Chapter 4: My Partner
Despite saying that they were going to a bar to drink, Lu Chenzhou instead brought Cheng Xi to Phoenix Stage, a famous local nightclub. He was on his phone inviting people all throughout the drive, so by the time they arrived, the private room was already filled to the brim.
Upon seeing their arrival, those people all stood up and greeted Lu Chenzhou. Some called him Director Lu, some as Chief, and some, like Cai Yi, simply as Zhou. But without exception, everyone noticed Cheng Xi, who was standing behind Lu Chenzhou. Someone who seemed to be on very good terms with Lu Chenzhou even directly asked, “Who’s this young lass?”
“My partner.”
The room fell quiet, and Cheng Xi almost tripped over her own feet. She stumbled, only regaining her balance after grabbing Lu Chenzhou’s sleeves.
Her fingers even accidentally brushed over his hand, and the warmth of his skin caused her heart to skip a beat. As she lifted her head, she saw that everyone’s gaze was focused on her hand, which was still holding on to Lu Chenzhou’s sleeve. Her fingers were fair and delicate, but who knew whether the germophobic Mr. Lu would suddenly become infuriated and cut her hand off.
Somewhat discomfited by all the attention, Cheng Xi silently withdrew her hand, patted Lu Chenzhou’s sleeves down, and pretended that nothing had happened. “Mr. Lu’s just joking. My name’s Cheng Xi, and I’m a doctor.”
Lu Chenzhou didn’t refute her, merely looking at her once before taking his jacket off.
The room was a little warm. Meanwhile, Cheng Xi tried to convince herself that Lu Chenzhou’s behavior wasn’t because he resented her for wrinkling his sleeve.
But the truth was that he did, because he immediately threw the jacket at her. “Return it to me after you’ve washed it.”
Cheng Xi was left speechless once again.
Was this a form of selective germophobia? Where he can have lunch outside, but not bear someone else’s touch?
Lu Chenzhou turned and walked away as Cheng Xi was busy diagnosing Lu Chenzhou in her mind. The man who had just asked her who she was smiled at her. “Hi, Doctor, I’m Xu Po, one of Zhou’s friends.”
Cheng Xi nodded at him. “Nice to meet you.”
“Sit here.” The man called Xu Po led Cheng Xi over to a seat, directly next to Lu Chenzhou. Cheng Xi made sure to stay as far away from him as possible this time.
The atmosphere in the private room quickly grew rowdy again, the young men and women clumping together as they sang karaoke. Next to Cheng Xi, Xu Po asked Lu Chenzhou, “Zhou, what do you want to play tonight?”
Lu Chenzhou lounged on the sofa as he looked at the singing people with a supercilious look on his face. He pointed at Cheng Xi and said, “Whatever, as long as you take care of her.”
Xu Po smiled. “Are you trying to let your partner see what your world’s like?”
Lu Chenzhou reiterated, “Anything’s fine.”
Xu Po, still smiling, turned to look at Cheng Xi. “What do you want to play, Doctor?”
Cheng Xi actually didn’t want to play anything. She didn’t enjoy partying, and almost never thought of drinking, going to bars, or singing karaoke. But since she was already here, when Xu Po asked her, she also replied, “Anything’s fine.”
Her answer was really quite careless, and was something she would regret countless times in the future. But she had no choice: that was the unfortunate answer she had given.
And so Xu Po called a bunch of people over to play a simple game of guessing dice with her. To Cheng Xi, this wasn’t anything challenging, but the key point was that she hadn’t played before. This meant that before she could fully grasp the trick behind the game, she had lost, and was subsequently forced to drink some alcohol.
The alcohol consisted of a vibrant liquid in a beautiful glass cup, on top of which faint flames were dancing. Before this, Cheng Xi had never drunk any liquor but beer, being both a studious and obedient girl.
She didn’t know how strong this alcoholic drink was, and she didn’t think much of it upon seeing its beautiful appearance, and so she downed it in one gulp.
Then, she collapsed.
An almost instantaneous collapse, right as she finished the alcohol.
The last thing she remembered was the man called Xu Po exclaiming beside her, “Damn, is her tolerance that low?”