Chapter 17 Meddlesome Zhu Xishan

However, no matter how many thoughts were running through her mind, Wang Zhao did not show any unusual emotions on her face.

After Zhu Xishan finished speaking, he didn’t wait for Wang Zhao to respond. He didn’t care much, as he was merely warning this woman at the moment.

He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped in his tracks, his body stiffening.

“Zhenguan?”

A man was standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

Wang Zhao heard Zhu Xishan’s voice and also turned her head to look, only to find Li Zhenguan standing at the kitchen door, wearing casual clothes, his hair slightly disheveled, looking as if he had just woken up and come downstairs.

However, when she glanced at him, she noticed that Li Zhenguan’s expression seemed a bit off. His eyes were somewhat clouded in the flickering light, and it was unclear how long he had been standing there or how much he had heard.

When their eyes met, Li Zhenguan’s expression suddenly changed. Those clouded eyes instantly became bright and clear, his entire demeanor becoming much more transparent.

Just like a little dog seeing its favorite toy, Wang Zhao thought to herself. But dogs were always better; she liked their loyalty.

Under Li Zhenguan’s gaze, Wang Zhao slowly smiled.

“Why did you come down?” she said, “Did you wake up?” Her tone remained unchanged, as if she hadn’t just been warned by Zhu Xishan, treating him as she always had.

Li Zhenguan stared at Wang Zhao for a moment before nodding and walking in. Zhu Xishan’s expression wasn’t good; anyone would feel a bit guilty in this situation. Zhu Xishan felt guilty too, but more so embarrassed, which made him even more wary of the calm-faced Wang Zhao.

This woman clearly wasn’t a simple character.

Li Zhenguan called out “Cousin” before looking at Wang Zhao: “Why did you come down so early?”

Wang Zhao, seemingly ignoring Zhu Xishan’s gaze at that moment, smiled at Li Zhenguan and said, “I was a bit thirsty, so I came to the kitchen for some water. I happened to run into Mr. Zhu, and we chatted for a bit.”

“Did you also come down for water because you were thirsty?” she asked in return.

Li Zhenguan hesitated for a moment before nodding. He had actually gone to Wang Zhao’s room, and finding it empty, had come down to look for her, only to hear a man’s voice coming from the kitchen.

At first, he hadn’t paid much attention, checking the living room before planning to go to the back garden. As he was about to leave, he heard Wang Zhao’s questioning response.

He immediately stopped in his tracks and almost uncontrollably walked over, seeing a man and a woman standing inside, but didn’t make any sound.

To be honest, Li Zhenguan disliked anyone who got close to Wang Zhao, whether they were women or men, young or old, in love or not.

But now, in front of Wang Zhao, he didn’t show any of this. Instead, he acted as if he had just come downstairs. He looked at Zhu Xishan, his gaze falling on the water glass in his hand, and said with a smile:

“What a coincidence, it seems cousin also drank quite a bit at lunch and is now thirsty.”

Zhu Xishan made a sound of agreement, finished the water in his glass, glanced at Wang Zhao once more, and then left, shuffling in his slippers back upstairs.

Li Zhenguan’s gaze shifted back from the living room, and he also poured a glass of water, standing next to Wang Zhao and slowly taking a sip.

She couldn’t help but smile: “Did you really just come down?” She didn’t quite believe Li Zhenguan’s explanation to Zhu Xishan.

Li Zhenguan blinked, his almond-shaped eyes appearing innocent and pure. With his fair skin, he looked very obedient, only pursing his lips in a smile.

Wang Zhao sighed, not pressing him further: “My dad called me, saying relatives have come to visit at home. I need to go back early tonight, so I won’t be staying for dinner here.”

Li Zhenguan felt reluctant, but still obediently didn’t try to persuade Wang Zhao to stay.

He knew that the woman before him liked obedient and docile men, had strong desires for control and dominance, and rarely changed her mind once she had decided on something. For most men in this world, this was a rather self-centered aesthetic preference, which could be called female chauvinism, or straight-female tendencies.

Actually, when he first learned about Wang Zhao’s aesthetic preferences, he was also very surprised, but—

Li Zhenguan glanced out the window at this moment: “Are you leaving now?” It was still quite early, and besides, “You drank some alcohol at lunch, has the effect worn off yet?”

Wang Zhao wasn’t too worried: “I’ve called for a designated driver.”

Li Zhenguan still said: “It’s not easy for outsiders to enter this community. My family’s driver happens to be here today, I can have her drive you home. I’ll have someone bring your car back later.”

Wang Zhao stared at Li Zhenguan for a moment before nodding slightly. This was a trivial matter in her view, so she could accept Li Zhenguan’s arrangement.

However, before leaving, Li Zhenguan took Wang Zhao to meet his cousin Wan who worked at the prosecutor’s office.

She was the kind of clean-cut person who, after hearing Li Zhenguan’s words and sizing up Wang Zhao with a glance, immediately offered to help and asked which prosecutor’s office she planned to apply to.

The competition for positions at the local prosecutor’s office was fierce, with only one or two people hired for her position each year.

Wang Zhao smiled and said: “The prosecutor’s office in Jiangcheng Hui’an area. I checked on the official website, they’re recruiting three people this year.”

Wan Yao didn’t mince words, directly joking: “Then you’ll be under some pressure.”

“Mm.” Wang Zhao neither agreed nor disagreed.

In this world, there’s pressure in everything one does. Even when cultivating hobbies and interests, one can’t always act entirely on one’s own wishes, let alone in work.

“I’ll send you some documents when I get back,” Wan Yao said decisively.

“Thank you,” Wang Zhao said politely.

Li Zhenguan also said: “Sister, I’ll treat you to a meal after Wang Zhao finishes her exam.”

Wan Yao nodded indifferently. She wasn’t particularly eager for this meal from Wang Zhao, but was helping mainly for Li Zhenguan’s sake. Additionally, she didn’t dislike Wang Zhao as a person, found her good-looking, neither obsequious nor overbearing, with the proper appearance for someone in law enforcement.

In some ways, having a good appearance naturally brings certain advantages.

In the end, Wang Zhao didn’t stay for dinner. After saying goodbye to the two elders of the Li family, she left, driven by the Li family’s chauffeur.

The driver was a middle-aged woman who had worked for the Li family for many years. She used to drive Li Zhenguan to and from high school, so they had a good relationship. This was reflected in the driver’s vague awareness that her young master was somewhat unusual in certain aspects, or rather, different from the innocence and naivety he outwardly displayed.

She still remembered how, during his high school years, Li Zhenguan would stand in front of the trash can, expressionlessly disposing of a pile of love letters.

For a long time after that, she noticed that this young master of the Li family seemed to be someone who didn’t like to smile. Most of the time in the car, he was expressionless, occasionally reading a book, but mostly looking out the window, with an indescribable cold aura that made him particularly unapproachable.

Moreover, she found that Li Zhenguan made no effort to conceal anything in front of her. Perhaps the many differences she saw were deliberately shown by him, or maybe he simply didn’t care about her. To Li Zhenguan, she was just a driver, one who could be disposed of at any time, so he didn’t spend time and energy pretending to be someone else in front of her.

For a newly appointed driver, this was undoubtedly unsettling. However, she was smart enough, or rather, knew to cover her ears and mouth proactively. As a result, she had stayed in this position for a long time, also because the male head of the household was accustomed to using her, so she had never been replaced.

She discreetly observed the young woman sitting in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

She had good looks, but a cold demeanor. It was the kind of appearance young people liked, but as a middle-aged woman, she wouldn’t prefer this type of woman as a daughter-in-law. She seemed too cold, appearing unlikely to be caring. If her own son were to marry out, who knows how he might be mistreated.

Whatever the driver thought, she wouldn’t show it. At most, she was just surprised that Li Zhenguan’s girlfriend was this type of person.

Wang Zhao, sitting in the back seat, didn’t notice the driver’s intentional or unintentional glances. She was just looking out the window, pondering over what Zhu Xishan had said to her in the kitchen that afternoon, and couldn’t help but rub her temples.

She was, in fact, rarely uneasy, feeling that she might have made a bad decision. This was uncommon; Wang Zhao seldom regretted things. She was actually the type of person who would rarely turn back even after hitting a wall. At most, she would make a hole in the wall and forge her own path.

With such a personality, regret was particularly precious to her.

After seeing Wang Zhao off, Li Zhenguan watched the car leave the villa for a long time before re-entering the house and going back upstairs.

On the stairs, he could faintly hear the sound of mahjong machines; the entertainment room downstairs was a bit noisy.

He slowly went upstairs and knocked on the door of the innermost room on the second floor. After a moment, the door opened.

Zhu Xishan, standing inside the door, looked surprised to see the person at his doorstep: “Zhenguan, do you need something?”

Li Zhenguan looked at the young man in front of him. This was his cousin; they had lived together for a period several years ago when he was still very young, in middle school, while Zhu Xishan was a few years older, in high school.

From his memory, Zhu Xishan had always been that kind of exemplary student, excellent in both character and studies.

Well, he had one flaw: he liked to meddle in others’ affairs.

He blinked, sighing inwardly.

In middle school, Zhu Xishan liked to educate him, telling him to study hard, not to date early, and to stay away from the girls in his class.

At that time, they were living at their grandfather’s house. Compared to the big city of Jiangcheng, grandfather’s home seemed much more secluded. The small city didn’t have many good middle schools, and the one he attended was a rare key school. Yet, even there, each class had some students who didn’t like studying and were troublemakers.

Back then, Li Zhenguan found those troublemakers annoying, so when Zhu Xishan went to confront them, he didn’t stop him. It was good to have someone help solve his problems, saving him the trouble.

But who would have thought that after so many years, his cousin would still be so fond of meddling in others’ affairs, without any improvement?

It was an indescribable kind of annoyance.

Li Zhenguan inwardly sighed expressionlessly.

Author’s Note:

The relationship between Li Zhenguan and Wang Zhao is like that between a knife and a whetstone, or between dodder and the vine it parasitizes.

Their love is a clinging, entwining one, a dark romance where neither will let go of the other.

(~)