Disguised as a Man, She Has Eight Men Fighting Over Her - Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Lin Cheng stared warily. “What now?”

Xie Zhi leaned closer, carrying his clean, dangerous scent, and drew out the words.

“Kiss me once, and I’ll take you.”

“Damn you, Xie Zhi!” Her face blazed. She unbuckled, jumped out, and stormed down the dark road.

“I’ll walk!”

Chuckling, Xie Zhi followed slowly in the van, one arm on the open window.

“Really walking? No taxis for miles.”

She refused to look at him and walked faster.

“Little mouse. The car has air-conditioning.”

“Get lost!”

Xie Zhi watched her bunlike, furious face and scarlet ears, his mood soaring as he grinned like a thoroughly rotten fox.

Lin Cheng stopped and checked her phone. Less than an hour remained before visiting hours ended. Gritting her teeth, she turned, kicked the tire, and glared red-faced at the man smiling so maliciously inside.

“Where?”

“Wherever you like.” He pointed deliberately at his cheek.

Lin Cheng drew a deep breath, planted the quickest possible peck on his cheek, then yanked the door open and dropped heavily into the seat.

“Seat belt.” His laughter colored the words before the van shot forward.

The battered van shot away and raced down the road. Lin Cheng’s heart hammered, though she could not tell whether it was because of the speed or the curve that had never left the driver’s lips. She stole a glance at him, unable to guess what the man was thinking.

Her grandmother had already been transferred to a regular ward and was awake.

The old woman’s eyes lit up. “Chengcheng? You cut your hair short, but you’re still just as pretty.”

Eyes reddening, Lin Cheng nestled close and acted spoiled.

While Lin Cheng clung to her, her mother pulled Xie Zhi into the corridor.

“Are you… Chengcheng’s boyfriend?”

For once, Xie Zhi froze, his ears warming.

“Not… yet.”

“She has never dated and is very innocent. If you aren’t serious, stay away.”

The warning pierced him.

“I’m serious,” he blurted, startling himself.

Her mother studied him, then nodded. “Remember that.”

Xie Zhi leaned against the wall after she left and rubbed between his brows. One warning from his “future mother-in-law” had actually forced the truth out of him.

He did not even know when these feelings had started. Was it the first time that slender waist had sent his thoughts astray? Or when those wet, red-rimmed eyes had made his heart ache?

Enough. He had too many things to think about now.

He wanted her. Wanted to kiss her. Wanted to hold her…

Inside, Grandma held Lin Cheng’s hand and asked with a smile who the young man was.

“A classmate! Right, a classmate!” Lin Cheng answered at once, though her heart inexplicably accelerated. Grandma took in her rosy cheeks with understanding, asked no more, and changed the subject.

When visiting hours ended, Lin Cheng and Xie Zhi left the hospital.

On the return journey, Lin Cheng kept feeling that Xie Zhi’s gaze was even more scorching than before, making the roots of her ears burn. She turned to the window and ignored him.

“Sichuan food?” he asked, remembering her shining eyes over spicy crayfish.

She gave a reluctant “Mm.”

Fine. He had guessed right.

At the restaurant, Xie Zhi took the menu and fluently listed several dishes.

“And chili chicken,” Lin Cheng could not resist adding.

His pen never paused; he silently wrote it down. When his eyes reached one corner of the menu, they darkened slightly. “And one bowl of sweet fermented-rice dumpling soup.”

This time, he did not order soy milk for her.

The meal began in silence. Lin Cheng was clearly still sulking over the deal in the van and kept her head down over her food. Xie Zhi did not rush her; he ate unhurriedly and kept placing food in her bowl.

Only when the warm fermented-rice soup had nearly emptied, its sweet wine warming her cheeks pink, did Lin Cheng finally begin to talk.

“Why are you so good at fighting?”

“Mm?” He looked up, laughter in his eyes. “Do you like it?”

She snorted, drank again, then asked boldly, “Why did you insist I kiss you?”

“I wanted it.”

He answered without hesitation. Her eyes rounded instantly, and he could not suppress a low laugh.

“My turn, Little Lin Cheng.”

“Present!” she answered reflexively.

He asked why she disguised herself as a man.

“Because of my brother…” Her gaze clouded, then the warmth dispersed it.

“Will you leave?”

“Of course. I have to go back.”

“Where?”

“The Special Operations Command Class.” She raised her chin proudly.

Xie Zhi’s hand tightened almost imperceptibly around his cup.

The training class? She was a trainee too?

Wonderful. Fucking wonderful.

He tipped back his head and drained the beer. His Adam’s apple rolled. “Let’s go.” He rose and pulled her with him, his voice slightly taut.

On the way out, Lin Cheng casually grabbed two complimentary lollipops from the counter. She put one in her own mouth and secretly slipped the other into Xie Zhi’s coat pocket.

Orange sweetness filled the van. Her lips shone around the candy, leaving Xie Zhi parched.

His fingertips tapped lightly on the wheel. He touched the brakes.

*Crunch.* Lin Cheng bit the candy apart and swallowed it, then turned and stared longingly at the pocket holding his.

“Mine’s gone. Give it to me.”

“Give you what?” His voice was hoarse.

She remained still in her tipsy haze. Only several seconds later did she understand. She raised her head blankly and repeated, “My candy’s gone.”

Xie Zhi turned, bent close, and caught her chin. Her lips were red with sugar and wine, parted beneath wet eyes.

Heat burned through his last strand of reason.

“Then you don’t get any.”

And in the next instant—