Who knew that just a moment ago, the seemingly dazed and soft-spoken girl shook her head with conviction, saying, "I can't do that, I already have a boyfriend, I can't… can't stay at someone else's house."
Zhou Jingwei's eyes held a trace of regret.
She already had a boyfriend?
As he thought this, the affection that had just begun to rise in his heart faded.
Indeed, he had harbored some inappropriate thoughts, but he certainly couldn't let a little infatuation cause him to fall into a situation where he might be criticized.
The predominant trait in Zhou Jingwei's personality was calmness. The impulse he felt just now had left no trace.
His hand, resting on the steering wheel, tightened, and his tone showed no sign of abnormality, low and gentle: "There's a hotel nearby, I'll take you there."
Cheng Weiyue had already fallen asleep, her small face pressed against the car window, deeply in slumber.
She was very beautiful, a compelling beauty mixed with a timid character, the kind one couldn't easily forget.
For a moment, Zhou Jingwei wanted to ask her name.
But then he remembered she was in Yuxian's private room and thought it wasn't necessary to ask.
The social circles of Jingcheng were so small, they were bound to meet again sooner or later.
In the most expensive luxury five-star hotel in Jingcheng, Zhou Jingwei, carrying the already sound asleep Cheng Weiyue, walked in, and the woman at the front desk dressed in uniform quickly came forward, saying: "Mr. Zhou."
Zhou Jingwei nodded, his smile faint, tranquility in the depths of his eyes.
He had a presidential suite of his own on the top floor of this hotel.
The room was decorated in a Chinese style, with a quaint dark red wooden floor, and the air smelled of burning agarwood.
Burning agarwood, dispelling the oppressive heat.
In this weather, where the heat mixed with the rain, it seemed particularly appropriate to light such tranquil incense.
He laid Cheng Weiyue on the master bedroom's bed, her skin very fair, and against the dark bed, she resembled the purest moonlight falling into an abyss, the contrast stark.
Zhou Jingwei's eyes showed a deep shadow, his hand hovering above Cheng Weiyue's face, close enough to touch, yet he held back.
His gaze was serene, but upon closer inspection, it was tinged with a trace of barely discernible darkness.
For a long while, even his breathing seemed to carry a hint of scorching tension.
Zhou Jingwei slowly withdrew his hand and walked towards the door.
His steps were steady, and from beginning to end, he never looked back...
In the private room of Yuxian, Zhao Hanchen was staring at the heavy rain outside the window, his features dark as he drank.
All those present had lost the mood to joke and drink, sitting as quiet as mice, obedient like schoolchildren at a parent-teacher meeting.
Li Zhao figured that the night hadn't really gone as planned; everyone had come out to have a good time, and to end up like this...
He cleared his throat with an awkward expression, his voice tentative: "Hanchen, it's normal for a young girl not to understand, she's still young, you can teach her properly in the future."
Zhao Hanchen slammed his glass onto the table with a "bang," his laugh cold and scornful: "Teach her? Dare I teach her? She's really turned the world upside down! She embarrassed me like that!"
Li Zhao couldn't respond to that, silently refilling Zhao Hanchen's glass, his voice exceedingly careful: "Hanchen, cool down..."
But that flame within Zhao Hanchen wasn't going to die down anytime soon. He mocked with a twisted lip: "She's got spirit, running off in such heavy rain!"
Li Zhao finally grasped the underlying message, "Hanchen, I'll go downstairs and look for her, with this heavy rain, Yueyue definitely won't be able to get a cab."
Zhao Hanchen didn't reply, taking another drink of liquor. Li Zhao knew he had guessed right.
Without another word, he walked outside. When he reached the door, he grabbed a friend, "An Zi, come with me to look for her."
Gu Fan'an rolled his eyes, buttoning up his shirt imprinted with lipstick marks, and walked out unhurriedly.
And Zhao Hanchen was just staring at the splash-ink-like heavy rain on the floor-to-ceiling window, his brows knitting tighter and tighter.
At the entrance of the hotel lobby, Zhou Jingwei's arrival caught the attention of the hotel manager.
The latter was waiting by the elevator door and, upon seeing him emerge from the private lift, hurriedly took a step forward and asked with great courtesy, "Mr. Zhou, won't you be staying the night?"
Zhou Jingwei paused slightly in his step, thinking of the girl's blushed face, and surmised that she must be drunk.
"Prepare hangover tea for the guest in my room tomorrow morning, and make the breakfast lighter," he said.
The manager was taken aback, then quickly responded, "Rest assured, Mr. Zhou, we will serve with utmost dedication."
Zhou Jingwei nodded slightly. He looked at the downpour outside, his eyes deep and dark behind his gold-rimmed glasses, tinged with a hint of gloom.
He was really curious who the little girl's boyfriend was, able to let her take a cab alone from a place like Yuxian late at night.
The engine of the Cullinan revved up, disappearing into the night...
Li Zhao and Gu Fan'an returned to the private room soaking wet and disheveled.
Zhao Hanchen's gaze was tightly fixed on the two men, his lips pressed into a straight line, and he resentfully asked, "Where is she?"
"Bro Hanchen," sighed Li Zhao, his words filled with earnestness, "we've all but flipped Yuxian upside down, we really didn't see Yueyue."
Zhao Hanchen didn't speak for a long while.
No one knew what he was thinking, his devilishly charming face downturned, long white fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.
The crystal lights in the room glittered, with light fragmented like frost and snow falling upon him.
Li Zhao wiped his hair while stealthily observing Zhao Hanchen's expression.
He even doubted whether he hadn't explained clearly, given that the young master Zhao showed no reaction.
But then, suddenly, Zhao Hanchen stood up, grabbed the black overcoat beside him, and strode out without looking back.
His movement was so abrupt, Li Zhao's towel dropped to the floor. Beside him, Gu Fan'an scoffed at Li Zhao's feeble reaction, picked up a glass of white liquor, drank it down, and felt the heat starting from his chest.
Zhao Hanchen thought that Cheng Weiyue might have come just to vex him.
Out of all the girlfriends he'd had, Cheng Weiyue was the most disobedient, the most clueless to what was good for her.
He had been so good to her, how could she still be so ungrateful?
If it weren't for her looks...
Zhao Hanchen's jawline was tense, his gaze darkening uncharacteristically.
Outside Yuxian, the rain had intensified to a point where it blurred vision.
Zhao Hanchen circled the whole area around Yuxian's marketplace again to no avail.
His entire outfit was drenched, the coolness of early autumn seeping steadily into his skin and bones, as torturous as a slow execution.
He wore a steely expression and called Cheng Weiyue.
The phone was switched off.
All of Zhao Hanchen's patience had run out.
Anxious and unsettled, he walked back to Yuxian's lobby, but his peripheral vision caught sight of a giant screen advertisement in the city center, featuring a game company under Zhou Group.
The spokesperson was the popular young actress Qiao Jingxue.
In the advertisement, Qiao Jingxue wore a flowing red ancient costume, her strikingly beautiful face astonishingly impactful, especially her almond eyes, which brimmed with allure as they fluttered.
Zhao Hanchen watched intently for a long time, then walked toward the elevator with an expressionless face....