Chapter 437: Chapter 437

Although Pu Sangzhi had not yet thought of a place for their date, she was already both sleepy and tired.

At 1:10 in the night, she turned off the lamp, rubbed her shoulders, and slowly felt her way into bed.

In the dimly lit room, lying quietly in bed, Pu Sangzhi hugged her blanket and slowly closed her eyes...

After a while, she quietly opened her eyes again, gazing blankly at the dark and lonely room.

Pu Sangzhi slightly pursed her lips and whispered into the darkness, "I kind of miss Huo Feng..."

Even though she felt very sleepy, even though her eyes were sore, and her eyelids heavy...

But when she closed her eyes, a face kept flashing through her active mind, and a name kept appearing: Huo Feng.

Because she usually spent so much time with Huo Feng, almost to the point of constantly seeing him, Sangzhi never thought she would actually miss him...

Even though they had only been apart for an hour or so, and the next meeting was just a few hours away in the morning.

Just in this short span of time, she actually missed him.

Pu Sangzhi wrapped herself tighter in her not-so-thick blankets and turned over to face her desk.

Her blank gaze drifted aimlessly, her small fingers grabbing the blankets, gently fiddling with them.

Was it because there was no one at home, and she felt scared?

Was that why she thought of Huo Feng?

She couldn’t deny that she started to miss the nights long ago when she and Huo Feng had slept together.

Although it was wrong, and though it might tarnish her reputation, having Huo Feng by her side indeed brought her a sense of steadfastness and safety.

Pu Sangzhi then remembered the night when her grandmother passed away, how she didn’t dare to go home alone, and instead slept at their secret base with Huo Feng.

That night, knowing Huo Feng was by her side, she slept well.

Even though they weren’t officially together, she had the desire to fall asleep with him, wake up with him, share the same pillow, the same blanket, even to sleep in the same direction, and especially in the direction of being held in his arms...

Thinking about it, Pu Sangzhi quietly curled her lips. In the darkness, an arc appeared on her lips that even she herself did not notice.

Sometimes, Pu Sangzhi felt she was a bit lecherous.

Don’t be fooled by how she always pushed Huo Feng away, refusing to be hugged, kissed, or made too much physical contact...

Yet there were many moments when she would suddenly feel impulsive, wanting to hold him, kiss him, pinch his chiseled chin, cup his face, touch his abs, hug his waist...

"What’s wrong with me..."

Pu Sangzhi quietly pursed her lips, somewhat disbelievingly questioning herself, "Do I like him that much?"

As she asked herself this question, Pu Sangzhi could feel her cheeks quietly warming up, a slight heat emanating from the depths of her heart, kindling an unknown flame.

She thought: As long as it’s not desire, everything else doesn’t matter.

Latter, Pu Sangzhi did fall asleep.

And she slept well, having a long dream.

She dreamed that Huo Feng had entered her house, into her room, climbed onto her bed without making a sound, pressing down on her, kissing her fiercely, and began to unbutton her clothes...

Seeing this, Pu Sangzhi shook her head: "No..."

After that, the dream ended, and she woke up.

The moment she woke up and gazed into the sky, Pu Sangzhi took a deep breath as if feeling a weight lifted off her chest.

By then, the sky outside had already brightened.

Pu Sangzhi reached out to pat her chest, calming her slightly anxious emotions.

It took her several minutes to calm down and realize she had a wet dream.

Pu Sangzhi picked up her cellphone from the bedside table and glanced at the time, but then the current time startled her so much that she immediately sat up!

It was already 7:40 a.m.!

She had missed her morning run!

Quickly getting out of bed, Pu Sangzhi changed into sports clothes, casually tying her hair into a high ponytail and hurried out of her room, ready to brush her teeth and wash her face before going for the run.

However, just as she stepped out of her room, she ran into Chen Huifen, who had just returned home.

Chen Huifen hadn’t stopped making her weekly Friday trip to the ancestral hall, so she normally returned home on Saturday morning, typically after seven o’clock.

"Mom, you’re back," Pu Sangzhi said as she moved forward to welcome Chen Huifen inside.

Huifen, tired from praying all day and night, exchanged a few words with Pu Sangzhi and then retreated to her own room to catch up on sleep.

Pu Sangzhi followed Chen Huifen into her room and closed the door behind them.

"Mom, you get some sleep. I want to look at your phone for a moment," Pu Sangzhi said.

In fact, she just wanted to see if her father had sent any text messages?

Ever since her father asked for 10,000 yuan from them and they had replied but obtained no response, Pu Sangzhi started to worry about her father.

She came back every week to check Cheng Huifang’s phone and would use Chen Huifen’s phone to reply to her father’s texts and call him.

But suddenly, her father’s number was in an unreachable state due to his phone being off, making her unable to get through.

This week was the same.

Pu Sangzhi asked Chen Huifen for her cell phone, sitting on Chen Huifen’s bed, flipping through the few text messages back and forth.

Chen Huifen had already changed into her night clothes and was in bed, her gaze tiredly watching Pu Sangzhi, "He hasn’t replied, and his phone has been off. Maybe he’s hiding again."

"I hope he’s just hiding..."

Clutching her cell phone tightly, Pu Sangzhi sent another text message to her father with a worried heart.

"Mom, I’m a bit worried about Dad..." Pu Sangzhi said with concern.

"Worrying is useless. He can only live such a life now, and so can we, right?"

Chen Huifen sighed softly, "We’re no better off than he is, constantly hiding ourselves, afraid to even step out of our house. Maybe we committed too many sins in our previous life, which is why we’re being punished so much this life. This is all the debt of our past, karma with a vengeance."

Chen Huifen had recently been devoting herself to Buddhist worship.

She had made several trips to the temple, learned various scriptures, and her thoughts had started to become somewhat superstitious.

However, those who believe in gods and Buddhas always hold some superstitious beliefs, and Pu Sangzhi did too.

She also believed in the concept of karmic retribution.

"I wonder how Dad is doing now..."

Pu Sangzhi put down her cell phone and asked with concern, "Mom, did you pray for Dad’s safety?"

Chen Huifen shook her head, "I went to the temple to chant scriptures for my grandmother. How can I have two intentions and let other concerns disturb the gods?"

"Don’t you worry about Dad at all?" Pu Sangzhi ultimately still asked this question.

Although she felt it wasn’t right to ask, she couldn’t help but do so in the end.

Because she could somehow sense that Chen Huifen wasn’t very worried about Pu Wenhua...

When in fact, her father had gone missing and was completely out of contact.

Chen Huifen looked on dispassionately, speaking with a tone as if she had seen through the mortal world, "I’ve come to accept it now. Worrying is useless; it only adds to one’s own troubles. Whatever happens to him out there, it’s his own fate. What we can do now is to take control of our own lives. Xiaosang, we’re hardly able to take care of ourselves..."

Hearing this, Pu Sangzhi could only silently nod her head.

"Mom, I’m going to head out first; you get some rest."

Pu Sangzhi bid farewell to Chen Huifen and then took her mother’s cell phone and left.

For the entire following day, whether during her tutorial sessions or during other times, Pu Sangzhi was glued to the cell phone, staring at the screen, waiting for a reply from her father.

Of course, there was no reply.

Around ten o’clock in the evening, she was still in her room.

She was still immersed in drawing, having already spent a long time and completed seven drawings.

Pu Sangzhi’s shoulders ached and her neck felt sore from the exhaustion of drawing, so she decided to reduce the ten drawings to eight, allowing herself to slack off a bit!

After all, Huo Feng wouldn’t mind missing those two drawings.

With a date on Sunday, Pu Sangzhi received a hasty WeChat message from Huo Feng while she was drawing around 10:30 Saturday night...

Huo Feng sent: [Madam, it’s already 10:30! What are you going to wear tomorrow? You still haven’t told me!]

Huo Feng was always preoccupied with the idea of couple outfits.

He had been asking her all day today, during tutorial sessions and break times, incessantly.

Pu Sangzhi didn’t know how she had managed to endure it.

She put down her pencil, picked up her phone, and finally, in the last moment of the day, she made a decision.

She sent a WeChat message to Huo Feng: [I’m going to wear a black tracksuit tomorrow; you should wear a tracksuit too.]

In less than a second, Huo Feng replied: [No way! Wearing a tracksuit on a date? Are we going out for sports? Morning run? Marathon? Isn’t that a bit lacking in romance?]

Pu Sangzhi knew she would receive a barrage of complaints from Huo Feng, but she replied calmly and collectedly, [I have my preparations. Anyway, it’s a healthy and uplifting activity.] Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵

Huo Feng: [Can I kiss you?]

Huo Feng: [If I can’t kiss you and still have to exercise with you, I refuse!]

Pu Sangzhi: [Fine. Goodbye.]

Huo Feng: [Come back! If you dare leave, I’ll dare to bombard you! I’ll spam your phone with messages!]

Pu Sangzhi: [Won’t I just silence it?]

Huo Feng: [Then I’ll blow up your Moments! Get everyone to look for you! Harass you! Attack you! Until you turn around and ask me to delete the Moments!]

To herself, she thought: Childish!

Then Huo Feng sent another message, almost begging: [Can we not exercise? Shouldn’t dates be beautiful? I want to see you all dolled up and pretty!]

Pu Sangzhi responded: [Are you saying I’m ugly without makeup?]

Huo Feng: [Absolutely not! You’re as beautiful as a heavenly immortal with no makeup, and bewitching like a fairy with makeup! You’re beautiful either way!]

Pu Sangzhi: [Good. I’m only fit to be a Heavenly Immortal.]

Huo Feng hadn’t expected her to be so self-absorbed! The self-loving him couldn’t even find words to continue the conversation!