Fog Returns to the Capital

Chapter 28 shouldn't be here.
"My meeting will probably take about an hour. Will you wait for me in your office?"

Zhou Jinghuai looked at Li Wu and spoke gently.

Li Wu never refused Zhou Jinghuai's words.

Hearing him say that, she obediently nodded, "Okay."

Then, Zhou Jinghuai introduced his assistant to Li Wu, saying, "If you need anything, you can tell him."

……

Soon after Zhou Jinghuai left, a doctor-like person came in and examined Li Wu's hand.

When she reached out her hand, Li Wu was actually a little embarrassed. In her opinion, this was something that didn't require seeing a doctor at all.

But the doctor didn't treat it casually just because it was a scratch. Zhou Jinghuai had asked him to examine it, and he treated even the slightest wound with the same seriousness as if he were performing surgery.

After cleaning and applying medication, Dr. Huang even prepared to wrap a layer of gauze around Li Wu's right hand. Only after Li Wu repeatedly refused in fear did the doctor give up.

After the doctor left.

Li Wu was the only one left in the entire office.

The assistant waited outside the door, not daring to linger in Zhou Jinghuai's office.

The large, solemn office was completely silent. Only the old-fashioned clock on the wall ticked away, round and round.

Like a hypnosis, it blurred the passage of time.

Li Wu clearly remembered that she was still holding that script in her hand and reading it, counting the time Zhou Jinghuai mentioned in her mind.

But when she opened her eyes again, the hands of the clock had already gone through several cycles.

Winter days are short, and it gets dark outside.

As dusk painted the sky, the entire office building was enveloped in the gentle, lingering twilight.

A sliver of light spilled in and fell upon Li Wu. The soft, hazy light made her, already petite and delicate, appear even more slender and fragile, giving her an air of easily broken vulnerability.

Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings.

For a second or two, Li Wu's mind went blank, and she completely forgot where she was.

"woke up?"

A deep, familiar voice rang out in the office, instantly calming Li Wu's somewhat bewildered and helpless heart.

Subconsciously.

Li Wu looked in the direction from which the sound came from.

Zhou Jinghuai sat on a sofa not far away, his extremely handsome face slightly blurred by the dim light of the screen.

His deep-set eyes and brows were difficult to discern clearly, and his emotions were hard to tell.

"Sorry, sorry, I accidentally fell asleep..."

Li Wu quickly sat up from the sofa, repeatedly apologizing.

Li Wu felt genuinely embarrassed and apologetic about falling asleep while waiting in his office.

As she spoke, she racked her brains for a reason, "Maybe it's because I've been too tired these past few days, so..."

When he noticed the gaze that Jinghuai had given him last week.

Li Wu's voice grew softer and softer until it finally fell silent.

Without even looking, Li Wu knew that her face was red, and she felt embarrassed that she had nowhere to hide in front of him.

This is also the time.

Li Wu looked down and realized that she was covered with a dark gray blanket. It was very soft and delicate, and looked quite expensive.

Was it... that he covered her with it?

"It's nothing, my meeting just took a little too long."

As Zhou Jinghuai finished speaking, all the lights in the office turned on.

Zhou Jinghuai's gaze swept over a few stray strands of hair that fell beside Li Wu's face, and finally landed on her hands. He asked, "Does your hand feel any better?"

hand?
Even without Zhou Jinghuai saying anything, Li Wu didn't realize her hand hurt.

She opened her palm and looked at it; the broken skin was now only a small, tender red patch, with faint signs of scabbing over.

It must be because of the medication I applied; the area around the wound feels cool, and there's a slight, almost imperceptible itch.

"It doesn't hurt anymore."

As she spoke, Li Wu spread her hands in front of Zhou Jinghuai, and when she looked up at him, her eyes crinkled into a smile, her gentle and delicate features as beautiful as a painting.

"That doctor's medicine is so effective. In just a short while, I feel like I'm almost healed."

Li Wu exaggerated; what she really meant was that the doctor's medicine was very effective. And... his concern made her feel flattered, even a little apprehensive.

Zhou Jinghuai glanced at her palm, then his gaze fell on her smiling face. He paused for a moment before giving a soft "hmm".

"Did you remember all the precautions the doctor told you?"

Li Wu nodded. "I've remembered them all."

Zhou Jinghuai stood tall and handsome before her, his silhouette almost completely enveloping her in the light.

Li Wu felt a sudden sense of oppression for no reason, and her thoughts were filled with a sense of panic and disorientation.

Can be biased.

Zhou Jinghuai simply looked at her calmly, his dark, deep eyes, as dark as an inky sea, revealing not a ripple of emotion.

"...Mr. Zhou, thank you for today."

Li Wu suppressed the unspeakable emotions in her heart, speaking softly and slowly. It was as if speaking slowly would prolong the moment.

"Thank you so much for treating my sprain and for having the doctor check the wound on my hand."

Fearing that saying thank you once wouldn't be enough, Li Wu said it twice.

“However, it’s getting late, I should… I should leave…” Li Wu’s voice trailed off.

After she finished speaking, a faint, indescribable sense of loss spread through her heart.

"After saying thank you so many times, how are you going to thank me?"

As the deep, calm, and unhurried voice rang out, Li Wu's heart trembled slightly.

She looked up at him and blurted out, "Shall I treat you to dinner?"

But after saying that, Li Wu immediately realized what she meant.

Last time she said she would treat him to dinner, but instead he took her to a dinner party instead. Her mind was a jumbled mess, and Li Wu blurted out whatever came to mind without thinking.

"Why don't you tell me what you want, and I'll do my best to make it happen..."

At the beginning, Li Wu thought she was quite sincere. But as she finished speaking, she suddenly paused.

She looked up and met the man's dark, deep eyes.

His deep, calm eyes gazed at her, serene and still. Yet, deep within them, something seemed to be stirring beneath the surface.

Li Wu's heart skipped a beat.

really.

He asked—

"Anything is okay?"

The man leaned slightly forward, his long, slender fingers gently brushing away a few stray strands of hair from her temples, slowly tucking them behind her ears.

A very light, very shallow touch.

The warm fingertips seemed to carry a heat that could burn one's heart, turning Li Wu's delicate earlobe crimson.

“Mr. Zhou…”

As the tall man approached, Li Wu instinctively shrank back, her simple words becoming incoherent due to her stuttering and halting speech.

"Does that mean you can do anything?"

The man's unhurried, even somewhat deliberate voice, each word like shattered jade striking her heart.

Li Wu's heart trembled.

More unfamiliar and frightening emotions welled up inside me, and I couldn't suppress them at all.

The difference in their physiques was already quite obvious, and Li Wu, huddled in the corner of the sofa, looked even smaller. She was slender, thin, and so fragile that she had no ability to resist.

"Yes, I said it... but..."

Li Wu's tone changed noticeably; she sounded flustered and uneasy, with a nervousness that made her unsure of what to say.

Zhou Jinghuai looked down at her; the stray hairs he had neatly brushed aside were now disheveled again, with a few fine strands brushing against her beautiful eyebrows and eyes.

Amidst the disarray, her pure and beautiful face seemed to be tinged with a different hue, like a magnolia flower ravaged by spring rain, fragile and easily broken.

His gaze paused for a moment.

He thought about it, and so he did it.

The man's clean and refreshing aura enveloped her, almost drowning out Li Wu's breath.

Li Wu instinctively wanted to hug him, but she didn't dare.

But next second.

Her delicate, fair chin was gently held in the man's warm palm.

Li Wu tilted her head slightly, her heart pounding with fear, yet she was still enveloped by the man's warm, surging breath.

It was an even more patient, tender, and delicate kiss than that night.

He gently sucked on her soft lips, savoring them slowly and forcefully, yet still not satisfied, so he pressed his advantage. His tongue, tinged with the scent of winter snow and pine forest, pried open her lips and teeth, conquering deeper and deeper like a raiding party.

……

……

Li Wu's breathing became erratic and rapid, and her thin, slender body trembled uncontrollably.

She was like a fish suffocating on the shore, desperately trying to breathe. But Zhou Jinghuai robbed her of every last bit of oxygen.

The lack of oxygen in her lungs turned her pale face bright red, as if she had been immersed in a surging red tide.

But then, a completely unfamiliar yet inexplicably frightening new trend began to emerge from within Li Wu...

Li Wu was truly terrified. Her hands trembled slightly as she gripped Zhou Jinghuai's suit jacket, her voice trembling softly as she sobbed, "Wait, wait a minute..."

Zhou Jinghuai stopped.

Li Wu's face was flushed, her messy hair clung to her face, and her breathing was disordered and rapid.

It looked as if it had been brutally ravaged.

But actually.

Zhou Jinghuai's suit was still impeccably tailored, and even his shirt and trousers were perfectly pressed and meticulously pressed, with very few wrinkles.

Li Wu was afraid.

I'm afraid of that overwhelming feeling of unfamiliarity.

I was also afraid of spoiling his mood.

Li Wu's hand, which was gripping Zhou Jinghuai's suit, had not completely let go; she even hesitated to do so, only tightening her grip slightly.

She wanted to explain, but was too ashamed to speak, "I..."

How could she feel that way just because of a kiss...?

"It's my fault."

Zhou Jinghuai reached out and smoothed the messy hair on Li Wu's face, revealing her delicate, flushed face.

The dark circles under his eyes had thinned considerably, and his tone was calm. "It shouldn't be here."

Li Wu was taken aback.

My chaotic heart was once again thrown into turmoil, unable to find a place to settle down.

She lowered her head, too embarrassed to look at him, and said in a low, muffled voice, "Mr. Zhou, may I leave now?"

Hear the words.

Zhou Jinghuai neither said yes nor no, but simply asked, "What about the injury on your hand?"

The injury on your hand?

Li Wu glanced at her hand—in her opinion, it was just a scratch that didn't even count as an injury; it was only he who had been worried about it.

A strange pang of sadness welled up in Li Wu's heart, and she said softly, "I can manage on my own. It won't affect my daily life."

Zhou Jinghuai looked at her for a while.

"Come to my place." After a few seconds of silence, Zhou Jinghuai spoke slowly.

(End of this chapter)