Warm Water Burns, Chapter 17

Her words seemed to cool Fu Lanzhuo’s expression once more.

“Look—right after we first met, your car got smashed. And today, that chandelier suddenly fell.”

As she said these things, a layer of sweat formed on Wen Yan’s palms.

“I don’t care about that, and I’m not afraid of it.” Fu Lanzhuo’s voice was heavy. “Besides, you don’t need to pay attention to street fortune-tellers.”

“I’ve never believed in fate.”

Wen Yan went still.

The patter of rain suddenly drifted in from outside the window. The sky beyond the glass had turned gray and overcast, even though it had been bright and sunny not long ago.

It was raining.

The damp air mingled with the sound of Wen Yan’s heartbeat.

The rain grew heavier. In a state that was both dazed and vividly awake, Wen Yan heard Fu Lanzhuo speaking to her from across the table. His gaze was locked on her, his voice cold and clear yet utterly sincere: “I like you, Wen Yan.”

…

They finished their meal. Outside, the rain was still falling, though it had eased somewhat from before. Stepping out of the elevator, Wen Yan looked outside and asked, “Gege, it’s still raining. Did you bring an umbrella?”

She didn’t have one in her backpack either.

“No.” Fu Lanzhuo pulled his phone from his trouser pocket. “Wait a moment. I’ll have someone bring one over.”

Wen Yan gave a soft hum.

After Fu Lanzhuo sent the message, a man in black quickly jogged down from upstairs, delivering an umbrella to him. Wen Yan recognized him as one of the bodyguards she’d seen before.

Fu Lanzhuo took the umbrella and said to her, “I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”

Wen Yan said, “I’m not going back to the dorm. It’s still early. I want to keep studying at the library.”

“It’s getting dark.” Fu Lanzhuo looked at her.

“But on nights when I don’t have classes, I always stay at the library. Weekends too,” Wen Yan said.

“Alright. I’ll walk you there.”

A lingering heat still burned across Wen Yan’s face. Up close, one could see that her flawless, originally porcelain-white cheeks now looked as though they’d been brushed with rouge.

The first floor of the cafeteria had far fewer people than before—more than half the seats were empty. By the time the two of them reached the main entrance, Fu Lanzhuo lowered his head and opened the umbrella.

Wen Yan watched him.

Rainwater cascaded down the steps in front of the cafeteria like tiny waterfalls. Beneath the eaves, splashing spray formed a hazy veil of mist. Through that curtain of rain, the distant teaching buildings became nothing more than blurred silhouettes.

Wen Yan gripped her backpack strap, her gaze sweeping from the pale, defined bones of Fu Lanzhuo’s wrist down to the narrow waist cinched beneath his black jacket.

He carried a particular air of restraint about him, laced with an authority that couldn’t be shaken. Even when he occasionally smiled warmly at her, she felt a distance between them—like the span of a coastline.

And yet, the greater that distance, the more she wanted to close it.

“Come here.” Fu Lanzhuo looked at her.

Wen Yan’s observing gaze was caught by those dark eyes. Her body paused briefly. She didn’t look away. Instead, she stepped forward and ducked beneath the canopy of the black umbrella.

The space was cramped. Wen Yan inevitably stood very close to Fu Lanzhuo. Her arm occasionally brushed against the elbow holding the umbrella—hard, and a little cold.

Under the umbrella, her deeply flushed ear tips couldn’t escape those watchful eyes either.

The rain seemed to intensify. Water pooled and ran freely across the ground, ripples colliding with one another in endless rings.

Then Fu Lanzhuo suddenly stopped. Wen Yan stopped too, turning to look at him in confusion.

His features were sharply defined. What Wen Yan found most captivating were his eyes—amber-colored pupils, deep and impossible to read.

“What about you? How do you feel… about me?”

Fu Lanzhuo asked her directly.

Wen Yan realized that back in the cafeteria, she hadn’t actually given him a proper answer.

And with the rain suddenly falling outside, she’d even wondered if she’d imagined it. At the time, she’d simply placed a wrapped roll into her bowl, eaten it carefully under Fu Lanzhuo’s gaze, then looked at him and said, “It’s delicious.”

Now he was asking her again.

Which meant it hadn’t been her imagination.

“Isn’t it obvious, gege?” Wen Yan stared at Fu Lanzhuo. Her body drifted closer to him of its own accord. The sound of raindrops striking the umbrella seemed to fade in her ears.

“Actually, there’s something I want to tell you. I… dreamed about you.”

Fu Lanzhuo’s brow furrowed slightly. At this closeness, Wen Yan’s small, palm-sized face and her deeply reddened earlobes were fully within his view. “When did you dream about me?”

“Last night…” Wen Yan’s lashes trembled involuntarily. “I don’t remember the details.”

“All I know is that in the dream, you were just as kind to me.”

The corner of Fu Lanzhuo’s mouth lifted. “Is that so.”

“Mm.”

Wen Yan suddenly felt a cool touch on her cheek. Fu Lanzhuo’s palm had settled there, and her body shivered in that instant, as if struck by a current.

“Give me a chance, Wen Yan.”

“Let me be good to you from now on.”

In her peripheral vision, the rain kept falling without end. The hazy curtain of water seemed to envelop the entire world, yet it sealed them off from everything beyond.

Wen Yan’s heart was racing. She took the initiative and asked, “Gege, are you in need of a girlfriend?”

She saw Fu Lanzhuo’s thick, dark lashes tremble. His gaze was deep as an abyss. He answered, “Very much so.”

Author’s Note:
———————-
Rose in mouth—everyone happy with this pacing? [sunglasses] Brother Fu is actually a super man of action. He tried to hold back but didn’t succeed. And Yan-bao isn’t one to be coy either, so their sweet romance begins! Next chapter goes premium, everyone. Please send nutrient fluid, please support me, comment red envelopes galore [shy][shy] See you tomorrow at 21:00 as always. It’ll be a biiiig fat chapter!!!

**

Let me also recommend two upcoming novels I’m planning to write. Both are part of this series. Xiao Jiang and Xiao Jin have already appeared, and Jin Beixiao will make a small cameo later in this story. If you’re interested, feel free to hit the collect button!

*Possession* synopsis:

When Jiang Lu’er first met Jin Yang at age five, he wore a cold expression on his pale, jade-like face. All the other children seemed afraid of him. He crossed the room, indifferent, and sat down on the sofa, picking up a Rubik’s cube with an air of supreme nonchalance.

Jiang Lu’er licked her lollipop twice, unconvinced by the general fear. She walked over and picked up a stuffed bear sitting next to him.

Jin Yang glanced at her.

“Grandpa Jin said I can play with any toy in your house.”

Jin Yang stared at her rosy cheeks for two seconds. Utterly cold. He didn’t respond.

But Jiang Lu’er took his silence as permission. Clutching the stuffed bear, she sat down beside him.

“Gege, why aren’t you playing with the other kids?”

Jin Yang didn’t answer.

Jiang Lu’er fished a lollipop out of her pocket and shoved it at him. “No need to thank me.” She swung her little legs back and forth.

“…”

When the gathering ended that day, Jiang Lu’er not only took home the stuffed bear she’d claimed—she also made off with the Rubik’s cube Jin Yang had been playing with.

Because she’d watched him solve it in thirty seconds. It was a 21-layer cube, and she’d never seen anything like it. So she’d shamelessly asked him for it.

Jin Yang still wore that cold, silent expression. Jiang Lu’er assumed he was mute. Feeling sorry for him, she pressed another lollipop into his hand as a trade.

The cube happened to slip from her grip, so she scooped it up and ran off.

Ten years flashed by.

Jiang Lu’er, freshly admitted to high school, felt something was off about Jin Yang.

Then one morning, still hovering between sleep and wakefulness, she felt a warm, damp pressure on her lips. Her foggy consciousness sharpened. The sensation grew unmistakably clear. She realized with a jolt that her childhood friend might actually like her…

At first, she’d possessed his toys.

Later, she possessed his entire heart.

Carefree, never-self-doubting, only-ever-doubts-others wealthy heiress × Cold-since-birth, secretly-scheming devil-in-disguise young master

*Both from top-tier wealthy families, childhood friends*
*Male lead: love at first sight, secret crush becomes real (slightly mutual; the female lead realizes her feelings later)*
*He dotes on her. Daddy-type childhood friend.*

*Cold Indulgence* synopsis:

After they started dating, Jin Beixiao always kept Luo Ling in check.

Then Luo Ling did something that infuriated him beyond measure.

Luo Ling looked at him and asked, “So what do you want? Should we break up?”

Jin Beixiao gazed at her coolly. “Come here. Kiss me.”

A crazy girl in a little-white-rabbit disguise × A roguish, unrestrained young master from an old-money family

Deliberate approach × He knows she’s approaching on purpose, yet willingly kneels

Two peak-level badasses face off

———See author’s column for more.

Chapter 13: Benediction – Under His Touch, She…

Yanqing University’s teaching buildings were washed gleaming clean beneath the curtain of rain. The leaves of the campus plane trees rustled softly as raindrops played across them.

Fu Lanzhuo held the umbrella, walking Wen Yan back to the library entrance.

Under the umbrella, Wen Yan’s cheeks, earlobes, and elegant swan-like neck were all flushed with a rosy tint, making her look even more radiant. Her skin, lit by the soft glow of the rainy day, glistened like freshly opened porcelain. Beneath her smooth forehead, her brows were sharp and spirited. Her pure black eyes were clear and translucent, like two obsidian stones, their outer corners naturally tilted upward.

“Buzz—” As she stepped onto the stairs, the vibration of a phone sounded in the air. Wen Yan watched Fu Lanzhuo pull his phone from his pocket.