Fortunately, I Met You

My goodness, those words sounded particularly savage due to the contrast of how calm Lu Chenzhou's tone was.

Lu Chenzhou's grandmother was greatly shocked, and she was even momentarily unable to breathe. But Cheng Xi, who was sitting by Lu Chenzhou's side, didn't seem to be shocked at all. She instead asked in a somewhat interested tone, "How?"

Lu Chenzhou looked at Cheng Xi and then glanced at his grandmother, who was still clutching her chest lightly behind them before saying, "I'll listen to you."

He had purposefully altered his words because his grandmother was here. Cheng Xi wrung her wrists, thinking that his wariness was still too strong as she joked, "We'd surely fail if you listened to me—I'm not smart enough."

Lu Chenzhou's lips curled up slightly. "You understand yourself quite well."

Despite the disdainful "compliment", Cheng Xi didn't get mad. "That's also a virtue."

Lu Chenzhou glared at her, and Cheng Xi smiled in response. When Lu Chenzhou's grandmother saw these two behave like this, she became a bit flummoxed again. Sighing, she went outside to call her husband.

Cheng Xi had already changed topics to Lu Chenzhou leaving the hospital. "The doctor said that tomorrow's fine?"

Lu Chenzhou seemed like he wasn't too happy about it, casually responding with a grunt.

Did he not want to leave? Cheng Xi put her chin in her palm as she smiled and said, "What a coincidence, the day after is Shen Wei's birthday."

Lu Chenzhou didn't understand what the coincidence was, and shot a confused glance at her.

"That day will be very lively."

For Shen Wei's final birthday in her twenties, Fu Mingyi wanted to host a grand birthday banquet for her. He had invited their families for the day celebrations and Shen Wei's close friends for the night festivities, a huge, themed party. Everyone in her classmates' group chat had been posting about this for the past couple of days. Rou was even asking her day and night, "Do I look good in this outfit?"

Her classmates had participated in many activities together, but this was the first themed party they would ever attend.

Cheng Xi wasn't particularly interested in this sort of event, but she felt that Lu Chenzhou, who had been living a more and more secluded life ever since he had been admitted into the hospital, very much needed to go to such a lively place. So, she asked, "We can bring family members to the party. Do you want to be my plus one?"

Out of habit, Cheng Xi had used the words that Shen Wei had used to invite them, not realizing that 'family' had inexplicably given Lu Chenzhou a warm feeling inside. He nonchalantly nodded his head as he responded, "That's acceptable."

"Alright, then it's settled. The event's at night, so you have the afternoon to rest when you get home. The theme is 'holy angel.' What you wear and how you wear it is all up to you, so feel free to explore and be creative."

The next day passed by in the blink of an eye, and then it was Friday. Cheng Xi had something to do in the morning, but she was free in the afternoon. Earlier in the morning, Tian Rou had asked, "Have you decided what you're going to wear?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"A doctor's costume—don't they say that all say doctors are angels in white?"

And then Tian Rou bashed her. "Scram! With such a half-hearted outfit, it's no wonder you couldn't steal my male idol away despite your temperament and looks!"

Tian Rou's male idol was none other than Lin Fan; Shen Wei had at least kept her lips sealed and never revealed Cheng Xi and Lin Fan's relationship, so Tian Rou still thought of them as sisters in hardship. Naturally, she had to share the newest hot gossip that she had just heard. "He's engaged now, apparently to a rich heir. My goodness, I'm also a rich self-made woman. Why didn't he choose me?"

Cheng Xi was slightly dazed by the news, and bitter feelings slowly seeped out from her heart.

Tian Rou continued gossiping. "I never expected that we would be the last ones left. Honestly, I can't accept this situation!"

Cheng Xi laughed. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"We broke up. He hates going out, so he should just stay home single his entire life. What's he even doing, trying to find a girlfriend?!"

Tian Rou's tone was very relaxed, and it didn't sound like she had been hurt at all by the breakup, so Cheng Xi only comforted her superficially.

"Hng, I'm not upset at all. As long as you're still with me, I'll be reassured!" And then she happily planned out what they would do at the party. "What if the two of us go as a couple together? Based on our looks alone, I bet that we'll get lots of attention."

So all her earlier talk had been leading up to these last few sentences. Cheng Xi almost couldn't bear to tell her that she had already found a male partner. But conveniently, when Lu Chenzhou got out of the hospital, Baldy had come along with him, so Cheng Xi had extended an invite to him on Tian Rou's behalf.

Yes, at that time, she had purely been trying to help Rou find a suitable partner for the party, with no other thoughts at all.

Upon hearing her offer, Baldy accepted at once. "Zhou's going? Then I have to go too!"

She just didn't expect that Rou would actually get outfits for the both of them: a set piece with a white angel and a black demon costumes. As soon as Cheng Xi arrived, Tian Rou was dragging her doctor's outfit off and insisting that she change into the angel dress.

Shen Wei and the others were standing to the side and enjoying the excitement, but none of them responded to Cheng Xi's pleas for help. In the end, she could only plead, "I already have a male partner, and I even found you one too. Can I not change?"

Cheng Xi could tell, even without wearing the clothes that Rou had found, that they were far too risque for her tastes; Rou's black dress exposed a large part of her bare back that her demon wings didn't cover.

She really couldn't go out dressed like that, alright?

She wanted Shen Wei to testify that she had indeed brought two other people, because her doing so had to be approved by Shen Wei beforehand. But Shen Wei was very dissatisfied with Cheng Xi's doctor outfit; it was just too different from everyone else's! So, she lied and said, "Really? I didn't know that."

In the end, Cheng Xi still had to change into the angel outfit. At least her outfit wasn't as exaggerated as Tian Rou's; it was just particularly skintight and had a small exposed patch by her chest.

Cheng Xi thought that she looked fine, but when she came out, she shocked Tian Rou, Shen Wei, and all the others. The first two reacted the quickest and immediately hugged her as they possessively squealed, "Alright, you're my wife! You're not allowed to run away!"

Cheng Xi coolly replied, "Do you have a dick?"

"……My goodness! Dr. Cheng's been corrupted!" Tian Rou was rubbing against Cheng Xi, dabbing some oil onto her body.

It took Cheng Xi some effort to push her away, but then it was Shen Wei's turn. She jokingly said, "With the way you look right now, I'm afraid to show you off to my man—you're too sexy!"

Cheng Xi's heart trembled. She trusted that Shen Wei's words were a joke, but after that, she was very careful to spend most of her time with her female classmates and to not talk too casually with any of her male classmates—most of the males in their group were already married, and those that weren't tended to have girlfriends.

And so, Rou happily monopolized most of Cheng Xi's time, all the way until Lu Chenzhou showed up.

Lu Chenzhou had shown up a little late, and Cheng Xi was half expecting him to not show up at all. But in the end, he and Baldy had ended up appearing in the lounge almost without a sound.

The party lost control for a moment because these two people were too just eye-grabbing; they were wearing a pure white outfit and standing straight. Baldy's looks were only decent, though he had a surprisingly imposing manner. And as for Lu Chenzhou, he was…… too handsome with his elegant facial features that contrasted with his cool gaze. Dressed all in white, he seemed like the epitome of purity, cleanliness, and restraint.

Someone immediately sighed, "He looks more like an austere monk than an angel, doesn't he?"

Many people immediately agreed.

Even Fu Mingyi and Shen Wei were surprised. The two of them, hand in hand, handsome, and pretty, greeted their two new arrivals; all in all, the four of them looked like they were from a painting.

Baldy was quite pleased with himself, but his behavior, like a peacock spreading its tail, quickly destroyed his bad-boy persona. Lu Chenzhou, on the other hand, ignored the gazes directed at him, and turned around as he scanned his surroundings and asked, "Where is she?"

Shen Wei didn't expect him to only care about Cheng Xi, and with slightly raised eyebrows and after exchanging a glance with Fu Mingyi, she answered, "Oh, she's upstairs. Follow us. We'll bring you there."

And so they went upstairs. Quite a few people were standing by the stairwell, all of whom had run out upon hearing the commotion. Cheng Xi was also there, but she had been accosted by one of Shen Wei's relatives' children; the little girl very much liked the wings on Cheng Xi's back, and she had managed to find an exact replica from somewhere else and was now insisting that she put it on for her.

So when Lu Chenzhou entered the room, all he could see of Cheng Xi was her slightly leaning down to affix the wings onto the little girl's back.

He was facing her side, where he could see her back curving in a graceful arc as her head was slightly lifted, which exposed her snow-white and thin neck. It had to be said that that night, her attire perfectly suited her; the skintight white dress clearly delineated each curvaceous line of her body. When coupled with her long black hair that was slightly curled and extended to her waist, and the circlet of flowers on her head, Cheng Xi was as beautiful as an ethereal fairy, as if the two wings on her shoulders were angel's wings that would flutter once and carry her away at any moment.

The lamplight illuminated her figure, as resplendent as the starry sky. She was so beautiful that she seemed to transcend reality, almost as if she were a figure in a classic scroll who had been drawn carefully with a brush, every stroke enchanting, each brush mesmerizing.

Anything and everything next to her became but a foil. Lu Chenzhou's eyes only contained her in this moment; he very much wanted to run over and hug her, to touch her delicate stance with his own hands.

He put his thoughts into action. Lu Chenzhou no longer felt like he had to restrain himself. She had invited him over, and she let him woo her. Wasn't that giving him the power to be a bit presumptuous?

And so, he walked over, ignored everyone's glances, and hugged her from behind.

At that moment, Lin Fan had also just the room as he had noticed Shen Wei walking up the stairs due to everyone else's reactions. He hadn't yet noticed Cheng Xi, but was wondering why everyone else seemed to be entranced by something. As he followed their gazes, he raised his head, and immediately saw Lu Chenzhou and Cheng Xi together.