Chapter 25 Part 1

The taxi stopped at the entrance of Zhou Wan's residential complex. Lu Xixiao carried her on his back up to the third floor and set her down.

She was already about to fall asleep. Lu Xixiao turned her face up and asked, "Where are the keys?"

"Schoolbag."

He grabbed her schoolbag, turned it upside down, and finally found her house key in a side compartment. Just as he was about to unlock the door, Zhou Wan stopped him.

"Wait a moment."

Lu Xixiao frowned and turned his head.

She clutched the key in her hand and slowly slid down against the doorframe to sit on the floor.

The feeling of being drunk wasn't pleasant, but it did numb the nerve of pain. She didn't regret drinking this time too much.

"I'll sit here for a while before going in," Zhou Wan said. "Wait for the effects of the alcohol to pass."

If Grandma saw her like this now, she would definitely worry so much she couldn't sleep all night, and would be overthinking for the next few days.

Lu Xixiao looked down at her for a moment and said, "You get drunk after just a few glasses. You think the effects will pass quickly?"

Zhou Wan had no experience in this area. "Will it be very slow?"

"You could freeze into an icicle here and they still wouldn't have passed."

"..."

Lu Xixiao kicked her shoe. "Go to my place to sober up."

Zhou Wan was taken aback.

If anyone else had said something like this, it would make one think they had ulterior motives, but when Lu Xixiao said it, it didn't feel that way. It was just a casual suggestion.

The weather was indeed too cold. If she stayed in the hallway for even half an hour, she would definitely catch a cold.

But to go to a member of the opposite sex's house in the middle of the night, Zhou Wan knew it was improper.

"It's okay, I'll just stay here. It would be too much trouble for you," Zhou Wan said.

"Get up." Lu Xixiao was impatient, grabbing the back of her collar and pulling her up. "Come back on your own when you're sober."

Zhou Wan wanted to say more, but Lu Xixiao tsked, seeming extremely impatient. He bent down, scooped her up by the waist, and strode downstairs.

Zhou Wan struggled for a moment, but stopped after touching his ice-cold hand.

He had just carried her on his back all the way here, his hands chilled to the bone by the cold wind.

Zhou Wan gently placed her own hand over the back of his.

Lu Xixiao glanced down at her, imperceptibly twitching the corner of his lip.

Fortunately, the place Lu Xixiao lived wasn't far from here. He took large strides and arrived in no time.

He set Zhou Wan down and tossed a pair of cotton slippers in front of her. "Go back on your own when you're sober."

Zhou Wan nodded and thanked him.

Lu Xixiao paid her no more mind and went straight into the bedroom. Zhou Wan sat down by the sofa and observed her surroundings. The ashtray on the coffee table was full, but other than that, there were no signs of anyone living here. It lacked any warmth or lived-in feeling.

Perhaps because the surroundings were all marble tiles, the temperature here was also exceptionally low, somewhat gloomy and cold.

After a short while, the sound of water came from the bedroom behind her.

Lu Xixiao was taking a shower.

Zhou Wan's eyelashes trembled.

At this moment, she finally felt an awkwardness she couldn't ignore.

It was already very late. It was pitch black outside, and the messy, barren courtyard was empty, like a deserted island dropped in the middle of this city.

On this deserted island, there were only her and Lu Xixiao.

It was truly... somewhat improper.

Because she had drunk too much, her breath smelled of alcohol, hot and searing, making her skin all over flush hot and red.

So the marble coffee table in front of her became the "antidote." Zhou Wan knelt on the rug, slowly lowered her head, and pressed her face against the cool marble surface. It finally brought some relief and cleared her head, but her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier.

After about ten minutes, the bedroom door opened.

Lu Xixiao walked out wearing gray-white loungewear. Seeing Zhou Wan sprawled on the coffee table, he raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

Zhou Wan sat up, one cheek numb from the cold, and mumbled, "Nothing."

"Want to take a shower?"

Zhou Wan paused. "No, thank you."

He gave a light, inscrutable scoff, sat down on the single armchair to the side, and lit a cigarette.

Zhou Wan leaned back again and scratched her neck.

Following her movement, Lu Xixiao's gaze suddenly paused. He frowned. "What's wrong with your neck?"

"What?"

He sat up and pulled Zhou Wan's hand away from her neck.

Many red dots had appeared on the girl's fair, slender neck, along with red marks from being scratched.

"Itchy?" he asked.

Zhou Wan nodded.

"Are you allergic to alcohol?"

Zhou Wan was stunned. "I don't know."

She touched her neck and suddenly remembered a time in her childhood when she ate chicken with fermented rice. She didn't like the taste and only had one bite, but that night her whole body became itchy. Her father bought her allergy medicine, and only then did it subside.

"Ah." Zhou Wan, dazed, looked up at Lu Xixiao. "I think so."

He cursed under his breath, turned back towards the bedroom. "I'll change clothes. We're going to the hospital."

Zhou Wan really didn't want to trouble him or put him through more hassle. She felt increasingly bad about it, and at this critical juncture, she didn't really want to go to the hospital either.

"Lu Xixiao," Zhou Wan called out. "Just buying some allergy medicine will be fine. Let's not go to the hospital."

He frowned but didn't speak.

Zhou Wan added, "Really, when I had an allergic reaction as a child, medicine was enough to fix it."

He asked, "Do you still remember what medicine?"

"I remember," Zhou Wan said. "I'll see if a pharmacy can deliver."

Lu Xixiao nodded and sat back down in the chair.

The two of them sat together in silence. Lu Xixiao played on his phone, and Zhou Wan slept.

Just when she felt she was about to fall into a deep sleep, the doorbell rang, waking the lightly sleeping Zhou Wan.

She opened her eyes. Lu Xixiao had already gotten up to open the door.

Zhou Wan heard him say thanks and come in carrying a bag.

Zhou Wan read the instructions and swallowed two pills.

Lu Xixiao put the water glass aside. "Stay here for a while. If you still don't feel well, we'll go to the hospital."

"Okay." Zhou Wan supported her heavy head with her hand. "You go to sleep first. I'll go back on my own in a bit."

"Alright." He got up and walked into the bedroom.

The first ray of sunlight shone through the gap in the curtains, landing right on Zhou Wan's eyelids. Her lashes trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes with a frown.

The first thing she saw was the glass ashtray, refracting a glaring light.

Zhou Wan raised a hand to shield her eyes.

Her thoughts slowly returned.

Only then did she remember that she was at Lu Xixiao's house.

She didn't know when she had fallen asleep last night, but she had slept through the whole night.

Zhou Wan abruptly sat up straight. The blanket on her shoulders slipped to the floor. She paused, noticing that the air conditioner's temperature was set very high. Lu Xixiao had probably done it.

Unconsciously, she was troubling him again.

Zhou Wan sat on the rug, her back against the edge of the sofa, her head tilted back against it. She stared at the ceiling and slowly exhaled, trying to cast all her worries to the back of her mind this way.

Lu Xixiao wasn't awake yet. The bedroom was very quiet.

Zhou Wan folded the blanket and placed it on the sofa.

Lifting her eyes, she saw the photo of Lu Xixiao's mother on a nearby table—a young, beautiful, and gentle woman.

Lu Xixiao resembled his mother, but his overall aura was completely different.

One was gentle to the extreme, the other was cold to the extreme.

Zhou Wan remembered what Jiang Yan had said before—"He and I have the same father but different mothers. His mom was a mistress who stole everything that should have belonged to my mother and me."

She had never asked Lu Xixiao about these things, nor could she.

But she always felt that it couldn't be as Jiang Yan had said.

Lu Xixiao's relationship with his father was very bad. The way he had grown up was mostly due to his mother's influence. Zhou Wan felt that many of his hidden, good qualities stemmed from his mother's subtle influence.

She frowned and shook her head, forcing herself not to think about it anymore.

There was also a bookshelf in the living room, filled with books.

It was covered in dust, clear that no one had touched them for a long time.

These books were probably ones Lu Xixiao's mother loved to read or had collected when she was alive.

Zhou Wan found a pack of wet wipes in her bag, wiped the covers of the books clean one by one, then dried them with a dry tissue and put them back in their original places.

One of the books had a dark green cover and a simple binding, looking out of place in the stack.