Xu Tingchuan stood frozen in place for a moment before turning and walking towards the bathroom.
He wrung out a hot towel and then went back to the bedroom.
Seeing Ni Sitian lying on the bed, wrapped tightly in a thin blanket, curled up defensively in a small ball, his heart suddenly ached.
He squatted down beside her, brushed the hair away from her face to reveal her red and swollen eyes.
She looked at him with red eyes, saying nothing, silently accusing him.
"Don't worry, I won't force you anymore." He placed his hand on her cheek and gently stroked it.
Ni Sitian closed her eyes, turned her back, and didn't want to talk to him.
Xu Tingchuan knew he had scared her and was now filled with regret. He softened his voice and said, "Put some eye compresses on. You have to go to work tomorrow, and you won't look pretty if your eyes are swollen."
Seeing that she didn't say anything, he assumed she agreed and placed the hot towel on her face.
He sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at her, and said in a low voice, "I won't do this again unless you want it to happen."
Ni Sitian felt a slight tingling in her nose, pursed her lips, and remained silent.
Silence fell over the room. After a long while, Xu Tingchuan removed the towel from Ni Sitian's face.
Her eyes were still red and swollen, making her look pitiful.
He lowered his head to kiss her eyelids, but she resisted and turned her head away.
He sighed silently, got up, took the towel back to the bathroom, and took a shower.
After seeing him leave, Ni Sitian reached out and took out her phone to send a WeChat message to Xiang Zhilan, saying that Xu Tingchuan was back, and then put down her phone.
She had been crying for too long, and now her eyes and head hurt. She was very sleepy and tired, so she gradually closed her eyes.
When Xu Tingchuan returned to the bedroom, he saw that Ni Sitian was already asleep.
She slept like a child, her lips slightly parted and pouting, her eyes tightly closed, and her eyelids and nose still red.
He quietly lay down on the bed, lowered his head and kissed her forehead and eyelids, then slowly exhaled, "I'm sorry."
Ni Sitian's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she didn't wake up. She subconsciously shrank back defensively.
The intimacy that had been built up before the business trip vanished, and she became even more wary than before.
He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her tightly, but he was afraid of waking her, so he could only loosely encircle her with his hands.
I closed my eyes, but I couldn't fall asleep for a while. My mind was filled with her fearful and wary eyes.
It will probably take some effort to get closer to them again in the future.
The next day, Ni Sitian woke up and found that Xu Tingchuan was not in bed, which relieved her.
After washing up, she came out of the bathroom and saw Xu Tingchuan returning from outside.
"Come and have breakfast." Xu Tingchuan placed the food in the plates and bowls.
Ni Sitian walked over and saw Li Ji's soup dumplings. Xu Tingchuan handed her chopsticks and explained, "I queued up to buy them."
"Oh." She sat down, glanced at the clock in the living room; it was only a little past seven, meaning he had been up and queuing since at least six. As she took the chopsticks, she politely said, "Thank you."
Breakfast was spent in quiet silence, and after finishing, the two prepared to go to work.
Once inside the elevator, Xu Tingchuan pressed the button for the basement level, while Ni Sitian pressed the button for the first floor.
He frowned slightly. Did she already dislike him so much that she didn't want him to drive her to work anymore?
He reached out and pressed the button for the first floor, canceling the elevator's stop on the first floor, and pursed his lips: "I'll take you there."
"No need, it's not on my way," Ni Sitian said casually, her hand reaching for the massage button again.
Xu Tingchuan grasped her hand and held it tightly in his palm.
Ni Sitian struggled but couldn't break free, so she turned her head away and didn't say anything more.
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