The man’s shoulders were broad, his chest solid and firm.
He lifted his hand and drew her into his arms. His long, strong arm wrapped around her back, pulling her closer until their bodies pressed tightly together in a full, enveloping hug.
Lin Wu froze. Instinctively, she wanted to push him away.
The person in front of her seemed to sense it. He leaned down and murmured intimately against her ear,
“One minute.”
“…”
Her raised hand slowly dropped.
Lin Wu was held so tightly by Chen Zhuo that she could barely breathe. Trapped against his chest, she inhaled the scent clinging to him—something faintly like the incense burning in a temple, or the aged sandalwood that had smoldered for years inside one.
Warm. Comfortable. It made her want to sink into it, unable to pull herself free.
The arrivals hall was noisy and chaotic—strangers talking, announcements blaring, cars honking—all of it constantly pouring into her ears.
But right now, in this moment, all Lin Wu could hear was the clear, forceful thud of her own heartbeat.
Like the roar of a train. Impossible to ignore.
Realizing this, she lifted the hand she had just lowered and gently pushed at the arm locked around her waist.
“Chen Zhuo.”
She lowered her lashes and reminded him very calmly,
“It’s already been one minute.”
They were still outside. Plenty of passersby were glancing their way. Lin Wu felt a little embarrassed.
Chen Zhuo acknowledged with a low sound. He lowered his head and rubbed his cheek lightly against the side of her face before reluctantly stepping back and releasing her.
Lin Wu also took the chance to step back two paces, putting distance between them.
Finally, she could breathe normally again.
Her cheeks were faintly flushed. Ignoring the chaotic pounding of her heart, she met Chen Zhuo’s gaze. Her eyes flickered slightly.
“Let’s go. It’s late.”
Chen Zhuo gave a small nod. His eyes burned as he studied her, watching every subtle shift in her expression.
Better than he had expected.
He calmly looked away.
“Okay. Where’s the car?”
Lin Wu: “Over in the open-air parking lot.”
The open-air parking wasn’t far—just across one pedestrian crossing outside the terminal.
The night wind at the airport was strong. After they had walked a short distance, the cold gusts rushing past finally helped Lin Wu’s heartbeat slow and steady.
She opened the trunk and Chen Zhuo placed his suitcase inside. Then he lifted his eyes to her.
“Give me the keys.”
Lin Wu hesitated.
“You’re not tired?”
“I slept a lot on the plane,” Chen Zhuo said, looking at her. “The one who should be tired is you.”
Lin Wu couldn’t argue with that. She silently handed him the car keys.
When she opened the passenger door and sat down, it belatedly occurred to her: Wasn’t I supposed to be the driver? How did I get demoted?
Chen Zhuo got in a moment later. Even after closing the door, he didn’t start the engine.
Lin Wu was puzzled. She turned her head.
“Aren’t you—”
Before she could finish asking “Aren’t you going?”, the man who had just stolen her driver’s seat leaned over. One hand pressed down on the arm she had let fall at her side, the other caught her chin, and he kissed her lips.
Caught completely off guard, Lin Wu barely had time to react before Chen Zhuo had already parted her teeth and found her tongue, tangling with it deeply.
He kissed her hard—deep and consuming—curling around her soft tongue as if he wanted to swallow her whole, giving her no chance at all to refuse.
In just moments, the sound of breathing inside the car became noticeably louder.
Lin Wu’s breathing grew uneven. She tried to push him away several times but failed. Chen Zhuo was too strong; with just one hand he could pin her completely in place, unable to move.
Seeing that struggling was useless, Lin Wu finally stopped resisting.
After all, they were inside the car now—not out in the terminal.
She hesitated for a few seconds, then slowly closed her eyes and began to respond to him actively.
The moment he felt her reciprocate, Chen Zhuo’s breathing grew heavier.
His chest felt faintly hot. He pulled her even closer and kissed her more deeply, more devotedly.
“…”
The space inside the car was limited. The kiss didn’t last very long.
Lin Wu was fine, but Chen Zhuo’s position was genuinely a little awkward.
When they finally parted, both breathing hard, Chen Zhuo lowered his lashes and rested his forehead against hers.
They panted quietly. The warm air they exhaled through their noses brushed against each other’s cheeks—humid, hot, carrying a scorching edge.
In the dark interior of the car, Lin Wu could feel Chen Zhuo’s gaze fixed on her.
His eyes held heat, and also the ability to see right through her.
What let Lin Wu breathe a small sigh of relief was that the car was pitch black right now. She had parked far from the streetlights; there was some distant illumination, but it wasn’t clear.
Because of that, she didn’t avoid his stare.
Only when the silence grew so thick she could hear both their heartbeats did she finally speak.
“President Chen, we should get going.”
Chen Zhuo gave a low hum, sat back in the driver’s seat, and started the car.
The drive back was slowed by some traffic.
At another red light, Chen Zhuo stepped on the brake, turned his head, and asked the person beside him,
“Did you eat dinner?”
Lin Wu: “I did.”
Chen Zhuo: “…”
He lifted his brows slightly and praised,
“Not bad. Attorney Lin has finally learned to eat on time.”
Lin Wu choked for a second, then turned her head to look out the window.
“President Chen really isn’t being sarcastic?”
“What would I be sarcastic about?” Chen Zhuo countered.
Lin Wu shut her mouth and said nothing more.
She couldn’t possibly walk right into the trap he had set for her and let him confirm that she didn’t want to have dinner with him—so she made sure to eat dinner on time before coming to pick him up at the airport.
Of course, she also wasn’t going to tell him the real reason she ate on time today wasn’t because she didn’t want to eat with him; she had simply been too busy at lunch and completely forgot to eat.
It wasn’t until near the end of the workday that she noticed the already cold meal sitting to the side.
Following her no-waste principle, Lin Wu reheated it and ate it before heading to the airport.
After a long silence, Chen Zhuo let out a low, ambiguous laugh.
“Lin Wu.”
Lin Wu’s lashes trembled lightly.
“What?”
“Will you keep me company and eat a little something?” Chen Zhuo extended the invitation.
Lin Wu instinctively wanted to refuse.
The words were on the tip of her tongue when the image flashed in her mind of Chen Zhuo’s eyes lighting up the moment he saw her at the arrivals gate.
After a brief silence, Lin Wu said,
“Fengxing’s driver is very busy, and the employees are busy too?”
Wasn’t asking her to be the driver enough—now he wanted her to have dinner with him too?
Hearing the implication in her words, Chen Zhuo curved his lips slightly and replied with perfect logic,
“A good boss shouldn’t exploit employees after work hours or make them accompany the boss for meals.”
Lin Wu raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him.
“Then right now you are—”
“You’re not my employee,” Chen Zhuo said, turning his head to meet her eyes.
Lin Wu fell silent. Her lawyer instincts kicked in and she couldn’t resist arguing,
“True. Xianghe and Fengxing are currently in a cooperative relationship, so President Chen and I should also be considered—”
“…”
Chen Zhuo was helpless. He called her name softly,
“Lin Wu.”
Lin Wu: “What?”
Chen Zhuo spoke slowly and very directly,
“Setting aside the cooperation between Xianghe and Fengxing—setting aside any professional relationship between us—I hope you’ll have a meal with me. Is that reason enough? Will that make you agree?”
“…” The words came too suddenly. For a moment Lin Wu didn’t know how to respond.
After a long pause, under Chen Zhuo’s steady gaze, she finally came back to herself. Her heart raced a little as she tugged nervously at the seatbelt.
“…What do you want to eat?”
Chen Zhuo focused, suddenly remembering something.
“Are the things I left in the apartment fridge before I went abroad still there?”
“They are,” Lin Wu recalled, mentally calculating the time, “but… they’re probably not edible anymore, right?”
Although she had put the meat in the freezer, the vegetables were still in the crisper drawer. After more than half a month, the vegetables must have gone bad.
“Not necessarily,” Chen Zhuo said, lifting his eyes. “The fridge in that apartment has pretty good preservation.”
He paused there, then asked for her opinion.
“Shall we go take a look?”
Lin Wu was quiet for a second before answering vaguely,
“Up to you.”
Chen Zhuo nodded, his voice clear and light.
“Then I’ll have to trouble Attorney Lin to change the destination.”
The car was connected to her phone via Bluetooth. When Chen Zhuo got in earlier he hadn’t bothered to switch, so he had simply used the navigation on her phone.
Hearing his words, Lin Wu felt a flash of regret, but she still calmly reached over and changed the destination to the apartment where they met every Friday night.
The apartment was farther from the airport than her place.
Sitting quietly felt a little dull, so Lin Wu casually opened a music app and played something soft and pleasant.
Traffic in the city was heavy. Lin Wu lifted her eyes to watch the endless stream of neon lights ahead and drifted off a little.
Suddenly, her phone rang.
Lin Wu looked down—it was Yu Xinzhi calling. She frowned slightly and answered without paying much attention, accidentally tapping the car’s hands-free speaker.
“Hello, Attorney Yu.” Lin Wu’s voice was cool and distant. “It’s so late—what’s the matter?”
“Why didn’t you come to the exchange meeting tonight?” Yu Xinzhi’s voice rang clearly through the car speakers.
Lin Wu: “…”
She froze for a second, then turned to look at the center console.
“Lin Wu?” When no response came, Yu Xinzhi called her name again. “Are you listening?”
Lin Wu quickly answered, “Mm.” She raised her hand to switch off the speaker, but Chen Zhuo blocked her. He caught her wrist and pressed his voice low.
“Attorney Lin, focus on your call.”
“…”
“Lin Wu.” Yu Xinzhi called again.
Lin Wu hurried to reply, “Yes, I had something come up today.”
Yu Xinzhi sounded surprised.
“Oh, I see.”
Lin Wu gave a soft hum, pressed her lips together, then asked,
“Did you call just to ask about that?”
Yu Xinzhi laughed lightly on the other end.
“Everyone was asking about you. They wanted to know what was going on.”
He paused for a second.
“A few colleagues were hoping to get your contact information.”
In an instant, Lin Wu understood exactly why Yu Xinzhi had called.
Yu Xinzhi had been in the profession for many years and always carried a gentle, easygoing demeanor—toward colleagues and strangers alike. He was approachable, and precisely because he was so approachable, his sense of boundaries wasn’t always the strongest.
Lin Wu guessed that at tonight’s exchange meeting among peers, since she hadn’t shown up, someone must have asked him for her contact information. Unable to refuse, he had called to ask on their behalf.
Thinking of this, Lin Wu composed herself and replied in a very light, indifferent tone,
“My situation should be fairly easy for people in the industry to look up, right?”
She didn’t give him any face:
“As for passing along my contact information, I wouldn’t be able to tell them what I’ve been busy with lately anyway. We have to keep client matters confidential.”
Yu Xinzhi was momentarily choked by her words.
“Lin Wu.”
Lin Wu spoke seriously,
“Attorney Yu, please help me decline. I don’t have any strong desire to exchange contacts or chat with colleagues I’m not very familiar with.”
Yu Xinzhi gave an awkward laugh.
“Okay.”
Lin Wu: “Thank you.”
After hanging up, a WeChat message came in from Yu Xinzhi:
「Sorry, I didn’t think it through properly.」
Lin Wu: 「It’s fine. Just tell them I don’t want to give it out.」
Yu Xinzhi: 「I understand.」
Lin Wu didn’t reply to that one.
At the same time, Chen Zhuo had already driven into the apartment parking lot.
After parking the car, Chen Zhuo glanced at Lin Wu, then pushed open the driver’s door and got out to retrieve his luggage.
Lin Wu felt there was something faintly complicated in the way he looked at her, but she didn’t ask why.
The two of them got out one after the other and entered the elevator.
By chance, at this hour there was no one else waiting on the first floor. The elevator carried them smoothly from the basement level all the way up to the apartment floor without stopping.
At the apartment door, Chen Zhuo swiped the card to unlock it and stepped aside to let Lin Wu go in first.
While changing shoes, Lin Wu belatedly noticed something: no matter the situation, Chen Zhuo always maintained his basic gentlemanly manners. He would let her enter first, and the same went for getting in and out of elevators.
After changing into slippers, Lin Wu headed straight toward the kitchen.
Chen Zhuo pushed his suitcase to the side and followed her in.
“Are the vegetables still fresh?” Chen Zhuo asked, stopping a short distance behind her.
Lin Wu took them out and checked.
“…They haven’t turned yellow yet.”
They should still be edible.
Chen Zhuo nodded. He stepped back out, took off his coat, and rolled up his sleeves, revealing forearms with smooth, clearly defined muscle lines.
Lin Wu’s gaze dropped for a moment. She took in his well-articulated fingers and the elegant wristwatch resting against his wrist.
She had to admit: the heavens really played favorites.
Not only had they given this man flawless bone structure, even his fingers—and the occasional small gestures he made—were pleasing to the eye.
Noticing where her attention had landed, Chen Zhuo lifted his eyelids slightly. His tone was a little cooler than before; she wasn’t sure what he was unhappy about.
“What is Attorney Lin looking at?”
“Nothing,” Lin Wu looked away and asked knowingly, “Are you going to cook?”
Chen Zhuo gave a low hum and took two steps farther into the kitchen, his tone casual.
“Worried?”
Lin Wu looked puzzled.
“Worried about what?”
Worried his cooking would taste bad? No way.
“Worried my skills aren’t good,” Chen Zhuo said with a faint smile. “Worried the food won’t suit your taste… or that you’ll get food poisoning.”
He paused, his tone carrying a trace of acidity even he himself didn’t notice.
“Worried that eating here would be worse than going to the exchange meeting for dinner.”
Lin Wu: “…”
She paused for a second, then lifted her eyes to look at the man in front of her for a long moment before asking,
“Aren’t you going to eat too?”
Chen Zhuo: “Hm?”
He lowered his gaze to her, momentarily not understanding what she meant.
Lin Wu met his eyes, her expression calm.
“Then if I get poisoned later, it won’t just be me. So what do I have to worry about?”
Chen Zhuo’s breathing deepened slightly.
“What did you say?”
Lin Wu: “I said—are you cooking or not?”
She suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
“Or maybe we should just order takeout—”
Before she could finish, Chen Zhuo leaned down abruptly.
“Lin Wu.”
His gaze locked straight onto hers.
Lin Wu’s breathing hitched; her long lashes trembled lightly.
“What?”
Chen Zhuo saw the tension in her and gave a soft laugh. He knew her temperament well—knew that pushing too hard on many things could backfire. Overreaching often led to loss instead of gain.
With that thought, he spoke very naturally,
“Actually, my cooking is pretty decent.”
Lin Wu blinked.
“Is that so.”
Chen Zhuo confirmed with a hum, tilted his head to look at her.
“Go wait outside. You’ll have food in under an hour.”
Lin Wu nodded. As she turned to leave the kitchen, she added,
“I’m probably not as hungry as you are.”
At that, Chen Zhuo raised an eyebrow. Watching her retreating back, he said with clear double meaning,
“I really am quite hungry.”
“…”
Lin Wu stopped dead in her tracks. After catching the other layer of meaning in his words, she shot him an annoyed glare over her shoulder.
Pervert.
Chen Zhuo let out a low chuckle, the corners of his mouth lifting in clear amusement. Then, with a perfectly serious face, he said,
“I’m seriously hungry. So please, Attorney Lin, wait patiently outside and don’t… disturb the troops.”