Xie Jinwen stayed behind, and Ling Xiao brought her back to the family compound.
The apartment assigned to Ling Xiao was a two-bedroom suite with a living room, located on the seventh floor.
In the elevator, a married couple smiled as they looked Xie Jinwen over.
“Captain Ling, a few days ago there was an older sister, and now there’s a younger sister?”
Ling Xiao hurriedly explained, “Officer Cui, you’re joking. She’s not my younger sister…”
Xie Jinwen suddenly wrapped her arm around Ling Xiao’s arm, looking very intimate.
Ling Xiao’s throat tightened, and the rest of his explanation got stuck in his throat.
Officer Cui wore an expression that clearly said I understand, and left the elevator with his wife on the sixth floor with a grin.
The elevator doors closed and continued upward.
Xie Jinwen still didn’t let go of Ling Xiao’s arm. Instead, she leaned her shoulder against him.
Ling Xiao’s breathing slowed.
“Miss Xie…”
“Don’t talk.”
Ling Xiao swallowed and obediently fell silent.
With a ding, the elevator doors opened.
A young woman was standing outside.
The moment she saw how close Xie Jinwen and Ling Xiao were, her face changed dramatically. The way she looked at Xie Jinwen immediately became hostile.
“Oh? Brother Ling Xiao, is this your girlfriend?”
She spoke through gritted teeth, as though she wanted to bite someone.
The older sister had barely left, and now there was a younger one!
Embarrassed by the question, Ling Xiao was about to answer when Xie Jinwen suddenly leaned over and kissed his cheek.
His brain immediately crashed.
Smiling sweetly, she said,
“Yes.”
“He’s mine.”
Even after entering the apartment, Ling Xiao felt as though he were floating.
His mind was filled with one thought:
Xie Jinwen kissed me.
He didn’t even notice that the moment they entered the apartment, Xie Jinwen let go of his arm and completely changed her attitude.
She said,
“You attract too many admirers. Some bad romantic prospects need to be cut off early, otherwise they’ll cause trouble.”
Ling Xiao replied,
“You mean that girl just now? She’s a commander’s niece. She’s only a sophomore in college and came here for vacation…”
Then he froze.
“Wait.”
“You knew she was about to come downstairs, so that’s why you held onto me?”
Only then did he realize Xie Jinwen had been helping him ward off unwanted admirers.
But why would she do that?
Was it because…
She was jealous?
Xie Jinwen spoke directly.
“Ling Xiao, we’ll be husband and wife in the future.”
“I won’t demand that you devote yourself entirely to me.”
“However, I do hope you’ll conduct yourself properly.”
Because Ling Xiao had helped her leave the mountains, Xie Jinwen would remember that kindness for the rest of her life.
As for the fact that he naturally attracted admirers, she could tolerate it.
When Ling Xiao heard the words husband and wife, he nearly started wagging an imaginary tail.
When he heard conduct yourself properly, the smile on his face immediately dropped.
From everything that had happened in the hospital, and from his granduncle’s assessment of her, Ling Xiao was convinced that Xie Jinwen was a true master.
Perhaps her cultivation wasn’t even inferior to his granduncle’s.
She viewed the world differently from ordinary people.
But calling him a flirt?
That he absolutely refused to accept.
“Miss Xie, I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
“I’ve always behaved appropriately around women.”
“I’ve never acted improperly.”
Xie Jinwen nodded.
“That’s thanks to your granduncle constantly lecturing you.”
Ling Xiao nearly lost his composure.
Xie Jinwen changed the subject.
“I’ve been in the hospital for so long. I want a bath. How do I get hot water?”
Ling Xiao realized that she wasn’t actually all-knowing.
Teasing her, he said,
“I thought you knew everything and could do anything.”
Unfazed, Xie Jinwen replied,
“The world is full of endless matters. If I knew everything, wouldn’t I exhaust myself to death?”
Ling Xiao found that surprisingly reasonable.
Everyone had things they weren’t good at.
So he happily went to the bathroom to prepare hot water for her bath, then sat on the sofa and started shopping online for clothes for her.
Because of the aircraft crash incident, although he had been released from isolation and could move freely around the base, he still wasn’t fully cleared.
The investigation process would take another two or three months.
Since he couldn’t leave the base, online shopping was his only option.
He planned to have someone bring the purchases back after their day off tomorrow.
“How do you know my measurements?”
Xie Jinwen suddenly appeared behind him without making a sound, startling him.
Pretending to be calm, he replied,
“My eyes are measuring tapes. One glance is enough.”
Turning around, he saw Xie Jinwen wrapped in his loose cotton bathrobe.
The belt was tied casually around her waist, accentuating her slender figure.
Her black hair hung damply over her shoulders and back.
Droplets of water continuously rolled down, sliding across her delicate collarbone before disappearing beneath the bathrobe’s neckline, leaving faint wet marks.
Ling Xiao swallowed.
He noticed that ever since meeting Xie Jinwen, he seemed to be getting thirsty more and more often.
“I… I’ll help dry your hair.”
Xie Jinwen sat down on the sofa and quietly let him blow-dry her hair.
Back in the mountains, she never needed to dry her hair.
A simple hand seal and spell would instantly dry her entire body.
But outside the mountains, spiritual energy was thin, while modern appliances were plentiful.
Since substitutes existed, there was no need to waste spiritual energy.
The problem was that she wasn’t used to using household appliances.
At moments like this, Ling Xiao’s usefulness became apparent again.
Pointing at a room, Xie Jinwen announced,
“I’m taking that room.”
“I won’t sleep in a bed that Yin Ciying has slept in.”
Ling Xiao looked helpless.
“That’s my bedroom.”
“And Sister Ying is a very nice person. Why are you so hostile toward her?”
The two women hadn’t even met at the hospital.
Xie Jinwen didn’t answer.
Even if she told him that Yin Ciying would become the biggest obstacle between them, Ling Xiao wouldn’t believe her.
Ling Xiao refused to give up his bedroom.
Instead, he simply changed the bedding in the guest room.
Unfortunately for him, Xie Jinwen had no intention of staying there.
Carrying a pillow, she climbed straight into his bed.
Startled, Ling Xiao practically jumped upright.
“Miss Xie, do you know what it means to climb into an adult man’s bed?”
“It means I’ll have a comfortable body pillow.”
“Besides, it’s not like we haven’t slept together before.”
“When have we ever slept together?”
“Don’t slander me!”
Back in the mountains, they had slept together.
But Xie Jinwen didn’t say it.
Ling Xiao had forgotten those events.
Even if she told him, he wouldn’t believe her.
She casually patted him once.
Immediately, all strength drained from his body.
He couldn’t move at all.
After covering him with a blanket, she lay down beside him.
“I’m a little tired.”
“I sleep more peacefully beside you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she fell asleep.
She needed plenty of sleep to recover her energy.
Ling Xiao, however, was wide awake.
With a soft and beautiful young woman lying beside him, only a true gentleman could fall asleep.
Then, deep into the night, he finally understood why Xie Jinwen had refused to sleep alone.
Outside the window, the wind howled like ghosts and wolves.
The windows rattled violently as though something were striking them repeatedly.
Only after the rooster owned by Auntie Jiang on the first floor crowed did the disturbance finally cease.
Nothing like this had ever happened before.
Were these things targeting Xie Jinwen?
After all, she was still just a young girl.
Perhaps she had moments of fear and helplessness too.
Thinking that, Ling Xiao’s long-suppressed exhaustion finally overtook him.
Slowly, he closed his eyes.
Half asleep and half awake, he drifted into slumber.