Chapter 4  

Jia Shao was fully concentrating on listening to the demonic sound coming from the other end of the line. The rough voice coming through the phone made her look at the amplifier key several times and she wondered whether it was damaged. She did not even notice someone had entered through the door to stand behind her and was staring at her with a weird look.

"Hello, Daughter......your Father sprained his arm, so we will only be coming two days later." Jia Mama's consistent style was quick and straightforward. Her explanation was completed.

Jia Shao was shocked and before her mother could hang up the phone, she hurriedly shouted into the phone. "Father sprained his arm? Is it serious? Does he need to go to the hospital?"

"It's nothing serious." Jia Mama's voice was ten times more relaxed than Jia Shao's. "Yesterday he played mahjong for too long. After 16 rounds, his muscles suffered cramps."

Playing mahjong can result in his arm getting cramps?

She casually picked up a peach on the table and took a bite. At that moment, she choked and the piece of peach got stuck in her throat and after coughing for a long while, she finally managed to dislodge it.

She took a few deep breaths, then could not control herself and shouted. "Why are you coming two days later when only his arm is feeling cramped after playing mahjong?"

"Because he had agreed with his friends to play again tomorrow. This time, I will be playing and he will be watching. I don't easily get a chance to play, so why should I let go of this chance?" On the other end of the phone, she could hear voices urging her mother to play. Jia Shao held on to the phone and could only hear a few chaotic sentences. "Wu Wan! Long distance calls are expensive, so I'm hanging up.......... Hey! Hey!......I want that........."

(Wu Wan means Fifty thousand and it is one of the names engraved on the mahjong tiles. The tile that has the number 5 at the top corner is Wu Wan. Jia Mama is playing mahjong and talking to her daughter at the same time.)

*Du........du.......du* The line ended abruptly.

Bewildered she looked at the phone and wanted to cry.

She had already passed the age of acting spoilt, craving for affection and eagerly waiting for her mother's visit but for this particular reason......she felt she was really picked up from the garbage dump.

How can a mother have more affection for her mahjong than for her daughter whom she had not seen for half a year?

Tossing the peach core in her hand, she aimed at the trash bin and threw it towards the trash bin in a beautiful posture......target hit!

This Zhen Lang really knows how to enjoy life. Even the peaches in his home tasted better than the ones she bought. Jia Shao despised Zhen Lang and her hand involuntarily reached out to take another peach from the fruit plate.

Suddenly, she noticed a tall black shadow at the corner of her eyes and it was too late for her to react. Her foot had involuntarily shot out. "Who is it?"

The other party seems to be accustomed to her reaction and had moved back two steps to avoid her attack at that moment when she turned her body to deliver her flying kick.

When her toes brushed past the other party's nose tip and Jia Shao's eyes finally rested on the person. She stopped her legs in mid-air and her two snow-white thighs were stretched out at 120 degrees. "Why didn't you knock when you came back?"

The expression on Zhen Lang's face was extremely calm. "Why do I have to knock when I am coming back to my own home?"

"Er......." On reflection, it seems she was actually in his territory. She wrinkled her nose and reluctantly said. "Why were you standing behind my back? Are you looking for a fight?"

Zhen Lang ignored the threatening legs in front of him and lazily put down the bag in his hand. His eyes swept across her toes and his lips curved into a strange smile. "Do you dare to let Jia Mama see me with a badly beaten face?"

Jia Shao took two hard deep breaths and withdrew her legs angrily. She plonked down on the sofa and reached for the peaches. Her eyes shone with a fierce light as if the peach that she was going to put in her mouth was Zhen Lang's flesh.

Zhen Lang's smile pierced her eyes. She decided not to look at him and concentrated all her attention on the TV but her subconscious tension and defensive feeling still lingered in her.

The sound of gushing water in the bathroom could be heard and she slowly relaxed her nerves. She leaned back on the sofa and thought about what her mother had said just now. Her mother's two-day delay was really awkward for her. When she left her house, she had informed the landlord to fix the defective faucet. Now it is not the problem of carrying her bags back and forth, but it is the problem of using her bathroom and toilet.

Even if she is unwilling, she still had to endure. Anyway, they will not see each other during the day and at night they have their own activities. Two days should pass quickly.

She did not know why but when she thought of having to stay with him for two days, Jia Shao would feel like a monkey crawling with lice and would be restless and fidgety.

Even when she had prevented the thief from stealing a girl's purse a few days ago, facing three men with knives in their hands, she was not afraid at all and was even excited. But when she sees Zhen Lang's sly smile, she would always subconsciously erect all her thorns and her power would be like an arrow on a string that could break out at any time.

It is danger, she is certain.......it is a feeling of danger.

Especially that guy's eyes......when he narrowed his eyes and stared at her, the kind of look that seems to be searching for her weakness in preparation for a hit which always gives her the impulse to throw a punch at him.

Since she does not have the habit of running away, then she can only bravely fight to defeat her opponent which is her motto.

But her coach had said that a person who is professionally trained like her should not rashly hit out at anyone because her kicks and fists could bring great harm to others.

She had always been forbearing and it was only that this guy could easily arouse her impulse to hit out first. She could even forget that he is just an ordinary man, one of those species that she could not rashly hit.

If she cannot vent out her anger using her hands, then she will use her mouth!

She spat out the peach core in her mouth and stretched out her hand to reach for the fruit plate. When she touched the cold plate, she found that she had eaten all the peaches with only one last peach left on the fruit plate.

Suddenly the TV screen was partly covered and then darkness blocked her view. The figure standing in front of her leaned over and reached out his hand. His target was also the peach on the plate.

The light from the TV shone on one side of his face. His handsome face was hazy and the water droplets on his hair were shining in the light, slipping from the hair tips and dropping on the back of her hand.

The scent of fresh bath shampoo on his body was the same as the scent on her body and she was not accustomed to it.

Nonsense, can it be any different? It comes out of the same bottle!

The large bathrobe clung loosely on his body, still with water vapor. Under his sexy throat, a strong chest was partially hidden behind the overlapping front of the bathrobe exuding a kind of charming enticement.

This kind of thought swiftly flashed through Jia Shao's mind and she smartly withdrew her hand. The last peach was grasped in her fingers and she flashed a victorious smile at Zhen Lang.

As for Zhen Lang, what has she not seen before? The only difference is that he is now a few times bigger than the time when he was a child.

He wants to distract her? No way!

He did not say anything but sat down in the seat the farthest away from her. He said in a calm and gentle voice. "Do you like the fruits this time?"

She looked at the fruit plate that was wiped clean by her. Finally, her anger dissipated and she adopted an amicable attitude towards him since she had eaten all his fruits. Awkwardly she muttered. "The taste is not bad."

With his glasses taken off, Zhen Lang slanted an exceptionally understanding look at her from the corner of his eyes in the dim light of the room. His usual steadiness in the daytime had lessened and he was lazier at night. "It's good that you like it."

He had extended an olive branch, so she should be more generous.

"Where did you buy it? I will buy some tomorrow." She rubbed the peach and held it to her mouth.

"I took it." He leaned back leisurely on the sofa.

"Tsk....tsk......" She tossed the peach into the air and caught it again. "Being a doctor is really good. Every day someone will send gifts. Doctors don't dare to receive red envelopes* but receiving fruits is also not bad."

(Red envelopes mentioned here are envelopes containing gifts of money given out as appreciation for help rendered. It is an offense to receive such gifts and this is a way to eradicate corruption. During the Chinese New Year, red envelopes containing money are also given out by parents to their children as a way of giving them blessings.)

"They are not gifts." Zhen Lang was reading the book in his hands and did not lift his head. "A while ago, there was a patient with lung cancer who received a lot of fruit baskets from his visitors. His illness was at end-stage and he passed away recently. There were too many things and his family was unable to take them all away. His family did not want them, so I brought them back."

The hand holding the peach to her lips suddenly paused. Jia Shao's face stiffened and suddenly she threw the peach in her hand at Zhen Lang. "Why do you always exploit others? Don't you know it is taboo to bring home things that belong to the dead?"

A big hand stretched out and the peach was caught firmly in his palm. Then Zhen Lang bit into the peach taking a big bite. "Oh, it slipped my mind, now I remember......the peaches were bought in the supermarket yesterday."

"You!" The person on the sofa jumped up instantly and with a sweep of her leg, she held it in front of Zhen Lang's face. "You deliberately did it!"

"Don't kick my face or your mother will see it." He said steadily. Calmly, he turned a page in his book as he felt a strong wind blew on his face.

Her toes once again stopped two inches away from the tip of his nose.

"You did that deliberately." She gritted her teeth, wrinkled her face and looked at Zhen Lang's cheerful expression. "Only ghosts will believe you."

After finishing the peach, Zhen Lang put aside the peach core and his red lips curved into a beautiful arc. His juice-stained lips glistened delicately. "Don't look down on yourself. You are more horrible than ghosts. Ghosts can be categorized into male ghosts and female ghosts. Can you be categorized?"

He looked at her from top to bottom and swept his gaze along her raised leg, then sighed. "Looking from afar the mountain is full of hues, looking near the chest is void of curves."

Jia Shao: "......"

Her fingers were clenched tightly......then clenched tightly.......and her knuckles were making crackling sounds.

Anyway, the old lady is not here yet, so why not beat him up first and then sneak away!

Just as she felt her anger rise and disregarding the consequences, she was ready to punch him when he suddenly stood up. "Oh yes, there are two pieces of panties in the bathroom. Are they yours? You'd better tidy up."

Her blood filled brain had yet to regain her normal thinking and she stupidly replied. "Just now I answered the phone and forgot......."

Wrong.......what did he just say?

Two???

A dirty one.......a clean one......right, there are two......

Wrong!!!

It was the season of spring changing to summer. The evening breeze was refreshing and blowing through the window, fluttering her half-length robe and caressing her leg that was raised at a 90-degree angle.

So cooling.......

She withdrew her leg instantly, lowered her head and lifted her half-length robe. Zhen Lang who was in front of her had calmly left her sight and was walking towards his room.

At the same time the door of the room closed and a roar of anger could be heard from the living room. "Zhen Lang, I going to kill you!"