“It’s time to go back.”
Zhou Jinyuan had already stood up and scooped her into his arms in a bridal carry.
Lin Wangxi hurriedly pushed at him. “There are so many people here. Put me down—I can walk by myself.”
Zhou Jinyuan casually picked up the crutch beside them and lowered his head to look at her. “You want to hop out on your own?”
Lin Wangxi froze for a moment. Whether she was being carried by him or hopping outside herself, both seemed equally embarrassing.
While she was still dazed, Zhou Jinyuan had already carried her out as if no one else existed.
After they got into the car, Lin Wangxi suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, I still don’t know what your major was.”
She only knew Zhou Jinyuan’s field seemed related to medicine, but he had never become a doctor, so she was curious.
Zhou Jinyuan drove the car out of the parking lot before answering. “Biomedical engineering.”
She asked again, “So you studied biology?”
“It includes biology, but it mainly focuses on designing and developing medical devices.”
That went beyond Lin Wangxi’s knowledge.
“It sounds pretty impressive. Then why didn’t you work at a hospital?”
Zhou Jinyuan looked thoughtfully at the road ahead and spat out a few words with a trace of mockery.
“There were no openings.”
Lin Wangxi blinked and understood what he meant.
She did not press further and changed the subject. “Then you could’ve worked at a company. Why drive a ride-hailing car?”
Zhou Jinyuan fell silent again because of her question.
“Why do you always ignore people when they talk to you? That’s so rude.”
Lin Wangxi was a little annoyed. Talking to him was exhausting. Every conversation ended with him going silent halfway through.
Zhou Jinyuan sighed helplessly, sounding tired. “There’s a non-compete agreement.”
Then Lin Wangxi kept asking what a non-compete agreement was.
Zhou Jinyuan could only patiently explain it to her. After hearing everything, Lin Wangxi immediately cursed the investor for him.
Zhou Jinyuan then said that investor had it even worse than he did.
He was only restrained by the non-compete agreement, while the general manager of that subsidiary company had already jumped to his death.
Lin Wangxi’s mouth fell open in shock. She quickly clasped her hands together and apologized to the dead general manager.
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean it. I spoke without thinking.”
Zhou Jinyuan glanced at her while driving.
She was still wearing pajamas, with his black coat draped over them.
Her slightly curled hair hung loosely on both sides. There was no delicate makeup, no extravagant jewelry.
Without all those decorations, she had lost some of her former arrogance and gained a little liveliness and clarity.
Even Zhou Jinyuan’s voice softened.
“It’s fine. He doesn’t know.”
Lin Wangxi lowered her hands and turned to smile at him.
“Zhou Jinyuan, that biomedical engineering thing of yours… can it make really amazing things? Like things that cure illnesses and save lives?”
Zhou Jinyuan seemed not to have expected such a sudden question. He was silent for a few seconds before replying, “In theory, yes.”
“Then can it make something that brings people back from the dead?”
Zhou Jinyuan curled one corner of his lips. “I make medical devices, not the Book of Life and Death.”
Lin Wangxi laughed awkwardly. “Just kidding.”
“Do you still want to do it in the future? Make those amazing things?”
This time, he was silent even longer.
So long that Lin Wangxi thought he was about to give her the cold shoulder again, when she finally heard his voice.
“I do. But first, I need to stay alive.”
He had finally talked her into silence.
Lin Wangxi looked at him with complicated feelings. She realized that after only two days together, she had never truly known Zhou Jinyuan.
Before the day before yesterday, in her eyes, Zhou Jinyuan had only been a handsome man with an especially arrogant attitude.
Now, aside from being handsome, it seemed there was something more.
As for what that something was, Lin Wangxi did not know. Her feelings were vague.
The car stopped steadily beneath an old apartment building. Zhou Jinyuan got out, skillfully walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and carried Lin Wangxi out.
Lin Wangxi wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, staring at the jawline so close before her.
“Zhou Jinyuan, you’ll definitely succeed.”
His footsteps paused. He lowered his head slightly and looked at her.
The hallway lights were dim, making his gaze seem deep and unreadable in the yellow glow.
She tilted her face up at him. They were so close they were almost touching. Her eyes were like stars in the night sky—bright and dazzling.
The motion-sensor light went out, and the long corridor became even darker. Only the light spilling in from the windows at both ends was enough to make out each other’s faces.
Her breathing brushed against Zhou Jinyuan’s neck like feathers lightly sweeping past.
“Lin Wangxi,” he called her name, his voice carrying a faint echo through the empty hallway.
“What is it?”
His arms around her tightened unconsciously.
“That agreement you mentioned before… are we still going to keep it?”
Lin Wangxi had no idea which agreement he meant. She seemed to have made many rules.
Things like he had to answer every call, reply to messages within three minutes, send her good morning and good night texts every day, come whenever she called, and countless other unreasonable demands.
She truly could not guess which one he meant, so she asked directly, “Which one?”
Zhou Jinyuan said, “We have to kiss three times every week.”
Lin Wangxi’s body stiffened slightly.
That clause had indeed been one of them. He had followed it, though it was obvious he had done so unwillingly.
Lin Wangxi did not know why he was bringing it up now.
Was he trying to warn her?
Or trying to use the chance to cancel all those agreements?
She tested the waters and asked, “Well, since we’re already kissing, how about you stop sleeping on the sofa and sleep in the bedroom with me?”
“…”
He fell silent again, only staring intensely at Lin Wangxi as if he wanted to see through her.
Alright then. It seemed he really was testing her.
From the fact that he had taken her in, it was obvious Zhou Jinyuan was someone who valued trust and principles very highly.
So even if she tacitly considered those conditions void, he still needed to hear her say it aloud for them to truly be canceled.
Thinking of that, Lin Wangxi smiled.
“I’m joking. No need. All those requests I made before—starting today, they’re canceled.”
Zhou Jinyuan stared at her opening and closing lips. After a moment of silence, he slowly looked away.
“Mm.”
He responded vaguely, his emotions unreadable, and carried her toward the apartment door.
At the door, he held her steady with one arm while using the other to take out the key and unlock it.
Once inside, the room was much brighter.
He placed Lin Wangxi on the sofa, then went out to buy groceries.
Before leaving, he took the stack of tied-up cardboard boxes by the door with him, probably to throw them away.
Lin Wangxi lay on the sofa, bored as she played with her phone.
She browsed gossip shared in group chats and looked through the decadent lifestyles in her social media feed.
Suddenly, all those ordinary things that had once been within easy reach now felt very far away.
Especially in this cramped room, the contrast was even sharper.
As she kept scrolling, she saw a photo.
It had been posted by Lin Tanyu—a family photo of four people. That thin, tiny girl stood in the middle, surrounded by the others.
The luxury clothes on her body looked out of place against her frail figure and drooping shoulders.
Everyone in the photo wore bright smiles. Even Lin Tanyu’s caption read:
[Thankfully, nothing is too late.]
It had been posted only two minutes earlier, and many familiar people had already commented below.
Lin Wangxi stared at the photo for a long time, so long that she did not notice Zhou Jinyuan had returned.
She was holding up her phone, and Zhou Jinyuan saw the screen at a glance.
His gaze slowly moved from the phone screen to her face.
She was biting her lip, her eyes hollow, mixed with unwillingness, grievance, and a trace of helpless resignation.
When she heard the rustling sound of a plastic bag behind her, Lin Wangxi came back to herself and hurriedly turned off the screen.
She twisted around to look at Zhou Jinyuan behind her and forced out a smile uglier than crying.
“You came back so fast?”
Zhou Jinyuan took two steps forward and came to her side.
He handed the box in his hand to her.
“This is for you.”