Fortunately, I Met You

Lu Chenzhou didn’t even have the chance to speak before Cheng Xi retreated. She then heard a crisp voice by her ear. “Dr. Cheng? Lu…… Lu Chenzhou?”

Cheng Xi was shocked. “……”

What happened to no one recognizing us? 

She turned around, and her elated heart came crashing down. There were two people standing beside them, and they were more than mere acquaintances; their relationship with her was actually quite complicated.

Lin Fan and Meng Qingyang.

How could there be such a coincidence? 

The two seemed to have just finished shopping, as the two were holding hands while Lin Fan was carrying a few bags, both large and small, in his free one.

When the two of them saw Cheng Xi and Lu Chenzhou, Meng Qingyang’s face was one of shock while Lin Fan’s was expressionless.

Lu Chenzhou was rather expressionless himself. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t even bother greeting anyone he wasn’t ‘familiar’ with, and even glancing at them was an honor. His coldness was especially apparent at a time like this; making a sound and interrupting them was very impolite, no?

So Cheng Xi had to intervene. Perhaps it was because she had just been ‘secretly’ kissing Lu Chenzhou, but her face still had the remnants of a smile. After a brief moment to recover from her slight daze, she smiled and said, “Oh, it’s the two of you……… Happy New Year!”

Meng Qingyang politely responded with a  “Happy New Year” of her own. She looked at Cheng Xi, and then at Lu Chenzhou. “The two of you……” She made a vague hand gesture. “Are you two dating?”

It seemed as if love was magical. After she had gotten together with Lin Fan, not only did her emotional stability improve, but even her mood seemed to have livened up.

Cheng Xi smiled as she nodded. “That’s right.”

“Then did we interrupt you?”

Cheng Xi smiled without responding.

At this point, Lin Fan suddenly opened his mouth. “Let’s go. Stop bothering them.” He pulled on Meng Qingyang’s hand, trying to leave.

Meng Qingyang followed along, but at the last moment, she turned her head around and said, “Dr. Cheng, we’re getting married at the end of the month. You have to come!”

Cheng Xi was still frozen. 

Her emotions were still running amok when she felt a sudden pressure on her hand: slightly cold fingers were pulling at her fingers.

When she turned around, her face once again had a smile on it. She looked at him and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Lu Chenzhou calmly said, “Let’s go on our date.”

And then the two walked down the other side of the road and into the theater to watch some mindless movie. o(╯□╰)o

When they exited the cinema, Cheng Xi suddenly had a small breakthrough in understanding why Lu Chenzhou had to ask Baldy for ideas and advice about dating. Even though she had said that this was a date, she also didn’t know what young men and women did.

Eating—they just ate.

Playing sports—she would only get wrecked.

Shopping—even Cheng Xi wasn’t interested in this, let alone Lu Chenzhou.

So, in the end, out of ideas, they could only watch a movie.

The good thing was, despite the movie being quite poor, their relationship had nonetheless deepened considerably. They had entered holding hands, and they also exited holding hands.

When they were finished, it was already past 10 PM. Under normal circumstances, if Cheng Xi didn’t say anything, Lu Chenzhou probably would not think to send her home. But today, he did so on his own.

When they arrived at Cheng Xi’s apartment complex, Cheng Xi asked, “You didn’t even eat dinner today. Are you hungry?”

Lu Chenzhou staunchly replied, “Yes!”

“Then quickly go home, eat something, and go to bed.”

Lu Chenzhou didn’t say anything in response, only shooting a steady gaze at her. His face was still expressionless, but Cheng Xi felt that she could some hidden bitterness in those stoic features.

She couldn’t stop herself from laughing out loud before she waved her hand at him to bid goodbye. “Good night.”

As she prepared to leave the car, Lu Chenzhou locked the car door, started the car up again, and started driving towards the parking garage.

Cheng Xi quizzically asked him, “Where are you going?”

Lu Chenzhou glanced at her and then slowly replied, “Weren’t you inviting me in just now?”

Cheng Xi wasn’t upset. “Sure!” As an excuse, she continued, “I’m afraid that if you don’t eat anything when you get back home, your stomach will hurt.”

Lu Chenzhou turned around and provokatively said, “Oh, I’ll eat all right.”

Cheng Xi was struck speechless. 

This time, it was her turn to look at him bitterly. She even wanted to grab his ear and sarcastically ask, ‘Do you know how to chat? Can you speak properly? At this time, shouldn’t you silently accept my good intentions and then escort me home diligently?’

Lu Chenzhou didn’t say anything; instead, the sides of his mouth curled up, clearly signaling that he found Cheng Xi’s exasperated and speechless expression amusing.

Since she was afraid of Lu Chenzhou being hungry, the first thing she did when they arrived at her apartment was to make something for him to eat. There wasn’t much food at her place, but there were quite a number of items that she could prepare with little effort, like noodles, dumplings, and the like. In fact, her mother replenished her stock almost weekly.

Cheng Xi and Lu Chenzhou had eaten together quite a few times by now, and she knew that he preferred light foods. So, she made him a bowl of noodles that suited his tastes, and then made a bowl of thick congee with black rice, beans, and red dates for herself.

She wasn’t full from tonight’s meal either.

When she remembered the night’s lacking dinner, she was also reminded of Shen Wei, and then of Lin Fan. Once the noodles were busy boiling, she took out her phone and scrolled through her social media feed, but couldn’t find anything about Lin Fan getting married at all.

He barely updated his feed, and his most recent post was when he had just returned from abroad and was attending Shen Wei’s wedding. It was a picture, with a single sentence as a caption: “I hope that you’ll be happy.”

The photograph was of Shen Wei getting ready to throw her wedding bouquet into the air. She had in mid-turn, laughing, and the bridesmaids were at the bottom of the stage, happily rubbing their palms and getting ready to catch the bouquet.

The happiness and liveliness of the wedding felt as fresh as if it had taken place yesterday, but Shen Wei and Fu Mingyi’s marriage had clearly already come to its end.

“What’re you looking at?”

There was a hot puff of air by her ear, and then Lu Chenzhou’s voice rang out from behind her back.

Cheng Xi showed him her phone screen. “I’m looking at photographs of Shen Wei’s wedding.”

Lu Chenzhou glanced at it for a moment and then turned his head around disinterestedly to look at the pot. “Is it ready yet?”

Cheng Xi also glanced at the boiling noodles. Then she put her phone away, picked up her chopsticks, and stirred it a little. “It’s almost ready.”

A few minutes later, she removed the noodles and poured out the congee, and with that, the two of them had a very simple supper. Thankfully, Lu Chenzhou wasn’t a picky eater, and he slowly but diligently ate his noodles, leaving the bowl clean at the end.

He had finished his noodles before Cheng Xi could finish her congee, so Cheng Xi asked, “Was it tasty?” She wanted to show off a little. “My dad personally made these noodles from scratch, and I’ve always loved eating them.”

Since she was sitting by his side, he could see her gleaming eyes, and her white and lustrous face seemed to glow under the lamplight. But in contrast to that ethereal aura, there was a little black spot of rice congee by the side of her mouth, just like a little mole; the slight imperfection actually increased her attractiveness.

She was still asking him, “Is it tasty?”

Lu Chenzhou’s hand that had been lying dormant underneath the table moved instinctively. He raised it and wiped off the little ‘mole’ by her mouth.

Cheng Xi looked at that black dot on his fingertip, but before she could blush in embarrassment, she saw him put it in his mouth and suck it down like he was drinking water. “Hmm, it’s not as tasty as this…” He put down his hand and then looked at her. “Your sweetness, that is.”

“……”

She couldn’t stop her face from turning pink; how could she not? There was no sugar in the congee at all! What sort of sweetness…… She tried her best to maintain a serious expression, but her face was still warm with embarrassment, and she couldn’t help but cover her face with her hand as she suspiciously looked at him. “Mr. Lu, did you really not have any relationships in the past?” Then in an extremely daring move, she stretched out her hand and kneaded his handsome face, which was so serious that it made one want to touch it even more. “It really doesn’t seem like it, given how good you are at teasing me.”

Lu Chenzhou snatched her hand out of the air. Cheng Xi’s heart skipped a beat, and just as she was about to give up, she heard Lu Chenzhou laugh. “Let’s get into bed together. Although I’ve never done it before, my technique’s pretty good. Do you want to try it?”

“……”

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