The sky and water blend into one color
Xi Yuan reached out and grabbed the hand that was hanging in the air and mostly covered by the knitted sweater.
A breeze carrying the scent of plum wine wafted towards us.
At that moment, Chu Yiqi smelled a snowfall.
Chu Yiqi said, "Your hands are so cold."
"It's clearly your own low-grade fever." Xi Yuan lazily raised her eyes, a flash of pink passing through her vision before she met a pair of bright and clear eyes.
Chu Yiqi didn't react much. He slowly withdrew his hand and touched his forehead for a while, but it was unclear whether he actually touched it.
His voice was muffled, and he only managed to say one "Oh".
Xi Yuan sighed silently, caught a maple leaf, and handed it to Chu Yiqi: "You're welcome."
"No." Chu Yiqi paused, then added, "This part of yours is so ugly."
It's quite amusing to see Chu Yiqi so sick and disoriented.
My reaction was a beat slow; even when I refused, I would belatedly add an explanation, only to find that I had already accepted it.
"Littering is not civilized at all." Xi Yuan looked at Chu Yiqi, her gaze then falling on the tattoo on Chu Yiqi's wrist, her voice soft.
Chu Yiqi twirled the leaf veins for a while, then turned around and placed the leaf in the storage box in the car. When she returned, she simply pulled down the hood of her cardigan and fell silent.
There were actually some common medicines on the bus, but Chu Yiqi was sometimes exceptionally stubborn. For a common cold, he would absolutely not take any medicine for the first two days and would always wait until the third day.
Some say she has a whole bunch of fallacies, and after those fallacies comes a counterattack.
After each time he finishes explaining his own set of fallacies, such as "If you start suppressing an illness as soon as it occurs, what if it rebounds and becomes even worse one day?", he will start bringing up old grievances.
—Xi Yuan will not take medicine unless it affects her work. Even if she has to take medicine or have an IV drip, she will take her laptop and stay in a private hospital.
Every time they came here, Xi Yuan would inexplicably find herself in the wrong. However, since Xi Yuan would never change, after several arguments that ended with a kiss, they each backed down and stopped arguing.
But being drugged without warning is a different story.
So Xi Yuan had already taken some medicine and put it in her handbag.
It's not expected to get much colder in early September, but there just happened to be a wind today, and coincidentally, Baishui Mansion is nestled against the mountainside.
In order to cater to the common ailments of the upper class, they valued privacy and almost blended into the surrounding nature, surrounded by the scent of grass and trees, and the natural rustling of mountain breezes.
It's like some kind of strange biological clock mutation; every autumn, shortly after the start of the season, Xi Yuan and Chu Yiqi begin their annual cold relay race.
For a moment, Xi Yuan felt like she was about to get sick too, but considering how dramatic her cold had been last time Chu Yiqi was around, Xi Yuan shook her head and tried to pray that she wouldn't take on this second baton.
Even though she didn't turn around and didn't show any expression, Chu Yiqi seemed to know what Xi Yuan was thinking. She chuckled and teased, "Even if you catch a cold this year, you still won't get any rooster eggs."
"..." Xi Yuan reached out to pull down Chu Yiqi's hat as a small act of retaliation, but then stopped, and finally just poked Chu Yiqi's shoulder, "Still bringing up old grievances!"
"What? A mutated egg? I want to hear it too!" Nie Chuiying had just finished whispering with Shi Yunshan when she heard this. Her love of watching the fun was exposed. She completely ignored Shi Yunshan's hand that was trying to cover her mouth, and used both hands to pull Shi Yunshan's hand down. In this half-hugging position, she gently squeezed Shi Yunshan's fingers.
Shi Yunshan's attempts to stop her failed. She met Xi Yuan's slightly resentful gaze without any apology, gave a perfunctory smile as if she had no choice, then moved her wrist, took Nie Chuiying's hand in her palm, and began to study the sleep data of Nie Chuiying's bracelet.
—The main reason is that Miss Shi had a trip to another city yesterday, so she secretly stayed up late, which also made her suspicious of Nie Chuiying's sleep.
Nie Chuiying sat upright and didn't seem to care at all. Instead, she took the initiative and said, "Miss Shi, where's your bracelet?"
Shi Yunshan immediately made up a story: "The power went out yesterday."
Given that Yunshan had turned a blind eye when Nie Chuiying secretly stayed up all night last time, she decided to be lenient and generously reward herself for taking over Yunshan's blanket today.
Nie Chuiying missed hearing about the major groundbreaking breakthrough in biology because of Shi Yunshan's interruption, but all her attention had been drawn to Shi Yunshan.
Chu Yiqi smiled, her eyes shining, as if stars were falling in her smile.
Xi Ai followed behind, stepping on her shadow as she called out, "Teacher Chu."
Just like that morning, Xi Ai sat up groggily, took her temperature—it was normal, but she was still a little dizzy, so she rubbed her head and went to find Chu Yiqi, calling out to him in a drawn-out tone as she walked.
"Teacher Chu, Teacher Chu—"
Chu Yiqi didn't even bother to answer. He tilted his head and asked, "Teacher Xi, would you like a rooster's egg or a hen's egg?"
Chu Yiqi was only able to spout such nonsense because Xi Ai was currently confused and obedient. But Xi Ai didn't pay attention and randomly chose one: "A rooster egg, I guess."
Chu Yiqi suppressed a laugh, her voice trembling slightly as she replied, "But there aren't any left at home."
Xi Ai remained silent for a long time, swallowing back the words "Then why did you ask me?" that were on the tip of her tongue, before suddenly realizing what she had said.
Then Miss Xi said through gritted teeth, "I won't eat eggs that aren't rooster eggs."
Chu Yiqi smiled and accepted the invisible knife from Teacher Xi.
Xi Ai was no different from usual when she was sick, and was even more well-behaved. She quietly finished her noodles, put down her chopsticks, and then stood up to clean up.
Chu Yiqi stopped her, pointing to the waist on the table and the water that hadn't boiled yet, indicating that Xi Ai should hurry up and take her medicine, and then casually teased, "Is there any difference between this and a female egg?"
Xi Ai looked at Chu Yiqi and said quietly, "I don't know. Don't we have any at home?"
Strange mornings, strange conversations, and strange rumors.
After taking her medicine, Xi Ai went to choose a peach-flavored toothpaste to brush her teeth. As soon as she returned to the sofa, she saw Chu Yiqi holding a laptop, his fingertips swiping across the screen, showing several identical photos.
Xi Ai felt a chill run down her spine. While tying her tie, she leaned closer to look, a hint of disbelief on her delicate face. Chu Yiqi didn't speak, but simply tilted the laptop slightly towards Xi Ai and took the tie from her hands.
It was a tie with silver thread, which looked very familiar to Chu Yiqi because it was a gift she had given to Xi Ai some time ago.
Xi Ai swiped the screen a few times to confirm: this was the banquet she and Mu Ru attended yesterday.
Mu had to go because of work, while Xi Ai had promised the old man she had to attend a social event. Neither of them wanted to get involved with others, so they went in together and then slipped out together.
When I saw Shi Yunshan back then, I laughed and joked, "What a great combination, there won't be any rumors and it's impossible."
These people get along well in private, so they don't mind anything. Everyone knows Xi Ai and Mu Jin's orientation.
Xi Ai had already made arrangements with Chu Yiqi from the beginning, so there was no need for further explanation; the only thing to consider was how to clarify the situation to the outside world.
"I said, Teacher Xi..." Chu Yiqi was also a little amused and said, "You didn't expect this, did you? It avoided random people and sensationalist gossip."
Xi Ai glanced at Chu Yiqi and said, "I should thank them for not saying that we have some other kind of relationship, right?"
For example, bringing investment into the industry.
Chu Yiqi fell silent, finding it unusual that she felt Xi Ai's decision to reveal her background from the beginning was a wise one. She asked Xi Ai, "So, what are your plans?"
Xi Ai replied without hesitation: "Anyway, we have to clarify this."
Chu Yiqi nodded, not paying much attention, but simply kissed Xi Ai on his own initiative.
Xi Ai was probably still not fully awake from the feverish haze, so she reacted very slowly, and it took her a while to realize what was happening before she tried to kiss Chu's cheek.
Chu Yiqi said, "Go quickly and come back soon."
Xi Ai immediately laughed, stood up and rolled up her sleeves twice, and saw Chu Yiqi glancing at her several times while composing music.
Xi Ai achieved her daily charm achievement and happily went out, only to receive a voice message from Mu Jinran.
"The PR issue is resolved. I said I'd like Yunshan to give me some money from time to time, since I still need to handle the PR for her brother's engagement party."
"It's not surprising that the media is at the scene of someone's engagement. I completely forgot that people would take pictures of me these days."
"Why don't you give me some money too?"
Xi Ai's face fell: "Whose company am I affiliated with? I didn't get involved in your several confrontations with Mu Zhongshi? You're quite the expert at kicking someone when they've served their purpose."
Mu sent an "sorry" emoji, followed by a cat emoji and a "thank you" emoji.
Chu Yiqi exited the chat, opened the pinned chat box, and joined Chu Yiqi in criticizing Mu Jin's evil practice of exploiting employees.
Chu Yiqi hugged the little butterfly pillow, smiled and echoed Xi Ai, then encouraged Xi Ai to take this opportunity to get her Weibo account back.
Xi Ai suddenly realized what was going on and seized the opportunity to ask Sister Luo for her account number.
Luo Jie rejected him.
Xi Ai: "..."
Chu Yiqi quickly sent a voice message to comfort her: "Oh, it's okay, you still have an alternate account, and you haven't logged into my account much, have you?"
Xi Ai smiled, ignoring the barely concealed gloating in Chu Yiqi's voice message at the beginning, and said, "Okay, thank you for your generosity, Teacher Chu. I have to go to a short meeting, we'll talk later."
...
Chu Yiqi's smile froze on his lips, then slowly faded. When he looked up at Xi Ai again, he appeared perfectly normal.
Although it was only a brief silence, Xi Ai felt like she had missed something.
However, the anticipated problem has already arisen.
A question and answer exchange spread like wildfire.
"How did you decide to get this tattoo?"
The exact same question. That year, Xi Yuan said she got the tattoo because she liked it.
At this moment, Chu Yiqi looked at the gradually changing pink color on the inside of his wrist and simply said, "Money can't buy my happiness."
I can't explain why, but I just have a particular fondness for Phalaenopsis orchids.
Perhaps it was simply because, on a whim, she added a few orchids to a bouquet of roses she sent out by the sea. And coincidentally, those orchids were the last to wither.
It's also possible that when the summer breeze blew across the rooftop and lifted her hair, Chu Yiqi saw several orchids adorning the butterfly wings in the candlelight. The cream pressed out petals, like the sky and water merging into one after a night rain.
Xi Yuan didn't hesitate much. She lifted a beaded curtain and asked, "Are you planning to wear this hat all the time?"
The pavilion had a stove lit early on, and the curtains had been drawn, so it was quite warm.
Chu Yiqi then put down his hat and straightened his clothes.
“Xi Ai”.
Upon hearing this, Xi Ai withdrew her gaze, which had been seemingly lingering on Chu Yiqi, and looked at Qin Siyao: "Hmm."
"There are scenes tomorrow morning too, are we still going to eat?" Qin Siyao's voice was very soft, and Xi Ai had to use lip reading to understand her.
With Chu Yiqi between Qin Siyao and Xi Ai, Xi Ai beckoned to Qin Siyao and waited for her to come closer before answering.
"You have a chance to coax me now, otherwise I'll report your schedule to so-and-so."
Xi Ai glared at Qin Siyao, then felt Chu Yiqi bump her with his knee on her left side.
Xi Ai smiled but didn't say anything. She simply picked up her phone from the table and typed for a full minute. Chu Yiqi just ate and waited quietly, picking out a piece of sweet and sour pork for Xi Ai.
Xi Ai put down her phone, and Chu Yiqi picked it up to look at it.
[It's probably two mute people who can't speak, staging a passionate and agonizing love story, a battle of wits and strength.]
Chu Yiqi lowered his voice: "And then what happened?"
"Isn't that detailed enough?" Xi Ai deliberately whetted people's appetites, and slowly began to eat.
Chu Yiqi immediately poked Xi Ai's side a few times, and was then grabbed by the hand with a smile.
"Want to know? Let's exchange information."
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