late at night
Besides the piano, the sunroom only contained a small round table and a two-seater sofa less than two meters long.
Zhong Yunxi looked at the layout of the house and guessed that Bai Yi would probably play the piano here, lie on the sofa to sunbathe and take a nap, or read books and play games.
He delivered so many flowers this morning that Wang Ma even placed a bouquet here as well.
Since Bai Yi first said she liked Keira roses, he has never given her any other varieties.
Once, when he went to pick up the flowers in person, the florist said that the roses were the most beautiful.
Then he added, "But Kayla isn't just pretty, she's delicate."
The fragrance of flowers was faint. His house used to be free of any smells, but after being with Bai Yi, he got used to the scent of roses.
He sat on the sofa with only a wall lamp on, making it nearly impossible to lie down and sleep. The sofa wasn't long enough, and he wasn't sleepy at all.
Besides the load-bearing columns, the sunroom has two glass walls, which are not very soundproof. When it rains heavily, you can faintly hear the patter of rain.
He has never liked rainy days, as they torment his auditory nerves, but he still only closed half of the floor-to-ceiling curtains, leaving the other half open near Bai Yi's bedroom.
Soft light dappled through the balcony of Baiyi's bedroom.
He got up and walked over, but through the glass door leading to her balcony, he could only see her tightly drawn curtains.
As if guided by some unseen force, he grasped the doorknob and gently pressed it down; the door wasn't locked. He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then slowly released the doorknob.
I wonder what she ate for dinner, and whether she caught a cold.
He knew Bai Yi wouldn't want to see him, so he went downstairs again to ask the nanny. He quietly opened the door and then closed it again.
Aunt Wang said she hadn't eaten much and had caught a bit of a cold. She said one sentence to her, her voice a little nasal. So Aunt Wang brewed some brown sugar ginger tea and sent it over with a few pastries.
He didn't say anything and went upstairs again.
There were several books on the piano lid, and he randomly picked one up and started flipping through it.
It is a collection of Neruda's poems.
Her books aren't clean; it seems she likes to doodle and write while reading, and she does this with everything.
If she's in a bad mood and doesn't want to go to work, she'll take the day off; she'll play on her phone while eating and always leave food uneaten. In short, she's willful and does whatever she wants.
She drew little hearts on each word of several lines of poetry.
When the mournful wind kills the butterfly
I love you, my happiness is like licking your plum-like lips.
To adapt to me, you must have experienced countless hardships.
I am a wild, lonely soul; my name alone can make them...
They all ran away.
He counted them and found that Bai Yilian had drawn 55 hearts and written a string of "555" next to them. He didn't quite understand what it meant, but he couldn't help but smile.
He read those sentences silently several times and thought about them for a long time.
The words, "To adapt to me, you must have tasted all kinds of pain," made him suddenly feel a pang of sadness.
It seems that he never read poetry again after leaving high school, because there were no more Chinese language classes.
He turned the pages of the thin book of poems one by one and saw many of her notes and annotations.
On the last page, she seemed to be practicing calligraphy, writing his name more than a dozen times, in various sizes, some neat and some messy.
His eyes stung with tears as he read, so he picked up his water glass, took a sip, and eased the tightness in his chest.
I don't know when she wrote it or what she was feeling when she wrote it.
The pencil writing is soft, light, and delicate, like an old mark.
He found a pencil in another book on the piano lid and wrote his own name in the gaps between her handwriting.
The strokes are powerful and sharp, quite different from hers.
He placed the poetry collection on the sofa, thinking he would take it with him tomorrow.
He looked towards Baiyi's balcony, and suddenly one of the lights went out; he knew she had turned off the lights.
He got up and walked to the door. The night was deeper, the sound of rain was clearer, and she seemed even more lonely and quiet in her bedroom.
Now that the lights are off, she should be able to sleep.
Bai Yi covered her head and huddled under the covers. She cried many times throughout the night. She didn't know why, but she just felt very wronged.
She felt stupid, and thought that Zhong Yunxi dared to lie to her so blatantly.
She knew that Zhong Yunxi hadn't left; he was probably staying in the guest room on the first floor. He was always like that; he wouldn't leave until the problem was solved.
He always seemed to treat the issues between the two of them as problems to be solved, just like the problems he encountered in his work projects.
There is no problem or person he cannot solve.
So she didn't leave her bedroom all night; she didn't want to see him at all.
Bai Yi cried herself to sleep. She didn't know when she fell asleep or how long she slept before being woken up by the cold.
The bedroom was already quite warm, but she still felt cold. She turned on the light, dragged over a stool, stood on it, and took out a thicker blanket from the top cabinet.
Still unable to reach it, she found a stack of books to stand on and stood on it again.
She heard a sound on the balcony, but didn't turn around; it was probably the sound of wind and rain.
When she heard footsteps, she turned around, but before she could see anyone, she fell into a warm embrace.
She had already grabbed the blanket, but Zhong Yunxi hugged her and pulled her away.
"I'll get it for you." Zhong Yunxi put her back on the bed and sat on the edge of the bed.
Bai Yi was stunned, as if in a dream.
When Zhong Yunxi took the blanket and came to her, Bai Yi's tears flowed again.
Zhong Yunxi wrapped her in a thick blanket, knelt on the carpet beside her bed, and cupped her face in his hands: "Be good, don't cry."
Bai Yi kicked him, saying, "I don't want to see you."
He hugged her calves and pressed them against his chest: "Your legs and feet are so cold?"
She reached out and pushed him away again: "I don't want to see you."
Zhong Yunxi didn't say anything, but got up and hugged her tightly.
"Zhong Yunxi, didn't you hear me? I don't want to see you." She was using all her strength to fight him.
“You won’t be able to see it if you’re asleep.” He reached over to turn off the light switch by the bedside.
"I dream about it even when I'm asleep." Bai Yi's voice choked with emotion.
When Zhong Yunxi heard her say she dreamed about it, his heart suddenly ached. He swallowed hard, tightened his arms around her, pressed his lips to her forehead, and softly asked, "What did you dream about me about?"
Bai Yi tried to pry his hand away, but he didn't budge: "You're too cold. I'll leave once you've warmed up."
Bai Yi sobbed softly, biting his arm, and Zhong Yunxi took a deep breath.
When Bai Yi tasted blood in her mouth, she froze, slowly loosening her teeth. Zhong Yunxi patted her head and pulled her closer to him, saying, "It's two in the morning, how about we go to sleep?"
Perhaps it was because Zhong Yunxi's embrace was so comfortable, soothing her cold and tired state, that she quickly fell asleep.
Zhong Yunxi felt the person in his arms slowly warm up and breathe evenly, and he gradually breathed a sigh of relief.
He dared not move, could not sleep, and did not know how angry Bai Yi would be when she woke up the next morning, or how he should explain it. Every second he held her in his arms was precious.
Time ticked by. He would occasionally close his eyes, and then Bai Yi would stir slightly, startling him awake again.
He was afraid she wouldn't sleep well, and even more afraid that she would push him away if she woke up.
Zhong Yunxi had never been so anxious in his life.
The sun will always rise.
When Bai Yi kept moving around in Zhong Yunxi's arms, he knew she was about to wake up.
Her morning grumpiness took a while to dissipate. Zhong Yunxi waited quietly for her to pronounce her sentence.
"Why aren't you leaving yet?" She had her back to Zhong Yunxi, who was holding her in his arms.
Zhong Yunxi interlocked his fingers with hers and said, "I'm sorry."
Bai Yi didn't want to listen. She stubbornly pried his hands away, slowly pulled the blanket over herself, wrapped it around herself, and isolated herself from him. She also buried her head in the blanket, and a muffled voice came from inside: "I don't want to see you."
Zhong Yunxi let out a long sigh, reached out to pull back her blanket, and tried to pull her head out. "Xiaoyi, I can explain."
The two were fighting over the blanket.
"Divorce." The tone was one of irreversible resolve.
She faced him with the blanket over her head. If she looked into his eyes, she probably wouldn't dare to speak, because when Zhong Yunxi looked at her, he was either too domineering or too indulgent.
Zhong Yunxi froze, his voice heavy, yet trembling slightly: "You promised me two years."
"That's because I didn't know you were lying to me." She kicked him based on her instinct.
The word "deceive" was used too harshly. Zhong Yunxi wanted to defend himself, but he felt that no matter how he explained, it would seem like sophistry or making excuses, and it would all be too weak and feeble.
He pulled her into his arms, and Bai Yi, trapped by his arms and the blanket, was so anxious she wanted to cry: "Zhong Yunxi."
He stroked her head through the blanket, his voice unsteady: "Xiaoyi, you can't just sentence me to death like this. I admit that I was blinded by greed and did whatever it took when dealing with Chen Zhaoyang, but you also thought about marrying me, didn't you?"
"If you feel that you agreed to my proposal back then because you were forced by other factors, we can start over, and I'll pursue you all over again. This time, there's no Zhou Qi, no Chen Zhaoyang, and no crisis at Tiansheng. There's only my heart."
"You think my ticket was obtained through cheating, and you can kick me out, I have no objection. But please don't disqualify me from re-entry, okay?"
The person in his arms didn't move. He slowly pulled back her blanket, revealing her forehead and eyes.
Zhong Yunxi looked into her eyes and apologized, "I'm sorry."
A layer of mist welled up in Bai Yi's eyes again. She pulled the blanket up over her head again, not wanting to look at him.
Zhong Yunxi returned from his business trip yesterday and didn't sleep all night. In just one glance, Bai Yi noticed faint red blood vessels in his eyes.
She was used to seeing Zhong Yunxi's sharp and aggressive gaze often softened with a smile and doting affection as he looked at her. But this was the first time she had seen such sadness in his eyes.
"Xiaoyi, you said you loved me a little bit."
She didn't want to forgive him, but... she couldn't resist Zhong Yunxi's meticulous dissection of their feelings for each other.
"You lied to me, I take it back." She denied it.
"Okay, whether you love me or not doesn't affect my love for you." He pulled back her blanket again, looked into her eyes, and then lowered his head to kiss her eyelashes.
Bai Yi's eyelashes trembled, and she gripped the blanket with both hands against his chest, which he then reached into the blanket to hold.
Zhong Yunxi kissed her from her eyebrows and eyes to the tip of her nose, and then to her lips and tongue.
She turned her face away from his kiss, rolled off his arms onto the bed, and wrapped herself in the blanket again.
Zhong Yunxi knew that Bai Yi wouldn't forgive him immediately. She was so proud and willful, and had never suffered any grievances since childhood. She almost never got into conflicts with anyone. When she encountered people or things that made her uncomfortable, she didn't react in person, but she would completely block them in the blink of an eye.
Zhong Yunxi has received a yellow card from her, and he has no idea how long he will have to appease her.
"Xiaoyi, I'll go downstairs to get you breakfast. Could you open the door for me later?"
"Not open."
She was still willing to respond to him, so Zhong Yunxi smiled and patted her head through the blanket.
He went downstairs, where Bai Yeliang was already in the restaurant. Wang Ma was about to go upstairs to deliver food to Bai Yi when Zhong Yunxi took the tray and said, "I'll do it."
Bai Yeliang asked, "How's Xiaoyi?"
Zhong Yunxi only said, "I haven't coaxed you yet, but you're willing to talk to me."
Although every word he said was a rejection.
“When she was fourteen, she took the Grade 7 piano exam. I was busy with work and missed the exam, so she argued with me for two months.” Bai Yeliang glanced at him, meaning that he should be prepared.
In Bai Yeliang's view, what Zhong Yunxi did was far more serious than his own breach of promise back then.
After Zhong Yunxi went upstairs, he knocked on the door again, but after waiting for a few minutes, no one opened it for him. He went to the sunroom and went over from the balcony.
Bai Yi came out of the bathroom and saw that he had brought breakfast up. She glanced at the balcony, pursed her lips, walked over, grabbed his collar, and pushed him onto the balcony: "Get out."
She pushed him onto the balcony, then opened the door and pushed him into the sunroom. Zhong Yunxi knew she was going to lock the door, and if it was locked, he wouldn't be able to enter her bedroom. He quickly reached out and held onto the door frame: "Okay, I won't go in. You go and have breakfast first."
Bai Yi returned to the bedroom, closed the sliding door to the balcony, and then closed the curtains.
She had little appetite and ate only a few mouthfuls of porridge and steamed dumplings. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten in her bedroom. When she was little, when she threw a tantrum and refused to eat, her father would bring her food to coax her.
She heard rustling noises on the balcony and wondered what Zhong Yunxi was doing. She had been so heartbroken last night, and when she saw him in the bedroom, she felt angry and aggrieved. But when he held her while she slept, she felt comfortable and longed for his embrace.
When she woke up in the morning, she hated herself for being so useless.
But his heartfelt apologies and declarations of love touched her deeply; she was not heartless and could not remain unmoved.
From childhood to adulthood, she had never been so accommodating to anyone who had wronged her.
What gives Zhong Yunxi the right to so brazenly control her emotions and torment her repeatedly?
Aunt Wang knocked on the door and came in, carrying a large bouquet of Kayla roses. She placed them on the island counter, cleared away the plates, and said that the weather was sunny today, so she wanted to open the balcony windows to let in some fresh air.
She drew back the curtains and slid the door, and saw Zhong Yunxi sitting on her balcony, holding a book in his hand.
The temperature wasn't high in the morning, so he was only wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and no jacket.
Bai Yi picked up the bouquet of roses, tossed it to him, and pointed to the door leading from the balcony to the sunroom: "Get out."
Zhong Yunxi looked up at her and felt that she was more obedient last night when she was half asleep in his arms, hugging him and saying that she would dream about him.
I woke up in a bad mood this morning.
He stood up with the book in his hand, placed the rose on the chair, and changed the subject: "I finished reading this book last night. I just memorized the line where you drew a lot of hearts."
Bai Yi snatched the book from his hand: "Who gave you permission to take my things?"
He wouldn't give in, so he hugged her and apologized for what felt like the umpteenth time: "I'm sorry. You can get angry, hit me, or yell at me, just don't chase me away anymore."
Bai Yi noticed two tooth-shaped bloodstains on his arm, staining the fabric. She remembered biting him last night, and how she had bitten back those same marks. She heard a muffled groan from Zhong Yunxi's throat.
She probably bit him open his wound, which had just formed a thin scab.
Once she let go, Zhong Yunxi gently stroked the back of her head. "Biting the same spot twice really hurts. How about we bite somewhere else next time?"
"You're so cold-blooded, you wouldn't know pain at all."
Zhong Yunxi said helplessly, "Being with you often makes my heart ache."
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