Chapter 378: Chapter 377: "There’s no such thing!
Not until a hand pressed down on her shoulder did Zhou Mochen’s low, hoarse voice sound out, "You don’t like me?"
Xu Su froze, then snapped, "You’re still asking that kind of question? Zhou Mochen, shouldn’t you know perfectly well whether I like you or not?"
"Then let me ask a different question." Zhou Mochen paused, then asked, "You don’t like sleeping with me?"
Xu Su was speechless.
The question was so blunt it made her glare, her eyes wide with anger. She didn’t want to answer, but when she saw his sullen expression, it was as if she’d hit a nerve.
Xu Su shouted in exasperation, "I do, I do! If I didn’t like you, why would I be with you? For the fun of making my life difficult?"
After saying her piece, she angrily pinched Zhou Mochen’s waist. "I’m a girl, for crying out loud! Do you really have to force me to admit I like sleeping with you? It’s not exactly something to brag about!"
She was furious, but the culprit, Zhou Mochen, just watched her in silence, pressing relentlessly, "You really like it?"
"..." Xu Su gritted her teeth and glared at him. "So you don’t believe me when I say I like it? Would you only believe me if I said I liked someone else?"
"What is it you want to hear? That I don’t like sleeping with you, that I like Xi—"
"Shut up!" Zhou Mochen’s eyes narrowed, and his grip tightened fiercely. "I believe you. Don’t say things just to make me angry. Don’t say another word."
Xu Su swallowed. She had no idea what had set him off this time. She was getting tired of him making a scene every so often.
’I’ve told him everything I can. Who acts like this? Always clinging to the past and losing his mind over nothing from time to time.’
’I can placate him once or twice, maybe even three or four times, but if this keeps up, even a saint would get fed up!’
’He’s already worn me out completely, and now I have to placate him...’
Feeling completely aggrieved, Xu Su shoved the man away, turned her back to him, and closed her eyes to sleep without saying a word.
The arm around her waist tightened. Zhou Mochen’s kisses trailed down from her neck, his voice laced with a wounded tone. "Susu, if you like me, why don’t you like it when I...?"
His last words were muffled and indistinct.
Xu Su was trapped on the bed, her senses unusually sharp in the darkness.
...
When she woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky. She was alone in the bed.
Xu Su grabbed her phone from the nightstand and replied to her group chat messages while getting ready for the day.
Just as she finished changing and was about to head downstairs, Zhou Mochen pushed the door open. He looked at the fully dressed Xu Su and raised an eyebrow. "The little sleepyhead is finally awake."
He, in contrast, looked refreshed and full of vigor.
Thinking of her own listless expression and sore, weak body she’d seen in the mirror, Xu Su’s eyes reddened with anger.
"What’s wrong? Don’t cry..." Seeing her like this, Zhou Mochen was a little flustered. "Did I hurt you last night?"
Xu Su sniffled. "Who says I’m crying!"
"Alright, my mistake." Zhou Mochen stepped forward and hugged her. "Are you hungry? Let’s go downstairs and eat."
"I’m still mad at you."
Zhou Mochen chuckled indulgently. "Then what will it take to make my Susu happy again?"
Xu Su glanced around, but finding no suitable ’weapon’ at hand, she simply pointed at the floor and huffed, "Kneel."
Zhou Mochen froze. "What?"
"I said, kneel!" Xu Su ordered, full of self-righteous confidence. "Kneel and apologize to me."
Zhou Mochen just watched her quietly, not moving.
Xu Su hadn’t actually expected him to kneel, but seeing his hesitation, she couldn’t resist a sarcastic jab. "Fine, don’t kneel. I knew you were all talk anyway."
"Would me kneeling give you some kind of pleasure?" Zhou Mochen’s lips curved into a smile as he spoke, his tone chilling. "If it would, then I’ll kneel."
"You don’t have to..." Xu Su grabbed his hand. "Zhou Mochen, stop smiling like that. It’s creepy."
Zhou Mochen lowered his gaze to her. "You’re sure?"
"..." After a moment of silence, Xu Su simply pulled him downstairs.
It was already time for lunch. The dining room table was set with several of Xu Su’s favorite Chinese dishes.
The dining room in this villa was much larger than their one in Chang City, but the table itself wasn’t huge, so it didn’t feel empty with just the two of them.
Not long after lunch, Zhou Mochen made a phone call, and then he took Xu Su out.
As soon as they were in the car, a partition slowly rose, sealing them off from the driver and turning the back seat into their own private space.
Xu Su realized that ever since they’d arrived in Beijing, Zhou Mochen had used a driver for all their trips, showing no intention of driving himself anymore.
This also made things more convenient for a man with a terminal case of touch starvation—for instance, right now...
Xu Su squirmed in his embrace and asked curiously, "Where are we going?"
Zhou Mochen rested his chin on Xu Su’s left shoulder, nuzzled her neck, and said with a smile, "Pu Hua Temple."
’Pu Hua Temple...’
Xu Su was even more confused. "What are we going to a temple for?"
’This never happened in my past life. I never knew him to be a Buddhist.’
"Don’t you have a lot of dreams?" Zhou Mochen said with a resigned laugh. "One minute you’re dreaming that I’m your sugar daddy and I’m humiliating you, the next you’re dreaming about me at eighteen..."
He clicked his tongue. "I’m taking you to see an eminent monk to cure this habit of yours of having all these wild dreams. That way, you won’t be able to find people in your dreams to piss me off with."
"..." Xu Su opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn’t know where to begin.
’The sugar daddy thing was from my past life, and that dream about him at eighteen was already proven to be fake. How am I finding people in my dreams to make him angry...’
’Xu Su knew he was a jealous man, but she never imagined he would be this petty.’
’Blowing a completely imaginary dream this far out of proportion.’
’And he’s going out of his way to find some enlightened monk to perform a ritual?’
’...Wait a second!’
’If he’s a truly enlightened monk, would he be able to tell that I’ve been reborn?’
Xu Su’s eyes widened. "Can we not go?"
"Of course," Zhou Mochen agreed, then reached out and gripped her chin. He looked down at her, his lips curling into an unreadable smile. "But you have to give me a reason."
Xu Su was speechless.
"Why so quiet?" Zhou Mochen asked, his eyes calm and his voice unhurried. "Is it because you can’t forget the man from your dream? Are you hoping for another one so you can continue your ’fated connection,’ and that’s why you don’t want to be cured?"
’Danger!’
Xu Su blinked and quickly shook her head. "It’s nothing like that!"
"Is that so?"
Zhou Mochen let out a soft, humorless laugh. "You already slept in the same bed with the man in your dream. Did you two kiss?"
"Why are you acting like you’ve just caught me cheating?" Xu Su reminded him, exasperated. "It was just a dream."
Zhou Mochen rested his chin on Xu Su’s shoulder again. At some point, the depths of his eyes had turned pitch-black. He gave a slow, impassive nod and hummed in acknowledgment, then seemed to ask casually, "So, in that ’dream,’ did he kiss you?"
Xu Su couldn’t help but sigh. "Why are you so obsessed with this? Whether he kissed me or not, it was just a dream! Even if we slept together, it wasn’t real!"
Her repeated refusal to answer was an answer in itself.
Zhou Mochen’s lips pressed into a thin line as he suppressed the rage boiling inside him.
