Chapter 234: A Forced Marriage?

“In the field of genetics, the X chromosome represents the female sex and the Y chromosome the male sex. The addition of x to y represents an intimate relationship between a couple, of course.”

Lu Chenzhou was, once again, rendered speechless by Cheng Xi’s logic.

Female doctors really were inscrutable sometimes.

He almost wanted to beat her up, as he had burnt countless brain cells trying to solve this silly little metaphor…… but she had never needed to sue for peace with him at all, because he had always been completely caught in her hands.

Lu Chenzhou was unable to even get mad at her, so he resignedly asked, “Chen Jiaman’s just pretending, isn’t she?”

Cheng Xi was shocked. “Why would you think that?”

“Because I warned her today,” Lu Chenzhou responded in a cool tone, “She clearly understood what I was saying, as she stopped clinging to you.”

Cheng Xi suddenly realized why Chen Jiaman had become much more “honest,” but her enlightenment quickly turned to anxiety. “You didn’t scare her too much, did you?” She wanted to continue and explain that Chen Jiaman was only just starting to develop some courage, but then she saw Lu Chenzhou glance at her with a sullen face, as if he were about to get up and leave.

Cheng Xi quickly pounced on him, pinning him down as she ignored everything else and yelled, “I”m sorry! I’m sorry. It’s my fault. My fault.” Without giving Lu Chenzhou any time to react, she bit down on his body, so hard that Lu Chenzhou…… once again couldn’t do anything.

He pointed a finger at her forehead. “What are you wrong about?”

“......”

This tone, as if he were schooling a child…… Cheng Xi leaned backwards, away from his finger, and earnestly replied, “I’m sorry for neglecting you even though you came the way here to find me.”

Lu Chenzhou’s face improved slightly, but he continued to stare at her. “You knew that she was pretending, didn’t you?”

Cheng Xi was unable to dodge this question, and she could only say, “It’s not really an act. She does still have some lingering mental issues, like anxiety, communication issues, problems expressing herself, and—”

This was all true. Even though being afraid of the dark and needing someone to keep her company or deliberately making a mess to get Cheng Xi’s attention were both childish acts, they were just a way Chen Jiaman’s anxiety manifested. It wasn’t at all appropriate to call her actions just a pretense on her part.

But before she could finish speaking, Lu Chenzhou had already gotten up and was about to leave. Cheng Xi weakly dragged him back as she once again asked, “What’s the matter now?”

“Go sleep with her!” Lu Chenzhou pushed her away. “Who wants you around?!”

Cheng Xi latched onto him like an octopus. “I want you around!”

He laughed coldly. “Ha!”

Cheng Xi kissed him.

Lu Chenzhou didn’t reciprocate, and he even coldly leaned as far away from her as he could. “You clearly treat your patients better than your man. I don’t want to be your man anymore. Leave!”

This fellow…… In the end, he still couldn’t handle her thinking about others, not even if that other person was just a teenage girl.

Cheng Xi said, “What do you mean? The reason why I’m doing all this is so that she can get better as quickly as possible. My patients are only ever guests in my life; they’ll leave once they’re well. On the other hand, you-” As Cheng Xi said this, she put her hand over his heart and squeezed his chest, as if trying to grab his heart. “You’ll always be #1 in my heart!”

Then, afraid that she’d squeezed his chest too hard, she leaned down and licked it.

This series of actions was so flirtatious that Mr. Lu normally would have pushed her onto the bed and ravaged her by now, but today he merely continued to look at her expressionlessly. He even scoffed, “You’re just trying to sweet-talk me.”

Cheng Xi shamelessly asked, “Is it sweet enough? I can be a little sweeter if you want……” Then, she tilted her head upwards, licked the corners of his mouth, leaned against his ear, and whispered, “Lu Chenzhou, you’re the man who I love the most. No matter what you become, I’ll always love you. If you fall sick, I’ll take care of you. If you’re old, I’ll accompany you. If you’re poor, I’ll take care of you.”

Lu Chenzhou simply stared at her. “You? Take care of me? Try paying off this house first.”

“......”

Cheng Xi stared back at him, speechless.

A faint hint of mirth finally creeped into Lu Chenzhou’s eyes when he saw her shocked face, but his expression remained as cold as ever. “Your words are extremely unrealistic, and you’re just trying to placate me.” He hesitated for a moment before admitting, “But I do like it very much.” He finally discarded his cold mask, leaned down to kiss her, and as he did so, he said, “Remember to placate me some more in the future.”

“......”

Well, at least they were past the stage of him being mad about being neglected. From this interaction, Cheng Xi could tell that Lu Chenzhou had really become much more peaceful after letting go of the burden in his heart. Of course, this also had something to do with the fact that he was busy working on other things—preparing for a marriage proposal and for marriage at large. The nature of his personality was to push everything aside and focus on only one thing at a time.

Including jealousy.

How much work had he put into everything? That night, they made love twice. It was already very late when they finally went to bed, but at 6 AM the next morning, Cheng Xi could no longer feel Lu Chenzhou’s presence in bed. She blearily opened her eyes and saw that Lu Chenzhou had already gotten dressed and was currently sitting in front of his study and taking notes. But she was still tired and sleepily asked, “What’re you doing? Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Lu Chenzhou replied indistinctly. She assumed that he came back to bed, but when the alarm clock actually woke her up, she found that he hadn’t slept at all; he was still in his usual upright posture, doodling and drawing in his notebook.

Cheng Xi climbed out of bed, walked over, and saw that there were a few sets of documents sprawled around his desk. He had a pair of glasses loosely set on his face and a set square in his hand as he made precise marks on a floor plan of their new house.

Cheng Xi curiously asked, “What’re you doing?”

“Planning out the scene of the marriage proposal.”

She pointed at another pile. “And these papers?”

“The wedding ceremony.”

“......And those?”

“Arrangements for the wedding.”

Cheng Xi picked up a pile of papers and started flipping through them randomly, mainly noting how detailed his work was. He had planned out everything step by step, starting from the arrangement of the room where he would propose to her, the engagement and proposal process, and to what sort of wedding souvenir the guests would receive.

She couldn’t help but massage her forehead. “Have you been staying up these past few days to work on this?”

Lu Chenzhou glanced at her, as if the answer to her question was too obvious to need a response.

“There’s no need to be in such a hurry, is there?”

“Yes, there is.”

“What’re you in a rush for?”

“Having a baby.”

Cheng Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. She couldn’t understand Lu Chenzhou’s logic at all—what did he think having a baby would do? Wouldn’t he still be repulsed whenever Chen Jiaman called him “Daddy?” “Why are you making marriage such a big deal!” Her scalp went numb from just looking at all his preparations, and she felt that she couldn’t let him work himself to death like this. She turned around to wash up and change her clothes. At the same time, she told her department head that something had come up and that she needed a day’s leave from work.

The department head approved her request without any hesitation, and she even asked, “What’s the matter? Let me know if it’s something I can help with.”

Cheng Xi smiled at the head’s kind reply. “Actually, something did come up. I’m planning to host a dinner at my house. Would you like to come?”

The department head laughed jovially. “Of course! Why not? I heard that you just moved into a new place, and I’ve been wanting to stop by and see it for myself.”

And so, that night, Cheng Xi took on the role of a gracious hostess by inviting all her friends and colleagues over for dinner. As for the reason behind her invitation, she was somewhat mysterious about it. When pressed, Cheng Xi only mysteriously replied, “You’ll find out once you arrive.”

The head felt like she was acting suspiciously, and Lu Chenzhou had similar thoughts—Cheng Xi hadn’t rushed off to work after breakfast as usual. Instead, she stayed back and asked him, “Did you bring your residence certificate over?”

Since he was planning on buying a new house, he should have it on him at all times.

Lu Chenzhou nodded. “Yes.”

“Alright, give it to me. Your ID too.”

Lu Chenzhou handed his residence certificate and ID to her as he looked at her in confusion. Cheng Xi glanced at him, smiled, and then pulled him along. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“You just have to follow me.”

She brought him straight to the civil administration bureau. When they arrived, the man whom Tian Rou had tried to pass off as her boyfriend was standing outside the door, waiting for them. Cheng Xi shook hands with him and cordially conversed for a bit as Lu Chenzhou glanced at him.

This man was more scholarly and refined than Lin Fan, and on top of that, he even had the cultured air of a mature man—a dangerous competitor.

Cheng Xi felt Lu Chenzhou’s gaze and prodded him lightly. The vice-deputy chief also noticed the stare, and he smiled and asked, “It’s him?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Not bad.” He candidly voiced his own opinion.

Then, he led the two of them inside. He had already arranged everything, and the bureau personnel were just waiting for them. Cheng Xi took a form and handed it to Lu Chenzhou. “You just have to sign your name here.”

Lu Chenzhou looked over the paper indifferently, and then he suddenly stilled. “A marriage certificate?” His collected expression crumbled to pieces. “We’re getting married just like that?!”

Everyone, including the vice-deputy chief, widened their eyes and looked at the two of them in shock. One of them even stood up and hesitantly mentioned, “By law, we can only certify a marriage license if both parties willingly agree to it.”

His words made it sound like she was stealing an innocent man’s freedom away!

Cheng Xi exasperatedly shook her hands. o(╯□╰)o