Chapter 8: Reunion

After leaving Phoenix Stage, Cheng Xi returned home, took a bath, and changed her clothes. After refreshing herself, she arrived at the hospital at 11 AM sharp. She had a lunch meeting, and then, for the rest of the afternoon, was on duty at the psychiatry division.

Cai Yi had sent her a few documents related to Lu Chenzhou. Cheng Xi flipped through them briefly and found that the recorded information was quite straightforward: the Lu household was a family of merchants and businessmen, rich and affluent. Their family tree was simple: Lu Chenzhou’s father was an only son, and Lu Chenzhou’s mother had died in his youth due to an accident. Thus, the Lu household, beyond Lu Chenzhou himself and his grandparents, consisted solely of his father and his younger brother Lu Chenming.

Lu Chenzhou’s life was no different from that of an ordinary nouveau riche, whether in terms of his birth, education, and grades, nothing was particularly prominent, good or bad. He had left the country at eighteen before returning to Donglai at twenty-four to take charge of a project to build the country’s first aquatic sci-fi themed hotel, the Donglai Hotel. And finally, he formally took over at Donglai at thirty years old.

The Lu family did not have a history of mental illness, and the reason for and when Lu Chenzhou had been stricken by illness were both unclear. According to his family, Lu Chenzhou had been introverted from youth, but had displayed no unusual symptoms beyond being somewhat indifferent to others.

Even when Cai Yi had met him for the first time, she didn’t think that he was suffering from emotional detachment, only that his disposition was unusually calm.

Cheng Xi could empathize with her teacher’s ‘misdiagnosis.’ Many people in the modern world suffered from emotional detachment, only to varying degrees. From Lu Chenzhou’s behavior, Cheng Xi guessed that he already knew that he was suffering from such an illness, and that it was also the real reason why Cai Yi had introduced her to him. Had he been pretending to treat their introduction as a blind date and then brought her to Phoenix Stage to embarrass her and force her retreat voluntarily?

Mm, he was a surprisingly logical patient, but his methods were overly simple and rough. Given his upbringing and decisiveness as a businessman, such a series of actions didn’t seem to suit his personality or habits. So, there must have been another reason why he would deliberately stage a one-night stand besides not wanting treatment from her.

Cheng Xi was unable to even guess at what Lu Chenzhou’s other goals might be. She knew far too little about him, even after she had carefully perused the patient file that Cai Yi had sent her again.

She decided to let it be for now, disregarding the issue of whether Lu Chenzhou’s actions were premeditated or a result of his illness. She had no way of knowing that her next meeting with him would come so quickly.

On Saturday, Cheng Xi’s high school classmate Shen Wei got married.

Cheng Xi had studied medicine all the way up from the postgraduate level. Most of her classmates had long since gotten married and had children, and even delaying marriage till Shen Wei’s age was already considered late. As for Cheng Xi herself…... according to a classmate of hers, she was destined to be a model example of someone who married late and had children even later.

This was because she had never expressed any interest in falling in love or finding a man.

Shen Wei’s wedding was at the city’s most luxurious double five-star hotel, Yunding Hotel. By the time Cheng Xi arrived, the wedding was just about to begin, with Shen Wei and her bridegroom standing at the door to welcome guests.

Cheng Xi smiled and walked forward, hugging her. “Congratulations on your marriage, and may it last for a hundred years.”

“Thank you.” Shen Wei smiled, gaze sweeping over her face as she tersely commented, “You’re late.”

“A few things delayed me, but I’m not too late, right?” Cheng Xi said that as she turned toward the bridegroom. “Congratulations.”

Shen Wei’s bridegroom’s surname was Fu, reportedly also the son of some company’s CEO, and naturally a member of an affluent household. But Shen Wei herself was also outstanding, with a good pedigree, good looks, and good personal ability; the two were well-matched in all respects.

The bridegroom, Fu Mingyi, was very polite. He smiled and thanked her. “Thank you for keeping Weiwei company. It’s really helped abate her recent anxiety.”

Shen Wei had a slight phobia against marriage, and Cheng Xi and a few other classmates had kept her company during a few rough times.

Cheng Xi smiled, but Shen Wei clearly didn’t like his mentioning this matter, and she poutingly complained, “Why would I worry? Should I be afraid that you won’t treat me well?”

Hearing this, the bridegroom responded somewhat begrudgingly, “Who else would I treat well except for you?”

Shen Wei poked him bashfully as her face radiated happiness, and then grabbed Cheng Xi’s hand. “Let’s go. Sign in at the guestbook, and then go upstairs. Rou and the others are all waiting for you.”

Rou’s full name was Tian Rou. She was another one of Cheng Xi’s high school classmates, and she was the one who’d said that Cheng Xi would be a model example of marrying late and having children even later. Cheng Xi signed in and went upstairs, expecting to receive a warm hug from Rou. But when she found her classmates’ table, no one, Tian Rou included, paid any attention to her.

Even Cheng Xi herself, when she saw the man sitting at the other end of the table, was slightly taken aback.