Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“Brother, do you like Sister Wanzi?” On the way to Lanting Bieyuan, Xie Tan asked as she leaned against the car window, letting the wind blow through her hair.

Xie Qiyan drove with focus, ignoring her from start to finish.

“I really like Sister Wanzi,” Xie Tan answered her own question.

Xie Qiyan remained unmoved.

“Brother, what do you think of Sister Wanzi?” Xie Tan propped her chin on her hand and asked earnestly.

Every sentence Xie Tan had uttered along the way was related to Xia Wanzhi. Xie Qiyan’s mind was forcibly stuffed with Xia Wanzhi’s name, and as his ears connected to his brain, he inexplicably thought of Xia Wanzhi’s stubborn face.

He thought of the scene where Xia Wanzhi stood alone in the rain, looking lost and disheveled.

She wasn’t supposed to be like that.

She was a flower in a greenhouse, a little princess who was the apple of everyone’s eye.

She was the Eldest Miss of the Xia Family, who had lived a life of privilege since childhood.

But what Xia Wanzhi was like had nothing to do with him.

Yet, her image in his mind simply wouldn’t go away.

The car drove into the underground garage of Lanting Bieyuan. Xie Qiyan parked the car and walked around to the back seat to open the door for Xie Tan. The lighting in the garage was dim, so he reached out a hand, originally intending to lead Xie Tan out. But seeing the child’s expression-as if she had just swallowed a whole watermelon-he pulled his palm back and opted to lift her out instead.

Xie Tan felt the pinch of being hoisted up. “…”

That brief moment of tenderness was indeed an illusion.

The elevator went straight to the twenty-seventh floor. Xie Tan reached out to enter the passcode herself, but Xie Qiyan was one step ahead of her.

With a press of his fingerprint, the lock clicked open, leaving Xie Tan’s hand hanging awkwardly in the air.

Xie Qiyan ignored her and pushed the door open, walking straight in.

Since someone was living there now, the place felt a bit warmer. The kitchen had been used, giving the home a lived-in feel, though the apartment was so large that the atmosphere remained overly quiet.

When the luggage had been brought up earlier that evening, there hadn’t been this many household items. Xia Wanzhi’s assistant must have helped add quite a few new things.

The luggage had been placed in the storage room by Xie Qiyan. He went to take a look; it hadn’t been touched, so they clearly didn’t know it was there yet.

In the brief moment he was distracted, Xie Tan had already ditched him and run to Xia Wanzhi’s bedroom. She ran back out a moment later to report, “Sister Wanzi is asleep.”

Xie Qiyan looked up slightly as a response, then went to the kitchen to boil some water.

After all, it was a new apartment, and it was lacking many things.

Specifically, it lacked a water dispenser.

“Brother, help me adjust the air conditioning,” Xie Tan said, running back out after staying in Xia Wanzhi’s room for a while. “Sister Wanzi is very hot.”

“Very hot?” Xie Qiyan didn’t wait for the cold water he had just drawn to boil. He set the kettle down and walked over.

Xie Tan pushed the bedroom door wide open. “See for yourself.”

Stopping at the threshold of Xia Wanzhi’s bedroom, Xie Qiyan hesitated for a moment before finally stepping inside.

The temperature in the bedroom was twenty-eight degrees, which should have felt just right. However, as he approached the bedside and saw the sweat breaking out on Xia Wanzhi’s forehead, Xie Qiyan’s brow furrowed briefly.

Xia Wanzhi was tucked under the covers, with only her small head peeking out. Her soft hair fell to either side, and her bangs were nearly soaked with sweat.

She was not sleeping peacefully.

Her delicate eyebrows were knitted together. It was unclear what she was dreaming about, but her expression looked somewhat pained.

Xie Qiyan looked down at her, his thoughts unreadable.

Seeing him motionless, Xie Tan said anxiously, “Brother, adjust the air conditioning!”

“She’ll be fine once she breaks the sweat.” Xie Qiyan didn’t lower the temperature. He turned to look at Xie Tan. “Go get a wet towel and wipe the sweat off for her.”

Xie Tan immediately took the order and left.

Only he and Xia Wanzhi were left in the bedroom.

She seemed trapped in a world within her dream, wanting to escape but unable to.

Her tightly closed eyes twitched slightly, as if she might wake up at any second.

But she didn’t.

He hadn’t heard Xie Tan mention that she had a habit of sleeping with the lights on. Xie Tan was a polite child; she certainly wouldn’t have turned on such a bright light while seeing that she was sleeping.
She must be terrified.

Terrified to the point of not daring to turn off the lights to sleep.

Anyone who had gone through such an ordeal would lose their sense of security.

His lowered fists tightened slightly; Xie Qiyan regretted not hitting Zhou Yu a few more times.

But strangely, he also felt a sense of relief.

Fortunately, she was alright.

“Brother, the towel.” Xie Tan walked in, holding a soaking wet face towel.

“Wring it out.” Xie Qiyan looked at the dripping towel with a displeased expression.

Xie Tan glared at him. “I did!”

Glancing at Xie Tan’s damp clothes, Xie Qiyan didn’t scold her this time. He reached out, took the towel, went out once more to wash and wring it properly, and then came back in.

Since she couldn’t even wring a towel, Xie Qiyan didn’t plan on pinning any hopes on her. However, just as the towel in his hand was about to touch Xia Wanzhi’s skin, he straightened his back again and commanded, “Get out.”

Xie Tan grumbled as she walked away, “Can’t even watch…”

Despite her complaining, Xie Tan thoughtfully closed the bedroom door behind her.

The room fell into a deep silence.

The sleeping Xia Wanzhi seemed to encounter something in her dreams, letting out a very soft mumble.

Xie Qiyan leaned in slightly to wipe the fine sweat from her forehead.

The area covered by her bangs was difficult to wipe. He lightly lifted his fingertips, but suddenly paused just before touching her forehead, seemingly caught in an internal struggle. After a moment, he gently brushed her hair aside and continued wiping her sweat with slow movements.

Resting the back of his hand slightly above her forehead, a faint heat radiated against him.

Xia Wanzhi still had a fever.

Her face was pale, and her lips were dry.

Xie Qiyan watched her for a long time.

He couldn’t decipher his own current emotions.

He opened the door and walked out, returning to the kitchen to boil some water. Once it boiled, he mixed it with cold water. Passing the sofa on his way back to the bedroom, he saw Xie Tan curled up in a corner, watching him with her chin resting on her hands.

He looked over at her sideways. “Not a single word about tonight is to be mentioned outside.”

Before Xie Tan could speak, he continued, “That includes your Sister Wanzi.”

Xie Tan: “…”

He was clearly acting like a selfless hero, yet now he seemed more like a thief.

A thief with a guilty conscience, which was why he wouldn’t let her speak.

After going back inside, Xie Qiyan used a cotton swab to moisten Xia Wanzhi’s pale lips. Worried that she might wake up and be scared to death by the sight of him again, he stayed for a short while before taking Xie Tan and leaving.

That night, Xia Wanzhi occupied almost all of Xie Qiyan’s dreams.

He clearly shouldn’t have so many ties or so much interaction with her, yet lately, Xia Wanzhi had been appearing by his side every few days.

There was no avoiding it.

His experiences in the Xie Family as a child were not pleasant.

He didn’t want to recall the memories of the time before he went abroad either.

He hated those memories; he hated everyone who called him a bastard and mocked him and his mother, and he equally hated those who looked at him with sympathetic, pitiful eyes.

But many years later, after he returned from abroad, the Xia Family had gone bankrupt, and the once high-and-mighty little princess had fallen from her pedestal.

But what did that have to do with him?

He strangely felt that Xia Wanzhi was pitiable.

To think that he would actually find someone else pitiable.

At this very moment, the word “pity,” which he had always considered derogatory, shifted into something positive.

Back then, he had mistakenly thought Xia Wanzhi was there to mock him like everyone else, so he had smashed her milk and fiercely scolded her until she cried, saying he didn’t need her pity.

Thinking back now, had Xia Wanzhi simply wanted to be kind to him back then?

The little princess, as delicate as carved jade, might have been kind, but she was also naturally vengeful. After that incident, Xia Wanzhi never gave him a good look whenever she saw him.

From then on, the two of them held a grudge, each looking down on the other.

Years later, when they met again, the once pampered and arrogant girl had learned to endure humiliation and heavy burdens.

He should have remained indifferent.

Yet, something invisible was constantly tugging at his thoughts.