Chapter 48 Chapter 48 Burning the Remaining Night
Ye Peixiu casually dialed Wang Jingzi's number, intending to instruct him to make time for an additional trip next week.
The phone rang several times but no one answered.
Ye Peixiu even took out his phone and looked at the screen to confirm whether he had dialed the wrong number.
Wang Jingzi would never make him wait this long.
The phone rang until it automatically disconnected.
Ye Peixiu didn't care about anything and put down the phone.
Xia Qingwan asked, "Is no one answering? He's drunk; what if something happens to him?"
"You're still worrying about these things?" Ye Peixiu pinched her cheek. "He has servants at home, nothing will happen."
At that time, Wang Jingzi was indeed in a situation of being "controlled by others"—
After leaving Ye Garden, Pei Meizhu went straight to Wang Jingzi's house. When the phone rang, she was sitting on his lap demanding an explanation.
"Why haven't you been answering my calls lately?"
Wang Jingzi was so drunk that he was in a daze. He propped his forehead with his hand, his eyes closed, and simply said, "Get down."
"Answer me and I'll come down."
Wang Jingzi took a deep breath, “...I’ve been very busy lately.”
"You're busier than my cousin? He still has time to spend with Qingwan every day."
"They are boyfriend and girlfriend," Wang Jingzi explained calmly, "and they naturally have to spend time with each other when they are free."
"Then you can be my boyfriend too."
Pei Meizhu immediately retorted.
"I don't have time for a relationship."
"Pretending?"
She acted pitiful, as if begging.
Wang Jingzi was very hot. He loosened his shirt collar and softened his voice, "Miss Meizhu, would you please come down first?"
"Don't call me that!"
She got angry.
"Meizhu."
Pei Meizhu snorted coldly, took his shoulder and got off his lap. She was both angry and anxious, and her whole body was also getting hot. She stood up and casually took off her coat, revealing a princess-style halter-neck short dress underneath. With her movements, a bunch of jewelry jingled and rustled on her fair wrists, hands and neck.
Wang Jingzi glanced at her.
Despite the abundance of jewelry she wore, it didn't appear ostentatious; instead, it complemented her face perfectly, giving her an air of haughty nobility.
A true little princess.
Pei Meizhu walked to the French window.
Outside the window was the dazzling and magnificent night view of the Shangjing CBD, but she didn't want to look at it at all. She turned back and said angrily, "I'm going to complain to my cousin. You treated me very badly today, very badly!"
She knew she was bluffing; after all, taking care of him to a certain extent was his duty. However, "jumping on his lap and threatening him to be her boyfriend" went far beyond his job responsibilities.
But this was the only excuse she had to control him.
As expected, Wang Jingzi calmly said, "If you go and tell what just happened, then tomorrow I will be fired, and you will be taken back to Shanghai."
"Shut up."
When his concerns were exposed, Pei Meizhu shrieked at him.
Ultimately, she didn't have the means to act recklessly. Being a princess and spending money extravagantly was her daily routine, a common occurrence within permissible limits, but dating indiscriminately was not included in that.
Just as Ye Peixiu said, her marriage and even her love life would only be a family transaction.
There was silence on both sides.
Wang Jingzi lit a cigarette and smoked it idly.
After a moment, Pei Meizhu climbed onto the sofa, knelt beside him with her hands supporting her body, leaned close to his face, blinked her eyes, and asked, "Wang Jingzi, tell me the truth, do you dislike me?"
No one could possibly say they hate her face.
She is not actually spoiled, she just has a bad temper and is easy to coax most of the time.
Wang Jingzi held his breath, neither looking at her nor answering.
Pei Meizhu was certainly aware of her own charm. If she didn't say she disliked him, then she didn't dislike him. She suddenly kissed the corner of his lips and tilted her head. "How do you feel?"
He only felt the fragrance of her hair, and her hair brushed against his cheek. It took him a while to react and turned his head to look at her.
It was a gaze of quiet scrutiny.
"Meizhu, I don't have time to play with you."
"You think I'm playing?" Pei Meizhu felt insulted. She jumped off the sofa angrily and shouted, "I'm telling you, Wang Jingzi, don't look down on me. There are so many boys chasing me! If I want to play, I can just pick any one with a flick of my finger! Who would run to you and beg you to look at me?!"
She said a lot of things in a row, picked up her coat and bag, and walked to the door.
She stood there and cursed him softly in Shanghainese. Finally, when she left, she slammed the door loudly.
-
As soon as she got in the car, Pei Meizhu dialed Ye Peixiu's number.
It rang twice, and unsurprisingly, the call was cut off.
At that time, Ye Peixiu was talking to Xia Qingwan.
He said, "It's been exactly one year."
On the terrace outside the master bedroom window, he was half leaning on a lounge chair, and she was lying in his arms, holding the diamond bracelet he gave her, looking at it carefully under the dim night light.
It was at the end of April last year that they met on the corridor of Beiguanfang Hutong.
"The crabapple blossoms are celebrating the first anniversary of our meeting."
Xia Qingwan smiled and said with her eyes crinkling.
The way she said it made it seem so romantic. The flowers and the sky were all amorous.
Ye Peixiu felt warm in his heart and said with a smile, "Then shouldn't we also celebrate the blooming of the late tangerine?"
"How will we celebrate?"
She suddenly became interested, turned her head, and looked at him with sparkling eyes.
Ye Peixiu appeared deep in thought, his gaze occasionally sweeping across her face. His eyes always held a profound meaning, making her wonder. Xia Qingwan became wary again, saying, "You're not allowed to talk about things in bed."
Ye Peixiu laughed, "Am I that lustful?"
"You're just that lustful."
"Then I can't bear the blame for nothing."
As he spoke, he untied his wristwatch and tossed it onto the coffee table. Then he loosened his collar, and Xia Qingwan dropped her bracelet and dashed into the bedroom.
He climbed onto the bed and pulled the quilt up to cover himself.
After a while, Ye Peixiu's voice appeared at the end of the bed, laughing at her, "Why run to the bed when there are other places you can run to?"
She said from under the covers, "I'm going to sleep anyway."
“Okay,” he said, “then I’ll go take a shower.”
After saying this, he stood at the end of the bed with his hands in his pockets without moving.
The person in the quilt was curled up on the bed, leaving a slender curve.
Xia Qingwan held her breath and waited quietly, but was also afraid that he would launch a surprise attack, so she tried to be as inconspicuous as possible and jumped up a little bit while wrapped in the quilt.
Ye Peixiu was amused by her actions, and the fatigue from a day of work and socializing disappeared in her smile.
"...Xia Qingwan."
She pulled the quilt down a little, revealing only a pair of eyes. "...What?"
"Come over after I finish my shower..."
He only said half of the sentence and left the rest unsaid, just looking at her intently.
Xia Qingwan felt her face burning under his gaze, especially since he was standing at the foot of the bed, looking down at her from the most common angle from the bed...
She pretended nothing was wrong, "Why did you come back?"
He still didn't say anything, he just kept looking at her, his gaze growing deeper and deeper, as if they were doing *that* right now.
Xia Qingwan couldn't hold back any longer. She stuck one foot out from under the covers, as if to kick someone, and said, "Go on."
Ye Peixiu smiled and walked around the end of the bed, leaned over and kissed her forehead.
He went to the bathroom.
Not long after, while Xia Qingwan was lost in thought in the darkness of her bed, she felt a warm, large hand reach into the blankets, grab her ankle, and half-lift her out of bed.
Despite playful bickering along the way, she was still carried into the bathroom.
The bathtub was filled with hot water, with flower petals and bubbles floating on the surface.
As luck would have it, the maid also prepared crabapple petals for the bathtub today.
The bathtub is round and fully embedded, with a window right next to it, offering a glimpse of the crabapple tree in front of the terrace.
She was too shy, so Ye Peixiu cooperated and turned off the main light in the bathroom, leaving only a kingfisher feather and gilded bronze table lamp in the corner of the bathtub counter. The dim light was filtered through the begonia pattern on the lampshade, becoming hazy and dreamlike.
In the dim light, Xia Qingwan grew bolder and, wanting something new, propped herself up and pushed the window open a crack.
Sitting back on his lap, she asked softly, "Can you smell the fragrance of the crabapple blossoms?"
"No."
She was convinced that the delicate fragrance would soon waft through the window. Undeterred, she tilted her head back, wrinkled her nose, and sniffed the air like a puppy. Ye Peixiu leaned closer, turned his head to kiss the corner of her lips, and whispered, "Can you smell it?"
"not yet."
Before she could finish speaking, she felt herself being stretched open beneath her. "You..." She turned her face away, but before she could finish her sentence, her body went limp.
Ye Peixiu rested his arms on the table and said gently, "Be good, move around a bit."
"Close your eyes."
She said softly.
He closed his eyes obediently.
Xia Qingwan placed her hand on his shoulder, leaned closer, and kissed his eyes, just as he had done countless times, kissing down from his eyes to his lips.
Ye Peixiu returned her kiss softly and gently.
Ripples gradually appeared on the water surface. At first, as if testing, they came and went, but gradually they found their own rhythm, forming circles, like a pool of autumn water rippling in the breeze.
The crabapple petals swayed back and forth.
The rich and soft foam embraced her, gently pushing and pulling at the area below her heart. Under the water, Ye Peixiu held her waist with one hand to help her stabilize her body.
Their breaths intertwined before their noses. Ye Peixiu felt it for a moment and whispered, "I can smell it now."
Xia Qingwan composed herself slightly, and sure enough, the delicate fragrance of the flowers wafted over, intoxicatingly sweet.
"Tell me," he whispered in her ear while kissing her earlobe, "is it the petals in the bathtub that have become fragrant because of you, or is it the fragrance of the crabapple tree outside that has seeped in?"
Xia Qingwan simply couldn't understand the meaning of what he was saying.
After a moment's reaction, she protested softly, "...Why doesn't it smell like the aroma you baked?"
"You're so warm inside, I'm melting."
He lightly kissed her earlobe with his thin lips and spoke those words in a low, husky voice, causing her to grip his broad shoulders tightly, let out a sob, and let tears well up in her eyes.
The night when the late crabapple blossoms are in full bloom.
And thus sank.
Outside the window, the leaves rustled.
A damp breeze, carrying the fragrance of crabapple blossoms throughout the courtyard, blew in through the window. The wind grew stronger with each gust, and within the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the earthy smell of soil filled the air.
The gentle night rain settled down.
The spring night rain is cool and refreshing, just like her.
After the rain and wind, tomorrow morning, the whole yard will be covered with delicate pink and white petals.
At this moment, he and she lit candles to burn out the remaining night.
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Author's Note: Here we go!
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