HomeFalling In LoveZhui Luo - Chapter 75

Zhui Luo – Chapter 75

Before going on vacation, Zhou Wan had enthusiastically prepared a detailed travel itinerary, planning everything down to wake-up times, subway routes, and travel durations. However, they ended up spending almost every morning in the hotel bed.

Halfway through the trip, Zhou Wan was growing frustrated with Lu Xixiao’s relentless demands.

Even with her usual good temperament, she could hardly bear Lu Xixiao’s persistence anymore.

At noon, Lu Xixiao emerged from washing his hair. Zhou Wan was lying on the bed, drowsily propping her eyelids open to look at her phone. Since starting work at the newspaper, checking the news had become her first task every morning.

Lu Xixiao walked over and patted her through the blanket. “Help me dry my hair.”

Zhou Wan turned her head, stared at him for a moment, then put her phone aside, flopped back down, and slowly closed her eyes.

“…”

Lu Xixiao paused briefly, then couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, what kind of attitude is this?”

“I’m tired.”

“Zhou Wan, look at yourself now. Aren’t you acting like a scumbag?”

Fine, let her be a scumbag then.

Just thinking about last night made Zhou Wan angry. She didn’t want to deal with him, so she pulled the blanket over her head, completely refusing to listen to anything he had to say.

“…”

Lu Xixiao wasn’t so easily brushed off. He simply pulled her out from under the blanket.

After their shower last night, she had casually thrown on one of his t-shirts. The collar was somewhat loose, revealing faint red marks that trailed down from her collarbone.

His eyes darkened slightly as he leaned in to kiss her collarbone, running his tongue over it and unable to resist grazing it with his teeth.

“Lu Xixiao!”

“Hmm?” His voice was husky.

“Can’t you stop being annoying?”

Lu Xixiao chuckled softly, sliding his hand under the blanket to massage her thigh. “Still sore?”

Zhou Wan was too embarrassed to answer that question. She turned her head away from him, dodging, and complained, “Your hair is dripping water.”

Lu Xixiao pinched her face, gripping it firmly. “Zhou Wan.”

“What?”

“You’re getting bolder and bolder these days.”

“…”

Zhou Wan couldn’t help but remind him: “Your hair is dripping on me.”

“That’s why I asked you to dry it for me.”

He was utterly relentless and even had the nerve to act righteous about it.

Zhou Wan obviously couldn’t win against him in a battle of words, so she could only sigh and sit up. Though this sigh was particularly heavy, sounding especially tragic.

Lu Xixiao glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.

Just as he was about to say something, Zhou Wan noticed his gaze and decided to appease him: “What are we going to do later?”

“You decide.” Lu Xixiao drawled lazily, speaking slowly and deliberately. “How dare I make any suggestions?”

“…”

Zhou Wan could see that he dared to say anything.

After all this fussing around, it was already quite late when they went out. They found a seaside restaurant to eat seafood.

Lu Xixiao was the type who would take a mile if given an inch, a classic case of “emboldened by indulgence.” Give him a little spark and he’d shoot to the sky, becoming increasingly willful.

At this hour, the sun was hanging low, half-suspended over the ocean.

There were still many people playing on the beach.

The breeze was pleasant now, and they chose a spot on the beach with plastic tables and chairs, under dim light bulbs mounted on frames.

It somewhat resembled the environment of that old noodle shop from before.

Lu Xixiao had a plate of lobster in front of him, and he carefully removed the meat and placed it in Zhou Wan’s bowl.

As they were eating, a voice suddenly came from beside them.

“Lu Xixiao, what a coincidence.”

A tall woman walked over, wearing form-fitting clothes that showed off her excellent figure. “I just saw you and could hardly believe it was you.”

Lu Xixiao looked up, showing no recognition of the face before him.

He raised an eyebrow, returning what amounted to a questioning look.

The woman then looked at Zhou Wan, paused, and smiled in greeting: “Oh, it’s you.”

Zhou Wan returned a smile.

Lu Xixiao looked at her: “You know each other?”

Zhou Wan: “…”

The woman seemed to have expected this reaction from him and let out a cold laugh.

This laugh already said plenty – nowadays, hardly anyone else would dare take such an attitude with Lu Xixiao.

Seeing that he truly didn’t remember, Zhou Wan had to lean over and explain: “Xu Yixuan, your ex-girlfriend.”

Lu Xixiao:?

Xu Yixuan looked at his expression and gave another cold laugh: “Even if you tell him my name, he won’t remember. He’s had too many ex-girlfriends to keep count.”

Just then, another woman who had come with her walked over carrying a food tray: “Xuan’er, shall we sit here?”

“Sure.”

“Who’s that, your friend? Let’s all eat together.” Her friend was quite outgoing.

“Ex-boyfriend, not appropriate.”

“…”

The restaurant was crowded at this hour, and the only available seats were next to them.

Zhou Wan could hear their conversation. Her friend complimented how handsome her ex-boyfriend was, and Xu Yixuan proceeded to list all the ways Lu Xixiao had been terrible in the past.

Finally, her friend cast a sympathetic look at Zhou Wan.

Zhou Wan: “…”

She glanced at Lu Xixiao across from her. He was still focused on peeling shells for her, seemingly completely unaffected by this interruption.

“I’m full.” Zhou Wan fed the shrimp meat in her bowl to Lu Xixiao, and leaned close to his ear to ask quietly, “You don’t remember?”

Lu Xixiao paused, then smiled and said: “Am I only allowed to say I don’t remember now?”

“Huh?”

Lu Xixiao looked at her, wiping a bit of soup from the corner of her mouth: “I just didn’t want to make you jealous.”

“If I got jealous over this, with all your ex-girlfriends, I’d never stop being jealous.”

“…”

Lu Xixiao pinched her cheek, saying casually: “I do have some vague impression, not completely forgotten.”

“Well, your memory…” Zhou Wan looked at him, blinking slowly, and said deliberately, “is quite good then.”

“No, Zhou Wan.” Lu Xixiao chuckled, “You’re setting me up.”

“…”

After finishing dinner, Lu Xixiao got up to pay the bill. Just then, Xu Yixuan had also finished eating and walked over to Zhou Wan with a can of cola: “I never expected you two would still be together.”

Zhou Wan was startled, not expecting her to come over to talk.

“When he first dumped me, I was really upset. Later, when I heard from others at school that you two were together, to be honest, I felt schadenfreude.”

Xu Yixuan smiled and said, “You were so smart and had such good grades, yet you also fell for his handsome face. I thought it wouldn’t be long before you ended up like me.”

“But later, when I saw how he was with you, I suddenly realized that I was a fool for not being able to let go of him – he had never liked me at all.”

“…”

Zhou Wan wasn’t sure how to handle this situation, unsure if she should offer comfort. After a pause, she tried to agree: “Ah… he was quite terrible back then.”

Xu Yixuan laughed: “You don’t need to comfort me. It’s all in the past, and I stopped liking him long ago. After so many years, how could anyone still like the same person?”

So many years.

How could anyone still like the same person?

Zhou Wan sometimes felt she was very lucky.

At least the person she had liked for so many years had also liked her all this time.

This itself was something rare enough and romantic enough.

“Back then, when I saw you two together, sometimes even without speaking, I could feel you were people from the same world. When I was with him, I wanted to know what he was thinking every day, but he wouldn’t say, and I couldn’t figure it out. I never truly entered his heart for a single day.”

Xu Yixuan pulled at the corner of her mouth and patted Zhou Wan’s shoulder: “Actually, I don’t think you’re the lucky one for being liked by Lu Xixiao. He’s the truly lucky one. With that awful personality of his, never willing to say anything, if it weren’t for you, he’d never find someone to love in this lifetime.”

“…”

Her friend called out to her from a distance, and Xu Yixuan raised her hand: “Coming!”

She turned her head and casually bid farewell to Zhou Wan: “I’m off.”

“Xu Yixuan.” Zhou Wan suddenly called out to her.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Thank you for what you just said.” Zhou Wan said sincerely, “I hope you find someone to love too.”

She smiled: “I already have!” She tilted her head and added casually, “I’ll introduce you sometime. He’s a hundred times better than that jerk.”

Lu Xixiao returned after paying: “What were you chatting about?”

“Lu Xixiao.”

“What?”

“Back then, why were you willing to tell me about your past?”

Those broken memories buried deep in his heart, Lu Xixiao had never shared them with anyone.

Zhou Wan still remembered that day when a junior student was about to jump from the roof, and they rushed up to the rooftop to stop her. During the process of trying to talk her down, Zhou Wan suddenly realized why Lu Xixiao was afraid of heights, and that’s how she discovered his secret.

That same day, they had dinner together outside, and on their way back, they passed a convenience store where Lu Xixiao went to buy water.

After coming out, he sat on the swing outside the convenience store and said quietly: “Why aren’t you asking me?”

The dim streetlights overlapped, shadows and light intertwining, slowly shifting with the clouds floating across the sky, gradually merging, blurring the edges of their shadows until they were indistinguishable.

He held a cigarette between his fingers, a tiny red glow amid the swirling smoke.

Then calmly, he laid bare all of his past to Zhou Wan.

This wasn’t something Lu Xixiao would typically do.

Lu Xixiao paused, his thoughts returning to that time, and said quietly: “Because I wanted you to stay with me.”

Because with you here, I could see the beauty in this world again.

After the National Day holiday ended, they returned to B City.

On her first day back at work, Zhou Wan was called in by the chief editor, who told her about a hosting competition. Various media platforms would be sending participants, and the newspaper wanted to nominate Zhou Wan.

“But I’m not professionally trained. I’m worried I’ll perform poorly in many aspects,” Zhou Wan said.

“It’s fine, just give it a try. Think of it as a learning experience. It doesn’t matter if you win or not.”

The chief editor had always valued her highly. Zhou Wan couldn’t bring herself to refuse further, but after a pause, she asked: “Does this competition have prize money?”

“Yes, the top ten all get prize money. First place gets 100,000 yuan, and even the last five places get 10,000 yuan.”

Zhou Wan thought for a moment: “All right.”

The chief editor asked with a smile: “Are you hinting that I should give you a raise?”

“Huh?” Zhou Wan quickly waved her hands, saying, “No, no, I just thought it would be nice if I got lucky and won some prize money.”

“I’m just joking,” the chief editor said. “But if you need money urgently, you can tell me. I can lend you a hundred thousand or so.”

After saying this, the chief editor remembered Zhou Wan’s boyfriend’s impressive status and immediately felt like she’d said something pointless.

Zhou Wan smiled and thanked the chief editor: “It’s not urgent. I just thought if I had more money on hand, I could find time to buy a ring and propose to my boyfriend.”

The chief editor was stunned: “You’re going to propose to your boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t proposing usually the man’s job?”

Zhou Wan smiled: “Because he’s already done so much for me. In countless choices, he’s always firmly chosen me, so I want to actively choose him once too, especially for this.”

The “Golden Microphone” competition Zhou Wan was participating in was highly prestigious and widely recognized. Not only working journalists participated, but also many top-ranking broadcasting students from famous universities. This competition was considered an important stepping stone for advancement.

In the following period, she watched many hosting competitions from various platforms with particular attention, taking detailed notes of key points. She had always been smart and good at drawing inferences and making connections.

The preliminary selection was in mid-to-late October, finally narrowing down to thirty people. Zhou Wan made it through, successfully entering the top thirty.

The chief editor had originally just wanted to send someone to gain experience, never expecting her to advance to the top thirty.

In November, the competition to advance from thirty to fifteen began.

At this stage, there were live broadcast segments that would be shown on many streaming platforms.

The competitors became increasingly formidable as the competition progressed.

In the three rounds of tests, Zhou Wan performed normally, ranking sixth overall and advancing successfully.

Because today’s test background was hosting a large-scale evening gala, Zhou Wan wore a formal gown – a black V-neck on top with a huge princess skirt below, cinched at the waist, accentuating her slender figure.

She wore exquisite makeup, with deep-set eyes, red lips, a refined nose, elegant black onyx earrings, and a tiara.

When she reached the rest area, Lu Xixiao was waiting for her.

Zhou Wan had never worn such elaborate makeup before. When Lu Xixiao saw her, he was momentarily stunned, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“You’re here,” Zhou Wan smiled. “Have you been waiting long?”

Lu Xixiao stared at her, lost in thought for a moment, before finally saying: “Just got here.”

Such a formal gown wasn’t easy to change out of, so Zhou Wan planned to change it when she got home. She gathered her things from the rest area and went to hold Lu Xixiao’s hand: “Let’s go.”

“Mm.” Lu Xixiao picked up her bag. “How did the competition go?”

“I passed, sixth place.”

Lu Xixiao chuckled: “Our Wan Wan is so capable.”

They drove home and took the elevator up.

As soon as they entered the apartment before the lights were even on, Lu Xixiao pulled her shoulders down and covered her, looming darkly above her, immediately capturing her lips in a kiss.

His voice was slightly hoarse as he grazed Zhou Wan’s lips: “Why did you dress like this?”

Zhou Wan was breathless from his kisses, responding softly: “It was required for the competition.”

“Wan Wan.” His kisses trailed downward, tugging at the neckline, his eyes dark with desire as he whispered like in a dream, “I love you so much…”

“Wait, wait a moment.” Zhou Wan’s face was red as she tried to stop his movements: “Let me change clothes first.”

She had worn bright red lipstick today, which was now all smeared, half smudged, and half transferred to Lu Xixiao’s lips, looking particularly alluring against his pale skin.

He was helplessly drawn in, letting himself fall deeper as he pulled at her skirt.

Zhou Wan whimpered, restraining her delicate voice: “This dress was expensive.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

Having been worn out several times, Zhou Wan slept particularly deeply.

The next day was Saturday. Her body clock woke her at seven, but she went back to sleep for a while, not waking again until ten in the morning.

She had no idea what had happened that night.

Some clips from yesterday’s competition live stream had been posted online, with many people discussing them. Zhou Wan’s segment had become particularly popular.

[The sister is so beautiful! This look is a princess!!!]

[I’ve seen her interview videos before, she’s really impressive. You can tell she prepares thoroughly before interviews. I heard she’s a top student from Huaqing University.]

[Once again, I’m amazed by how grace comes from knowledge. Unlike me who just blurts out ‘holy shit.’]

Zhou Wan stared at these comments, stunned.

Deep down, Zhou Wan was still somewhat insecure. The personality shaped by her upbringing wasn’t something that could be easily changed.

She had never received such widespread praise before, to the point where it made her feel… caught off guard and at a loss.

Lu Xixiao hugged her from behind, his arm resting across her waist over the blanket.

“What are you looking at?” His voice was husky.

“Comments,” Zhou Wan said absently. “Yesterday’s competition was posted online.”

Lu Xixiao glanced at them, pulled at the corner of his mouth, then hugged her again, muttering hoarsely: “So annoying.”

“What’s annoying?”

“You’re mine.” Lu Xixiao’s voice carried a disgruntled stubbornness. “I wish I was the only one who could like you.”

Zhou Wan was stunned.

Lu Xixiao sighed, burying his face in her neck: “Never mind, at least you can only like me.”

She had never thought she had anything particularly likable about her.

Yet there was someone who knew all her dark sides but still treasured her like something precious.

After a while, Lu Xixiao continued on his own: “After all, you’ve liked me since tenth grade.”

His tone was a bit smug. Zhou Wan was amused, giving him a gentle push: “You sound quite proud of that.”

“I am proud.” His hand rested on Zhou Wan’s stomach as he said softly, “When there’s a little Zhou in here, I’ll have to brag about it to them too.”

Zhou Wan froze, then suddenly realized what he meant. Her face burning, she pushed Lu Xixiao away and ran into the bathroom to wash up.

Lu Xixiao heard the “bang” of the door closing and the sound of running water, and couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

*

When Zhou Wan came out after washing her face, Lu Xixiao had also gotten up.

She picked up her phone from the bedside. She had set it to silent yesterday and missed the ringtone. It showed a missed call from five minutes ago.

No contact name, just a string of numbers.

Zhou Wan vaguely felt the number looked familiar, but couldn’t remember who it was.

At the same time, another call came in from the same number.

Zhou Wan answered: “Hello?”

“Wan Wan.” A woman’s voice came from the other end. “It’s me.”

That voice, though no longer familiar, was deeply etched in the depths of her memory. The moment she spoke, many unpleasant memories flooded Zhou Wan’s mind.

Her fingertips involuntarily curled, her spine turning cold.

The voice was like a nightmare, instantly breaking her out in a cold sweat.

Zhou Wan’s voice was hard: “Do you need something from me?”

“Mom has been looking for you all these years,” Guo Xiangling said.

“You’re not my mom.”

Zhou Wan said calmly, “From the beginning, you were the one who told me not to call you mom anymore, have you forgotten?”

Before she could speak again, Zhou Wan continued: “We have no relationship anymore. Stop bothering me.”

It had been a long time since Zhou Wan had spoken such harsh words to anyone.

So harsh that her heart felt like it was weighted down with a stone, heavy, constantly sinking.

After saying this, Zhou Wan immediately hung up and blocked the number.

After doing all this, she collapsed onto the bed as if drained of all strength.

When Lu Xixiao walked in, he saw her looking lost and dazed. She had been fine just moments ago. He frowned and walked over: “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Wan slowly raised her eyes to look at him.

She just looked at him for a long while, until the Lu Xixiao before her eyes became clear and real, standing in front of her. Only then was Zhou Wan pulled back to reality, her heart steadying somewhat.

She shook her head instinctively: “Nothing.”

Her state was not “nothing.”

Lu Xixiao understood Zhou Wan. She had been like this since their school days, habitually keeping everything to herself, never actively relying on others.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have reached that point back then.

This habit wasn’t easy to change.

Although Lu Xixiao didn’t like her being this way, he was willing to give her enough time to slowly change, get used to it, and slowly learn to rely on him.

“Mm.”

Lu Xixiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he gently stroked Zhou Wan’s head.

Before he could say “It’s fine,” Zhou Wan suddenly raised her hand and firmly grabbed his wrist.

Lu Xixiao was startled.

Zhou Wan’s eyes slowly welled with tears.

She found it difficult to speak, experiencing a complex mixture of self-blame, guilt, and shame, but she forced herself to open her mouth, her voice choked as she struggled to get out each word.

“Just now, Guo Xiangling called me.” Her brows furrowed slightly, clearly frightened, her voice trembling as her eyes grew redder, “Why does she suddenly want to find me again, Lu Xixiao… I’m scared…”

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