Though the phone’s sound was somewhat distorted, Zhou Cheng had naturally developed the ability to visualize. Just hearing Xia Xiaolan speak, he could imagine her expressions with his eyes closed. Despite her delicate appearance and sweet voice, she liked to speak seriously. She thought she was being stern and proper, not realizing that this reserved manner only made her more alluring.

After Xia Xiaolan had spoken for a while and noticed Zhou Cheng’s silence, she softly wondered:

“Did we lose connection?”

“No, no, I just haven’t heard your voice in so long, I wanted to hear you speak more.”

Zhou Cheng’s voice wasn’t the type of deep “bass cannon” praised in later years – Xia Xiaolan found those quite affected, as few were natural and most were deliberately practiced to attract women. Zhou Cheng’s voice had a roguish quality with youthful energy. When discussing serious matters, it inspired confidence, while in casual conversation it was completely different. Lately, Zhou Cheng has mastered the skill of ‘sweet-talking,’ unconsciously adding little inflections when speaking to Xia Xiaolan.

His rising tone conveyed his joy across any distance.

Would he be this happy talking to anyone else?

“Happy birthday, Zhou Cheng.”

“I’m very happy, Xiaolan. This is my happiest birthday ever.”

Zhou Cheng wasn’t just saying empty words.

The Zhou family didn’t particularly celebrate birthdays, and as the younger generation, Zhou Cheng cared even less about such things. In childhood, even eating candy was controlled by his father – only Guan Hui’e would spoil him, buying new clothes and making dumplings for his birthday. In his rebellious teens, he started caring about birthdays, using saved money to treat friends to meals, and they would bring various “birthday gifts.” His most memorable birthday was spent at the front lines, where he completely forgot about it, going without food or water for two days and nights. Only when the situation eased, already in late April, did Zhou Cheng realize he had turned 18 a few days prior.

But undoubtedly, his happiest birthday was this year, today.

As disappointed as he had been during the day, he was now equally delighted in the evening. His joy wasn’t from receiving gifts, but from what the gift represented – Xia Xiaolan’s thoughtfulness. Previously, Zhou Cheng couldn’t understand why girls were such troublesome creatures, yet Shao Guangrong still enthusiastically changed girlfriends.

After meeting Xia Xiaolan, he somewhat understood Shao Guangrong.

Love was truly something indispensable, but Shao Guangrong wasn’t as lucky to immediately find the right girl. So Shao Guangrong kept trying different relationships, while Zhou Cheng, having found his match, would never let go.

Thus, this birthday made Zhou Cheng happy because his heart was connected with Xia Xiaolan’s.

Love was different from friendship and family love – he had experienced the latter two early on, but love was an emotion he first felt in his 20 years of life. How could it not be intense and exciting?

They both held their receivers, silent for a while.

Listening to each other’s breathing, though thousands of miles apart, they felt close.

Xia Xiaolan’s tone suddenly turned mischievous, Zhou Cheng could hear her smile:

“Zhou Cheng, what should we do? Someone wants to steal your girlfriend!”

Zhou Cheng’s hand tightened on the receiver. Heh, his wife was teasing him.

“How many is that now? Xiaolan, I’m not worried. Let them try.”

“This one’s different… Why are you so confident? Aren’t you afraid I’ll run off with someone else?”

“I’m not afraid. No one likes you as much as I do, and more importantly, you like me too. You’ll like me even more in the future, so you won’t be able to leave me.”

Keeping a woman physically bound was one way to keep her.

Zhou Cheng had tried that, but Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t agree to marry early. So Zhou Cheng changed his strategy – bind Xia Xiaolan’s heart, and where could she go? Thinking it through, Zhou Cheng’s odds were good. Those with better family backgrounds might not be as capable as him! Those smugglers might be richer, but they weren’t as considerate and sensible. Those more handsome… wait, how could anyone be more handsome than him? Xiaolan wasn’t after power or money; only pretty boys could potentially lure her away.

Zhou Cheng firmly believed those pretty boys couldn’t match his masculinity.

“How is this one different?”

Hearing his unconcerned tone, Xia Xiaolan huffed:

“This one’s already set a wedding date – in May. Even if I refuse till death, they’ll still marry my spirit tablet. Zhou Cheng, I’m a bit scared.”

Zhou Cheng’s eyebrows twitched.

Forced marriage?!

They’d have to step over his dead body to force his wife into marriage.

“I’d like to see how they plan to hold this wedding.”

Zhou Cheng didn’t shout or threaten, but his voice carried an indescribable coldness.

“How did it go? Did you tell Zhou Cheng?”

When Xia Xiaolan came out of the public phone booth, Li Fengmei and Liu Fen approached.

The Liang family had just left, and Auntie Cheng at the phone booth called Xia Xiaolan for a call. There had been quite a few calls for Xiaolan today. She guessed it was Zhou Cheng – it was his birthday, and she had been delayed by unexpected circumstances and hadn’t called him. Given Zhou Cheng’s personality, he would call.

Sure enough, it was Zhou Cheng.

Xia Xiaolan had thought that if Zhou Cheng didn’t call today, she’d wait until tomorrow to tell him about Fan Zhenchuan – one day wouldn’t make a difference.

But since Zhou Cheng called, she took the opportunity to tell him.

Fan Zhenchuan wasn’t an ordinary person – he was the local tyrant of Hedong County. As a small business owner, what could Xia Xiaolan do against Fan Zhenchuan? Despite her cleverness, with the experience of being tricked by Ding Aizhen, she didn’t want to fail again… Fan Zhenchuan was untouchable in Hedong County. If he took her there, she couldn’t fight back.

Even if she managed to stab Fan Zhenchuan to death, Xia Xiaolan would still pay for her life. She had a good life ahead of her – why should she die for such scum?

Rather than letting things get out of hand before Zhou Cheng knew, it was better to tell him from the start.

After hearing from Zhuo Weiping about Zhang Erlai’s arrest, Xia Xiaolan’s attitude toward Zhou Cheng changed. It wasn’t that she was moved to marry him immediately, but she was learning to “trouble” Zhou Cheng.

They were dating after all – how could boyfriend and girlfriend keep everything strictly separate?

It would be heartless of her to insist she’d never benefited from Zhou Cheng. Kang Wei and Shao Guangrong helped her because of Zhou Cheng’s face, and in Yang City, when threatened by gangster Ke Yixiong, it was Zhou Cheng who asked Pan San to resolve it.

Zhou Cheng didn’t need to handle other matters, but as Xia Xiaolan’s boyfriend, if he didn’t step in when someone was trying to force her into marriage, they might as well break up. Zhou Cheng had the ability to handle it too – not just relying on his family background, which provided him a platform, but he seemed quite good at utilizing it.

Xia Xiaolan believed in Zhou Cheng’s capabilities, though Li Fengmei and Liu Fen knew too little about him.

They both thought Zhou Cheng was just an ordinary person.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know exactly what Zhou Cheng would do, but she was sure he had many options!

“Don’t worry, let Zhou Cheng handle this. He can solve it.”

Liu Fen herself was extremely worried.

As a mother, she overthought everything. Not telling Zhou Cheng might cause misunderstanding.

Telling him might make him think it is troublesome and look down on Xia Xiaolan.