Chapter 200

Early in the morning, it suddenly started raining; the window had been left open the night before, and the sound of the rain woke Wen Ling.

Wen Ling frowned, reached out and patted the other side, intending to have Zhou Yinhe close the window, but she hit nothing.

Wen Ling opened her eyes dubiously, sat up, and shouted twice.

"Baobao?"

No one answered, so Wen Ling simply got out of bed to look for him, searching the living room, closet, and bathroom thoroughly, but she didn't see Zhou Yinhe's silhouette.

She picked up her phone and dialed Zhou Yinhe, and it took a while before he answered.

"Baobao, where are you?"

Around Zhou Yinhe it was chaotic, with honking sounds, wind noises, and his voice was also hurried.

"I'll be at the hotel right away; I'll tell you more when I get there."

Wen Ling frowned dubiously, but she first hung up the phone and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window to look down.

Because it was raining, a layer of mist filled the air; the floor was already high, so she could not clearly see the scene below, only able to make out that the road had car lights on.

She went back to the bedroom, found cigarettes at the head of the bed, pinched the pack, and lit one on the balcony for herself; after inhaling less than half, she heard the door opening, thinking Zhou Yinhe was being pampered, so she stubbed out the cigarette.

Zhou Yinhe came in wearing a khaki short leather jacket, his whole body steaming from the rain; Wen Ling walked up to him, frowned, and asked, "Where did you go? How did you get soaked? Didn't you have the driver take you?"

"It was nearby, so I didn't have the driver take me." He chuckled lightly, took off his jacket and tossed it onto the entryway bench, saying, "I'll go take a shower first; I'll talk to you after I come out."

Wen Ling watched his back, feeling very doubtful.

Zhou Yinhe came out of the bathroom and saw Wen Ling sitting on the sofa by the bathroom door, squinting her eyes at him.

"You don't sneak out every morning while I'm still asleep, do you?"

She had her arms crossed; the red strappy sleepwear made her skin look even whiter, and it was dotted with red marks left by Zhou Yinhe the night before. Though she looked alluring at the moment, she regarded Zhou Yinhe with an interrogative expression and attitude.

Zhou Yinhe wouldn't be intimidated by her expression; he smiled, stepped forward, bent over, and placed his arms on the sofa armrests on either side of Wen Ling, saying in a low voice, "No, it's just this morning—I happened to be caught by you."

"Caught? Are you doing something shady that you need to describe yourself with that word?" Wen Ling found a loophole in his words, her slender fingers hooking the towel Zhou Yinhe had wrapped around his waist, and she pulled it toward herself with some force.

Zhou Yinhe helplessly tugged at the corner of his mouth, lowered his head to kiss Wen Ling's forehead, and said, "I'm not using the word 'caught' because of your attitude; what else could I do?"

Wen Ling lifted her hand to push his face away, pouting, "Maybe you went looking for another woman after I fell asleep."

"Am I that kind of person? Besides, I've already given you my all; where would I get the energy to look for someone else?"

Wen Ling flushed with anger and snapped, "What nonsense are you talking? Get lost!" She slipped out from under Zhou Yinhe's arms propped on either side of her and muttered embarrassedly, "Rascal, jerk."

Zhou Yinhe stood where he was, swept his still-wet hair back, and silently let out a breath of relief.

Who would have thought Wen Ling could wake up so early all of a sudden? Clearly, when he left, she was still sleeping deeply, and he had called her several times without waking her.

He stepped up to follow Wen Ling, saw her lift the blanket to go back and lie down again, and said, "I just ordered breakfast when I came upstairs; how about we eat first and then sleep?"

Wen Ling gave an "oh" and lay on her side playing with her phone.

Seeing her like that, Zhou Yinhe had no choice but to change into pajamas; the weather forecast showed rain all day, and since going out wouldn't be convenient, he decided to just stay at the hotel for the day.

The server quickly brought up breakfast; Zhou Yinhe carried Wen Ling to the table, saw she kept looking at her phone, so he took on the role of an attentive attendant, feeding her until she finished, only then starting his own meal.

Wen Ling lifted her gaze and asked, "You still haven't told me where you just went; don't be vague."

Zhou Yinhe sighed, then said seriously, "I saw online that there's a dessert shop nearby that you would like; it usually has a line in the morning, so I wanted to go buy some for you, but who knew they'd close because of the rain—so I just made a pointless trip."

"Really?" Wen Ling replied half-believing, half-doubting.

Zhou Yinhe raised his hand and swore, "Really."

Wen Ling quietly watched him for a while, saw no guilty expression on his face, so she reluctantly believed him—after all, once the rain stops, she can have him take her to look.

Zhou Yinhe had already prepared: if Wen Ling pressed further, he would use that dessert shop as an excuse.

Wen Ling waited for Zhou Yinhe to finish his meal before getting up and returning to the room; after a quick wash, she dove back under the covers to keep playing with her phone. Zhou Yinhe sent a message to the people staying at the venue from the living room, then, fearing Wen Ling might check her phone, he simply deleted the message record before returning to the bedroom.

After lying down, he pulled Wen Ling into his arms, rested his chin on her head, and watched what was playing on her phone; coincidentally, he saw Zhou Qiyue.

Zhou Yinhe frowned: "Why are you watching Zhou Qiyue?"

"It's fun; Sister Qiyue is the most entertaining on shows like this." Wen Ling curled her lips and introduced the variety show she was watching to Zhou Yinhe: "Look, this talent show somehow found some monsters and ghosts, yet they're overly confident, and Sister Qiyue has been enduring them without throwing any sarcastic shade."

"What's there to see? Change it, change it." Zhou Yinhe still remembered how Zhou Qiyue had mocked him for watching the excitement earlier, furrowed his brow, and tried to snatch Wen Ling's phone.

Wen Ling hid her phone, displeased: "What are you doing? If you don't want to watch, just look at your own phone; why bother me?"

Zhou Yinhe, feeling wronged, turned Wen Ling's face toward him and said pitifully, "She's bullying me, yet you still watch her show."

"I bully you too, and you still watch me all the time." Wen Ling's specialty is deflecting blame and picking fights; she simply tossed her phone onto the pillow, turned to face Zhou Yinhe, reached out to pinch his cheek, and demanded, "So, do you find me annoying?"

"How could I possibly find you annoying!" Zhou Yinhe wished he could hold her in his arms twenty-four hours a day.

Wen Ling pursed her lips, putting on a look like a man's deceitful ghost; Zhou Yinhe had no choice but to concede, lowered his head to bite a bit of her cheek, and drawled, "Then go ahead and watch; can't I stop you?"

Wen Ling, satisfied, turned back to continue watching, giggling at the show; Zhou Yinhe really didn't want to watch the program that constantly teased his sister, so he just looked at the messages his subordinates had sent on his phone.

He frowned, his face somewhat solemn; Wen Ling noticed he had gone still, turned to glance at him, seeing this, she curiously leaned forward to try to see Zhou Yinhe's phone.

"What are you looking at? Did something happen?"

Zhou Yinhe was startled by her, flipped his phone over to cover the screen, looked up, and saw Wen Ling's expression gradually turning cold.