Chapter 8

It was already the next morning when Youyi woke up.

She was lying on Fu Cheng’s lap, his hand continually supporting her face. She had felt the warmth of his palm even in her dreams.

When she opened her eyes, she met his dark gaze.

Fu Cheng stayed awake all night.

She had slept on his lap throughout the night, and he hadn’t closed his eyes even once.

He always seemed calm and composed, exuding a strength that made Youyi feel completely secure.

“You didn’t sleep at all?” Youyi asked.

Fu Cheng replied in a deep voice, “It’s nothing.”

His stamina and energy were astonishing. Even a sleepless night had no effect on him.

“What would you like for breakfast?” Fu Cheng asked. After staying up all night, he comforted her through her nightmares by gently squeezing her fingers until she calmed down and fell asleep.

Fu Cheng had noticed before.

Gently squeezing her fingers was something she found comforting.

“Anything is fine.” Youyi said, not feeling hungry.

Fu Cheng asked, “Do you need to take a leave?”

It was already 6:30. If he remembered correctly, she had a class at 8 in the morning.

Youyi shook her head, “I need to go to class.”

She got out of bed, thinking about what Fu Cheng had said the night before. Feeling very grateful, she said to him again, “Thank you.”

It was embarrassing for her.

But she still needed to thank him.

“Why are you being so polite, always saying thank you?” Fu Cheng asked softly, “What am I to you?”

She always kept her distance from him.

Youyi answered softly, “We’re family.”

Fu Cheng didn’t correct her.

He stood up, looked down at her, and said in a deep voice, “No matter when or where, if you’re scared, you can always hide behind me.”

He was so strong, strong enough to completely protect her.

Seeing that she remained silent, Fu Cheng’s voice softened. “Just don’t be afraid of me.”

He wanted to tell her that he was standing with her, not against her.

She didn’t need to be afraid of him.

Youyi’s eyelashes fluttered like delicate wings.

What did Fu Cheng mean by this? Despite his cold tone, she felt a tenderness in his words.

It was so tender it made her heart ache.

Fu Cheng reached out and pinched her fingers.

He realized that his previous impatience to make her accustomed to him had only caused her to fear him.

He hadn’t known she would be so timid.

His rough fingertips brushed against her fingers, making Youyi’s fingertips tingle. She looked up at him cautiously and suddenly asked, “Did I… see you again later?”

Fu Cheng’s gaze faltered.

One day, on a snowy night, she handed him a scarf and gently reminded him not to get cold.

When his comrades fell on the border and he was injured, he fell into a state of despair for a long time. On a particularly cold night, a pair of gentle hands brought a scarf and gloves to him.

The endless snow in the borderlands, on the icy mountains, never made him feel cold.

The little girl who had once given him a strawberry cake had now grown up.

So gentle it made him yearn for it.

At this moment, Youyi looked at him, vaguely recalling something but unable to remember clearly.

She looked at Fu Cheng with curiosity.

Fu Cheng patted her head and said lightly: “It’s nothing, just forget it if you can’t remember it.”

*

The memory was too vague and Youyi couldn’t even come up with any specific images in her mind.

She kept thinking about the moment Fu Cheng had appeared.

The moment he suddenly appeared——

She felt a sense of security she had never felt before.

Getting married… doesn’t seem to be a wrong choice for her.

After her bath that evening, she curled up in the study to write her experiment report for the day. Her phone kept ringing with messages from Huang Youyi.

Huang Youyi: [Oh my god, you don’t know how ruined the second and third parts of this movie are, but the first part is really perfect. I replayed that five-minute segment several times.]

Last time, Huang Youyi managed to watch both the second and third parts of the movie.

To sum up, the first one is still the best.

To make sure everyone could see this segment, she even saved it on her phone.

Of course, she also shared a copy with Youyi.

It was something worth keeping.

Youyi: [Did you finish watching it?]

Huang Youyi: [Yes, but honestly, I advise you not to watch it. It’s like eating something disgusting.]

Youyi: [Oh, I can’t find it myself.]

Since Huang Youyi didn’t send her the video, she had no way to find it herself.

She wasn’t as resourceful as Huang Youyi.

Huang Youyi modestly said: [It’s simple. If you need it, I can share it with you.]

Youyi: [No need.]

Huang Youyi, alone in her dorm room, was really bored, so she clung to Youyi and kept chatting.

[In today’s anatomy class, I respectfully kowtowed three times to the donor.]

[Really kowtowed!]

She emphasized.

[I was thinking, if I die in the future, I definitely won’t be as noble and generous to be a donor, so those who make this choice are truly great.]

[But my suturing skills are still so poor. I definitely won’t go into surgery in the future. I can’t handle operations.]

[Or let’s focus on research together and not go into clinical practice.]

Huang Youyi passionately shared her thoughts for the day. Her incessant chatter could rival Tang Seng reciting the scriptures.

After a five-minute silence, Huang Youyi suddenly sent: [Ahhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhh!]

Youyi anxiously asked: [What’s wrong?]

Huang Youyi: [I accidentally deleted my video!]

She had been clearing her album and accidentally deleted the recent items as well. By the time she realized, her phone was completely clean, and everything was gone.

Huang Youyi: [The five-minute segment, did you save it?]

Youyi checked her cloud storage and found it.

Huang Youyi sighed in relief: [Okay, send it to me again.]

Youyi then shared it from her cloud storage.

She put down her phone, went to the kitchen to boil a pot of hot water, made a cup of honey water, and drank it slowly, which eased her lower abdomen.

Youyi calculated the timing of her period and, when she picked up her phone again, saw the message from Huang Youyi.

[Why haven’t you sent it yet?]

Youyi frowned, wondering why it hadn’t been sent. Was the network really that slow?

Opening the chat with Huang Youyi, she saw that it was indeed missing.

So, Youyi exited the chat.

[Super amazing five minutes, must watch…]

She saw this line in her chat with Fu Cheng and realized she had shared it with the wrong person.

Her mind went blank.

Exploded.

Youyi’s heart started racing, and she fumbled to withdraw it, but it was already too late. She accidentally tapped the “Shake” feature.

Youyi’s face turned pale.

She was mortified. She had never been so embarrassed in her life and wanted to find a hole to hide in. The question now was whether there was any way to remedy the situation.

Should she say her account was hacked?

But how could she make it seem like her account was hacked? If it was a hack, wouldn’t it be best to not send anything at all?

Youyi bit her lip, buried her face in her pillow, and threw her phone aside, unable to bear looking at it.

So embarrassing, really so embarrassing…

Five minutes later, Youyi’s phone vibrated.

She didn’t dare to open her eyes, as if pretending it hadn’t happened would make it disappear.

She clenched her fingers and slowly reached for her phone, tapping the screen. She saw that Fu Cheng had sent a question mark.

Five minutes had passed.

Has he seen it?

What should she do…

Should she explain? How should she explain…

Whatever she says won’t be right.

Sending him a video like that makes it seem like she was hinting at something, even though it wasn’t intentional. But having that thought exposed feels like social death.

She didn’t want to face it.

Youyi chose to pretend nothing had happened.

She put her phone aside, silenced it, and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

Ten minutes later.

She couldn’t fall asleep.

There were no more messages from Fu Cheng. Youyi’s chest rose and fell as she thought that she could reply tomorrow and say her account was hacked.

The phone kept vibrating.

Youyi picked it up and saw it was a call from Fu Cheng.

She closed her eyes.

She really wanted to die.

Eventually, she answered.

“Youyi.” His voice was heavy, like cold gravel scraping across a stone slab.

“I’m at the door.”

Youyi froze for half a second, not hearing him say anything more. She suddenly sat up from the bed.

He was at the door?

Youyi hesitated in her room, clutching her phone, until Fu Cheng said again in a low voice, “Ding Youyi, open the door.”

His voice had an unyielding command.

She got up to open the door.

Fu Cheng knew the password but didn’t use it.

As soon as the door opened, a familiar scent reached her nose. Youyi looked up at him, meeting his deep, dark eyes with a hint of restrained intensity.

“May I come in?” he asked.

Youyi instinctively said “mm” before she could react. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

Fu Cheng picked her up, lifting her off her feet. Before she could react, she was being carried to the shoe rack, her feet dangling in the air.

She was too soft.

Fu Cheng drew closer, noticing her flushed face. He asked calmly, “Do you want to try it?”

The video she sent him.

Was she trying to try something?

After a pause, he added, “You can try it if you want.”

He cornered Youyi, making it impossible for her to move. His broad chest was right in front of her, his arms blocking any escape, ready to control her with just one hand.

“I sent it to the wrong person.” Youyi explained.

“Who did you mean to send it to?” he asked quietly. The intense pressure made Youyi unable to look at him. His arm was pressing tightly against her waist.

Youyi took a deep breath.

Explaining might be worse than not explaining.

“I didn’t.”

Fu Cheng didn’t ask her about it anymore. His fingers gently pinched her fingertips. After a long pause, he asked hoarsely, “Do you need it?”

Does she need him?

If she did, he would give it.

Youyi awkwardly shook her head.

His voice was calm but sounded so seductive, making Youyi’s legs go weak.

It was even more overwhelming than before.

This was a different kind of… seduction.

Her heart was racing, her head spinning.

Luckily, she was sitting on the shoe rack.

Otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t be able to stand.

His eyes rested on her lips. When he picked her up, she pressed the switch behind her. The lights in the living room dimmed, and her hearing and touch became particularly sensitive at this moment.

“Then… do you want to try kissing first?”