Chapter 17: Sleep on Your Own, Okay?

In an apartment in the southern part of the city, Jiang Tingxu stood by the window, his gaze lingering on the streams of rainwater winding and converging outside. 

The deafening thunder rumbled through the sky, shaking the glass. 

After an unknown amount of time, he finally lowered his head and tapped open his contact list.

He found the number he had looked at countless times over the past few days but had never actually dialed. 

After a moment of silence, he pressed the call button. 

The dial tone rang out, crisp and steady. 

Jiang Tingxu lowered his gaze, his emotions unreadable. 

The only giveaway was his unconsciously clenched fist at his side. 

The thunder outside blended with the ringing in the receiver, making each passing second feel infinitely drawn out. 

His lips pressed into a thin line. 

His grip on the phone tightened instinctively. 

Just as the call was about to disconnect automatically, someone finally picked up. 

Jiang Tingxu didn’t pay attention to the subtle relief that spread through his chest at that moment, nor did he acknowledge the breath he unknowingly released. 

Staring at the curtain of rain outside, he asked, just like he used to: 

“Nanzhi, where are you?” 

There was a brief pause on the other end. 

Then, instead of the voice he was expecting, Jiang Jinnian’s voice came through. 

“Tingxu, it’s me.” 

Jiang Tingxu’s brows furrowed slightly as he instinctively glanced at the pitch-dark sky outside.

“Brother? You’re with Nanzhi?” 

Jiang Tingxu hesitated. He wanted to ask why his brother was with Shen Nanzhi at this hour. Just last night, when he had spoken with Zhou Lin over the phone, he remembered Zhou Lin mentioning that E.R. Headquarters was finalizing an important contract, and his brother was supposed to be on a business trip for the next two days. 

But before he could voice his question, he heard Jiang Jinnian’s low and steady voice through the receiver. 

“Nanzhi is drunk. Tingxu, did you need something from her?” 

“It’s nothing important.” Jiang Tingxu swallowed the words that had almost left his lips and instead explained, “I just remembered that Nanzhi is afraid of thunderstorms. Since you’re with her, I appreciate you taking care of—” 

“Tingxu.” 

This time, before Jiang Tingxu could finish his sentence, Jiang Jinnian interrupted him. 

“If you’ve chosen not to accept this engagement, then step back and stay in your place.” 

Jiang Tingxu fell silent. 

He understood exactly what those words meant. 

By refusing the engagement between their two families and by not recognizing her as his fiancée, he no longer had the right to stand by her side the way he once did. 

Thunder rumbled outside, deafening against the heavy rain. A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the vast darkness. 

Looking at the storm raging beyond the glass, Jiang Tingxu suddenly remembered something— 

Many years ago, when Shen Nanzhi had first come to the Jiang family, she had encountered her first thunderstorm there. 

The storm had arrived in the middle of the night. At the time, the Jiang family’s branch office was facing a crisis, and his parents had rushed over to handle it, leaving Nanzhi alone in the villa. 

She had always been afraid of thunderstorms.

Because that nightmarish storm had been the backdrop of her father’s passing. 

The ten-year-old girl had stumbled out of her room in the middle of the night, trembling, tears streaming down her face as she curled up on the sofa in the living room. 

By then, it was already late. The villa’s servants had long retired to the servants’ quarters, leaving the main house empty. 

Shen Nanzhi had huddled there alone, caught between sleep and wakefulness. 

Later, Jiang Jinnian returned home and saw the small figure curled up on the couch. Without a word, he fetched a blanket, draped it over her, and sat beside her, keeping her company for the entire night. He remained there until the storm clouds dispersed and the first light of dawn broke through. 

At that time, Jiang Tingxu had been at an age where he still indulged in carefree fun. Taking advantage of their father’s rare trip abroad, he had spent the entire night playing games with his friends. 

By the time he returned home the next morning and stepped into the living room, the first thing he saw was the tiny girl curled up, fast asleep, clutching onto his brother’s wrist. 

Jiang Tingxu remembered that scene vividly. 

His brother had not asked him where he had been all night. Instead, he had merely glanced at his watch and said calmly, “Stay with Nanzhi for a while. I have a meeting to get to.” 

Jiang Tingxu had done as he was told. 

As he sat down in the spot his brother had just vacated, he watched as Jiang Jinnian carefully pried Nanzhi’s tiny fingers from his wrist before standing up and leaving. 

Not long after, Shen Nanzhi woke up. 

She had assumed that the person who had stayed with her all night, the one who had accompanied her through the terrifying storm, was him. 

The small girl had thrown herself into his arms the moment she woke, her voice filled with gratitude and guilt as she whispered, “Thank you, Brother.”

Jiang Tingxu’s emotions back then had been complicated. 

So complicated, in fact, that even now, he still couldn’t quite put them into words. 

But from that night onward, Shen Nanzhi’s reliance on him had visibly increased. 

And Jiang Tingxu had always known the reason why—she had simply mistaken him for the one who had stayed with her through the storm. 

Yushan Residence, Master’s Bedroom.

Jiang Jinnian ended the call and looked down at the girl clinging to him in a drunken daze. 

Setting her phone aside, he pressed a warm palm lightly against the back of her neck, intending to pull her away from his embrace. 

But the moment he moved, she sensed it—instinctively tightening her grip around his wrist. 

Drunk, Shen Nanzhi had no awareness of restraint. 

Nor did she have the clarity of mind to consider the consequences, to keep her distance from him. 

Under the influence of alcohol, caught in the lingering fear of the thunderstorm outside, she clung to him unconsciously. Her damp, shimmering eyes glazed up at him, pitiful and pleading: 

“I’m scared…” 

Jiang Jinnian let out a silent sigh.

For a moment, it felt as if time had rewound—back to that night, years ago, when he had stayed with her on the Jiang family’s old mansion sofa, comforting her until morning. 

“Zhizhi, you’re drunk. If you don’t drink some hangover soup, you’ll have a terrible headache in the morning.” He tried to reason with her. 

But a drunk person couldn’t be reasoned with. 

Just like now, Shen Nanzhi rejected and feared the relentless rumble of thunder outside. The deepest terror buried in her heart was being slowly unearthed. She didn’t know how to dispel it. The bloody scene from a stormy night long ago, sealed in the depths of her memory, resurfaced, making her unable to stop herself from reaching out for the only person within her grasp. She was even more afraid of being left behind in weather like this. 

“I don’t want it…” She shook her head wildly, rejecting everything except holding onto Jiang Jinnian. “…I’m scared of being alone.” 

Jiang Jinnian lowered his gaze and studied her for a moment. 

With his fingertip, he gently wiped away the dampness at the corner of her eye. 

Finally, he lifted her into his arms—just as he had when he first carried her into Yushan Residence from outside—and headed downstairs, carrying her toward the kitchen. 

Jiang Jinnian disliked having too many servants around him, so Yushan Residence had only one housekeeper and two chefs.

Over the past two days, while he had been away on a business trip, the housekeeper and chefs had been given time off. Now, if he wanted to prepare hangover soup, he would have to do it himself. 

 Arriving on the first floor, Jiang Jinnian placed Shen Nanzhi on the sofa closest to the kitchen. Worried she might catch a chill; he grabbed a blanket and draped it over her. 

Afterward, he ruffled her hair, his tone soft and coaxing, as if speaking to a child. 

“Be good and wait here for a bit. I’ll make some hangover soup and be back soon, alright?” 

Shen Nanzhi clutched the blanket tightly. After a brief hesitation, she finally loosened her grip on him. 

Not long after, Jiang Jinnian returned from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of steaming hangover soup. 

Patiently, he coaxed her into drinking it. Then, taking the opportunity, he managed to feed her half a bowl of porridge as well before carrying her back upstairs. 

Inside the bedroom on the third floor, Jiang Jinnian stood beside the large bed. 

On the dark sheets, the young woman lay with her brows tightly furrowed, reacting to the deafening rumbles of thunder outside. 

He lowered his gaze, his eyes lingering briefly on her fingers, which had unconsciously latched onto the hem of his shirt. 

After a moment’s pause, his gaze returned to Shen Nanzhi’s drowsy, drunken eyes—tinged with a trace of inexplicable grievance.

“Can you sleep on your own?” 

Jiang Jinnian grasped her slender, porcelain-white wrist, intending to pry her hand away. 

Sensing his intent, a deafening clap of thunder rumbled outside at that exact moment. 

Shen Nanzhi’s dark lashes trembled violently. 

She reflexively tightened her grip on Jiang Jinnian, her fingers clutching with such force that her knuckles turned pale. 

“…No, I can’t! I’m scared.” 

The lingering memory of him trying to push her away earlier still clung to her. Right now, she was truly afraid that he would leave her alone. 

As soon as she spoke, driven by instinctive fear and an unconscious desperation not to be abandoned, she half-sat up from the bed, her entire body nearly clinging to him. 

“I’m afraid of the thunder… I can’t be alone…” 

The girl in his arms trembled ever so slightly, her voice soft and fragile. 

Under the haze of alcohol, she forgot who he was, forgot how she usually kept her distance from him. 

At this moment, she only saw him as her last remaining anchor of safety—and held on with all her might.