng Xi didn’t dare say something like that to her mother’s face.

Cheng Xi’s mother had heard what she wanted to hear, and thinking that Cheng Xi’s logic was sound, said, “That’s true. It seems like all the rich kids tend to lead a somewhat chaotic life, so it’s better for you to understand what you’re getting yourself into.” But then she cautioned, “As a woman, you have to take pride in yourself, and not just casually promise yourself to anyone. As a doctor, you shouldn’t need me to repeat this.” After her word of caution, she looked Cheng Xi up and down, and her expression started to turn to disdain. “You should also dress up a little, and buy some beautiful clothes to wear. Look at this drab attire of yours! Those who don’t know you might even think that you’re a country bumpkin from who knows where, but you have a doctorate, and you’re even a doctor at a famous hospital……”

Her mother’s nagging made Cheng Xi want to fall asleep, and she propped up her lower jaw to keep herself awake as she thought about how Lu Chenzhou had actually noticed that she was still treating him like a patient…… Then had he also noticed that she was a little moved by his wooing attempts?

If they continued down this road, Cheng Xi felt that it would become very dangerous for her; if their doctor-patient relationship were to veer from the professional and to the personal, its failure would be extremely hurtful to both of them.

But she didn’t actually resist the change in their relationship, perhaps because Lu Chenzhou’s beauty was just too alluring. At this moment in time, Cheng Xi was treating Lu Chenzhou just like a normal man, trying to love him and be loved by him.