Chapter 17 Indulging Your Gentle and Soft Warmth
The evening breeze in Jingzhao was a bit chilly after autumn arrived. My sweater was drafty, and I lost all warmth after going outside. Xie Qingci took a hot bath.
When she came out of the shower, she saw the pajamas in the laundry basket. They were a very high-quality champagne gold, and even the underwear problem that had embarrassed her last time was solved.
The freshly washed clothes had a familiar laundry fragrance. She was now certain that the scent on Liang Jingzhuo was neither perfume nor wardrobe fragrance, but simply the smell of his usual laundry detergent.
Just now in the car, he asked her if she wanted to stay in Fushun Hutong. She remembered that when he booked his plane ticket that day, he specifically asked her about the time.
She figured it wouldn't be too late since it was her first time going to Hong Kong Island and to his house, so she chose the earliest bus of the day without considering the travel time.
Moreover, with the upcoming holiday, traffic conditions in Jingzhao will only worsen, not improve.
She hesitated for a moment, then finally replied, "Okay."
Uncle Zhong said cheerfully, "Okay!"
After sending them back to Fushun Hutong, he personally went to the Xie family's old house to retrieve her luggage.
The climate on Hong Kong Island is a bit hotter than in Beijing, so she didn't have much luggage, mostly just light shirts and dresses suitable for the weather.
After drying my hair, I glanced at the washbasin in front of me. The neatly arranged toiletries were all brand new, including unopened toothbrushes and a hair dryer still in its box... everything was perfectly prepared.
After drying her hair and leaving the bathroom, Xie Qingci finally felt the fatigue from accompanying the old lady shopping all day and went straight to the bedside to lie down.
The soft bed smelled of fresh cleaning agents, and she now even wondered if the room had been newly renovated.
When I first came in, even the floor looked brand new, as did the lighting fixtures and cabinets.
Of course, she is a new person to this place as well.
Realizing this, she couldn't help but laugh, suddenly feeling a sense of kinship with the newly acquired items.
She picked up her phone and watched a movie to pass the time. Uncle Zhong hadn't brought her luggage yet; her skincare products were all in her suitcase, and she needed to finish her skincare routine before going to sleep.
Just as her eyelids were getting heavier and she was about to give up on her skincare obsession and decide to go straight to sleep, there was a knock on the door.
A soft but clear knocking sound reached my ears, and my drowsy state vanished instantly.
She suddenly opened her eyes, almost hitting her face with her phone. After gripping it again, she got out of bed, said, "Coming," and ran to open the door.
"Thank you for your help..."
Before he could finish speaking, the door opened, and the person standing in front of it came into full view.
Uncle Zhong had just returned with his luggage when he called Liang Jingzhuo and asked him to bring Xie Qingci's luggage over.
He was in an impromptu online meeting at the time. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Where's Aunt Wen?"
Uncle Zhong replied, "I'm asleep."
Are you asleep?
He glanced at the time. What time was it?
Seeing through Uncle Zhong's little scheme, he helplessly pinched the bridge of his nose: "Could you come up with a more tactful reason?"
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line, then a weak voice came through: "You figured it out?"
He replied, "Otherwise what?"
Is he stupid?
Uncle Zhong coughed twice, sounding slightly embarrassed, on the other end of the phone: "Wasn't it because you and Miss Qingci are still so unfamiliar with each other that I was trying to help you two get to know each other better?"
Tomorrow I'm going to Hong Kong Island, and the day after tomorrow I'm getting my marriage notarized. We're a married couple, yet we're still so distant.
He raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. "Should I thank you?"
Uncle Zhong chuckled twice: "No need then. So tell me, are you going to deliver it or not? I just heard Miss Ci say that she was waiting for something in her luggage."
He glanced at the ongoing meeting on the computer screen and then silenced his side.
He sent a message to Lu Li, asking him to listen for him, and then exited the meeting, saying, "Okay, I'm going now."
...
Xie Qingci thought the person who came was Uncle Zhong or Aunt Wen, but she didn't expect it to be Liang Jingzhuo.
She stopped mid-sentence.
He was still wearing a shirt, trousers, and a waistcoat, with his burgundy tie neatly tied under his collar.
Seeing that she had opened the door, he turned his head to look over, his gaze lingering on her pajamas for a second before looking at her, "Your luggage."
As she spoke, she pushed the suitcase beside her forward, then handed over a glass of milk she was holding in her right hand, saying, "There's more milk."
Xie Qingci didn't have the habit of drinking milk before bed, but she still reached out and took the suitcase, holding onto the handle, and said, "Thank you."
Liang Jingzhuo glanced at her face, which had already washed off her makeup, and heard the lines coming from the phone in her hand.
Looking down, I saw she was watching a movie. "There's a projector in the room. Don't watch it on your phone; it'll hurt your eyes."
Xie Qingci moved her lips. She was just trying to kill some time, and she didn't usually watch videos on her phone.
But I feel like there's no need to explain so much.
In the end, he simply replied, "Okay."
Just when she thought the chat was over, the person at the door showed no sign of leaving and asked her, "Do you know how to use it?"
She asked, "What?"
"Projector."
"Hmm..." She had indeed never handled these things before. "I don't know how, but..."
She was getting ready for bed.
Before he could finish speaking, he was "enthusiastically" interrupted, "I'll help you."
Um?
What?
She and Liang Jingzhuo exchanged a silent glance for a moment, but in the end, she didn't refuse the kindness and stepped aside to let them pass. "Um... okay, thank you."
As Liang Jingzhuo stepped into the room, he paused for a moment, as if pondering something. Three seconds later, he stepped inside again.
Xie Qingci pushed her suitcase in and followed her inside.
The projector was in the living room, but perhaps considering that there was no need to receive guests in this living room, it was converted into a leisure space.
The projector is mounted above the tatami mat by the window, and the light beige furniture creates a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Actually, what Uncle Zhong said wasn't entirely accurate.
This space has actually been converted into a children's room.
Grandma Zhuang personally took care of it.
After sending Xie Qingci back that day, Old Madam Zhuang came over the next day and inspected the entire courtyard from front to back and from top to bottom, as if she were conducting an inspection.
In his final speech, he said to Liang Jingzhuo, "There's still one less room for a baby. When you and Xiao Ci have a baby, there won't be enough room."
Liang Jingzhuo paused for a moment before replying, "I haven't considered that yet."
They've only met a few times, and getting married so quickly is already unusual; talking about having children now is way too early.
Not to mention that Xie Qingci is still studying, whether she has the desire to have children is another matter.
Creating a life together requires respecting the ideas of both parties.
The old lady didn't seem to care about the timeframe, and casually remarked, "What if it happens in the future?"
The old lady may be old, but she's young at heart. She knows that many young people are choosing not to have children these days, so she doesn't force them. She just wants to make sure the house is nice and beautiful, thinking that maybe she'll want one later.
So they got right to work and hired a team that very day to tidy up the house.
Originally, the home furnishings were supposed to be childlike and playful, but Liang Jingzhuo stopped them with a single sentence: "If you do it this way, I'll just stay in hotels from now on, and I'll sell this yard."
In the end, it was decorated in a normal style, just a bit cozier than his usual master bedroom.
Uncle Zhong knew, but he was probably worried that Xie Qingci would be frightened, so he changed his words to "guest room".
Fortunately, it doesn't look obvious and won't arouse suspicion.
Hsieh Ching-Tzu was watching "About Time," a film she had seen several times before, which she would rewatch whenever she was bored.
Liang Jingzhuo helped her adjust the projector, and after confirming that the picture and sound were both fine, he handed her the remote control. "All done."
Xie Qingci took the remote control, glanced at the film still playing on the white wall in front of her, and asked, "Want to watch it together?"
He offered to help, and she politely invited him to join, so it was a fair exchange. She felt he should refuse; she didn't think he would want to watch this kind of sentimental film.
Unexpectedly, Liang Jingzhuo looked at her and replied, "Okay."
Um?
Why not do things differently?
Unexpectedly, the first movie they watched together was under these circumstances.
Hsieh Ching-Tzu felt that neither sitting at the table nor sitting on the tatami was a good choice.
The atmosphere between them was strange; sitting on chairs, they resembled members of the public observing a court hearing, while sitting on tatami mats was even more peculiar—sitting upright, yet in a relaxed and casual area.
So she took a blanket and placed it on the floor in front of the tatami mat. She decided to sit there herself and then let him—
"Please sit down."
It would be better to separate; it wouldn't be so awkward.
Liang Jingzhuo glanced at the blanket spread out beside her, paused for a moment, then walked over and sat down next to her. "It's the same for me to sit here."
The blanket was spread out, and the space was quite large, but for some reason, he felt that the space narrowed as soon as he sat down.
Xie Qingci straightened her back against the tatami mat behind her, her whole body tensing up for a moment.
She had been feeling sleepy, and the first half of the movie had already finished. Holding the remote, she asked him, "Have you seen this movie?"
Liang Jingzhuo glanced at the main character projected on the wall and replied, "No."
"Shall we start from the beginning?"
"good."
Xie Qingci pulled the progress bar back to the beginning and started playing again.
She had watched it many times and could recite many of the classic lines, so she wasn't really paying attention to it. She didn't know if Liang Jingzhuo had absorbed it, but he remained very quiet the whole time.
Liang Jingzhuo rarely watches movies, and he mostly watches drama-based American TV series. He has never watched this kind of emotional film before, but he watches it quite attentively.
When the video played a scene of intimacy between the male and female leads, with their scattered clothes and disheveled bedding, he suddenly froze.
As I was considering whether to pretend nothing was wrong and continue reading, or to look away, a head suddenly and slowly pressed down on my shoulder.
My already stiff back stiffened even more instantly, as a faint, elegant fragrance wafted over and entered my nostrils.
He paused for a moment, then turned to look over.
The only light in the reception room was the changing light from the projector playing a movie, with vibrant colors dappling the shoulders and faces of the people.
Long eyelashes drooped, covering the area above the lower eyelids; breathing was steady—she was asleep.
They weren't very close; her tilted head could only rest slightly on his shoulder, and she would fall off if she swayed even slightly.
He slowly shifted his position, trying to make her more secure, but since she was already asleep, there was nothing for her to lean on, and she was about to fall down the moment he moved her the first time.
He reacted quickly, reaching out to support her chin.
His thumb accidentally brushed against her lips, feeling their soft warmth.
He was suddenly stunned, turned his head to look, and then his gaze paused again. Because of her leaning posture, her already loose nightgown was folded up, and a corner of her fair and flawless skin under the neckline came into view, with her beautiful curves winding downwards.
His gaze seemed to be scorched, and he immediately turned his head away.
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Author's Note: Because of the time limit on Sunday, there will be no update on Saturday night. The next update will be at 11 PM on Sunday night, which will also be a double update! After the time limit is lifted, there will be more extra updates, and the update frequency will basically stabilize at two updates per day.
The next chapter will be a super intimate one! [doge emoji]
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