Chapter 402: Chapter 322 Setting Out for the Date

Cheng Zhu’s words still carried a hint of indulgence.

There was no helping it; he was somewhat at a loss when it came to Lin Lu.

All the more so when a girl deliberately brought her birthday gathering forward by a day just to go on a date with you; that made it even harder to say no.

At this moment, Lin Lu, holding her phone, felt her heart suddenly struck upon hearing Cheng Zhu say, “It’s okay, you can.”

The impact this sentence had on her even surpassed the moment she opened the box and saw the birthday card wishing her happy birthday.

Her emotions tonight had been continually stirred by Cheng Zhu, layer upon layer.

“Cheng Zhu, I might have insomnia tonight,” she whispered into the phone during their call, unable to hold back.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Cheng Zhu looked out the window while listening to Little Lu’s words, with the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifting into a slight smile.

“It’s already very late. Get some rest early so you won’t struggle to wake up tomorrow,” Cheng Zhu said.

He had dropped Lin Lu off at home not long ago, and she had called him right away.

Calculating the time, she must have opened her birthday present as soon as she got back to her room, probably not even having brushed her teeth or taken a shower yet.

“No, I won’t. I’ll set an alarm,” Lin Lu said.

Cheng Zhu couldn’t help but tease her, “Didn’t you say before that you’re the type of person who isn’t necessarily woken up by an alarm?”

Deep thinkers often have lighter sleep. But for simple girls like Lin Lu, her quality of sleep was usually quite superb on regular days.

It’s unlikely she would often exhaust herself mentally to the point of not sleeping soundly.

“Anyway, the alarm will definitely wake me up tomorrow,” Lin Lu vowed.

I’ll get up; once the alarm rings, I’ll wake up, not like before when the alarm couldn’t wake me up and I’d kick off the covers with my foot!

Tomorrow’s date with you is different.

…

…

Cheng Zhu and Lin Lu had a phone call for about three or four minutes before he urged her to go wash up and sleep.

He could actually sense that Lin Lu had drunk a bit much today as well.

However, she had a “big event” on tonight, which kept her in a highly excited state.

After this “big event,” she was feeling a bit anxious again, her attention surely focused.

Now that she was home, the effects of the alcohol would soon hit hard.

That’s why so many people feel fine at a drinking event, but once they get home, they find themselves hunched over the toilet, retching unrelentingly.

As for Cheng Zhu himself, he was in great shape.

He was really just slightly tipsy and could probably handle another three hundred rounds or even attend a third drinking party without an issue.

Cheng Zhu went straight back to the Xinhang Apartment, messaged Lin Lu on WeChat after freshening up, and then began to wash up.

Taking a hot shower, he felt even more sober, as if some of the effects of the alcohol had dissipated.

Some people get restless when slightly drunk.

Cheng Zhu felt a bit of that restlessness inside today.

The palpitations in his heart today even made him feel like he had gone back to the time before his past life of rampant flirtations, to a more naive period.

After changing into his pajamas, Cheng Zhu picked up his phone from the washstand and glanced at it.

There was a WeChat notification on the screen, which he guessed was a goodnight message from Lin Lu.

The two had long developed the habit of saying goodnight and good morning to each other every day.

Standing in the bathroom, he unlocked his phone, not expecting to receive a voice message tonight.

“Cheng Zhu, goodnight,” she said with a tiny trace of drunken haze in her voice, echoing in the bathroom.

After putting down his phone, Cheng Zhu looked up and was startled for a moment.

Because the man in the mirror was smiling – upon hearing the voice message, the corners of his mouth naturally began to lift, and what was worse, it was unconscious, he hadn’t even noticed it at first.

“This is terrible,” Cheng Zhu couldn’t help but randomly tousle his hair with his hand.

…

…

The next day, Cheng Zhu slept in until ten in the morning.

He had gone to sleep at around two and had slept fairly deeply.

When he woke up, he grabbed his phone and saw that he had received several messages in his dorm room’s WeChat group.

“Brother Zhu, why haven’t you arrived?”

“Damn, Brother Zhu, you skipped class!”

“What did you do on Christmas Eve?”

Clearly, these messages were sent by Dong Dong.

He was the only one with no sense of propriety – Liu Feng and Zheng Qingfeng wouldn’t dare to ask.

Cheng Zhu had a morning class today, which he had uncharacteristically skipped.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t force himself to get up; he just felt that if he didn’t get enough sleep, he would be somewhat lethargic this afternoon and evening.

Since he had already promised to have a date with Lin Lu today, he wanted to make sure he was in the best possible condition.

He simply replied in the group, “Overslept, I’m skipping the afternoon class as well.”

His message certainly startled the three troublemakers of dorm 309.

The three of them huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.

“Brother Zhu overslept? He’s the type of tough guy who could get up without hesitation even on a cold day without the air conditioning on!” Donger narrowed his eyes, feeling that something serious was up.

He truly believed that someone who could get out of bed in the chilly early morning without turning on the heat was seriously tough.

Don’t you feel like there’s a magnetic pull from the comforters, like a whirlpool, impossible to escape from?

In reality, Cheng Zhu was indeed much more disciplined than the three of them.

“Right, Brother Zhu must have stayed up late last night!” Liu Feng joined the analysis.

Zheng Qingfeng listened and nodded vigorously.

Christmas Eve was popular for gifting apples, so many called it “Bombing Day.”

Known information: didn’t return to the dorm, slept very late.

Hard not to let people’s imaginations run wild.

“And he’s even skipping his afternoon classes; isn’t he the most eager to attend class?”

“Right, he didn’t even skip class for the milk tea shop opening. He insisted on finishing his morning classes before going, and you couldn’t drag him away!”

“Exactly!” Cool and overweight Zheng could hardly hold back his laughter in his attempts to maintain his aloof facade.

“Something’s definitely up!” Dong Dong said with a mischievous grin, “Could it be his legs are too weak to get out of bed?”

“Donger, your laugh is so sleazy.”

“Is it?”

“It is.” Zheng affirmed.

“Chuaner, you’re the class leader. Aren’t you going to do something about his blatant skipping of class?” Dong Dong began to stir trouble, “Come on! Ask him why he’s skipping. If he can’t give a good reason, go tell the counselor!”

“I think you really want me dead. Didn’t you dare not to meddle when he didn’t come back at night as the dorm leader?”

“Then you ask him why he’s skipping. If you ask, I dare to ask whom he was sleeping with!” Dong Dong got excited, sure that Liu Feng wouldn’t dare.

Zheng Qingfeng just watched the commotion, trying hard to suppress his laughter to maintain his cool image.

Cheng Zhu, rarely skipping class, sent Lin Lu a good morning message.

After sending it, seeing that she hadn’t replied, he guessed she was still asleep.

“To think you said you’d have insomnia and wouldn’t sleep well, but here you are, sleeping soundly,” Cheng Zhu shook his head with a smile.

He got up to brush his teeth and wash his face, as well as his hair.

After that, he also started picking out clothes, assembling his outfit for today.

After changing, he even styled his hair in front of the mirror.

They say women dress for the ones they admire, but sometimes men do the same.

Many boys suddenly become very conscious of their image during puberty, especially about their hairstyles, constantly arranging their hair in front of a mirror, which really just indicates they’re in the throes of young love.

By Ten Thirty, his phone buzzed – it seemed Lin Lu had woken up.

Or rather, she had set her alarm for Ten Thirty.

“Good morning!” she texted on WeChat.

Cheng Zhu’s good morning had no punctuation, while Lin Lu’s reply was with an exclamation mark.

“Awake.”

“Yes, see? It’s Ten Thirty, and I set my alarm for Ten Thirty. I woke up right away.” She even had the tone of having accomplished something impressive, as if she had done something remarkable.

“That’s our amazing Baby Lu,” Cheng Zhu typed.

“When should I come to pick you up?” he asked.

“Head out around eleven thirty; I want to get ready today!” Little Lu didn’t hold back.

“OK,” Cheng Zhu replied with a smile.

There was still plenty of time, so he casually ate a box of biscuits for breakfast, considering it his morning meal.

He stepped over to the window to look outside, “The snow hasn’t piled up after all.”

The snow last night was too light; it had almost stopped by the time he took the Land Rover home.

“But the weather forecast said it might snow again today; I wonder if it’ll come down heavy,” Cheng Zhu mused.

Cheng Zhu left at eleven fifteen, just in case there was traffic.

When he drove to Lin Lu’s residential complex, he worried he might not be able to get in and that the security guard would stop him and ask for information.

However, when he saw the guard check a small booklet against his license plate number, he was immediately saluted and allowed through.

“It seems she left my car information with the property management,” Cheng Zhu guessed.

“Really though, she could have just had them enter my plate number into their system,” he shamelessly thought to himself.

After parking, he sent Lin Lu a WeChat message: “I’m here.”

“Coming, coming!”

Lin Lu hurriedly changed her shoes, bustling about.

Going by her outfit today, she planned to match it with a pair of black leather shoes.

Eyeing several pairs in the shoe cabinet, she ultimately chose the ones with slightly higher heels.

“Cheng Zhu is so much taller than me,” she thought to herself.

Shoes on, she slung her small handbag over her shoulder and hurried to press the elevator button.

As she entered the elevator and watched the floors descend, she instinctively pulled out her phone to use the selfie camera, not to take a photo but to tidy up her bangs and check her makeup for the day.

Once she was sure everything was in order, she locked her phone and placed it back in her bag.

Cheng Zhu, sitting in the car, kept his eyes fixed forward and soon saw Lin Lu come out.

Baby Lu was dressed in a preppy style today.

A white shirt complemented with a cute tie, covered with a light grey MiuMiu knit sweater.

Below, she wore a dark grey pencil skirt, layered over thick black tights, paired with platformed black leather shoes.

Lastly, she donned a black overcoat.

She truly suited the preppy look, with her energetic vibe shining through.

But what caught Cheng Zhu’s eye most today was the scarf he had given her wrapped around her neck.

Yes, Lin Lu was eager to wear it right away.

As soon as she got into the car, she asked excitedly, “Does it look good?”

Lin Lu was inquiring about the look of the scarf he had given her, with her usual touch of arrogance but also a hint of nervousness.

“It looks great,” Cheng Zhu replied with a smile.

But what he meant wasn’t limited to just the scarf.

…

(p.s.: Second update, requesting monthly support.)