Chapter 27

When Ji Linyu returned to the ward, Zhu Xinyue was engaged in a battle with an empty salad bowl using a fork.

Zhu Xinyue heard the movement of the door and paused, tightly gripping the fork in her hand, only relaxing when Ji Linyu spoke.

“Do you still want some fruit?” he asked.

Ji Linyu approached her, not deliberately lightening his steps, making enough noise for her to know his position in the room.

He washed his hands and leisurely wiped the water stains off his fingertips with a tissue.

“No, I’m done.” Zhu Xinyue pushed the salad bowl forward—although Ji Linyu wasn’t in that direction, he still walked around and took it where she gestured.

Ji Linyu took the salad bowl and casually placed the fruit knife with its sheath on the coffee table into the kitchen. When he came back out, he saw her searching for something on the coffee table.

His eyes darkened as he thought, thankfully he had put away the knives early. One should never let down their guard.

“What are you looking for?” Ji Linyu asked.

“My phone. I want to listen to music,” Zhu Xinyue replied. After losing her sight, she couldn’t bear the silence in the room.

Since Ji Linyu didn’t see where her phone was placed, he took out his phone. “You can use mine, is that okay?”

Zhu Xinyue nodded and took out a Bluetooth earphone case from her pocket. Sensing the indentation on the couch beside her, she sat down.

Zhu Xinyue handed the Bluetooth earphones to Ji Linyu. “Ji Qingyuan gave it to me, how about trying it?”

To make it easier for her to use, Ji Qingyuan had removed the packaging, leaving only the main unit.

Ji Linyu took the earphone case and casually opened it with one hand. As he connected the Bluetooth earphones, he casually remarked, “It seems Qingyuan understands your preferences.”

Sensitive as she was, Zhu Xinyue immediately sensed something amiss in his tone. No wonder he had hardly spoken a word the whole night when Ji Qingyuan was around.

“It’s okay. After all, we’ve known each other for so many years.” Zhu Xinyue chose her words carefully. She was implying that if someone else had been with her for so many years, they would also know her preferences.

Ji Linyu placed one of the earphones in Zhu Xinyue’s palm and asked, “Do you mind listening together?”

“I don’t mind.” Zhu Xinyue first placed the earphones close to her left ear, but there was no sound.

Ji Linyu turned to look at her.

To wear the earphones comfortably, Zhu Xinyue lifted her hair, revealing her small and round earlobes.

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he reached over, removing the earphone she had placed on her left ear and putting it back in her palm, reminding her, “It’s for the right ear.”

As his fingertip brushed her ear, it felt like being lightly touched by a feather, and her heart skipped a beat lightly.

She quickly lowered her head, her ears instantly turning red.

Unable to suppress a light chuckle, Ji Linyu waited for her to put on the earphones and adjusted the volume on the phone before playing the music.

Zhu Xinyue recognized the familiar intro—it was the song they had once listened to together at the night market.

Somewhat surprised, she curled her lips slightly, suppressing the smile, naturally leaning back against the sofa.

The music was lively, the deep and elegant male voice seemingly taking her back to that night when they had sat listening to someone else sing.

Relaxing, Zhu Xinyue let her hands rest at her sides. Accidentally, the back of her hand brushed against the person next to her—their bodies were sitting so close.

She should have withdrawn her hand, but wanting to confirm his presence beside her, she tentatively hooked her fingers around his sleeve. Seeing he didn’t react much, she brazenly used her fingertips to pinch his sleeve.

Watching her seemingly unnoticed small gesture, Ji Linyu’s lips curled upwards.

When the song played for the third time, Zhu Xinyue couldn’t help but ask Ji Linyu, “Do you really like this song?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Unconsciously gripping his sleeve tighter, Zhu Xinyue murmured softly, afraid he might hear her, “Is it because of me…”

The following words were spoken too quietly, or perhaps she did not say them at all, Ji Linyu could not hear what she said, so he asked: “What?”

He turned to look at her, his knee brushing against hers.

The fabric of his suit pants grazed her exposed skin, causing a ticklish sensation. Zhu Xinyue’s heart raced uncontrollably.

Curling her fingers, she refrained from asking the question.

When would her eyes recover… If her body were healthy, perhaps she would have had more courage.

Right now, she was overwhelmed.

Zhu Xinyue took off the earphones suddenly, saying, “Ji Linyu, I want to take a bath.”

“I’ll go find a nurse.”

Zhu Xinyue grabbed Ji Linyu’s sleeve and said, “Take me to the bathroom. I can do it myself.”

Looking at her, Ji Linyu couldn’t refuse her stubborn expression holding onto his sleeve. After losing her sight, she rarely showed unstable emotions in front of others or insisted on doing something like this. Most of the time, she was calm, even if she cried, it was only when she was alone.

The nurse told Ji Linyu that this was the first time she had seen a quiet patient like Miss Zhu. She rarely troubled others. For most of the day, she sat alone in bed listening to music, or lying down to sleep. Besides meeting her physiological needs, she would also voluntarily ask for a congee to drink, because this way she could do it herself.

Her sensible behavior made people feel sorry for her.

“Okay.” Ji Linyu agreed to her request.

In other words, it was difficult for him to refuse her.

Zhu Xinyue: “Can you help me tie my hair up?”

She raised her hand, with a black hair tie on her wrist.

It was the first time that Ji Linyu had helped someone tie up their hair, and he was a bit clumsy as he carefully gathered her hair behind her.

The smooth black hair slipped through his fingers like seaweed.

She exuded a faint floral fragrance, lingering around him.

Ji Linyu realized for the first time that he was so unskilled in this matter. Her long hair entangled his fingertips, and it was difficult for him to gather them together. A strand of hair fell behind her neck.

She often left her hair loose, and the back of her neck was white and glaring, his gaze stayed there for a while and then moved away.

Ji Linyu’s movements were very gentle. Zhu Xinyue felt her hair loosely gathered at the back. The fallen hair tickled the skin on the back of her neck, and she couldn’t help but shiver. Ji Linyu thought he had hurt her, so he let her hair down again.

“Does it hurt?”

“No, it’s too itchy.”

Ji Linyu felt a little embarrassed when he saw her smiling.

“Sorry, I’m not very skilled.”

Zhu Xinyue restrained her smile, lowered her head, and waited for him to redo her hair.

This time, Ji Linyu gathered all her long hair neatly, took her hair tie, and began to think about how to tie it up.

“Ji Linyu,” Zhu Xinyue called his name again.

“Hmm?”

“Do you find me troublesome?”

Ji Linyu’s movements paused. He looked up at her back, unsure of her expression at the moment.

“No,” he said. He didn’t mind her troubling him.

“…” Zhu Xinyue fell silent.

Ji Linyu realized that this young girl was particularly suspicious.

She liked to probe, and after probing, she still didn’t believe it. What had she experienced to make her harbor so much doubt about the world?

“Even if it’s troublesome, it’s nothing compared to the employees under my command who love causing trouble,” Ji Linyu said as he tried to tie her hair with the hair tie. 

“There’s the one who sent important documents to clients the day before signing a contract. Another wrote a wrong decimal point causing a client to lose eighty million, and there was a project just an hour away from a press conference that ended up with damaged exhibits because an employee was fooling around…”

Zhu Xinyue couldn’t help laughing. She could imagine how flustered Ji Linyu must have been at those times.

“Before I took over Jinhuan, I was studying abroad and starting a business with my roommate. He loved causing trouble for me the most, including but not limited to sending course papers as contracts to clients, posting half-developed new projects on personal websites, and spending a fortune on data that he sent out as open source to all students in the college…”

After finishing tying her hair, Ji Linyu patted her shoulder and signaled that she could turn around.

Zhu Xinyue turned around and touched the back of her head with her hand, feeling the bun Ji Linyu had made, which was just a ponytail, but he hadn’t pulled all her hair through, letting it hang halfway.

She smiled and asked him, She smiled and asked him, “So, what did you do?”

“The deed is done. We can only find a way to solve the problem. After all…” Ji Linyu stood up, took Zhu Xinyue’s hand, and placed it in the crook of his arm.

“After all?”

“After all, he’s my chosen partner. Creating problems is his strength, solving them is mine,” Ji Linyu said as he led her towards the bathroom.

Zhu Xinyue grabbed his clothing and smiled deeper.

The bathroom was separated into dry and wet areas, with the shower compartment partitioned by glass, and basic daily necessities placed on the sink.

After leading her to the bathroom, Ji Linyu fetched her luggage and, before opening it, asked, “Can you find your clothes by yourself?”

Zhu Xinyue bit her lip, her ears turning slightly red.

“I should… be able to?” She wasn’t entirely sure, but she felt a bit embarrassed about asking the opposite sex to fetch her underwear.

Ji Linyu curved his fingers and silently watched her, realizing belatedly what was going on as he observed her blushing ears.

At first, he hadn’t thought about it that way, just wanting to help her. But seeing her shy expression, Ji Linyu also realized it was inappropriate.

“If you don’t mind…” Ji Linyu cleared his throat and gently fiddled with the zipper of the luggage. “Should I help you find them?”

The sound of the zipper seemed to hit a strange switch, “click,” and her cheeks turned even redder. She grabbed his sleeve tightly, wrinkling his clothes.

“…” She didn’t speak, just quietly evaporated.

When she first made this request, she only wanted Ji Linyu to feel how troublesome it was to take care of her. But now that it came to this moment, she couldn’t help thinking more.

Their relationship hadn’t reached this stage yet… At least, she wasn’t mentally prepared for it.

She minds because she treats him as a normal person of the opposite sex.

The smile wouldn’t disappear, but it would shift.

Ji Linyu’s lips curved into a smile, restraining the urge to tweak her ear. He raised his hand, gently patted her head, and said, “I’ll go call the nurse.”

Zhu Xinyue grabbed his wrist with both hands, pulled his hand down, blushing, and gently pinched his fingertips, as if it was a small retaliation for him patting her head.

Ji Linyu’s heart skipped a beat, and as she pinched his fingertips, his fingertips curved and hooked her fingers, and his heart began to beat faster.

The narrow bathroom was filled with rising warmth, and the temperature quietly rose. The warm-colored light became ambiguously blurred as if everything was tinged with moisture, sticking so that they couldn’t move, nor separate.

If she wanted him to stay…

Ji Linyu’s gaze moved from her curled lashes downward, passing over her straight and delicate nose, and landing on her slightly parted red lips. He closed his eyes, and his Adam’s apple rolled up and down.

What kind of wedding ring should he buy…

He quietly waited for her decision, but his heart didn’t listen, beating heavier with each moment.

Zhu Xinyue didn’t know why, but her body and soul became ethereal. She held onto his hand and refused to let go.

His right fingertip was calloused, the hand of a scholar who often wrote, but his palm was broad and strong, like the hand of someone skilled.

She thought his hand must be nice to hold.

But she didn’t dare to take the initiative to hold his hand, nor did she dare to push the boundaries further.

He must find it strange, why she wouldn’t let go of his hand, because it was her own request. She should have considered this, but at the crucial moment, she felt strangely embarrassed.

Zhu Xinyue released Ji Linyu’s hand, turned around, and said, “You can go.”

She clenched her fingertips tightly, feeling the palms of her hands itching as if the strange sensation of his rough fingertips brushing against her palm still lingered. The tingling sensation spread throughout her body, making her limbs feel light and airy.

Leaving the bathroom, Ji Linyu couldn’t quite articulate his complex feelings, perhaps tinged with a hint of unwarranted disappointment.

He looked down at his fingertips, curled them, and walked to the ward door. Turning to the bodyguards, he said, “Go and fetch a nurse.”

Both bodyguards nodded, and the door closed again.

One of the bodyguards was puzzled and asked his colleague, “Did I imagine it, or the boss’s face was particularly red?”

His colleague pondered seriously, “Maybe he’s running a fever.”

And quite possibly a severe one at that, as ordinary people don’t blush that intensely.