Chapter 63 Zhou Yue acted as if he hadn't seen it...
In the early morning, Xia Zhiyao opened her eyes in the quiet. The first thing she saw was Zhou Yue's profile, which was very close to hers. He was sleeping soundly, his breathing steady and warm, gently brushing against her neck.
His hand was still on her waist, the weight and warmth of his palm making the distance feel even closer. Xia Zhiyao glanced at him indifferently, her gaze calm and undisturbed, then slowly closed her eyes, not intending to disturb this still moment.
After a moment, she quietly raised her fingers and gently removed his hand from her waist. She slowly got up, first lifting a corner of the blanket with her fingertips to make sure there was no sound, before quietly getting out of bed and pushing open the door to the bathroom.
On the table were her toothbrush, skincare products, and makeup bag. Because she had stayed at Zhou Yue's place so many times, she had gradually kept the items she brought with her, and now she had almost completed a set.
She bent down to get water to brush her teeth, the foam turning white at the corners of her lips. The cold water splashed on her face, the icy sensation dispelling her drowsiness. In the mirror, she saw a calm expression, the faint red marks at the corners of her eyes not deliberately concealed.
She reached out and unzipped her makeup bag, expertly applying her makeup. Once everything was ready, the person in the mirror had regained the sharp and capable appearance she had during the day, as if the warmth of the bed and the emotions of last night were just a dream quietly folded in the morning light.
When she finished her makeup, Zhou Yue had already woken up. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, buttoning his shirt. His eyes were clear and bright, and his expression showed the ease and refreshment of someone who had slept well all night.
Xia Zhiyao turned and went to the kitchen, where she ground beans and boiled water, her movements practiced and quiet.
While waiting for her coffee, she caught a glimpse of Zhou Yue standing on the balcony, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a cigarette, looking down at his phone. Morning light slipped down his shoulders, casting a thin haze of mist.
"Smoke less," she casually suggested.
"Just two or three a day," he replied unhurriedly, the smoke dissipating between his lips.
After brewing the coffee, she placed the cup on the table and took out the pistachio bread she had bought yesterday from the refrigerator.
Zhou Yue stubbed out his cigarette, sat down at the dining table, took a sip of coffee, and ate a piece of bread. He said casually, "I'm going to headquarters to have a meeting with General Manager Zheng in a bit."
"Yes, I have a meeting at nine o'clock," Xia Zhiyao added.
Everything was orderly and normal to the point of being deliberate, as if the passionate lovemaking of last night was just an illusion that had been gathered and sealed away by the morning, and had never truly existed.
Zhou Yue looked up at her and suddenly had a strange feeling. This conversation was just like that between an old married couple, so familiar that even their tone and rhythm were in sync.
However, behind this tacit understanding, there is no real sense of belonging. It seems that the only stable thing between them is this lukewarm concern.
In the past, Zhou Yue would sometimes wake up first on mornings.
It was still dark when he lay there quietly, watching her face buried in the pillow, her breathing soft and calm. Occasionally, a strand of hair would fall near her lips, and he would reach out to brush it away without disturbing her.
Once she was sound asleep, he quietly got out of bed, changed his clothes, took the documents he had been working on halfway through the night before from his desk, and before closing the door, his gaze lingered on her silhouette for a moment.
The door closed gently, and Zhou Yue had already regained his usual calm demeanor in the living room. He sat in front of the sofa, head down, typing on his laptop keyboard, his expression as focused as if he hadn't been disturbed all night.
When Xia Zhiyao woke up, she opened the door and went outside, and this was the scene she saw.
Hearing the soft sound of the door opening, he looked up, his gaze falling lightly on her, and said as usual, "Good morning."
This quiet of the early morning gradually became their most stable pattern. Night belonged to night, and early morning belonged to early morning. Their bodies could be as close as a last salvation, but their emotions always retreated.
Occasionally, they would make eye contact in the meeting room, and even if their eyes showed fatigue, they would not utter a word of concern.
Later, such nights became more frequent, not so frequent as to be decadent, but just enough to be addictive.
Every time feels like the last, but after the next drinking session, it will quietly repeat itself.
They don't talk about feelings, but in the darkness they tacitly treat each other as their only outlet. As soon as dawn breaks, they put on masks as if nothing had happened. But as night falls and the wine goes down their throats, that silent, repressed longing slowly awakens again.
No one said it aloud, but they all knew in their hearts that they had never truly let go, nor had they ever truly possessed anything.
The next day, Zhou Yue and his assistant Xu Nuo flew to Hong Kong. While waiting at the airport, Zhou Yue glanced at his phone screen, but there was no message from her.
After thinking about it, it makes sense. Xia Zhiyao is flying to Singapore the day after tomorrow to go to Nexora; her schedule is probably even tighter than his.
He could even picture her right now, sitting in her office surrounded by a table full of documents, focused and calm, not even having time to look up.
He looked away, put his phone on airplane mode, and outside the sky was shrouded in darkness beneath the wings, with a sea of clouds churning.
Xu Nuo continued reporting from the side: "After we arrive, we will go directly to the Hong Kong business group to meet with the directors. We will go to the site in the afternoon and have a banquet in the evening."
"Okay." Zhou Yue's tone was indifferent, as if he were responding to the schedule, or perhaps dealing with the inexplicable emptiness in his heart.
During his few days in Hong Kong, his schedule was packed with meetings, inspections, and social engagements. As the lights of Victoria Harbour shimmered in the night, he stood on the hotel balcony to answer the phone, his tone polite yet distant.
Xu Nuo put the documents away and was about to leave when he saw him smoking with his eyes downcast, the half-smoked cigarette glowing and dimming in the wind.
In the early hours of the morning, Zhou Yue woke up from a light sleep again, his consciousness still half-submerged in his dream. The warmth of the pillow still seemed to linger. He subconsciously reached out, but his fingertips touched a cold emptiness. There was no one in the blankets.
He slowly came to his senses, his breath carrying a strange sense of emptiness. He reached for his phone on the bedside table, and the screen lit up with an unread message from Xia Zhiyao.
There are no words, only a photograph.
Under the Singapore night sky, the Merlion fountain is bathed in gold light, and the water spray looks like an arc of white ribbon in the long exposure. The composition of the picture is meticulous, and it is obviously not a casual snapshot.
Zhou Yue stared at the photo for a long time, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his lips. The emptiness that the morning chill had crept into his heart, even without her saying a word, was enough to make him happily lie back down.
The negotiations concluded smoothly, and the partners warmly invited them to eat authentic Cantonese cuisine. Zhou Yue exchanged pleasantries without showing any emotion, his every move as composed and proper as ever, even his smile was just right.
But between toasts and drinks, his mind had already begun to wander, planning how to kill the few hours he had free in the afternoon.
Back at the hotel entrance, Assistant Xu Nuo, looking down at his phone, suggested with a smile, "Mr. Zhou, how about we go for a walk this afternoon? I was just thinking of going to Central to buy a gift for my girlfriend."
Zhou Yue originally wanted to refuse, as he had never liked shopping. However, the words "girlfriend" and "gift" suddenly brought a picture to his mind: Xia Zhiyao, in a smart suit and high heels, always carrying that enormous bag on her shoulder, walking with a confident stride.
Suddenly, he wondered if she would change her entire aura if she changed to a smaller bag.
"Let's go, what do you want to buy?" he replied casually, his tone seemingly nonchalant, but Xu Nuo didn't notice that his pace quickened a bit.
Xu Nuo smiled and said, "There are a lot. She asked me to bring skincare and cosmetic products."
Xu Nuo went straight to another floor to pick out a gift, while Zhou Yue took the escalator up alone, his gaze lingering for a moment on the classic black and white Chanel logo.
The counter lighting was perfectly placed, and the black pearl chain bag lay quietly in the glass case. He walked over, looked at the bag through the glass, and her image floated into his mind.
When she's sharp, she can command the entire room; when she doesn't show her sharpness, she's still impeccably capable. But he'd seen another side of her: her eyes slightly relaxed when she's drunk, her drowsy state when she wakes up in the morning—like a softness hidden beneath armor, not easily seen, yet undeniably real.
This bag is just like that side of her: gentle yet measured; exquisite yet substantial.
.
"Sir, would you like me to open it and take a look?" The shop assistant's voice pulled Zhou Yue back from his reverie.
He nodded, then casually asked, "How tall are you?"
"1.71 meters tall," the shop assistant replied with a smile.
Zhou Yue nodded slightly: "She's about the same height as my girlfriend, could you help me carry her on your back?"
The shop assistant paused for a moment, then smiled even more genuinely, took the bag out of the display case, and tried it on over one shoulder. "Although it's small, the capacity is very practical," the shop assistant said as she turned around. "It's just the right size to put my phone and car keys when I'm out shopping."
Zhou Yue looked at the black figure in the mirror, his gaze shifting slightly, as if he had already sketched out the scene in his mind: her slender high heels stepping on the floor tiles, her pace unhurried, the bag chain swaying gently on her shoulder, perfectly matching her aura.
He looked away and said calmly, "I'll take it."
As he walked out of the store carrying the small shopping bag, he realized that he rarely prepared such a surprise for someone without any reason.
On the third day after Zhou Yue returned to China, in the cold wind of the morning rush hour, he leaned against the parking lot downstairs from Xia Zhiyao's company, holding a small black gift box bag in his hand.
Seeing her car approaching from afar, she stopped and was clearly taken aback, as if she hadn't expected him to be waiting there.
"What are you doing here?" She approached, her gaze falling on the bag in his hand. She paused, then raised an eyebrow. "Business trip to Hong Kong, and doing some side shopping on the side?"
Zhou Yue handed over the bag, saying casually, "I'm not a reseller, I just thought this would suit you well."
She glanced down at him, took the bag, and quickly looked up again, her tone as casual as ever: "Fine, since you've bought it, I can't just let you return it."
The next morning, Xia Zhiyao changed out of her usual large-capacity commuter bag and carried the small pearl chain bag to work.
She walked steadily down the corridor, but slowed down slightly as she passed Zhou Yue's office.
Zhou Yue was looking down at his documents when he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye, and a very slight smile appeared on his lips. Without looking up, he simply sent a message on WeChat: "My taste is pretty good."
She replied after a few seconds: "It'll do."
But when Zhou Yue looked at those three words, he could almost see the hint of a reluctant smile she had when she replied.
A few days later, when Zhou Yue returned to his office after get off work, he saw a rectangular gray hard-shell bag on his desk. It was neatly sealed and the handle was tied with a thin rope.
He opened the outer bag, revealing a deep sepia blue cashmere coat. The shoulders were clean and sharp, the silhouette long and elegant, even the buttons were subtly refined. It felt soft to the touch yet had a substantial weight. Turning to the inner pocket, he found a thin card tucked inside: "I just happened to be passing by and thought it would look good on you."
The next day, he changed into this coat, paired with a light blue striped shirt, looking clean, neat, and casually handsome.
Early in the morning, Zheng Xiaotian was walking towards the conference room when his gaze inadvertently fell on Zhou Yue. "Oh, our CEO Zhou has started dressing up now. He's finally given up on your pile of black, white, and gray clothes." His tone was half teasing and half joking, which made a few people chuckle quietly.
Xia Zhiyao merely glanced at Zhou Yue without replying.
As the meeting ended and people gradually dispersed, Zhou Yue slowly walked up to her, leaned down slightly, and asked in a low voice, "Shirt, does it look familiar?"
Xia Zhiyao closed her laptop, glanced at him, and her expression was full of "If you have something important to say, say it; if not, get lost." Zhou Yue, however, acted as if he didn't see it and curled his lips into a smile: "You bought it."
She paused for a moment before remembering that it happened in New York. At that time, she was already planning to leave and wanted to arrange everything for him before leaving, and she changed his clothes many times.
And now, he stands before her wearing one of those clothes, casually remarking, yet gently revealing her thoughts from back then.
Xia Zhiyao didn't respond, lowering her eyes to hide her expression. Zhou Yue stared at her for a moment, then finally smiled happily.
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