Chapter 20: Out of Control - Another Dream of a Handsome Guy with Twelve-Pack Abs? ...

After Qi Xu left, Yi Zhiyan's mood was visibly off, with an invisible sense of contemplation and dejection hanging over him.

He sat on the carpet playing with building blocks with Xiao Jiu, but he kept getting distracted. Each time, Xiao Jiu would slap him, and only then would he react.

Yin Xiao sat next to him, revising the script of "The Lock" with her notebook in hand. Occasionally, she would glance at his icy face and recall Qi Xu's words, vaguely sensing Qi Xu's disapproval of the idea of ​​living together.

Judging from Qi Xu's reaction, he clearly knew about the one-year contract she signed with Yi Zhiyan. Logically, he shouldn't have reacted so strongly, showing his dissatisfaction on his face. Could it be that it affected him?

Given that Yi Zhiyan dislikes Yi Zhi so much, how could he be so familiar with Yi Zhi, the director? Could there be a secret plan behind it?

Yin Xiao shook her head, staring at the screen and forcing herself to concentrate. The agreement they signed stipulated no interference in each other's lives, so she should focus on herself first and think about how to discuss the script with Sister Qin Yan during their island tour tomorrow.

As the clock struck three, the room grew warmer and warmer, making my head spin and bringing on a wave of sleepiness.

"Xiao Jiu, are you sleepy? Why don't you take a rest?"

Yi Zhiyan pinched the bridge of his nose and gently patted his little niece's head.

Xiao Jiu's hand trembled, and the castle window crashed onto the table. She glared at him, rolling her eyes angrily, almost bursting into tears, but when her gaze drifted behind him, her eyes reddened and she held back.

Yi Zhiyan frowned, but before she could ask, she had already obediently tidied up the scattered building blocks, hugged the plastic box, and stood up.

She looked at him, her chubby fingers pressed against her lips.

"My aunt is sleeping, I want to go somewhere else to play."

Yi Zhiyan looked back and saw that Yin Xiao had indeed fallen to the left on the sofa, breathing softly, as if she was sleeping soundly.

The computer screen was black and placed on her lap, pressing down on the hem of her beige knitwear. The neckline was pulled open forcefully, revealing a bit of her collarbone. Waves of heat hit the side of her neck, tinging her skin with a faint pink hue.

He paused for two seconds, turned his gaze away, lowered his eyes, picked up a box of building blocks from Xiao Jiu's hand, and led her towards the study.

"Is it okay to play here?"

Xiao Jiu nodded, grabbed two little tufts of hair from her head, plopped down on the carpet under the desk, and buried herself in the building blocks in the box.

Yi Zhiyan pondered for a few seconds, then turned around and went back to the bedroom. He took a clean gray blanket from the wardrobe and returned to the living room.

Yin Xiao remained in the same spot, her long hair spread out to cover half her face, and her cardigan was pulled down even further, almost revealing her entire right shoulder.

He walked slowly over, bent down and covered her shoulders with the blanket, gently rolling up the edges to wrap it snugly around her shoulders.

Yin Xiao's eyelids twitched, as if she sensed something.

Yi Zhiyan's fingers hovered over the blanket, paused for a moment, then brushed her cheek with his fingertips and brushed aside the long hair covering her face.

He withdrew his hand, and the girl, who had been dozing off, suddenly turned her head, her eyes narrowed to slits, seemingly half asleep and half awake. Caught off guard, she raised her hand and hugged his neck, the blanket sliding down her arm.

As the distance closed, he could see the fine downy hairs on her face with his lower eyelids. His knee nearly hit her side, his hands sank into the backrest, and he could only tense his abdomen to struggle to regain his balance.

The floral scent mingled with the sweet fruity aroma, and her breath gently pressed against his chin, clinging to his skin inch by inch.

Yi Zhiyan was momentarily stunned, her mind seemingly stuck in a rusty wind-up mechanism, making her reactions exceptionally slow.

"I..." Yin Xiao tilted her head and nuzzled him, her voice trailing off with a sticky laugh, "I like you so much."

Yi Zhiyan's breathing became erratic for a second, and his gaze fell on her shoulder.

"Yin Xiao, tell me... who do you like?"

"Mmm..." Yin Xiao tightened her arms, the soft knitted cuffs brushing against the ends of his hair, a sound lingering in her mouth.

The surrounding stillness extends slowly, while the heart beats faster.

Footsteps suddenly sounded at the door of the study. Yi Zhiyan frowned instantly, grabbed her wrist and straightened up, looking at his little niece who had just run out of the study.

She was clutching a square piece of paper in her hand, which looked like a Polaroid photo.

Yi Zhiyan breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at Yin Xiao who had fallen asleep again, gently placed her back on the sofa with the back of her head in her arms, and covered her with the blanket again.

He pressed his numb neck, forced himself to look away from the sofa, and turned to walk towards the study.

"What's wrong?" he asked Xiao Jiu, squatting down.

Xiao Jiu bit her lip and didn't say anything, but stuffed the Polaroid photo in her hand into his palm.

Yi Zhiyan lowered his head, his mind somewhat dazed.

The photo shows the back of a girl standing on a beach in a floral maxi dress, with the vast ocean behind her. A light orange hair clip is tucked behind her ear, her right hand is covering her eyes, and she's smiling brightly, her eyes crinkling.

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Xiao Jiu stammered. "I didn't catch it just now, and it flew out of the window of Lucy's Castle, knocking the notebook on the table to the ground, and the photos fell out..."

Yi Zhiyan's expression didn't change. He tightened his fingers, held the photo firmly, and slowly hid it behind his back.

"It's okay, go have fun."

"Is that your aunt in the photo?" Xiao Jiu's disappointment vanished instantly, and she smiled as she looked behind him. "You two have known each other for a long time?"

Yi Zhiyan beckoned with his finger, but accidentally pricked himself on the sharp corner, and managed to force a smile.

"We don't really know each other."

Xiao Jiu said "Oh," turned around, and ran away. Yi Zhiyan lowered his eyelids, took out the photo again, and held it up to the light.

In the photo, Yin Xiao still has short hair, with her bangs blown into a 3/7 split by the wind. Her hairstyle is messy, but she looks very cute.

This was the first real meeting between the two of them.

She clearly saw him at the beach, and even took a picture of his back to use as her profile picture, but she still didn't recognize him.

Now only he remembers.

The continuous vibration of his phone brought him back to his attention. He glanced at Lu Wen's name, then quickly returned to his bedroom to answer the call.

As soon as the call connected, Lu Wen kept apologizing, claiming that he really didn't know that Lao Qi had taken his daughter Lu Jiu to Qiyuan. If he had known earlier, he would have definitely informed him in advance.

Yi Zhiyan listened to him ramble on for five minutes before finally interrupting, "It's nothing, he's just saying a few words. I've been used to hearing it since I was a child."

“Yi Zhiyan.” Lu Wen’s tone suddenly became serious. “Did Seventh Brother say we shouldn’t live together?”

"Um."

"Actually, you know he makes sense; he's truly considering everything from your perspective."

Yi Zhiyan was silent for a moment, then said, "I know."

"You know, you should seriously reconsider your relationship with Yin Xiao. Getting too close before everything is settled is not good for either of you. Don't wait until it gets out of control before you regret it."

Yi Zhiyan walked to the bedside, opened the drawer under the cabinet, stuffed the photo in her hand into the innermost part, and pressed it under the marriage certificate.

"I won't regret it." He said the same thing he said at his wedding, his voice flat. "Besides, it's too late."

He was already starting to lose control.

—

When Yin Xiao was fully awake, the room was dark and silent, with a thick blackout curtain blocking out all the light.

She sat up, rummaged around on the sofa a few times, and grabbed her phone to check the time.

It's almost six o'clock, just in time for lunch.

The blanket fell onto her lap, which she folded up and placed aside. Then she ripped off the hair tie from her wrist, grabbed her hair, wrapped it around her head twice, stood up, and slowly looked around.

The door to the study on the right was closed, but a sliver of dim yellow light shone through the crack in the door, spreading evenly on the floor and faintly creating ripples.

Yin Xiao approached and raised her hand to knock on the door.

The door opened instantly after the first knock, and Yi Zhiyan peeked out from behind the wall, seemingly waiting for someone.

He asked directly, "Are you still sleeping?"

Yin Xiao shook her head.

"Let's eat." He made a move to leave.

"Xiao Jiu is gone?" Yin Xiao didn't hear any movement and found it strange. "Did Brother Lu come to pick her up?"

"Hmm." He rubbed his temples, then suddenly remembered something, turned to the side, and picked up a brown object from the bookshelf behind him. "This is a chocolate cake that Xiao Jiu assembled before she went back. She said it was for you."

Yin Xiao took the chocolate cake made of three layers of building blocks, lifted it up and put it down again, a sudden feeling of guilt welling up in her heart.

"How about... you just return it to Xiao Jiu for me?"

"You're not going to accept it?" Yi Zhiyan stared at her without moving, his emotions losing their anchor for a second.

"She clearly intended to give it to her aunt, not me. I can't simply take advantage of that status and accept her kindness without feeling guilty. I... perhaps you could explain? I don't want to lie to a child, do you understand?"

"..." His gaze shifted from her palm to her face, and he seemed to understand, but the angle of his lips did not look like a smile.

"Take it." He pressed her hand down. "She gave it to you. If you want to return it, you'll have to return it yourself."

Yin Xiao now regretted falling asleep that afternoon, and said helplessly, "You should have woken me up, so I could have explained to her..."

Before she could finish speaking, Yi Zhiyan's face flashed into her mind. His features were even more defined in the dim shadows, and his enlarged pupils revealed an elusive tenderness.

In her vague memory, he was still holding a gray blanket in his hand, the same one she found when she woke up.

"You gave me a blanket?" she asked, her focus shifting. "The radiator is blowing right on me, and you still give me a blanket? I'm still feeling hot."

"You're hot? When you're sleeping you..." Yi Zhiyan put his hand on her shoulder, his eyes looking somewhat inexplicable.

Yin Xiao waited a few seconds without hearing anything further, and began to feel inexplicably nervous. Determined to strike first, she said, "What's wrong with me... I sleep very soundly, don't slander me."

She is indeed very well-behaved when she is in a deep sleep, but if she is just in a drowsy state, she may be unconscious and unable to control her behavior, doing strange things that she has no recollection of.

So on the way back from the first banquet with Yi Zhiyan, she was very sleepy, but she didn't dare to sleep.

"You don't remember?"

Yi Zhiyan spoke calmly, but the questioning tone made her even more nervous.

She tugged at her sleeve, resigning herself to the situation and confessing.

"I was just dreaming. Whatever I do, please don't misunderstand."

Yi Zhiyan leaned against the door, peering forward. Suddenly, he raised his hand and lifted her sleeve, pulling it up slightly along her arm. His palm covered her shoulder, the warmth making the loose collar feel smooth.

"Was it a dream?" he repeated.

Yin Xiao looked up and defended herself, "Yeah, I've been like this since I was little. If I don't sleep very soundly, I'll dream, but I won't do anything. Don't find it strange..."

“It’s not surprising. You told me you dream.”

Yin Xiao was stunned. "When?"

"You said it yourself that time you were drunk." He lowered his hand, his tone calm. "Was this a similar dream?"

"Uh..." Yin Xiao moved her lips, desperately trying to recall the scene from that night, but failed.

She had no recollection of ever mentioning having a dream; she only gradually came to her senses that night in Yi Zhiyan's car.

She pursed her lips, not wanting to reveal too much about this matter at the moment. She blinked and casually replied, "Right?"

Yi Zhiyan's expression changed, and his voice deepened.

"So you dreamed about a handsome guy with a twelve-pack again?"