Chapter 3: Don't Forget Again (Prize Quiz)

When An Chuyu's fingers touched him, Xi Zheng woke up. He grasped the hand resting on his chest, cleared his throat, and asked in the darkness, "What's wrong?"

Upon hearing the voice, An Chuyu quickly withdrew her hand.

With a rustling sound, Xi Zheng sat up and turned on a wall lamp, filling the room with a dim yellow light. He turned to look at An Chuyu, who was squinting her eyes.

She held a hand to her forehead, her loose nightgown having slipped from her shoulder, her face expressing the confusion of just having woken up. She might have been disoriented, not sure of where she was.

Xi Zheng looked away and repeated the question, "What's wrong?"

An Chuyu's thoughts slowly gathered, and she recognized reality; she was a guest at someone's home, not in a hotel room. She swallowed, her voice somewhat hoarse, "Who allowed you to sleep on the bed?"

Xi Zheng almost laughed but refrained as a gentleman, still not looking at her, "There's only one bed in the room. If not the bed, where do you suggest I sleep?"

An Chuyu said without any mercy, "The floor."

Now Xi Zheng genuinely laughed, "They say that for every day of marriage, there's a hundred days of grace. We were a married couple for half a year, are you really that heartless?"

An Chuyu didn't engage in his jest, her gaze wandering around the room.

Xi Zheng got out of bed and asked her, "What do you need?"

An Chuyu ran a hand through her hair and blinked her eyes shut. The rich scent of roses was lingering on her nose, causing her some agitation, "I'm thirsty."

Without a word, Xi Zheng went to get her some water.

Soon, he returned with a cup of water, warm, and handed it to An Chuyu, who asked what time it was. He glanced at the clock and replied, "A little past two in the morning."

An Chuyu propped herself up on her elbows and half lay as she took the cup and tilted her head back to drink most of the water.

Xi Zheng's gaze swept over her almost imperceptibly, his mind a bit blank, and his expression wooden, yet his heartbeat was the complete opposite, racing much faster than normal.

He took the cup from An Chuyu, setting it casually on the cabinet.

She was both sleepy and exhausted. Having quenched her thirst, she "thumped" back onto the bed, closing her eyes, oblivious to how widely her robe had opened at the collar.

Xi Zheng didn't know where to look, standing stiff as a piece of wood beside the bed, unsure if she had fallen back to sleep instantly, he softly asked, "Are you really letting me sleep on the floor?"

An Chuyu didn't respond.

"If you don't answer, I'll assume you agree to let me sleep on the bed." Xi Zheng lifted the duvet and lay down beside her just as he had before.

He quietly waited a few seconds, calculating in his mind that if she didn't react, he would turn off the light and go back to sleep.

Just then, An Chuyu's eyelids fluttered, showing she wasn't asleep. Xi Zheng watched her, and as soon as she opened her eyes, he immediately said, "I thought you were sleeping."

An Chuyu, her voice clearer after the water, retorted, "You're too loud."

Xi Zheng: "..."

A man of few words, she actually found him loud?

Xi Zheng pursed his lips, silent, lingering on the features of her brows and eyes. Not having seen her for half a year, unlike how she could not even remember his face, he was very familiar with hers, often seeing her photos online.

This was his first time being so close to her, and he could understand the obsession people online had with her beauty—an exquisite face that not even a paintbrush could capture, yet there she was, naturally formed. They say Qiao Lufei looked similar to her in both appearance and aura, but in his view, whether it be Qiao Lufei or someone else, they paled in comparison to An Chuyu.

"An Chuyu, if I remember correctly, it was you who approached me first, asking me to marry you," he said.

"Hmm?" An Chuyu wasn't used to chatting with a man she wasn't close to on a quiet night, in bed, although this man was her husband in name, "What are you trying to say?"

"Why?" Xi Zheng's gaze dropped to her lips, which looked moist from drinking water.

His words were brief, but An Chuyu understood, "You should ask An Zhihe that question, he was the one who favored you as a son-in-law."

Family marriages were, of course, decided by the parents.

Unsatisfied, Xi Zheng asked, "And what about you? Wouldn't you resist if you were unhappy? You don't seem like someone who'd just accept things." She had even gone as far as to slap Qiao Lufei.

An Chuyu didn't want to share the details with him, turned her face away, and responded with silence.

Xi Zheng nudged her, "Hey, are you asleep?"

Impatient, An Chuyu snapped back, "If you can't keep your mouth shut, then roll off the bed."

Xi Zheng softly clicked his tongue, bewildered how the chat had turned sour so quickly, "I just wanted to remind you to fix your nightgown. Don't accuse me of taking advantage of you."

An Chuyu was startled, pulled her garment together, and wrapped her exposed shoulders, glaring at him irritably.