lonelydream: (Default)
周子舒|周絮 (Zhou Zishu | Zhou Xu) ([personal profile] lonelydream) wrote2023-10-29 10:27 pm

INBOX (for eastbound)



Zhou Xu

missives | encounters
wifedup: (xxxvi.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-18 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
If it's complaining about me then toss it, unless it's very funny then feel free to read it out to me. Anything to do with shipments just put there - ( Pointing to a hefty pile of paper. ) - honestly just ... do whatever you like. I can't wait to be done with it all.

( Maybe they'll be sent elsewhere soon. That would be lucky. )
wifedup: (xlvi..)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-19 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
( He hums in response, shuffling papers with no real aim. )

At first I went along with things because I needed to see the lay of the land. I know it never seems like it but I do know the positives of patience. ( His vengeance might have hurtled steadily ahead and beyond his control once he finally set foot out in the Jianghu, but it had taken time to orchestrate in the first place. The ghosts, the intel, the songs, they hadn't been whims. ) And then -? I don't know. Where would I take people once they'd shaken the shackles off? What would we do? Could I be responsible for that when, if given even the slightest chance, I would have returned home without a care?

( A then, more quiet. )

Would I want to risk it, if it jeopardised getting back?
wifedup: (lvi.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-19 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
( He huffs out a breath, shakes his head a little. )

Aiya, it doesn't feel like it. But it doesn't matter, we have to do whatever we can to make it through here. As long as we get back. Your boy needs you.
wifedup: (xxxviii.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-19 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Ugh.

( It's overdramatic, but Wen Kexing is sure Zhou Zishu can tell just how much Gu Xiang's absense has been wearing on him. He misses her, though he is not surprised by that. He'd meant to find her a new life, the longing would have come either way. He just wishes he could be near to make sure she's safe. )

Is she happy? ( Sudden, though he looks down at his desk rather than Zhou Zishu. ) She must be, right? But she was never the type of girl to play pretend at weddings - she is doing it because she wants to, isn't she?
wifedup: (l.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-20 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, they should be! It's what she deserves.

( It's no secret that Wen Kexing has a romantic heart, he talks about it often enough. But there are parts that are more earnest, more desperate, sore like a bruise. He wanted better for Gu Xiang, wants more for her. She is the only good thing he has ever managed to do, his silly girl. )

Ah? Safer? For her, I mean. ( He shrugs a shoulder, fidgety. ) In the beginning I didn't let her call me anything at all, it was better that people didn't know I cared, but she was so small and so innocent that it couldn't last long. So then I had to pretend she was a ... protégé? I don't know. The old Valley Master thought it was funny, so he let me look after her. She was a handy enough leash in case I acted out. When I killed him - ( A pause, momentary. ) I thought it best she kept that up. She could take better care of herself by then, I raised her to be deadly enough. But she's still a weak spot, and someone is always looking for one of those.

( And then, a hum. )

We're different, out in the Jianghu. We get to pretend to be something else. I'd hoped when I found her somewhere safer she could think back on me kindly like that, call me whatever she wanted, like a nice memory.

( He hadn't expected to survive, but then - Zhou Zishu. )
wifedup: (x.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-20 03:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe.

( And then sly. )

What should she call you? Sao zi?
wifedup: (xi.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-20 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, we're already divorced, how sad.

( He makes a big show of pouting, eyes wide. )

I never even got to see the benefits of marriage before you cast me off, Lord Zhou, how cruel you are!
wifedup: (xx.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-20 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
( There's a small smile threatening to burst free across his features, his expression pleased. )

Mm, I suppose so. That isn't so bad, is it? Us, Chengling, her --. Her Cao Weining. She has Luo Fumeng and Liu Qianqiao too. She hasn't done terribly, all things considered.

( It isn't a perfect family, but he thinks it could be a nice one. Maybe she doesn't have to forget her roots in entirety. )

Though what Cao Weining's family thinks of us I don't know. ( A sudden thought, his eyes narrowing. ) Are they allowing it?
wifedup: (xlvii.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-21 10:36 am (UTC)(link)
( He blinks, goes still. Ghost Valley is a terrible crushing weight even with his crimes exposed. There is a terrible, sickly pride, of course there is, but more often than not there's pain and regret. Chengling is one of those. Wen Kexing, an orphan hellbent on his vengeance, had passed on that terrible legacy. He doesn't know why he's being treated kindly now.

He doesn't deserve it.
)

Chengling -. ( His fingers twitch, he considers reaching for the wine. ) - why?

( Why is nobody angry? Why is their silly child still with them? Why does Wen Kexing still get to have all this? )
wifedup: (v.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-21 03:01 pm (UTC)(link)
( How many times will Zhou Zishu move him to tears now that he's here? Wen Kexing doesn't know, but he blinks furiously, half scowling because he doesn't know what else to do. )

Ha, shishu.

( What a terrible yearning thing he has become. ) That silly boy, what are we going to do with him?

( And then, a pause, thoughtful, wet eyes narrowing. ) You don't make me call you shixiong, do you? Ah-Xu, you better not, it's hardly romantic.
wifedup: (Default)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-24 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh?

( Something more sly settles across his face, foxlike. He notes those pretty pink ears with interest, grin widening, the tip of his tongue flitting across the bottom of his teeth. Flirting with Zhou Zishu has always felt like a thrilling game, and he can't help but seize his chance now, leaning one elbow against the desk and fluttering his dark eyelashes. )

So that's how it is? Well, it isn't exactly my kink shixiong, but I'm willing to work with it.
wifedup: (xliv.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-24 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
( Another bright peal of laughter. )

All right, all right, I'll leave it.

( The for now goes unsaid. It will return when Zhou Zishu least expects it, that's for sure. )
wifedup: (x.)

[personal profile] wifedup 2023-11-26 01:22 pm (UTC)(link)
( Ah, he's so easily tormented, Wen Kexing had forgotten just how fun it was. His smile is sly and pleased as he turns back to his abandoned paperwork, leaving Zhou Zishu to his embarrassed sulking.

He's cute! So cute!
)