Sweet Gardenia - Chapter 4

The oxygen in the car grew thinner as he leaned in.

Lu Zhi’s usually sharp mind went blank in an instant. The sensation on her lips was fleeting, as light as a feather, yet it ignited a blazing fire across her back, scorching her skin.

She felt something flowing incessantly from within her.

The person before her even kindly reminded her, “Breathe.”

In that moment, her soul snapped back into place.

Her respiratory functions resumed, but she felt as if she were suffering from oxygen intoxication. Afraid of appearing too abnormal, she struggled to maintain her composure. “You… I…”

Why talk when the kissing was going so well?

No, why suddenly kiss when the conversation was going so well?

Fu Yanshang watched her.

After a long pause, Lu Zhi managed to blurt out, “You… unlock it.”

“It’s not locked,” he said. “That was the window lock just now.”

“…………”

She lowered her head and yanked the car door open, hopping out at lightning speed. Why, in such cool weather, was the oxygen outside no better, still so stifling? She fanned herself with her hand and looked up to see the leaves rustling loudly in the wind.

…

Lu Zhi kicked at the leaves as she walked, her mind a chaotic mess.

Ten seconds later, a voice came from behind her: “You’re going the wrong way.”

Just as she was about to turn back, during that brief pause, the man had already taken a few strides to catch up, walking alongside her. “But we can still get there by taking a detour.”

“…”

She muttered, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

His tone remained casual. “Which part are you referring to?”

The topic circled back again. She feigned ignorance, letting her thoughts drift aimlessly.

Fu Yanshang said, “I wasn’t scolding you earlier. It’s just that when you mentioned a reward, I thought of that couple you seemed to enjoy watching five minutes ago. It seemed like their reward was this.”

She stopped in her tracks, staring at him in a daze.

So… you didn’t think I was asking for a kiss, did you?

Why? How could that be? What would my motive even be??

That I’m lusting after your body??

She parted her lips, but after a long moment, she realized that given their current relationship, she couldn’t possibly voice those thoughts. Swallowing hard, she finally managed to say, “I didn’t enjoy watching them that much…”

Silence hung in the air for a while. The shaded path was dotted with sparrows, their chirping filling the quiet void between them.

He spoke again at some point, as if he had been thinking it over. “As for what you saw in me that frightened you… that aura?”

He continued, “It’s probably because I’m the CEO of Rongsheng. I need to have decisiveness and authority to make employees obey and trust me. I’ve been working a lot these past two years and have likely grown accustomed to that state. It’s hard for me to switch quickly into the role of a husband. I’ll need you to give me some time.”

Was this… an explanation?

She puffed out her cheeks and said, “Oh, so that expression is what you make when you’re thinking?”

“Mm.”

“At the beginning of a marriage, it does take some time to adjust to each other. If there’s anything you find uncomfortable later on, you can always tell me.” After a pause, he added, “I’m not as difficult to get along with as you might think.”

She blinked, her peripheral vision catching the familiar archway drawing nearer. Under the rose bushes, a butterfly fluttered its wings.

Fu Yanshang asked, “Don’t you have anything to say?”

“Ah,” she suddenly snapped back to reality, looked up, thought for a moment, and then said earnestly, “Oh, I have a pretty good personality. I probably won’t make you feel uncomfortable.”

“……”

After a while, she glanced at his expression. It did seem less intimidating than before. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she tentatively asked in a low voice, “Do you hit people? If we argue, will you hit me?”

Fu Yanshang didn’t know why she would ask such a thing. In all his life, she was the first.

But he still answered.

“No,” he said. “From what I can remember until now, I’ve probably never been in a fight. But if it’s something like angry sex, in my book, that counts as foreplay and isn’t part of this discussion.”

He had a very refined face, and even when talking about such risqué topics, his expression remained serious. Lu Zhi thought to herself, I shouldn’t let my mind wander, but this topic itself seems pretty suggestive.

Lu Zhi fell silent for a moment. “I didn’t ask about that…”

“Then consider it my bonus answer.”

Lu Zhi: ?

–

The ancestral home was quiet. It wasn’t until they reached the third floor that Lu Zhi realized the old man was practicing calligraphy.

Fu Cheng had a very meticulous study, perfectly positioned in the northwest direction. Through the window, a vast lake stretched out, and porcelain collections glowed with a gentle hue under the light. On the entire white wall, only one calligraphy piece hung, “Tranquility Leads to Far-reaching Thoughts.”

The old man, dressed in a white long gown, was practicing calligraphy with his back to her, his posture elegant and refined. As she approached, the rich scent of ink filled the air, and the bold, powerful strokes on the paper revealed four large characters…

“F*cking Annoying.”

Lu Zhi: ?

Footsteps sounded behind her. Fu Yanshang clearly wasn’t surprised by the content.

“Now you know why he displays so many calligraphies about peace and detachment?” he said. “People always want what they lack.”

Fu Cheng snorted. “What I lack is a grandson.”

“Tell Jiang Yue to frame this piece for me. I’ll take Xiao Zhi around the house.”

Fu Yanshang glanced at it. “Does this even need framing?”

“What’s wrong with it! Isn’t such exquisite calligraphy worth framing?”

…

Fu Yanshang went off to relax, while Lu Zhi followed the old man, her mind filled with the question, “Where on earth could such four large characters be hung?” As a result, she only snapped out of it when Fu Cheng had spoken to her several times.

Fu Cheng: “How have you two been lately?”

Lu Zhi kept her eyes downcast. Although the reality was that nothing had really happened between them, she played along. “Pretty good.”

Just the other day, I even saw him taking a shower.

Fu Cheng let out a long “hmm.” “Come on, I’ll take you to his study. He went abroad when he was 16, and most of his life before that was spent here, including after he returned at 24.”

“He’s the type to always move forward and doesn’t like keeping records. I’ve taken quite a few photos, all stored in an album.”

A study, encapsulating his entire adolescence. Was their current relationship at a level where she could see something like this?

Lu Zhi hesitated for a moment, feeling a bit dazed, and said, “Isn’t that a bit too private?”

“Private?” The old man’s eyes suddenly blazed like torches. “What’s private about it? Is this private?”

“…”

Realizing she might have slipped up, Lu Zhi quickly tried to salvage the situation, but it was too late.

Fu Cheng waved a hand dismissively. “I knew it! You two haven’t been nurturing your relationship much over the past six months!”

“With his stubborn and unyielding personality, when a girl saw him at the banquet and picked a time to visit the house, I was next door and didn’t keep an eye on him for just a moment. He had Jiang Yue tell her not to come, saying he was dead. Seriously, with his attitude, what could he possibly be good at??”

It sounded exactly like something he would say.

Lu Zhi lowered her head to hide her expression. Fu Cheng glanced at her and asked, “What are you laughing at?”

“…”

Fu Cheng’s eyes lit up. “You think he’s interesting, don’t you?”

“No…” Lu Zhi said, “I…”

“Indeed, as the ancients said, ‘In the eyes of a lover, one becomes a beauty.’ Since you two can…”

Forget it, go ahead and talk.

She simply followed the elderly man, listening to Fu Cheng chatter nonstop all the way. She finally understood why there were no fewer than five water dispensers on each floor, it was so the elderly could drink water anytime.

When it came to Fu Yanshang’s upbringing and experiences, Fu Cheng knew every detail like the back of his hand. For instance, he had always excelled academically but was never easy to manage. He would spend entire lunch breaks solving challenging grade-level problems, yet he’d also find parent-teacher meetings so boring that he’d climb over the wall to go home and watch documentaries. He was so strong-willed that he was hard to control, but this very trait became the decisive and sharp judgment he wielded as an adult.

“I’m proud of him, but I also feel he pushes himself too hard,” Fu Cheng said, standing on the balcony. “He knows exactly what he wants to do and what he needs, which is good, but it’s also exhausting. I often wish he could take a break, but he makes his own choices. Love probably isn’t part of the plan he’s laid out for himself, so I hope someone can accompany him.”

He added, “I hope things go well for you both.”

Lu Zhi licked her lips, wanting to say something but unsure what.

Fu Cheng suddenly asked, “Do you know what his favorite color is?”

She shook her head.

“How about this? Over the next few days, observe him and take a guess.” Fu Cheng tilted his head playfully. “If you guess correctly, I’ll treat you both to a paid vacation at the hot springs resort next week. How does that sound?”

–

On their way home that night, Fu Yanshang asked her in the car, “What did the old man say to you?”

“Nothing much,” she replied. “He just shared some stories from your school days. I never thought you were so rebellious.”

He chuckled. “So?”

She had also fantasized countless times about skipping weekend extracurricular classes to just lie on the couch and watch anime. Of course, it was only a thought, so the fact that he actually acted on such impulses made her somewhat envious.

Leaning against the window, she turned her head to look at him. “Grandpa also said you often studied until midnight. You’re way too competitive. Good thing I wasn’t in the same grade as you.”

Fu Yanshang said, “Didn’t you skip a grade too?”

She paused. “How did you know?”

“You just turned twenty after graduation. Even if you started school early, you must have skipped a grade,” he replied calmly, driving steadily, his fingertips lightly tapping the steering wheel. “It wasn’t hard to guess.”

The old man had told her to observe him, so she naturally paid more attention. When he was killing time, he seemed to enjoy tapping on things.

As for his favorite color… Her gaze drifted from his fingertips down to the agate cufflinks at his wrists. He was wearing a lightweight black shirt today, with dark red piping, the hem loosely tucked into the folds between his waist and legs. Further in…

Just as she was about to continue her observation and contemplation, Fu Yanshang slowly brought the car to a stop at a red light. He openly turned toward her, his eyes meeting hers.

She practically showed her entire waist to him.

Just from her glancing a couple more times at the flirting couple earlier, he had already misunderstood it as her wanting to kiss him. If he caught her examining his waist, who knows where his thoughts would wander.

Lu Zhi immediately straightened up, guiltily averted her gaze, and pretended to be completely absorbed in looking at the scenery outside.

Thanks to her timely evasion, fortunately, he didn’t speak again for the rest of the ride.

Lu Zhi let out a long sigh of relief as she got out of the car.

To secure the hot spring resort as soon as possible and find inspiration for refining her script, she took advantage of Fu Yanshang’s shower time to sneak open his side of the wardrobe. It was pitch black inside.

Looking further in, there were a few white pieces in the second row, though she hadn’t seen him wear them before.

Did he used to like wearing white?

She stood frozen in place, lost in thought for who knows how long, when suddenly, a man’s voice came from behind her: “Want to wear my clothes?”

“No, no,” she quickly waved her hands, “I’m just doing research on the male lead’s clothing style for the game, just casually looking.”

Fu Yanshang paused, “If you want to wear them, you can just tell me.”

That was too intimate. Afraid he might misunderstand again, she waved her hands and blurted out without thinking, “How could that be? This is the kind of thing the male and female leads wear after they’ve been together. Why would I wear it?”

His hands, which were tying his bathrobe, stopped for a moment. “…After what?”

“An encounter,” Lu Zhi resumed her usual expression and said seriously, “The two of them have an encounter because of a piece of clothing, then fall in love and start a series of stories.”

Fu Yanshang: “…”

She immediately retreated and climbed onto the bed. Not long after, she received another WeChat message from Fu Cheng.

Grandpa: [Did you guess it? His favorite color?]

She hadn’t guessed it and had even showcased her extensive knowledge of romance novels to him.

Lu Zhi lowered her head and started typing, entering “Black?” but felt it wasn’t right, so she deleted it. Then she typed “white,” but still felt it wasn’t reliable.

While she was hesitating, three minutes had already passed. Just as she was about to say she might need more time…

A new message popped up from the other side.

Grandpa: [You guessed it! Pack your things, we’re leaving tomorrow night!]

Lu Zhi: ?

I haven’t sent anything yet??

–

If she had known from the start that this was a freebie question, she wouldn’t have spent the whole night researching so diligently, nor would she have gone through all that trouble with Fu Yanshang about “before and after.”

The hot spring trip was arranged on the same day. Fu Yanshang still had work to do, and she had her own tasks as well, so they didn’t set off until the evening. By the time they arrived at the resort, it was already night.

There wasn’t enough time to do anything else that night, so they settled in to rest and planned to have fun the next day.

Since the room was personally booked by the old man, it was only natural that she and Fu Yanshang would share it. She opened her suitcase first and went to the bathroom to shower. After finishing, she lay on the sofa, gazing at the night view while thinking about how to write the interactions better.

But then, as her eyes wandered, she noticed something moving above her.

She tilted her head back and saw, on the ceiling… a full-length mirror.

Just then, a message from Li Siyi came through: [Are you there yet? Is it fun?]

Lu Zhi tilted her head up, took a photo, and sent it over. Li Siyi even excitedly sent a vibrating message: [The last time I saw a ceiling mirror was when the male lead kept telling the female lead to look up during their scene.]

Lu Zhi: [Please spare me.]

She tried hard to push this design out of her mind, telling herself that it couldn’t possibly mean that, how could this be a themed room for couples?

As her gaze trailed back, she noticed a hazy figure behind the frosted glass.  She could actually see him standing under the shower spray.

Lu Zhi instantly sat up straight.

Fu Yanshang had been sitting here just moments ago, which meant…

When she had been showering earlier, he must have also…

The moment he stepped out, she blurted, “Is this glass a bit see-through? Did you see anything?”

He paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, though whether he was recalling something or pondering something else was unclear.

After a long silence, the man wiped the continuous droplets from the ends of his hair and said, “No.”

“If not,” she pointed out with difficulty, “then why did you move your laptop to face the wall again?”

Fu Yanshang: “I thought saying that would make you happier.”

Lu Zhi: ?

She couldn’t stay on this sofa for another second. She rushed to the balcony to cool off for a while. By the time she returned, he had already dried his hair and was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Only his expression seemed… unusually silent.

Something felt off, but her limited experience left her unable to pinpoint exactly what. That was, until she yanked the covers back and climbed in, only to instantly sink down, accompanied by a bubbling sound. Two seconds after hitting the mattress, she bobbed back up, floating and swaying.

The person beside her had sunk into the same wave.

…Great.

A waterbed.