Chapter 130 The Other Side of Zhuang Bieyan Revealed

Night enveloped the entire northern city.

The sliding doors to the balcony were open, and the cool night breeze crept in silently. The sheer curtains swayed slightly, casting swaying, blurry shadows on the floor.

Zhuang Bieyan stood frozen in place, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, almost bursting out of his ribs.

In the shadows leading from the living room to the bedroom, Qu He stood there wearing a silk slip dress, her slender figure almost melting into the night, like a ray of moonlight that might disappear at any moment.

She stood there motionless.

Those eyes, which usually held a smile and a hint of coquettishness, stared at him intently in the darkness. His emotions were unreadable, yet they seemed to draw him in.

All the unease and restlessness of the night transformed into a surging panic at this moment, reaching its peak.

When did she start standing there?

How much did she hear?

Was it while he was on the phone with Yan Shu?

Or even earlier?

Countless questions pierced my heart like needles, my thoughts were in a jumbled mess, and I could barely think straight.

Qu He stepped out of the shadows, the moonlight falling on her and illuminating her face, which was still covered in sleepy pajamas.

"you..."

"you...."

The two spoke at the same time, then stopped at the same time.

Zhuang Bieyan strode forward, took her hand in his palm, and gently rubbed his thumb against her knuckles, his voice trembling slightly: "Why are you up?"

He asked the question cautiously.

Qu He's eyelashes trembled, still looking sleepy.

She just had a dream, a dream about the time Yan Shu looked at her during the live stream.

Then the scene shifts, and she is surrounded by a flock of black swallows. The swallows' wings flutter and brush against her face, startling her awake.

My body instinctively reached out to touch the side, but it was ice cold.

She groggily got out of bed in the dark and followed the noise from the balcony.

I turned over and saw you weren't there.

Her mind was still foggy, and she leaned sleepily into Zhuang Bieyan's arms.

Qu He snuggled against his slightly cool pajamas, her voice soft and sticky: "Why did you suddenly get up? Did you come to the balcony for some fresh air?"

Zhuang Bieyan's Adam's apple bobbed, and he mumbled a sound.

I put my arm around her, and felt a little more at ease.

He still couldn't help but ask, "...When did you come out?"

Qu He noticed the unusual nervousness in his voice, and looked up at him with sleepy eyes. "You seem a little nervous, Mr. Zhuang? What's wrong? Are you secretly doing something naughty behind my back?"

She pinched Zhuang Bieyan's chin and shook it from side to side, then stood on tiptoe to look him in the eye.

Zhuang Bieyan looked into her eyes, which were so close to his own, and saw their pure and gentle gaze.

His dark schemes and the coldness he felt on the phone vanished instantly.

He chuckled softly, his chin brushing against the top of her head. "Yes, I wanted to do something bad, but I didn't manage to."

"Oh." Qu He blinked. "No wonder you're acting so suspiciously. Tell me, what mischief are you planning? I'll see if I can approve it."

Zhuang Bieyan led her inside, then closed half of the balcony door behind him, cutting off half of the cool breeze.

"Ahe, there's something I've been keeping from you."

He seemed to have struggled with this for a long time, and after a great internal struggle, he sighed.

The seriousness in his tone dispelled most of Qu He's sleepiness.

Seeing the rare look of struggle and hesitation on his face, and remembering his unusual behavior of being alone on the balcony late at night, my curiosity was piqued.

Zhuang Bieyan led her to sit on the sofa in the living room and then turned on the chandelier switch.

The warm yellow light spread out, illuminating the vases beside the sofa and coffee table.

The pink lychees in the vase were in full bloom, their petals layered upon each other, still glistening with undried water droplets.

Zhuang Bieyan turned around and went to the back storage cabinet. He opened the drawer, but his hand froze in mid-air when he touched the brown box inside.

But in the end, he still came back with the box, placed it on the coffee table, and pushed it in front of her, saying, "Open it and take a look."

Qu He picked up the box and shook it; a metallic clanging sound came from inside.

She opened the lid, inside were several unopened boxes of Capri cigarettes and a silver Cartier lighter.

Qu He picked up the cigarette pack and looked at it, then looked at Zhuang Bieyan, puzzled. "So you came out in the middle of the night just to smoke?"

Zhuang Bieyan remained silent, simply looking at her.

Qu He, however, thought she had guessed correctly.

She couldn't help but find it a little funny, and also a little unbelievable. "I never thought that the perfect, self-disciplined CEO Zhuang, who neither smokes nor drinks, would actually sneak out to smoke in the middle of the night?"

Zhuang Bieyan smiled helplessly, took the cigarette from her hand, put it back in the box, and closed it. "I didn't smoke it."

He spoke in a low voice, his words carrying a hint of complexity.

Qu He gently nudged his shoulder and pressed, "Why are you avoiding me? Do you think I'd laugh at you for this?"

Zhuang Bieyan turned his head and looked at her seriously. His amber eyes looked particularly deep and focused under the warm light. "Because you don't like men who smoke."

Qu He was taken aback. "Huh?"

She has hated the smell of smoke for a long time.

When she was little, Lian Juping and Qu Jiafeng were busy with school, so they left her with her maternal grandparents in Yujia Ferry.

But the old woman was busy with the fields and the ceramics factory, so she entrusted her to a retired old lady in the village for safekeeping.

The old lady's husband was a heavy smoker. Every day, he would sit at the doorway smoking cheap cigarettes while she played nearby. She ended up inhaling secondhand smoke for more than half a year. Later, she developed a cough and a cold, which distressed her family so much that they never let her go there again.

Since then, Qu He felt nauseous whenever she smelled smoke, and Qu Jiafeng also quit smoking as a result.

During the years he was with Qian Zhaoye, he initially made sure not to smoke in front of her, but later... well, you could only say people's hearts are fickle.

Qu He looked at the man in front of her, and the softest part of her heart was gently touched, leaving a tingling sensation.

"I don't think I've ever told you this..."

"Dad mentioned it once."

Qu He asked, "But I've never seen you smoke before?"

Zhuang Bieyan looked away from the box, his voice slightly unsteady, "I don't smoke. I've only smoked twice in total."

"Then why do you want to smoke tonight?"

“Because…” He paused, seemingly about to say something, but then changed his mind.

He turned to look at her, deliberately frowning, using a tone of accusation and grievance to cover it up, "Because I was so jealous tonight, my heart is so sour."

Qu He exclaimed, deliberately rubbing her arms, "Hey, Zhuang Bieyan, you're so cheesy."

Zhuang Bieyan chuckled softly, his chest vibrating. The laughter dispelled some of the stagnant night and even eased the gloom in his heart.

He took the box and tapped it twice, his expression becoming very serious: "Ahe, I'm showing this to you because I want to tell you that Zhuang Bieyan might not be as perfect as the outside world portrays him. He gets jealous, he gets angry, he drinks and smokes, and even..."

He paused, not saying the rest of his words, but Qu He understood something deeper from his eyes.

It was another side of him that he had never shown before.

Perhaps it is dark.

It's not exactly aboveboard.

"So?" Qu He leaned closer to him, looking into his eyes.

She reached out and gently poked his tense face, looking at him with curiosity and teasing, "Zhuang Bieyan, you actually have times when you're so insecure?"

Zhuang Bieyan grasped her mischievous hand, "I've never been that confident around you."

He held her hand, his fingers tightening slightly. "Would you still like me the same way you used to?"

Seeing the tension in his eyes, Qu He suddenly wanted to tease him.

She deliberately pursed her lips, not answering her question directly.

She pulled her hand back, stood up, and shook the air twice. "I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep."

Zhuang Bieyan's heart sank. He grabbed her hand, wanting an answer.

Qu He seemed to be teasing him, glancing back at him with a smile in her eyes, but she didn't say anything.

She let him hold her hand and walked towards the bedroom on her own.

Zhuang Bieyan was afraid that she would fall if she walked too fast, so he had no choice but to follow behind her.

Only he knew that he was serious about what he had just said.

In her presence, all his composure and strategic thinking would be easily shattered.

In her presence, all pretense vanishes, leaving only the most primal desires.

The bedroom door was closed from the inside.

Zhuang Bieyan bent down and pressed Qu He against the door panel.

He didn't touch her lips, but his nose brushed against hers, his breath carrying a faint scent of cedar. "Ahe, tell me."

Qu He tiptoed closer, revealing her true feelings: "The person I like has never been the Zhuang family's good fortune as the outside world claims."

She traced her fingers along his wrist, slowly moving upwards, stopping at his collar and tugging at it. "What I like is someone who gets nervous, gets jealous, hides his cigarette case from me, and is afraid that I don't like him... Zhuang Bieyan."

A little moonlight shone through the window and fell on her eyelashes.

Zhuang Bieyan looked at the person in front of him, his voice hoarse, "Really?"

Qu He suddenly smiled and lightly pecked him on the lips. "Guess."

Zhuang Bieyan's breathing became erratic.

He held her waist and whispered in her ear, "I won't guess. I want to hear you say it again."

The moonlight cast a hazy glow on the floor.

The box on the coffee table silently tells some unspoken secrets.

The night breeze blew in through the balcony door that wasn't closed properly, hitting the vase directly and causing it to sway gently, making the pink lychee petals inside seem about to fall.

This time the wind was stronger, and the petals trembled violently. The outermost petals could no longer hold on and detached from the calyx.

First one, then two, and finally several petals swirled down to the floor, curling up slightly.

The moonlight slanted gently, illuminating the pink sugar crumbs scattered on the ground.

The night breeze was still blowing, and a few more petals fell, while the breaths in the bedroom were already intertwined and inseparable.