She pressed the shutter several times.
After finishing, she flipped through the photos.
“This one looks good. This one doesn’t. Your eyes were closed in this one. My face looks huge in this one—”
She muttered to herself while scrolling through them. Then she suddenly stopped on one photo.
In the picture, she was smiling so brightly that her eyes curved into crescents. Xie Zongxu was looking at the camera, the corners of his lips slightly raised in a faint, very faint smile.
She stared at it for several seconds.
“This one looks good.”
She held the phone up in front of him.
“Look, you smiled.”
Xie Zongxu looked at himself on the screen and said nothing.
Then she continued taking pictures. She rolled over and lay against his shoulder for one shot. She sat up and took one from above. She tugged on his ear for another. Then she pinched his nose and took one more.
Xie Zongxu let her do whatever she wanted.
After taking enough pictures, Li Yang suddenly yawned.
Xie Zongxu lowered his head and looked at her.
“Sleepy?”
Li Yang rubbed her eyes.
“No.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she yawned again.
Xie Zongxu took the phone from her hand and placed it on the bedside table.
“Go to sleep.”
This time, Li Yang did not argue.
She scooted closer into his arms and buried her face against his chest.
“Mr. Xie.”
“Hm?”
“Don’t leave.”
Xie Zongxu was silent for a second.
“I won’t.”
Li Yang nodded in satisfaction.
The room fell quiet.
Moonlight filtered in through the window and fell upon the two people embracing on the bed. Li Yang’s breathing gradually became steady.
After a long time, Xie Zongxu lowered his head and looked at her peaceful sleeping face.
Then he let out a soft sigh.
“When you wake up tomorrow, you’d better still remember.”
…
Li Yang slept until eleven o’clock.
Sunlight squeezed through the gap in the curtains and shone brightly across the floor.
She rolled over, and half the blanket slipped away, leaving her feeling a little chilly.
She reached out and touched the space beside her.
Empty.
Cold.
Drowsily, she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling in a daze for quite some time.
It seemed that she had dreamed about her mother last night.
In the dream, she had clung to someone, acting spoiled. She had sung songs, taken photos, and kept asking whether that person was happy. The person had not pushed her away and had simply let her fool around.
Li Yang rubbed her eyes, thinking that the dream had felt incredibly real.
She rolled over and buried her face in the pillow.
Just then, her phone vibrated with a ringing tone.
She felt around for the phone on the bedside table and squinted at the caller ID.
Dad.
The lingering haze in her mind instantly disappeared by more than half.
Clearing her throat, she answered the call.
“Hello, Dad.”
“Where are you?”
Li Luqian’s voice came through the receiver, carrying a trace of displeasure.
Li Yang sat up and leaned against the headboard. She glanced at the unfamiliar city skyline outside the window.
“Singapore.”
Li Luqian paused.
“I know you’re in Singapore. What I’m asking is, who did you go with?”
Li Yang froze.
Instinctively, she wanted to say she had gone with a classmate, but the words stopped before leaving her mouth.
Xie Zongxu had been right.
Her father wanted nothing more than for them to spend more time together. If he knew she had come with him, he would probably be delighted.
But she simply did not want to say it.
Why should everything be according to his wishes?
Why should he get to decide her lifelong marriage on his own?
Holding her phone tightly, Li Yang replied in a calm voice.
“I came by myself.”
The other end of the line was silent for several seconds.
Li Luqian’s voice deepened.
“At a time like this, you came to Singapore alone for a vacation?”
Li Yang said nothing.
“In another month, you’ll be engaged. Right now, you should be spending more time with Zongxu and developing your relationship. Instead, you’ve run off by yourself to have fun?”
As she listened, the frustration inside her slowly rose.
But she suppressed it.
She remained silent and simply listened.
Li Luqian sighed, his tone softening somewhat.
“Fine. Since you’re already there, enjoy yourself. Come back soon. I’ve had some money transferred to you. Don’t let yourself suffer while you’re away.”
“Got it.”
Li Yang responded quietly.
Li Luqian added,
“And regarding Zongxu, take more initiative. Add him on WeChat and chat with him. Stop acting so reserved all the time.”
Li Yang pressed her lips together.
“Okay.”
After hanging up, she stared blankly at her phone screen for a while.
A transfer notification popped up.
Two hundred thousand.
Looking at the amount, she suddenly laughed.
Or rather, she couldn’t laugh at all.
She knew her father loved her.
Ever since she was little, he had given her whatever she wanted and had never treated her unfairly.
But that love came with a condition.
The condition was that she had to be obedient.
When she obeyed, she was the apple of his eye.
When she did not, she was being unreasonable.
Li Yang tossed her phone onto the bed and fell backward onto her pillow.
Outside, the Singapore sunshine was brilliant, but her heart felt heavy, as though a stone were pressing down on it.
After a while, she got out of bed and went to take a shower.
When she came out, she felt completely refreshed.
The sticky smell of alcohol from the night before was gone. Being clean again felt much better.
Standing in front of the wardrobe, she casually looked through her clothes and picked the coolest nightgown she could find.
It was a pale pink silk slip dress with spaghetti straps. Two thin straps rested on her shoulders. The neckline was somewhat low, and the hem barely reached the tops of her thighs.
After all, there was nobody at home to see her.
Thinking that, Li Yang walked downstairs barefoot.
Aunt Zhou was busy in the kitchen. Hearing footsteps, she poked her head out.
“Madam is awake?”
Li Yang nodded and walked toward the dining room.
“Aunt Zhou, is there anything to eat? I’m starving.”
Aunt Zhou carried out a bowl of porridge and several side dishes. Just as she was about to speak, she looked up and froze.
The nightgown was little more than a thin layer against Li Yang’s body. Everything that should have been visible was visible, while everything that should not have been visible was faintly outlined beneath the fabric.
Aunt Zhou had lived more than half her life and seen all kinds of things, yet even she was momentarily dazzled by the sight.
“Madam, your nightgown…”
Li Yang looked down at herself and did not think much of it.
“What’s wrong? I’m just wearing it at home. It’s fine.”
Aunt Zhou opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but stopped herself. Her old face turned red.
Young people nowadays were certainly far more open-minded than people from her generation…
Li Yang had already sat down and scooped a spoonful of porridge into her mouth.
“Mmm, this porridge is delicious.”
Aunt Zhou stood beside the dining table, her eyes repeatedly drifting toward the living room.
Completely unaware, Li Yang continued drinking her porridge. After a few mouthfuls, she suddenly looked up.
“Oh right, Aunt Zhou, thank you for last night.”
Aunt Zhou froze.
“Thank me? For what?”
Li Yang smiled, looking a little embarrassed.
“I drank too much last night. You were the one who went to pick me up, right? I remember someone carrying me into the car and buying me hangover medicine.”
Tilting her head, she thought about it.
“Did you ask the driver to take me home? I was so drunk last night. I must have caused you a lot of trouble.”
Aunt Zhou’s expression became rather complicated.
She opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but swallowed the words. Once again, her eyes subtly drifted toward the living room.
Li Yang finally noticed that something was off.
“Aunt Zhou, what are you looking at?”
Before Aunt Zhou could answer, a voice came from the direction of the living room, calm and unhurried.
“You did cause quite a bit of trouble.”
The spoon in Li Yang’s hand froze.
Slowly, she turned her head.
In the corner of the living room, on the single armchair by the window, Xie Zongxu was sitting there.
He was dressed in a dark gray set of loungewear and held a document in his hand. No one knew how long he had been sitting there.