Chapter 18 The scent of citrus permeates an entire bottle of orange sparkling water.
A muffled rumble of thunder could be heard faintly.
Yi Zhiyan pushed up his glasses, irritably loosened his tie, and let it hang crookedly around his neck. His fingers tightened, his thumb pressing against the cool ring, slowly turning it.
"Is there no chance left?"
Ruan Zheng was clearly trying to provoke him, but she smiled and shook her head, "I don't think so. Once your fake marriage with her ends, my little assistant can pursue her openly, right?"
“I said it wasn’t a lie.” Yi Zhiyan turned his head and looked directly into Ruan Zheng’s eyes. He wasn’t provoked. His tone was as indifferent as ever, as if everything was under his control.
“I married her. Marriage means that I am her legal partner who can be with her openly and legitimately.”
After saying that, Yi Zhiyan lifted his foot and walked out, pushing open the door without stopping, and stopped behind Yin Xiao. His gaze lingered on her trembling shoulders as she laughed, and he spoke without thinking.
"Wife."
The girl with her back to him visibly froze, her shrugged shoulders suddenly relaxed, and she took a small step forward, displaying a clear posture of avoidance.
Suddenly, a string in his mind tightened, and he sighed heavily. He couldn't help but raise his hand and reach out towards her receding figure.
"He Sen".
Ruan Zheng quickly pressed down on his arm, walked up to him, waved to the boy below the steps, and tossed the car keys over.
He Sen peeked out, immediately wiping away his playful expression, and the dimples at the corners of his mouth faded. He reached out and took the car keys, nodded respectfully in their direction, and opened the door behind him.
"Mr. Ruan, shall we go back to the company?"
"Go back." Ruan Zheng glanced at Yi Zhiyan leisurely, walked down the steps, and as she passed the girl with a bun hairstyle carrying a canvas bag, she slightly turned her gaze and added, pretending to complain, "Although I didn't see Yi Zhi, it was still worthwhile to complete another deal."
Her high heels slammed heavily on the floor tiles. She calmly waved her hand behind her back, bent down, and got into the car.
"Master Yi, you keep your word."
As the door closed, a few raindrops were carried by the wind into the corridor.
Yin Xiao took a half step back and accidentally bumped into the person behind her. The firm touch startled her, so she took two big steps forward. The familiar warmth of his chest swept over her shoulder, as if he were enveloping her in an invisible embrace.
He Sen suddenly turned around, glanced worriedly at the water stains spreading on the ground, and stuffed the long-handled umbrella in his hand into hers.
"Bye-bye, Xiaoshui, let's chat next time. Be careful not to get caught in the rain."
Yin Xiao's attention was still on what was behind her, and she didn't react for a moment. She stammered, "Okay, bye-bye, Miki."
As the rain intensified, the blue SUV quickly blended into the rain and disappeared from sight.
Yin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, unlocked the screen, and re-entered Didi.
"Yin Xiao, why did you pretend you couldn't see me just now?"
When the low, husky voice rang out, Yin Xiao was not surprised.
She looked up at Yi Zhiyan and explained casually, "That guy was my childhood friend. Our social circles overlap a lot, and I don't want him to know I'm married for now. If I tell him, I'll have to remind him not to tell anyone, and even avoid it in front of our mutual friends, which is too much trouble."
After she finished speaking, she looked up and waited for Yi Zhiyan's reply. But perhaps because of the heavy rain and fog, Yi Zhiyan's expression was particularly cold and hard, and his lips were very pale. In an instant, she could tell that he was hesitant to speak.
Yin Xiao blinked, forcing herself to stop paying attention to her marriage partner's emotions. She lowered her head, swiped her finger across the screen, and focused on choosing the route back to Qiyuan.
The screen suddenly went black. Yi Zhiyan unexpectedly covered the phone, spread his fingers, and firmly enveloped her hand as well.
Yin Xiao was still in shock, staring at the ring on his ring finger, a strange sense of incomprehension rising in her heart.
They didn't understand Yi Zhiyan's unusually domineering behavior, and they got too close to him without any sense of propriety.
"Let's go home together." Yi Zhiyan still didn't let go, his tone harsh and leaving no room for negotiation.
"OK."
Yin Xiao nodded to him, clearly catching the surprise in his eyes. At the same time, the tangled thread that had been bothering her for the past few days naturally untied itself.
—
Just before getting on the bus, the rain stopped. Yin Xiao shook her umbrella twice and tactfully handed it to Yi Zhiyan to put behind her.
As Yin Xiao opened the car door, a striking rose gold color suddenly appeared before her eyes.
She placed her right hand on the door, bent down, examined the square gift box on the seat, thought for a moment, then pulled it up by the handle and waved it at the driver's seat opposite her.
"Why didn't you put this gift box away properly? I almost sat on it without noticing."
As soon as Yi Zhiyan got into the car and turned on the heater, he placed his palm against the vent to adjust the temperature and explained without turning his head.
"Anyway, it's a gift for you, so take it."
Yin Xiao carried the box into the car, put her canvas bag on the back seat, and looked down to open the gift box, asking curiously.
Why are you suddenly giving me so many perfumes?
"It wasn't entirely unexpected. I heard you were browsing ads for these products on your phone last week, so I bought them."
He took off his thick suit jacket, casually tossed it to the back row, and turned to look at her. "I was going to give it to you after I got it on the day of the basketball game, but... I didn't find the opportunity because I had some urgent things to do, and also because..."
He paused for a second, raised his hand to lean on the back of her chair, his eyebrows twitched slightly, and he spoke softly.
You're avoiding me.
The soft words fell on her ear as Yin Xiao opened a bottle of orange floral and fruity perfume. The perfume bottle weighed heavily on her hand, and her heart sank.
“That day on the first floor of the school library, you saw me, turned around and walked away, and even pulled the person next to you away.” His tone was devoid of emotion, as if stating an objective fact, and he didn’t give her a chance to refute it. “You were avoiding me, weren’t you?”
Hearing him repeat it again, Yin Xiao looked up blankly, vaguely realizing that he was waiting for her to say something.
Yin Xiao placed her hands together on the box, fiddled with the creases and carvings on the top, and slowly opened her mouth.
Before he could finish speaking, the car's Bluetooth suddenly showed that it was connected, and Lu Wen's call popped up on the central control screen.
Yi Zhiyan leaned back, glanced at her, then stared at the flickering screen for a while without moving before answering the call.
"So? Has Ruan Zheng agreed not to interfere in Yi Zhi's affairs?"
Yi Zhiyan bent his knees, lazily propped his head up with his left hand, and tapped the frame of his glasses intermittently with his fingers.
"She agreed, but she wants to collaborate with us on another project."
"Did you agree?"
"Um."
Yin Xiao suddenly felt something was wrong. The conversation between the two seemed to involve company planning and contracts, which was probably not something she should be listening to.
Not wanting to know too many secrets, she quickly moved closer to the window, pretending not to hear, and quietly opened the perfume bottle in her hand, placing all six bottles on her lap.
Lu Wen's voice rose and fell in my ears. He didn't even pant before starting to talk about the details of the subsequent contract with Huandao. His words were full of calculations, thinking about how to make a profit from this unexpected cooperation.
Yin Xiao tried to avoid him several times, but after glancing at Yi Zhiyan's indifferent expression, she withdrew her hand.
Looking down, she idly picked up a bottle of perfume, untied the decorative pink and white ribbon, sprayed some on her left wrist, and raised her hand to sniff it.
The aroma is very faint, with a crisp top note and a hint of mellow tea flavor.
She frowned, put it down somewhat awkwardly, and rubbed her fingers hard against the inside of her wrist.
Suddenly, Yi Zhiyan, who had been silent beside her, looked over, reached out, picked up another bottle with a clear appearance, and handed it to her.
"Try this."
Just as Yin Xiao took the phone, the voice on the other end abruptly stopped. After a moment of silence, Lu Wen exclaimed in surprise.
"Damn! There's someone next to you? Are you crazy? What we were just talking about..."
Yi Zhiyan calmly interrupted, "It's nothing, it's my wife."
"You? You...you took your sister-in-law to see Ruan Zheng?" Lu Wen stammered, clearly still in shock.
"No, we ran into them." Yi Zhiyan pulled up his shirt cuffs and complained to him, "You have so many questions now, why didn't you ask them earlier? We agreed to go to Yizhi together to ambush them, but you ran away at the last minute. You're really something."
"Sigh, there's nothing I can do. My daughter is faking illness to avoid going to kindergarten. She won't say anything no matter what I ask, and I really can't leave. But I've already had Lao Qi pick her up. He's my daughter's favorite, so I'll let him coax her..."
Lu Wen's words were initially discouraging, but after a while he seemed to be full of energy again. Yin Xiao found it more and more interesting, so she sat up straighter and relaxed in her chair to listen to his rambling.
Yi Zhiyan glanced at her every now and then, but didn't say anything.
Yin Xiao completely relaxed, listening to Lu Wen's long-winded explanation while trying out each bottle of perfume.
Different scents wafted into her nose: spicy rose, clean soap, and a sweet scent similar to summer grape smoothie... Before long, both of her wrists were covered in a mixture of fragrances.
Yin Xiao picked up the last bottle of pale orange citrus scent, sprayed it on her wrist in one go, and looked down to smell it, but only smelled the strong rose scent from the previous bottle.
Disappointed, she lowered her hand, her gaze involuntarily shifting to the left. The car was dimly lit, and the shadows of the tall buildings outside the window obscured one side of Yi Zhiyan's figure.
After the rain, the sun pierced through the clouds, casting shadows between the two people, like a dividing line, adding a sense of distance and detachment.
Yi Zhiyan rolled up his shirt sleeves to his forearms, holding an empty candy box in his hand. His long, slender fingers exuded a somewhat aloof and unapproachable air. But upon reflection, she realized it had been a long time since she'd seen him chug five or six mints in one go; it was a touch of freshness in his demeanor.
Yin Xiao curled her lips into a smile, her mind almost crashing from the layers of perfume. Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed his right wrist, gently pulled it in front of her eyes, and sprayed it directly onto his wrist.
Bright sunlight shone on his forearm, tracing its smooth lines. Yin Xiao clenched her fingers and, as if possessed, moved closer.
Perhaps it was because of the excessive perfume, but the car was filled with a sweet fragrance, like a whole bottle of clear, sweet orange sparkling water.
Yi Zhiyan was momentarily stunned. He stared at the girl's fluffy bun, his breath catching in his throat. Her warm breath sprayed onto his wrist, making his pulse beat stronger.
He felt a ringing in his ears, but he didn't pull his hand back. He quietly let her manipulate his wrist, feeling her breaths coming and going.
"Hey! Yi Zhiyan, are you listening? Did you ask Ruan Zheng what her attitude is towards that trashy engagement?" The person on the other end of the phone suddenly stopped, and muttered under their breath, "Damn it, I forgot there were other people here. I didn't mean to! You... I won't disturb you and your sister-in-law. I'm hanging up. Goodbye."
After rambling on for over ten minutes, Lu Wen finally hung up the phone. But he did it so decisively, as if he were running away. Yin Xiao was amused, let go of Yi Zhiyan, glanced at the bottle of citrus scented liquor in her hand, and nodded in satisfaction.
"It smells good."
Yi Zhiyan regained his composure from the sudden silence and belatedly realized what Lu Wen had said. He took Yin Xiao's hand in his own, his gaze fixed on her calm face.
"Did you already know...?" He seemed flustered for some reason, his voice unsteady.
"Yizhi arranged my marriage?"
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Author's Note: A quick calculation suggests there will be a kissing scene in the next chapter! [Let me see!]
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