Chapter Twelve: Should One Be Grateful That Lu Zheng Is a Man of Trustworthy Character?

Although Lu Zheng spoke with personal motives, he was not speaking nonsense. At this moment, he truly could not leave.

Looking out the window, the road nearby was already littered with several private cars stalled and abandoned on the street. In just the short time he had been upstairs, the water outside had already risen to the car doors.

Gu Yao naturally saw this scene too. Though reluctant in her heart, she had no way to force him out. If anything were to happen, she wouldn’t even be able to cover the damages by selling off everything.

She returned to the bedroom, retrieved a blanket, and placed it on the sofa in the living room.

“Then you can sleep here. The sofa pulls out into a bed.”

After saying this, she glanced toward the bathroom.

“Do you want to shower now?”

Lu Zheng, however, sat down on the sofa, crossing his long legs, appearing even more relaxed than Gu Yao, the host.

“You go first. I’ll wait until you finish.”

Gu Yao was momentarily stunned by the subtle intimacy hidden in his words.

She looked up at his expression—his face serious, yet his gaze heavy and aggressively intense.

Should she be grateful that Lu Zheng was at least someone trustworthy in character?

The topic of showering between a man and a woman alone was indeed somewhat dangerous.

Gu Yao said no more and turned back into the room.

Lu Zheng sat on the sofa, in front of him on the glass coffee table lay a few pieces of fruit candy.

Those were from when Gu Yao had bought something at the convenience store downstairs and had taken some as change.

He picked one up, tore it open, and let the grape-flavored sweetness spread across his tongue. The urge to smoke diminished somewhat.

Soon after, the bedroom door opened again.

Gu Yao emerged with a stack of clean clothes and towels.

She didn’t dare look at Lu Zheng and went straight into the bathroom.

She felt grateful that the bathroom door was wooden, not frosted glass.

Otherwise, she would have resolutely refused to shower tonight!

After a short while, faint sounds of water came from the bathroom.

Because the door was closed, the sounds were soft, but in Lu Zheng’s ears, they wove a misty, evocative image.

He stood up, took a glass of water, gulped it down, yet still felt as if a slender waist was swaying before his eyes.

Gu Yao’s shower was unusually quick today.

Afterward, she dried her hair and didn’t even apply a face mask, only a simple layer of skincare before stepping out of the bathroom.

She had changed into a loose T-shirt with a cartoon pattern and black floral wide-legged pants.

Lu Zheng’s gaze briefly swept over her clothes, a subtle smirk tugging at his lips.

“You can go wash yourself now.”

Gu Yao looked at him, her gaze falling on his somewhat wrinkled shirt. After a moment of silence, she added,

“But you don’t have any spare clothes. Don’t get that one wet.”

Before Lu Zheng could reply, she had already returned to the bedroom and firmly shut the door with a click.

The living room fell silent.

Lu Zheng glanced toward the closed door, then after a moment, chuckled softly and stood up.

Gu Yao slept very early that night.

In her dreams, she found herself back in high school.

It was also a rainy day then, but only a light drizzle.

Gu Yao was trapped in the corridor behind the school when a shy boy from the neighboring class confessed to her.

She was surprised and a little pleased.

Though she didn’t like the boy, it was the first time a boy had confessed to her, and she was happy.

Before she could respond, Lu Zheng suddenly appeared, mocking the boy with biting sarcasm.

The boy, hurt, left with a wounded expression, while Gu Yao was baffled by Lu Zheng’s strange behavior.

“He didn’t do anything to you. Why say those things?”

Lu Zheng sneered, “What, are you feeling sorry for him? Gu Yao, you’re only seventeen. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about dating early? I might just tell Auntie Han!”

They argued over this until Gu Yao’s birthday, when Lu Zheng came with a gift, and they found a reason to start talking again.

But Gu Yao never understood why Lu Zheng had suddenly become so irritable.

Only when a classmate said it must be because Lu Zheng liked her and was jealous did Gu Yao shake her head but secretly feel pleased.

Later, however, she overheard some words that revealed otherwise.

That realization brought a wave of sorrow and heartache starting from her chest and spreading outward.

Gu Yao opened her eyes from sleep; the room was pitch black.

The dull heaviness in her chest lingered as her mind wavered between dream and reality in chaotic confusion.

She reached out, turned on the bedside lamp, and checked her phone—6 a.m.

Some light seeped through the gap in the curtains, but it was not bright.

Perhaps because she had gone to bed early, now awake, she couldn’t fall back asleep.

She lay still, eyes fixed on the ceiling for a long time.

By the time the details of the dream began to fade, she moved and climbed out of bed.

She walked to the window and drew back the curtains slightly.

Outside, the rain was still falling but much lighter, and even the puddles on the road were receding.

Then she went to the door, listened carefully. There was no movement outside.

Gu Yao placed her hand on the doorknob and opened it.

The living room was quiet.

She stepped out and turned around, her eyes widening slightly.

Lu Zheng was lying on the folding bed, still asleep.

But he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

One arm was raised above his head, exposing his firm and toned chest bare to the air.

A gray blanket was draped diagonally over his waist and abdomen, revealing a hint of his lean abs.

Two sharply defined “mermaid lines” extended from beneath the blanket, disappearing beneath the waistband of his tailored trousers, stirring the imagination.

Gu Yao glanced twice, struggling to resist looking again, then averted her gaze.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she tried to ignore the man sleeping on the sofa and entered the bathroom.

Afterward, she came out and went into the kitchen.

Lu Zheng woke up to the aroma of breakfast.

He lay in bed for a while, then turned his head toward the kitchen but didn’t move.

After a few minutes, Gu Yao appeared carrying two bowls.

As she looked up, their eyes met in a calm, steady gaze.

Her hand trembled slightly, and her eyes involuntarily drifted to his strong shoulders, but she forced herself to hold back.

“Ready to eat?” she asked.

Lu Zheng naturally sat up and replied, “I’m going to wash up.”

He said this, lifting the blanket from his waist, fully revealing his slim torso to Gu Yao’s eyes.

Then he got off the folding bed, slipped on Gu Yao’s ill-fitting pink slippers, and went into the bathroom.

Gu Yao watched the blanket curled up on the bed, feeling a sudden warmth rise to her cheeks.

Lu Zheng soon emerged from the bathroom.

He walked to the balcony door, reached up, took down the shirt hanging there, and put it on.

Only then did Gu Yao realize he had washed his clothes last night.

Now, the white shirt was all wrinkled.

She frowned slightly.

“There’s an iron. Want to use it?”