♡ Chapter 8.1 ♡

Yu Xia was stunned. Had she really started doubting whether her gaze was impure? She couldn’t help but ask, “What… what kind of look?”

Ding—

The elevator doors opened.

Lu Yanzhou carried her inside and pressed the button for the 12th floor before lowering his head to look at her. As the elevator doors slowly closed, the quiet, narrow space was just the two of them. She curled up in his arms, her body soft and relaxed, but her eyes revealed a hint of wariness and suspicion, like a kitten just settling into a new home. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and his voice was low. “I… don’t know.”

“…”

Why was he imitating her tone?

Yu Xia’s face flushed, and she lowered her head, too embarrassed to look him in the eye.

Lu Yanzhou added, “You can always go look in the mirror.”

“… I’ll get off and walk by myself.” It must have been his carrying her that made her blush and her heart race at his teasing.

“Stop it.” Lu Yanzhou’s expression softened, his tone indulgent. “We’re almost there.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the elevator reached the 12th floor.

He set Yu Xia down by her door and casually asked, “Do you need any help?”

Help? Help with what? Help her… take a bath?

Yu Xia quickly refused. “No, I’m fine. I can manage on my own.”

Lu Yanzhou didn’t say anything else. He watched her slowly make her way into her apartment before turning to leave.

After a long night, Yu Xia struggled to wash up with her swollen ankle, then collapsed on the couch to apply medicine. As the cool cream eased the pain, she remembered what had just happened and began to regret her actions.

“Why did he say that the way I look at him is wrong? What kind of look do I have? Full of love or greed?”

“Does his look make more sense?”

“He’s the one who picked me up first, and now he’s blaming me!”

She muttered in frustration as she lay on the sofa.

The more she thought about it, the more regretful she became. She grabbed her phone and opened WeChat, typing furiously.

Living in Winter: [Do you look at me with pure eyes? ]

She hit send quickly.

Then, she stared at the message and instantly regretted it.

She quickly retracted the message.

But it was too late.

L: [?]

“…”

Had he already seen it?

The notification showed that the other party was typing. Yu Xia regretted it even more. Why did she retract it? Wouldn’t that just make her look guilty? All these conflicting emotions had been tormenting her the entire night… but it was… addictive.

L: [You’re the one who said you’d chase me.]

Yu Xia was caught off guard, and it took her a while to respond: [I didn’t say I’d chase you.]

L: [It means the same thing.]

Yu Xia deleted and revised her words in the chat for a while, but couldn’t come up with a suitable retort. Why did she say such things earlier? Now, everything sounded like an excuse.

In his study, Lu Yanzhou sat before his computer, editing code. Several times, he absentmindedly glanced at his phone on the desk. The message bubble above the chat still showed the other party was typing.

Was it really that hard?

He smiled slightly, picking up the phone.

Yu Xia, feeling defeated, sent a sticker of a cat with its arms crossed, as if saying “So what?”

The next moment, another message appeared in the chat.

L: [Don’t order takeout tomorrow night. I’ll cook, and you can come over to eat.]

Yu Xia froze, blinking at the message in confusion.

What did this mean?

Was he opening his door and welcoming her to pursue him?

—

Tang Yue: “Go for it! Why not? It’s just dinner, not like you’re sleeping with him.”

Yu Xia: “…”

She rolled her eyes and sighed, lying on her bed. Tang Yue was always the one to encourage people. She let out a long breath. “We’re incompatible, should I really continue?”

From her dorm, Tang Yue also rolled her eyes. “He carried you for the whole night. It’s obvious he likes you. You don’t need to say more, you’re just lusting after him.”

“… You didn’t need to be that blunt.”

Though it might be true.

“I’m just telling the truth,” Tang Yue continued. “As for being incompatible, that’s not a problem. When you lose your job because of AI, if you’re still together, let him compensate you. But if you break up after dating for a few months, then no need to worry.”

Yu Xia thought about it and felt there was some logic to her words.

After hanging up the phone, she opened her chat with Lu Yanzhou. Their conversation was still stuck on his invitation, and it had been over half an hour.

She checked the time. It wasn’t even midnight yet. Lu Yanzhou probably hadn’t slept yet, right?

After a moment of hesitation, she decided to send him a message.

Living in Winter: [Can I order food? I want sweet and sour pork ribs.]

The reply came quickly.

L: [Sure.]

L: [Go to bed early.]

Yu Xia smiled and typed back, “Good night.”

She slept soundly that night, with only her ankle hurting. But her mind was on the dinner at his place, making her work at a slower pace the whole day.

In the afternoon, Yu Xia bought a bottle of red wine online, which was delivered quickly through same-city shipping. After receiving it, she took a photo and sent it to Lu Yanzhou, saying she would treat him to some wine tonight.

He probably was busy because he didn’t reply.

With less than an hour before the workday ended, she hobbled back to her room. As soon as she opened the wardrobe, her phone began vibrating nonstop. She quickly picked it up, but it wasn’t from Lu Yanzhou. It was from her work group and friends.

The flurry of messages made her uneasy, a sense that something big had happened, and she couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Just then, Tang Yue’s message popped up at the top of her screen.

Tang Yue: [You’re trending, baby!]

Yu Xia was taken aback. No way, could it be because of yesterday’s little accident with that brat or because Lu Yanzhou is so handsome that someone captured the moment he carried her to the hospital and posted it online?

Several guesses flashed through her mind, and she nervously opened the conversation. Tang Yue had sent a screenshot of the trending topic on Weibo, with a red circle highlighting the title—“After Hugging the Wrong Idol, I Ended Up With My Idol…”

The homepage search results were limited in characters, and she had to click on it to see the full text.

But the title was so revealing. Could it be that the little comic she posted went viral? This was even more alarming than if it had made the news!

Feeling tense, she clicked into Weibo. First, she was shocked by the massive number of comments, retweets, and private messages. Then, she was startled by the rise in followers. After a while, she cautiously clicked on the homepage, only to see that the title was still trending at the top.

“…”