Chapter 49 Morning Light and Roses
Before the morning mist in Bangkok covered the fence of the manor, Ruan Xingchen was already standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. The sunlight passed through the misty gauze curtains, weaving tiny golden spots at her feet.
She pushed open the window, and the hot and humid wind brought in the sweet fragrance of flowers, which lifted the hem of her silk nightgown and swayed gently. The door to the inner room was ajar, and she could vaguely see the corner of the curtain hanging at the end of the bed.
"Madam, your Darjeeling." Marlene came in carrying a gilded tray. Two slices of lemon were floating in the amber ripples of the tea, and a small plate of almond biscuits next to it was still warm - they were baked by Ruan Xingchen himself.
Ruan Xingchen touched the wall of the glass with his fingertips, and Wen Liang just said: "How are the roses in the garden?"
"The white roses are in full bloom. I asked Vichai to cut some and put them in the study." Malin glanced out the window. "That red rose bush to the east has a lot of them knocked down by the night rain. Do you want to…"
"Cut them all off." Ruan Xingchen took a sip from his teacup, his lips curved slightly, "Replace them with lily of the valley."
Marlene was stunned: "But that was something that Mr. brought from Provence last year..."
"I know." Ruan Xingchen took a sip of tea, the morning light reflected in his eyes, as bright as glass immersed in water, "So he will like lily of the valley."
Marlene suddenly smiled, her eyes wrinkled. "I'll arrange it right away."
The footsteps faded away, and Ruan Xingchen walked to the dressing table. The woman in the mirror was wearing a light blue nightgown, and a small family crest hung on a silver chain around her collarbone—Mo Xiaohan had personally fastened it on her last night.
As the wooden comb passed through her long hair, a figure leaning against the door frame suddenly appeared in the mirror, like a wet oil painting.
Mo Xiaohan was wearing a black nightgown with the collar open, revealing a shallow scar on his collarbone. He was holding a velvet box, but his eyes were glued to her hand as she was combing her hair.
"Good morning." She didn't look back and slowly gathered the ends of her hair.
"You're going to replace my roses." He came over, put the box on the dressing table, took the comb and combed her hair. His movements were so gentle as if he was afraid of breaking anything. The static electricity generated by the comb teeth made a few strands of hair stick to the back of his hand.
"Don't you like lily of the valley?" She looked at him in the mirror.
He leaned over, his lips brushing the tip of her ear, his breath warm and hot: "I only like what you grow. Even if it's a weed, it's more precious than rose gold in my eyes."
The velvet box popped open, revealing the pearl earrings inside, which shone with a soft iridescent glow. When he put them on her, his fingertips lingered on her earlobes for a moment longer, and the pearls swayed like two drops of frozen moonlight.
Ruan Xingchen turned around, and just as her fingertips were about to touch his collar, the phone on the bedside table in the inner room suddenly vibrated. Mo Xiaohan picked up the phone and listened for a few words, his brows slightly furrowed.
After hanging up the phone, he held her hand, caressing the skin of her wrist with his fingertips. "Today's treatment... I can't accompany you. I have to go to Laos for a high-level meeting. I can't postpone it because of military matters."
He looked at her, his tone apologetic. "Professor Klein will take you directly to the treatment room when he arrives. I will return as soon as the meeting is over."
Ruan Xingchen looked up at him, a subtle hint of disappointment flashing across her eyes, but she quickly hid it. "That's perfect. When Professor Klein comes, let me try to entertain her, right?"
"Entertainment?" He raised his eyebrows, a smile in his eyes.
Ruan Xingchen turned around and straightened the wrinkles of his nightgown. Her fingertips traced the buttons with a soft, tentative touch. "I don't want to be like before, thinking about treatment and evaluation as soon as we meet..." She looked up at him, her eyelashes as if stained by the morning light. "I want to invite her for a cup of tea, just like I would treat a friend."
"As the hostess?"
"Um."
Mo Xiaohan chuckled softly, suddenly put his arm around her waist and carried her to the dressing table. The gilded jewelry box was knocked over and the pearl necklace rolled to the ground, but no one picked it up.
"Do you know what I like most about you?" he asked, resting his hand against her forehead.
Ruan Xingchen blinked: "Have I finally learned how to order your servant around?"
"You finally dare to order me around."
She nodded gently: "I know, go ahead and don't be late."
As the sunlight gradually filled the room, Professor Klein's car drove into the manor.
She walked into the reception room with the medical record in her hand and saw Ruan Xingchen standing in front of a celadon vase arranging flowers, with white roses and lily of the valley intertwined. She was so skilled in trimming the branches that she didn't look like a patient.
"It seems I need to add 'aesthetic ability' to today's evaluation form." Professor Klein pushed his glasses.
Ruan Xingchen turned around and smiled: "Professor, would you like to guess which of these flowers were chosen by me and which were chosen by Brother Xiaohan?"
The professor walked closer and observed: "The white rose is you, and the lily of the valley is him."
"Wrong." Ruan Xingchen said with a smile, inserting the last lily of the valley into the empty space of the vase. "I chose them all—but he secretly replaced the most beautiful white rose with a lily of the valley."
Klein was writing in his notebook when he suddenly asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"
"I had a dream." Ruan Xingchen picked up a pair of scissors and trimmed the excess branches. "I dreamed of making candy paper boats in the medical tent when I was a kid... But this time it wasn't a nightmare."
The scissors made a "click" sound, and the overly long flower stem fell off.
The sound of a helicopter engine could be heard outside the window, and the propellers stirred rose petals all over the ground. Ruan Xingchen's eyes followed the helicopter as it gradually moved away until Professor Klein coughed lightly.
"He's going to Laos today." Ruan Xingchen put down the scissors and poured Professor Klein a cup of tea. His tone was calm, as if he was talking about an ordinary daily trivial matter.
Klein looked at the silver ring on her ring finger—exactly the same as Mo Xiaohan's, gleaming in the sunlight. It was hard to imagine that this was the PTSD patient who had huddled in a corner not long ago.
"You know what?" she took the teacup. "Of all the PTSD recovery cases, your progress is nothing short of miraculous."
Ruan Xingchen looked at the rose bushes being replaced in the garden and said softly, "It's not a miracle."
"Someone made hell into something I could endure."
The wind blew the curtains, and in the distance, Malin's voice could be heard, directing the changing of the tablecloth. The entire manor was turning like a precision gear. Ruan Xingchen stood in the sunlight, finally becoming what he should be in this painting.
Klein wrote at the end of the evaluation form: "Social function has recovered well. It is recommended to proceed to the next stage."
But she didn't plan to tell Ruan Xingchen for the time being - the next stage would be to face even more cruel memory reconstruction, which would be too painful.
At least not today.
Today, let her enjoy the hard-earned morning light and roses.
The gardener outside the window was planting lily of the valley seedlings in the flower bed. The morning dew slid down the leaves, leaving small wet marks in the soil, as if someone had quietly shed a tear.
Ruan Xingchen looked at the fresh green and suddenly felt that some changes did not need to be spoken out loud, just like the sweet fragrance that filled the air at this moment, which was silent but had already permeated the entire house, and even the sunlight was tinged with a hint of honey.
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