Chapter 16: Their Breaths Mingled, Leaving His Heart Itching
The gathering broke up fairly early.
Chi Yang had only drunk a single Caribbean Sunset—well within her tolerance—so she wasn’t drunk.
Ji Fengting called a designated driver for himself.
As it happened, Jiang Li and Xue Rang were headed in the same direction. The two immediately abandoned their friend without a shred of guilt and happily hitched a ride together.
Chi Yang had only stepped out to use the restroom.
Yet when she returned, the private room was empty.
Well, almost.
Xie Youci was the only one left.
He lounged lazily against the sofa, a cigarette hanging from his lips. With lowered eyes, he absentmindedly flicked the wheel of his lighter. A burst of flame illuminated his face before catching the tip of the cigarette.
He lifted a hand, drawing on it slowly. Smoke curled from his lips as the sharp lines of his fingers appeared strikingly elegant—and unfairly attractive—in the reddish glow.
Click.
The door suddenly opened.
Xie Youci looked up with little interest. But the moment he saw Chi Yang, he visibly paused.
“You’re still here?”
Almost immediately, he removed the cigarette from his lips and turned his head, exhaling the smoke away from her. He waved a hand through the air to disperse it before pinching the cigarette out with his fingers.
“Where’d everyone go?” Chi Yang asked, glancing around.
Xie Youci explained about the designated driver and the carpool arrangement, then tossed the unfinished cigarette into the ashtray.
“Traitors!” Chi Yang crossed her arms indignantly. “How did they just assume I wasn’t going the same way?”
In truth, she wasn’t.
They had all known each other since childhood—close enough to wear the same pair of pants, as the saying went. Everyone knew where Chi Yang lived.
Xie Youci rose unhurriedly to his feet.
“I’ll take you home.”
Chi Yang eyed him suspiciously.
“You’re not planning to use this chance to kidnap me back to the marital home, are you?”
A low scoff escaped him.
Bending down, he picked up the light shawl she’d left on the sofa along with her purse.
“Some people seem much more interested in watching handsome men perform strip shows,” he drawled. “I imagine they have no interest whatsoever in married life or their newlywed husband. Do I really strike you as someone who enjoys making a fool of himself?”
Something about him felt strange tonight.
His gaze remained lowered. He didn’t even look at her.
Yet Chi Yang found herself studying him with growing curiosity.
The next second—
A face suddenly appeared right in front of him.
Even blurred by proximity, it was still exquisitely beautiful.
Chi Yang tipped her face up and leaned closer.
She moved too quickly and nearly bumped noses with him. Fortunately, she stopped herself in time, leaving just enough distance between them to avoid actual contact.
“Xie Youci.”
As she spoke, her soft breaths brushed inadvertently across his cheek.
His lashes lowered as he looked at the woman standing before him.
Aside from the times she’d deliberately teased him—biting his collarbone, nipping his chin, shamelessly feeling his abs—this was the first time they had stood this close, face to face.
Close enough for him to see the fine downy hairs on her skin.
Close enough to see his own reflection in her eyes.
And only now did Chi Yang realize—
He seemed slightly drunk.
His eyelashes were thick and lowered lazily. The corners of his long eyes carried a faint flush of intoxication, and there was a trace of alcohol in his breath.
But his mind was perfectly clear.
At least clear enough that when she suddenly leaned in, his heartbeat still missed a beat.
“Do you know that?”
She blinked at him with obvious amusement.
“Right now, you look exactly like a neglected husband sulking alone in an empty room.”
Xie Youci lowered his head slightly.
The posture allowed the loose strands of hair across his forehead to shadow his eyes, lending him an almost dangerous kind of charm beneath the room’s shifting lights.
“So,” he asked softly, “does Mrs. Xie—the woman responsible for leaving her husband all alone—have any plans to move back into our marital home?”
“No.”
Chi Yang’s answer was proud and immediate.
Xie Youci’s dark gaze swept across her face.
Then he laughed through his nose and straightened.
Hands tucked into his pockets, he adopted a careless, almost indifferent expression.
“Good. I don’t have any interest in you either.”
Realization dawned on Chi Yang.
“Oh.”
Her tone became unexpectedly cheerful.
“Then let’s go. Carry my purse and jacket properly, okay? Thanks for your hard work, Little Xie.”
Xie Youci: “…”
Miss Chi strutted out in her high heels like a victorious queen.
Xie Youci followed behind, her shawl draped over his arm. After a quiet scoff, he lengthened his stride to catch up.
Interest?
Yeah, right.
It wasn’t as if she liked him at all.
Not even a little.
In the end, Chi Yang was dropped off at her small villa.
After that, several more days passed without them seeing each other.
When they finally met again, it was Chi Yang who unexpectedly returned to the marital home on her own initiative.
Work at the National Museum wasn’t particularly demanding at the moment.
Before officially beginning the restoration and illustration work for the Dunhuang relief murals, the project team still had preparations to complete—research, planning, gathering references, and drafting preliminary design elements.
Late Wednesday afternoon, just before she was about to leave work, her phone rang.
It was her mother.
“Er’er, have you had lunch yet?”
Chi Yang froze.
It took her several seconds to process the question.
“Lunch?”
“Of course.” Chi Qing pulled her phone away to check the time. “I figured it should be around noon in Italy right now. Don’t tell me my daughter has been so busy with graduation that she’s forgotten to eat?”
The moment she heard that, Chi Yang understood.
Standing before the museum’s faceted floor-to-ceiling windows, she lowered her lashes. Reflected light cast small shadows across her eyes.
After a long pause, she finally spoke.
“Mom.”
“I came back to China quite a while ago.”
“And I told you three months ago that I’d already completed my master’s graduation exhibition.”
“I even sent you photos of my work.”
Silence answered her.
Even over the phone, an awkwardness that should never have existed between a mother and daughter quietly settled between them.
The silence stretched on.
Only after a long while did Chi Qing speak again.
“I’m sorry, Er’er. Work’s been so busy that I forgot…”
Perhaps it wasn’t forgetfulness.
She had never really paid attention to when Chi Yang returned to China in the first place.
You couldn’t forget something you’d never cared enough to remember.
In her own way, Chi Qing did care about her daughter.
But her version of care was different from other mothers’.
As long as Chi Yang had enough money, lived comfortably, and lacked for nothing materially, then, in Chi Qing’s eyes, she had fulfilled all of her responsibilities as a mother.
After a moment, Chi Qing tried again.
“You’re in Beijing now, right? Since you’re back, you should find some time to go register your marriage with Youci as soon as possible.”
“We already did.”
Another long silence.
Chi Qing sighed and rubbed her forehead.
“I’m sorry, Er’er…”
“It’s okay.”
Chi Yang had heard those apologies too many times.
“Did you need something else, Mom?”
“Nothing really. I just wanted to check in on you. I didn’t expect…”
Guilt crept into Chi Qing’s voice.
“How about this? Once I finish work tonight, I’ll stop by your marital home. We can have dinner together.”
Though Chi Qing had rarely been affectionate and had hardly given her any of the warmth people associated with motherly love, Chi Yang didn’t dislike her mother.
Nor did she reject these occasional attempts at concern.
In fact, the moment she heard her mother suggest dinner together, the disappointment she’d been feeling vanished instantly.
She stood there stunned for a moment before delight flooded her face.
“Okay.”
The answer came out almost too quickly.
As though she feared that if she hesitated for even a second, her mother would suddenly receive another work call and cancel the plan.
After ending the call, Chi Yang returned to her office.
Picking up her carving knife, she resumed work on the divine deer relief sculpture element she had been responsible for, carefully refining the final details.
The thought that her mother would be coming for dinner that evening left her in an unusually good mood.
Her mind drifted as she worked, wondering what dishes she should prepare and whether her mother’s tastes had changed over the years.
Then a sharp pain suddenly shot through her fingertip.
“Hiss—”
Chi Yang sucked in a breath.
The carving knife slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor.
A bead of bright red blood welled up from her fingertip.
