Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 558: An Early Night

Zhou Yuwen had a vague impression of this classmate from the grade below him in elementary school, but it wasn't too deep. Since the other party took the initiative to greet him, he definitely had to respond, so he smiled and asked, "Bringing your girlfriend home for the New Year?""Yeah, this is my girlfriend!"

Even though they were around the same age, Li Xu seemed extremely excited to see Zhou Yuwen, almost as if he had met a celebrity. Naturally, when mentioning his own girlfriend, he noticed Li Shiqi standing next to Zhou Yuwen.

Li Xu's girlfriend was decent-looking, but compared to Li Shiqi, she definitely fell far short. The moment Li Xu saw Li Shiqi, he couldn't help but sigh, thinking to himself, 'Money really does let you do whatever you want.' But then he suddenly found Li Shiqi familiar. Realizing who she was, he exclaimed, "You're Li Shiqi from Class Five, right!"

Li Shiqi nodded. "Mhm."

"I can't believe you guys are together. Oh my god!" Li Xu was obviously shocked. In truth, his impression of Zhou Yuwen had been very faint; it was only after Zhou Yuwen became famous that Li Xu suddenly remembered they were classmates.

However, he had a very deep impression of Li Shiqi.

Seeing that Li Xu remembered Li Shiqi so clearly, Zhou Yuwen teased, "I can't believe you even recognize her. Your memory is pretty good?"

Li Xu was thrilled. He declared, "Of course!"

"Back then, so many boys in our class had a secret crush on Li Shiqi!"

Li Xu was talking about their fifth and sixth-grade years. At the time, because Li Shiqi was good at studying, she was frequently praised by the teacher, which earned her the admiration of quite a few boys.

Zhou Yuwen thought to himself, 'Aren't we elementary school classmates? Did they really have secret crushes that early on?'

Zhou Yuwen looked at Li Shiqi with great interest and asked, "I couldn't tell. You were quite popular, huh."

Hearing this, Li Shiqi blushed slightly. She said she had no idea about any of that.

She wasn't lying. Li Shiqi hadn't even thought about dating in high school, let alone in elementary school.

Li Xu was still in a highly excited state. He never expected to run into Zhou Yuwen here. He told Zhou Yuwen that he frequently chatted with his university classmates about him.

"When I tell them we're elementary school classmates, they don't even believe me."

"Well, they should believe you now," Zhou Yuwen said with a smile.

Li Xu thought he should prove they were classmates. After pondering for a long while, he finally pulled out his phone somewhat bashfully and said, "Um, Zhou Yuwen, can we take a picture together?"

Zhou Yuwen replied, "Of course."

So Li Xu happily held up his phone to take a photo with Zhou Yuwen.

Li Xu's girlfriend, watching from the side, also spoke up somewhat shyly, "I want to take one too."

And so, Zhou Yuwen took a group photo with the two of them.

Right around this time, the grilled vegetarian sausages Zhou Yuwen had ordered were ready. The old woman asked Zhou Yuwen if he was eating here or taking it to go.

Zhou Yuwen said he would take it to go.

Over there, Li Xu was still looking down at the photos.

His girlfriend was complaining that Li Xu had taken a bad picture of her, yet Li Xu still sent it to his dormitory group chat.

Seeing his excited demeanor, Zhou Yuwen found it a bit amusing. He couldn't quite understand why someone would be so fanatical about him; he still had a long way to go.

"Well, you guys eat first. We'll get going," Zhou Yuwen said, holding Li Shiqi's hand and waving at them.

"Ah,"

Hearing that Zhou Yuwen was leaving, Li Xu obviously felt a bit reluctant but helpless. Ultimately, he just said okay. He had wanted to ask Zhou Yuwen for his contact information, but felt it would be too abrupt.

In the end, he didn't say anything and just watched helplessly as Zhou Yuwen got into the G-Wagon parked by the side of the road.

Li Xu recognized the G-Wagon and told his girlfriend that it cost over two million yuan.

Hearing this, Li Xu's girlfriend said, "It would be great if you could let me ride in a car like that someday."

Upon hearing this, Li Xu couldn't help but smile foolishly, remaining silent.

The old woman selling the vegetarian sausages had been listening to them chatting the whole time. She felt that this young man acting so subservient when he ran into the other young man just now was very strange. Unable to hold back, she asked, "What kind of big shot is he? Why were you acting so cautious around him?"

At this, Li Xu was very puzzled. "Auntie, you don't even know him?"

This left the old woman speechless. She said, "I'm an old lady in my sixties, and he's no relative of mine. What would I know?"

Hearing this, Li Xu smiled sheepishly. He explained, "He's probably the most successful person in our grade. He runs a company."

With this, the old woman understood. "Oh, a big boss!"

"More than just a big boss. His company is famous nationwide now, and he has tens of billions on hand!"

"Oh my god, how much?"

Hearing this, the old woman was completely dumbfounded. 'If he said a few million, I could accept that, but tens of billions? That's simply unfathomable. Young people these days really aren't grounded, just spouting whatever comes to mind,' she thought.

The old woman clearly didn't quite believe it, and Li Xu, being a serious person, simply went on to explain how Zhou Yuwen had a mind for business, starting to sell phone cards right in his freshman year.

Of course, Zhou Yuwen had no idea someone was broadcasting his glorious deeds. After buying a late-night snack, he followed Li Shiqi to a hotel. After calling around, all the slightly larger hotels were completely booked.

With no other choice, Zhou Yuwen and Li Shiqi had to make do for the night in that budget hotel.

After registering at the front desk, they got on the elevator. On the way up, the two also chatted about running into Li Xu just now, feeling it was quite magical. Years had flown by in the blink of an eye, and to think someone still recognized him.

Li Shiqi nodded, saying that since Zhou Yuwen was famous now, it was guaranteed someone would recognize him.

The two of them continued chatting like this as they entered the room.

The room's space was actually quite large, estimated to be at least twenty-five square meters. It looked clean enough, though it felt like the air conditioner's heating wasn't very effective.

The room was very quiet, a silence tinged with a hint of awkwardness.

Even though they had been chatting perfectly well when they walked in.

As a result, after entering the room, they suddenly didn't know what to talk about.

Li Shiqi rarely stayed in hotels, especially with Zhou Yuwen; this could be considered the first time.

Thinking about what might happen later, Li Shiqi felt somewhat panicked and flustered.

"I, I'll go boil some water!"

Li Shiqi didn't know what to do. Catching sight of the kettle on the counter, she thought about boiling some hot water for Zhou Yuwen to drink.

While adjusting the air conditioner's heat, Zhou Yuwen said, "It's better not to use the hotel's kettle. Who knows what the previous guest did with it."

"If you want hot water, you can go ask the front desk. They have purified water down there," Zhou Yuwen casually added.

Hearing this, Li Shiqi immediately replied, "Oh, then I'll go down and get some hot water right now."

Saying that, she turned and hurried out the door.

Zhou Yuwen had originally wanted to stop her, thinking to himself that he never said he needed any. But by the time he opened his mouth, Li Shiqi had already left. 'Whatever,' Zhou Yuwen thought. 'Maybe she wants some hot water herself.'

While Li Shiqi went downstairs to fetch the hot water, Zhou Yuwen grabbed a quick bite to eat, then went into the restroom to take a hot shower. The restroom in this room was fully enclosed, so when Li Shiqi returned, she didn't see Zhou Yuwen anywhere. Thinking he had run off somewhere alone, she picked up her phone to call him.

Fortunately, just as she was dialing, she saw Zhou Yuwen come out wrapped in a white bath towel. His suddenly bare upper body startled Li Shiqi, and she quickly lowered her head, not daring to look.

Zhou Yuwen remarked that this hotel was decent—at the very least, the water was quite hot, though the air conditioner's temperature just wouldn't go up.

"You've been busy all day, you must be tired too. Go take a shower."

"Oh, oh, okay." Li Shiqi's face was beet red. Keeping her head down, she didn't dare say a single word. It seemed as though she would do whatever Zhou Yuwen told her to. It was only as she stepped into the restroom to take a shower that she remembered to mention she had left the hot water on the table.

Zhou Yuwen hummed in acknowledgment. He discovered that the hot water Li Shiqi mentioned was actually carried back in two disposable paper cups, and he chuckled helplessly.

While Li Shiqi was taking a shower, Zhou Yuwen sat on the sofa to handle some work that had been sent over today, and conveniently replied to a message from his mother.

Yang Lirong told Zhou Yuwen that his father had already gone to bed.

"He fell asleep in the car. Your cousin specifically carried him on his back to the bedroom and made sure your dad was settled before leaving. Your cousin is quite responsible."

Looking at the message his mother sent, Zhou Yuwen could only muse that if a person had money and power, people would even fight to fulfill filial duties on their behalf.

He replied with a simple "Mhm," and then mentioned that he would be staying out tonight.

His mother was very puzzled, pointing out that it was the New Year, and it wasn't like he didn't have a home.

Who comes back to their hometown only to stay outside?

Zhou Yuwen explained that he wasn't used to staying at home and would head back tomorrow.

Unable to persuade him otherwise, his mother could only utter an "Mhm."

After chatting with a few more people for a while, Li Shiqi, having finished her shower, walked out looking a bit embarrassed. Being completely alone with Zhou Yuwen like this indeed made her feel shy.

She had acted as Zhou Yuwen's secretary for the whole day, wearing a smart little suit. Now that she had finished her shower, she had certainly changed her clothes.

She had changed into a gray knit sweater. The sweater was form-fitting, perfectly highlighting her figure. Li Shiqi's body didn't have any major flaws. At 168 centimeters tall, she was well-developed exactly where she should be, and her slender waist was exquisitely narrow.

Although she had already blow-dried her hair, it still looked slightly damp. The hem of the sweater wasn't very long, but Li Shiqi wasn't wearing pants, leaving her crisp, perfectly proportioned long legs fully exposed.

This was the first time Zhou Yuwen had ever seen Li Shiqi's thighs.

Li Shiqi was also somewhat fidgety, not knowing what to say to Zhou Yuwen. She stammered as she asked if he wanted to soak his feet; if he did, she could fetch some water for him.

Zhou Yuwen said there was no need. Who ever heard of soaking their feet in a hotel? There wasn't even a bucket around anyway.

"Oh, then,"

Li Shiqi kept her head down, still not knowing what to say. In fact, from her perspective, the fact that Zhou Yuwen was staying with her tonight clearly meant something was going to happen.

However, at this moment, Zhou Yuwen truly hadn't considered letting anything happen with her. After all, he had just separated from Zheng Yanyan and the others. Having a few rare days of peace, he was actually quite enjoying the present moment.

"It's getting late. Get some rest early."

Just as Li Shiqi was full of expectation for what was about to happen, Zhou Yuwen completely caught her off guard with that sentence.

This couldn't help but make Li Shiqi freeze for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Yuwen asked curiously.

"N-nothing." Li Shiqi's expression obviously turned a bit strange. But since Zhou Yuwen had already said they should rest, it wasn't like she could insist that something had to happen between them, making herself look overly... eager.

And so, they simply turned off the lights.

The room instantly plunged into darkness. The two lay on the bed, sleeping in their clothes.

Mainly, the room's heating really wasn't that great. Furthermore, seeing that Zhou Yuwen didn't intend to do anything, Li Shiqi wasn't about to just take her clothes off right away, so she just lay on the bed wearing that gray knit sweater.

The room was pin-drop quiet, filled only by the faint hum of the exhaust fan in the restroom.

After a long time, Zhou Yuwen, lying on his side, asked, "Are you asleep?"

"No."

At a time like this, there was no way Li Shiqi could fall asleep.

Zhou Yuwen sighed, feeling a bit emotional.

"?" Li Shiqi was puzzled, looking over at him.

She saw Zhou Yuwen resting his head on the back of his hands. He said he never expected things to develop to this point today. Originally, he had just wanted to make a little extra money.

"I also never expected to be lying in the same bed with you," Zhou Yuwen added, turning his head to look at Li Shiqi with amusement.

Hearing this, Li Shiqi didn't know what to say for a moment.

It was only then that Zhou Yuwen noticed she was quite far away from him. He asked curiously, "Huh? Aren't you cold?"

"I'm okay," Li Shiqi replied.

Zhou Yuwen hummed, "No wonder."

"I was wondering why you were so far away from me." Hearing this, Li Shiqi's small face flushed red again.

Zhou Yuwen coaxed, "Scoot closer to me?"

"Mhm."

Whether it was because she was wearing the knit sweater, Li Shiqi's petite, delicate body felt exceptionally warm, making it incredibly comfortable to hold her in his arms.

This was also Li Shiqi's first time being held by someone while sleeping.

How to describe it? In the darkness, it brought a rare sense of peace.

The two simply snuggled together. It was then that Zhou Yuwen suddenly remembered: "Speaking of which, we've been dating for quite a while now, but it feels like there hasn't been any progress."

"!"

Hearing this, Li Shiqi immediately gripped the clothing corner of Zhou Yuwen's shirt nervously. 'Did he finally realize it?'

"Hmm?"

Seeing that Li Shiqi didn't speak, Zhou Yuwen curiously looked down at her.

In the darkness, he could actually only see a silhouette and a pair of deep, profound eyes.

Zhou Yuwen smiled and said, "Originally, I wanted to wait until the New Year to meet your mother before officially getting together with you. I didn't expect that we'd be sleeping together now."

At the mention of meeting her mother, Li Shiqi's eyes visibly dimmed a bit.

Zhou Yuwen gazed into her eyes, thought for a moment, and murmured, "But doing it now should be fine too, right?"

With that, Zhou Yuwen lowered his head and gently kissed Li Shiqi's small mouth.

"Mmph,"

Li Shiqi let out a soft whimper but began to cooperate.

The two simply kissed in the darkness, Zhou Yuwen's body pressing down onto hers.

He gently lifted the clothing corner of her shirt hem.

In the darkness, Li Shiqi's slender waist, slowly revealed, appeared exceptionally fair and pristine.