Chapter 48 [VIP]
Chapter Summary: "It's still early, do you want to sleep a little longer?"
The colleague who was originally watching over Ni Zhenzhen disappeared after Xu Tianzhou arrived, leaving only the two of them in the private room, like two lonely vines, guarding and gazing at each other in the long night when no one cared.
The light above my head flashed, like a bolt of lightning in the dark night, stirring my soul.
Hearing Ni Zhenzhen say that she hadn't sold the bracelet, Xu Tianzhou felt both happy and sad.
To my delight, Ni Zhenzhen's coldness was indeed an act; she still cared about him as much as before.
What's sad is that even if she cares about him, what can she do? When she wakes up, she'll just act like nothing happened.
The opulent private room was filled with soft, warm colors, yet Xu Tianzhou trembled uncontrollably as if he were in an ice cave.
He could only keep comforting himself, thankfully Ni Zhenzhen was willing to give him all her trust when she was most helpless, even if they were still strangers after the sun rose, at least they could still be together now.
The dove in Xu Tianzhou's heart had already flown away before he could. He opened his arms and embraced Ni Zhenzhen, who was crying uncontrollably. Almost simultaneously, a long-lost warmth surged through the fabric, and the occasional coolness soaked by tears boiled wildly in his already fervent emotions.
Ni Zhenzhen seemed to have lost the ability to perceive the world. Even while being held in Xu Tianzhou's arms, she still cried uncontrollably. All the pressure and grievances she had endured over the past few days poured out at this moment. The continuous tears were like a raging inferno, burning away Xu Tianzhou's rationality, emotions, resilience, and self-control.
Xu Tianzhou felt a sharp pain in his heart and was completely lost. His bloodshot eyes were sore and swollen, and his throat felt like it was blocked by something. He couldn't say a word of comfort, so he could only hold her tightly, trying to offer her some solace.
Gradually, the person in my arms quieted down a little, but didn't return to normal. Instead, they kept repeating apologies, "I'm sorry..."
"It's alright." Xu Tianzhou finally found his voice, low and hoarse as if he had just been crying. He cupped her face in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumb, and whispered, "Let's go home."
Upon hearing the words "go home," Ni Zhenzhen abruptly stopped crying. She stared at him blankly for a moment, then nodded vigorously. The tears that hadn't yet fallen streamed down her face, landing on Xu Tianzhou's hand, burning hotter than lava.
"Let's go home," Xu Tianzhou said again, then picked her up in his arms.
The chaotic night came to a temporary end. After "going home," Ni Zhenzhen slept soundly, so soundly that she would sometimes put her arm around Xu Tianzhou and sometimes whimper and snuggle into his arms, not at all like someone who kept talking about "divorce."
Xu Tianzhou turned his head and stared at her with unfathomable eyes.
Even though he was someone who was etched into his soul, Xu Tianzhou could never seem to get enough of looking at him.
Even though the deep night obscured half of her face, he still pierced through the darkness with his gaze, carefully caressing her eyelashes, nose, and lips. Her cheeks were flushed with an alluring color from the alcohol, but he had no romantic or chaotic thoughts. His only wish was that time could slow down, just a little bit more.
Perhaps sensing that someone was watching her, Ni Zhenzhen opened her eyes, blinked twice, and then quickly closed them again. After muttering something, she changed her posture.
This time, she put her legs on him as well, as if she were using him as a pillow.
Xu Tianzhou smiled helplessly. He wanted to wake her up and let her see what he had done, but he didn't, so the curve of his lips looked desolate in the silent night.
Xu Tianzhou barely slept all night, so he knew immediately when Ni Zhenzhen woke up.
The room was pitch black, with not a single ray of light even below the curtains.
Ni Zhenzhen opened her eyes, her head throbbing as if it were about to explode. Before she could even figure out where she was, a familiar voice rang in her ears.
"Awake?" Xu Tianzhou took out his phone and glanced at the time, then thoughtfully reminded him, "It's still early, do you want to sleep a little longer?"
He spoke very casually, his tone nonchalant, but only the gods could perceive the unease in his heart, and only the gods could hear the prayers in his heart.
"No, no need," Ni Zhenzhen stammered. She finally realized where she was and hurriedly tried to distance herself from him, not caring whether she would fall.
Fortunately, Xu Tianzhou reacted quickly and pulled her back.
"Just treat it as a dream."
Xu Tianzhou said with his eyes closed, a sentence devoid of emotion, yet unexpectedly captivating.
Ni Zhenzhen ultimately didn't fall for him; she pushed him away without hesitation.
"Can I..." She hurriedly got out of bed and discussed it with Xu Tianzhou.
Xu Tianzhou turned his head away, and after a long while, he said, "Go."
Ni Zhenzhen thanked him and went to the restroom with practiced ease. After all, they had lived together for many years, and he knew what she was going to do without her having to finish her sentence. But the more he knew, the more heartbreaking it was.
Ni Zhenzhen paused for a few seconds in the darkness. The gradually calming palpitations surged again after the lights came on. She immediately recognized that she was wearing Xu Tianzhou's T-shirt.
The person in the mirror blushed instantly. This couldn't possibly be what she was wearing, so…
Along with it came a distant memory: she had once worn Xu Tianzhou's clothes. It was on the day they registered their marriage; Xu Tianzhou had just come out of the shower and happened to catch her secretly wearing his white shirt.
The clothes were a few sizes too big, with only half the buttons fastened and the hem extending towards the knees, a perfect way to evoke the imagination.
She couldn't remember Xu Tianzhou's reaction, because her face was burning hot, and she really didn't know how to explain her behavior. Fortunately, Xu Tianzhou didn't ask anything, and she didn't have time to say anything either, quickly succumbing to his kiss, which was more passionate than ever before.
That shirt should still be in Xu Tianzhou's closet, perhaps right next to the one she's wearing.
Ni Zhenzhen turned on the shower, and the water flowed down, carrying away countless past events and bringing back even more recent memories.
At the airshow, Ni Zhenzhen had to use every means she could think of to obtain customer information.
She even borrowed a DSLR camera from someone and mingled behind the visiting leaders, pretending to take pictures of them. After the leaders left, she would chat with the staff at the booth in a pretentious manner. As a result, the leaders thought she was working for the exhibitors, and the exhibitors thought she was working for the leaders. In the end, she actually got quite a few contact information.
Ni Zhenzhen originally thought this would be enough to get by, but she didn't expect that this was just the first step. The dinner party that followed was Li Xiang's real purpose.
He asked Ni Zhenzhen to make some preparations.
Ni Zhenzhen didn't think much of it; it was just ordering food and picking up some wine. However, Li Xiang told her to wait a moment.
"What talents do you have?" Li Xiang asked.
Just as Ni Zhenzhen was about to ask if the piano counted, Li Xiang suddenly burst out laughing, "Look at my memory, don't you know how to dance? You were the one at the company's annual party, I vaguely remember you."
"I……"
"It's settled then." Before Ni Zhenzhen could offer her opinion, Li Xiang said excitedly, "Amy will play the pipa, and you'll dance." He also emphasized, "You'll wear those clothes too, is that alright?"
Li Xiang thought about it more and more and felt that this idea was brilliant.
However, Ni Zhenzhen seemed reluctant, at least she didn't agree immediately.
Knowing that Ni Zhenzhen had concerns, Li Xiang immediately comforted her, "Don't overthink it. It's just a performance. You performed at the annual meeting too, so why are you being so dramatic now? Besides, it's not just you; Amy is there too. Don't worry, if anyone does anything to you, I'll be the first to object."
Ni Zhenzhen remained silent, so Li Xiang had no choice but to use his trump card. He said with great distress, "I took so many risks to protect you, and this is how you repay me? If this really doesn't work, I'll have to find someone else."
This is exactly what Ni Zhenzhen fears most; she cannot live without this job.
"I understand." Ni Zhenzhen had no choice but to agree.
Despite being mentally prepared, the whole process was still more difficult than she had imagined.
Not long after the dinner began, Ni Zhenzhen went to the restroom to change clothes at Li Xiang's prompting. She wore the same performance outfit; the more excited she was the first time she wore it, the more heartbroken she felt now.
It was just a little interlude to liven things up, and nobody cared how well she danced. Ni Zhenzhen finished her chaotic dance, and the people graciously applauded her.
Someone asked, "Can't you do anything else?"
What do you want her to know?
The group joked with each other, some of the remarks being quite unpleasant and embarrassing. When the barrage of comments came, Ni Zhenzhen not only couldn't escape, but also had to force a smile and laugh it off. As the conversation escalated, she finally changed the subject, saying, "I can drink."
She didn't remember much about what happened after that, especially how she got here, but she could roughly guess.
Ni Zhenzhen closed her eyes, letting the waterfall wash over her. Unfortunately, the water could only wash away some white foam; the rest remained on her body and etched into her heart.
Ni Zhenzhen felt like crying, but she held it back.
After some time, someone knocked on the door.
Ni Zhenzhen was suddenly startled. After turning off the shower, she heard Xu Tianzhou's voice, "Are you alright?"
He was worried that something might happen to her, so he came to ask her about it.
"Hmm." Ni Zhenzhen had indeed dragged it out for too long. What was the point of doing this anyway? She'd have to face it sooner or later. She perked up and quickly said, "Almost done."
When Ni Zhenzhen came out of the restroom, she was still wearing Xu Tianzhou's T-shirt.
Besides the pleasant scent of shower gel, the room also smelled of rice porridge. The two aromas, along with the abundant moisture, drew her to look out onto the balcony.
Xu Tianzhou was standing on the small balcony, intently preparing breakfast. Ni Zhenzhen was watching him intently when the phone rang.
Ni Zhenzhen glanced at it; it was an unfamiliar number.
It's probably a debt collector. She gets nervous whenever she sees an unfamiliar number, but she can't ignore it—what if it's a client? She can't let yesterday's drinks go to waste; she's hoping to bring in more business for the company and get an A in her year-end performance review.
"Hello?"
Ni Zhenzhen answered the phone, and sure enough, it was a debt collector on the other end. The person scolded her for being untrustworthy, saying that she had just promised to pay back the money, but now there was no follow-up.
“Selling a house takes time,” Ni Zhenzhen explained. “It’s not impossible to sell it right away, but that would mean lowering the price. I don’t care how much I lose, but you all want to get more money, right?”
Those responsible for debt collection were just waiting to take a cut from the repayments, so naturally they wanted as much as possible. Ni Zhenzhen promised them that she would repay the money as soon as the house was sold, which temporarily appeased them.
After hanging up the phone, Ni Zhenzhen let out a long sigh of relief. When she turned around, she unexpectedly met Xu Tianzhou's unfathomable gaze. Startled, she placed her hand, which was clutching the phone, against her chest. He was standing not far from her, and she had no idea how much he had overheard.
Xu Tianzhou sighed almost imperceptibly and said, "Let's eat."
Ni Zhenzhen barely ate anything last night. She was starving, but had no appetite. She sat down at the simple dining table, gripping her spoon tightly, her face buried low, looking as awkward and reserved as a primary school student.
What to do? The more Xu Tianzhou pretended to be nonchalant, the more ashamed she felt.
Ni Zhenzhen didn't know what Xu Tianzhou would think of her. She wanted to explain to Xu Tianzhou, but she also felt that a little "misunderstanding" wasn't so bad.
Besides, it's not really a misunderstanding; she is just that filthy and despicable.
Thinking of this, Ni Zhenzhen raised her head, smiling and composed as she had been at the dinner party the night before, and said, "Thank you."
She said quite frankly, "It was my fault this time, but it won't happen again."
"after?"
Ni Zhenzhen realized that her words were ambiguous, so as a glimmer of light appeared in Xu Tianzhou's eyes, she immediately added, "Well, I won't bother you again in the future."
"..."
Xu Tianzhou gritted his teeth, then suddenly stood up, slammed the door, and left.
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