Xie Zongxu was dressed casually today. He wore a gray set of loungewear, and his hair was not combed back with its usual meticulous precision. A few strands hung over his forehead, making him look several years younger than usual.
From the moment Li Yang came downstairs, his gaze had shifted away from the documents in his hands.
He simply watched her.
He watched her walk past him in that lotus-pink spaghetti-strap nightdress, barefoot, her two long, straight legs swaying lightly, completely ignoring his existence.
The nightdress was far too thin. As she moved, the hem fluttered gently, outlining every curve of her body.
At that moment, Li Yang’s expression froze.
She lowered her head and looked at herself.
A lotus-pink spaghetti-strap nightdress, made of a thin layer of silk that clung to her body and concealed almost nothing.
The neckline was low, the hem pitifully short, and two thin straps rested on her shoulders. She looked exactly like someone who had just crawled out of bed.
Then she raised her head and met Xie Zongxu’s gaze.
His eyes slowly moved downward from her face.
They lingered for a second on her collarbone, another on her chest, and another on her legs before casually withdrawing as if it had merely been a random glance. Then he returned to reading his documents.
The movement was so natural that it seemed completely unintentional.
Li Yang’s face instantly turned red.
Aunt Zhou coughed awkwardly from the side.
“Madam, um… Sir was the one who picked you up last night. I-I’ll go check on the soup in the kitchen.”
With that, she quickly disappeared into the kitchen.
Only the two of them remained in the living room.
Li Yang sat beside the dining table, feeling as though her entire body was floating.
The living room was so quiet that she could hear birds chirping outside the window.
She had assumed that only she and Aunt Zhou were home at this hour.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
Xie Zongxu asked.
Li Yang replied: “…Very well.”
She felt her blood rush from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, then crash back down again, repeating the cycle several times.
Calm down.
She was now his legal wife.
A legal wife wearing a nightdress in her own home was not breaking any laws.
Even though she told herself that, she still straightened her back as quickly as possible, trying to make the hem fall naturally.
Unfortunately, the cursed nightdress was simply too short. Even standing up did not hide much.
She could only pretend to act naturally as she walked to the entryway cabinet, rummaged through a drawer, and found a light cardigan. She draped it over herself and tied the belt.
The entire sequence was completed in one smooth motion and could even be described as elegant.
Xie Zongxu did not look at her. He merely lowered his head and turned another page.
Li Yang took a deep breath and adopted a casual tone.
“Didn’t Mr. Xie say he’d be very busy these next few days?”
Without looking up, he answered evenly,
“I am very busy. I spent the entire morning in video conferences.”
“…Oh, so working from home is possible too. Haha.”
She stood there, suddenly feeling that she ought to say something more.
But what could she say?
Ask him why he had not warned her? Wouldn’t that be admitting that she had dressed too revealingly?
Or explain that she thought nobody else was home? That would only make things sound more suspicious.
At that moment, Xie Zongxu lifted his eyes and looked at her.
The morning sunlight fell across her face. Her skin still carried the warmth of someone who had just awakened, and her lips were naturally pale pink. Standing there wrapped in a cardigan, she was clearly mortified, yet stubbornly maintaining an air of calm composure.
The corner of his lips moved slightly.
It was such a faint curve that she could not tell whether he was laughing at her or at something else.
“Why are you standing there?” he asked. “Weren’t you eating breakfast?”
Xie Zongxu set down his teacup and rose to his feet, walking toward her.
Li Yang’s calf bumped against the sofa.
She remembered that Xie Zongxu had brought her home last night.
That was all she remembered.
What had happened after that?
Li Yang suddenly felt uneasy.
Had she said anything inappropriate?
Had she embarrassed herself?
“Li Yang.”
The man’s deep voice fell from above her.
She looked up.
Xie Zongxu stood before her with the light behind him. His features were hidden in shadow, while only his eyes remained calm and focused on her.
He extended his hand.
Resting in his palm was a dark blue velvet box. Its edges were trimmed with delicate silver threads that reflected a restrained sheen beneath the lights.
Li Yang did not move.
After waiting two seconds, Xie Zongxu opened the box himself.
A ring rested quietly against the white satin lining.
The centerpiece was a dazzling gemstone surrounded by clusters of smaller diamonds. The vintage cut lacked the flashy extravagance of modern jewelry, yet it carried the unmistakable weight of history.
Li Yang recognized it immediately.
This was not something purchased from an ordinary jewelry store.
This was the kind of piece that appeared at auction houses.
Her marriage to Xie Zongxu had begun as a mutually understood alliance.
The marriage registration process had been completed in one smooth sequence, and she had never expected a ring.
Much less a ring like this.
“…For me?”
The question slipped out before she realized how foolish it sounded.
Xie Zongxu lowered his eyes to her. The corner of his mouth seemed to move, though perhaps it had not.
“Try it on.” he said. “If it doesn’t fit, it can be adjusted.”
The box remained open.
Looking at the ring, Li Yang suddenly thought that her drunken self last night had probably not done anything too outrageous.
Li Yang stared at the velvet box in Xie Zongxu’s hand, her heart pounding.
If she had truly done something excessive last night, then judging by Xie Zongxu’s personality, he should be discussing divorce with cold professionalism right now instead of presenting her with a ring in such a ceremonial manner.
She lifted her eyes and glanced at him before extending her hand.
Understanding her intention, Xie Zongxu removed the ring from the box. Holding her fingertips, he slowly slid it onto her ring finger.
The metal was cool at first, but the warmth of his fingers gradually spread across it.
Li Yang lowered her gaze and watched the ring settle perfectly around her finger.
For some reason, her palm suddenly felt hot.
“Thank you.” she said.
At the same time, she secretly let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed she had not caused any major disaster last night.
Pressing her lips together, she decided she should still offer an explanation.
“Last night, I thought that since I’d never been to Singapore before, I’d go out and have some fun. Maybe it’s because I haven’t drunk alcohol in a long time. The drinks here tasted really good, and I drank too quickly without knowing my limits.”
Even if nothing serious had happened, getting so drunk that she blacked out was hardly an elegant thing for Xie Zongxu’s wife to admit.
For once, Li Yang felt somewhat guilty and tried to salvage a little of her image.
“I didn’t cause you any trouble, did I?”
she asked reservedly.
Xie Zongxu looked at her without speaking.
At that moment, he was thinking about the dozens of photographs stored on his phone—pictures of the two of them posing together in all kinds of positions.
Pulling himself back from his thoughts, he looked at her as she desperately tried to maintain a dignified appearance.
A trace of amusement flashed through his eyes.
“No. Miss Li handles alcohol very well.” he said.
Li Yang felt as though she had been granted a pardon.
A smile immediately spread across her face.
“That’s good. Hehe.”
Then she turned and walked toward the dining room.
Halfway there, she heard an unhurried remark from behind her.
“Next time, there’s no need to wear a cardigan. Dressing like this is quite nice.”
Her steps faltered instantly, and she nearly lost her balance.