The words hung in the air, and the atmosphere shifted in an instant.
The ache from the bruise on her shoulder vanished as if by magic. But in its place came that suffocating tightness in her chest, making it hard to draw a full breath.
Jiang Zao tried to look away, but the truth in Xie Lisheng’s eyes hit her square on.
Some things couldn’t be dodged forever. They built toward an inevitable breaking point, and once you reached it, the whole world conspired to force you to confront them—to give an answer.
Danger had come. Xie Lisheng had pulled her into his arms to shield her. And in that moment, a single thought flashed through Jiang Zao’s mind.
She had reached that point. The moment when she could no longer run from the truth.
Her mouth went dry. She swallowed hard and parted her lips—
“Qiqi? Qiqi!” Little Aunt’s voice shattered their locked gazes.
Jiang Zao sprang to her feet and waved frantically. “Aunt! Over here!”
Pan Hui rushed up to her niece. Once she confirmed Jiang Zao was unharmed, she let out a huge sigh of relief. Then she turned to the man seated beside her.
Truth be told, Pan Hui had noticed him the moment she’d approached. With his striking presence and looks, he stood out like a beacon amid the crowd—impossible to miss.
Xie Lisheng rose to his feet, mindful of his injury.
Pan Hui watched the two young people standing side by side, a perfect match. She smiled warmly. “And who might this be?”
Jiang Zao’s mind raced back to Xie Lisheng’s past “exploits,” and her stomach dropped.
This madman was sure to pull the same stunt as before—claiming he was some “suitor” or “blind date”!
No time to clap a hand over his mouth. Damn it.
“Hello, Aunt.” A gentle warmth softened his sharp features as he even dipped his head slightly in respect. “I’m Jiang Zao’s friend. We went to the same school.”
Jiang Zao stared at him in shock. “…?”
He’d actually learned?
So you could speak like a normal person after all.
Xie Lisheng turned to meet her eyes.
The man’s gaze was utterly straightforward, utterly devoid of any hidden meaning. It left her utterly speechless.
“…”
Pan Hui beamed at the fine, upstanding young man before her, satisfaction sparkling in her eyes. Her tone turned bright and cheerful. “Oh, wonderful! We owe you big time tonight. I see you’re hurt? Nothing serious, I hope?”
Xie Lisheng glanced at his right arm and reassured the elder woman. “Just a scratch. As long as Jiang Zao’s okay, that’s what matters.”
Jiang Zao went quiet again.
Who was the one just now begging her to blow on his boo-boo? Some ghost?
Right then, a police officer stepped out and beckoned her. “Jiang Zao? Come on in for a minute.”
Jiang Zao murmured something to Little Aunt, shot Xie Lisheng a pointed look—silently warning him to keep his mouth shut—then followed the officer into the Interrogation Room with her head down.
~~~
With the harassment charges piled on top of the assault, Pan Yu’s boyfriend was looking at some serious jail time. And after laying hands on a big shot like Xie Lisheng, the man’s private lawyer wouldn’t let him off easy.
By the time Jiang Zao emerged, Little Aunt was gone. A quick check of her phone revealed a WeChat message from half an hour ago.
【Little Aunt: With Little Xie there, I feel better. Call me anytime if anything comes up.】
Jiang Zao stared at her screen, falling silent for the third time.
…Little Xie?
“All done?” Xie Lisheng had finished his own statement and strolled over. He glanced at her phone. “I told Little Aunt to head home. No point in her hanging around so late.”
Jiang Zao glared at him, enunciating every syllable. “Lit-tle… Aunt?”
He didn’t bat an eyelid. “She told me to let you call me whatever feels right. Otherwise, what should it be? Mom?”
She laughed in sheer exasperation and quickly cut him off. “Xie Lisheng!”
“Ah.” He responded faintly.
Jiang Zao’s heart hammered wildly. She stiffly turned her face away. “…Two-faced as ever—sweet-talking my elder like that. What are you playing at?”
Xie Lisheng, hands tucked in his pockets, gave a nod of greeting to the private lawyer who had just emerged from the interrogation room. He glanced back over his shoulder. “What do you think?”
She was tongue-tied, struggling to keep up.
~~~
The police station was just a stone’s throw from the riverside. Once their business was done, the two didn’t go their separate ways right away.
Xie Lisheng wanted some fresh air, and since he was her lifesaver, Jiang Zao didn’t object. She followed along without a word.
The road leading out from the station took them one block to the riverside.
The surroundings felt familiar to Jiang Zao. It took her a moment to realize they had ended up on the exact stretch of Riverside Boardwalk where they had strolled together last time.
Talk about a coincidence.
At the corner, Xie Lisheng glanced toward a shop in the basement storefront and suddenly remarked, “I’m feeling a bit peckish. I could go for some lye water noodles.”
Jiang Zao sighed in exasperation. “What time is it? Where am I supposed to find lye water noodles for you…?”
The words had barely left her mouth when she froze, meeting Xie Lisheng’s teasing gaze. Heat flooded her cheeks.
“You’re doing that on purpose.”
The traffic light changed. They crossed the zebra crossing to the other side of the road and began climbing the steps up to the Riverside Plaza and Observation Walkway.
Walking beside the man, Jiang Zao felt oddly secure—no fear of rogue scooters for once. She asked casually, “So, what did you talk about with my little aunt?”
Xie Lisheng kept stringing her along. “Nothing much. Just chit-chat.”
“Anything you’re holding back?” Jiang Zao pressed, irked. “You didn’t badmouth me, did you?”
He arched a brow. “Like what?”
She ruffled her hair. “Like how I didn’t play along at the blind date, gave you a hard time, that sort of thing…”
“You’re pretty good at beating yourself up.” Xie Lisheng slipped his injured hand into his pocket, teasing her with his usual laid-back mischief. “I told her everything—how you thought I was ugly at the blind date, shut me up so I couldn’t talk, didn’t want anything to do with me, picked on me the whole time, snuck a kiss while I was drunk, then went on another date two days later and pretended not to know me at the company.”
Jiang Zao stared at him, dumbfounded. “What the hell did you tell her!”
“I never did any of that!”
Xie Lisheng said nothing, merely fixing her with a knowing look, one eyebrow quirked.
Only then did Jiang Zao realize he was pulling her leg.
She sighed and shook her head. “Whatever. No point getting worked up over it. It’s not like this is the first time you’ve messed with me.”
They crossed the zebra crossing and kept walking.
“I was just teasing. We talked a little about you.” This time, he meant it.
Jiang Zao opened her mouth to ask for details, but then she heard him say—
“You have a little aunt who loves you dearly.”
Her ears rang with silence for a beat.
Xie Lisheng met her stunned, distant gaze. “Sure, you were born without a lot of things most people take for granted.”
“But you’ve got things others could strive for their whole lives and never have.”
Jiang Zao asked slowly, “You mean my little aunt?”
“More or less,” Xie Lisheng replied. “She doesn’t have your mother’s title, but she loves you like one all the same.”
“I’m a little envious.”
This time, she had nothing to say.
When they reached the base of the steps, Xie Lisheng held out his left hand toward the people ahead. “Give me a hand going up. I won’t make it otherwise.”
Jiang Zao had already climbed the first couple of steps. She looked down at him, at a loss for words. “You hurt your hand, not your leg.”
“My arm’s injured—throws off my balance. And I’m tall, so stairs make me wobbly.” Xie Lisheng laid it out with perfect logic, his hand suspended in midair, unmoving.
Guilt finally got the better of her as she stared at the steadfast man. She retraced her steps, reached out with her right hand, and clasped his own—slowly.
She had made the first move, but their size difference was so vast that it felt more like she’d offered her hand into his waiting palm.
Xie Lisheng closed his fingers around hers and climbed the steps without so much as leaning on her.
The man drew close as he ascended, his breath warm nearby.
The way he enveloped her hand carried an overpowering sense of possession. Tugged by some inexplicable impulse, Jiang Zao lowered her eyes and blurted—
“Actually, I kissed you on purpose that day.”
Xie Lisheng froze mid-step.
She realized what she’d said. No taking it back now.
With a quiet inward sigh, her gaze fixed on the ground, she added, “…Just pretend it was on purpose, then.”
In her line of sight: nothing but the pavement, the toes of their shoes, and their joined hands.
He said nothing. The atmosphere was taut to perfection—not the sort of moment to let slip away and grow cold. Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Zao gave voice to the scorching impulse churning in her mind. “There’s nothing to say about me taking advantage of you while you were drunk.”
“You helped me sort out things with my mom, and you saved me again today. And beyond that… there are so many, many other things…”
“I’ve told you before—I’m someone with a strong sense of morality.”
“Xie Lisheng…” Her lips trembled. She had no idea where her life might lead after the next words left her mouth. “If you think I can help you…”
“Then let’s get married.”
With that, she squeezed her eyes shut in sheer nerves.
One second passed. Two. The air remained utterly still.
She cracked her eyes open but didn’t dare meet his gaze. In a small voice, she asked, “…Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Xie Lisheng stayed silent and simply tugged her forward.
Jiang Zao followed without a word, the two of them gradually drawing nearer to the riverside overlook.
When they reached the railing, he finally released her hand.
It felt like a piece of her heart had gone missing. The sweat on her palm was whisked away by the wind, and she curled her fingers inward.
After their stroll of several dozen meters, her impulse had cooled considerably. Only then did Jiang Zao look at him squarely. “Have you changed your mind about marrying me again?”
Xie Lisheng leaned against the railing, the earlier indulgence vanished from his expression. “Do you feel anything for me?”
She hadn’t expected that to be the first thing out of his mouth.
“What… do you mean?”
He turned his gaze to the river, fixing on a tourist boat drifting lazily by.
“Living day-to-day with someone you feel nothing for? Forget two years—you wouldn’t last three days.”
Jiang Zao felt dazed.
The last time they’d been here, they’d talked at length about marriage too—talked until their gazes had turned strange, talked until they couldn’t go on.
Xie Lisheng gripped the railing and inched closer to her, his voice low and softened by the breeze, stripped of its distance.
“I’m not talking about liking me. Or falling in love. I mean feeling.”
He drew as near as he could, close enough that when he glanced down, he could see her lashes quivering. Then he asked again, “Jiang Zao, do you feel anything for me?”
Her heart hammered at her throat. Little by little, she lifted her head to meet his foxlike eyes, even more alluring in the darkness.
She couldn’t find her voice.
Xie Lisheng took her right hand, feeling the heat radiating from her palm. His brow twitched faintly. Then he slowly leaned down, as if determined to peer straight into her eyes.
Jiang Zao stared at him in a daze.
He asked once more: “Do you feel anything for me?”
The tension was like pebbles battered relentlessly by the river, on the verge of shattering.
Their gazes locked tight, as if they’d already waged a thousand silent battles of push and pull.
He was so close now that the scant distance between them posed its own question. Her wrist was caught in his grasp, and her fingers trembled involuntarily, brushing across his chest.
Jiang Zao’s eyes flickered. She looked away, then back to his, her lips parting to speak—
Xie Lisheng moved decisively, pressing down to claim her lips.
~~~