Chapter 46

Jiang Chao’s waist froze halfway in the air; her body went rigid, her cheek pressed against Sheng Huaixi’s face as she sank into the pillow’s softness.

The words she’d just spoken caught in her throat. She bit down on the tip of her tongue without meaning to; her wrist no longer pressed against Sheng Huaixi’s shoulder and instead hung limp at her side, her body draped loosely over Sheng Huaixi’s.

Her slender figure lay stretched across the bed, black hair spilling over the nape of her neck.

She waited quietly for Sheng Huaixi’s answer.

The touch at the back of her neck moved again and again, as if Sheng Huaixi were carefully considering how to answer her. Jiang Chao closed her eyes and listened to the frantic pounding of her own heart, restless and loud in her ears.

Only when the rubbing at the back of her neck slowly stopped did Jiang Chao’s fingers curl in; her long lashes trembled as she opened her eyes.

“Yes.” Sheng Huaixi’s arm around the back of Jiang Chao’s neck tightened, her smile steady. Before Jiang Chao could react, she added, “But I can guarantee I wouldn’t have been in danger then.”

“Guarantee?” Jiang Chao repeated, a cold laugh squeezing out of her throat, furious to the extreme.

Her lashes clamped shut, then slowly lifted again. Her chest rose and fell as she forced down the emotions churning inside her; the hot breath she exhaled spilled onto the pillow, then brushed her face again, burning with anger.

She had no idea where Sheng Huaixi got such confidence.

With a hard push on her wrist, Jiang Chao knelt up on the bed. Light fell across the side of her face; her features were tight, her expression stern and severe.

She lowered her gaze. The fire in her eyes seemed ready to spill out; the wrist braced against the pillow clenched hard, the fabric wrinkling into an ugly knot.

“You slept on the bed all night in wet clothes and came down with a high fever; that’s your so-called guarantee that nothing would happen?”

“If I hadn’t come looking for you today, you might have just burned yourself unconscious on this bed. Do you even realize that?!”

The more she said, the more the veins on the back of Jiang Chao’s hand stood out, and the more violent the anger in her voice became.

She didn’t dare imagine it. If she had really stubbornly gone head-to-head with Sheng Huaixi all the way, if she hadn’t remembered there were cameras at home, or if she hadn’t guessed where Sheng Huaixi had gone...

What would have happened to Sheng Huaixi, lying there in wet clothes through the entire night?

Jiang Chao didn’t know.

Mixed with her blazing anger was a fear that needed no words. Her body trembled violently; just thinking of that possibility made her bloodshot pupils tighten uncontrollably.

While Sheng Huaixi had been asleep, Jiang Chao had wondered countless times why she hadn’t taken the initiative to contact her.

There were so many possible reasons, but the answer Sheng Huaixi had given drifted lightly past all of them, not touching even one.

Because she was afraid Jiang Chao would agree.

Because if Jiang Chao agreed, she would feel jealous of the version of herself who had received no response.

Jiang Chao tried to understand Sheng Huaixi’s thoughts, tried to trace the logic behind why she would do something like this.

But as expected, their minds were always like two parallel lines; they never intersected, never touched.

“Sheng Huaixi, why is it that I never understand you...?”

Jiang Chao murmured under her breath. Her shoulders drew in; the anger in her heart turned, all at once, into a vague confusion. The determination in her eyes gradually softened, and her voice lowered and lowered.

The heat around her slowly collapsed. Jiang Chao looked like a listless rag doll, the fur that had puffed up in anger gradually settling back down.

Sheng Huaixi held her by the neck, one hand patting Jiang Chao’s back again and again; Jiang Chao’s thin spine rose and fell violently with the agitation in her words.

Those bright, tear-bright eyes unfurled little ripples of water with each gentle pat, sparkling and clear.

Jiang Chao held tears in her eyes, her brows and lashes lowering with softened gentleness. Her lashes were damp now, and her vision began to blur.

Then someone suddenly cupped her face and tilted it up. The palm was hot, driving away the chill on her cheeks.

Jiang Chao tried to turn away, but Sheng Huaixi’s hand held her fast and refused to let her escape. “...”

Her palm burned hot. Through the hazy blur, Jiang Chao could barely make out Sheng Huaixi’s eyes, carrying a faint smile.

“It’s fine, Jiang Chao.”

Her fingers gently stroked the soft flesh of Jiang Chao’s cheek. Sheng Huaixi’s voice was hoarse, but the tenderness in it was especially clear.

In the dim light, Sheng Huaixi’s face looked gentle, as if wrapped in a halo; her cheeks were faintly flushed, and the fever still hadn’t gone down.

And so Jiang Chao, staring at Sheng Huaixi’s lips opening and closing, found that even her words seemed to carry that same scorching heat.

Her fingertips tapped lightly against Jiang Chao’s cheek. Sheng Huaixi’s wrist moved upward a little, her palm brushing over Jiang Chao’s soft skin as if she were treating it like a toy, kneading and rubbing it.

Her fingertip landed beneath Jiang Chao’s eye and stayed there. Tiny droplets of tears clung to her long lashes, crystal clear and wet.

Her wrist trembled as it touched her, and Sheng Huaixi’s lips curved suddenly, a dark light flashing in the depths of her eyes; yet when her finger slid lightly over the skin, the pleasure in it was unmistakable.

“As long as we live together, as long as you still remember the promise you made, as long as you don’t drift away from me, then—”

“One day, you’ll know everything about me.” Sheng Huaixi lifted the corners of her lips in a shallow smile, her voice rising slightly. Looking at Jiang Chao’s stunned expression, she said in a low voice, “And the same goes for me.”

Sheng Huaixi watched Jiang Chao with unwavering certainty, staring intently at every tiny movement she made. When the words fell away, her lips unconsciously licked once.

She needed time. She desperately needed time.

Waiting for water to slowly boil a frog required a gradual process. Sheng Huaixi wasn’t afraid of waiting, but she was afraid Jiang Chao would suddenly leave her pot.

If possible, Sheng Huaixi didn’t want to keep gambling.

Gambling on whether Jiang Chao would yield to her because of pity; gambling on whether Jiang Chao would go along with her because of tenderness... All her hopes were always pinned on Jiang Chao.

But Sheng Huaixi didn’t want it to be like that.

What she wanted was the belonging of Jiang Chao’s heart.

“Jiang Chao.”

Sheng Huaixi called her softly, pulling Jiang Chao’s neck down into her arms. She blinked lightly until their foreheads touched, and their two wet eyes met and held.

“Look at me a little more, okay?” Sheng Huaixi asked for a promise in a gentle voice.

She craved it: Jiang Chao’s attention lingering only on Sheng Huaixi.

Just like now—

No matter what Sheng Huaixi had just said, Jiang Chao’s gaze had never left her.

Sheng Huaixi extended a fingertip, watching Jiang Chao’s face closely. Her lashes trembled as she met Jiang Chao’s eyes again, and she let out a fond, almost intoxicated sigh.

Pleasure slowly spread from her narrowed eyes; her breathing circled through her heaving chest.

Her fingertip pressed at the outer corner of Jiang Chao’s eye. The skin sank beneath it; her nail dug in slightly, bringing a faint sting. Jiang Chao only stared blankly at Sheng Huaixi, making no other move.

Her lips had been parted for a long time before Jiang Chao finally couldn’t help licking them. Her thoughts were complicated, and her wrist lifted reflexively.

“Wait, Sheng Huaixi. Wait.”

Her mind was a mess of tangled threads—black, white, pink, yellow—painting her blank brain into a wildly colorful picture.

Beautiful colors, and terribly deceptive ones; impossible to tell what the subject was supposed to be.

Her raised wrist pressed downward again and again as Jiang Chao looked lost, trying hard to find the theme hidden within it.

No. She instinctively felt there was something wrong with Sheng Huaixi’s words.

The voice was pleasant, the content of the words was pleasant; from any angle, it sounded like a beautiful conversation.

But—

This wasn’t an explanation!

Jiang Chao’s wrist stopped midair, and she finally pulled herself out of Sheng Huaixi’s series of pretty words. In her dazed gaze, reason came rushing back.

“Sheng Huaixi, you’re trying to brush me off again.” Jiang Chao laughed in anger.

She’d rattled on for ages, and not only had she failed to properly explain what happened last night, she’d even taken the chance to ask Jiang Chao for a promise.

She hadn’t let a single bit of what she’d hidden last night show through, yet now she wanted Jiang Chao to keep worrying about her, to keep following behind her and being considerate.

The way she spoke made it sound like she was asking Jiang Chao to give herself to her, while Sheng Huaixi’s actual actions had been what?

Hiding, deceiving; Sheng Huaixi had done it all.

The kind of empty, pie-in-the-sky relationship talk that was all promise and no substance, paired with Sheng Huaixi’s pitiful, affectionate gaze, nearly sent Jiang Chao stepping straight into a mirage.

“You’re just a liar.”

Jiang Chao pulled Sheng Huaixi’s wrist down, braced herself, and stood. Her gaze swept coldly over the person slowly sitting up on the bed.

Her supporting wrist trembled faintly; the chill in the surrounding air was merciless, pouring straight in.

Jiang Chao frowned, lowered her eyes, and quickly glanced over.

She grabbed the corner of the blanket Sheng Huaixi had kicked aside and, without hesitation, shoved her back down.

Sheng Huaixi let out a muffled groan and had no strength to resist.

She wasn’t weak, but neither was Jiang Chao. Right now, her body functions had declined because of the fever, and with Jiang Chao pressing down lightly, her limbs were too weak to fight back.

“Jiang Chao.”

A cold huff came out of her throat. Jiang Chao ignored her call and turned toward the door, walking out with brisk, wind-driven steps, anger flashing in the depths of her eyes.

Her footsteps rang sharply in the room, one after another. Jiang Chao’s anger made even the soft cotton slippers thud loudly against the floor.

“Jiang Chao.” This time Sheng Huaixi’s voice carried a trace of urgency.

Her ears twitching slightly, Jiang Chao heard the sound of the blanket being thrown back and frowned before turning decisively to look at Sheng Huaixi.

As expected, after she had only taken a few steps away from the bed, Sheng Huaixi stubbornly lifted the blanket and, trembling, prepared to get out of bed.

“Sheng Huaixi, don’t move.” Jiang Chao turned back at once.

Sheng Huaixi obediently stopped where she was, no longer daring to pull back the blanket under Jiang Chao’s glare. Instead, she pointed to the phone on the bedside table; the screen was flashing repeatedly.

“My phone’s ringing.”

Jiang Chao followed her gaze. Just now she had only been focused on leaving Sheng Huaixi behind and storming out of the room, so she hadn’t heard her phone at all.

Only now, looking back, did she realize the phone on the bedside table had been flashing and vibrating.

By the time Jiang Chao walked to the bed, Sheng Huaixi’s phone had already stopped ringing.

Watching Jiang Chao lean over to pick up the phone and hand it to her, Sheng Huaixi shook her head and said, “Check who it is for me. If it’s someone unimportant, just ignore it.”

Jiang Chao gave a soft oh and nodded, tapping the screen. White light flashed; the name that popped up made her pupils tighten, and her wrist jerked violently.

It was Xu Jingwen.

She had called several times, and sent several messages; the newest one popped up at the very top.

Jiang Chao saw it clearly.

- How did last night’s drink taste?

“You went to see Xu Jingwen last night?! And you even drank the wine she gave you?”

Jiang Chao couldn’t believe it. The thing Sheng Huaixi had been trying so hard to hide was actually connected to Xu Jingwen.

After leaving home a little after nine, Sheng Huaixi had taken nothing with her and gone to meet Xu Jingwen like that.

Was it just the two of them, or were there other people there too?

Why had Xu Jingwen suddenly asked Sheng Huaixi to meet? And why had Sheng Huaixi agreed?

Jiang Chao’s confusion was growing more and more tangled.

Only one thing was becoming clear before her eyes—

“You kept it from me because of her?” Jiang Chao murmured.

Her eyes fixed tightly on Sheng Huaixi’s face, lashes trembling lightly. Jiang Chao herself didn’t even realize it—

there was a faint trace of jealousy in her words.