She’d been so focused on saving her own skin, paying off debts, and appeasing this unhinged boss of a man that bedtime hadn’t even crossed her mind!
Jiang Wangtang’s eyes landed on the kang platform bed. Lu Chenzhou followed her gaze with a cool, entirely unbothered expression.
“We sleep on the kang.”
“And you?” she pressed.
“I sleep on the kang too,” he answered naturally.
Jiang Wangtang: “…”
Wow. Not a single second of hesitation.
She stared at the brick bed for a couple of seconds, then stood straight up.
“No way.”
Lu Chenzhou’s brows pulled down sharply. “Why not?”
“An unmarried man and woman sharing a bed? How would that look? People will be accusing us of indecency by tomorrow morning!”
She reached down to grab her canvas bag. “I’m going back to the youth outpost to sleep. It’s not that far anyway, and I’ll come back first thing in the morning.”
The moment the words left her mouth, the atmosphere in the room shifted.
The calm on Lu Chenzhou’s face visibly soured, turning as dark as a thundercloud.
“You’re going where?”
Jiang Wangtang froze. Great, here we go again. Was this guy allergic to words like “leave,” “go back,” or “youth outpost”?
“The youth outpost,” she said, forcing her tone to stay light. “I used to live there anyway. My bedding should still be around. Besides, I’m just sleeping there. As soon as it’s light out, I’ll—”
“No.”
The word was hard, cold, and dragged straight out of an ice cave.
Jiang Wangtang’s temper flared. “Why not?”
“There’s no room,” he said, his face like stone.
“How do you know there’s no room?” she snapped back.
“I said there’s no room, so there isn’t.”
She let out a bitter laugh. “Lu Chenzhou, since when did you become the head of the youth outpost?”
The man didn’t answer. He just fixed a death glare on her, looking for all the world like she’d murdered his family.
Seeing his stubborn, unyielding expression, she realized arguing was a waste of breath.
“Captain Wang’s family should still be awake. I’ll ask him—they can squeeze me in somewhere at the outpost…”
She bent over to pick up her canvas bag, but a giant, vice-like hand reached out and snatched it right out of the air.
“Hey!”
Jiang Wangtang watched helplessly as Lu Chenzhou grabbed her luggage, took three long strides toward the kang, and—SMACK!
He slammed the canvas bag back onto the bed, far harder than she had earlier.
“You’re staying here.”
Her temper boiled over. “Lu Chenzhou!”
“What are you yelling for?”
“Are you capable of being reasonable?!”
“No.”
“…”
Jiang Wangtang nearly choked on her own breath.
Worse yet, he acted like it was the most natural thing in the world. Not only was he being completely unreasonable, but he also turned around, walked to the door, reached out, and—clack!
He shot the wooden latch firmly into place!
Her eyelids twitched hard. “What are you doing?”
“Locking the door.”
“I have eyes!” She was so angry she almost laughed. “I’m asking why you’re locking the door in the middle of the night?!”
Lu Chenzhou turned back to look at her, his eyes pitch-black. “To keep thieves out.”
His gaze swept over her face with a cool detach, offering no further explanation.
She stood frozen for two seconds before it suddenly clicked. Unbelievable. He wasn’t keeping out thieves from the outside—he was locking up the “thief” who was trying to run away!
“Lu Chenzhou,” she said, planting her hands on her hips. “Didn’t I just tell you that I’m not running?”
“I heard you.”
“Then why lock the door?!”
“You also said you were going to marry me once.”
“…”
A total knockout. Jiang Wangtang opened her mouth, but not a single counterargument came out.
The original host’s credibility was already bankrupt in the negative numbers. Forget about Lu Chenzhou—if she were in his shoes, she wouldn’t believe herself either!
Understanding his logic was one thing, but sharing a bed tonight with a twenty-five-year-old man bursting with vitality was another story entirely…
She stole a quick glance at him. There was no denying he was good-looking—broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and standing at least six-foot-one.
When he had stepped close to her earlier, the raw, masculine energy radiating off him had made it hard to breathe. And most importantly… the original host’s relationship with him hadn’t exactly been squeaky clean!
They had hugged, kissed, acted sweet and clingy together… and even…
A flash of memory from the original host suddenly flooded her mind: It had been the hottest part of summer. Smothered by the stifling heat at the youth outpost, the original host had snuck over to Lu Chenzhou’s house.
He had just come out of the river after a wash, his chest completely bare. Instead of looking away, she had stared at his abs for a long time before reaching out to run a hand over them, asking with a giggling smile:
“Lu Chenzhou, why are you so hard right here?”
Dammit… Jiang Wangtang cursed inwardly, her face instantly burning up.
Stop right there, memory! That is way too embarrassing!
Lu Chenzhou had been watching her the whole time, so he naturally didn’t miss the weird flush creeping across her face.
“What’s making your face so red?”
“It’s hot!” she blurted out, her eyes darting everywhere but at him.
Lu Chenzhou glanced out the window. It was late autumn, and the wind seeping through the cracks carried a biting chill.
“Hot?”
“Can’t a person just have a lot of body heat?!”
He stared at her for a couple of seconds. As if realizing something, a cold smirk suddenly tugged at the corner of his lips, carrying a streak of wicked arrogance.
“So now you know how to keep your distance?”
Jiang Wangtang’s heart dropped. Sure enough, the next second, the jerk began speaking in a slow, deliberate tone.
“Where was this modesty back when you were sneaking into my room every single day? Where was it when you were lying on my kang bossing me around?”
The tips of her ears felt like they were on fire. “Lu Chenzhou!”
“Am I wrong?” Having suppressed a storm of anger for days, he was finally catching an opening, and every word was sharper than the last. “Who was the one clinging to me and refusing to let go? Who was the one forcing her way into my arms every time it got cold?”
He suddenly took two steps forward, his voice dropping low and dangerous.
“Jiang Wangtang, you weren’t lacking any courage back when you were taking advantage of me. Now that you’ve visited the city, you suddenly remember men and women are supposed to keep their distance?”
Cornered, she retreated step by step until the small of her back hit the hard edge of the kang. Nowhere left to run.
He kept coming closer. The subtle scent of soap clung to him, mixed with the warm, raw heat of a grown man. It wasn’t unpleasant—in fact, it sent her heart hammering against her ribs.
She tilted her head up to glare at him. “That was then!”
“What’s the difference?” he pressed without missing a beat.
“I…” She couldn’t very well scream, ‘Because I’ve got a different soul now!’
Lu Chenzhou leaned down, closing the gap between them in an instant until their breaths mingled.
“Tell me. What’s the difference?”
Instinctively, Jiang Wangtang raised her hands to push against his chest. But the moment her palms pressed against him, her whole body went stiff again.
Hard! Warm! Even through the thin, threadbare undershirt, she could distinctly feel the tight, solid muscle underneath!
It hit her like a bolt of lightning. That damned sense of familiarity brought those images of the original host rubbing his waist and chest flashing right back into her mind like a movie!
As if scorched by fire, she pulled her hands back immediately—only for Lu Chenzhou to clamp a massive hand around her wrist the very next second!
“Why are you hiding?” He looked down at her, his eyes dark enough to swallow her whole, his voice pressed low. “Didn’t you say it yourself earlier? You said you came back this time to live together with me because you couldn’t let me go.”
Damn it all… Jiang Wangtang felt like crying.
She was finally suffering the consequences of shooting herself in the foot!
“I said I came back to build a life with you! I didn’t say I was sleeping on the same bed with you tonight!”
“Is there a difference?”
“Of course there is!” Her eyes widened. “Lu Chenzhou, stop playing dumb with me!”
Watching her puff her cheeks out in anger like a cute little pufferfish, the dead, gloomy darkness in the depths of his eyes miraculously thawed by more than half. Yet his tongue remained insufferably sharp.
“Don’t worry. I’m not desperate enough… to touch a swindler who just ran off with my money.”
Jiang Wangtang’s teeth ached with rage!
Fine! Fantastic! How many times had he called her a swindler tonight?!
“Lu Chenzhou, you better remember what you just said!” She violently snatched her wrist out of his grip. “Whoever touches the other first is a dog!”
He raised an eyebrow. “Fine by me!”
He agreed with absolute, shameless promptness.