46. The bright moon hides the egret.
"Goodness, I'm really not a gentleman."
Shang Xin nestled in Li Xiran's arms, still somewhat unaware of the change in her status.
But the unusual beating of her heart proved that she couldn't hide her joy.
Just then, the doorbell rang, and the nanny asked if she could come in.
Looking at Shang Xinuan and Li Xiran, both of them were disheveled, their hair was messy, and their faces were flushed, making it hard not to have all sorts of thoughts.
So, as soon as Li Xiran allowed the nanny to enter, he immediately grabbed a blanket, wrapped it around the young lady, and carried her upstairs.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Shang Xin warmed the blanket on the bed, and Li Xiran stood by the bed, nodding and smiling as he stared at her.
"It feels a little unreal, so I want to look at it a little longer." Upon closer inspection, she noticed that Li Xiran's eyes were full of tenderness as he looked at her, along with tears that had not yet subsided.
The young lady stretched out her arms, "I want you to hug me for a while."
Li Xiran lay down on his side, stretched out his long arm and pulled the person into his arms, "You don't want to see strangers, but I still need to explain some things to the nanny."
"Grandpa had already told her all this beforehand." The young girl, who had just started dating, only wanted the two of them to be the center of the world.
"I was going to let you adjust to the time difference, but you ended up causing trouble all afternoon." Li Xiran was like playing with a Barbie doll, pinching her cheek one moment and her arm the next, he couldn't put her down no matter how he looked at her. "But it's good, I finally have a girlfriend."
He is thirty-two years old this year.
In the past, besides being troubled by feelings of guilt towards my parents, I was also preoccupied with the power struggles between the Li family and Chen Shaoyi.
His work hours are almost precisely scheduled down to the second, leaving him no extra time to think about romantic relationships, or even dare to think about them, for fear of them becoming a burden in his life.
Before he met Shang Xinuan, he had already prepared himself to be alone.
The reason why he couldn't help but be attracted to the young lady is perhaps because people can never resist the regret of their own lack.
She was always so bright and radiant, and when she ran towards me, even the strands of hair fluttering in the air were unrestrained.
As long as she stands within a certain radius, this city of steel and concrete in Shanghai will always have its own patch of sunshine and rain that belongs to her.
"Li Xiran, there's something I've been keeping to myself. If—and I mean if—you hadn't chased me to the desert, and I hadn't forgiven you, and instead chose to be with someone else, what would you have done?"
Will his world see some crazy actions, or will he fall into despair?
“Nuan Nuan, I won’t let anything happen between us.” He gently patted Shang Xinuan’s back, as if comforting a child. After a long while, he sighed again before saying, “If what you say is true, then if you choose to be an official, I will ensure his career is always smooth. If you choose to be a merchant, I will protect his wealth.”
“But Nuan Nuan, I won’t let that happen.” Just thinking about it made his heart ache. “I won’t allow myself to be defeated by the young lady.”
Shang Xinuan gazed at him quietly, then leaned in and gently kissed his forehead. "Baby, me too."
She didn't understand her mother before, but after meeting Li Xiran, she finally understood what stubbornness meant.
Her escape to the desert was less about wanting to forget him and more about fearing becoming another mother.
Fortunately, Li Xiran never disappointed her during her rejuvenated youth.
The rain that had raged for an entire season finally stopped, and the twilight blushed with a touch of intoxication.
Li Xiran supported Shang Xinuan's slender waist, lifted her slightly, and she straddled his hips.
Then, he placed his broad, warm hand behind her head and deepened the kiss that had just been brief.
He seemed to really like her lower lip, gently licking and slowly biting it without any tightness or agitation.
All the unpleasantness between lovers in the past is melted into these kisses.
"Nuan Nuan." His hand slowly moved down, holding her spine close to his body, his voice hoarse yet gentle, "I will always be yours."
Shang Xin's slender white fingers wrapped around his neck, and she opened her eyes as her breathing grew heavier.
She admitted that she felt a little sorry for him because of those words.
Even when he was moved by love, he only said that he belonged to her.
"Warm!" Li Xiran stopped her just as she reached her hand under the hem of his pajamas.
“I want you to have something,” she said, her eyes slightly red.
“Goodness, I’m really not a gentleman.” He pulled her hand away, his chest trembling violently. “But my bottom line with you is that without absolute protection, it’s not possible.”
"I can already feel your reaction." The young lady smiled, biting her lip, then whispered in his ear, "I want to too."
She was already an adult, and she also had her own curious Eden.
Aren't you ashamed?
Why be ashamed of something pleasant?
She straightened up and sat deeper. "I have no intention of having a Platonic relationship."
Li Xiran wrapped his arms around her lower back and said, "I was worried that if I hugged and kissed you like this right after we started dating, Miss would be unhappy."
"Li Xiran, you're really an old man."
Li Xiran lay flat on his back, looking up to examine the young lady's features.
He was deeply in love with the beautiful girl and was so careful not to hurt her in the slightest.
"Young Miss, don't worry, I won't treat you unfairly."
Shang Xin's waist suddenly went limp, and she rolled over and lay down next to him. "Qiao Xi reminded me to prepare in advance. I didn't expect things to progress so quickly."
Li Xiran held her, his fingers twirling and playing with her hair. "Young Miss, you really do want to get what you like right away."
Shang Xinuan gave a coquettish "humph" and poked his ribs with her finger, "But there are people who just want to go against me."
"Silly girl, that would only make me happy. But you'd bear all the unknown risks, and I won't allow anything to happen to you."
Shang Xin pursed her lips and kissed the corner of his lips. "I know, I love you too."
Li Xiran let go of her, propped himself up, and said, "Sleep a little longer, I'll borrow your bathroom to take a shower."
Shang Xinuan pulled the covers over herself and said, "I remember you had just taken a shower when I came downstairs."
Li Xiran knelt on the edge of the bed, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Yes! Guess why we have to wash again."
"And, impatiently, I'll wash it again."
-
Time flew by as the young couple basked in the sweet bliss of their romance, and before they knew it, it was time for the start of the Cambridge semester.
Shang Xinuan casually put on a slip dress and went downstairs, still sleepy.
But before she could reach the first floor as usual, she was blocked on the stairs by Li Xiran.
"There are outsiders downstairs, go change your clothes first before coming down," Li Xiran said, as he untied his bathrobe and wrapped it around her.
Shang Xinuan then noticed Yu Jiayue sitting on the sofa, reached out to adjust her collar, and turned to go upstairs.
“I’m an outsider, aren’t you?” Yu Jiayue had been trying to visit Shang Xinuan for the past few days, but Li Xiran had politely declined her requests for various reasons.
Eight out of ten times he came over, he ran into the young lady trying to adjust her sleep schedule and catch up on sleep. He started to suspect that Li Xiran had done something illegal and hurt Shang Xinuan.
So on the first day of school, he arrived at Shang Xinuan's apartment early in the morning, waiting to go to register with her.
Ignoring his eye roll, Li Xiran watched him go upstairs before returning to the sofa with a seemingly composed demeanor.
However, he deliberately moved to sit opposite Yu Jiayue and intentionally exposed one side of his neck.
Those were hickeys left on his neck by the young lady during their recent playful bickering as a couple deeply in love. "So, my wife?"
A single sentence, a single action.
Yu Jiayue was furious. "What do you mean by this?"
"What I mean is, Xiao Yu should be careful to keep his distance from Nuan Nuan in the future." Li Xiran's scheme succeeded, and he looked smug. "As her boyfriend, I'll be jealous."
Yu Jiayue's face turned bright red with anger. In that moment of heightened blood pressure, he grabbed a cushion from the sofa and threw it at Li Xiran.
"Ouch." Li Xiran didn't dodge at all and was hit squarely in the face by the pillow. Then his expression immediately changed, and he looked at Yu Jiayue's back with a very aggrieved look and said, "Nuan Nuan, I wanted to share the joy of our relationship with Xiao Yu, but who knew he would actually hit me."
Yu Jiayue turned around and found that Shang Xinuan had just witnessed the scene where he injured someone.
Seeing Li Xiran clutching his face and crying out in pain, she rushed over to check on him.
Li Xiran, completely disregarding the fact that he was also present, wrapped his arm around Shang Xinuan's waist and continued to feign grievance and play the victim.
"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt, I'll blow on it for you." What's most infuriating is that Shang Xinuan actually fell for Li Xiran's self-inflicted injury ploy, and gently rubbed his cheek with eyes full of tenderness.
"Nuan Nuan, I just..."
“Yu Jiayue, I know how good you have been to me all these years.” Yu Jiayue was about to explain when Shang Xinuan interrupted him, “But I have also liked Li Xiran for many years, and I only want to be with him.”
Yu Jiayue's shoulders slumped at that moment. Fearing he would lose control of his emotions, he picked up his backpack from the sofa and stood up. "I know my behavior just now was very rude, and I apologize to Mr. Li. But liking someone is a decision only I can make."
“Mr. Li, I don’t think my love for Nuannuan is any less than yours. Of course, I won’t give up either. As long as you hurt her, I will definitely show up.”
After saying that, Yu Jiayue glanced at Shang Xinuan again, "Then see you at school."
Seeing Yu Jiayue leave, Shang Xinuan stopped comforting Li Xiran.
It wasn't that she couldn't see through Li Xiran's teasing behavior just now; it was just that, putting herself in his shoes, she didn't want Yu Jiayue to fall deeper and deeper into her trap.
That kind of hopeless heartache is like a slow poison, impossible to remove or get rid of.
It will only feel like a fishbone stuck in your throat, like a shadow following you, adding another layer of pain to your wounds.
"Was I a little too harsh just now?"
"Since you know that, why did you still provoke him?"
Li Xiran could pretend to be magnanimous before, but ever since the two of them confirmed their relationship and had intimate contact, the word "possessiveness" has taken hold of him. Even if someone else glances at Shang Xinuan a few more times, he will pettily want to hide her in his pocket.
"Goodness, I admit I'm a cheapskate."
Looking at Li Xiran's aggrieved expression, Shang Xinuan bent down and cupped his cheeks, "Where did the once powerful Chairman Li go? All I see is a whining, weak little Ranran."
Li Xiran put his arm around Shang Xinu and pulled her into his arms. His cheek was pressed against Shang Xinu's waist and abdomen. "Hmm, I've reached the point where I'm too weak to take care of myself. I need you to take care of me obediently and never leave me."
This was Li Xiran, whom Shang Xinu had never seen before; he looked every bit the doting husband.
The young lady playfully pinched his chin, "Then you should call me 'sister' and see if it can arouse my maternal instincts."
Li Xiran's hand around her waist tightened at those words, and he pinched her buttocks with a punitive tone. "You want to hear it?"
"Let me hear how frail she is, so I can determine how to provide close care." The person, unaware of the impending danger, wore a smug and arrogant expression.
The next moment, Li Xiran stood up and carried her on his shoulder, saying, "It's so boring here, let's go somewhere else."
"I'll call out properly."
A note from the author:
Old Li, old tea.
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 23:40:00 on May 31, 2023 and 23:52:58 on June 1, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who watered my nutrient solution: *pats myself on the back* (one bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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