Lin Youhe continued saying something, but Xi Shi only saw his lips opening and closing, and the unconscious parting between them during pauses in his speech, before she followed him into the bedroom.
Xi Shi hadn't expected that one story of hers could earn her so much initiative from Lin Youhe — he actually let her stay the night.
She leaned against the doorframe of the master bedroom, watching Lin Youhe's back as he changed the bedsheets, still not quite processing the current situation.
At two-something in the morning, seemingly rational logic was merely a disguise for instinct and intuition.
The bedroom with its spacious double bed, the fluffy quilt, and the back view of a man who suited her taste — these images could easily stir primal urges in a hazy mind.
Xi Shi pressed her lips together and began to appraise Lin Youhe with less-than-innocent eyes as he retrieved a pillow from the high cabinet, and the strip of firm, taut abdomen visible beneath the hem of his shirt.
Unaware of being watched, he placed the pillow with its fresh case on the bed, bent down to pull a dark blue bottle from the nightstand drawer, and shook it at Xi Shi as he straightened up.
The label was all in English. He said, "Want some?"
Xi Shi didn't bother reading the label, leaning lazily against the doorframe as she countered, "Do you want me to want it?"
Lin Youhe paused for a moment, then replied gently, "This is better for sleep."
Probably some kind of sleep aid spray.
Whatever had started things should be how they ended — these gentle, auxiliary physical remedies had no effect on Xi Shi whatsoever.
But she had already talked enough; she didn't want to keep dissecting herself for others to see. So she gave a slightly flirtatious smile and shook her head. "Never mind. I think I'd prefer the way you smell."
Lin Youhe tossed the bottle back into the nightstand drawer, then turned to meet Xi Shi's gaze.
The bedroom, lit only by a single bedside lamp, was filled with an ambiguous silence — so quiet it made one's heart race.
Xi Shi saw Lin Youhe's gaze lower, tracing slowly from her eyes down to her jawline as if it had physical weight.
She asked with ulterior motives, "What are you looking at?"
Lin Youhe was indeed someone who didn't know how to read the mood: "Trying to guess whether you look more like your mother or your grandmother."
That sour, constricted feeling in her chest crept back quietly.
Xi Shi was silent for a few seconds. "More like my mother. But also like my grandmother."
Lin Youhe said warmly, "Sounds like both your mother and grandmother were very beautiful."
Xi Shi unconsciously pulled Lin Youhe's jacket tighter around herself, walked over, and sat on the edge of the bed, saying listlessly, "I heard my great-grandmother's family was from the south. The place had a port — it was a trading hub last century, with quite a few foreigners. Maybe my grandmother had some foreign blood too."
Lin Youhe bent down, looking into Xi Shi's eyes. "If you talk this much, will you have dreams later?"
In a flash, Xi Shi felt as though her nightmares were completely exposed in Lin Youhe's eyes. She leaned back for a moment before speaking calmly, "No."
Lin Youhe said, "Then sleep."
After Lin Youhe left the bedroom, Xi Shi climbed onto the bed and slipped under the covers.
The pillow, the sheets, the duvet cover — everything carried that faint fragrance of Lin Youhe's.
Whether it was from telling the story or from staying up late, she was utterly exhausted but couldn't feel the slightest bit sleepy. With cold hands and feet, she lay on her back in the unfamiliar room, staring at the ceiling, lost in scattered thoughts.
Xi Shi had never dreamed of her mother.
Her impression of her mother remained frozen in the photographs from old books and missing-person notices.
Someone like Lin Youhe probably came from a warm, loving family. What would his mother be like?
Ah, right — her mother's death anniversary was coming up soon…
A knock sounded at the bedroom door — so soft it felt like a hallucination. Xi Shi propped herself up on her elbows, her curly hair sliding off her shoulders, revealing a fragile, slender neck.
Lin Youhe pushed the door open and walked in.
He had apparently just showered — the thinner patches of skin were slightly flushed, and a faint, damp aura surrounded him. Holding a glass of water, he set it on the nightstand under her burning gaze, then asked, "Still can't sleep?"
Xi Shi didn't answer.
Lin Youhe sat down on the floor with his back against the double bed and offered Xi Shi one of his earbuds.
The mellow music flowed through her eardrums and into her body, pushing back against the cold loneliness of the early morning.
In the music, Xi Shi rested her head on her arms at the edge of the bed, looking at Lin Youhe's profile as he too wore an earbud. "What instrument is that?"
Lin Youhe said, "Cello."
Xi Shi belatedly thought of the sleep spray in the drawer. "Do you often have insomnia?"
"Occasionally."
Lin Youhe turned his head to look at Xi Shi. "There are always people or things that worry you."
Xi Shi asked, "Students?"
Lin Youhe let out a soft laugh. "Something like that."
Xi Shi closed her eyes. "You must be a good teacher."
Lin Youhe said modestly, "Just average."
With her eyes still closed, Xi Shi murmured a slightly ambiguous, "Is that so."
And so they continued chatting idly, listening to cello pieces, peaceful beyond belief.
Xi Shi might have dozed off for a bit, or maybe not — it wasn't until she felt the earbud being taken away that she groggily opened her eyes—
Lin Youhe's blurry figure was leaning over the bedside, looking down at her. She reached out a weary hand, but grasped nothing, and her wrist fell limply back onto the edge of the mattress.
Xi Shi mumbled drowsily, "Aren't you coming to bed?"
Lin Youhe said, "Not tonight."
Xi Shi let out a confused "Hm?"
Lin Youhe seemed to be smiling. "Next time."
The next second, her eyelids finally gave in to their unbearable weight and closed. Just before she sank completely into sleep, Xi Shi felt her wrist being held and tucked under the blanket, and the last words she heard seemed to be Lin Youhe's gentle "Sleep well" and "Good night."
Saying she wouldn't dream was just a brush-off, but unexpectedly, there was no nightmare sleep at all that night.
Xi Shi didn't wake until nearly noon. Her sleep had been so good that she almost suspected Lin Youhe had sprayed her with a sleep aid while she was unconscious.
She buried her face in the pillow and sniffed, but still only caught that faint, crisp scent of his and the smell of her own shampoo.
They really had talked far too much last night.
Xi Shi's throat felt dry and parched. She sat up and drank the glass of water on the nightstand, which had long gone cold.
Recalling how the plan had progressed, the refreshed Xi Shi began to feel a twinge of regret. Last night, Lin Youhe had clearly been on the verge of succumbing—why hadn't she pushed a little harder and lured him into bed?
She pulled open the curtains. The weather outside was indeed not great.
Xi Shi smoothed her long hair and her nightgown. Her face, neck, arms, and calves all had that pale fairness of skin that never saw sunlight. She deliberately didn't put on the knitted cardigan Lin Youhe had lent her last night, and walked out of the bedroom with a languid air under the oppressive gray sky.
Lin Youhe had probably gotten up long ago. He was sitting on the sofa, a laptop on his lap, tapping away at something or other.
Hearing the door open, he pushed up his glasses with his index finger and lifted his gaze—and, just as Xi Shi had hoped, he froze for a moment.
Xi Shi cheerfully raised her hand and waved. "Teacher Lin, good afternoon~"
Lin Youhe set down the laptop and stood up, walking over. "Wearing so little? Where's your cardigan?"
Xi Shi smiled brightly and clasped Lin Youhe's wrist with her still-warm hand, saying softly, "Your bed and blankets are wonderful to sleep in. It's not cold yet."
As she let go, her fingertips gave a light, teasing tap to the back of his hand. "Does what Teacher Lin said yesterday still count?"
Lin Youhe remained composed. "Which part?"
Xi Shi beckoned with her hand, and the honest man obediently bent down to lean in.
She whispered in his ear, word by word, teasingly: "Por-ridge-base hot-pot."
Of course Lin Youhe's promise still counted.
Xi Shi went home and dolled herself up until she looked exquisite and smelled fragrant. When she stepped out, Lin Youhe was already waiting in the hallway. Seeing her, he put away his phone and smiled.
Xi Shi walked over in her high heels. "I thought you wouldn't go to lunch with me today."
Lin Youhe asked in a calm, unhurried voice, "Why?"
Xi Shi said, "Weren't you busy with your computer just now?"
Lin Youhe said he was just getting his work done ahead of time, and it was no trouble. Then he stopped walking. "Wait a moment."
Xi Shi stopped too, puzzled, and watched Lin Youhe turn back, open the door, and grab his car keys.
She asked, "Didn't you say it was close by?"
"Mm."
Lin Youhe explained succinctly: "It's cold outside. Dressed like that, you'll catch a chill."
Xi Shi turned to face Lin Youhe, one hand holding her bucket bag behind her back, walking backward while maintaining eye contact with him. "I thought Teacher Lin would compliment me on looking pretty."
Lin Youhe said, "Miss Xi looks pretty every day."
It was Xi Shi herself who looked away first. She felt a flutter of delight.
Probably because the plan was going smoothly.
The newly opened porridge-base hot-pot place nearby was actually mediocre—the porridge base was bland and the dipping sauce lacked flavor. After a few slices of beef and one giant freshwater shrimp, Xi Shi had little appetite left to keep tasting.
The waitstaff, though, were genuinely warm and attentive. As they left, the server walked them all the way to the door and held it open: "Welcome back again!"
She probably wouldn't be "coming back" anytime soon.
Xi Shi grumbled inwardly.
She turned her head and saw that even Lin Youhe, that gentle pushover, had lowered his lashes and given a subtle, disapproving shake of his head. She suddenly laughed and nudged him with her elbow. "They said they welcome you back again."
Lin Youhe replied with impeccable politeness: "Spare me."
On the way back, Lin Youhe turned the car into the parking lot of an import warehouse store and asked Xi Shi, "Want to browse around?"
In Xi Shi's world, grocery shopping was far too mundane an activity.
A walking-dead painted skin like her hadn't set foot in a supermarket in years. But she was in a good mood today, and since her target wanted to browse, she could of course keep him company.
Xi Shi's cold-blooded nature began to awaken the moment she got out of the car. In the few steps from the parking lot to the store entrance, she was already regretting it and wanting to turn back.
The hand tucked in her coat pocket was fine, but the hand holding her bag had already gone stiff.
She unconsciously raised her hand to her lips and breathed warm air onto it.
Lin Youhe walked beside Xi Shi, pushing the shopping cart with one hand, while the other took two bottles of red wine from the shelf and placed them in the cart.
It was only at this moment that Xi Shi realized Lin Youhe might be planning to have dinner with her.
Her gaze lingered on the two bottles of red wine, thoughtfully mulling over today's plans.
Lin Youhe suddenly grabbed Xi Shi's cool wrist without looking back and tucked it into his coat pocket. His own hand followed, naturally interlacing their fingers together.
Xi Shi was somewhat stunned.
She prided herself on being the foremost player in the web of schemes, yet she never expected that the honest and steady Teacher Lin could have such a domineering side.
Her fingers were completely filled, the skin warm against hers, and the fleeting similar sensation at her wrist awakened a vague memory from before she went to sleep.
When she had asked Lin Youhe earlier that morning if he wanted to go to bed, what had he answered?
—"Not today." "Some other time."
Xi Shi glanced once more at the red wine in the shopping cart.
Which "some other time"?