Chapter 34

After the commercials, a sketch comedy program began, and Grandma Shu and Aunt Hui watched it with rapt attention.

Shu Shiran stared at the television as well, but she could not focus on it at all. Earlier, she had failed to come up with a reason to leave and had missed the best opportunity to suggest going home. Now, both Grandma Shu and Aunt Hui were under the impression that they would be staying the night.

She glanced at Ji Xi. He was still looking down at his phone, his fingertips tapping the screen in a leisurely manner, seemingly unbothered by the prospect of staying over.

Suddenly, Shu Shiran’s phone chimed. She picked it up to check it and was surprised to see a message from Ji Xi. She glanced at Ji Xi, whose posture hadn't changed, and opened the message.

- Ji Xi: ?

He was asking why she had been looking at him.

- Shu Shiran: Why didn't you say anything earlier?

After she sent the message, the "typing" indicator flickered above the chat interface. A few seconds later, it vanished. No message came through. Then, the "typing" indicator began to flicker again. After it disappeared for a second time, a reply finally arrived.

- Ji Xi: If I said too much, you’d glare at me again.

Shu Shiran: "..."

Grandma Shu and Aunt Hui laughed out loud at the sketch. Grandma Shu noticed Shu Shiran out of the corner of her eye and asked, "What’s wrong, Nannan?"

"It's nothing," Shu Shiran replied. How could someone like Ji Xi care whether they slept in the same place or not?

"This sketch is quite good," Grandma Shu said. "It’s rare to find a show with a decent sense of humor."

Shu Shiran put her phone down and continued watching the Spring Festival Gala with her grandmother. By the time it was nearly ten o'clock, Grandma Shu couldn't stay awake any longer and headed off to bed. Aunt Hui also prepared to return to her room.

Seeing that Ji Xi and Shu Shiran made no move to leave, Grandma Shu prompted them, "Nannan, you two should get some sleep early as well."

"Alright, Grandma," Shu Shiran replied.

Once they were alone, the gala continued on the television, airing a musical performance. Shu Shiran listened while replying to various messages on her phone. She could see Ji Xi in her peripheral vision, but he remained silent.

Three more segments passed by in this manner. Finally, the figure in her peripheral vision stirred.

"Would you rather stay here, and I’ll go home?" Ji Xi asked, his voice lazy and indifferent.

Shu Shiran looked at him.

Ji Xi raised his eyelids. "If Grandma asks, just tell her I had something urgent to attend to." He stood up, preparing to leave.

Shu Shiran hesitated for a moment before saying, "Forget it." There was still tomorrow night to get through, after all.

Ji Xi raised an eyebrow and turned back to look at her. One was standing while the other was seated; Shu Shiran tilted her head up slightly. Perhaps because of the backlighting, Ji Xi’s eyes seemed to deepen.

Shu Shiran’s heart skipped a beat. She looked away and added, "You sleep on the daybed."

With the decision made, there was no point in sitting around any longer, as some of the performances were truly boring. They turned off the TV and headed upstairs. Shu Shiran walked in front, with Ji Xi following at a steady, unhurried pace.

Shu Shiran had lived in the North Road house since middle school, staying there until she eventually went to England for her studies. The house in North Road was quite spacious, and her room was a large suite that included a walk-in closet. She had spent almost her entire adolescence in this room, and very few members of the opposite sex had ever set foot inside. Ji Xi was essentially the first.

Perhaps because of this, even though she had already let Ji Xi visit her apartment at Chuangsong No. 1, Shu Shiran still felt somewhat uneasy. She turned back to look at him and, seeing that he wasn't looking around curiously, her sense of discomfort eased slightly.

There was an armchair in the room, and on one side of the bed, not far away, was a chaise lounge. This was the "sofa" Shu Shiran had referred to. She used to pile her clothes on it or lie there to soak up the sun on nice days. Beyond the chaise lounge was the balcony door.

Shu Shiran led Ji Xi to the chaise lounge. "Sit here." She turned the television back on to the gala to fill the room with sound. It was a lively musical segment. After listening for a few seconds, she looked at Ji Xi, measuring him against the chaise lounge.

Ji Xi noticed her gaze and looked up.

"You'll be very cramped if you sleep there," she remarked. The chaise was quite large, fine for her, but Ji Xi was a man, and a tall one at that.

"Want to switch with me?" Ji Xi asked. Before she could answer, he added, "Or is it that—"

Shu Shiran sensed that whatever he was about to say wouldn't be appropriate, so she shot him a sharp look and interrupted, "I’m going to take a shower first."

As soon as she said it, she realized how intimate the remark sounded, given they were sharing a room. Fortunately, she had already turned away, sparing herself from having to meet his teasing gaze. Two neatly folded sets of pajamas were laid out at the foot of the bed—Aunt Hui’s doing, no doubt. Shu Shiran grabbed one, which happened to be the women's set. With her face heating up, she hurried into the bathroom.

She spent over forty minutes in the shower. When she emerged, she saw Ji Xi standing by the table, holding a picture frame. His side profile looked indifferent and solitary under the light. He seemed to be looking at the photo, or perhaps lost in thought.

Shu Shiran approached, and Ji Xi turned his head, his casual gaze settling on her face, which was flushed from the steam.

"You in your third year of middle school?"

Shu Shiran looked at the photo in his hand and nodded. "That was during the Chongjia School anniversary." Her third year of middle school had coincided with the school's twentieth anniversary, and she had played the piano on stage. That was when the photo was taken.

Ji Xi was in the same grade; he must have been there for it. She asked, "What were you doing back then? Did you participate in your class's performance?"

It had been over a decade. Ji Xi had no memory of what his class had performed. When that photo was taken, he had been standing in the audience, accompanied by a few other boys who were also watching the stage. One of them had declared that he was going to confess his feelings to Shu Shiran after the show, which had provoked the others, who insisted they would do the same. The three of them had argued, neither willing to yield. He had been annoyed too, though he hadn't shown it. She was always unhappy when she received gifts from her father's illegitimate children; she certainly wouldn't be happy to be liked by one either.

Seeing Ji Xi remain silent, his eyes darkened and unreadable, Shu Shiran felt a flicker of confusion. A few seconds later, his gaze shifted, and he replied nonchalantly, "I don't remember."

He set the frame down. Seeing her still watching him, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Wife."

Caught off guard, Shu Shiran felt her heart race, and heat rushed to her face and ears. He had used the term "wife" when introducing her to others or in conversation before, but he had never addressed her by it so directly.

"I've answered your question," Ji Xi said. "Can you let me go take a shower now?"

"..."

As if she were the one stopping him. Shu Shiran stepped aside to let him pass.

Aunt Hui had prepared everything—from pajamas and spare clothes to toothbrushes, towels, and razors. After Ji Xi went to shower, Shu Shiran stood there, feeling embarrassed and annoyed until the heat on her face finally dissipated. She had intended to leave him to fend for himself on the chaise, but in the end, she placed a pillow and a blanket on it.

When Ji Xi came out, Shu Shiran was sitting on the bed under the covers, busy sending red envelopes in her firm's group chat. Even with the TV playing, she heard his footsteps the moment he approached. Because of his earlier teasing, she didn't look up. Through her peripheral vision, she saw his slender figure walk past the bed and disappear to the other side.

In the group chat, Wu Tianqi was leading the banter, with messages flooding in. Shu Shiran sent another red envelope, and Dai Jiao followed suit. Wu Tianqi knew when to quit and even sent her a private message.

- Wu Tianqi: Sister Ran, it's almost the first day of the New Year.
- Wu Tianqi: Happy New Year! [Grin] [Grin]

It was only two minutes until midnight. Once she replied to Wu Tianqi, the group chat finally went quiet. With nothing else to check on her phone, she looked at the TV. The host was speaking, preparing for the New Year's countdown.

"Shu Shiran," Ji Xi called out.

Just as the countdown began on the TV, Shu Shiran looked at him amidst the sound of the final seconds of the year. Ji Xi was sitting on the chaise lounge nearby, his hair falling over his forehead, his features clear and refreshed from his shower.

When she had seen the pajamas at the foot of the bed, she hadn't thought much of it, assuming Aunt Hui had just picked out matching sets. Seeing Ji Xi wearing his, she finally realized they were couple's pajamas.

Suddenly, the sound of fireworks erupted outside, one after another. Then, the countdown on the TV ended, and the host wished everyone a happy New Year amidst festive music. Shu Shiran’s self-consciousness about the matching pajamas dissipated in the atmosphere.

She smiled slightly and said to him, "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," Ji Xi replied.

After replying to a few messages she had received at the stroke of midnight, Shu Shiran prepared to sleep. Ji Xi turned off the TV, then stood up, not looking as though he intended to sleep yet.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked.

"You go ahead," he said. "I have a few things to take care of."

Shu Shiran nodded. Not every exchange was closed for the Spring Festival, after all. Ji Xi took his jacket and went out onto the balcony. The floor-length curtains billowed in the cold wind from outside, then fell still once the door was shut.

The villa area was silent, and the night sky, covered in gray clouds, occasionally echoed with a distant boom—people further away were still setting off fireworks. On the dimly lit balcony, the cold light from his phone screen illuminated Ji Xi’s face. A voice call came through. It was Luke.

"Jaziel, I heard you requested a report just now."

Ji Xi gave a soft hum of acknowledgment.

"Aren't you celebrating the Spring Festival?" Luke asked, sounding confused. "I thought you were on holiday."

Ji Xi glanced through a gap in the curtains into the room. The main lights were off, leaving only a nightlight on. From his angle, he could see the foot of the bed. A foot poked out from the soft, slightly rumpled quilt, the ankle pale and slender under the dim light, showing no sign of caution.

His Adam's apple bobbed in the darkness. He looked away, remembering the flush on her skin from the steam and the lingering scent of her shower gel—the same scent that was now on his own skin.

A bone-chilling gust of wind blew away the lingering fragrance and the heat.

"What holiday?" he replied, his voice low and languid, careful not to disturb the person inside.