Campus Ace Girl

Chu Ci stared at her, and after a while, he smiled gently: "Really? Is that how you define yourself?"

Zhao Mo Ran lowered her eyes: "Can you honestly say it’s not?"

"I never thought about it that way." His voice was thoughtful, and then he pinched her chin, forcing her to look up. He meticulously scrutinized the skin on her face, inch by inch, leaving nothing unchecked.

She couldn’t stand his scrutiny, she struggled slightly, but her resistance was futile as he still had firm control over her.

After a long while, he chuckled softly: "You do resemble that quite a bit."

She was extremely embarrassed, but at that moment he released her, stepped back, and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his jacket and shirt collar, his voice indifferent: "Alright, take a bath and sleep, I’m tired too."

Zhao Mo Ran was somewhat afraid. He had been drinking, and tonight was their wedding night; she feared he might act recklessly. But to her surprise, after washing up, Chu Ci emerged onto the terrace wearing only a bathrobe. He poured himself a glass of red wine, placed it on the railing, and had a box of cigarettes by his side. He smoked through much of the night.

Zhao Mo Ran stood for a long time, until her feet went numb, before going to take a bath. When she came out and turned back, he was still there. She naturally felt too ashamed to ask him to come in and sleep, hesitated a little, and carefully lay down on the bed.

She wore a black silk nightgown, which he liked. According to his preferences, she had no self-will and just hoped for a little bit of freedom... He didn’t come inside, and she didn’t dare to sleep, so she endured until two in the morning when she lightly sat up.

Chu Ci happened to walk in from outside. Seeing her awake was surprising yet understandable to him, and he smirked with a hint of mockery: "Why aren’t you asleep? What, still waiting for your wedding night?"

"No." She replied quickly, then immediately lay back down, pulling up the covers to hide her face.

Her face was very hot, but luckily the bedroom lights weren’t bright.

Chu Ci slowly approached and sat down by the bed, gently touched her face, and smiled silently: "Why is your face so hot if there’s no shame?"

Her voice trembled slightly: "Don’t bully me like this."

"How am I bullying you?" Chu Ci chuckled softly: "Tell me, how have I bullied you?"

She didn’t want to say and couldn’t utter a word. She knew he was doing it deliberately, deliberately making her feel embarrassed... So she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

Chu Ci just watched her silently, and after a while, he laughed at himself, stood up, and walked away.

Zhao Mo Ran opened her eyes, unable to believe he just let her go like that, and furthermore... it’s the wee hours, where could he be going?

She didn’t intend to inquire, but feared he might come back to disturb her, preventing her from sleep. So she quietly lifted the covers and got out of bed, barefoot, searching for slippers to go downstairs...

Sure enough, Chu Ci was downstairs, still wearing the white bathrobe, leaning on the sofa drinking wine, the ashtray before him already filled with several cigarettes.

Though her footsteps were quiet, he heard the sound, raised his eyes, and looked at her indifferently: "Go to sleep, I’m not returning to the room tonight."

She was surprised, so much so that she didn’t move.

He laughed coldly: "What? Can’t bear it? Or do you share the sentiment that the wedding night is significant?"

Embarrassed and awkward, she quietly said no, then quickly went upstairs and shut the bedroom door.

Leaning against the doorboard, her heart thumped wildly... She trembled slightly, placing her hand on her heart as if trying to calm its racing pace. But it was all in vain.

She felt ashamed; she clearly didn’t like Chu Ci and even feared him, yet his indifferent smile seemed to see through everything, leaving her without a place to hide.

Because of such a man, she still accepted him, and affairs between husband and wife seemed to become a customary routine, making her feel deeply ashamed. After a long time, she regained calm, both upstairs and downstairs were quiet, Chu Ci hadn’t followed her, she bit her lip and suddenly understood why Chu Ci hadn’t touched her that night. It was because, in his mind, the wedding night belonged to him and the person in his heart, and she, Zhao Mo Ran, was just his legal wife, not the one in his heart.

Unable to describe how she felt, she gradually walked to the side of the bed and lay down, but she couldn’t fall asleep...

When she woke up, sunlight was already streaming across the bed, warm and comforting.

Zhao Mo Ran immediately sat up, looked around, and noticed Chu Ci sitting on the couch in the corner reading the newspaper, seemingly waiting for her to wake up. She raked a hand through her hair preparing to speak, but Chu Ci looked up quietly at her for a moment and then said: "Awake? Then get up, we’re going to the old house for a while."

Zhao Mo Ran looked at him quietly.

He said calmly: "The day after tomorrow, I’ll accompany you to your parents’ house. Don’t worry, no matter what happens, I’ll give you face, ensuring you as Mrs. Chu aren’t too aggrieved."

Zhao Mo Ran pursed her lips slightly, remaining silent.

He seemed not to understand that as Mrs. Chu, she had already lost all sense of dignity, and even accompanying her once to her parents’ home wouldn’t change anything.

She remained silent, and Chu Ci reached out to lightly touch her cheek, chuckled softly: "Didn’t accompany you last night; why not happy?"

"No." She lowered her head, but after a while, she looked up: "Didn’t you say we need to leave? I’ll go freshen up."

With that, she got up quickly and headed toward the bathroom, Chu Ci remained seated, watching her back. He knew well she was avoiding him, unwilling to face him, but he just didn’t care. He married her for a wife, simply to have a woman bear children, not to find a goddess.

Zhao Mo Ran quietly finished freshening up, changed into an outfit, and when she came out, Chu Ci was no longer in the bedroom. She stood still for a moment before slowly heading downstairs.

In the dining room, Chu Ci was having breakfast, and seeing her come down, he said in a quiet voice: "Come eat quickly, we’re leaving soon, I have a meeting this morning."

Zhao Mo Ran was surprised, "You’re going to work today?"

"Hoping I would accompany you?" He looked down at the newspaper again, speaking casually.

She lowered her eyes and took a sip of milk, "I didn’t think that way."

Only then did he glance at her, seemingly surprised but also thoughtful, and then he seemed to remember something else, "The secondary card I gave you, you haven’t used it?"

Zhao Mo Ran responded with a soft "Hmm," and then said, "The money I earn is enough, besides, the servants use a designated account for household expenses, so I don’t really need any money."

Chu Ci’s voice showed slight displeasure, "You may not need material things, but Mrs. Chu needs... After marriage, there will inevitably be social engagements. You can’t always present yourself bare-faced like before. Being a wife means looking the part."

Zhao Mo Ran suddenly lost her appetite, her hand paused, "Did your mom say this?"

"No, this is my own thought." He looked at her, "You don’t like interacting with her?"

She didn’t speak, nor did she deny it.

So Chu Ci said, "We won’t live with our parents together. Even when we have children, I’ll hire professionals to look after them. You don’t need to worry, but I also don’t want you to have conflicts with my mother."

"I understand," she said submissively, but at this moment, she didn’t want to eat anymore, so she simply put it down.

Chu Ci quietly watched her and then softly asked, "Not to your taste?"

She lied, "Tomorrow, I want to eat something Chinese."

"Such a small matter, just instruct the servants." He said indifferently, then took his jacket and stood up, "I’ll wait for you in the car."

She watched him leave, sat quietly for a moment, then turned upstairs to get her purse before coming down. When she got into the car, Chu Ci was smoking again. She instinctively frowned, "Can you smoke less?"

She guessed he smoked at least two packs a day.

Chu Ci extinguished the cigarette, "Caring for me this much? No need to pretend."

"No," she said directly, "Aren’t you planning to have children? For the health of the children, it’s best to quit smoking and drinking. When we have children..."

"I can smoke and drink again once we have children, is that it?" He looked at her and said with amusement, "You only care about the children, the husband’s wellbeing doesn’t matter, correct?"

Zhao Mo Ran softly said, "And I don’t want to inhale secondhand smoke."

He smirked, "You really cherish yourself."

She said nothing further, and dared not provoke him...

Chu Ci glanced at her again but did not hold it against her, driving directly to the Chu Family Mansion. As it was their second day of marriage, the Chu Family had prepared early, all of which was arranged by Chu Changhe. Mrs. Chu was not in good spirits, sitting on the sofa waiting.

The car pulled in, and the servants immediately went in to announce, "Young Master and Young Mistress have returned."

Mrs. Chu remained seated, and when Chu Ci and Zhao Mo Ran came in, she opened softly, "Your father has been busy since early this morning. Not living together really is inconvenient. Now that you’ve taken over as Family Head, many things would be better handled if you lived in the mansion. You know the elders of the family can’t always come to find you for matters. It’s overall inconvenient. Plus, Mo Ran’s not working right now, so I can look after her more."

As she spoke, she looked at Zhao Mo Ran, "Mo Ran, what do you say?"

Obviously, Zhao Mo Ran was unwilling, but it was evident Mrs. Chu was making things difficult for her and giving her a hard time.

Even so, Chu Ci looked at her, seemingly without any intention of helping. But before Chu Changhe could say anything, Zhao Mo Ran spoke softly, "Let’s go with Chu Ci’s decision, I’m fine anywhere."

Chu Ci was quite surprised, initially thinking she would resist softly, not expecting her to push the matter back to him. He didn’t cause her further trouble and directly spoke to his mother, "My place is big enough, or those matters that aren’t so close could just be discussed in the office. There’s always a place."

Mrs. Chu lightly wiped the corner of her eye and said faintly, "I guess I overthought, seems you have it all figured out."

In her tone, there was displeasure.

Zhao Mo Ran naturally wouldn’t provoke her further, just quietly sat there drinking tea, while Chu Changhe glanced at his wife, "It’s all settled. Let them take the lead on children’s decisions. We’re getting older, so let’s enjoy our retirement."

Mrs. Chu said, "You’re being lazy. Mo Ran is still young; there are many things I should assist and advise her on, to prevent embarrassing mistakes at social gatherings."

She continued, "After all, she’s from a humble family background, unfamiliar with grand occasions."

Chu Changhe was very displeased, but afraid if he lost his temper it would only embarrass the young couple more, so he had to endure, just as a servant came over saying, "Madam, it’s time for your medication."

Chu Changhe immediately said, "Yes, take your medicine! It’ll lift your spirits."

He gave Zhao Mo Ran a glance, with a trace of apology—

This kid’s temper is good, were it someone else they might not endure.

But for Zhao Mo Ran, enduring was necessary. She was already not favored by Chu Ci, how could she offend his mother? Even if his mother was unreasonable, ultimately she was his mother. She wasn’t bold enough to think she ranked above her...