In her daze, a raindrop fell on her cheek. It was very cold. Cheng Buxi shuddered.
Snapping back to reality, she quickly opened the umbrella and ran toward the gate. As she ran, she also protected the academic materials she had brought back in her arms.
After greeting the butler uncle, she looked up and saw a black Mercedes Vito parked in front of the courtyard with three license plates.
Seeing it suddenly, her heart felt as if stung sharply by a barb. A sharp, dull pain nearly made her lose her footing.
This car belonged to Lu Tingzhou.
-
Suddenly, she understood what Shen Xiushi had said earlier. He knew that he was returning to North City today, but she had been kept in the dark. There was no sign at all, too sudden, completely unprepared mentally.
Cheng Buxi even wanted to turn around and say she had been caught taking an exam tonight.
In her panic, she didn't notice a tall and strong figure standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, exuding a strong and fierce aura. He was watching the blurry sky and the continuous drizzle through the gap in the curtains, and of course, also her standing in front of the courtyard, lost in thought and hesitating.
Cheng Buxi's mind was as tangled as a ball of twine. She didn't notice at all. The butler uncle asked her why she didn't go inside. Cheng Buxi muttered a reply and said she was coming right away, placing the umbrella roughly in the storage bin.
With no other choice, she braced herself and entered the house.
...
"Second Miss." The maid at the door was the first to notice her.
Mrs. Lu heard and greeted her warmly: "Koukou is back."
Koukou was Cheng Buxi's nickname, taken from the character for "button" (纽扣), meaning the hope that she would be firmly fastened like a button, so that she wouldn't run away or get lost.
"Auntie," Cheng Buxi deliberately lowered her head to avoid eye contact, but it was useless. Mrs. Lu called her over to sit down.
She hadn't taken many steps when she felt that familiar, powerful aura.
The first thing that came into view was a pair of lazily crossed legs, sturdy and long, with tight and full leg muscles. The beige trousers were perfectly fitted and glossy. The handmade leather black short boots had a young style, accentuating the owner's unbridled temperament.
He seemed to have just sat down, with fresh crease lines on his pants.
"Koukou, look who's back. Come on, call him big brother." Mrs. Lu pulled her to sit close beside her.
Sure enough, he was back. Cheng Buxi's hanging heart finally died.
Counting the days, it had been three years since she last saw him. Ever since that New Year's Eve when she got drunk and confessed her feelings, only to be ruthlessly rejected by him, for the past three years, Cheng Buxi had not bothered him even once.
That same year, she started college and began living on campus, greatly reducing the number of times she came home. The two of them would invariably miss each other every time they returned home.
When she was on vacation, he was on a business trip; when she was at school, he would come back. His new company was in Shenzhen, and he was very busy, so he rarely came back anyway. In the end, they couldn't even meet once a year.
"This child, why aren't you saying anything? Seeing your Tingzhou brother, happy silly?" Mrs. Lu held her cold little hand with a smile.
Cheng Buxi shuddered and obediently called out: "Brother Lu."
It was an overcast day, cold and damp. Her hands and feet were cold.
Because she had made a huge mistake before, seeing him was like a rabbit encountering an eagle; she couldn't even speak clearly.
After she called him, the man seemed to finally notice her. He cast a leisurely glance at her, rolled his Adam's apple slightly, and gave a faint "mm" in response to acknowledge. Cold and distant enough.
Noticing her bad complexion, "Your hands are so cold. How did you get back?" Mrs. Lu asked with concern.
Just then, a maid brought out a fruit platter and said quickly, "I saw Mr. Shen's car outside earlier."
The Shen family. Hearing this, Mrs. Lu pretended to be slightly displeased, pinched her palm, and smiled knowingly: "Did Brother Xiushi send you?"
As her words fell, Cheng Buxi suddenly corrected her seriously: "Professor Shen."
Mrs. Lu laughed heartily at her serious demeanor, patted her small hand, knowing she was shy and thin-skinned, and didn't refute her: "Alright, Professor Shen is thoughtful."
After saying that, Cheng Buxi also realized that her reaction had been too intense. Wasn't it just a title? Then she pursed her lips and secretly glanced to the side.
She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt that the man sitting beside her, whose originally deep and calm gaze had softened a lot because of the term "Professor Shen." This thought flashed through her mind, and before it could take shape, she immediately crushed it. Well... she was probably overthinking...
-
Since she started college, Cheng Buxi had suggested not having the family arrange for a driver to pick her up. It was too conspicuous. Anything involving the Lu family was too much of a hassle and could cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
In the middle of the conversation, Lu Tingzhou noticed that she was only wearing a thin single layer. He frowned: "Why are you wearing so little." Just as Shen Xiushi had guessed.
Cheng Buxi didn't expect him to take the initiative to speak. She was so nervous that her small body straightened up: "It's, it's hot at school. I forgot to change when I came back..."
As she spoke, she couldn't help but sneak another glance at him. Sure enough, he had been raised in luxury since childhood, exuding a natural sense of ease, nobility, and handsomeness. In his line of sight, Cheng Buxi was always looked down upon, always a head shorter.
-
The temperature inside the house was constant all year round. Mrs. Lu liked to burn incense, using a very precious old sandalwood. As soon as she entered, Cheng Buxi smelled it. The base note was a bit deeper than usual. The clean, clear woody fragrance mixed with the bitter scent of high-grade herbs was rich yet not cloying, especially refreshing on rainy days.
Sitting there, she inevitably felt uneasy, habitually beating herself up over the past.
That New Year's Eve, she had drunk too much wine, Nanyang No. 5. The wine wasn't expensive, a beginner's level, given as a gift by Uncle Lu's subordinate. There were seven or eight boxes sent, filling up the entire entrance steps. She thought the wine wouldn't easily get her drunk, but one glass knocked her out.
With courage from the alcohol, she recalled that drenched, sweaty kiss from high summer... It wasn't the sibling-like peck kiss, but one with desire.
She didn't know what kind of strange emotions were at play, but she knocked on his door, her face flushed, and said she liked him. Upon hearing her naive and pure confession, his face turned ashen, as if some secret taboo had been broken.
"Nonsense." His tone suddenly turned cold, with a pool of thick ink gathered in his eyes that couldn't disperse. "In private, I take care of you on behalf of Uncle Cheng; in public, you and I are just brother and sister. Don't have inappropriate thoughts. Besides, Koukou, I don't like you."
Don't like you. Cheng Buxi sobered up considerably, her smile frozen on her face.
In that brief moment, she understood that she had crossed the line. She didn't even go to the New Year's Eve vigil that day, excusing herself with illness, hiding in her room, shivering with cold sweat curled up into a ball, staying awake until dawn.