Chapter 233: Peace (1/2)

Cheng Xi didn’t know that Lu Chenzhou had talked to Chen Jiaman, and she didn’t notice anything off during lunchtime because she was in a rush, but she quickly realized that something was different at dinnertime.

Chen Jiaman was conspicuously normal.

During dinner, she no longer dropped food all over herself, and she didn’t flip her bowl or the dishes either. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t eat properly, but she normally enjoyed being disruptive to get Cheng Xi’s attention. However, after that night’s meal, her clothes and plate were both spotless.

Chen Jiaman didn’t even react when Cheng Xi tried to placate Lu Chenzhou by feeding him. She seemed very quiet—not wooden, like how she used to be in Cai Yi’s lab, but a more regular, normal quietness.

Cheng Xi peered at her a few times and placed some of her favorite food into her bowl as she asked, “Little bunny, why are you so obedient today?”

Chen Jiaman didn’t respond, but as she lowered her head, she indistinctly looked at Lu Chenzhou.

Cheng Xi didn’t notice anything amiss until it was time to sleep. After Chen Jiaman finished listening to her nightly story, she pulled her blankets up and covered herself, leaving just a pair of eyes peeking out at Cheng Xi. She had even tucked in her blanket by herself, and she was clearly not letting Cheng Xi get into bed with her.

Cheng Xi raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You don’t want me to keep you company tonight?”

Chen Jiaman nodded.

“You’re not scared anymore?”

Chen Jiaman didn’t say anything, only shutting her eyes in response. It seemed that she was even a bit angry.

Cheng Xi marvelled at her behavior. It wasn’t good for people to bottle up their emotions, but the fact that Chen Jiaman was doing so meant that she was now brave enough to express her own emotions, that she was no longer just a puppet.

This was a step in the right direction.

Cheng Xi intentionally started teasing her. “It seems like you still want me to keep you company~ How about I stay?”

She lifted Chen Jiaman’s blankets and tried to crawl under the blankets, but Chen Jiaman refused to let her enter.

Cheng Xi immediately suspected that something had happened while she was gone, but now wasn’t the time to ask. Cheng Xi instead swapped tactics and tried to coax her. “Then, can you tell me what you want me to do? If you don’t say anything, I won’t leave.”

And Cheng Xi did as she promised. Since she couldn’t get in the blankets, she lay down on the barren side of the bed. “I’ll sleep here the entire night then. It’s not cold enough for me to freeze to death at night, right?”

Cheng Xi then closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep. Her act worked, and it frightened Chen Jiaman into taking action; she gnashed her teeth and looked at Cheng Xi in frustration before softly saying, “I…… I don’t need someone to keep my company at night anymore.”

Only then did Cheng Xi open her eyes and look at her. “You need to tell people what you’re thinking so that they understand you, alright? Anyways, since you feel like you can sleep on your own, then I’ll leave once you fall asleep. Alright?”

She didn’t ask why Chen Jiaman suddenly didn’t need her around anymore. Clearly, Chen Jiaman wouldn’t have responded even if she had. Chen Jiaman closed her eyes and curled up in her blanket.

As for whether or not she actually fell asleep, Cheng Xi didn’t know; she just stayed there until Chen Jiaman’s breathing stabilized at a slow methodical pace. Then, she walked downstairs, where Lu Chenzhou was still sitting in the living room and talking with someone on the phone with his laptop in front of him.

As she walked closer, she heard him emotionlessly say, “......I’m not free. You don’t have to tell me any of this.” Then, a cold smile flashed across his face, as he chillingly went on to say, “I really don’t care whether Donglai lives or dies.”

After Lu Chenzhou hung up, he continued to do a couple tasks on his laptop, as if that call hadn’t affected him at all. Honestly, over these past few days, Cheng Xi had received multiple calls from people close to Lu Chenzhou, varying from his grandparents to Baldy, and even Cai Yi. Each one asked her to persuade Lu Chenzhou to return to Donglai.

Donglai was honestly in a huge mess. Out of nervousness, or perhaps arrogance, Lu Chenzhou’s father had suggested that they bribe a politician. Evidently, they thought that the matter would quickly resolve itself, but their failed bribe only made the matter balloon even more. Then, unable to think of a solution, he could only push the “lazy” Lu Chenzhou out of the company in an effort to save it.