Campus Ace Girl

Chu Ci was only wearing a bathrobe, quietly watching her.

She hurriedly pulled the quilt up to cover herself, a hint of shame on her face.

She knew all too well why he had suddenly come; he merely wanted to make sure that the wife he’d spent three hundred million on was clean.

Seeing the expression on her face, Chu Ci guessed what she was thinking, let out a soft chuckle, sat down by the bed, and reached out to lightly tap her cheek as if toying with her. "Can you walk?"

He was satisfied—a wife who’d had a three-year relationship and was still pure as ice and snow.

He liked her purity; or rather, it was something all men would like.

When he touched her like this, Zhao Mo Ran instinctively wanted to avoid him, but how could she escape? With no effort at all he caught her and pressed her into his arms...

Their faces were very close; she deliberately tried to turn away, but how could she avoid him?

Chu Ci’s voice was low and suppressed: "We’ll go try on the wedding dress tomorrow?"

She abruptly lifted her eyes and looked at him.

In his gaze, she read his intention, and instinctively began to struggle. "I think... I still want to go try it on. We already made the appointment."

Chu Ci’s palm was resting on her slender waist; he reluctantly let go and said with obvious regret, "Alright then."

He patted her. "Go take a shower."

Zhao Mo Ran immediately wrapped the sheet around herself and went into the bathroom. The door quickly closed; once it did, Chu Ci smiled lightly, casually picked up the pack of cigarettes from the bedside table, took one out, and lit it.

The sound of her showering came from the bathroom, and he waited with great patience. About the time it took for two cigarettes, Chu Ci first went to the dressing room and changed into a set of clothes for going out. He had originally intended to wait for her in the bedroom, but after thinking about it, he went downstairs first.

With him gone, Zhao Mo Ran felt much more at ease. She changed her clothes, put on light makeup, and went downstairs.

It was autumn; she wore a loose dark blue sweater with a floral skirt in the same color palette below. Her long wavy hair spilled over her shoulders, making her look especially feminine, and after what had just happened, her whole person seemed suffused with a dewy softness. Even though Chu Ci didn’t particularly like her, he couldn’t help but take a few more glances.

Suddenly, he noticed something.

The current Yan Yan looked somewhat like Zhao Mo Ran... His eyes narrowed, and he couldn’t tell if his insistence on choosing her as his wife was because of this.

Zhao Mo Ran had no idea what was going through his mind. She looked at him and said softly, "I’m ready."

Chu Ci had been sitting on the sofa; now he got up, took her hand directly, and led her toward the parking area outside. As they walked out, she caught sight of a servant heading upstairs out of the corner of her eye, and she hurriedly tugged on him.

Chu Ci understood what she meant and said rather flatly, "I told her to go up and tidy the sheets, and change them while she’s at it."

After he spoke, he gave a brief smile. "You were planning to wash them yourself? Or keep them as a memento?"

Zhao Mo Ran lowered her gaze and said nothing more. Chu Ci held her hand, and it actually made him seem somewhat doting. But she knew very clearly that this kind of "affection" was nothing more than something she’d exchanged with her body.

Once they were in the car, Chu Ci started the engine and said lightly, "After we finish trying the wedding dress, let’s get something to eat."

She nodded.

Chu Ci glanced at her. He always felt that while she was indeed beautiful and her body was just the type he liked, there was still something wooden about her.

He gave a self-mocking smile—maybe it was simply because she didn’t love him.

After that, neither of them spoke. Because of what had happened that afternoon, the atmosphere was subtle. Zhao Mo Ran also felt a bit uncomfortable; if she weren’t afraid of him acting recklessly, she would rather have stayed home to rest.

She turned her head, looking out the window. The sky had already darkened, and the lights along the road were slowly coming on.

She just sat there quietly watching.

"What are you thinking about?" Chu Ci suddenly grasped her hand.

She quickly shook her head. "Nothing."

His tone was cool: "Think about whatever you want, just don’t think about people you shouldn’t."

With a strong sense of possessiveness he said, "From now on you’re my wife, Chu Ci’s wife."

She felt awkward, lowered her head, and said softly, "I understand."

"You’d better." After he said that, he let go of her hand.

Zhao Mo Ran turned her head to look at him, at the man she was going to marry—

Young, handsome, wealthy; she really had no grounds to be picky about him...

After about half an hour, Chu Ci pulled into the wedding boutique’s parking lot. Turning off the engine, he looked over and said, "Get out."

Zhao Mo Ran got out in silence. He got out from the other side. He had originally wanted to smoke a cigarette, but thought better of it and gave up, accompanying her inside.

Because they had made an appointment long ago and Chu Ci’s status was special, the staff were especially attentive. "Mr. Chu, Miss Zhao, we’ve already altered the wedding dress. Let’s see if it suits Miss Zhao this time."

She then said to Chu Ci, "We’ve also prepared your outfit for the wedding day. Do you want to try it on now?"

Chu Ci neither agreed nor refused. He stood up and followed the staff inside.

When he finished and came out, Zhao Mo Ran was still not ready, so he sat on the sofa and flipped through a magazine. After about ten minutes, a voice sounded: "Miss Chu, this wedding dress suits you especially well. You look so beautiful in it, especially your shoulders and neck—they’re gorgeous."

Something stirred in Chu Ci’s heart; he put down the magazine in his hands and looked over.

It was Chu Yan.

She was wearing an off-shoulder white wedding dress, the apricot-cream lining setting off her skin like milk, her long black hair pinned up, revealing that tender bare back...

Chu Ci’s fingers suddenly clenched tight as he stared fixedly at her.

He had imagined her in a wedding dress countless times, but now that she appeared so vividly before him, he still couldn’t help but hold his breath...

Chu Yan was completely unaware of his presence. She tilted her head toward Gu Anxi beside her and said, "Anxi, what do you think?"

Gu Anxi made a show of circling around her once, then propped her chin. "Hmm, looks pretty good."

Chu Yan gave her a light punch, then looked at herself in the mirror. "I think it’s pretty good too. Why don’t we just settle on this one?"

At this moment, the sales assistant beside them smiled brightly. "Mr. Bai had this custom-made especially for you. It was just air-shipped from Italy."

Chu Yan wrinkled her little nose and said to Gu Anxi next to her, "See that, see that? He clearly wants to get married himself, secretly orders a wedding dress, yet he still says I’m throwing myself at him."

Right now Chu Yan was vibrant and alive, like that little girl from the past again, but all that liveliness was for someone else. Chu Ci felt nothing but pain.

He almost greedily fixed his gaze on her, forgetting where he was, forgetting that he had come with Zhao Mo Ran.

Just then, the sales assistant led Zhao Mo Ran over, and while doing so she smiled at Chu Ci and said, "Mr. Chu, Miss Zhao is done trying it on. See if there’s anything that needs altering."

Her words startled Chu Yan and also Gu Anxi.

Chu Yan looked at Chu Ci in surprise, then her gaze fell on Zhao Mo Ran. The wedding dress was very beautiful.

Chu Yan gave a faint smile as a greeting, and that was all.

To say she felt nothing would be impossible. After all, marrying Chu Ci in her early twenties had been her lifelong ambition. And now, how dramatic: she was wearing a wedding dress for someone else, while someone else was wearing a wedding dress for Chu Ci—right in front of her.

Chu Yan’s reaction was cool, but Chu Ci was still staring at her.

Zhao Mo Ran stood there quietly, watching her future husband and his ex-girlfriend’s tragic entanglement. She understood very clearly that Chu Ci would not love her... But as a woman, standing there in a wedding dress while her husband’s eyes held only another person, she couldn’t help feeling humiliated, as if this title of Mrs. Chu was something she had stolen.

The sales assistant spoke again, and only after a long moment did Chu Ci finally shift his gaze. The sales assistant also realized she had put her foot in it; she hadn’t expected to stumble right into such a "famous scene," and now she didn’t quite know what to do.

At this moment, Zhao Mo Ran spoke softly, "Chu Ci, what do you think?"

She broke the silence, but Chu Ci didn’t seem pleased, even though she was standing right there.

He reached out to support her waist, his voice particularly hoarse. "Looks pretty good."

Zhao Mo Ran suspected he hadn’t even really taken a good look at her. But as a qualified wife, she had to give him face in public. She said softly, "Then let’s settle on this one."

She very considerately gave her husband face and left him some space to reminisce. She knew this was the time she ought to disappear.

So Zhao Mo Ran, wearing her wedding dress, lingered in front of Chu Ci for less than ten minutes before stepping offstage. Smart, but not something Chu Ci appreciated, because her thoughtfulness was a kind of disregard and indifference... But he had no time for her now. After she left, he walked toward Chu Yan. "Getting married already?"

Chu Yan gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, her demeanor no longer as ladylike as before. She glanced upstairs. "Your wife—aren’t you going to mind her?"

Chu Ci stared at her without speaking.

Chu Yan lowered her head to smooth her skirt, her voice growing even more indifferent. "Let me make this clear: if anything goes wrong with your marital bliss in the future, don’t come blaming it on me."

Gu Anxi beside them wanted to laugh.

This was supposed to be a rather heart-wrenching situation, yet somehow Yan Yan had turned it a bit comical.

She watched with a theatrical expression: Looks like Bai Xun is pretty healing, huh.

Whether Bai Xun was healing or not, Zhao Mo Ran certainly hadn’t healed Chu Ci. He still had that lousy expression on his face, and Chu Yan felt he really deserved a beating.

Gu Anxi couldn’t help it and finally laughed out loud. "Yan Yan’s got a point."

Chu Ci glared at her.

Gu Anxi looked at him. "Miss Zhao seems pretty nice to me. You really shouldn’t treat her like that."

Gu Anxi was no fool. Even a blind person could see how cold Chu Ci was to Zhao Mo Ran.

But, she had clearly seen some marks on Zhao Mo Ran, presumably left by Chu Ci...