Chapter 72

A soft swallow moved through Jiang Chao’s throat. She lowered her eyes and didn’t answer; instead, she took a light step forward and came to Sheng Huaixi’s side.

“Can you get up?”

Bending down, Jiang Chao slid her arm beneath the one Sheng Huaixi was bracing herself with, then curved her ankles slightly as she steadied her.

She studied Sheng Huaixi’s expression. The crease between her brows was still there. Testing the waters, Jiang Chao drew her into her arms and, half-forcing and half-guiding, pressed her into the balcony chair while supporting her lower back.

Sheng Huaixi kept her eyes lowered. Jiang Chao looked at her, then bent down and tugged the loose collar of her robe closed.

Even curled into the chair, her body still looked hunched in on itself.

Why was she this cold? Jiang Chao shivered and glanced at Sheng Huaixi’s slight trembling, her brow knitting tighter as her gaze swept around.

The icy wind had set her body shaking; cold seeped through the thin bathrobe and into her skin. The difference between the inside and outside temperatures made it impossible not to shiver.

Jiang Chao turned back, searching for the source of the draft on the balcony.

A window left wide open came into view. The firefly-like lights outside looked even clearer by comparison. Jiang Chao sniffed, catching the faint scent of flowers.

After thinking it over, she shifted her feet and was about to go close the window.

A hand caught her robe.

The grip was weak, but enough to make Jiang Chao notice Sheng Huaixi’s small movement; she stopped at once.

“I’m going to close the window. If the wind keeps blowing on you, you’ll catch a cold and feel awful later.” Jiang Chao leaned in, half-bent, and spoke softly by Sheng Huaixi’s ear; her voice was warm and smooth.

Sheng Huaixi struggled to shake her head, the motion barely swaying side to side.

It was a refusal.

Did she not want Jiang Chao to leave, or did she not want the window closed?

Jiang Chao bent lower and gently gathered the two fingers tugging at the hem of her robe into her palm, enclosing them in a tender hold.

She held those thin fingers in her hand and gave them a light shake, then crouched down to ask, looking up with bright, sparkling eyes.

“I’m feeling a little cold too. If I catch a cold later and pass it to you, that wouldn’t be good. I’ll hold your hand, and then I’ll reach out and close the window, okay?”

After waiting a long time, Jiang Chao felt a fingertip brush lightly across her palm. It was barely there—brief and slow—and somehow it seemed to drain away all of Sheng Huaixi’s strength.

Jiang Chao understood Sheng Huaixi’s answer.

She nodded, stood while still holding those two fingers, and before moving her feet she shot Sheng Huaixi a quick glance. Her lowered hair didn’t move at all, and neither did the fingers she was holding.

She shifted her toes outward. The wild wind outside hit her face, whipping strands of hair off her cheeks and slapping them messily against her skin.

Her wrist hung in the air, stretched taut. Thinking about the hand she shared with Sheng Huaixi, Jiang Chao gritted her teeth, extended her fingertips, and reached up with a slight tremble.

She caught the switch, then pulled hard with her other hand. The window shut out the raging wind from outside.

Hoo.

Confirming that the window was closed tight, Jiang Chao turned back and walked to Sheng Huaixi again. Her lips pressed together, her long lashes lowered.

After saying that, Sheng Huaixi turned away and didn’t speak again, bowing her head in silence.

The dim yellow light spilled over Sheng Huaixi’s shoulders; specks of dust drifted lightly through the air. Standing before her, Jiang Chao suddenly realized——

This might be the first time she had looked at Sheng Huaixi like this.

It was the Sheng Huaixi who kept her head down and said nothing; the Sheng Huaixi who lowered her gaze and avoided her.

Not the strong, dangerous Sheng Huaixi in Jiang Chao’s mind, the one who always had everything under control. Under the blurred light, Sheng Huaixi’s shoulders looked so small, so frail that Jiang Chao could probably have encircled them with one arm.

Frailty, innocence, pain...

Jiang Chao was looking at those three words on Sheng Huaixi with frightening clarity.

In fact, if she hadn’t only belatedly realized it after going into the bathroom, she might have been fooled by Sheng Huaixi like this; she might have mistaken the earlier bite marks and teasing for proof that Sheng Huaixi’s terrible mood had already been soothed.

By deliberately leaving one bite mark after another on her body, Sheng Huaixi had made her think her thoughts and emotions had shifted, that they were no longer stuck on six years ago.

With tears covered by desire and a smile, Jiang Chao finally understood Sheng Huaixi’s “kindness” when hot water poured over her body.

Sheng Huaixi had never been as calm about what happened six years ago as she made it seem.

Her thoughts returned to the present; someone’s fingertips brushed lightly across her palm again. Jiang Chao blinked, her wandering mind settling back into reality and onto Sheng Huaixi.

Her soft hair looked almost easy to bully under the light; her thin shoulders trembled faintly. Jiang Chao lowered her head and said nothing, her hand hovering in the air.

Touch her, or not.

She wasn’t sure whether Sheng Huaixi would think she was pitying her; or perhaps whether she disliked that pity.

Carefully, Jiang Chao stepped closer, drawing their bodies tighter together as her hand slowly lowered.

“To coax you.” Her voice sounded sweet, as if steeped in honey; Jiang Chao answered softly.

Her fingers tentatively stroked the hair beneath her hand. It was smooth and soft, just like its owner right now.

At first, Sheng Huaixi didn’t struggle. So Jiang Chao relaxed and continued petting her without restraint.

If this was coaxing, Jiang Chao didn’t really know how to coax someone by rubbing their head. After thinking it over, she tried stroking Sheng Huaixi the way she would a cat.

She wasn’t very used to comforting people this way; she only knew how to comfort cats. Fortunately, Sheng Huaixi seemed to like it and didn’t resist.

Her fingertips cupped the back of Sheng Huaixi’s head and slid down from the crown, threading lightly through the strands before brushing back and forth again and again.

After a while, Jiang Chao lowered her head to look at Sheng Huaixi and hesitantly stopped.

“Do you want... a hug?”

She didn’t know what had really happened six years ago to make Sheng Huaixi sick with disgust, and she didn’t dare say anything comforting too rashly.

A touch, a hug; the simple, physical reassurance of being held might be the best comfort Jiang Chao could give her right now.

As soon as the words fell, the head beneath Jiang Chao’s hand moved.

Sheng Huaixi slowly lifted her head; her fringe swayed, and Jiang Chao only caught a flash of black eyes.

She swallowed. Jiang Chao saw a flicker of restlessness in Sheng Huaixi’s gaze before Sheng Huaixi suddenly raised a hand and tugged down on the belt at Jiang Chao’s waist.

“Huh?!” Jiang Chao’s eyes widened. Looking down at Sheng Huaixi’s movement, she wondered, Is she asking me to crouch?

After a moment, Jiang Chao followed the pull and bent down. Once she was in Sheng Huaixi’s embrace, the hand holding the robe belt stretched straight, and she gathered Sheng Huaixi in tighter by the back.

Her knees bent, Jiang Chao was buried against Sheng Huaixi’s chest and held there firmly.

It was a posture that completely locked her in, leaving no room to escape.

Feeling the person curled in her arms shift slightly, Sheng Huaixi tightened her grip again and again; her breathing gradually steadied, and the missing corner in her heart was filled at that moment.

This was Jiang Chao, locked in her arms.

With her own body as the shackle, Sheng Huaixi could feel more clearly than ever that Jiang Chao belonged to her, and it made her almost giddy.

“Sheng Huaixi, you need to take better care of yourself, okay?”

Buried in Sheng Huaixi’s chest, Jiang Chao spoke softly, a trace of gentle ache hidden in her eyes.

The more familiar she became with Sheng Huaixi—or rather, the more familiar Sheng Huaixi became to her—the more Jiang Chao could feel that Sheng Huaixi treated the emotions between them in a completely different way.

Even when she was acting wildly, Sheng Huaixi always cared less about her own feelings than she did about Jiang Chao’s.

As the person involved, Jiang Chao felt that difference very clearly.

If the two of them had a dispute, Sheng Huaixi’s attention would always turn toward her, just like before.

If Jiang Chao said she was worried Sheng Huaixi would want to close the window, Sheng Huaixi would resist. But if she said she was worried she’d catch a cold and then pass it to Sheng Huaixi, Sheng Huaixi would choose to step back instead.

“No.” Sheng Huaixi refused firmly.

Before Jiang Chao could ask in confusion, Sheng Huaixi tightened her arms around the person in her embrace, her voice trembling.

“I’m afraid I’ll lose you again.”