Fortunately, I Met You

This effect was especially magnified by the fact that Lu Chenzhou and Cheng Xi had behaved pretty coolly toward each other during the rest of the night. But just when the other two were beginning to suspect that they weren"t an actual couple, their eyes had been struck by an overwhelming glare of sappiness.

My goodness! Who was it that said Lu Chenzhou didn"t know how to pick up girls?!

Even as all these thoughts raced through the two bystander"s heads, Lu Chenzhou continued to hold Cheng Xi"s hand and look at her with a cool expression. It was as if all he had merely said was something like, “Quickly play your cards. I can"t wait.”

A crack had appeared on Cheng Xi"s detached veneer, but she was at least used to his antics by now, and could quickly adapt to his erratic behavior.

At times, she could even act in concert with him and reply appropriately, like now. She firmly wrenched her hand out of Lu Chenzhou"s grasp and then warned him seriously, “Next time, don"t say it so suddenly.” She looked at the other two. “You"ll scare the little children.”

The two little children were speechless.

Lu Chenzhou"s G.o.dbrother slapped the table angrily. “Keep playing, keep playing! Don"t go easy on them!”

He was one of those people who turned very serious when playing games, so Cheng Xi naturally followed suit. The last two cards in her hand were enough to give her and Shen Wei a strong finish, allowing them to eke out an arduous and timely victory against Lu Chenzhou and his G.o.dbrother.

Cheng Xi started to play more seriously, and the luck of the draw slowly started favoring her more and more. One full deck of cards lasted them the entire night; Cheng Xi and Shen Wei eventually ended up losing by two games, so they only had to pay up 100 yuan per person, which was about the cost of a round of drinks.

Except for Lu Chenzhou, the other three were quite tired after the game, and even Shen Wei commented, “Losing these 100 yuan was quite difficult.”

Lu Chenzhou"s G.o.dbrother gave her a supercilious look. “Then you should"ve admitted defeat earlier.”

“How could I do that? A defeat has to be glorious! With the way you do things, would you be excited even if you won?” Shen Wei"s words seemed to have a hidden meaning. Cheng Xi"s eyelids twitched, and she looked towards her.

But Shen Wei"s smile was casual, as if she were just discussing the game.

As the two bantered back and forth, they all looked toward Lu Chenzhou, who was sorting the cards meticulously. He moved them one at a time, neatly and tidily, and even smoothed out the corners that had become somewhat creased during the game.

The other three were somewhat impressed by his meticulousness, and for a moment, all conversation paused as everyone watched his thin and slender fingers pick out the cards one at a time. Only when he finished everything did they breathe out simultaneously.

Lu Chenzhou"s G.o.dbrother said, “It"s already quite late, so we"re going to go back now. Brother, you…… are heading back?”

Lu Chenzhou nodded, put the sorted cards in the middle of the table, and stood up.

Lu Chenzhou"s G.o.dbrother looked at Shen Wei, swallowed the words “you could stay” down, and then once again reiterated Lu Chenzhou"s grandmother"s request. “Ms. Cheng, if you"re free, then you should come to our house and play some time.” Then, with a frustrated look at Lu Chenzhou, he muttered to himself, “Now that I"ve broached the topic, why aren"t you inviting her and setting up a time?!”

All he"d done today was tease her just now. And then… nothing?

But Lu Chenzhou didn"t even look at him. He was calmly putting on his shoes, and only when he finished did he stand up and look at Cheng Xi. His worrying G.o.dbrother thought that he was finally about to extend her an invitation. However, he simply leaned down slightly until his face was right in front of Cheng Xi"s, and then lightly licked her lips. “Goodbye.”

And that was it. He left.

The other three found them shocked speechless yet again.

Even long after Lu Chenzhou and his friend had left, Shen Wei was still laughing.

Although it was a good thing that Shen Wei could laugh after her hards.h.i.+ps, this laugh had lasted far too long for Cheng Xi, and she was getting exasperated. “Haven"t you laughed enough?”

“Nope.” She started laughing again, and even as she laughed, she said, “I didn"t expect Director Lu to be so interesting.” She put her face in front of Cheng Xi"s. “Why don"t you like him?”

Shen Wei wasn"t stupid, and she could see that while Cheng Xi treated Lu Chenzhou indulgingly and leniently, it was devoid of a woman"s romance when she interacted with her beloved.

Of course, it was also possible that Cheng Xi was just hiding her affection, like what she had done towards Lin Fan. Who could have noticed that she had liked him that much?

Cheng Xi pondered the question briefly. “Perhaps I will, later.”

But right now, she couldn"t and wouldn"t dare to.

A patient suffering from emotional detachment who had never developed feelings for anyone even at this age, who had just met someone whom he didn"t detest… Cheng Xi felt that Lu Chenzhou"s feelings were very likely just a temporary flood of emotions.

Shen Wei didn"t know what was going through her mind, and was even under the impression that Cheng Xi was opening up to that possibility. She couldn"t help but chuckle as she said, “Yes, you definitely will in the future.”

Playing cards had been surprisingly taxing on the brain, and both of them were mentally exhausted. After exchanging a few more words, they went to clean themselves up before going to bed.

Cheng Xi thought that Shen Wei would sleep more soundly that night, and didn"t make her take any medicine to calm her emotions. What she didn"t expect was that, in the middle of the night, Shen Wei suddenly told her, “Cheng Xi, I"m going back tomorrow.”

The shock instantly cleared her mind as Cheng Xi turned to face Shen Wei.

Shen Wei had been sleeping by her side, but her eyes were currently wide open. Cheng Xi couldn"t tell if she had just woken up or if she had never fallen asleep in the first place.

She inspected Shen Wei for a brief moment. “What"s the matter?”

“I can"t avoid this situation forever.” She laughed emotionlessly as she continued, “I want to deal with this matter as quickly as I can. If it drags on……” She then lightly caressed her stomach as her eyes drooped. “It would be bad for the child, and for me too. I"ve wasted enough of my time on a piece of garbage.”

Her words were logical, and even though Cheng Xi knew that her mental condition might not have fully recovered, Cheng Xi couldn"t forcibly keep her here. “Then get a daily check-up at the hospital, or at least call me daily, alright?”

Shen Wei smiled back. “You"re this worried about me?”

“Yes.”

Shen Wei smiled and obediently nodded.

Shen Wei"s brothers and parents all came to fetch her the next morning. Cheng Xi told each of them about the doctor"s instructions; she"d originally thought that, after Shen Wei"s nervous breakdown earlier, the Fu family would be scared of her and would accept a divorce, even if the pregnancy made things a little complicated.

But Fu Mingyi was actually unwilling to accept a divorce.

Not only was he unwilling, but he even called Cheng Xi in his desperation. “Can you help me change Shen Wei"s mind? She"s the one I truly love, and ever since I married her, I"ve never wanted a divorce.”

Cheng Xi couldn"t even think of a proper response.

Truth be told, Cheng Xi really wanted to look him in the face and say, “I"ve never seen a more shameless person!” But as a professional, she had to maintain a certain level of propriety, so she couldn"t reply so bluntly. Instead, she asked, “Then, why did you have an affair?”

“That was all before the marriage…”

“Before the marriage… so, while you and Shen Wei were dating?”

Fu Mingyi then used the all-purpose phrase that every man used to push the blame away after sinning. “She was the one who seduced me!”

“She was the one who seduced me!” and “I was framed!”

To Cheng Xi, these words were even more loathsome and detestful than “I made a mistake that all men make.” Without a second thought, she immediately responded, “Just because she seduced you, you fell for it? Are you a fish? Even fish know how to spit out bait after they realize their mistake! As for you, not only did you just bite down even more, but you even got the other party pregnant! Fu Mingyi, you-”

Considering that he was still married to Shen Wei, Cheng Xi felt that it wasn"t quite appropriate to call him “worse than livestock,” and tried very hard to restrain herself.

“The most important things in life are work and love. In both these cases, people have to learn to master their own emotions in order to avoid hurting important people and making mistakes. There are two ground rules: they can"t take money obtained through illicit means, and they can"t take emotions that shouldn"t have been offered to them. And since you took those illicit emotions, then you should deal with the resulting consequences. Rather than tormenting yourself with your tattered relations.h.i.+p, just break off ties with Shen Wei instead.

“Shen Wei isn"t a weakling. The reason she was so mad that she went insane was not because she loved you that deeply, but rather that she hated herself. So you"d better not come pining after her, or something that we can"t even imagine might happen.”

As harsh as it sounded, Cheng Xi was giving Fu Mingyi her earnest advice. When Shen Wei left, she had seemed calm, but the emotions that were boiling right beneath the surface…… Cheng Xi was honestly scared of them.

Unfortunately, Fu Mingyi didn"t listen, and his fate was tragic.
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