Stuttering Big Boss’s White Moonlight - Chapter 1

The dreary sky looked gloomy and gray.

Cheng Chu sat blankly in front of the table, watching the gentle drizzle hit the window.

The door knocked twice. Then Mrs. Song’s voice was heard from outside saying: “Madam, Lawyer Zhou is here.”

Hearing a voice addressed to her, it took Cheng Chu a moment to react. She lowered her bloodshot eyes and raised her hand weakly to straighten her wrinkled clothes. In a low voice, she said: “Let him in.”

Lawyer Zhou entered the room under Mrs. Song’s lead. He carries a briefcase and sports a clean-cut suit topped with meticulously combed hair. His gestures exclude an aura similar to an elite.

Lawyer Zhou said: “Hello, Madame Gu.” [Madame Gu is Cheng Chu]

A slightly cold and bitter fragrance circulate throughout the room.

Cheng Chu’s haggard state does not affect her beauty. Her bloodshot eyes, pale cheeks, and the few damaged hair stuck on her forehead add a hint of distress to her originally bright and compelling appearance.

This is Zhou Zhong’s first time meeting Madame Gu, with one glance, he immediately understood why Mr. Gu was obsessed and crazy about her.

“I’m sorry for what happened Madame Gu.” Zhou Zhong pursed his lips and whispered.

Cheng Chu suppressed her sorrow and softly said: “Thank you, Lawyer Zhou.” Rubbing her tired eyes, she continued: “What have you come here for today?”

***

The many sleepless nights had pushed Cheng Chu’s strained nerves past her limit. Right now, she only wants to sleep for a couple of hours.

But when Cheng Chu laid on the soft bed, her jumbled thoughts acted like the rain outside, getting heavier by the second and wrecking her heart like a storm.

As her vision gradually blurs, she thought of what Lawyer Zhou had said: “Mr. Gu made a will before his death. If he died in an accident, all his assets will be put under your name.”

Why? Why are you so good to me?

Cheng Chu’s tears couldn’t help but fall. Her heart was further broken by Lawyer Zhou’s news. She sobbed a few times and progressed to weep uncontrollably.

The thunderstorm rages outside and vigorously slap the window.

Cheng Chu tightly closed her eyes but her tears continued to flow from the corners of her eyes and seep into the white silky pillowcase.

In her trance, she suddenly thought back to the car accident.

***

It happened on an equally stormy day.

On that rainy night, the street was cold and empty, the faint street lights could barely illuminate the street.

The two of them sat in the car, seated at the two ends as if separated by the Chu River and Han Jie. [楚河汉界 — Chinese idiom that means a broad boundary separating two people]

Suddenly a dazzling light flashed and before she could react, Cheng Chu was pressed firmly against Gu Miao’s chest. He held her with all his might as if he had exhausted all his energy to shield her from danger.

Cheng Chu felt a heart-piercing pain from where her shoulders were hit and her feet were crushed under something.

The car lights illuminated the whole road. She endured the pain and raised her eyes to meet Gu Miao’s dark and deep eyes.

Fresh blood was dripping down his forehead and the usual cold and pale face were covered with blood. But he acted as though it was not there and looked deeply focusing only on her as if to carve her image into his soul.

“Don’t be scared, Chu Chu.”

In his scorching hot embrace, Cheng Chu could clearly hear his hoarse voice.

It was the first time he ever called her Chu Chu. It was also the last.

The blood from Gu Miao’s forehead dripped onto her face, the heat burned her skin and left her heart with lasting pain.

In the end, she recalled Gu Miao mustering all his strength to say in his hoarse and broken voice: “I love you.”

Cheng Chu always thought they were married only in name, nothing more and nothing less. Under her father’s persuasion, Cheng Chu and Gu Miao simply met a few times before they got married. After marriage, they lived together in the same house but whenever they met, Cheng Chu and Gu Miao would greet each other as if they were neighbors.

Cheng Chu couldn’t believe that in times of danger, Gu Miao would resolutely choose to protect her and risk his life.

He said he loves me? Since when?

They had been married for two months but the time spent getting to know each other was barely three months long.

When they met for the first time, Cheng Chu said resolutely to Gu Miao: “Mr. Gu, I’m sorry, I already have someone I like.”

***

The night light beside the bed turned on and emitted a warm yellow glow.

Cheng Chu stood up and followed the light to find her slippers. She put them on in a hurry and left her bedroom.

The window in the corridor had a small slit that blows in a cold breeze.

Cheng Chu couldn’t help but shudder from the cold. She speed-walked to the door at the end of the corridor. It was Gu Miao’s room.

Her mind that had been in a trance-like state for the past few days was shaken up by the cold wind. Her heart beats a wild song and her blood seems to flow bizarrely throughout her body.

Step by step, she walked toward the tightly closed door and with little effort, the door opens.

The room had a gray and white color scheme. It gave off a cold and secluded vibe, like how Gu Miao liked to portray himself.

“”

On the office desk, there were several neatly arranged documents and a beautiful landscape photo mounted by a dark brown frame. Other than that, nothing else was present.

Cheng Chu didn’t know why she impulsively entered his room. Perhaps her heart wanted to ease the shame and regretful feelings. She wanted to know what kind of person Gu Miao is. After all, she knew nothing about him.

Cheng Chu reached out and opened the drawer under the desk only to find it full of work folders. She turned around and flipped through the small drawer that lines the bookshelf. At last, she found a photo album.

The album seems worn down, the black cover was a little faded but it was obvious that the owner cherishes it immensely. The four corners of the album were covered with protective paper.

Cheng Chu hurriedly opened the album and she was shocked by what she saw.

The photos were pictures of her. To be more precise, pictures of her in high school.

The girl in the photo is seated on a piano chair with a bright spotlight in the background. Her head bows slightly and she is playing the piano in concentration.

When was this taken?

Cheng Chu couldn’t resist and took out the photo. Looking at it carefully, she found a line written on the back. It reads: Chu Chu’s first performance.

Cheng Chu felt a rush of sorrow and guilt.

*Sniff sniff*

She continued to flip through the album and found that they were all photos of her! There were pictures of when she was eating, studying, hanging out with her classmates, etc. The album had almost all her high school moments.

But it was obvious that these photos weren’t taken secretly because, in some of them, Cheng Chu was smiling directly at the camera.

Where did these photos come from?

She suppressed her curiosity and continued flipping through the pages. At the end of the album, there were two graduation photos of two classes: Class 2 and Class 3.

Class 2 was Cheng Chu’s high school class. She quickly recognized herself in the photo. The young girl was seated on the last row and had a slight smile on her face.

But I’m not a part of Class 3 though?

Slightly confused, Cheng Chu took out both photos and flipped them around. “Congrats on Graduating!” was written on the back of the Class 2 photo. And on the other photo, “I really want to take a graduation photo with you.” was written solemnly in black ink.

Is he in Class 3?

As Cheng Chu thought that, her heart trembled violently as much as the hand holding the photo. She carefully searched for Gu Miao’s figure in the photo but to no result.

Huh?

This time, she looked at each person carefully starting from the people in the first row. One by one, until she finally found him on the edge of the last row.

He looked like a completely different person. In the photo, the boy wore dull black-framed glasses with long bangs that covered his forehead and were smiling very slightly and reluctantly at the camera. His whole body excluded a gloomy depressing vibe.

Cheng Chu remembered that her high school, Haishi Number One High School, had a rule. In junior year of high school, students in the Special Class and those in the Ordinary Class can be interchangeable. If a student in the Special Class tested poorly, they will be exiled to the Ordinary Class and thus, allowing those that scored very well a chance to move up to the Special Class. 

In the past, Cheng Chu was very ill and had to miss the exam. Then, she was transferred to Class 3, an Ordinary Class. But soon, she performed very well in the next few exams and smoothly transitioned back to the Special Class.

But in the half-semester that she was in Class 3, she never paid attention to Gu Miao, or to be more precise, she never knew there was such a person.

Maybe it was that time when he felt… to me…

Cheng Chu felt a stinging sensation in her eyes. She stared blankly at the line of words behind the graduation photo only to feel her heart being pricked by countless needles.

Light footsteps sounded from outside the door and Mrs. Song knocked tentatively on the door and said: “Madam, are you inside?”

Cheng Chu wiped away her tears and said: “Yes, it’s me.”

“Oh, ma’am, you haven’t slept in days. How can you survive this way? If your husband knew it, he would be sad.”

Speaking of Gu Miao, Cheng Chu’s heart only felt more distress. Her tears poured out uncontrollably. After a while, she wiped her wet eyes with her hands and said: “Mrs. Song, you should go to sleep first, I will clean up later.”

Mrs. Song couldn’t say anything so she signed and left.

The silence returns. Cheng Chu carefully held the album in her arms and struggled to stand up from the floor. 

As soon as she got up, her heart jumped madly, her vision turned black, and the strength of her body was taken away in an instant. The next second, she fell to the ground with a loud “BANG!”

The world plunged into endless darkness.

***

“Miss, Miss, wake up! You’ll be late for class!”

Cheng Chu grunted in dissatisfaction and reluctantly opened her eyes.

A middle-aged woman is standing by the bed and looking at her with concern.

“Mrs. Zhao?”

Isn’t this the nanny who took care of her in high school?

“I’ve prepared your breakfast, come and eat.” Mrs. Zhao leaves the room after kindly saying that.

Cheng Chu took some time to study the room. She was laying on a white princess-like bed. The walls were decorated with light blue wallpaper and there were wind chimes adorned with crystals hanging from the windowsill. The bright sunlight reflected from the crystals casts beautiful colors around the room.

Her father bought this house for her because it was near her high school.

Didn’t I faint in Gu Miao’s room? How did I come here?

Cheng Chu got out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom. The girl in the mirror has fair skin, pale as snow; her dark hair drapes softly on her shoulders; her slightly raised doe-like eyes were shining brightly.

This was her from high school.

Cheng Chu stared blankly at her youthful face in the mirror and squeezed her hand with all her might.

*hiss*  “Ouch!”

Instantly, a piercing pain comes from her hand and she subconsciously frowns. But the joy in her heart was like a burning flame, burning her cold and desperate heart.

God gave her a chance to come back to the past, and this time, she will firmly grasp the opportunity.