Chapter 154: I Never Agreed to Let You Date Someone Else

The sound of fireworks welcoming the New Year gradually faded.

Zhu Yuan lay in bed; Ji Xiang was already asleep.

She forced herself to drift off to sleep; if she didn't sleep soon, it would be dawn.

Yet the moment she closed her eyes, the man wearing the fox mask automatically appeared in her mind, along with his hoarse New Year's blessing pressed against her lips.

Agitated, she sat up in bed. Not wanting to disturb Ji Xiang's sleep, she got up, put on her slippers, and walked to the window, trying to calm herself down.

It's nothing.

It's just Sheng Yu.

They have no relationship anymore, and he has no reason to force her; besides, he didn't follow her all the way home—perhaps it was just a chance encounter.

She tried to comfort herself, but every word of comfort was self-deception.

A chance encounter?

A man who should have been spending the New Year in Jingdu City having a chance encounter with her in Yucheng?

She looked back at the sleeping Ji Xiang on the bed, remembering how she used to be just as carefree, sleeping whenever she wanted.

Since when did she start losing sleep over troubling matters?

She opened the bedroom door and went downstairs to the kitchen to pour a glass of warm water, thinking that drinking some water would help her calm down.

The kitchen window faced the outside of the small villa. Zhu Yuan held the glass and drank, her gaze falling on a black sedan approaching from the distance.

It was clearly an unremarkable car, yet Zhu Yuan had an indescribable feeling about it.

The car stopped under the streetlamp opposite her house.

It doesn't snow in Yucheng, but it gets foggy in the middle of the night. The fog had been heavy these past few days. It was only 2:30 in the morning, and the mist hung in the air, damp and thick, blurring even the light from the streetlamp.

The car door opened, and a man in a long black overcoat stepped out. With his broad shoulders and long legs, his physique—more perfect than a supermodel's—made it impossible to look away.

Of course, the reason Zhu Yuan couldn't look away was the man's face.

The moment their eyes met, she froze, and the glass in her hand nearly slipped.

Her heart beat fast and erratically. Before Zhu Yuan could react, the man strode toward her house, his target clearly the front door.

Realizing what the man was about to do, Zhu Yuan hurriedly dropped the glass and rushed out of the kitchen.

Grandfather lived on the first floor; he was a light sleeper and would easily wake up if he heard knocking or the doorbell.

Zhu Yuan sprinted toward the front door with the speed of a hundred-meter dash, grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open.

At the entrance, the man had his hand raised, just about to press the doorbell.

Zhu Yuan's heart jumped to her throat. She widened her clear, dark eyes, and that panicked expression caused the gloom on Sheng Yu's face to soften slightly.

"You..."

Just as he began to speak, Zhu Yuan hurriedly stepped outside, pulled the door shut behind her, and asked, panting, "Why are you here?"

"Isn't this what you lost? I'm returning it to you."

Zhu Yuan looked down and only then saw that he was holding a fox mask—the one she had dropped at the event venue.

But he knew full well that wasn't what she meant.

She was asking why he was in Yucheng.

Forget it; he wouldn't tell her anyway.

Zhu Yuan reached out to take the mask, "Thank you."

However, Sheng Yu didn't let go, his gaze fixed on her face, "Not going to ask where I picked it up?"

Only now did Zhu Yuan realize she had fallen into Sheng Yu's trap.

Sheng Yu gripped the other end of the mask, "'Sir, please show some self-respect?' You acted that part quite well."

She quickly raised her eyes to glance at Sheng Yu; that little look was like a glare.

She quickly lowered her head again. Because Sheng Yu wouldn't let go of the mask, she gave it a tug forward, causing his sleeve to pull up slightly, revealing a vermilion Hair Tie faintly visible on his wrist.

Zhu Yuan's heart pounded; she recognized that it was her Hair Tie.

... He was still wearing it?

Sheng Yu lowered his eyes to look at his wrist, then raised his gaze to look deeply at her face, "When someone you don't know kisses you, you just say 'Sir, please show some self-respect'?"

Zhu Yuan decided to keep up the act to the end, "It's the New Year; it's not good to hit people."

The man looked at her as she spoke nonsense with a straight face, then suddenly asked casually, "Ji Xiang congratulated you on being single again; who were you dating before?"

Zhu Yuan's hand gripping the mask stiffened, her heart trembling violently. So Enzo was the one playing the fool to catch the prey; she had thought the big guy didn't understand!

"I just said it offhand; Ji Xiang is naive and believed it."

Sheng Yu curled his lips, "Said it offhand?"

Zhu Yuan pulled hard on the mask but couldn't budge it. Just as she was about to give up, Sheng Yu suddenly let go. She stumbled backward while holding the mask and bumped into the door.

However, the back of her head was cushioned by a broad palm.

Sheng Yu took the opportunity to step closer, leaning down to watch her eyelashes tremble incessantly, and chuckled, "I didn't say I didn't believe you; what are you feeling guilty about?"

Zhu Yuan opened her eyes to look at the face inches away, clutched the mask tightly, and feigned a yawn to cover her panic.

But after the fake yawn, she let out two real ones in succession, her eyes moist.

Sheng Yu watched her, remembering the shallow, surface-level kiss at the plaza. His eyes darkened, and just as Zhu Yuan said she was going back to sleep, he lowered his head and kissed her parted lips.

He pried open her teeth with ease, tangling with her tongue.

In the dead of night, every household had red lanterns lit, and the courtyards were bright with landscape lights and beautiful fairy lights.

Sheng Yu pressed her against the front door, unbridled.

The moment he touched her, it was as if a fire were burning in Sheng Yu's body, burning all the way to the depths of his soul, making the hand he used to hold the back of her head tremble uncontrollably.

From the initial cautious probing, feeling her softness, to gradually losing control, and finally, it became unstoppable.

He pulled away slightly, looking at Zhu Yuan, who was dazed from his kiss. His heart softened, and he cupped her face in his hands, then lowered his head to kiss her again.

He did not stop until Zhu Yuan was limp all over from his kisses.

As Zhu Yuan raised her hand, he easily caught her wrist, kneading her delicate skin, and said hoarsely, "You said it yourself, it's not good to hit people during the New Year."

Zhu Yuan's tongue was numb from his kissing, and her voice carried a sob, "Why are you in Yucheng!"

She looked up into his eyes; hadn't they agreed that he would let her go?

Why did he have to come and disrupt her peaceful life?

She had only just returned to the world she originally lived in; by what right did he barge back in so recklessly!

Sheng Yu's thumb gently stroked her slightly swollen, upturned lips, thinking of the message Enzo had sent him—

Young Master Yu, it's bad, Miss Zhu is going on a blind date with another man!

He suppressed his rising anger, but at the thought of her being involved with another man, he could not help but sneer.

Especially after he obtained that man's profile.

Every single point matched Zhu Yuan's requirements for a partner.

"If I didn't come, would I let you go on a blind date with some random man?"

The thumb caressing her lips applied some force, wanting to rub them until they bled.

He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against hers, "Zhu Yuan, I never agreed to let you date anyone else."