Chapter 88: Sister, can I hold you...
When the sensor light filled the garage, Zhou Ci parked the car in his own exclusive parking space, and the two got out of the car and took the elevator together.
"Come here!" Zhou Ci tapped his knuckles on the sandalwood panel, the LCD screen's blue light illuminating his distinct knuckles. "I'll record your fingerprint password."
"I would have forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it." Song Yu smiled, "I really need to record one, otherwise it will be inconvenient for me to go in and out." She cooperated and walked over.
Zhou Ci gripped Song Yu's wrist with a scorching warmth: "The digital password is your birthday."
Song Yu's fingertips were drawn to touch the scanning area. When he looked up, his hair brushed against his Adam's apple. "Why is it my birthday?"
Zhou Ci pressed his thumb on the confirmation button, and the encryption prompt sounded crisply. He said in a calm voice: "We changed it together when we were renovating it before."
"Oh!" Song Yu blushed. It seemed that she was overthinking it.
The door opened, and Zhou Ci's warm palm was still covering the back of her hand. "I do need a Mrs. Zhou, but I wasn't sure at the time that Mrs. Zhou would have to be you. It could have been someone else."
"I know." Song Yu's voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible. It would be embarrassing to be discovered for being so sentimental, and she also wanted to save face.
The sensor floor lights on both sides of the entrance suddenly lit up. Zhou Ci's face hid in the shadows, and he said something insistently, "Mrs. Zhou, are you over-interpreting this?"
Song Yu's reaction was to pretend to be calm: "You think too much." Then he took off his clothes, changed his shoes, put down his bag, and fled.
I heard Zhou Ci's laughter behind me, and I could tell that he was in a good mood.
Aunt Qin had already started preparing dinner when they left the company.
When Song Yu passed by the restaurant, Aunt Qin was serving soup to the table. Song Yu said, "Aunt Qin, please make me a vegetable salad. I don't eat staple food at night." After thinking for a moment, he added, "You don't have to cook for me in the evening. Just prepare a vegetable salad for me."
She went back to her room and changed into home clothes. When she came out, she found that there was no vegetable salad on the table. She looked up at Aunt Qin and wanted to ask what was going on.
"No need to ask Aunt Qin. I didn't ask her to make it for you." Zhou Ci walked over, carrying a white porcelain stew pot. "As Mrs. Zhou, you asked me not to drink iced American coffee in the morning. Now, as your husband, I ask you not to diet at night. You can eat salad occasionally, but you can't eat it as a meal every day."
"As women age, their metabolism slows down. If they don't control themselves, they can easily gain weight. I don't want to gamble with my physique." Song Yu leaned back in the dining chair and tried to reason with him: "I'm not stopping you from drinking iced American coffee, I just don't want you to drink it on an empty stomach in the morning. I've taught you before that it's bad for your stomach, and you should know I don't mean any other things. Similarly, you can't deprive me of my desire for my figure. I have the right to keep myself in perfect condition."
"Men's metabolism also slows down as they age." Zhou Ci pushed the stew pot towards Song Yu. The moment he lifted the lid, the rich aroma of Codonopsis and Black Chicken rose with steam. "This is a natural aging problem. It has nothing to do with gender."
Song Yu frowned instantly when he smelled the medicine and looked away in disgust: "Eating such a nourishing meal at night? Are you worried that I won't gain weight?"
"The skin has been removed and the fat has been filtered out." Zhou Ci scooped up a spoonful of soup and passed it to Song Yu's mouth. The arc of his wrist was just right, neither abrupt nor with an irresistible sense of pressure: "Open your mouth!"
Song Yu opened her mouth and swallowed reluctantly. The soup slid down her throat, bringing with it the taste of Codonopsis pilosula. Her face wrinkled as if she was forced to swallow poison stuck in her throat.
Zhou Ci wiped the soup stains on the corners of her lips with his fingertips and asked her leisurely, "How does it taste?"
"Aunt Qin's cooking skills are of course impeccable." Song Yu glanced at the dishes on the table. From crab meat tofu to four-ingredient pork belly, every dish was her favorite, but they also hit her dinner minefields accurately.
Zhou Ci used the spoon she had used to scoop a spoonful from the stew pot and put it into his mouth, tasting it carefully: "It's still a little worse than what I make. I'll make it for you someday when I have time."
Song Yu was unable to stop him and could only stare blankly at him drinking soup with the spoon she had used, unable to even speak.
Zhou Ci took the spoon, scooped the third spoonful from the stew pot, and fed it to Song Yu's mouth. Seeing that Song Yu looked dumbfounded and didn't open his mouth, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong?"
Song Yu was reluctant to refuse, and even less so to speak frankly, as she knew she was at a disadvantage in this contractual marriage.
At that time, she had begged for help everywhere, and had already prepared for the worst. As long as someone could save the Song family, she would not even frown if they married Zhou Ci in a fake marriage, or even if they had to give their body to an old man.
Being able to make this deal with Zhou Ci is the best outcome she can think of. Whether Zhou Ci wants to have a fake marriage with her or turn the fake into reality, she can accept it and has already prepared for it.
It was just a little exchange of saliva in the soup spoon. Zhou Ci didn't mind, and she didn't mind either. What she cared about was never this, but the fear of gaining weight by eating such a nutritious dinner.
Song Yu didn't let Zhou Ci wait for long. He opened his mouth and swallowed the second spoonful of chicken soup before speaking, "Forget it today, but I really can't do this tomorrow. I'm so afraid of getting fat and ugly. I'd better ask Aunt Qin to make me salad tomorrow night. She can make more vegetables and fruits to ensure nutrition."
"You must eat dinner." Zhou Ci admired her indescribable expression, unmoved at all. "If you're worried about getting fat, we can exercise together after dinner."
Song Yu felt that this wouldn't work. She had to take the initiative in the dinner menu. "I'm not on a diet. My daily carbohydrate and protein intake is up to standard, and I'm taking my nutritional supplements." Her eyelashes trembled as she argued, but her voice was steady. "Let me arrange dinner myself, okay?"
Zhou Ci looked at her and rejected her firmly: "No!"
Song Yu lowered his eyes, clenched and unclenched his hands on the dining table, and finally picked up the spoon and drank the soup in the stew pot mouthful by mouthful without leaving a drop.
She drank quietly and didn't say a word. Zhou Ci picked up some food for her and she ate it all without wasting any food.
The whole meal ended in a depressing atmosphere for the two of them. Even Aunt Qin noticed something was wrong and wanted to find some light-hearted topics to help ease the situation, but it was of no avail.
Song Yu was the first to push the chair away: "I'm full, I'll go back to the room to take a shower first."
Zhou Ci wiped his mouth slowly before looking up at her: "Showering right after eating is not good for your health. Don't you want to exercise?"
"No, I'm very tired today and want to go to bed early." Song Yu turned and left.
Xia Zhi took it for granted. How could she think that Zhou Ci loved her to death?
He was clearly just trying to satisfy his desire for control and to avenge what happened in the past. It had nothing to do with love.
Song Yu went into the room and didn't come out the whole night.
-
There was a vase of jasmine flowers on the breakfast table, still covered with morning dew. They looked fresh and juicy, and the fragrance was refreshing.
Song Yu took a look and then looked away. He sat down at the dining table and scooped a spoonful of barley porridge into his mouth.
Aunt Qin's soft-boiled eggs were fried very well. She ate them with a fork while checking new emails on her tablet. She could see Zhou Ci glancing at her from the corner of her eye.
Song Yu pretended not to notice, finished his egg, and stood up and left: "I'm done eating, I'm leaving first."
Zhou Ci put down the bowl in his hand and stood up: "I'll take you there."
"Don't bother. I'm going to the factory today to check on the mass production of new materials. We're going the wrong way." Song Yu raised the car keys in his hand and said, "I'll drive there myself."
Before Zhou Ci could say anything else, Song Yu had already quickly walked out the door.
On the way to the factory, Song Yu asked her secretary to order a treadmill for her office.
She couldn't refuse Zhou Ci's request, but she could increase her exercise time and use her working hours to train herself.
This continued for the next few days.
Song Yu always found reasons not to go out with Zhou Ci and refused to let Zhou Ci pick her up after get off work.
She didn't say a word when she got home. She ate whatever Aunt Qin cooked. After eating, she went back to her room and didn't come out all night.
Zhou Ci called her several times and wanted to talk to her, but she pretended not to hear, then quickly went back to her room and stayed in the room.
Refuse to communicate and don't quarrel.
Song Yu didn't know whether this could be considered a cold war. Sometimes he thought about it and decided whether it was or not.
But then she thought, their marriage wasn't a normal one to begin with, and she'd already been cooperative and put herself in a low position. Zhou Ci even had to control what she ate at night, which was a bit too much. If he continued to control her, he might even escalate and control what she wore every day.
The two hadn't seen each other for six years, and their personalities and preferences had changed. Getting back together meant getting used to each other again. Song Yu could accommodate them on major matters, but if he had to tolerate such trivial matters, then life would be too difficult.
The agreement clearly stated that they just needed to maintain decency for each other and not interfere too much in other matters. However, Zhou Ci even had full authority to arrange her dinner, which clearly showed that he was not keeping his word.
The cohabitation life of the two people has temporarily come to a standstill. Seeing that Zhou Ci's face is getting darker day by day, Song Yu is also having a hard time under the pressure.
There was a problem with Song’s new material, so they wanted to send someone to the place of origin to check out the situation.
Originally, someone else could be arranged to go, but Song Yu wanted to go out and get some fresh air, spend a few days apart and think carefully about her relationship with Zhou Ci, so she decided to go on this mission herself.
She didn't even tell Zhou Ci in person. When she went home to pack her luggage, she sent Zhou Ci a message, dragged her suitcase to the airport, and caught the nearest flight.
When she returned to the hotel from the scene and swiped her card to enter, she felt a strange smell in the room and realized that someone had entered the room.
The reason she didn't turn around and run was because she smelled a custom-made fragrance in the room that only Zhou Ci had.
Song Yu lingered at the door for a while before closing it and walking into the room: "Why are you here?"
Zhou Ci leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, his tie hanging crookedly around his neck, his white shirt unbuttoned to the third button, sparks flickering between his fingers with every breath. The cold light reflected by his watch matched the obscurity in his eyes, and he exuded an air of decadence.
Song Yu never knew that Zhou Ci smoked. She had the impression that he had never smoked in front of her. When did he learn to smoke?
While she was still in shock, Zhou Ci had already walked up to her: "How long do you plan to be gone this time?"
He crushed the cigarette butt, sparks flying in the ashtray. "Another six years? Or are you planning on going all out this time, sixty years?"
The wheels of the suitcase made a dull sound on the carpet, the sound made by Zhou Ci angrily pushing it open.
Song Yu was startled by the sudden figure and took a step back. He hurriedly explained, "I'm on a business trip. There's a problem with the new material, so I want to go to the place of origin to take a look."
Zhou Ci scoffed coldly, "Such a trivial matter is worthy of you coming here in person? If you want to make it up, at least make it up properly."
Zhou Ci's suit jacket was draped over the armrest of the leather sofa. The ice ball at the bottom of the whiskey bottle was melting. The air conditioning in the room was at a suitable temperature. It was obvious that he had been waiting for more than an hour.
He had even chased her all the way from City B to here, and judging by the flight times, they were only a short distance apart...
Song Yu saw all these details and felt a little guilty, but how could she tell the truth? She could only bite the bullet and say stubbornly, "I really am here on a business trip. You know that the Song Corporation has just overcome the crisis. I don't trust others to do many things. I can only do it myself to ensure that there are no mistakes. The Song Corporation can't afford another crisis in a short period of time..."
"You think I'd believe you?" Zhou Ci interrupted her, suddenly pressing closer. The scent of cedar mixed with the strong aroma of whiskey trapped her between him and the wall. "You knew I was the largest investor in the new materials, so why didn't you come directly to me when you had a problem? You had to come all the way to the place of origin, weren't you trying to avoid me?"
"I..." Song Yu really couldn't continue this time.
She completely forgot about the relationship between this matter and Zhou Ci. She wanted to calm down so much that she ignored the secretary's hesitation to speak as something unimportant.
"Song Yu." He rarely called her by her full name.
Song Yu felt a little panicked, feeling that Zhou Ci's next words would not be very pleasant.
Sure enough, Zhou Ci then said, "You're a coward. You never seek solutions to problems, and you only think about escaping. You were like this six years ago, and you haven't improved at all after six years."
"I didn't..." Her defense seemed so powerless under Zhou Ci's oppressive gaze.
Zhou Ci unlocked his phone and threw it into her arms. The screen showed the minutes of the Song Corporation's internal meeting. "When you were looking for this excuse, you should have thought that I would be here too. I also have high standards for quality control."
The phone screen reflected on Song Yu's face, emitting a faint blue light. The meeting minutes on it were like a loud slap in her face, exposing her excuses and leaving her speechless, unable to find any more excuses.
Zhou Ci is now the young CEO of Chu Zhuo and the person in charge of the century-old Zhou Group. Trying to fool him will only bring shame upon oneself.
Song Yu lowered his head in shame and stopped struggling: "I'm sorry, I just have some things I need to think clearly."
"Song Yu, do you mean that I pushed you too hard, forcing you to escape here and think about things?"
A long time ago, he called her sister, and at that time he was obedient, well-behaved and full of sincerity; later he called her Miss Song, which showed a businesslike distance; recently he liked to call her Mrs. Zhou to remind her of her identity; occasionally he called her sister again, which was a teasing with unknown purpose.
Song Yu could feel that Zhou Ci didn't like calling her by her name, no matter whether it was her full name or her nickname. It seemed as if calling her by her full name would make the distance between them longer; and there were too many people calling her by her nickname, and if he did, she would be lost in the crowd.
He seemed to have suddenly entered a rebellious phase in front of her, and the more he was told not to do something, the more he insisted on doing it.
"Okay! Song Yu..." Zhou Ci's face turned pale and he suddenly let her go.
It was at this moment that Song Yu noticed that something was wrong with Zhou Ci's face. His breath was scorching hot. He reached out and touched his forehead, which was frighteningly hot. "Are you having a fever?"
Zhou Ci grabbed her wrist and pinned it above her head, his breath brushing against the veins on her neck. He pressed his knee into her midsection. "Are you changing the subject again? Why can't you ever learn to face problems?"
"I didn't. I was just concerned about you. You have a fever. Have you taken your medicine?" Song Yu defended himself.
"No need!" Zhou Ci refused firmly.
"No! You need it!" Song Yu broke away from him, turned around and ordered room service.
While waiting for the hotel housekeeper to deliver the medicine, Song Yu boiled a pot of water, poured a glass for Zhou Ci, and poured out his unfinished whiskey. "You are still drinking when you are sick. You really don't take your body seriously."
"No one cares about it anyway, so if you don't take it seriously, then don't take it seriously."
"Who says no one feels sorry for me? I do."
The housekeeper quickly bought the medicine Song Yu had requested. Song Yu put a fever-reducing patch on Zhou Ci's forehead, took his temperature with an ear thermometer, gave him some fever-reducing medicine, and helped him lie down on the bed. "You're sick, so get some sleep first. I'll wake you up and take your medicine again after four hours."
Zhou Ci lay on her bed and asked her, "What about you?"
"Me?" Song Yu sat down on the sofa beside the bed. "Of course I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here and take care of you while you're sick."
Zhou Ci was like a wolf cub whose fur had been stroked. He no longer had the domineering look he had when confronting Song Yu, but instead looked a bit weak from his illness. "You don't want to sleep?"
"You go to sleep first. I'll make do on the couch later."
Zhou Ci patted the large bed beside him, which was more than enough for two people to sleep on. "If you don't mind, you can sleep on the bed with me. It's very big anyway."
Song Yu suddenly looked up at him and smiled: "Okay, but I haven't taken a shower yet."
Zhou Ci immediately said, "Then go wash."
Song Yu stood up: "Then I'll go wash first, you go to sleep."
When Song Yu came out of the shower, Zhou Ci had already fallen asleep due to the sleeping pills in the fever-reducing medicine.
She set the alarm for four hours later, took a new quilt, and quietly went to sleep on the other side of the bed.
Four hours later, the alarm clock woke Song Yu up on time, along with Zhou Ci.
Song Yu brought some water and medicine and asked Zhou Ci to take it again before lying down and continuing to sleep.
However, they had already slept for several hours, and it was difficult for both of them to fall asleep again.
There was no light on in the room. The city lights outside the balcony cast light patterns on the transparent gauze curtains. The central air conditioning system made a very light hum. The whole room was so quiet that only the sound of very light breathing could be heard.
When Song Yu couldn't help wanting to turn over again, he suddenly felt an unusual pulling sensation on the silk quilt.
"Sister." Zhou Ci's hoarse voice, tinged with nasal sounds, spoke in the darkness, "I'm cold."
Song Yu froze for a moment, not daring to move. He pretended to be calm and said, "Then I'll turn up the temperature a bit."
After a while, Zhou Ci tugged at her quilt again: "Sister, I'm still cold."
Song Yu sat up: "Shall I add an extra blanket for you?"
I couldn’t see Zhou Ci’s expression in the darkness, I only heard him say “hmm”.
Song Yu took out a quilt from the closet, pressed it on Zhou Ci, and then lay back on the bed.
After a while, Song Yu asked him, "Are you feeling better now? Are you still cold?"
Zhou Ci's heavily nasal voice sounded a little pitiful: "It's still cold."
Song Yu looked at the ceiling. Although she couldn't see anything clearly, just like she didn't know what she was thinking, many things flashed through her mind in an instant.
After a few seconds, she turned sideways to face him. The air conditioning breeze brushed against her lower back, causing a small shudder. "Then what should I do?"
"Sister, can I hold you while sleeping?" Zhou Ci finally stated his purpose.
"Okay." Song Yu pulled back the quilt to make it easier for him to move over. "Come here."
Zhou Ci crawled into Song Yu's quilt, carefully wrapped his arms around her neck, buried his head in her shoulder and took a deep breath, his knees naturally touching her calves.
The high fever still burned through the clothes, and Song Yu felt a little uncomfortable, but she endured it, patted his back gently, and asked, "Are you still cold?"
Zhou Ci sighed contentedly, "Sister, you're so warm."
Song Yu patted him comfortingly again: "I'm glad you're not cold, go to sleep!"
Zhou Ci, however, didn't want to sleep for a while: "Sister, do you remember what you taught me that night six years ago?"
Song Yu's body froze. This was truly a dark history she didn't want to look back on. It took her a while to calm down. She reluctantly asked, "What?"
"You said that people with hypothermia need to find a heat source..." His voice trembled, like a baby bird shaking off its feathers after being drenched in rain. "Does my current situation mean I've found a heat source?"
Song Yu always felt that Zhou Ci's words were more than just superficial, but she couldn't figure out what he was hiding for a moment, so she could only agree: "Count it, why not?"
The hot breath lingered beside his ears. Song Yu didn't move, and Zhou Ci didn't move either.
They didn't know how long they stayed in this position. Song Yu felt half of his body go numb before he finally reached out and wrapped his arms around Zhou Ci's lean waist. When his palms touched the protruding joints of his spine, he realized that although his shoulders had become broader and he was taller, he was much thinner than he was six years ago.
It would be a lie to say that I don't feel sorry for him. After all, he is my younger brother who grew up with me. I don't know what kind of life he has been through in the past six years. It must not have been easy.
Song Yu patted his back soothingly: "Go to sleep! It's already late, and you're still sick. You need to rest more."
Zhou Ci, like a baby seeking a sense of security, squeezed into her arms again, a little clingy: "Mrs. Zhou, good night!"
"Good night, Mr. Zhou."
"Why don't you call me kid anymore?"
"Because you are already an adult, if I call you a kid again, people will laugh at you."
"I don't care what others think. I like hearing you call me little friend."
"I also like to hear you call me sister. Can you call me sister again in the future? With all sincerity?"
Zhou Ci was silent for a long time. Song Yujiu waited for his answer but couldn't get a word in. He leaned over to take a look and found that he had fallen asleep.
Song Yu smiled. Only then did she have time to review what happened tonight. As she thought about it, she didn't even know when she fell asleep.
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