Chapter 5: One-night Stand  

When she awoke, Cheng Xi found herself lying in a strange place, with a strange man sleeping by her side.

The man’s back was facing her. From her angle, all she could see was his smoothly cut short hair and his slender back.

Yes, the man was naked—at least, his upper body was.

Cheng Xi looked down at herself. Very good, she was almost naked too. A thin undershirt on her upper body, and underwear covering her lower body. She could see the rest of her clothes flung recklessly about the room. The jeans she had worn yesterday were lying haphazardly on the tatami mat by the window, as if publicizing the roughness, or rather, the raw desire of the person who had taken them off.

The curtains weren’t completely shut; a ray of light was shining through a small crack.

She sat up, rubbing her swollen forehead. The man woke up almost as she moved. As he turned around, he revealed a youthful face, quite handsome, with robust facial features, a piercing gaze, and a cool, indifferent mien.

It wasn’t quite appropriate to call him a stranger. At the very least, they had met yesterday.

To sleep together right after meeting... Cheng Xi rubbed her forehead.

“You’re awake?” Lu Chenzhou’s expression remained as insouciant as ever, his gaze roaming over her body that was currently covered by a blanket. “You climbed into my bed yourself last night.”

Cheng Xi’s lips twitched as she replied, “I climbed into your bed?”

“Mm.” The man did not seem able to bear her asymmetrically dimpled face. After resting his head on his hands and making that one sound, he offered no further explanation.

She looked at him, somewhat expressionlessly, but her inner self was close to falling apart— after all, she couldn’t remember last night, and had absolutely no impression of climbing into his bed like he said! Of course, this wasn’t strictly true—at the very least, she remembered that her curiosity had caused her to follow Lu Chenzhou into Phoenix Stage, play a game with the crowd there, and then be forced to drink a colorful glass of alcohol as a penalty.

And after that? No clue.

But even while knowing nothing, she strongly suspected the veracity of Lu Chenzhou’s words. Now, however, wasn’t the time to probe for the truth; as they were half-naked and lying in bed, anything they said would feel somewhat strange. She averted her gaze, bent over to pick up her coat lying beneath the bed, covered herself up with a blanket, quickly put the coat on, and then got out of bed.

Wrapping her coat tightly about herself, Cheng Xi industriously pretended that nothing unusual had happened. She picked up the rest of her clothes and entered the bathroom. During this whole ordeal, Lu Chenzhou had just lain in bed quietly, eyes closed.

Only when she was about to enter the bathroom did the man behind her speak. “Do you want to go again after you’ve cleaned yourself?” His tone wasn’t inviting, and was still that same casual tone that one would use to discuss the weather. “I’ve got great technique. Perhaps you didn’t feel it last night, as drunk as you were.”

Cheng Xi almost tripped over her feet again, and her response was a quick “Bang!” from slamming the bathroom door shut.

When Cheng Xi got out, Lu Chenzhou had shifted to a different pose. He was now lying on his side and facing the bathroom directly. “Already dressed?” he asked indifferently. “Aren’t you going to consider my earlier proposition?”

This was perhaps the strangest invitation that Cheng Xi had ever heard, because his tone was so indifferent that it made her want to smack him.

After a moment’s pause, Cheng Xi turned sharply on her heels, walked to the side of the bed, and leaned over slightly to look at him.

He impassively looked back at her, his gaze dark like the ocean waves in the eye of the storm, deep and profound, cool and resolute.

Lu Chenzhou’s appearance was really quite compelling; at the very least, Cheng Xi had never seen anyone who looked better than he did. Of course, perhaps it was his aloof nature that made Cheng Xi feel that way.

She extended her hand, her fingertip lightly touching his lips.”Are you serious?”

The alcohol had left her voice with a note of hoarseness, unexpectedly adding a dash of sexuality.