Chapter 220: How dare I?

Zhou Yinhe hurried upstairs and saw Wen Ling sitting on the bedside rug, gritting her teeth as she rubbed her wrist.

"What happened? Did you fall?" Zhou Yinhe hurriedly lifted her onto the bedside, knelt before her legs, and asked worriedly.

Wen Ling pouted aggrievedly, made an affirmative sound, then a glint of scattered light caught her eye in her peripheral vision; she lowered her head and saw that Zhou Yinhe was wearing a watch and a couple's bracelet on his wrist.

She lifted her head, and Zhou Yinhe put on the earring as well.

"I thought your ear piercings had closed up long ago."

They had gotten this piercing together not long after they started dating; Wen Ling had seen somewhere that getting matching piercings meant staying together forever, so she dragged Zhou Yinhe to get it done.

When they were together, Zhou Yinhe wore it with her; after they broke up and got back together, Wen Ling had never seen him wear it, assuming it had healed shut, leaving only a trace.

Zhou Yinhe coughed lightly, turned his face away embarrassedly, and said, "I've always been wearing it; I just took it off so you wouldn't see it, and then I forgot about it."

"No wonder." Wen Ling smiled, leaned in, put her arm around his shoulder, gave a tiny yawn, and softly asked, "What time is it?"

"It's past eight."

Seeing the time on his watch, Zhou Yinhe realized he had stayed up until now without sleeping.

The curtains were tightly shut, blocking any outside light, so Wen Ling couldn't tell whether it was night or day; still not rested, she slipped out of Zhou Yinhe's grasp, burrowed back under the covers, patted the space beside her, and mumbled, "Stay with me to sleep, don't leave—what if I fall again if you go?"

Zhou Yinhe pressed his lips, holding back laughter, yet his words inevitably leaked a hint of a smile.

"All right, I'll keep you company."

Wen Ling gave a soft, coquettish hum, turned onto her other side, her consciousness still hazy from just waking.

"Are you making fun of me?"

Zhou Yinhe hurriedly surrendered, smiling, and said, "How dare I?"

He stretched out his arm, and Wen Ling, already accustomed to it, rolled into his embrace, lifted her hand to cover his eyes, kissed the corner of his mouth, then lay atop him, murmuring, "Hurry up and sleep—what'll we do if staying up makes us ugly?"

Her hand remained there, warmly covering his eyes; whether it was psychological or not, it really eased his sore, dry eyes considerably.

He let out a deep breath, turned to hold Wen Ling close, the blankets filled with her scent; drowsiness washed over him, and he fell asleep within minutes.

——

With the engagement ceremony only two days away, Zhou Yinhe was dragged by his close friends to Nys; besides them, there were also some somewhat notorious playboys from Sijiucheng.

Zhou Yinhe was very reluctant, but Wen Ling insisted he go have fun with his friends, saying she also needed to meet Chu Yao, Fu Huahua, Jiang Jibai, and a few others before she could get him out of the house.

"Your wife's out having fun—what are you doing at home? Just staring blankly at your two cat sons?"

Zhou Yinhe swung his legs, lifted his chin with a hint of pride: "Yeah, so what? My cat sons are protecting me."

Just as Jiang Jibai and the others arrived at his house to fetch him, pulling him outside, the two cats—Hehe and Huhuh—immediately puffed up, launched themselves sideways at the group, and if it weren't for the thick winter clothing, several people would surely have been scratched.

Ke Chengyu snorted, sat beside Zhou Yinhe, and gestured for him to look at the few people sitting not far away.

"See those people?"

Zhou Yinhe furrowed his brows: "What's up?"

"One of them is a distant relative from your maternal grandfather's side." Ke Chengyu curled the corner of his lip, his eyes barely concealing contempt.

The Ning family's distant relatives—none of them have ever been honest; in the end, they were all scared off by Mrs. Zhou.

Zhou Yinhe averted his gaze with disgust and said coldly, "Who let them come?"

"We didn't invite him; I don't know how he hooked up with Zhao Ningyan's cousin and ended up bringing him along." Qi Zhan tugged at the corner of his mouth; they'd brought this bunch of playboys just to liven things up, never expecting to hit a snag.

This cousin of Zhao Ningyan is the most shameless sort, relying on his ties to the Zhao family to swagger around Sijiucheng; the broad-minded let it slide, the petty came knocking, and Mrs. Zhao, pressured by her natal family, had no choice but to step in and handle it.

Zhou Yinhe propped his forehead, lazily lifted his cup, and took a few sips.

Seeing Zhou Yinhe in a good mood, Qi Zhan voluntarily asked, "You're about to get what you wish for—how do you feel? Are you happy?"

Upon mentioning it, Zhou Yinhe's lips curled upward; before he could answer, Zhao Ningyan walked over, sat beside them, and interjected, "How could he not be happy? His tail's practically about to shoot up to the sky."

"Why did you only show up now?" Jiang Jibai approached, bottle in hand, raising an eyebrow.

Zhao Ningyan drawled, "I just ran away from home—isn't Xiao Wu getting engaged soon? The family's pressing me, afraid Zhou Zhaoning will run off."

As Zhou Zhaoning's younger brother, Zhou Yinhe snorted at that and didn't bother to reply.

The drinking session officially began; Zhou Yinhe kept chatting with Wen Ling on his phone, but Ke Chengyu, unable to stand it, confiscated the device, leaving Zhou Yinhe no choice but to join their games.

After finally retrieving his phone, he wondered when Wen Ling would return home; the private room was a bit noisy, so Zhou Yinhe took the phone to a quiet spot in the hallway to call her.

Just then, as he merely intended to go to the restroom to wash his hands, upon reaching the door he heard two voices from inside.

Zhou Yinhe furrowed his brow, lowered his hand, and listened silently.

"If you ask me, with his status, this cousin of yours ought to be marrying into a wealthy family in Sijiucheng—what's the point of hooking up with someone from M Country?"

"That said, the Wen family in M Country is practically at the top of the pyramid, isn't it? My cousin's been spoiled rotten—everyone in the Zhou family indulges him; he doesn't need to beg to be with anyone, and my aunt and uncle would approve."

"Tch, no matter how impressive, it still can't compare to how formidable your cousin's family is." After saying that, the person continued, "You came to Sijiucheng this time—surely your family hasn't given up on the Nings yet?"

Another countered, "If it were you, wouldn't you envy the Ning family's current power and influence? Zhou Er is truly stingy—he has money to donate year after year, yet refuses to give our own kin a cent."

"Zhou Er is nothing but a hypocrite—smiling and laughing on the surface, but actually ruthless and cruel underneath."

Zhou Yinhe narrowed his eyes, curled the corner of his mouth in a cold smirk, shoved the door open and leaned against it, then chuckled lightly: "I thought you two could at least be honest in here—I didn't expect your faces to be so thick."

The two were startled by him, saw it was him, and hurriedly put on appeasing smiles, explaining, "Just chatting, just chatting—Fifth Young Master, do you need the restroom? We'll head out first."

Those two had a decent grasp of Zhou Yinhe's temper; they knew that when he got angry, they'd better run.