Chapter 26 Since the pants are too big, ...
Liang Qi's residence was indeed not far from the convention center. Less than ten minutes after setting off, the driver drove the car into the underground parking garage of the residential area.
During the few minutes she spent in the car, Jiang Nuanyu vaguely realized what she had done and how bold, yet heartfelt, her decision had been.
From the moment she got out of the car until she entered the elevator, she avoided any eye contact with Liang Qi. Liang Qi remained silent, walking half a step ahead of her, only offering a word of caution when he noticed her wet shoes as they entered the elevator: "Be careful, the floor is slippery."
The elevator doors were polished to a shine, revealing the two figures clearly. Jiang Nuanyu kept her head down, focusing intently on her toes.
After exiting the elevator, Liang Qi opened the door and went in first, standing inside and holding the door open for her with one hand.
His eyes were lowered, but just as she looked over, he raised his eyes to meet her gaze.
"Thank you." Jiang Nuanyu looked away and thanked her very quietly.
Upon entering through the front door, there are two open walk-in closets on either side of the entryway, displaying Liang Qi's suit jackets and overcoats, mostly in black and gray tones, with a row of leather shoes below.
Liang Qi walked through the entrance hall, turned halfway back, and pointed with his chin towards the left side of the entrance hall: "The bathroom is over there, the first one after you turn the corner."
He didn't say anything extra, and Jiang Nuanyu inexplicably felt more at ease.
She walked in the direction he pointed out, clutching her bag, glancing briefly at the layout of the house along the way.
The living room is quite spacious, with an absurdly long row of floor-to-ceiling windows on the south side, extending all the way to the open kitchen and dining area on the east side.
The rain curtain outside enveloped the glass, making the outdoors look like an endless aquarium.
Jiang Nuanyu quickly found the bathroom, closed the door, and let out a heavy sigh.
She pressed her back against the door, trying to keep herself calm.
He just came here to take a shower, wait for his clothes to dry, and then left; that was all. And judging from Liang Qi's expression, he seemed to have the same idea.
The surroundings were quiet, with only the sound of her heartbeat, deep and loud.
Suddenly, there were two light knocks on the door behind me.
Jiang Nuanyu was like a frightened bird; her heart, which had just calmed down a little, started pounding violently again.
She quickly turned and opened the door, her eyes filled with a forced composure and a palpable fear. Her lips moved, as if she wanted to ask something but couldn't bring herself to say it. She couldn't even find a suitable way to address her.
Liang Qi's hand was still hanging in mid-air as he knocked on the door. In his other hand, he handed her a set of loungewear: "Wear this after you wash up."
It was just sending clothes.
"Oh." Jiang Nuanyu lowered her eyes, reached out and took it. "Thank you."
Liang Qi didn't linger and turned to leave.
Jiang Nuanyu clutched her clothes in her hands, took a deep breath, and without further hesitation, went to the shower to wash away the rain and chill, and then dried her hair until it was half dry.
Liang Qi gave her a set of long-sleeved loungewear: a white top and light gray trousers.
She was about 1.7 meters tall, not exactly petite, but Liang Qi's clothes were still too big for her. The top was alright, just the sleeves and hem were a bit long, so she could barely wear it, but the pants were really ill-fitting; her feet couldn't even stick out of the pant legs, like a child wearing adult clothes.
After thinking for a moment, she simply took off her trousers and stopped wearing them. Since her top was long enough to cover half her thighs, it was essentially like wearing a skirt.
She came out of the bathroom carrying her bag and her wet clothes. Liang Qi was standing on the other side, facing the floor-to-ceiling window, making a phone call. He had taken off his suit jacket, wearing only a shirt, with one hand in his trouser pocket, his posture upright yet casual.
Hearing her make a sound, he glanced at her, but only for a moment before turning back to continue his phone call.
His gaze didn't seem to fall on anything else, and Jiang Nuanyu still tugged at the hem of her shirt uncomfortably.
Taking this opportunity, she carefully examined the space. In the center of the living room were two sets of oversized, curved black leather sofas, with a small table on each side, one of which had two books on it.
The location where Liang Qi made the phone call was probably his home office. At the far end of the space was a wall of bookshelves, one side of which folded out into an L-shape, serving as a partition from the other side. On the large desk in the middle, apart from a computer and two stacks of folders, there were no other items.
Jiang Nuanyu stood by the sofa, not sitting down, waiting until he hung up the phone and turned to walk towards her before she preemptively said, "Those pants are too big, I can't wear them..."
Liang Qi listened, seemingly nodding, yet also seemingly not, as if he didn't care, and in any case, he didn't respond to her words.
Jiang Nuanyu didn't know if he believed her or not. She swallowed hard, her throat dry, and didn't offer any further explanation.
As Liang Qi passed by, he casually placed his phone on the sofa, then held out his hand to her: "Give me your wet clothes."
There were still no further words.
Jiang Nuanyu suddenly had the feeling that she had been overthinking things ever since she entered the room.
Before she could even process what she was feeling, she handed him her soaked shirt and jeans; Liang Qi took the clothes, glanced at them, and walked behind her.
Jiang Nuanyu had just noticed how her clothes were held in his hands. The scene had an inexplicable sense of intimacy.
Behind him, Liang Qi had already taken a few steps, but suddenly stopped.
Jiang Nuanyu quickly turned around, looked at him, and blinked.
Liang Qi glanced at the sofa next to her: "Sit wherever you like."
It was yet another extremely ordinary and reasonable statement. Jiang Nuanyu lowered her eyelids and nodded: "Mm."
However, she still hadn't sat down even after Liang Qi's figure disappeared down the corridor.
She was in a space that belonged entirely to Liang Qi, where every item was connected to him, even the clothes she was wearing were his. This feeling was perhaps joyful, but it also made her feel dazed, unreal, and unable to settle down.
She looked down and her gaze fell on the only thing here that didn't belong to Liang Qi—her bag.
A few small water droplets remained on the leather surface of the bag. Jiang Nuanyu looked at the small wet patch and suddenly remembered something. She quickly opened the bag to take a look—sure enough, rainwater had gotten inside, and the lining was damp.
Most of the items in the bag were waterproof, except for her notebook.
The notebook cover was waterproof, but the corners of the inner pages were wet and wrinkled. She specifically flipped to the pages she had written on that day and examined them carefully. Fortunately, the pen was oil-based, and the writing hadn't completely smudged.
She was flipping through her notebook when she suddenly heard Liang Qi's footsteps behind her, and her whole body stiffened involuntarily again.
When Liang Qi came over, he glanced at her and saw that she was standing under a spotlight, the light casting a soft halo around her head. Her half-dry long hair was slightly curled, covering most of her back, and her long legs under the hem of her clothes were slender and well-proportioned, appearing fair and radiant even in the shadows.
Jiang Nuanyu turned to look at him, but Liang Qi naturally looked away and went straight to the refrigerator, taking out a carton of milk.
Jiang Nuanyu watched from afar. Behind him were refrigerators, cabinets, and range hoods. This background didn't match his crisp white shirt and tie, but it gave him a private, down-to-earth sexiness.
Liang Qi poured milk into a glass and glanced at the notebook in her hand.
During the afternoon's exchange meeting, she seemed to be taking notes on that.
Seeing that she was still frozen, he casually asked, "Have you finished your work for today?"
Jiang Nuanyu hadn't expected him to ask about work. After a couple of seconds of reaction, she said in a formal and serious tone, "It's pretty much finished. I'll write another in-depth report when I get back. Don't worry, I'll try my best to present Yun Jing's dedication as accurately as possible."
Liang Qi seemed amused by her seriousness, chuckled silently, and said, "Just asking, I'm not putting any pressure on you."
His smile wasn't particularly strong, but Jiang Nuanyu's lips curved into a smile as well, and she relaxed a bit, adding, "This is what I, our magazine, should do."
Liang Qi didn't continue with her polite words. He slowly suppressed his smile, placed one hand on the counter, and waited for the milk to heat up. He didn't say anything more.
The microwave oven dinged, breaking the brief silence between the two.
Liang Qi brought over a half-cup of hot milk, placed it on the side table next to her, and said, "Drinking this will warm you up."
Jiang Nuanyu then noticed that he had only heated one cup, and looked up to ask, "Just for me?"
Liang Qi turned around and sat on the sofa opposite her, leaning back as he looked at her and said casually, "I'm not cold."
Jiang Nuanyu caught a glimpse of the faint smile on his lips. Though it seemed casual, it was so mature that it made her blush for no reason.
She seemed to be burned by the heat on her face, turning her head slightly to avoid eye contact, her fist clenched under her long sleeves, her fingers rubbing the fine sweat on her palms.
"What are you afraid of?" Liang Qi suddenly asked.
"Hmm?" Jiang Nuanyu raised her eyes warily, trying to hide her unease. "W-what?"
Liang Qi stared directly at her. Because he was lower than her, his eyelids were raised high, making his eyes appear even brighter and deeper.
He gestured with his chin towards the sofa in front of her and said, "Will this sofa eat you?"
Jiang Nuanyu: "..."
She couldn't respond to his words.
She instinctively felt that his first question wasn't just about the sofa. But she couldn't be sure.
Since that was the case, she had no choice but to walk around to the front of the sofa, sit on the edge, put her hands on her knees, and keep her eyes on her hands, being as reserved as could be.
Liang Qi stared at her for a while, then his lips relaxed, he lowered his eyelids, and asked, "What do you want to eat tonight?"
Jiang Nuanyu almost couldn't bear it when he looked back at her.
She blinked awkwardly and asked, "What do you want to eat?"
Liang Qi said, "Either way is fine. It's up to you."
Jiang Nuanyu thought that since she had made the invitation, it would be better for her to choose the location as well.
After a moment's thought, she said, "A colleague told me that a new Portuguese restaurant recently opened in the embassy district. Are you interested?"
Liang Qi didn't hesitate for long and said, "Okay."
“I haven’t tried Portuguese food yet,” Jiang Nuanyu said, then chuckled lightly and corrected, “Except for Portuguese egg tarts, of course.”
Liang Qi nodded without saying anything.
She then asked, "And you?"
"I haven't been to the place you mentioned."
Jiang Nuanyu felt that he had only said half of what he meant, so she didn't respond immediately. After waiting for a while without hearing the rest, she belatedly realized and said, "Oh, I forgot that you used to be in Europe, so you must have been to local restaurants in Portugal."
She said it quite naturally, as if she knew him very well. Moreover, given their not-so-deep past relationship, it was unusual that she would even know about this.
Sure enough, Liang Qi looked up and glanced at her.
Jiang Nuanyu immediately felt guilty and explained in a low voice, "I...heard it."
As soon as she said it, she felt that the reason sounded strange.
Liang Qi didn't ask her where she heard it from, and she didn't say it herself, but from his subsequent look, she probably knew that he had already guessed it.
"What else have you heard?" After a while, Liang Qi asked casually.
"Huh?" Jiang Nuanyu had thought he didn't want to talk about his past, so she hadn't been paying attention. But when he suddenly asked her this, she was at a loss for words. "Actually, it's nothing..."
Worried that Liang Qi might misunderstand her as trying to pry into his past, she didn't want to talk much. After hesitating for a while, she couldn't help but cautiously ask the question she cared about most: "Is it... a very serious injury?"
Liang Qi looked at her, his brow twitching slightly.
He knew that Shi Youning had told her about him, and his past relationship with Shi Youning was self-evident. Therefore, her question, which had nothing to do with romance, surprised him.
Jiang Nuanyu felt that his gaze was more intense than at any other time today. She felt flustered under his stare and lowered her head to avoid his gaze.
She thought this topic was too inappropriate or too heavy, and he wouldn't even want to answer it, but to her surprise, Liang Qi said, "It's not serious."
Jiang Nuanyu's gaze froze for a moment, a sharp pain shooting through her chest.
Despite his rather indifferent tone, despite his current success, and despite her belief that he must be powerful and that his past has no bearing on his present, she believed he was capable of anything.
Nevertheless, even though it was "not serious," she still felt sad for him.
She had wanted to know a lot about his past, especially his career to which he had made sacrifices, but at this moment, she suddenly didn't want to delve any deeper.
The downpour outside the window subsided slightly, but the sky grew even darker as the sun set. Neither of them spoke for a moment; the air grew quiet.
In the silence, Liang Qi's phone rang on the sofa.
The two exchanged a brief glance. Liang Qi picked up his phone, glanced at the caller ID on the screen, answered the call, and walked away.
Jiang Nuanyu guessed it was probably a work call and marveled at how busy Liang Qi was. Her gaze then shifted to the half-full glass of milk on the small table next to her.
She wasn't so cold anymore, but she still went over and picked up the cup to take a small sip.
It was warm and comforting. Warm in my palms and warm in my heart.
Suddenly, she remembered that besides the past, there was something else she wanted to tell Liang Qi—the misunderstanding on Song Lanxin's birthday night. No matter what, she still wanted to explain it clearly.
When Liang Qi hung up the phone, he saw Jiang Nuanyu standing there with a cup of milk in her hand, her eyes following him intently as if a radar had locked onto a target.
As he passed by her, he casually asked, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Nuanyu took a half breath, held it in her mouth for two seconds, and then said, "I... what I'm about to say might sound a little strange."
Liang Qi sat down on the sofa and looked up at her: "What did you say?"
Jiang Nuanyu stared at him for a moment, then put the cup back on the table, turned around, and said, word by word, "Jingyao and I... there's nothing between us." She looked straight at him, afraid of missing any of his reactions.
Liang Qi's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had thought for a moment, and he said, "Hmm."
He was surprised that she was still secretly agonizing over this matter.
Seeing that she was still blinking and staring at him, he patiently added, "I understand."
Jiang Nuanyu: "..."
Is this really that simple?
But she still felt that something wasn't clear enough.
She asked, "Anything else...?"
What is it?
"Don't you have anything... you want to ask me?"
Liang Qi paused for two seconds, then asked directly, "What do you want me to know?"
Jiang Nuanyu was stunned.
She suddenly realized that she had no control over Liang Qi's reactions.
Although he didn't ask her directly, he left her room to answer; it seemed he had given her the initiative, but she felt she was still in a passive position.
But she couldn't care less about that right now. Putting all other thoughts aside, she instinctively went along with his words and replied, "I want you to know that I don't care about Jingyao, I don't care what he thinks, I don't care what he wants to do; I only care about what you think, what you think of me... I care about you."
Her voice wasn't loud, but she spoke each word clearly, her gentle yet earnest tone echoing softly in the space around the sofa.
Although Liang Qi didn't say anything, she could feel that he was watching her the whole time.
"I did learn some things about your past from others, but that doesn't matter to me. It's different."
Inside her chest, her heart was pounding wildly, and reason and emotion were locked in a fierce battle on another battlefield in her mind.
So, on the one hand, she felt that what she blurted out was too blunt, but on the other hand, she was willingly pushed forward by her feelings for him at that moment.
“I…I want to get to know you myself, not just through work like this.” Her gaze quickly shifted to him, glanced at him, and then quickly looked away. She said, “I want to get closer to you, as an individual, to be closer to you as a person.”
After saying these words, Jiang Nuanyu's breathing became a little rapid. She felt her cheeks and the back of her neck were burning. She was very uneasy, but also felt a sense of relief and ease.
Liang Qi waited a few seconds to make sure she had said what she wanted to say. His expression softened slightly as he stared at her, and he said, "Come closer to me?"
His tone was very calm, as if he were stating a fact, or perhaps asking a question.
Jiang Nuanyu nodded, still not daring to look him in the eye: "Mm."
Liang Qi asked her, "What do you mean by 'near'?"
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