Chapter 49

When Wen Ci returned home, she brought a bouquet of lilies of the valley. Zhou Wu said it was about time to change the flowers and suggested getting new ones.

Wen Ci’s mother called out to her, expressing her dissatisfaction with the text she had just sent, and asked her what she thought of the blind date.

It seemed that Zuo Chengren was a decent guy, as he hadn’t complained to the intermediary.

Wen Ci: “No opinion. I won’t go on blind dates. If you arrange one again without asking, I’ll turn around and leave. I’m going upstairs, goodnight, Mom.”

With her mother’s “disappointment speech” in the background, Wen Ci went upstairs and closed her door, completely unaffected. She took the lilies of the valley from her bag and carefully placed them in the new vase. The flowers were fresh, though it wasn’t their season, and Wen Ci wondered where Zhou Wu had bought them.

In the bathroom, Wen Ci stood under the shower, covering her face, silently reminiscing.

She had almost been that careless person, but just as she was about to go further, a group of noisy elementary school students passed by, making her immediately step back a long way.

Unfortunately, the kids had good eyesight and saw them from afar. As they passed, one of them yelled, “Shameless! Kissing in public!”

Zhou Wu remained unmoved and coldly replied, “Thanks to you guys, we didn’t kiss.”

Wen Ci: “…”

After the shower, Wen Ci lay on her side with a pillow, thinking to herself—

Really, I want to kiss Zhou Wu…

It had been so long, so long, so long since she last kissed.

After the last video call, Wen Ci couldn’t help but ask Dou Yiqing late at night, “How long do you think it would take to observe Zhou Wu?”

Dou Yiqing replied, “At least a month, right?”

Wen Ci agreed, then secretly cut half a month off for Zhou Wu.

She picked up her phone, opened the calendar countdown, and it showed—

[10 days remaining until agreeing with Zhou Wu.]

Ten more days?

Wen Ci blinked, wondering if she should shorten it just a little bit more. A WeChat message popped up—it was from Dou Yiqing.

Dou Yiqing, who had endured a week of lesson planning and class arrangements, was finally free and asked if Wen Ci was available on Thursday to accompany her to a time-limited event at an amusement park on Xianghan Road.

Zhou Wu had to fly out of town for work the next day, so they had planned to meet on Thursday.

Wen Ci didn’t want to push either side, so she typed a message asking: [Yiqing, can I bring someone else?]

[Yiqing: Just ask if you can bring Zhou Wu.]

[Yiqing: It’s fine, but you’ll have to stay until evening. It’s safer with more men. But it’s really… thrilling. Are you sure?]

[Wen Ci: Huh? How thrilling?]

[Yiqing: Forget it, with you, whether Zhou Wu comes or not, you won’t find it thrilling. Hahaha. See you Thursday. [/Love you]]

—

Zhou Wu naturally agreed.

So, on Thursday evening, the four of them met at Xianghan Road.

“Why are you here too?!” Dou Yiqing looked at the unexpected person in disbelief.

“Heh, I went to Zhou Wu’s house and just caught him heading out,” Qin Yun sneered. “Dou Yiqing, you’re something else, going out to play and not inviting me, but you even invited Zhou Wu!”

Dou Yiqing: “Zhou Wu was invited by Wen Ci—”

“Don’t explain,” Qin Yun placed his palm between them. “I’ve already told the police about your abandoning me, so expect to sit in jail.”

Dou Yiqing slapped his hand away.

Wen Ci stood by, waiting for them to finish arguing, and was nudged by Zhou Wu, who looked at her and asked, “Why aren’t you wearing my clothes?”

Wen Ci explained, “Yiqing said it’s an amusement park. I thought loose clothes might be inconvenient.”

“You both treat us like we’re not people,” Dou Yiqing grabbed Qin Yun’s clothes. “Let’s go, just a couple of steps further, turn a corner, and we’ll be there.”

The amusement park was located on Xianghan Road, a secluded suburban area with a lake nearby.

When they arrived, Wen Ci looked up at the dilapidated, eerie amusement park entrance with the words “Terror Park” written above it.

The smaller text below read: “Experience the most authentic Chinese-style horror!”

Wen Ci: “…”

So, this is the kind of thrill they meant?

Other amusement parks usually hold small horror events for Halloween, but this one was taking a different approach, with the event scheduled for the fifteenth of July, focusing on Chinese-style horror with no hesitation.

Because of this, the participants were all young people who weren’t afraid of anything, with no elderly or children around. The atmosphere was wild, and some visitors even cosplayed as various ghosts, making Dou Yiqing’s social media explode in the past few days.

Today was the last day of the event, and the amusement park was still packed with people. Visitors walked alongside cosplayers, creating a bizarre yet serene picture.

“Dou Yiqing, are you crazy?!” Qin Yun gripped Dou Yiqing’s clothes tightly, following her through various stalls where the vendors wore strange outfits, and the stall names were either “Wangchuan Water” or “Exploding Eyeball Milk Tea.” “You’re not afraid there’s a real ghost mixed in here?”

“If you’re scared, you can leave. I didn’t ask you to come,” Dou Yiqing replied but didn’t shake him off.

Zhou Wu glanced at Wen Ci, who was shrinking her neck in fear but couldn’t help but look around curiously. Half of her body unconsciously stayed close to him.

As usual, both timid and playful.

None of them were interested in street food, so after a little excitement, they left the night market.

They soon saw that the main road in the amusement park had been blocked off with a security line, leaving the area empty. On both sides, tourists were gathered. Dou Yiqing checked the time, excitedly linked arms with Wen Ci, and pulled her into the crowd. “It’s time for the street parade! Hurry, Wen Ci, let’s get to the front!”

Wen Ci had no idea what a street parade was, but seeing Dou Yiqing so excited, she also got excited: “Okay!”

Just as Zhou Wu was about to follow them, Dou Yiqing suddenly turned around and made a “stop” gesture to him. “You two stay here. We’ll be right back!”

When Wen Ci was pulled into the crowd, she looked back at Zhou Wu, but soon she could no longer see him. She was very thin, and Dou Yiqing was quick, skillfully weaving through the crowd, and surprisingly brought her to the very front.

Wen Ci was squeezed in and tilted her head to ask, “What kind of street parade is this? It won’t be ghosts, right?”

Dou Yiqing laughed, “Of course it’s ghosts!”

“…”

Without Zhou Wu beside her, Wen Ci felt much less secure. And being in the front row made her want to leave. But before she could say anything, the sound of a suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument) rang out, and the NPCs in the parade marched in from a distance.

It was too dark and too far away. Before Wen Ci could clearly see what the NPCs were dressed as, she could make out their muscular chests, abs, and biceps.

Wen Ci: “…”

As the group came closer, she could see that these black and white wuchang (messenger spirits), judges, and others wore terrifying masks. Their upper bodies were bare, showcasing their well-built male physiques.

“How’s it feel?!” Amid the shrill screams from around her, Dou Yiqing tightly gripped Wen Ci’s hand, excitedly shaking it. “Stimulating, right?!”

It was Wen Ci’s first time witnessing something like this. She was stunned and said, “…So this is what’s stimulating?”

“Of course! You think we’re here to see ghosts?” As the NPCs approached, Dou Yiqing laughed. “Quick! Wen Ci, stretch out your hand!”

Wen Ci was about to ask why, but before she could, she saw one of the NPCs grab a female tourist’s outstretched hand, press it against his face, and rub it before grabbing her hand to touch his muscles.

Wen Ci was once again exposed to something new.

In the midst of her shock, an NPC wearing a black wuchang mask walked past them. Wen Ci made eye contact with him through the mask.

Feeling awkward seeing someone half-naked, Wen Ci was about to look away when the NPC suddenly walked toward her.

There were plenty of girls reaching out to him, but he walked straight toward Wen Ci and extended his hand.

“…” Wen Ci was stunned.

The NPC smiled slightly. “Stretch out your hand, sister.”

Wen Ci was about to wave her hand in refusal, but as soon as she raised her arm, a low voice came from above.

“Why don’t you try touching him?”

“…”

Wen Ci leaned back and looked up, meeting Zhou Wu’s eyes, which were dark and heavy, filled with an unreadable emotion.

For a moment, Wen Ci actually felt a sense of guilt, as though she had been caught red-handed while secretly admiring someone else.

She hurriedly lowered her arm and explained, “I didn’t—”

“Little brother! Little brother!” The black wuchang had already shifted his attention, grabbed Dou Yiqing’s hand, and pressed it against his cheek. Dou Yiqing screamed, “Don’t touch my face, little brother! I want to touch your abs!”

The black wuchang: “Okay, sister.”

“Good for you!” Qin Yun, who had just squeezed into the crowd, shouted angrily. “Dou Yiqing! You’re such a female pervert!”

The black wuchang: “Sister, is he your boyfriend?”

Dou Yiqing: “Of course not! Little brother, ask your colleague, Bai Wuchang, to come over too.”

The black wuchang: “Okay, sister.”

Qin Yun: “Dou Yiqing, I &%*&…!!”

Wen Ci turned her head, grabbed Zhou Wu’s clothes, and whispered, “Should we leave?”

Zhou Wu raised an eyebrow, his tone lazy. “Oh, sister’s not watching anymore?”

“…” Wen Ci’s face turned red from the way he said “sister.” “No, I’m not watching anymore.”

Worried about a stampede, the parade lasted only about ten minutes.

After the crowd dispersed, Dou Yiqing was still excited. “Ah, why does today have to be the last day of the event? All this work made me miss so much fun.”

Qin Yun: “Dou Yiqing, luckily you’re poor. Otherwise, you’d have ended up in jail for soliciting…”

Dou Yiqing ignored his sarcastic remarks, opened the amusement guide app she had saved, and said, “It’s so late, we won’t go on the pirate ship or drop tower. They’ll give me a headache. How about we go straight to the main attraction here?”

No one objected.

On the way, Qin Yun and Dou Yiqing argued in front. Wen Ci kept her hands clasped in front of her, stealing glances at Zhou Wu with her peripheral vision.

He had his hands in his pockets, and his facial features appeared cold due to the lack of expression.

Wen Ci sighed and whispered, “I really didn’t want to touch him, and I didn’t touch anyone else.”

Zhou Wu gave a soft “Mm.”

“I didn’t know there would be… projects like this.”

“I know,” Zhou Wu glanced at her, speaking slowly, as if he didn’t care. “If I can accept you going on blind dates with others, what’s the big deal with touching a little?”

“…”

Wen Ci was wondering if asking Dou Yiqing to vouch for her would seem strange when Dou Yiqing suddenly said, “We’re here!”

The spooky, eerie red brick house ahead made a few unknown tourists scream. The sign next to it read: [Old Mountain Village House – Not Suitable for Elderly or People with Heart Conditions.]

Qin Yun took a deep breath. “Dou Yiqing, you get scared watching a ghost movie, and now you want to try a haunted house?”

“I want to play. If you’re scared, you can wait outside, coward.”

Qin Yun raised his hand to the ticket seller. “Hello, we’re buying tickets.”

Noticing that Wen Ci had shrunk closer to him, Zhou Wu looked at her. “Scared?”

“Mm,” Wen Ci nodded. “But a little bit curious too.”

Zhou Wu guessed she was like this, a Schrödinger’s adventurer—scared of everything but wanting to try everything. A small, timid adventurer: “Then try it.”

The haunted house had a limit on the number of visitors. They stood at the entrance, waiting for another group of tourists to scream as they rushed out of the right-side exit. The staff opened the wooden door with a creak and smiled eerily at them. “Please come in. If you encounter something unclean inside, remember to hide in the places with talismans.”

—-

The inside of the haunted house was decorated like a typical rural self-built house. It had four floors and a yard, appearing abandoned for a long time. It was dim, full of cobwebs, and the first floor was set up like a mourning hall with several coffins and black-and-white photos. The air conditioning was extremely cold.

From somewhere, the sound of wind whooshed, and faintly, someone was crying.

It was too dark; apart from the light at the memorial hall, it was almost pitch black here.

Zhou Wu took his arm out of his pocket and extended it to Wen Ci, intending for her to hold it to ease her fear.

Her slender fingers grasped his hand. Wen Ci’s hand was a little cold, and her voice was soft: “Zhou Wu, you, don’t be scared.”

Zhou Wu smiled silently in the darkness, unbothered: “Mm.”

They were all worried that someone might jump out of the coffin, so they cautiously passed through the courtyard, and only relaxed once they entered the room.

Qin Yun: “I thought it was going to be scarier. This is nothing compared to that haunted house I went to before.”

Dou Yiqing: “Come on, pay me back 7680, you ruined my shirt.”

Qin Yun: “It’s not that I can’t afford it, but why is this crappy fabric worth 7680? I’ll report you for extortion if you ask for 80.”

Dou Yiqing: “The rest is for mental distress.”

The room was pitch black, not a good place for arguing. Wen Ci softly interrupted them: “Where should we go next? I can’t see anything.”

Zhou Wu: “Look for the light switch.”

“Can you help me find something? I’ve lost something.”

Wen Ci agreed: “Of course, what did you lose?”

“I’ve lost something.”

Dou Yiqing impatiently: “That’s why I’m asking what you’re looking for.”

Qin Yun: “Who’s looking for something?”

Zhou Wu: “Not me.”

“……”

The four of them fell silent for two seconds. Wen Ci hadn’t reacted yet when her shoulder was tapped.

“Can you help me find something?” A woman’s voice, calm and undisturbed, sounded in her ear, as hair brushed against her neck. “My left eye is missing.”

Wen Ci: “……”

Except for Zhou Wu, the other three screamed in unison. Wen Ci’s hand was pulled up, and Zhou Wu said, “Run.”

Wen Ci hadn’t run this fast even during her high school PE exam.

They ran recklessly, using the floor light as a guide, until they reached the second floor. Zhou Wu opened a wardrobe with talismans stuck to it, pulled Wen Ci inside, and quickly followed in. They closed the wardrobe door together, just before the ghost without eyes could reach them.

The wardrobe was spacious. Even with Zhou Wu’s tall frame, he could sit with his legs curled. They sat shoulder to shoulder, pressed close together.

The door wasn’t tightly sealed; there was a small gap. Wen Ci saw the ghost scratching the door, screaming, while she sat inside, hugging her knees and too scared to breathe.

After the ghost finally left, Wen Ci let out a sigh of relief, turned her head, and her eyes were filled with both fear and excitement. She couldn’t help but smile and whispered, as if afraid of being discovered, “You scared me to death.”

“Mm.” Zhou Wu didn’t even sound out of breath. “Me too.”

The room outside was silent now. Wen Ci stretched her neck and bravely peered out through the wardrobe gap. “Seems like it’s gone. Should we go out?”

“Let’s wait a little longer.” Zhou Wu’s voice was lazy. “I’m still a bit scared.”

“Okay.” Wen Ci didn’t hesitate, leaning back again.

Faint screams from Qin Yun could be heard outside. Wen Ci couldn’t make out what he was shouting, but she could tell it was something involving three mentions of Dou Yiqing’s name.

Wen Ci laughed: “It sounds like they’re still downstairs. Do you think Yiqing would pay to ask the staff for the surveillance footage after she leaves?”

“Wen Ci.” Zhou Wu interrupted her.

“Mm?”

“Your hand.”

Wen Ci thought he was scared and wanted to hold hands, so she opened her palm toward Zhou Wu.

Then, her wrist was grabbed.

Before Wen Ci could react, she was being pulled along. In the darkness, her hand brushed over Zhou Wu’s T-shirt fabric, her palm pressed against his warm skin.

Before, even when getting into bed, Wen Ci considered it brave to keep her eyes open, let alone touch Zhou Wu. She would only accidentally brush against him when changing positions.

But she really liked to look. Zhou Wu’s body was truly… very well-proportioned. It wasn’t exaggerated lines, but thin and yet powerful.

With vision lost, her other senses became clearer, and Zhou Wu’s smooth and firm muscles gently rose with his breathing. When he moved her wrist slightly, Wen Ci’s heartbeat quickened.

“My touch or theirs, sister?” Zhou Wu asked lazily.

He, clearly, was older than her.

Wen Ci’s neck and ears burned, and she swallowed nervously before clarifying again, “I haven’t touched anyone else. I’ve only touched you.”

She couldn’t help but look at Zhou Wu while speaking. A faint light from outside the wardrobe hit his eyes, pure black with a hint of light inside. His gaze was both cold and ambiguous.

They locked eyes for two seconds. Wen Ci said, “Really.”

Zhou Wu smiled, letting go of her hand: “Got it.”

Wen Ci didn’t pull her hand back. Her fingertip was cold, and as she stared ahead, she silently pressed down twice. Maybe it was from the sprint earlier, her hand felt a little stiff but still good. Just as she wanted to check if every piece of him felt like this, Zhou Wu’s voice broke the silence, husky, “Wen Ci, that’s enough. It’s not appropriate to touch like this without confirming the relationship. I’m not that easy—”

“I am.” Wen Ci’s face turned red as she finally said what she had been holding in.

Zhou Wu: “……”

In the haunted house’s backstage control room, the main operator shouted into the walkie-talkie: “Someone, someone, hurry to the second-floor wardrobe, damn it, if you don’t go now, the guests’ kids will be a month old—two’s not enough, send five! Send five!!”

They had agreed that as long as they hid in a place with talismans, they wouldn’t get caught. When Wen Ci saw someone burst in, she quickly pulled her hand away, about to close her mouth, when the talisman on the wardrobe was ripped off by an NPC, and the door was suddenly pulled open—

The two of them started running again.

Wen Ci had just been laughing at Qin Yun, but now she had become him. After running a short distance, she couldn’t move anymore. It was too dark, and she bumped into a table corner, almost falling.

Wen Ci thought to herself, “Forget it, if I get caught, I get caught. After all, NPCs are real people—what’s there to be afraid of?”

Just as she finished this mental preparation, her feet left the ground. Zhou Wu picked her up with one arm and gave her a little lift. “Hold on tight.”

Wen Ci didn’t expect Zhou Wu to carry her all the way out of the haunted house.

A group of college students stood near the exit, and seeing them emerge like this, they started whistling like monkeys.

Once her feet touched the ground again, Wen Ci’s heart was still pounding. She bent over slightly, not having run, but after screaming for so long, she was gasping more than Zhou Wu. Worried that she might fall, Zhou Wu held her hand and glanced at his watch.

“Can you still walk?” Zhou Wu asked. “If you can’t, I’ll carry you.”

“I can walk, just help me a little…” Wen Ci hesitated, “But where are we going? Aren’t we waiting for Yi Qing and the others?”

Zhou Wu nonchalantly replied, “Let’s go.”

Wen Ci was led out of the amusement park to where their car was parked. There was a grassy slope, and in front of it, a lake.

They sat on a stone bench by the grass, still feeling a bit of the excitement from just coming out of the haunted house.

Wen Ci thought for a moment, then took out her phone, planning to send a message to Dou Yi Qing, letting her know that she and Zhou Wu had already come out.

“Wen Ci.” Zhou Wu put down his phone and suddenly called her name.

“Hmm?”

“Look up.”

Wen Ci looked up and saw a tranquil lake, almost blending into the night. The moon was high, and there were no stars visible tonight.

“What’s…”

Wen Ci didn’t finish her sentence.

In the dark sky, countless bright lights spiraled up, bursting with a “bang,” and brilliant fireworks exploded like flowers. One after another, they lit up the entire sky and illuminated the lifeless lake below.

Wen Ci had just been regretfully thinking that there were no stars tonight, but now, fireworks bloomed in the sky, shattered, and scattered like many stars.

Wen Ci looked up in surprise. “There’s a fireworks show? Why didn’t Yi Qing tell me? I wonder if they saw it.”

Zhou Wu asked, “Do you like it?”

“I like it—”

Wen Ci replied but felt something was off. She blinked at the fireworks, then turned to look at Zhou Wu, in disbelief. “…Did you set this off?”

Zhou Wu’s face flickered in the glow of the fireworks, and when he looked down at her, those shattered stars seemed to fall into his eyes—calm yet intense.

“Mm.” He smiled, “Teacher Wen, these are today’s flowers.”

“…”

Zhou Wu leaned back on the bench, his legs casually spread out, and casually chatted with her, “When I carried you at the high school sports meet, I thought, how could someone be so light, it was so exaggerated, were you abused at home?”

“And now?” Wen Ci looked at him, not blinking, “…I’ve gained a little weight, right?”

“Now,” Zhou Wu half-leaned back with a lazy tone, “I finally get to hold you.”

“…”

“I haven’t held you in a long time.”

“…”

The person beside her was silent, but Zhou Wu didn’t mind. He seemed to recall something and said, “When I confessed earlier, I was so nervous, I forgot to say the most important thing.”

Zhou Wu’s voice was still as light as ever, but his gaze, along with the slightly reddened tips of his ears, revealed his inner unease.

“Wen Ci, I like you.” Zhou Wu smiled, “I really like you.”

There were many passersby who had stopped to watch the fireworks, some of them were also looking at them. Zhou Wu didn’t care, calmly confessing to her.

Wen Ci just quietly stared at him, not reacting, and didn’t speak.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhou Wu saw some people approaching them from behind—those college students who had been whistling earlier. They obviously recognized them and were whispering to each other.

Zhou Wu lazily thought to himself that now even elementary and college students are equally annoying, when Wen Ci suddenly spoke up.

“…Zhou Wu, I know you’re not a casual person.”

Zhou Wu paused. “Hmm?”

“So I’ll take responsibility.”

Wen Ci also noticed people around them were looking, but she didn’t mind. Her mind was filled with Zhou Wu and the fireworks, her heartbeat thudding against her skin.

She moved closer, swallowed, and asked earnestly, “Can I kiss you now?”

When Dou Yi Qing and Qin Yun came out of the haunted house, the night sky was peaceful.

She picked up her phone, about to send Wen Ci a message, when she saw several unread messages—

【Wen Ci: I’m leaving with Zhou Wu】

【Wen Ci: My mom is helping me cover for it】

【Wen Ci: Thanks, love you】

Dou Yi Qing had never seen Wen Ci send such rushed and casual messages. It was obvious that Wen Ci was completely smitten, dizzy with excitement.

Dou Yi Qing typed: 【Well, I’m just reminding you, think carefully, take your time…】

Delete.

【Not a month, but at least half a month, right?】

Delete.

【It hasn’t even been ten days—】

Delete.

Finally.

【Dou Yi Qing: School is starting soon, don’t make things more complicated. Remember to use protection. 】