52: Notes from a Paranoid Educated Youth 21

At this moment, Wen Ci was leaning against a silk pillow, idly fiddling with the gramophone's needle.

The vinyl record spun, playing "Night Jasmine," its sweet melody echoing through the spacious mansion. Since her return to the city, her life had become comfortable, but like a caged bird, she had lost her wild spirit and found it terribly dull.

She could no longer tease that man, no longer see his ear tips flush red as he tried to compose himself. How she missed it.

"Miss, the Master wants you to meet a few young gentlemen at the Dahua Hotel." The maid, Xiao Cui, stood outside the door, holding a newly made qipao, her voice cautious.

Wen Ci's red lips curved into a sarcastic arc. In the month since she returned to the city, her father had been finding all sorts of ways to arrange blind dates for her, as if he was desperate to transplant this "unsuitable wild flower" of hers into someone else's meticulously arranged garden.

"Tell them I'm sick." She lazily turned over, the hem of her nightgown slipping, revealing a section of her leg, fair as frost and snow.

She only wanted to see Zhou Linchuan.

She really wanted to see what that man looked like now.

Was he still as restrained and self-controlled as a deep, ancient well, or... had he sharpened his claws?

Outside the door, Xiao Cui hesitated, "But Young Master Li has already..."

"Xiao Cui, you're the best, please go tell them that, okay?" Wen Ci drew out her words, her voice like it was coated in honey.

Xiao Cui, unable to resist Wen Miss's soft, sweet words, her cheeks flushed, could only nod in agreement, "Yes, Miss."

Once the footsteps faded, Wen Ci collapsed back onto the chaise lounge by the window, her gaze vaguely resting on the intricate European-style carvings on the ceiling.

Her thoughts, however, drifted far away, back to the leaky mud house in the countryside. Back then, if she had even a slight fever, someone would trek over the mountains all night to fetch a doctor...

Zhou Linchuan, he was indeed good at taking care of people. That night she had a fever, he stayed by her side all night, his movements so meticulous, unlike the taciturn man he usually was. She remembered it all; he was so contradictory in his words and actions.

"Zhou Linchuan..." She unconsciously murmured his name, her fingertips slowly sliding down her collarbone, her eyes gradually becoming hazy.

With her eyes closed, memories flooded in.

That night, in her feverish daze, the trembling touch of his fingertips as he wiped her forehead and neck, with their rough calluses and scorching heat, still stubbornly stirred her nerves every silent, late night.

She... missed him.

She missed him so much her heart trembled, and a secret emptiness arose deep within her body.

But that man was always so elusive with her, like a forbidden fruit hanging before her, tempting but never allowing her to truly pluck it.

"Bastard..." She bit her lip, letting out a low gasp, her tensed toes curling up inside her soft velvet slippers. After a long while, she finally went completely limp, as if her bones had been removed.

However, she would see him soon, right?

Thanks to the system and her family's connections, she had arranged for Zhou Linchuan's wrongful conviction to be overturned early. By her calculations, he should be back in two days at most.

"Finally... we're going to meet."

She remembered the letter she had left behind—"Zhou Linchuan, I will not bother you again."

She wondered if that man, so accustomed to enduring, would tear up the letter in anger, or... had he already decided to punish her, this "liar," in a hundred times more intense way?

Just the thought made Wen Ci's legs go soft, yet a secret anticipation welled up in her heart.

Zhou Linchuan, don't you dare disappoint me.

*

Inside a private room at the hotel.

"Um, Wen Miss, what do you think of our proposal just now?"

Wen Ci was abruptly pulled back to reality by the sudden voice, she lazily glanced at the speaker, covering her lips with a slender finger, and let out a small yawn.

She hadn't wanted to come, but the old man insisted she go through the motions.

Was he really in such a hurry to kick her out? She had refused a thousand times, but these people were like bees drawn to nectar, impossible to drive away, only causing annoyance.

"I'm tired, I want to go home." She hadn't even heard what the other party said, and her movement to stand up was fluid and unhesitating.

The young gentlemen stared, their eyes wide. Wen Ci had merely given a lazy glance and a casual yawn, yet the charm in her every gesture was enough to captivate their souls.

Her graceful silhouette disappeared at the door, and only then did the men awaken from their daze, scrambling to catch up: "Wen Miss, wait..."

On the street, Wen Ci walked gracefully ahead, her fitted qipao outlining her exquisite curves, drawing frequent glances from passersby. The persistent figures behind her became a somewhat comical embellishment in her picturesque scene.

A black car silently drove into the city. The man in the back seat glanced out the window, taking in the entire scene. In that instant, the long-suppressed dark current in his eyes burst forth, almost consuming his rationality.

It was her.

It really was her.

Wen Ci.

He stared intently at that lazily swaying figure, his knuckles turning white, his chest heaving violently.

After a long while, he finally took a deep, icy breath through clenched teeth, forcefully suppressing the impulse that threatened to burn everything, but a deeper, more crimson glow settled in his eyes.

Tonight.

He would see her in his own territory.

Wen Ci shivered inexplicably, the hairs on her neck standing on end, as if she had been targeted by some extremely dangerous beast.

She suddenly turned around, only catching a glimpse of a low-key, luxurious black car quickly merging into traffic and disappearing.

She looked in the direction where the car had vanished, her heart skipped a beat, and a strange premonition quietly arose.

Could it be... he's back?

*

The night was like thick ink, saturating the entire city.

Inside the car, Zhou Linchuan's Adam's apple bobbed, and his low, hoarse voice broke the silence, "Found her?"

The guard in the passenger seat sat ramrod straight, his voice carrying an almost imperceptible tension, "Reporting, Minister Zhou, as per your instructions, Wen Miss's location has been confirmed. Next step, should we... 'invite' Wen Miss to the City South Mansion?"

The man's lips curved into a cold and obsessive arc, he pushed open the car door, his long legs stepping into the night, "I'll go myself."

Wen Ci turned into a quiet alley, and suddenly, an iron-clamp-like hand shot out from the shadows, pulling her in with lightning speed!

Before a gasp could escape her lips, a scorching chest pressed heavily against her from behind, pinning her tightly against the cold, rough brick wall. Her vision was instantly covered by a thick black cloth, completely cutting off her sight.

A familiar male scent, ingrained in her bones, a mix of tobacco and cold sweat, wafted around her nostrils, and Wen Ci's heart constricted sharply.

Zhou Linchuan!

He actually came back early?!

How had he rushed back, traveling day and night without rest, all this way?

The cold wall stimulated her skin through the thin qipao fabric.

The absolute darkness amplified all her senses; the astonishing heat radiating from the man's chest behind her, the cold, hard feel of a leather belt buckle digging into her waist, and a large hand, like an iron hoop, pinning her slender wrists behind her, the disparity in strength was despair-inducing.

"Mmm..." Just as she tried to struggle, another large, hot hand, calloused, fiercely gripped her jaw, forcing her to tilt her head back high.

"Shh." Zhou Linchuan's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper, his burning breath scorching the most sensitive skin behind her ear,

"Wen Miss, if you make a sound... the consequences, you cannot bear."

His voice was low and suppressed, every syllable steeped in a surging, eager-to-erupt desire.

The hand gripping her jaw slowly moved upwards, pressing heavily over her full, soft lips, his voice laced with ice and burning with fire,

"Do you remember me? Wen Miss."

Wen Ci trembled violently, the skin beneath her qipao instantly breaking out in fine, shivers. She bit her lower lip, stubbornly refusing to speak.

This silent resistance completely ignited Zhou Linchuan's long-suppressed rage.

She could clearly feel the man's tensed body behind her.

"Don't remember?" Zhou Linchuan squeezed out a cold laugh through clenched teeth, lowering his head, his hot lips pressed against her flushed ear tip, his canine teeth carrying a hint of punishment,

"But this past month, day and night... I've been thinking of you."

"Thinking of how you... lied to me."

Wen Ci gasped in pain, instinctively wanting to retreat and escape this confinement, but she was helpless.

"That letter... was written so well." He chuckled softly, but his laughter was steeped in a chilling gloom, "'Will not bother again'?"

"But Wen Ci, do you think... I'll let you go?"

Wen Ci's breathing instantly became rapid and disordered.