The moment she touched him, Ji Xixing practically jumped up.
The lingering warmth on her palm refused to fade.
Her face turned even redder, and even after Gu Wangxuan stepped away, she remained standing there blankly, as though her mind had stopped working.
Ji Xixing felt that she really deserved this.
She should never have let curiosity get the better of her.
Once she recovered, she deeply felt that she couldn’t stay in this room any longer. Just as her hand touched the doorknob, someone pulled her back from behind.
Caught off guard, she stumbled straight into his arms.
Gu Wangxuan wrapped his arms steadily around her, surrounding her once again with his presence. Ji Xixing caught the unique scent of aged wood lingering on him.
“Why are you running?” the man asked softly near her ear, and Ji Xixing didn’t dare move.
“Gu Wangxuan, let go of me already,” she said anxiously.
She was genuinely afraid. The feeling was like being a little white rabbit that could be swallowed whole at any moment, completely incapable of resisting.
Gu Wangxuan finally released her and laughed. “Why aren’t you calling me Mr. Gu this time?”
“I don’t like you calling me Mr. Gu at all.”
“Then whatever you like me to call you, that’s what I’ll call you in the future.” Ji Xixing forced out a somewhat stiff smile.
On the surface she was compliant, but inwardly she had already complained about him several times.
Fresh out of the shower, and he still dared to provoke trouble. Was he really not afraid of ending up in another cold shower?
Anyway, the one suffering wasn’t her.
If Gu Wangxuan knew she was thinking that way, he definitely wouldn’t have wronged himself with another shower.
But he didn’t know. Seeing Ji Xixing’s obedience had put him in an obviously good mood.
“Compared to my name, I actually prefer the title you used when you were begging me earlier.” His smile sent chills down Ji Xixing’s back.
She tried hard to remember what she had said before, and the more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt.
Better to forget it altogether.
Not wanting to pay him any attention, Ji Xixing walked to the very edge of the bed and lay down, pulling one corner of the blanket over herself.
“I’m going to sleep.”
“Don’t come near me. I sleep very restlessly. If I scratch your face or do something outrageous, don’t blame me for not warning you.” Her voice came muffled from beneath the blanket.
The mattress sank noticeably on the other side. The blanket covering her head was pulled down, and long fingers brushed lightly against her cheek.
“Don’t suffocate yourself before you get the chance to do anything outrageous to me,” Gu Wangxuan said.
Ji Xixing ignored him.
The bedside lamp was switched off, and darkness instantly enveloped the room. Ji Xixing still felt uneasy.
She didn’t know why this fear seemed buried in her bones and flowing in her blood, making it impossible to overcome.
Once the floodgates opened, she couldn’t stop herself from imagining all sorts of terrifying scenes.
“Gu Wangxuan,” she called softly, as though trying to grasp onto the rare sense of security he provided in the darkness.
“Hm?” he answered, reaching over and pulling Ji Xixing into his arms.
Warmth immediately surrounded her. This time, he simply held her quietly without doing anything unnecessary.
He easily sensed her unease and said, “Go to sleep, coward.”
“I can’t.” Ji Xixing remained quietly in his embrace.
As the long night wore on, her emotions became increasingly amplified. She had already asked this question countless times tonight.
“Gu Wangxuan, why me?”
“Can you tell me the truth?”
His voice carried traces of drowsiness, but he patiently replied, “There’s no reason.”
“You just happened to catch my eye, so it’s you.”
Ji Xixing clearly didn’t believe him.
Her smile blended into the darkness, becoming one with the night.
“Didn’t Ye Qingyi catch your eye?”
“What kind of person do you take me for?” His warm breath brushed against her, but she couldn’t hear any emotion in his voice.
“In your eyes, can I just choose anyone?”
“Not exactly.” Ji Xixing thought for a moment. “You’re probably very picky.”
“Then why won’t you give me a chance?” Gu Wangxuan asked.
Ji Xixing fell silent again.
Why was she unwilling?
After transmigrating into this world, being in a relationship with someone like Gu Wangxuan might actually be a wonderful experience.
But shouldn’t love come first?
There was obviously no love between them.
Ji Xixing neither agreed nor refused.
“I think you’d be getting the short end of the stick by being with me.”
“Hm?” Gu Wangxuan was momentarily puzzled before understanding what she meant. He smiled. “If I suffer a loss because of you, I’d consider that a blessing.”
Ji Xixing smiled too.
Her openness and honesty clearly told Gu Wangxuan that she had nothing valuable to offer him and couldn’t bring him any benefits.
On the contrary, she might gain many advantages because of him.
“Why don’t you care?” Ji Xixing asked in confusion. “It’s unequal.”
Gu Wangxuan replied indifferently, “This isn’t a business deal. Why divide things so clearly?”
It wasn’t until much later that Ji Xixing came to understand.
This kind of person viewed gains and losses lightly.
It was as if he had merely come to take a walk through this world, wanting neither to leave anything behind nor take anything away.
“So I’ve still been rejected, huh?” Gu Wangxuan sighed softly, as though the answer didn’t surprise him.
“I’m very busy. I don’t have time for a relationship,” Ji Xixing answered directly.
Of course she was busy. Those awful people back home were still living comfortably, waiting for her to deal with them.
“All right then. I hope that after you’re done, you’ll consider it,” Gu Wangxuan said without forcing her.
That night passed without dreams.
When Ji Xixing woke up again, the other side of the bed was already empty.
Still sleepy, she sat there blankly for half a second.
Thinking back to last night, she irritably ruffled her hair.
She had almost been bewitched by that man. Fortunately, her determination to deal with those people in her family hadn’t wavered.
Sure enough, alcohol really did cause trouble.
Even though she had only drunk a few glasses to liven up the atmosphere and hadn’t actually been drunk.
Picking up her phone, she saw several messages from Jian Yao on WeChat.
“Darling, where the hell did you disappear to? Did you know Cheng Songjin searched for you so desperately that he even came to me?”
“I told him you’d gone home, but he didn’t believe me. He kept pestering me like a lunatic, so I blocked him because he was too annoying.”
“But that psycho actually came looking for me in person. I told him I didn’t know, but he refused to believe me and kept bothering me.”
“I couldn’t take it anymore, so I called the police and got him taken away. He’ll probably be released tomorrow morning.”
“Darling, you’re not going to feel sorry for him, are you?”