As it turned out, the knocking sound Cheng Sisi heard was not an illusion at all.
It was a prank he deliberately orchestrated!
However, not everything was a prank—for instance, the green light she claimed to have seen.
That wasn’t his doing; that was the real illusion she witnessed!
He had long since had Cheng Sisi thoroughly investigated—her upbringing, the kindergartens she attended, the middle and high schools she went to, the awards she received, the illnesses she suffered, and so on. He had left no stone unturned.
Naturally, he also uncovered her allergy history.
The mushroom soup was something he had called home to ask the housekeeper to prepare. He also instructed that a bottle of red wine be placed on the dining table, claiming he would return for dinner. When the time came, he pretended that something urgent had come up at the company and said he couldn’t make it back.
The mushroom soup was for Cheng Sisi, while the red wine was for Jiang Xin.
Jiang Xin loved red wine, and upon hearing that Cheng Sisi had performed poorly in her interview that day, she would undoubtedly try to comfort her.
He bet that Jiang Xin would come up with the idea of letting Cheng Sisi drown her sorrows in wine.
As it turned out, he was right!
But the original plan wasn’t to pretend there was a ghost. Who could have expected that Jiang Si would have such an accident? It was a coincidence that allowed him to change his plans on the spot, creating the perfect opportunity for him to act.
Cheng Sisi had no idea that he had returned home earlier and secretly placed this remote-controlled speaker outside her room.
Recalling Cheng Sisi’s earlier state, he couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile.
Now, her trust and dependence on him should have deepened even further, right?
But this wasn’t enough—far from it!
He wanted Cheng Sisi to fall for him completely, body and soul!
He wanted her to be unable to extricate herself; he wanted her to be unable to live without him!
By the time he finally emerged from the bathroom, Cheng Sisi was still sitting in the same spot, staring motionlessly at the door.
Hearing the door open, Cheng Sisi instinctively turned away, afraid of seeing something she shouldn’t.
A moment later, she saw him walk over with a blanket in his arms and gently remind her, “Let’s go.”
“Okay!” Cheng Sisi immediately stood up and followed him out.
When they reached the tea room, Jiang Zhuo had her sleep on the tatami bed against the wall while he slept on the sofa outside.
She took one of the blankets, nodded, and walked inside.
There was a central air conditioner overhead, so it wouldn’t be too hot at night. Cheng Sisi obediently lay down, feeling much more at ease with Jiang Zhuo nearby.
“I’m turning off the lights!”
Jiang Zhuo stood by the wall, his hand on the tea room’s power switch.
“Okay, thank you, Brother Jiang Zhuo.”
The next second, the lights went out, plunging everything into darkness once again.
Cheng Sisi tightened her grip on the blanket covering her. Although she still felt uneasy deep down, it wasn’t as intense now that Jiang Zhuo was there.
“Brother Jiang Zhuo?”
“Hmm, go ahead.”
“Um… how is A-Si doing?”
“…”
Even in their private moment, she was still thinking about another man. Even though that man was his own younger brother, it still displeased him.
He remained silent for a while before slowly replying, “He fractured his left calf. Other than that, there’s nothing serious. He’s still unconscious right now, and Jiang Xin is keeping him company at the hospital. I originally wanted her to come back and let me stay at the hospital, but she absolutely refused. I couldn’t persuade her otherwise.”
“Mm!” Cheng Sisi nodded. “Although Xinxin may seem carefree on the surface, she’s actually the most sentimental. I can understand her!”
“Yes, that girl is quite thoughtful.”
“I…” Cheng Sisi turned over and continued, “I’ll go to the hospital to see them tomorrow morning.”
To see them, or to see him?
Jiang Zhuo glanced sideways at her position, his eyes faintly gleaming.
Who was the one who had rescued her from embarrassment several times? Was it Jiang Si?
What exactly had Jiang Si done for her that she couldn’t let go, that she couldn’t forget?
“Brother Jiang Zhuo?”
Seeing that he didn’t reply, Cheng Sisi was a bit puzzled.
Jiang Zhuo responded coldly, “I have a very important meeting tomorrow morning. I need to get enough rest. It’s time to sleep.”
“Oh, okay! Then I won’t disturb your sleep!”
Cheng Sisi didn’t want to bother him anymore. After saying this, she obediently fell silent.
She wanted to sleep too, but after a long, long time, she was still wide awake, unable to fall asleep. Even Jiang Zhuo on the sofa was tossing and turning, finding it difficult to drift off.
Cheng Sisi felt guilty inside, knowing that he must be uncomfortable sleeping on the sofa.
Thinking about it, she couldn’t help but shed tears.
She had only thought of herself and hadn’t considered his feelings. She was too selfish!
So, she sat up in the darkness.
“Brother Jiang Zhuo?”
“Hmm?” He really wasn’t asleep.
“Brother Jiang Zhuo, go back to your room to sleep. You can’t sleep well here, and if you’re not rested, it’ll affect your meeting tomorrow.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry. Go to sleep!”
He was still taking care of her feelings, which only made Cheng Sisi feel worse. She channeled that discomfort into determination, threw off the blanket, climbed out of the tatami bed, and groped her way toward him.
Jiang Zhuo immediately turned over and sat up, grabbing her hand in the dim light.
“What are you doing up?”
“Brother Jiang Zhuo, go back to your room to sleep!”
“You want to come back to the room with me?”
“I… no, you sleep in your room, and I’ll go back to my room too.”
“You dare to sleep?”
“…Yes!” Compared to fear, she didn’t want to burden him more.
Jiang Zhuo let out a sigh and then said, “Alright, I’ll turn on the light!”
He let go of her hand, stood up, walked around the sofa, and felt along the wall to switch on the light.
Turning back, he asked again to confirm, “Are you really okay?”
She blinked, not daring to show any fear, and nodded firmly.
Jiang Zhuo nodded as well and continued, “The light in the left room is broken. Move to the right room. If you’re scared, leave the light on at night.”
“Okay, thank you, Brother Jiang Zhuo!”
Cheng Sisi’s room moved from Jiang Zhuo’s left side to his right.
Before going to bed, Jiang Zhuo brought her a glass of milk. “Milk helps you sleep. Drink it.”
Cheng Sisi still didn’t suspect anything. She took the milk and gulped down half of it.
“Brother Jiang Zhuo, you should drink some milk too and get some sleep.”
As she spoke, she licked her lips, sucking in the milk that had lingered around them.
Watching this, Jiang Zhuo felt a surge of heat in his eyes. He said, “Sleep early,” then turned and walked out of her room, closing the door behind him.
The moment the door closed, he no longer concealed the fervor in his gaze, whispering softly, “Half is enough!”
Even if she hadn’t finished the entire glass of milk, drinking half was already sufficient.
Tonight, there was no one else at home. He could play even more thrillingly!
Half an hour later, Jiang Zhuo returned to Cheng Sisi’s room.
The light was on inside. As expected, she was still too scared to sleep with the lights off.
Jiang Zhuo sat by the bedside, where Cheng Sisi lay breathing evenly in a deep slumber. He gently kneaded her cheek, neither too hard nor too light. As if sensing it, she whimpered and pushed his hand away, though her eyes remained closed.
He curled his lips into a smile and reached out to stroke her again.
“No!” she frowned, swatting his hand away once more before turning over and mumbling, “I want to sleep!”
He chuckled softly as he stood up, then leaned down to pull the blanket off her and scooped her up in his arms.
“Come sleep with Brother Jiang Zhuo!”