Chapter 57. [First Update] "It's nothing, just a mosquito bite..."
Perhaps it was because the temperature was low in the early morning, but Wen Xue could clearly feel a chill spreading rapidly from the back of her neck to her limbs.
Before she could think further, He Yan had already walked up to her, only a step away.
He reached out to help her up, but perhaps seeing that she was alright, he hesitated for a few seconds before casually withdrawing his hand. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"No..." Wen Xue gripped the bottle nervously, barely managing to look up at He Yan. The moment their eyes met, she noticed bloodshot eyes and frowned, asking, "Did you stay up all night? Why are you sleeping in the living room?"
He Yan took a half step back, not answering the question directly. He lowered his eyes, took the bottle of water from her hand, and tried to unscrew the cap, but it opened easily without much effort.
Wen Xue's eyelashes trembled slightly.
She opened her mouth, wanting to tell him that the bottle of water had already been opened, but the words that came out were, "I opened it."
Who opened it?
The man didn't drink a drop and tightened the lid; was something preventing him from doing so?
"Hmm." He Yan handed the water back to her. "Does your head still hurt?"
"A little," she asked cautiously. "Did I drink a lot yesterday?"
In fact, she really couldn't remember how many drinks she had.
All she remembered was Li Jingru saying that when He Yan had so much money he didn't know what to do with it, she would encourage him to invest in opening a bar. She was amused and kept tasting the drinks Li Jingru made. Later, the atmosphere got more and more lively, and the group even played games, with the loser having to drink.
"Don't you know how much you drank?" he asked in a strange tone.
"Sister Zhou and the others said I was drunk." She didn't drink any water, but tightened the bottle cap again. "I don't remember much, my brain is like mush."
He Yan's eyes flickered slightly.
He had considered that she might have lingering memories of what happened after she woke up, which could be troublesome. But it didn't matter; he would make it insignificant. Who would bother with a drunkard?
He should have breathed a sigh of relief when she confessed that she had no recollection of what happened last night, but a nameless anger rose within him, making his tone involuntarily harsh: "Don't drink anymore, don't even touch it again, you hear me?"
Wen Xue was already feeling uneasy, and then he inexplicably yelled at her first thing in the morning. She was stunned for a moment, and then argued softly, "You agreed yesterday, and besides, didn't you say before that I could drink if you were there..."
He Yan laughed angrily: "Didn't you hear me telling you to drink less yesterday?"
He was trying hard to suppress his anger, and he looked serious and fierce.
Wen Xue's head was still throbbing, and a feeling of grievance welled up inside her, causing her to blurt out, "I've told you to drink less before, and you still..." Facing his cold, hard face, she unconsciously lowered her voice, "but you didn't listen."
He Yan barely slept all night.
He was worried that she would feel uncomfortable in the middle of the night, and he was also worried that she would remember that kiss. Until dawn, he was still tossing and turning on the sofa, with a sharp buzzing in his ears. He stared at her, but she had already lowered her head, and his gaze could only fall on the top of her head.
An image inappropriately flashed before my eyes.
He could almost still feel the touch of her soft hair on his right hand.
He Yan didn't want to look anymore, so he looked away and noticed her feet on the floor. He said slowly, "Why aren't you wearing shoes?"
Wen Xue whispered, "I'm afraid of waking you up."
After saying that, she was about to walk towards the stairs to put on her shoes when a figure was faster than her. He picked up the slippers on the steps, returned to her, bent down and placed the slippers beside her feet. "Put them on."
Wen Xue smiled, pursing her lips.
This seems to be He Yan's way of taking the initiative to "apologize".
She slipped into her slippers, her gaze softening considerably. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have drunk so much yesterday. I know you drove out to buy me medicine."
She seemed unaware of how intensely her breath was felt by He Yan after such a passionate kiss; his back felt as if it were being pricked by a needle soaked in honey.
"I'm going back to my room to sleep."
He could only leave those words behind, feeling utterly embarrassed, but he still had to pretend to be calm and composed as he went upstairs.
After watching his figure disappear into the stairwell, Wen Xue looked around, sat down in front of the sofa where he had been lying, stared at the bottle of water, and then slowly raised her hand to touch the back of her neck, lost in thought.
Third floor.
He Yan and Wu Yuejiang shared a room.
Wu Yuejiang was fast asleep when he was jolted awake by the person tossing and turning next to him. He opened his eyes impatiently and cursed, "Are you making pancakes?"
He Yan ignored him, like a caged beast. Lying on his side felt wrong, and lying flat felt even worse. Wu Yuejiang's cursing was making him even more annoyed. He simply got up and sat on the edge of the bed to calm his rapid breathing.
"Give me a cigarette," he said sullenly.
Wu Yuejiang was completely woken up by him and could no longer fall back asleep. He kicked off the blanket, grabbed a cigarette pack and lighter from the bedside table, and threw them at him, yelling, "Get out of here! What's wrong with you so early in the morning?!"
After saying that, he slipped on his slippers, opened the door, and went to the bathroom.
He Yan was left alone in the room. Frustrated, he knocked a cigarette out of the pack. As he brought the cigarette butt to his lips, his fingers touched his dry lips. He paused, feeling even more annoyed, and threw the cigarette and pack into the trash can.
He admitted it.
He lay back, staring intently at the ceiling.
-
After dinner, Wenxue and Nana went out to buy iced drinks, just like the previous two days. The sun wasn't as strong today, so the two of them went to the milk tea shop under one umbrella and ordered about ten drinks, keeping the staff busy for quite a while.
Nana then pulled Wenxue to sit in the store and shared the photos she had taken the day before.
As she scrolled through the photos, a dark picture appeared on her phone screen. Wen Xue was stunned. Even though the photo was dark and somewhat blurry, she recognized the figure facing the sea at a glance.
It is He Yan.
Nana was about to turn over when she was stopped and asked softly, "What is this?"
"Oh, oh..." Nana zoomed in on the picture, slapped her forehead, and remembered, "It was last night, right? Wan Nian said he'd take me to sober up, so we went for a walk on the beach. It was so late, and we ran into Brother Yan, but we didn't say hello..."
They had all walked a few steps in opposite directions when, on a whim, she took out her phone and snapped a picture.
He even asked Wan Nian with a grin, "Isn't this picture of Brother Yan amazing? It could practically be on the cover of a melancholy men's magazine."
Wen Xue lightly touched the screen.
The phone screen showed the time the photo was taken: 11:20 PM.
After getting the iced drinks, Wen Xue followed Nana towards the villa, her mind heavy with thoughts. Remembering something, she asked, "Did he come when you left yesterday?"
Nana knew who the "he" she was referring to was, and shook her head. "No way, when Wan Nian took me away, I remember only Sister Jing and Sister Cai were there. What's wrong? Did Brother Yan scold you?"
Wen Xue nodded with a wry smile.
She continued to chat and laugh with Nana, but her heart was sinking. Sister Zhou told her that He Yan had rushed to buy her medicine yesterday and entrusted her, who was drunk, to take back to the villa.
No, that's not right at all.
If he was really in a hurry to buy medicine, why didn't he ask Sister Cai for help, instead of asking Sister Zhou, whom he met on the way back to the villa?
"Wenxue, what's wrong?" When Nana reached the entrance of the villa's courtyard, she noticed that Wenxue was standing still and turned around to ask.
Wen Xue seemed not to hear, her wandering gaze shifting from one villa to another, a short walk away. She didn't believe He Yan couldn't even wait a few minutes; knowing him as she did, she was certain he would only go to buy the medicine after taking her to the villa.
What exactly happened last night?
…
After the group had eaten and drunk their fill, they went to the beach in twos and threes to play some activities. Wen Xue forced herself to cheer up, but her thoughts kept drifting back to the previous night. She wasn't one to dwell on things, but her unease prevented her from settling down.
Nana accidentally squeezed too much sunscreen into her palm. Afraid of wasting it, she ran behind Wenxue to reapply sunscreen for her.
Suddenly she exclaimed, "Hey, Wenxue, what happened to your neck? Did you get bitten by a mosquito?"
Those nearby were drawn to her voice and all looked at Wen Xue's slender neck. They saw several scratches on the porcelain-white skin from behind her ears to the back of her neck. The color was not dark, but because of her fair skin, they were quite noticeable.
He Yan was standing not far away. Hearing the commotion, he thought something had happened and walked over without thinking.
Sister Zhou stared at Wen Xue's neck for a while, then involuntarily looked at him, surprised and shocked.
"What's wrong?" He asked in a deep voice, unaware of Sister Zhou's gaze.
Wen Xue raised her hand to cover her neck, pursed her lips, and forced a smile, "It's nothing, just a mosquito bite."
She couldn't really say that these were marks she made in her confusion after he went back to his room that morning. She wasn't sure if the temperature and feel of the touch were just her imagination, wondering if she had pressed or squeezed the area hard yesterday when she had a headache and felt unwell.
No matter how she tried, she felt something was wrong.
In my haste, I scratched it a few times, leaving marks.
“Let me see,” he said.
Sister Zhou's lips trembled, and she could only hurriedly unscrew the bottle cap and drink the water.
Wen Xue met his serious gaze, and although she felt very uncomfortable, she slowly lowered her hand. He Yan moved closer, wanting to see clearly whether it was a mosquito bite or an insect bite. The former would be fine, but he was afraid it was the latter.
He reached out to touch it, so focused that he didn't notice Wen Xue, who had her back to him, suddenly raise her eyes in surprise.
"It should be fine." He Yan stopped, "But be careful, and if you feel unwell, say so immediately, don't hold it in."
Wen Xue's mind went completely blank.
"Did you hear that?" His deep voice brushed past her ear.
She didn't dare turn around and meet his gaze, only nodding slightly. Fortunately, they were at the seaside, where the waves were enough to completely drown out her violent heartbeat.
They rented jet skis, and Wu Yuejiang and Wannian took turns taking them for rides on the sea. He Yan didn't intend to join in their fun. He stood under a beach umbrella, aimlessly scanning the area before fixing his gaze on Wen Xue, who was bending down to put on her life jacket.
"This is so much fun!"
Li Jingru was soaked, her hair wet. She let go of Wu Yuejiang's waist, helped him off the jet ski, stepped into the water, and shouted to the dazed Wen Xue, "Little sister, it's your turn! Hurry up, it's super fun!"
Wen Xue hurriedly responded and walked straight ahead, stunned, as the seawater washed over her ankles.
Just as they were about to reach the motorboat, He Yan's voice came from behind. He called out to Wu Yuejiang, "Old Wu, you should get off and rest."
Wu Yuejiang casually wiped the seawater off his face. "What?"
He Yan's patience ran out. He pointed a finger, his brows furrowed, and said, "Get down here."
"My little sister hasn't played yet!"
Wen Xue was in a state of utter confusion and said urgently, "Then I—"
I'm not playing anymore.
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted: "I'll take her."
Wu Yuejiang really wanted to give the middle finger, "..."
Nevertheless, he got off the motorboat. There was no other reason than he suspected that if he kept babbling, He Yan would dare to deal with him.
A few minutes later, Wen Xue got on the jet ski. She moved back as far as she could to avoid touching him. He Yan steered from the front, twisted the handlebars a few times, and with a roar, the jet ski shot off like an arrow. His body was faster than his mind. Wen Xue screamed in fright, closed her eyes, and didn't care about anything else. Only her life mattered.
In her haste, she clung tightly to his waist.
As his adrenaline surged and he broke through the waves, He Yan glanced down at the hands around his waist.
In that instant, a flood of images rushed into Wen Xue's blank mind. She opened her eyes in disbelief, seawater wetting her eyelashes, the sea breeze whistling in her ears, and she looked at his profile with her eyes wet.
As the speedboat slowed down, Wen Xue felt dizzy and her legs went weak, about to fall into the water, when a strong arm caught her.
He Yan turned his head and saw her stunned expression, looking terrified. He couldn't help but laugh: "Scared silly?"
Wen Xue shifted her gaze slightly, looked at him, and lowered her eyes. "Yeah, you're dumbfounded."
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