Tian Miamiao’s head was buried on his chest. The odor of disinfectant became even sharper, and she could clearly hear his heartbeats.

One thump after another, it was rhythmic and powerful.

His chest was also searing, as if about to burn her.

Tian Miaomiao flushed meekly, her own heart starting to race while her breaths became rapid.

This was her first time… hugging a man.

“Are you alright?”

The voice overhead was cold as ever.

Tian Miaomiao recovered then and promptly pushed him away, keeping her head lowered as she was afraid to look directly into his eyes.

She tugged at her own sleeves, and bit her lip to keep it together. “I-I’m fine…”

***

Ocean City.

Li Shaoling’s headache was much better, and he returned to the hotel with Ji Weixi after dinner.

There were gushing echoes from the bathroom as he took a shower.

Meanwhile, Ji Weixi was packing up their luggage. They would be returning when Jian Jie’s condition improves.

That was when Li Shaoling’s phone rang.

Ji Weixi glanced at his figure in bathroom, and thought that he would still take a while.

She walked over and picked it up, finding an unfamiliar number on the screen.

She answered it.

There was soft laughter from the other end. “Guess who, Shaoling?”

Ji Weixi’s eyes widened. For some reason, she actually did not have the courage to reply.

Still, the caller—a woman was not annoyed by the silence, and instead said coquettishly, “Oh, you and your manners, Shaoling. You could go straight ahead and say you miss me! I’m back, so come fetch me at the airport tomorrow. It’s been so long since I last see you, I’ve missed you so much…

‘Shaoling’…

She spoke so naturally, so intimately!

Ji Weixi’s throat felt clogged and she promptly hung up while feeling very upset.

Countless questions appeared in her mind.

Who was she? Why did she speak as if she was very close to Li Shaoling?

Could there be something between them which she doesn’t know?

Nonetheless, the bathroom door opened in the midst of her thoughts. She quickly put Li Shaoling’s phone where she found it, and started to fold clothes while acting as if nothing happened.

Still, her ears sensitively detected the footsteps behind her getting ever closer.

She kept her calm and stood up after she was done tidying her luggage, but was taken into the man’s arms.

His warmth ensnared her, hot as magma.

His voice was bright and cheerful like springtime. “I missed you.”

That bath shouldn’t have lasted more than ten minutes, and he misses her already?

If it was before, Ji Weixi would definitely be embarrassed.

Now, however, she had to re-evaluate things.

Could he be hiding something?

“What’s on your mind?” Li Shaoling tugged at her while looking at her face.

“Nothing.”

She flatly replied, shaking her head before pulling away and going to sit on the bed.

Sensing that she was behaving strangely, Li Shaoling sat beside her. However, she shifted aside casually when he was about to hug her again, and did her best to keep her voice flat as she said, “Someone called you just now. I answered it.”

“Okay. Who was it?”

“No idea. But it’s a woman.” Ji Weixi struggled to smile at him. “She said she’s coming back, and asked you to fetch her at the airport tomorrow.”

Li Shaoling swiped his phone open and grinned when he saw the number on his log.

That grin was pricking to Ji Weixi’s eye. She felt as if her blood had gone cold, and her heart aching vaguely.

Heh. Men.

Then, as Li Shaoling hugged her and snuggled up for a kiss, Ji Weixi promptly turned away and said very coldly, “I’m sleepy. Off to bed.”

With that, and while he looked on blankly, she slipped beneath the sheets and hid.

Li Shaoling’s silence left her feeling even colder inside.

That woman must have a special relationship with him. Just look at how tender his grin was.

Heh. The ex had returned, so she’s no longer important.

The more Ji Weixi thought about it, the more upset and wronged she felt. She wanted nothing more to rush home to River Town, hide in a corner to bawl.

However, her rationality and dignity told her that it wouldn’t do.

She must endure even if she didn’t want to stay there. She must not let Li Shaoling get a clue.

She tossed around in considerable irritation.

Meanwhile, Li Shaoling simply sat beside her in bed, watching her and chuckled quietly, although there was a helpless tenderness in his eyes.

Pulling off the sheets, he lay down beside Ji Weixi. Even as she kept her eyes closed and pretended to sleep, she could clearly feel a warm chest sticking on her back.

She tried to move away, but her whole body was abruptly pulled into his arms, with one hand worming around her neck and the other holding her waist.

Flawless, tight, and snug!

Ji Weixi could not sleep at all. Unable to bear it any longer, she shifted.

Li Shaoling snuggled up to her again in response.

That repeated several times until she was about to drop to the floor. LI Shaoling simply pressed her back into her arms then, and stroked her hair gently with one hand. “Good girl. Now sleep.”

Sleep with your uncle!

She really wanted to blow out an expletive right then.

He had kept insisting he loved her so tenderly, and now he’s not even offering an explanation when an ex calls him?

Wasn’t he usually very afraid of making her angry?

Ji Weixi felt as if her heart was flipped upside-down, feeling so much grief that she could cry.

Truly, it would be better to believe pigs could fly than believing a man!

She kept calm, while doing her best to tell herself to sleep.

Sleep… Sleep is good…

***

Tian Miaomiao’s heart was threatening to jump out of her throat. She kept her head down for the rest of the journey, afraid to look up and afraid to speak.

There was no telling how long had passed. It was only when the bus’s onboard alert for the final stop sounded that Tian Miaomiao promptly looked up. “Last stop?!”

Oh no! She had missed her stop!

“Silly.” Jiang Yigu teased.

Tian Miaomiao could not hold back a retort. “Pot calling the kettle black. But I am still a little smarter.”

She felt her shoulder being pressed right then and froze.

Jiang Yigu’s palm was so warm she felt she was burning up.

“Take me home.” Jiang Yigu said as if it only made sense. “I can’t see.”

“Is your short-sightedness that serious?”

“It’s just that I’m used to having my glasses. I feel uncomfortable with blurry vision.”

“Oh…”

And so, Tian Miaomiao walked ahead, with Jiang Yigu holding her shoulder to keep up.

She suddenly felt like a guide dog.

…Arf-arf!

After walking for a long time, Tian Miaomiao felt her shoulder go numb: Jiang Yigu had paused, squinting at a nearby door number before telling her, “We’re here.”

His hand moved even as he spoke.

Tian Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief. However, she was so startled she could have bit off her own tongue when she looked up.

It was a white, extravagantly decorated four-floored mansion covered by several towering old trees, looking especially obvious as it stood beside the path laden with limestone.

Tian Miaomiao gasped sharply and felt a pain in her cheeks. Even how she looked at Jiang Yigu changed instantly.

On the bus, she actually told him that he did not look rich.

Turns out he lived in a mansion…

Moreover, the mansion on this side of River Town were all extremely expensive, not to mention the nice quiet area like this meant it would at least be worth millions.

Tian Miaomiao exclaimed in awe inwardly.

Jiang Yigu was really full of surprises—no one would have known that he’s a most eligible bachelor!