Hear this life

Lu Shicheng's gaze was direct and frank, as if it could penetrate her skin and penetrate into her heart.

This was the first time he looked at her for such a long time. Wen Tingli couldn't help feeling a little overwhelmed. She knew very early on that people's eyes could imply different meanings. When expressing ferocity, it could make a person instantly look a few steps shorter. When expressing indifference, it could also chill a person to the bone.

At this moment, Lu Shicheng's gaze was irresistible. It wasn't that fierce, he just looked at her calmly, but for some reason, her face began to feel hot.

Lately she has been sticking to his side like a dog-skin plaster. One or two "chance encounters" can be called coincidences, but how to explain a series of coincidences? Tonight was even more excessive. She was blatantly destroying Zhu Zihe's chance to be alone with him.

No matter how well-mannered Lu Shicheng was, he couldn't help but feel suspicious when he saw this.

How would he ask the question? Indirectly or directly?

Thinking of this, she almost had to use all her strength to resist that gaze.

Perhaps because her face was getting redder and redder, the oppressive feeling opposite her suddenly disappeared. Wen Tingli raised her eyes quietly, only to see Lu Shicheng turning his face to the azalea bush beside him. When he turned his head back, he regained his usual polite and measured attitude.

He nodded and went to look for a car across the street.

It looks like he's leaving.

Wen Tingli hurriedly said behind him: "Goodbye, Mr. Lu."

As soon as he left, Wen Tingli couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this man was Lu Shicheng. His upbringing prevented him from making things difficult for her. If it were someone else, he would have probably pushed her into a state of humiliation.

She breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking along the path.

Suddenly, a strange "pa pa pa" sound came from behind.

Looking back, she only saw a dark shadow. A feeling of uneasiness suddenly surged into her heart. She didn't feel it when Lu Shicheng was around, but now she realized that the surroundings were terrifyingly quiet.

She decisively quickened her pace, and the sound behind her became louder, "Pa-pa-pa" following closely behind her, which was indescribably strange.

Wen Tingli thought of the various methods of the White Dragon Gang, and she panicked and ran away. The sound was like a shadow following her, and it seemed that it was about to crush her. Just when Wen Tingli was terrified beyond words, a familiar car suddenly appeared in front of her, and the black car slowly drove up to her.

Lu Shicheng actually drove to find her.

"Mr. Lu!" Wen Tingli was so excited as if she had seen her own relative, and ran to the car window.

Perhaps because she looked like she had seen a ghost, Lu Shicheng couldn't help but look behind her.

Wen Tingli mustered up the courage to look back.

I was stunned when I saw it.

A big black cat was squatting not far away, holding half a broken leather shoe in its mouth. The strange sound before was made by the big cat dragging the leather shoe.

The big cat seemed somewhat dissatisfied with Wen Tingli's sudden stop, and its pair of round green cat eyes were staring at her quietly.

Wen Tingli was even more unable to move. She had always been afraid of cats, and the cat in front of her was particularly fat. It didn't look like a wild cat, but rather a domesticated cat from a nearby household.

Lu Shicheng pushed the door open, got out of the car, walked to the big cat, bent down and picked it up from the ground. The big cat gave Lu Shicheng a claw without saying a word, but Lu Shicheng pulled it away from him in advance and let the big cat kick him randomly, but it could not reach him at all. The big cat was furious and opened its mouth to meow.

Suddenly, there was a "pop" sound, and the torn leather shoes in the big cat's mouth fell to the ground. Wen Tingli was still frightened, and unexpectedly saw the smile in Lu Shicheng's eyes, and couldn't help but laugh: "This big cat is really hateful, it's so fearless."

While the two were distracted, the big cat jumped from Lu Shicheng's hands to the ground and quickly disappeared into the night.

Lu Shicheng brushed off the cat fur on his body and turned to look at Wen Tingli beside him.

This place is too dark, he pointed to his car. [Get in the car, I'll take you home.]

Wen Tingli got into his car gratefully: "Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Lu."

***
After getting in the car, Wen Tingli glanced at Lu Shicheng beside her from time to time.

It's such a long journey, we can't just keep silent.

"Mr. Lu likes cats very much?" she took the initiative to speak.

Lu Shicheng looked at her in the mirror.

"People who are afraid of cats wouldn't dare get close to a big cat like you did." Wen Tingli said confidently, "The way Mr. Lu carried the cat showed that he had raised a cat before."

After saying this, Lu Shicheng did not respond immediately. Wen Tingli also knew that this sounded a bit like trying to find out Lu Shicheng's preferences. Her behavior at Principal Zou's house tonight was already strange, and it would be a bit suspicious if she continued to chat like this. But if she didn't say a word in the car, she would seem too guilty.

While she was thinking about it, she saw Lu Shicheng nodded, answering her question, and pointed to the steering wheel, indicating that he could not write to answer her question.

Wen Tingli was encouraged: "Mr. Lu, how many cats have you raised in the past? I guess all the cats you raise must be beautiful."

Lu Shicheng shook his head, and Wen Tingli was puzzled: "Isn't she beautiful?"

Would the Lu Mansion keep an ugly cat?

Thinking of Lu Shicheng's action of picking up a cat on the street late at night, she smiled with shame: "I know, Mr. Lu raised a stray cat, right? How many cats have you taken in, one? Two? Or a large group? I remember that there are many pigeons in the Lu Mansion. Mr. Lu must like small animals very much."

Just then, Lu Shicheng parked the car on the side of the street. Wen Tingli didn't understand what was going on, so she turned around and saw Lu Shicheng leaning towards her.

Her heart suddenly shrank. In the narrow space, her body seemed to have shrunk by half. She had nowhere to put her hands and feet, and her brain didn't know how to react. Unexpectedly, Lu Shicheng just pulled out a stack of newspapers from the machine in the front seat and handed it to her.

【If you feel bored, you can read the newspaper. 】

Wen Tingli's mind was still a little confused, and she answered him mechanically: "But I don't feel bored."

Lu Shicheng was just about to sit back down, but upon hearing this, he turned around and looked at her deeply.

The air in the car seemed to get hotter.

Wen Tingli regretted what she said, but she couldn't think of any other words to resolve the situation, so she could only stare at him.

At such a short distance, she could even see how many eyelashes he had. His skin was not as rough as most men's, and in the shadows it looked like flawless jade. His eyes were as quiet as he was, with a faint glow flowing in them.

Correspondingly, Lu Shicheng must be able to see every tiny part of her face. Thinking of this, Wen Tingli couldn't sit still anymore, bit her lip, and was eager to find something to defuse the situation.

Almost at the same time, Lu Shicheng suddenly withdrew his gaze from her face and sat back in his original position.

Because of this incident, Wen Tingli seemed to have lost the ability to speak for the rest of the journey and just obediently read the newspaper in her hand.

She felt a little confused at first, but then her attention was drawn to several news stories in the newspaper.

By the time she finished reading a few newspapers with gusto, the car had already reached Mailin Road. Just one more turn would bring her to the Cixin Hospital across the street.

Just at this moment, the car's engine suddenly made a few strange roars and the speed of the car slowed down suddenly.

Lu Shicheng changed gears several times, but the car kept going slower and slower, until it finally stopped moving.

He checked but found nothing, so he got out of the car and walked over to her to help her open the door.

[Get out of the car, it's broken down. ]

Wen Tingli was stunned at first, then laughed: "It turns out that Rolls-Royce can also malfunction."

In fact, she was not laughing because the high-end rickshaw broke down, but because she saw Lu Shicheng frowning for the first time.

She held back her laughter, opened the car door and got out, thanking him again and again: "Thank you Mr. Lu for giving me a ride. The Cixin Hospital is just ahead, I can walk back by myself."

I hadn't walked far when I heard footsteps behind me.

She looked back in surprise and saw Lu Shicheng following her with his hands in his trouser pockets.

When he looked back, he was looking at her back.

"Mr. Lu?"

Lu Shicheng made a phone call gesture to her. He had to call someone to fix the car.

Wen Tingli slapped her forehead in annoyance and hurried back to him: "Look at me, I completely forgot about this! There is a phone at Cixin Hospital, and I am very familiar with the nurses in the ward. Mr. Lu, come with me, I will help you make the call."

Lu Shicheng obediently accepted Wen Tingli's suggestion.

The two crossed the road together.

"Mr. Lu, what time is it now?" Wen Tingli turned around and asked.

Lu Shicheng raised his watch and motioned for her to look at it.

Wen Tingli leaned over and looked down: "Fortunately, it's only a little after nine o'clock. As usual, the lights in their ward are turned off at ten o'clock. If the lights are turned off, they have to turn on the flashlight in advance."

As soon as I entered the ward, I saw Mrs. Zhou playing with Xiao Taozi in the corridor.

"Why are you still awake so late?"

Mrs. Zhou just stared at Lu Shicheng beside Wen Tingli with wide eyes. In shock, Xiao Taozi ran over and hugged her sister's legs, then poked her head out and looked at Lu Shicheng curiously. When she turned around and met her sister's encouraging eyes, she mustered up the courage to greet him: "Mr. Lu."

After all, he was only three years old, and the first thing he did was pronounce "Lu" as "Ru".

Lu Shicheng's attitude was still very respectful. He took the initiative to squat down and shake hands with Xiao Taozi.

Little Peach laughed loudly, and her round belly bulged.

Mrs. Zhou came forward and held Xiao Taozi in her arms: "Head Nurse Liu said that the young lady is now famous. Several groups of people from the drama club came tonight, claiming to be here to inquire about your performance experience. In addition, several reporters from the newspaper heard that you were admitted to the university and came to interview you. I was really surprised how they could be so well-informed. I told them that you went to a classmate's house, and they insisted on waiting until nine o'clock to leave. Xiao Taozi rarely sees so many guests, and she refused to sleep no matter what."

After explaining this, Mrs. Zhou stared at Lu Shicheng and asked in a friendly tone, "Who is this gentleman?"

"This is Mr. Lu." Wen Tingli was busy getting Mrs. Zhou out of the way. "He came in to borrow the phone."

Then he said to Lu Shicheng, "This is Mrs. Zhou. The phone is over here. Please follow me."

Mrs. Zhou's eyes seemed to have turned into flashlights, shining brightly at Lu Shicheng. Fortunately, Lu Shicheng did not seem to feel offended. Instead, he nodded calmly to Mrs. Zhou.

Perhaps it was because Lu Shicheng was too calm and kind, Mrs. Zhou suddenly felt a little embarrassed: "The guests just sent a lot of fruit. I'll bring some watermelon to Mr. Lu."

Wen Tingli was anxious: "How can you just accept other people's things? I don't even know these people."

"I didn't want to take them, but when I chased them out, they were long gone. There were two watermelons this big, which were already cut up when I got here. If we don't finish them tonight, they will definitely go bad."

Then he quickly explained to Lu Shicheng: "Don't worry, Mr. Lu. I didn't give it to you because I was afraid that the watermelon would go bad. I just--"

Wen Tingli didn't know what to say. She didn't know what was going on tonight. Even Mrs. Zhou was a little silly! She stamped her feet and said, "Mr. Lu won't misunderstand. You can take Xiao Taozi back." Turning around, she saw Lu Shicheng lowering his eyes to hide the smile in his eyes. She didn't know whether he was laughing at her or Mrs. Zhou.

Wen Tingli couldn't help laughing, and after laughing for a while, she asked him, "Mr. Lu, do you want to eat watermelon? After I finish the call, I'll get you some to quench your thirst."

Before Lu Shicheng could answer, many people came out of the ward and stared at him. Someone even asked Wen Tingli, "Xiao Wen, is this your friend?"

Wen Tingli led Lu Shicheng through the crowd. The nurses all liked Wen Tingli very much. Although they were also curious about Lu Shicheng, they readily agreed to borrow the phone. Before dialing, Wen Tingli asked Lu Shicheng, "Are you calling Mr. Kuang?"

After all, Kuang Zhilin's residence was not far from here in Ganjia Lane, but Lu Shicheng took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Wen Tingli.

It was a completely unfamiliar number, and the person on the business card was called Fangda.

Wen Tingli called over and said, "Is this Mr. Fang? Mr. Lu's car broke down. It's on Mailin Road now. Mr. Lu is at -"

She looked at Lu Shicheng for advice, and Lu Shicheng pointed in the direction of the courtyard gate.

"He will be waiting for you at the gate of Ci Xin Hospital. How long will it take you to arrive? Ten minutes at most? OK, I will tell Mr. Lu."

After hanging up the phone, the group of people at the office door suddenly separated to the sides, and Mrs. Zhou came over with a large plate, on which were neatly placed a dozen bright red watermelons.

Mrs. Zhou said to Lu Shicheng enthusiastically, "There are many mosquitoes in the corridor. Mr. Lu might as well go into the room and wait while eating. There are lights and fans in the room, and mosquito coils are lit."

Wen Tingli was hesitant to speak. Mrs. Zhou must have misunderstood the relationship between her and Lu Shicheng. Her father was bedridden, and according to the Lu family's usual etiquette, it was impossible for her to not give a gift when seeing her father. But now she was not even Lu Shicheng's friend, so there was no reason for her to let him spend money.

But if she dragged Lu Shicheng away in a hurry, it would seem like she was unwilling to entertain him.

This was the first time in her life that she felt so embarrassed, but unexpectedly, Lu Shicheng had already nodded to Mrs. Zhou.

In the ward, Wen Desheng was looking out with his eyes bulging. He had just heard the nurse and Mrs. Zhou say that his daughter had brought back a young man, and now he wanted to be fully alert to deal with it.

Then Mrs. Zhou came in with a surprisingly handsome young man.

"This is Mr. Lu." Wen Tingli introduced the two parties reluctantly, "Mr. Lu, this is my father."

She watched Lu Shicheng's expression without blinking. The patient's psychology was the most fragile and sensitive. Whenever Lu Shicheng showed a strange look, it would hurt his father's heart.

In addition to worrying about her father, she was also afraid of reading a look of disdain or disgust on Lu Shicheng's face.

This feeling was both strange and unfamiliar - after all, she had never been one to care about what others thought.

Lu Shicheng was indeed stunned for a moment, but his face showed only surprise and sympathy, without any disgust. He even took the initiative to step forward and shake hands with Wen Desheng, with an attitude as natural as when he treated Xiao Taozi.

Wen Desheng's face lit up, and he hurriedly greeted Lu Shicheng in the most polite manner in his life: "Hello, please sit down. Mrs. Zhou, quickly serve tea to Mr. Lu."

When Mrs. Zhou served tea, Wen Desheng half-leaned on the pillow and asked softly, "Mr. Lu, are you still studying?"

"Mr. Lu graduated from university a long time ago." Wen Tingli answered first.

Wen Desheng's face was filled with surprise and admiration: "You are so young, but you are so knowledgeable. Where is Mr. Lu going to work now?"

Wen Tingli approached and whispered to her father, "Mr. Lu and I are not very familiar with each other. I just came in to see you, but you asked me all kinds of questions as soon as we met."

Lu Shicheng glanced at her profile.

"Not familiar with me?" Wen Desheng half believed and half doubted, and refuted in the same low voice, "Why would someone who is not familiar with me come in to see a half-dead person like me? Dad just asked a few questions, why are you so anxious?"

Wen Tingli didn't know how to explain Lu Shicheng's character to her father. Just at this moment, a lady named Luo from the next ward came in.

Earlier, she was discussing in the crowd that there were often thieves pretending to be rich kids to cheat on pretty girls. Her words hinted that Lu Shicheng was also the same kind of person. Wen Tingli didn't bother to pay attention to her.

Mrs. Luo was probably not satisfied with just watching the fun outside the door, and she actually came in and said, "This young man is really good-looking. Mr. Wen, you are so lucky to have such a beautiful daughter. You don't have to worry about anything. Unlike me, I don't know what will happen to my two daughters in the future. By the way, I have been here for so long, why hasn't Mr. Lu spoken a word? Xiao Wen, since it is your father who is asking questions, just let Mr. Lu speak for himself."

Lu Shicheng was quietly looking at the medicine bottle on the bedside. Hearing this, he suddenly shot two sharp eyes at Mrs. Luo. Mrs. Luo's smile froze. At this moment, she vaguely realized that this handsome young man was far from being as easy-going as he seemed.

Wen Tingli smiled and took over Mrs. Luo's words: "So Mrs. Luo also knew that it was my father who was asking the question. You rushed to answer like this, and people who didn't know would think you were a junior like me."

Mrs. Luo's face froze for a moment, and she said awkwardly, "My child, I have good intentions—"

At this time, a few people suddenly came to the corridor. They were dressed very neatly and their attitudes were very friendly. They bowed at the door and said, "Mr. Lu, the car is waiting at the door."

Everyone in the room looked at each other. Lu Shicheng went out for a while and came back with an envelope in his hand. He handed it to Wen Tingli and asked her to say hello to her father again on his behalf.

Then he stood beside the bed, bowed to Wen Desheng, and was about to take his people away.

Wen Tingli touched the envelope and realized that it contained a thick stack of check tickets. She was so scared that she hurriedly chased after him and said, "Mr. Lu, Mr. Lu, we cannot accept this money."

Lu Shicheng glanced at the middle-aged man beside him. Although the man was unsure about the relationship between Wen Tingli and Lu Shicheng, he immediately smiled and said obediently: "Miss Wen, since you are Mr. Lu's friend, you should know that Mr. Lu is always sincere to others. This is just a small token of Mr. Lu's kindness. Please don't worry."

This person must be Fang Da on the business card, who is just as smart as Kuang Zhilin.

After saying this, Fang Da came closer and whispered, "If Miss Wen refuses to accept it, we will have to convert the money into a bunch of gifts and send them to her. It's really hard to arrange it this late at night. If Miss Wen accepts it, it will be a big favor to us."

Wen Tingli looked up at Lu Shicheng, he just looked at her with lowered eyebrows. It was obvious that what Fang Da meant was what he meant, so she had to accept it with embarrassment. Besides being afraid that it would be like what Mr. Fang said, it was also because of the word "friend" in his words.

Although Lu Shicheng might not admit that she is his friend, she is very willing to be Lu Shicheng's friend!

As he was speaking, everything in front of him suddenly went dark and the lights in the corridor went out.

"I have a flashlight." Wen Tingli quickly turned on the flashlight, "I'll take you out."

In the darkness, Lu Shicheng did not walk as fast as usual. Wen Tingli was puzzled until she reached the stairs, and then she realized that he was taking her speed into consideration. Although she had a flashlight in her hand, it was a very narrow beam of light and she would fall if she was not careful.

To confirm this, she deliberately slowed down her pace, and sure enough, as she slowed down, he also slowed down.

Wen Tingli suddenly felt a little hot in her heart. She followed him to the door without saying a word and suddenly called out, "Mr. Lu."

Lu Shicheng looked back in the semi-darkness. His eyes were so beautiful that they were bright and shining even in the dim place. He looked at her intently.

Her heart was beating a little fast, and she whispered to him, "Are you free on Friday night? I have been bothering Mr. Lu all the time recently, and I really don't know how to repay you. I have two tickets for the Xinxin finals night, and I would like to invite you to watch the game."

This is the third time she has invited Lu Shicheng to watch her game.

He said with a confident smile: "Actually it's still a comedy show, but this time there are two cat imitation performances. Since you like cats so much, you will definitely find it very fresh."

Lu Shicheng was silent for a long time, then pointed at her school bag. Wen Tingli tacitly took out the notebook and gave it to him.

Lu Shicheng opened the notebook but did not start writing immediately. He looked as calm as usual, but his expression was a little different from usual, as if he was a little anxious and hesitant.

After a long while, he handed the notebook back to her.

[Sorry, I just can't spare the time these days. ]

Wen Tingli lowered her head and looked at the line of words. Once again, he rejected her directly.

"It's okay..." She smiled immediately, "Then I won't bother you, Mr. Lu. Good night, Mr. Lu."

Lu Shicheng got in the car. Fang Da asked cautiously from the front seat: "Mr. Kuang just found out where the Third Master is. Are you going back to the Lu Mansion immediately?"

After asking this question, Lu Shicheng did not respond.

Fang Da turned around in surprise, only to see Lu Shicheng looking out the window in annoyance.

"Master Cheng?" Fang Da coughed. "Mr. Kuang has been waiting for more than an hour. We went to Principal Zou's house to ask and found out that you, Master Cheng, had already left. We couldn't find you anywhere and were so worried. Who would have thought that you would come to Ci Xin Hospital? Let's go. We can't delay any longer."

Lu Shicheng woke up as if from a dream, and tried hard to calm his troubled mind. After a while, he signaled the driver to drive with a serious face.

***
Back in the ward, Mrs. Zhou was still mumbling.

"That Mrs. Luo is really - Hey, the young lady is back, Mr. Lu is not angry, right?"

"Angry?" Wen Tingli was puzzled.

"Mrs. Luo said those sour words. She was absolutely sure that Mr. Lu was a traitor. Later, when she heard everyone say that Mr. Lu was the young master of the famous Nanyang Lu family, her face was so ugly that I felt embarrassed for her."

Wen Tingli waved her hand: "Who has time to be angry with her?"

Mrs. Luo is a widow. Her eldest daughter is in the hospital with pneumonia, and her youngest daughter is not much older than Xiao Taozi. Since her husband's death, the family's livelihood has been supported by Mrs. Luo alone. This has been going on for too long, and Mrs. Luo is inevitably a little difficult to deal with, but she is not a bad person.

She would not bother with Mrs. Luo. As for Lu Shicheng, ever since she met him, she had never seen him mind these little things.

Wen Desheng looked at his daughter eagerly from the bed: "What's going on between you and Mr. Lu?"

"Nothing happened." Wen Tingli lazily fell onto the small bed.

"Don't try to fool me. Uncle Chen and the others saw it earlier. Mr. Lu walked you all the way back from outside the hospital. If you two weren't familiar with each other, why would he walk you back so late at night?"

"It's so late, so what if someone is kind enough to give me a ride?"

Wen Tingli was a little annoyed. It seemed more like she was saying this to herself than to her father.

She had just tried all sorts of ways to test Lu Shicheng, but ended up getting rejected by him. That's right, if a man like him didn't want to cause misunderstanding, he would definitely make things clear in person.

Perhaps, everything that happened tonight was just her illusion. Lu Shicheng only sent her on this trip out of consideration for her safety, but she was being self-indulgent because of this.

She pulled the quilt up high to cover her head in anger.

She was angry with herself.

The father spoke again: "Silly child, if they didn't have some intentions, why would they be willing to send you back and pretend to visit your father in the ward? You are always popular, so you must seize the opportunity. In my opinion, this Mr. Lu is much more reliable than that Qiao Xingchu. At the very least, he is calm and kind, and his thoughts are clear."

It would be fine if the Qiao family was not mentioned. As soon as the Qiao family was mentioned, Wen Tingli felt as if her pain nerves were burned. She immediately jumped up from the bed like a frog. "We are fine! Dad, please stop talking nonsense. Besides, isn't the Qiao family's lesson enough? Don't say that they don't have such feelings for me. Even if they do, there is a saying that goes 'Equals are not a good match'. It will be difficult for them to be together in the future. And why do I have to find a man?"

She jumped out of bed and proudly pointed at the room full of gifts and fruits.

"All of these people are here tonight for my daughter's reputation. She has only participated in a few competitions and has always made a name for herself. Dad, don't you understand now that my daughter is my biggest supporter?"

Wen Desheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What's wrong with you, kid? I just said something casually, but you complained so much. Of course, I know you have a promising future, but the world is like this, you can't stay single for the rest of your life."

"So what if I never get married? I've already been admitted to university. After I finish acting in Director Huang's play, I can save enough money for several years of tuition in one go. When I graduate from university, I will do something great like Dean Deng and Principal Zou did!"

After talking nonstop for a while, she met the surprised looks of the family. She herself found it a little funny and picked up the washbasin: "Okay, okay, I'm tired, I'll go wash up first."

(End of this chapter)