Scoundrels 1-6

Chapter 1

It was the height of summer, the sun blazing fiercely.

The streets were mostly deserted except for cars; the usual swarms of electric scooters were a rare sight.

Unlike the outside, Starbucks was bustling with people. Almost every seat was taken, and the queue
stretched from the cashier to the door. Fortunately, the air conditioning was excellent; despite the crowds and the commotion, the cool air kept
everyone in a good mood, preventing the scorching heat from bothering them.

Zhou Chao arrived at a lucky time; just as he bought his coffee, a couple left, and he sat down
, thus avoiding the fate of being made to stand as punishment.

As Zhou Chaoxian stirred his coffee and milk with a straw, his phone, which was lying beside him, suddenly lit up
. He opened the message; it contained only a simple message: "I've arrived."

Seeing this, Zhou Chaoxian turned to look at the door. A
short-haired girl with slightly curly hair, wearing a dark green shirt and striped capri pants, was standing there, looking around. Based on her figure and attire, Zhou Chaoxian
confirmed that this was the person he was looking for. He quickly stood up, waved towards the door, and gestured for her to come over.

The woman had a striking figure and spotted Zhou Chaoxian immediately, quickly walking over. Upon reaching him,
she bowed and apologized, "Sorry for the delay, I've kept you waiting." Since it

was their first meeting, Zhou Chaoxian naturally wouldn't blame her and politely reassured her, "It's alright, I just
arrived too."

He then gestured to the opposite side, "Please sit down, your iced Americano is ready."

Seeing that he wasn't angry, she breathed a sigh of relief and sat down. Only then could Zhou Chaoxian properly
observe her.

It must be said that in this age of ubiquitous photo editing and unreliable pictures, her appearance
was remarkably similar to her photos, even more vibrant.

Her features were delicate, her makeup light yet tasteful, and her skin was fair and flawless. It was a pity that
even in such hot weather, she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, only exposing half of her slender arms,
which were strikingly white.

Her skin wasn't porcelain white, but rather a pale, cool white, somewhat
reminiscent of Lin Daiyu.

However, her figure was somewhat plump, unlike the currently fashionable skinny, chopstick-like figures

. Although she wore loose capri pants, Zhou Chaoxian could tell from her exposed ankles and the shape of her clothes that
her legs were definitely full and strong. Her high, firm breasts further confirmed that she
was indeed well-endowed, more like Xue Baochai.

Exactly his type!

After the girl sat down, seeing Zhou Chaoxian remain silent and only staring at her, she immediately felt a little awkward. Her hands
unconsciously fiddled with the coffee in front of her, but she didn't show it on her face. Instead, she politely
smiled at Zhou Chaoxian, revealing a few neat teeth and two cute dimples at the corners of her mouth.

Zhou Chaoxian was momentarily distracted, then quickly explained, "Sorry, I was daydreaming."

Seeing his apology, the other person naturally replied, "It's alright."

"Ahem,"

Zhou Chaoxian cleared his throat and said, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Zhou Chaoxian."

He then extended his hand, hovering it in the middle of the table. The other person, only then realizing what he was doing,
smiled politely, "Oh, my name is Deng Lu."

Smooth and soft.

That was all Zhou Chaoxian felt when he held Deng Lu's hand. Not daring to savor it, he gently squeezed and
released it.

Afterward, neither of them spoke again, a slight awkwardness settling in. This was Zhou Chaoxian
's first blind date since returning to Leshan. His original plan was just to have a meal and get it over with.

But seeing the person who had arrived, he immediately changed his mind, starting to think about what to say and
how to leave a good impression.

After taking a couple of sips of the refreshing iced coffee, Deng Lu finally shed her initial awkwardness and began to scrutinize
the man before her. By current societal standards of beauty, Zhou Chaoxian wasn't exactly handsome; he was merely passable in appearance
. Judging from his earlier greeting, he wasn't particularly tall, but
not short either—probably around 178 cm. Like his looks, he was of average height.

The only striking feature was his scholarly air. His slender build,
gentle eyes, and gold-rimmed glasses gave him the air of a young professor, perfectly fitting
the description of a refined and cultured man in romance novels.

After a short time, Deng Lu's impression of Zhou Chaoxian was that he was inexplicably charming amidst his refined demeanor. The charm stemmed
from the way his eyes would furtively glance at her, only to look away again a moment later
. This behavior and mannerism pleased Deng Lu.

Zhou Chaoxian didn't let the atmosphere get too awkward. Having failed to find a good topic, he decided to stick to the original flow
. "My mom said you work at a bank?"

Seeing her awkward response, Deng Lu forced a smile and said, "Yes, the Construction
Bank on Daguang Road."

Zhou Chaoxian nodded: "The same bank as Uncle Deng."

Not dwelling on this question for long, Zhou Chaoxian turned and asked, "Did you just graduate?"

"No, I've been working for a year!"

Zhou Chaoxian feigned surprise: "Really? You look so young, you don't seem like it!"

Hearing the compliment, Deng Lu smiled. Although his words were somewhat cliché, what woman
wouldn't accept such praise?

Deng Lu countered, "And you, where do you teach?"

Before coming, her mother had told her that he was a teacher.

"At Mingli Middle School, I was in the junior high before, but I'll be transferred to the senior high this semester," Zhou Chaoxian replied.

Deng Lu's eyes lit up when she heard "Mingli," and she excitedly exclaimed, "Really? I graduated from Mingli too
!"

Seeing her reaction, Zhou Chaoxian had an idea. He had been worried about running out of things to talk about after finishing the basic information, so
he immediately started chatting with Deng Lu about Mingli High School. Clearly, Deng Lu also fondly remembered her time at Mingli and was very interested.
Deng Lu eagerly chatted with Zhou Chaoxian about some interesting things that happened during their school days.

After a while, Zhou Chaoxian also learned a bit about Deng Lu's situation. She was 24 years old this year, graduated two years ago
, and worked in the provincial capital for a year before returning to her hometown of Leshan, much like Zhou Chaoxian's own situation.

He had also returned to Leshan last year, but he was a year older than Deng Lu and had worked in the provincial capital for two years after graduation.
After exchanging these stories, and since they had both attended university in the provincial capital, they hit it off even better and
had plenty to talk about.

Deng Lu was very good at picking up on jokes and throwing out topics, unlike
girls who only responded with "uh-huh," "ah," and "oh" in conversation. This made Zhou Chaoxian feel much less pressured during the conversation, and he became increasingly satisfied with Deng Lu.

This was Zhou Chaoxian's first blind date. Back then, his parents bought him a car and a house to coax him back to Leshan, all so
he could find a marriage partner as soon as possible. He had already declined many times before, but this time they were really being pressured
, and the other person's photo was indeed quite attractive, so he came.

He didn't expect to meet such a gem, and now he just had to see if he could snag it!

The two chatted for an hour or two, and still had endless things to say. It turned out that Deng Lu, like Zhou Chaoxian, also liked playing
games, which made their conversation even more engaging. They talked about everything from League of Legends to Warcraft, then to StarCraft, and Red Alert, with
Deng Lu able to chime in on everything.

Zhou Chaoxian licked his slightly dry lips, glanced at his already finished coffee, and suggested, "How about we
go see a movie later?"

Deng Lu seemed taken aback for a moment, then readily agreed. "Okay!"

Zhou Chaoxian's face lit up when she agreed, and he immediately said, "I'll go buy two more coffees to take in. You
think about what you want to see later!"

After asking if she still wanted an iced Americano, Zhou Chaoxian stood up and went back to queue.

Watching Zhou Chaoxian's figure in the crowd, Deng Lu smiled. After a brief encounter, she had
a pretty good impression of him.

"Gentle and refined" was an understatement for him; chatting with him was truly comfortable. Because he was a teacher
, his pronunciation was clear and pleasant to the ear.

Moreover, Zhou Chaoxian wasn't a bookworm. He could keep up with the latest internet memes, and when the conversation turned to
topics she liked, like games, he didn't try to impress her by talking incessantly, but rather touched
on the points and left her room to speak.

Gentle and refined, knowing when to advance and retreat.

This was her current impression of Zhou Chaoxian.

Deng Lu had more blind date experience than Zhou Chaoxian, and he was the first one who made her feel satisfied and satisfied.

Zhou Chaoxian quickly returned with coffee, but didn't sit down again; he led Deng Lu straight out of the coffee shop.

Fortunately, Starbucks was inside Wanda
Plaza, so the two didn't need to be exposed to the sun. They went straight up to the sixth floor, which was the Wanda Cinema. The cinema wasn't too crowded, and the two quickly chose a movie, >.

Deng Lu only knew it was a suspense film. Zhou Chaoxian had read the novel and casually mentioned that it was an adaptation
of a Keigo Higashino novel, without revealing any plot details. They just chatted casually about other things
.

The movie had been showing for a while, so the huge theater only had a few people,
probably all like Zhou Chaoxian and Deng Lu, who couldn't get tickets for other movies.

The movie started, the gray tones, the suspenseful plot, and the tense atmosphere made Deng Lu a little frightened
. She unconsciously leaned back in her chair, as if struggling and resisting.

This left Zhou Chaoxian speechless. The movie was supposed to be a suspense thriller, not a horror film; was this really necessary?

Fortunately, Zhou Chaoxian wasn't a fool. Seeing Deng Lu gripping the armrest, her hands turning white,
he gently placed his palm over hers, patting it lightly to reassure her. After doing this, he didn't
remove his hand, keeping it on hers and even gently holding it.

Of course, it was just a gentle hold; after all, it was their first meeting, and he didn't dare to roughly touch or caress it. But this
physical intimacy alone made Zhou Chaoxian feel a little lightheaded, unable to concentrate on the movie.

Seeing him like this, Deng Lu nervously shifted her hand a couple of times, but didn't pull it away. Zhou Chaoxian
could clearly feel her hands, which had been somewhat cold from the air conditioning, gradually warming up.
When he turned to look at Deng Lu, she no longer dared to meet his gaze as before. In the dimly lit theater, he could even see her slightly
reddened earlobes.

Aside from being initially immersed in the movie, Deng Lu couldn't get back into the story after Zhou Chaoxian took her hands
.

She hadn't expected Zhou Chaoxian to hold her hands on their first movie date. Although awkward, she didn't pull
her hands away.

Firstly, she had indeed performed poorly, and he was trying to comfort her.

Secondly, her family had recently arranged several blind dates for her, but she wasn't satisfied with any of the men. Zhou Chaoxian
was the best so far, and she was worried that if she showed obvious resistance, Zhou Chaoxian would misunderstand
, and then her family would pressure her to go on more blind dates.

From the moment her hands were held, Deng Lu felt frozen, her whole body stiffening. Fortunately ,
the rest of the movie wasn't too long. When the end credits rolled and the lights came on, Zhou Chaoxian removed his hands, and
Deng Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you hungry?" Zhou Chaoxian asked as he walked, as if outlining their plans for the rest of the movie.

"A little." Deng Lu nodded instinctively at first, then continued, "I made plans with a friend to have
dinner together later."

She finished with an apologetic smile; it must be said, smiles from bank employees are always kind and attractive. Even though it was a refusal
, Mr. Zhou didn't feel any ill will towards her.

"Oh." Zhou Chaoxian hadn't expected her to refuse. He adjusted his glasses, thinking to himself, "Could it be that
my behavior at the movie theater scared him?"

Without dwelling on it, Zhou Chaoxian continued casually, "Where is it? Do you need me to take you there?"

Perhaps feeling a little embarrassed for refusing Zhou Chaoxian's invitation to dinner, Deng Lu nodded and agreed,
"Yes, yes."

Although Zhou Chaoxian's parents promised to buy him a car and a house to lure him back to Leshan, after returning, he
didn't actually buy a car after taking the 300,000 yuan he was supposed to have.

Instead, he drove his best friend's Porsche Macan. His friend had gone abroad to study last year,
and since no one else was using the car, Zhou Chaoxian used it for transportation.

Four or five years ago, a Porsche would have been considered a luxury car in Leshan, but not anymore. In recent
years, Leshan's urbanization has been rapid, and there are many people receiving compensation for their land expropriation, so there are now more and more luxury cars on the road
.

After watching the movie, it was already around five o'clock, and the traffic was still quite heavy. It took Zhou Chaoxian
half an hour to drive from Wanda Plaza to the pedestrian street.

Before getting out of the car, Deng Lu said to Zhou Chaoxian, "I'm sorry you spent so much money today. I'll treat you to dinner next time."

As she finished speaking, her ears were slightly red, making her look very pretty.

Zhou Chaoxian was surprised by her sudden invitation and quickly nodded, "Okay, sure."

"I'm free during the summer vacation, contact me anytime," Zhou Chaoxian added hastily, as if afraid Deng Lu wouldn't know he was
available.

"Okay," Deng Lu said, getting out of the car.

Just before closing the door, a strong gust of wind blew, scattering Deng Lu's short hair and obscuring her delicate face,
revealing only two shallow dimples through the strands.

Deng Lu tucked her disheveled hair behind her ears, pressed it down with one hand, waved to Zhou Chaoxian with the other, said
"Goodbye," and closed the car door.

Not wanting to linger on the roadside, Zhou Chaoxian slowly drove away, occasionally glancing back in the rearview mirror at
the pear blossom blooming in the wind, until her figure disappeared. Zhou 　　Chaoxian

didn't go back to his parents' place but went directly to another new house his parents had bought.

His mother was a teacher, and although his father now worked at the Education Bureau, he had also been a teacher before. They
were very strict with Zhou Chaoxian from a young age, only becoming more strict after he went to university. Therefore, he particularly disliked living with his parents.

This separation was one of Zhou Chaoxian's conditions for returning to Leshan.

As soon as he arrived home, Zhou Chaoxian sent Deng Lu a text message saying he was home and asking if she
had met up with her friends.

However, he didn't receive a reply for a long time. Instead, his mother called via video call, inquiring about
the progress of his blind date that day.

Zhou Chaoxian expressed his appreciation for Deng Lu, saying they could get to know each other better, which made his mother laugh heartily. He chuckled
and said he'd ask Deng Lu's dad later to see what Deng Lu's attitude was. Zhou Chaoxian didn't refuse. Although
judging from Deng Lu's last invitation, she probably didn't dislike him, he wasn't sure if she had feelings for him.

She still hadn't replied to his WeChat message!

After his mother happily hung up the phone, Zhou Chaoxian, seeing that Deng Lu hadn't replied, wasn't in a hurry and
went straight to the kitchen to prepare his dinner.

Having worked alone away from home for two years, his cooking skills were still quite good. When eating alone, he
preferred to cook for himself rather than go to a restaurant or order takeout.

Although the ingredients were readily available, it was still... It took Zhou Chaoxian almost half an hour to finish.

Just as he finished serving the rice and sat down at the table, his phone lit up. It was a message from Deng Lu, explaining that
her phone had run out of battery and she had just found a power bank.

Zhou Chaoxian didn't reply, but put his phone aside, intending to reply after he finished eating. As soon as he put it down,
his phone lit up again—again, from Deng Lu!

This time it was a photo of a hot pot with two broths, the surrounding dishes not yet served. A pair of slender, fair
hands appeared in the photo; they weren't Deng Lu's, but probably her friend's—clearly a girl.

A moment later, she sent another message: "Waiting for dinner," followed by a cute emoji.

Seeing this, Zhou Chaoxian put down his chopsticks and also took a picture of his dinner. He had taken a few
cooking classes in another city, and plating was his forte, so the two dishes and soup looked quite appetizing.
With a food filter, it truly had a first-rate presentation.

She also posted a text: "Eating," along with an emoji of someone wearing a green helmet and smoking.

"Auntie's cooking is amazing!" Deng Lu exclaimed.

Zhou Chaoxian replied: "I made it, it was me!!!" To express his anger, he added
three angry emojis.

After waiting for a long time, Deng Lu sent three periods and then said, "Teacher Zhou, a national-level master chef, thumbs up!
"

Zhou Chaoxian had just replied with a "good boy" when a message came from the other end: "Teacher Zhou, let's eat. My dishes are all
served."

He replied with "okay," and seeing that no more messages came from the other end, Zhou Chaoxian put down his phone and quietly started eating
.

Eating alone is quite quick as long as you don't check your phone. Zhou Chaoxian finished eating and cleaned up, which only
took half an hour. Deng Lu didn't send any messages, so Zhou Chaoxian didn't disturb her eating with her friends. Instead
, he picked up his phone and sent Deng Lu's photo to a group called "Tall, Rich, and Handsome."

This was a group he created with a few close friends from Leshan, with only three people in total.

Not long after the photo was posted, a person named Gao Lei replied: "Deng Lu?" This Gao Lei is the "
Gao" in "tall, rich, and handsome." His surname is Gao, but he's not tall.

"Hmm," Zhou Chaoxian replied.

"How did you meet her?" Gao Lei asked curiously.

"A blind date. I met her today," Zhou Chaoxian replied.

"She's also from Mingli High School. How's it going?" Zhou Chaoxian asked again.

"She's a year younger than us, one of the prettiest female students," Gao Lei continued.

Then he added, "I don't know the specifics. You'll have to ask Lao Xu @Xu Fengyu."

Seeing that Xu Fengyu didn't reply for a long time, Zhou Chaoxian asked, "@Xu Fengyu, what are you doing?"

"What can I do? Either serve tea and water, or do laundry and cook!" Gao Lei joked.

"Young Master Xu, your status in the family has plummeted after marriage," Zhou Chaoxian also joked when Xu Fengyu didn't reply.

Xu Fengyu is the "handsome" one; he is indeed very handsome, but unfortunately, he entered into marriage at the
beginning of the year, a premature marriage.

"Get lost!" Several text messages finally snapped Xu Fengyu out of his daze. "What do you mean, serving tea and water, doing laundry and cooking? I'm
drinking tea!!!"

Gao Lei: "Oh."

Zhou Chaoxian: "Oh."

Xu Fengyu: *flips table*

"Tell me about Deng Lu, how's she doing?" Zhou Chaoxian stopped joking and instead inquired about Deng Lu's situation.

Xu Fengyu was handsome and dashing, a notorious playboy in high school.
He knew almost every woman who was even remotely attractive.

Xu Fengyu: "We've eaten together a few times. She's definitely beautiful in person, but unfortunately, she already had a boyfriend in high school
, and we had a pretty good relationship back then."

Hearing that Deng Lu had a boyfriend she was very close to in high school, Zhou Chaoxian felt slightly uncomfortable but had no
other thoughts. Who at that age doesn't have a few romantic relationships?

Zhou Chaoxian: "What's next? Go ask your 'army of beauties'."

Xu Fengyu: "Wait, my wife's right here, I'll ask for you later."

Gao Lei sent a green hat emoji with the words: "You will surely be crowned king."

Zhou Chaoxian: I'll smash your dog head.

At this moment, Deng Lu sent a message, "Finished eating."

Zhou Chaoxian replied: "Yeah, want me to give you a ride?"

"No need, no need," Deng Lu quickly replied: "We have a car."

After a while, she sent a photo. The photo showed a pink girly electric scooter.
There was already someone sitting in the front seat, probably the girl who had been eating with him. At this moment, the other person was wearing super short shorts, holding the handlebars, with
one smooth and slender leg on the ground, looking ready to go at any time. It's a pity that the front wasn't in the photo.

Before Zhou Chaoxian could take a closer look, Deng Lu had already deleted the photo.

"Why did you delete it? This scooter is so pretty,"

Deng Lu sent a humph.

Then he sent another message, "I'm home."

Zhou Chaoxian added, "Be careful on the road!"

After watching TV for a while, Xu Fengyu sent another text message, "Teacher Zhou, there's a big problem!"

Zhou Chaoxian asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Xu Fengyu didn't keep him in suspense and immediately typed, "I just asked some old friends, and they said Deng
Lu and her boyfriend were still together in college, quite affectionate. I even saw them showing affection during the Spring Festival!"

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chaoxian's expression darkened. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Gao Lei added insult to injury: "Looking for a better horse while riding a donkey?"

Staring blankly at his phone screen, Zhou Chaoxian suddenly laughed and immediately typed,

"Riding what? Looking for what? Who's riding whom is still uncertain!"

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