Chapter 11 Memorable Moment

No one could leave a mark on her body except Rong Xiu. Wen Lan Sheng clenched his fists tightly, his eyes fierce.

“You’ve been tired all day, why don’t you take off your clothes and I’ll wash them for you.” As he spoke, Wen Lan Sheng had already returned to his gentle demeanor, his hands reaching up to her chest, unbuttoning her shirt one by one.

“No rush.” Fan Xia held his hand and lowered her head to lightly kiss his fingertips. “It’s too late and you’re tired too. Let’s wash them tomorrow.”

Wen Lan Sheng’s fingertips curled slightly, and the place she had kissed felt hot, numb and scorching in his heart.

Ever since Rong Xiu appeared in their world, it had been a long time since he felt Fan Xia’s gentle and lingering love. He couldn’t help but lean into her arms, basking in the long-lost love, his Adam’s apple rolling as he overflowed with uncontrollable joy. “It’s just putting clothes in the washing machine, it’s not tiring at all, and this is what I should be doing anyway.”

Fan Xia lowered her head with a faint smile, her long, fair fingers running through his soft black hair.

Wen Lan Sheng’s hands moved downward, unbuttoning her buttons one by one, his hot breath spraying on her neck. The lace of the gauze curtain let through the charming light that fell on Fan Xia’s body, the blurred flower shadows swaying gracefully in her eyes.

Wen Lan Sheng’s breath caught, he hooked her neck and kissed her, the strong, rich fragrance of iris assaulting him.

Fan Xia looked away, staring out the window through the thin curtain at the captivating night, in a trance, the fresh and cold scent of cedarwood surged in her nose, along with Rong Xiu’s scorching lips. Just like a volcano frozen under an iceberg, the person as cold as broken ice, in a high fever and blurred consciousness, mistook her for someone else, hugged her neck, and kissed her as passionately as flowing flames.

Fortunately, he remembered nothing.

The warm tongue tip licked her lips bit by bit, Wen Lan Sheng closed his eyes tightly, his eyelids drunk with emotion as if sucking nectar mixed with iris fragrance, deepening little by little.

“Xia Xia, I love you so much… Last time you left me halfway, don’t leave again this time.” Wen Lan Sheng panted passionately, his face red. “You have to make it up to me.”

Fan Xia lowered her head, her gentle eyes smiling faintly, her fingers unhooking his robe. “Okay.”

The fine rain lingered, the light and shadows swayed.

After the feast was satisfied, Wen Lan Sheng’s eyes smiled, he put on his robe, picked up the clothes scattered on the ground and walked towards the bathroom. Just as he was about to throw Fan Xia’s shirt that she had worn during the day into the washing machine, a faint scent of cedarwood came over. Wen Lan Sheng’s eyes darkened, he directly took a pair of scissors from the cabinet and completely cut the shirt to shreds, throwing it into the trash can.

After doing everything, Wen Lan Sheng lay back on the bed again. Fan Xia was already asleep, she still had to go to work tomorrow, he couldn’t disturb her anymore.

Wen Lan Sheng climbed onto the bed quietly, stretched out his finger, and stopped at a hair’s breadth from her brow. Just like this, separated by a thin layer of air, he fondly stroked her sleeping eyes and brows, then gently crawled into her arms and fell into a dream accompanied by her light breathing.

*

In the desolate villa in Yunshui Bay, a solitary light was on.

Rong Xiu sat on the black leather sofa, his long, straight legs casually crossed, accompanied by the cold moon and lone star, reviewing the documents that hadn’t been completed during the day due to illness. Page after page of thin paper was filled with complex numbers, piled up into a small mountain.

Reading until late at night, Rong Xiu took off his rimless glasses, closed his eyes and rubbed them with his long fingers, habitually taking out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer under the coffee table to refresh himself. Rong Xiu’s slender fingertips held the cigarette, exhaling a mouthful of smoke, the desolate cold smoke dispersing under the stark white light.

His sharp, cold eyes swept over the icy furniture, only the kitchen’s faint glow was warm.

Rong Xiu stood up, took a puff of his cigarette, and in the swirling smoke, it seemed as if he saw Fan Xia busy in the kitchen again during the day, the smell of cooking surrounding her, the only spark of fire in this icy cave.

He stood by the kitchen for a long time, until a cigarette burned to the end.

Rong Xiu returned to the sofa again, expertly pressing the cigarette butt into the ashtray, ready to continue reviewing documents. But as soon as his fingertips touched the ashtray, his hand suddenly stopped.

The ashtray was clean and tidy, without a single cigarette butt or a trace of ash, even though he had just sat here and smoked a whole pack last night.

But now, it had obviously been cleaned by someone.

Someone had touched it.

Rong Xiu’s expression was cold and stern, his thin lips pressed into a straight line. He immediately took out his phone, not caring that it was already two in the morning, and called the servant and Zhuang Nian.

“Ashtray? What ashtray?” Zhuang Nian was drowsy with sleep.

“The one on the coffee table in my living room. Did you wash it? Answer me!” Rong Xiu almost shouted these words, his voice a little hoarse.

Even when facing the sarcastic and difficult board of directors, Rong Xiu had never lost his composure like this. Zhuang Nian’s sleepiness instantly cleared, although he didn’t understand what was so important about an ashtray, he knew the seriousness of the situation.

He immediately got out of bed, thought for a moment and replied, “The living room coffee table? I didn’t touch it… but I saw Chief Fan carrying a pile of documents in earlier, and seemed to put the documents on the coffee table. It was probably her who saw it and washed it for you. Is that ashtray very important, President? President? President?”

“Beep————”

Rong Xiu slumped on the sofa, his hand holding the phone shaking with suppressed emotion, his face pale, his cold and stern eyes unprecedentedly producing a look of panic and helplessness.

She saw it.

She knew he smoked.

Ever since the invention of cigarettes, men smoking had been seen as unseemly, and even under the impact of modern Western concepts, this traditional thinking had not changed. Rong Xiu had never touched alcohol or cigarettes before, but ever since he took over the shaky Shanhai Group, which was in the eye of the storm, from Rong Yan, the questioning from the group’s directors and shareholders, as well as the overwhelming criticism of his male identity in society, had suffocated him.

He couldn’t sleep at night, only alcohol and cigarettes could relieve him. In the business world, Rong Xiu never bothered to hide the fact that he didn’t drink or smoke. On the contrary, these bad habits of gentlemen would help him fend off some rotten peach blossoms and make those women avoid him like a snake.

But he never thought that his ugliest side would be exposed to Fan Xia like this.

Why was it seen by her? Why did it have to be her? Rong Xiu lowered his head in embarrassment, deliberately hiding his exposure. He only felt that he had no place to hide his face. How could he compare with Wen Lan Sheng like this?

When Fan Xia saw the pile of cigarette butts in his ashtray, she must have been disgusted and repulsed, right? He didn’t dare imagine how Fan Xia endured the disgust in her heart at that time, pouring out these disgusting things and cleaning it up.

She must have been thinking at the time that it was fortunate that the man she was going to marry was Wen Lan Sheng and not him.

At least Wen Lan Sheng neither smoked nor drank, that was the traditional man Fan Xia would like, not a man like him who was immersed in the business world and showed his face everywhere.

Rong Xiu slumped dejectedly on the sofa, blood red enough to penetrate people oozing from his mouth.

“Look at you, I stay up all night because I take naps during the day. What about you? Working during the day, entertaining or working overtime at night. It’s already past two o’clock, and you’re still here drinking. Do you not want to live?” Chen Yu Ze wiped the wine glass, joking with a hint of concern.

“Give me a glass of vodka.” Rong Xiu didn’t heed Chen Yu Ze’s words.

“Are you crazy? Drinking such a strong liquor, do you know you won’t have to go to work tomorrow?”

“I know.” Rong Xiu lowered his eyes, his light tone filled with indissoluble desolation.

“It’s really strange. You used to be someone who would rather use 24 hours a day as 48 hours. Three years in the top position, three years without rest, and there would actually be a day when you don’t want to go to work?” Chen Yu Ze sat down beside Rong Xiu and asked, “What exactly happened?”

Rong Xiu didn’t say anything, his fingertips tapping the bar. “Bring the liquor.”

Chen Yu Ze’s eyes flickered, and he laughed, “Could it be that you want to get drunk again and have Miss Fan Xia come pick you up?”

“Don’t mention her name.” Rong Xiu clenched his fists tightly. Now, whenever he thought of Fan Xia, he felt dirty and lowly in the depths of his soul, unworthy of her in every way.

Chen Yu Ze widened his eyes in surprise and exclaimed, “Could it be that you’re drinking today because of her? Did you two have a fight? Or have you finally come to your senses and realized that you shouldn’t covet a married woman and eagerly become a third wheel?”

Rong Xiu raised his eyes and glared at him fiercely.

Chen Yu Ze shrugged his shoulders, “So you still haven’t given up. No, I just don’t understand, what’s so good about Miss Fan Xia that you’re so obsessed with her?”

Rong Xiu’s eyes fell, and after a long time, he said in a low voice, “Because only she stands by my side.”

Seven years ago, when he was a sophomore in college, he had a falling out with his father when he gave up the Guanghua Men’s College and chose Imperial Capital University instead. When he entered the university, he didn’t publicly reveal that he was the son of the chairman of Shanhai Group, and his classmates only considered him an ordinary male student from an average family background.

After entering the university, he joined the school’s calligraphy club out of interest, and Fan Xia entered a year after him.

Originally, they had little interaction and weren’t too familiar with each other. He only knew that she was a very popular goddess-level figure among the male students at Imperial Capital University.

The first real interaction between them was in the early spring of the second year.

Because of his outstanding appearance, even though he was naturally aloof and rarely communicated with others, he still often received confessions from female students. Every time, he directly rejected them. Some people knew when to quit, but there were also a very small number of people who seemed to not understand his words and kept pestering him.

Among them, one person was like chewing gum that couldn’t be shaken off. She sent him various things in a self-indulgent manner, and after being rejected, she would give them to his classmates, letting everyone know that she was pursuing him.

Rong Xiu didn’t want to argue with such people, but who knew that the other party would become even more aggressive.

She even lit heart-shaped candles and filled the school with roses, publicly confessing to him in front of everyone in a morally binding manner.

Rong Xiu couldn’t take it anymore and told the other party in front of everyone to stop harassing him, and then he left with his head held high.

He thought that he could finally get rid of the pestering, but who knew that the next day, the school’s confession wall was filled with passive-aggressive posts about him being “too cruel”, “not knowing how to give a woman face”, “not liking someone but still leading them on”, as well as posts sympathizing with the female student as an “honest person”.

Rong Xiu didn’t pay attention to it at first, thinking that the internet had no memory and it would pass quickly.

But what followed were even more aggressive rumors, and even the junior and senior members of the calligraphy club who often interacted with him secretly mocked him.

“I really don’t know who Rong Xiu is putting on that aloof act for. Does he think he’s so great with that ‘high and mighty’ title? He gave Senior Sister Jing such a big embarrassment in front of so many people.”

“Although everyone has the right to pursue others and the right to refuse, his words were too harsh. Couldn’t he be a little more tactful? With such a strong attitude, how is he like a man!”

“Exactly, I really don’t know what he’s so proud of! A man should be more obedient.”

Rong Xiu hid behind the wall, listening coldly. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Fan Xia sitting in the corner, holding a brush, her slender back straight, her neck fair and long, her smooth black hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall. The thin spring light shone on her, the halo faint and pure. She said, “Regardless of gender, everyone should have some edge.”

“Fan Xia, you mean it’s reasonable for Rong Xiu to not give Senior Sister Jing face in front of so many people? People should put themselves in others’ shoes. He knew how embarrassing it was to be rejected in public, but he still did it. He could have pretended to agree first, and then explained to Senior Sister Jing and broken up with her after the crowd left.”

Fan Xia slowly placed the brush on the inkstone, the corners of her mouth quirking up in a gentle smile, “But it was Senior Sister Jing who chose to confess in public, wasn’t it? She should bear the consequences herself. She can’t make a choice herself and then expect another innocent person to consider her reputation for her like an old father.”

The other person’s face reddened and said, “That’s not what I meant. I’m trying to say that his rejection was too harsh. If he didn’t like her, he should have said so early on. Why wait until the public confession to reject her?”

Fan Xia rested her chin on her hand, her smile as light as water, “How do you know he didn’t reject her before? Even if he didn’t, who pushed him under the eyes of everyone, depriving him of the right to reasonably and legally refuse someone he doesn’t like?”

The other person opened their mouth, but suddenly became speechless.

Rong Xiu looked at her smiling eyes and suddenly realized that after knowing each other for a year, he was only just beginning to get to know Fan Xia.