CH 29

After talking, the tension between the two had eased and felt as if they returned to before the wedding happened.

Of course, Eldest Young Master Xie still had a cold face, making the situation no different. 

That night, Xie Baiyan never returned, leaving the villa as quiet as still water. 

As usual, Ye An picked out a set of clothes for Xie Shuo and ran a bath for him. However, she did not speak a word to him from beginning to end.

Xie Shuo noticed her shift in character but didn’t apologize to express his remorse. Instead, he became even more silent than before.

After bathing, he resumed his habit of sitting on the sofa and facing the French windows. 

Ye An came out of the bathroom to see his desolate figure. She walked subconsciously forward and stopped when she remembered that she was still angry at him. Instead, she headed straight to bed.

Did you think that I would forgive you so easily? In your dreams!

Ye An secretly cursed him as she laid down in bed, but she was still inexplicably irritated. After tossing and turning for a while, she still couldn’t sleep.

After some time, there was finally some movement from the other side, and a familiar scent came nearer. 

Ye An awkwardly wiggled to the side of the bed to make space for him while still having her back faced away from him.

Xie Shuo paused when he heard her moving before closing his eyes.

That night, Ye An didn’t sleep well. When she woke up the next morning, there were bags under her eyes.

After eating breakfast, she didn’t go anywhere. Yawning, she went to play games on her phone on their sofa in their bedroom.

Xie Shuo went to the study, so she was alone in the room.

Suddenly a voice message popped up on her screen. She squinted and tapped it.

Shi Shuangshuang’s excited voice sounded, “An An! You’ve made it!”

Ye An was startled out of her drowsy state. She pressed the microphone icon and brought the phone closer to her. “What do you mean?”

Shi Shuangshuang: “Haven’t you checked the internet? The song you recorded for “Pharmacy” is in the top five for this week’s music chart!”

In the time that Ye An had taken to accompany Xie Shuo to the treatment institute, the anime “Pharmacy” aired, and its public reception was quite good. Coupled with the promotions that Brilliant Dream’s public relations team aired, the popularity of all the posts about the anime soared, which brought the theme song that Ye An recorded with it.

Not only that, Brilliant Dreams seemed to have especially publicized her. Her follower count on Weibo had increased exponentially recently, surpassing all the other characters and posts.

She casually clicked on her profile to be instantly blown away by the sheer number of confession and fawning posts she was tagged in.

Ye An slowly typed out her reply: [Oh, it seems there’s not a lot of competition in the music charts this week.]

Shi Shuangshuang: […]

Shi Shuangshuang: [Speaking of which, where have you been for the past two months? It’s like you vanished into thin air–no Weibo posts, no texts, no hanging out or anything.]

Ye An: [Didn’t I tell you that I was taking care of my husband?]

Shi Shuangshuang: [Your husband is still sick? What is he sick with, and why hasn’t he been healed yet?]

Ye An’s fingertips paused before replying, [Nothing serious, we’ve already returned home.]

Shi Shuangshuang: [That’s good, then.]

Shi Shuangshuang: [Do you want to hang out? There’s an anime convention at the exhibition hall today, and I invited Yimiao and some others.]

Ye An thought about it and replied: [Not today, I’m a little tired. I’ll go next time, but you guys have fun.]

Xie Baiyan should be coming back today. Although she was currently having a cold war with Xie Shuo, they still had to pretend in front of Xie Baiyan.

—-

The summer weather was volatile, and it began raining after lunch.

The raindrops pitter-pattered on the leaves and branches of the trees while Ye An wrapped herself in a thin blanket and slept in the room.

She vaguely heard the door open, and someone walked in with light footsteps.

Ye An tried her best to open her eyes and saw a fuzzy outline, but she was too sleepy and closed them again, ignoring the figure.

When she woke up, the rain had stopped. The sky was gloomy and filled with clouds, hinting at more rain.

Ye An walked to the balcony to get a breath of fresh air and saw a familiar car in the distance driving through the garden. It was Xie Baiyan returning.

She hurried back into the room to wash her face before going to the study to find Xie Shuo.

After pushing open the door, she found Xie Shuo leaning against the sofa, fast asleep.

A sliver of light entered through the curtains. He tilted his head and frowned with his lips pursed tightly, as if he was having a nightmare.

There was a sickly hue to his face. His lips were pale, which made him look even more haggard.

Ye An stood near him and watched him before sighing. She resigned to her fate, brought a blanket over, and carefully covered him. 

But as soon as the blanket covered him, her wrist was grabbed.

He slowly opened his eyes, and even though he couldn’t see, Ye An was still flustered.

It was too embarrassing to be caught in this position.

His hands were a bit cold, and his fingers were slender. Ye An thought back to the shame that she felt being pressed under him yesterday, and she became even more embarrassed and uncomfortable. She retracted her wrist and struggled to free herself from his grip.

This time Xie Shuo didn’t use much strength to hold her, so he let go of her and sat up.

The blanket slid off of him and settled around his waist, covering his legs. Ye An didn’t want him to misunderstand, so she reluctantly said, “Father-in-law came back.”

So it wasn’t me purposely trying to be nice to you.

Xie Shuo didn’t say anything, so it was unclear whether or not he understood her meaning. He stood up from the sofa.

Ye An reluctantly raised her arm to support him downstairs.

Xie Baiyan didn’t notice anything different between the two, and everything went as usual.

During dinner, Xie Baiyan’s gaze suddenly caught Ye An’s wrist. “An An, what happened to your wrist?”

Ye An froze for a moment before looking down. The bruises on her fair skin were particularly conspicuous.

…You’ll have to ask your son about that.

Recalling what happened yesterday, Ye An glanced at Xie Shuo and smiled. “Nothing, I accidentally bumped into the nightstand before going to sleep last night.”

Who hurts their wrist like that by bumping into a nightstand?

Xie Baiyan was not a fool and could tell that her bruises could not have come from a nightstand. He noticed her glance at Xie Shuo and guessed the situation, but he didn’t say anything more.

There was a subtle shift in the atmosphere.

Xie Baiyan went with her excuse and said, “I’ll have someone find you some ointment then.”

Ye An smiled gently and replied, “En.”

To the side, Xie Shuo listened to their conversation, and the hand that held his chopsticks paused. An emotion flashed across his normally cold face.

After a while, Xie Baiyan suddenly said, “Do you guys want to make up your honeymoon and find a place to relax?”

Ye An was originally drinking soup, but she choked upon hearing such a sudden question. She raised her head and looked at Xie Baiyan.

Xie Baiyan met her gaze with a gentle smile.

Ye An wondered if he had been Grandfather Xie. They probably intended for the honeymoon to be a chance for her and Xie Shuo to develop some romantic feelings, so they could have a child sooner.

But was Xie Shuo up for this? Would someone who constantly shut himself in a room all day be willing to go on a honeymoon with her?

Ye An couldn’t help but glance at Xie Shuo, who remained calm and as if he hadn’t heard the question.

“An An, do you know where you want to go?” Xie Baiyan asked again.

Ye An smiled. “I’m okay with anything, so it’ll be up to Xie Shuo.”

Xie Baiyan also glanced at Xie Shuo and said, “Then you guys can discuss it by yourselves.”

—-

It rained again in the evening. 

After Ye An showered, she was surprised to find that Xie Shuo was sitting in bed instead of on the sofa. His expression was still cold, and his thoughts were indiscernible. 

Refusing to concede in this cold war, Ye An sat at the edge of the bed and drew her legs up.

Xie Shuo listened to the rustling sounds beside him and suddenly said, “Did you put on the ointment?”

Ye An: “…”

Ye An was stunned for a moment before she realized that he was talking about the ointment for her wrist. She couldn’t help but be somewhat flattered by the attention; it was as if the sun had risen from the west today since he showed some semblance of care for her.

Ye An raised her wrist and kneaded it. She frowned, deliberately saying, “I don’t need to; it wasn’t broken or anything.”

Xie Shuo pursed his lips and resumed his usual indifferent expression.

Ye An’s gaze swept across hin and suddenly stopped–

The man’s robe had an open collar, and there were several red scratches on his chest and collarbone, which made for a ghastly sight.

…She really didn’t go easy on him yesterday.

Ye An felt a little better and thought: Good thing it wasn’t his face.

She pulled the covers up and was about to go to sleep when the cold voice sounded again–

“Where do you want to go?”

Ye An was shocked once again: what did that mean?

A trace of discomfort flashed across Xie Shuo’s face. He paused before saying lightly, “Didn’t you say you wanted a honeymoon?”

Ye An: …Are you serious?

Ye An was stunned. What was going on today?

She stared at him in disbelief and read emotion from his face that had been indifferent for years–if she was guessing correctly, he was trying to apologize for what happened yesterday?

But this…was so strange!

However, Ye An didn’t want to forgive him so easily.

Of course, the important part was that she hadn’t thought of a place to go to.

So she said, “Antarctica.”

Xie Shuo: “?”

Ye An repeated, “I want to go to Antarctica.”

Xie Shuo: “…”

Xie Shuo was silent for a few seconds before asking, “Why do you want to go to Antarctica?”

Ye An: “To see the penguins, of course! I’ve never seen a live penguin!”

Xie Shuo: “…”

Ye An glanced at the expression on his face and raised her chin, her lips curling. “What, we can’t go to Antarctica for the honeymoon?”

Xie Shuo noticed that she was deliberately teasing him and no longer responded. His eyelashes drooped, and his lips pressed together.

The last trace of annoyance in her heart disappeared, and Ye An complained with a cheerful expression, “If you don’t want to go to Antarctica, then just pretend that I never mentioned it.”

After she finished speaking, she brushed her hair to one side and laid down.

Xie Shuo leaned against the headboard and sat quietly for a while before lying down.

That night, Ye An slept well. Not only was the sleep good, but she also had a dream.

She dreamed that she and Xie Shuo went to Antarctica for their honeymoon. In the vast icescape, the two were surrounded by a huddle of penguins, one of which took the initiative to rush into her arms.

She happily held the penguin in her arms and pet it. However, the more she pet it, the more she felt like something was off–why was this penguin warm? And why was this penguin hard?

She frowned and opened her eyes to find that the penguin she was holding was not a penguin at all but Xie Shuo.

She had also apparently woken him up. Xie Shuo had his eyes open, as if he was thinking about whether or not to push her away.

Ye An: “…”

Why can’t I control myself?

The morning light shone through the window and scattered onto the bed. Ye An was embarrassed for approximately two seconds before letting it go, getting out of bed, and pretending that nothing happened.

Ye An took the morning to turn on her computer and start researching popular tourist destinations and suitable locations for their honeymoon.

It couldn’t be too far because it would be inconvenient for Xie Shuo as he was still taking medication. The sun couldn’t be too strong because it wouldn’t be good for his eyes. It couldn’t be too well-known, but most of the famous scenic attractions in China were really crowded.

After researching for the whole morning, Ye An finally picked a suitable place. It was near the city and was a scenic location called “Qianyue Mountain.” The moon and lakes were said to be particularly beautiful, and the area wasn’t too developed. There were also hotels nearby.

After choosing the place, Ye An got up and intended on going to the study to find Xie Shuo and discuss her choices with him. When she left the bedroom, she saw Aunt Zhou randomly leading two delivery men upstairs.

The two men carried a large cardboard box that was half her height, but it was unclear what was inside. 

Seeing her, Aunt Zhou had the two people put down the package. She asked, “Madam, where should this go?”

Ye An was puzzled. “What is it?”

Aunt Zhou had the two people remove the cardboard box, and a tall penguin appeared in front of Ye An. It seemed to be a robot, but it was extremely realistic. 

Ye An: ???

Aunt Zhou: “Eldest Young Master said that this was for Madam.”

To show the “penguin’s” ability, one of the delivery men pressed the penguin’s switch, which made the penguin flap its tiny fins and say, “Master, I really like you!”

Ye An: “…”