CH 34

That night, as Ye An was putting the roses they bought earlier into a vase, she suddenly received a Wechat message from Xiang Quan.

Xiang Quan: [Did you go out today?]

Ye An was surprised by his text and answered: [Yes, how’d you know?]

Xiang Quan: [There was an event that our studio held today with some other organizations, and I saw you on the way out.]

That meant he also saw Xie Shuo. Ye An’s actions paused.

Xiang Quan: [The man by your side was…?]

Ye An looked down and replied: [My husband.]

As soon as she sent the text, the other party began typing.

After a long time, the response came through: [Is he visually impaired?]

Ye An knew he would ask this question and replied, “En,” with no hesitation.

The icon that showed the other party typing appeared again, representing the confusion and shock in his heart.

Xiang Quan: [I wasn’t trying to mean anything by it. There were a lot of people there today and a lot of gossip happening. You have a pretty good reputation in the industry now, and I just wanted to remind you to be mentally prepared.]

Ye An: [All right, I understand. Thank you.]

From the moment she had taken Xie Shuo out, she had predicted this outcome.

There was no response from the other party, probably because he didn’t know what else to say.

After the conversation was over, Ye An looked at her phone for a while before picking an outfit for Xie Shuo to go bathe.

—-

The gossip spread quickly through the circles, and Ye An was bombarded with texts from Shi Shuangshuang the next morning.

Shi Shuangshuang: [An An, what’s going on?]

Shi Shuangshuang: [Why is everyone saying that you married a blind man?]

Shi Shuangshuang: [They’re rumors, right?]

Shi Shuangshuang:[confused.jpg]

When Ye An saw the texts, Ye An had just woken up and finished showering. She clicked the reply box and typed her reply, asking, [Who’s saying that?]

Shi Shuangshuang sent a randomly selected post.

Ye An clicked on it and looked at the post title: [Ye An’s husband is blind! Did you guys know?]

Post discussion: I went out shopping today and unexpectedly saw Ye An with a man. The man was blind and should be her husband. It shocked me out of my wits! The attached picture below is proof.

The picture attached below showed her and Xie Shuo out shopping yesterday. The picture was taken from far away and of low quality, so her face was shown, but only a small part of Xie Shuo’s face was visible.

The comment section was active:

First comment:[WTF! That’s hard to believe!]

Second comment: [I’m confused? Didn’t she marry rich; what’s the truth?]

Third comment: [Marrying rich doesn’t mean that she also can’t marry a blind man, right? Maybe it was because he was blind that she was able to marry rich?]

Fourth comment: [I have a theory; maybe she had a Chongxi marriage?**]

(Chongxi)-There is a superstition in China where marriage brings luck into the family. Chongxi marriages are for sick people in hopes that the blessing from the marriage will cure the person’s ailment.

……

Fifth comment: […@Fourth comment, I kind of believe it.]

Sixth comment: [What era is this for there to be Chongxi marriages still happening? How funny. grin.jpg ]

Seventh comment: [Am I the only one noticing that the man is attractive?]

Eighth comment: [Even with this picture quality, you’re also able to see how handsome he is? Respect. bowing.jpg]

—

Ye An skimmed the comments before closing the post.

Shi Shuangshuang sent another text: [Can you send a lawyer after these kinds of rumors?]

Ye An replied: [Those aren’t rumors; my husband is blind.]

Shi Shuangshuang: “…”

Shi Shuangshuang was so shocked she almost dropped her phone. Didn’t she marry a rich and powerful Eldest Young Master? How come he’s blind?

Ye An: [I was accompanying him in treatment in the past.]

It took a while for Shi Shuangshuang to digest the news and reply: [Is it that serious? How long will he take to heal?]

Ye An: [Not sure yet.]

Shi Shuangshuang’s fingers paused, and she hesitated for a while before saying:  [Let me ask one more question. Did you want to marry him?]

Seeing her text, Ye An couldn’t help but laugh as she replied: [What are you thinking of? If I didn’t want to, who could make me do something? crying.laughing.jpg]

Shi Shuangshuang breathed a sigh of relief, but she still didn’t quite understand something.

Shi Shuangshuang: [Then how did you…what do you see in him?]

Shi Shuangshuang: [No offense to your husband.]

Ye An: [He’s rich and handsome!]

Shi Shuangshuang: […]

Of course.

Ye An: [I’m really okay, and my life is good. I married him by my own choice, so don’t believe people that say otherwise.]

Shi Shuangshuang recalled how Ye An looked when she showed  off her wealth at the company dinner last time and began to believe it. She replied: [As long as you’re happy, nothing else matters. I wish your husband a speedy recovery. Love you!]

Ye An smiled and replied with a kissing emoji before putting her phone down. After Xie Shuo came out of the bathroom, they headed downstairs to eat.

After breakfast, Ye An read to Xie Shuo in the study as usual. It had been challenging for the last two days because the material was a classic written in English, so it was somewhat difficult to read. Xie Shuo had to help her occasionally.

While reading, Ye An thought about learning a few more languages to fully tap into her potential.

An hour later, Ye An closed the book with a dry mouth. There was half a cup of tea on the table that had been poured a while ago, and she drank it in one go.

She held the teacup and rested for a while before asking Xie Shuo to lie down so she could give him a head massage.

She looked down, causing her eyelashes to droop. Her profile was fair and as smooth as porcelain against the backdrop of the sky.

After a twenty-minute massage, Ye An helped him get up. She looked into his eyes and suddenly had an idea. “I think you can learn a new skill before your eyes heal; you should learn how to be a masseuse.”

Xie Shuo opened his eyes and faced her expressionlessly. 

“I’m serious.” Ye An’s fingers were numb, so she opened and closed her hand and shook them a few times. “I heard that blind people’s senses–like touch, become extra sensitive to compensate, so learning how to do massages would be easier for you than ordinary people.”

She abruptly leaned closer to him. “Is your sense of touch more sensitive than before?”

Her familiar scent entered his nostrils as she approached closer, and her warm breath blew across his face. Xie Shuo turned his face to the side, ignoring her nonsense.

Ye An was curious and couldn’t hold back her urge to touch his Adam’s apple.

In the next moment, her hand was caught, and her fingertips became trapped in his palm.

Ye An smiled. “So it’s true!”

Xie Shuo suddenly pulled her into his arms and held her soft waist with a cold face.

Ye An wasn’t expecting this as she was knocked into his chest. She was stunned by his handsome face up close.

The sound of their breaths was audible in the silence.

Xie Shuo spoke in a low voice, seeming to contain some emotion.

“If you don’t want the same thing from the other day to happen again, calm down.”

After saying this sentence, he let go of her mercilessly and got up to walk out of the study, leaving only the image of his back.

The events from the other day… Chaotic scenes flashed through her mind and left her face red.

That day, they were also on the sofa. Although her experience was unpleasant at the time, they came close to…she still remembered the feeling of him leaning over to kiss her and the strength in his fingers.

The sofa under her hand also seemed to heat up, causing Ye An to move her hand and put it in her lap out of discomfort. The heat in her ears lingered for a long time.

Wasn’t it just a light touch?

—

The two didn’t meet again until lunchtime. 

In the afternoon, Ye An wrapped herself in a thin blanket and took an hour-long nap in the bedroom.

After she woke up, she turned on her phone and checked Weibo, which she discovered had exploded with activity. 

A melon-eating blogger reposted the photo taken of her and Xie Shuo, and within a few hours, there were thousands of reposts and nearly ten thousand comments.

Her popularity soared a while ago when “Pharmacist” became popular and Brilliant Dreams had promoted her. If she hadn’t been taking care of Xie Shuo and had no intention of building up her career, the news could have potentially been even more popular now.

Ye An clicked on the comments and looked at them. The passersby, fans, and anti-fans gathered together to observe the chaos:

[I’ve eaten another melon now. So she actually married a blind man and not someone rich and powerful? confused.jpg]

[Isn’t it such a pity to marry a blind person with such good looks?]

[You can do anything with money. This meimei is also pretty fierce.]

[emmm, there’s no need for this, really no need…]

[I screamed seeing this; I liked her that much…]

[Everyone’s talking about Ye An, but does no one care about who her husband is?]

[I care! Squatting for this melon~]

She looked at her own Weibo profile to see that people were fighting in her comments. Some fans quit being her fan, some didn’t believe the rumors, and some respected her choices and only wanted to watch her works.

Ye An skimmed the comments and saw that some people were questioning Xie Shuo’s identity, so she hurriedly called Zhong Fu and asked him to find someone to observe the internet activity. That way, they could be ready to delete the post and withdraw this topic from the trending search at any time.

Although the picture only showed a blurred side profile, it was difficult to guarantee that no one would put together the clues and find something.

Zhong Fu received the call and immediately had someone on it.

Ye An was somewhat relieved and began to think of how to appease her fans and calm the public.

She got up to go to the bathroom. After washing her face and taking a minute to calm down, she pulled out a wedding ring from her drawer, which had been hidden for a long time.

This time, she also took out Xie Shuo’s ring.

Xie Shuo wasn’t in the bedroom, but Ye An found him in the study. She sat down next to him and reached out for his hand.

“Give me your hand.”

Xie Shuo: “?”

Seeing him not respond, Ye An grabbed his left hand and put his wedding band on for him.

Xie Shuo touched the object on his ring finger and frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t take it off yet; let me take a photo first,” Ye An said while putting her own ring on.

She took Xie Shuo’s hand and put it on the table next to her.

Their two hands overlapped with her hand on top of his and displaying the rings.

After arranging the pose, Ye An took a picture from several angles. She felt as if something was missing from the picture.

After thinking of it, she let go of him and hurried back to the bedroom. She took a rose from the bouquet she bought yesterday and hurried back to the study.

She took Xie Shuo’s hand again and put it on hers, saying, “Don’t move; I’m taking a picture.”

Although Xie Shuo looked impatient, he cooperated with her and didn’t move.

Ye An put the rose by their hands and found a good angle to take another picture. This time, it satisfied her requirements.

After the shot, she ignored Xie Shuo and sat down on the side to start retouching the picture.

Bewildered by her actions, Xie Shuo twisted the wedding ring on his finger as if wanting to take it off. After a while, he was finally able to do so.

Ye An edited the picture for a long time and posted it on Weibo after confirming that there was no problem.

Ye An: Like a fish drinking water, I know its warmth and chill. I am fine, and so is my husband. Thank you for everyone’s concern. <3**

如鱼饮水，冷暖自知- A fish is always in the water, so it knows what cold and hot water feels like. This idiom generally refers to your experience, and you know the joys and sorrows of your experiences.

Soon after, the comment section exploded

[Announcement!!!]

[crying.jpg You’re really married to a blind man? I wanna cry…]

[Like a fish drinking water, you know its warmth and chill. Alright, as long as jiejie is happy~]

[Am I the only one that thinks the term ‘my husband’ is super endearing?]

[Nope, +1]

[What a beautiful love, I suddenly want to kneel to this CP kowtow.jpg]

[As a fan of hands, I declare this CP adequate.]

[My ideal type is also rich, handsome, and blind. That way, he can’t see my ugly face :)]

[Also my ideal type :)]

Because Ye An is usually relatively low-key and is not a person in the entertainment industry, most of the comments were calmer than she predicted. Although there was still ridicule and doubt, they were quickly hidden by the newer comments.

After dealing with the drama, Ye An heaved a sigh of relief, dropped the phone, and slumped on the sofa.

Xie Shuo also sat down beside her. Ye An glanced at the wedding ring on his finger, and the corners of her lips raised. She asked him happily, “What are we doing today?”

Xie Shuo said lightly, “There’s a document on the table; read it to me.”

Ye An: “…”

All right.

They were busy until four, and Ye An dragged Xie Shuo outside to take a walk in the garden.

The autumn sun shined down, and there were geese flying through the clear skies.

—

That evening in Yishui City.

Xia Jin was carrying vegetables while walking into her neighborhood when a young girl passed by pushing a bicycle. When she saw Xia Jin, she asked, “Aunt Jin, I heard that An jie is married now.”

Xia Jin froze. “Who said that?”

The girl was also stunned. “I followed her on Weibo and saw her post her wedding ring…” Seeing Xia Jin’s reaction, the girl was a little confused. “Aunt Jin, did you not know?”

Xia Jin’s expression instantly changed, and she said, “Can you show me?”

The girl realized that she might have done something wrong and nervously clicked on Ye An’s Weibo profile to show the photo.

In the photo, two hands were clasped together next to delicate red roses. The two wedding rings formed a pair.

Xia Jin’s expression became uglier and uglier. She hurried home with her vegetables.

As soon as she entered the house, she took out her phone to make a call before even taking off her shoes.

Ye An and Xie Shuo were resting on the lounge chairs in the garden when she heard the vibrating sounds of her phone. She took it out, paused, looked at Xie Shuo, and got up to walk away and accept the call.

~Author’s Note: Xiao Xie is going to face his mother-in-law’s attack~