Chapter 87: Are You Married?

The rain had left the night cool.

Moisture soaked into the long dark hours; the fresh leaves on the plane trees swayed in the evening breeze, everything brimming with new life.

Halfway through sleep, Lu Qingyue felt a little cold. She instinctively curled in on herself, and without even opening her eyes, reached for the blanket on the bed.

Before she could move, however, someone had already tugged up the edge of the covers and gently tucked her in.

The blanket, carrying the faint scent of disinfectant, brushed past the tip of her nose. She sniffled, then suddenly caught a trace of very faint tobacco.

It was a smell both familiar and distant, as though hidden deep in memory. A thread, thin as a hair, seemed to hook into her thoughts. In the end, Lu Qingyue could not hold back and slowly, groggily opened her eyes.

What met her gaze was darkness.

The ward was unlit, and only a little pale moonlight from outside slipped in, faint and indistinct.

The figure beside the bed stood against the light, his features blurred, impossible to make out clearly.

At first, Lu Qingyue thought it was Lu Yi. After all, he was the one keeping watch tonight. But the scent on him felt wrong.

Lu Yi smoked too, but his tobacco smell was not like this, and beneath it there was an even fainter hint of sea salt. She had only ever smelled that fragrance on one person.

At the thought of that person, Lu Qingyue sat bolt upright at once. In the dimness, she fixed on his dark eyes and, half disbelieving, called out softly,

"Cheng Xingye?"

The hand tucking in the blanket stilled.

Cheng Xingye had not expected her to wake, much less sit up so suddenly.

He had no time to pull back, and the distance between them instantly shrank. The air at the tip of his nose was almost entirely filled with the warm, soft scent she had brought out from beneath the covers.

He knew such closeness was terribly unfair, but his body stiffened by instinct, frozen there without moving.

Only his throat moved once, almost imperceptibly.

Lu Qingyue had just woken, and sleep still clouded her eyes. She did not notice his awkwardness at all, only felt that she must have water in her brain to be seeing such an illusion.

Otherwise, why would someone who had vanished for more than half a year suddenly appear here?

She stared at him, bewildered, unable to tell whether the person before her was reality or a dream. Seeing that he still said nothing, she asked again in a daze,

"What are you doing here?"

Perhaps because she had just woken, her voice was soft and a little nasal, carrying a hint of coaxing sweetness.

Cheng Xingye lowered his gaze. His long lashes cast shadows down, concealing the emotions in his eyes beneath the half-light.

Silently restraining the pounding of his heart, he spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"Here to see you."

For some reason, being looked at so directly by him made Lu Qingyue feel inexplicably parched.

But before she could even begin to entertain any tender or romantic thoughts, she suddenly caught the long-lost scent on him, and her train of thought was cut off at once.

She sniffled and asked quietly, puzzled,

"Did you smoke again?"

Hadn't they agreed he would quit? Why was he smoking again?

Her question made Cheng Xingye feel, at once, like a husband caught in a lie by his wife.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, his gaze flickering away, and reflexively promised obediently,

"Last time. I won't smoke again after this."

As soon as he said it, he himself was slightly stunned.

Even Cheng Xingye had not really figured out what he was thinking.

He had always been a straightforward person, doing things as he pleased and not caring much what others said.

But when Lu Qingyue asked him almost offhandedly, he suddenly felt a little flustered.

He had clearly quit smoking for a long time already. It was only in these past few days, because he had been so worried about her and had nowhere to release the heavy, stifling pressure in his chest, that he had caved and smoked two cigarettes. He had never expected to be caught like this.

Fortunately, Lu Qingyue did not dwell on whether he would smoke in the future. She shifted back slightly, increasing the distance between them, then studied his brows and eyes with complete seriousness.

Thinking of the recent hallucinations in which someone kept calling her baby, and now seeing Cheng Xingye in the ward, a bold guess rose in Lu Qingyue's mind, though she was not entirely certain.

So she pushed back the blanket, sat a little straighter, and asked hesitantly,

"Did you bring me to the hospital that day?"

That day, when she was admitted, half-conscious as she was, she had vaguely heard someone call her baby.

Catching off guard, Cheng Xingye was left speechless by her question. He drew in a deep breath, thinking that in the end, he still had not managed to hide it from her.

This girl was good in every way, except that she was a little too clever; hiding things from her was truly not easy.

With her clear eyes fixed on him, he had no choice but to admit in a low voice,

"Mm."

Seeing him confess, Lu Qingyue understood at once, and the guess in her heart became even more certain. So she pressed on,

"And you were here with me last night too?"

Last night, everything had been hazy, and she had not seen who it was at all. But she had clearly heard someone call her baby again.

Lu Yi would absolutely never call her baby. If he dared, before she could even lift a finger, Xi Yu and Lu Jiachen would bury him alive in this spring.

So by elimination, the greatest possibility could only be Cheng Xingye.

She tilted her head up at him, her eyes already bright with complete understanding.

Cheng Xingye knew she really understood everything now. Pressing his lips together, he had to give another quiet mm.

This left Lu Qingyue truly puzzled.

Back then she had made everything so clear, ending things cleanly and completely. So why, after more than half a year, had he come back to find her?

If it had been before, Lu Qingyue might have cut him off again without the slightest hesitation.

But not now. He had, after all, saved her. Saying anything so heartless at this moment would seem rather excessive.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Lu Qingyue suddenly thought of a more serious question.

"Are you married?"

If he was already married and still calling her baby, then he would truly be a complete scumbag.

Although there was nothing between them anymore, Lu Qingyue simply could not bring herself to believe that he would become the sort of rotten man who covets what he has while eyeing what he does not.

So she stared at him warily, ready at any moment to sever ties with him again.

Cheng Xingye had not expected her to ask this all of a sudden. He paused slightly, and the next second blurted out,

"How could I be?"

Lu Qingyue did not understand, and still looked at him with blazing eyes.

"Why couldn't you be?"

After all, back then the Ye family had said as much in the media; it was obviously a push toward marriage.

Since both families had that intention, how could it be dragged out for so long without a wedding?

Cheng Xingye said nothing.

Under her unwavering gaze, even his heartbeat began to quicken beyond control.

He thought: if I am not married, what else would it be for?

Isn't it because I've been waiting for you.

Before he could say it, however, Lu Qingyue seemed to think of something, and with sudden terror glanced downward at his lower body, asking very bluntly,

"Is your leg all right?"

Cheng Xingye: "?"

He did not understand why this little thing's thoughts were always so erratic.

What did his not getting married have to do with his leg?

But Lu Qingyue was already getting anxious.

She suddenly remembered the joke she had once made, telling Lu Yi to break Cheng Xingye's leg.

But that had only been a glib remark because she was in a bad mood!

Could Lu Yi have actually done it, and because of that he had been unable to get married?

At the thought of this, she looked down again uncontrollably.

This time, however, before she could see clearly, someone pinched her chin, lifting her head.

Cheng Xingye held her chin and stopped her from looking down. His dark eyes fixed on her with exasperation as he said,

"Where are you looking?"

This was the third time.

Since he met her until now, she had already looked at it three full times.

This little scoundrel looked and ran, with not a shred of responsibility. So this time, he really did not want to let her look again.

With her chin held in his hand, Lu Qingyue had no choice but to tilt her whole little face upward.

Too anxious to explain, she asked with trembling worry,

"You didn't manage to get married... it wasn't because of, um, that part... not working, was it?"

Cheng Xingye: "???"