Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Xia Wanzhi had lived for twenty-five years, and for the first time, she felt the urge to crawl into a hole and disappear.

She had always thought Xie Tan was joking when she talked about wanting her to stay in the Xie Family and become her sister-in-law. After all, those comments had only ever been made to her in private.

But now, those words were being paraded out in front of others.

Xia Wanzhi finally realized that the girl was actually serious.

She was so embarrassed she didn’t know where to put herself.

Especially since Xie Qiyan was currently standing right next to her.

The Second Aunt of the Xie Family shut her mouth. Turning around and seeing that Xie Qiyan and Xia Wanzhi were there, she was instantly intimidated. “It’s a joke, just a joke…”

Being an elder after all, and with the Second Uncle of the Xie Family always having been resentful that the full power of the Xie Corporation had fallen into Xie Qiyan’s hands alone, he gave a cold snort. He grabbed his wife and turned to leave.

Xie Tan stamped her foot in frustration. “That makes me so mad!”

“Xie Tan.” Xie Qiyan’s tone was devoid of emotion.

Xia Wanzhi thought his voice sounded rather easygoing.

But in the next second, his voice dropped as he gave an order: “Get back inside and do your homework.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Although she felt bad for Xie Tan, the girl’s bluntness and lack of filter really did need to be kept in check.

Xia Wanzhi inexplicably felt that Xie Qiyan was quite childish.

When he was unhappy, he sent people practice workbooks; when someone annoyed him, he sent them back to do homework.

With a long face, Xie Tan asked, “What did I do wrong this time?”

“Cough-” Xia Wanzhi let out a choked cough.

Help.

Please, don’t say another word.

Xie Qiyan’s attitude remained cold. “Nothing.”

“Then why…”

“You’re an eyesore,” Xie Qiyan said slowly.

Xie Tan’s eyes widened. Then, after processing it herself, her gaze darted back and forth between Xia Wanzhi and Xie Qiyan. Who knows what kind of scenario she had cooked up in her head, but she grinned and waved goodbye to Xia Wanzhi. “Then I won’t disturb you two. I’m going back to do my homework!”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Hey, you’ve definitely misunderstood something.

Watching Xie Tan’s skipping figure as she left, Xia Wanzhi felt a massive headache coming on. She subconsciously grumbled, “It’s all your fault, saying things like that for no reason and making her misunderstand.”

Xie Qiyan glanced at her. “Misunderstand what?”

“Misunderstand that we…” Her voice came to a screeching halt.

Xia Wanzhi swallowed the words that had almost slipped out. The leaves overhead rustled in the wind; the dim environment made it easier for emotions to be magnified.

Especially the current awkwardness.

Xie Qiyan quietly observed her expression.

It was a beautiful night.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you back.” Xie Qiyan turned and walked toward the main gate.

Xia Wanzhi stood there for a moment to compose herself before following him.

Fate was a strange thing.

She had never imagined that one day she would be sitting in Xie Qiyan’s passenger seat.

Especially lately, she had been a frequent guest in his car.

“Do you drive yourself often?” When Xia Wanzhi was immersed in her own world, she usually had no guard up. She asked whatever came to mind, completely forgetting that her relationship with him wasn’t actually that close.

“Not often,” Xie Qiyan replied. He basically answered every question she asked.

However, the conversation was disjointed, moving in fits and starts.

Xie Qiyan made a turn. While waiting for a red light on Nanhu Road, he couldn’t help but steal a glance at Xia Wanzhi.

She was polite in everything she did.

She didn’t speak with food in her mouth at the dinner table; she would stop eating to listen when someone spoke to her; and she didn’t play with her phone when she was alone with someone.

If Xie Tan were in the car right now, she probably wouldn’t be staring blankly out the window like a fool.

Xie Qiyan felt a strange pang of regret for sending Xie Tan back to do her homework.

Along the way, Xia Wanzhi coughed a few times intermittently. The sound was very soft, as if she were being careful.

As they neared Lanting Bieyuan, Xia Wanzhi received a phone call. It was someone from the Lu Family. Xie Qiyan heard her address the person as “Mrs. Lu.”
The call was about work; she was asked to come over tomorrow when she had time to paint for a pair of children.

Xia Wanzhi agreed. After hanging up, she called Zhuzi to prepare the materials needed for the next day.

The car pulled up downstairs at Lanting Bieyuan. Xie Qiyan waited quietly for her to finish her call before speaking. “A portrait?”

It took Xia Wanzhi a few seconds to realize what he was asking. She shook her head. “Painting dreams.”

“Children’s dreams,” Xie Qiyan mused. “Quite interesting.”

Children raised in love-even their dreams had someone to record them.

Xie Qiyan had once been loved like that too. Only later, his dreams had shattered.

Xia Wanzhi was a little surprised. She nodded along, her voice light with a faint trace of laughter. “True. Kids’ dreams are all happy ones.”

Xia Wanzhi had come into contact with many clients’ dreams. Through painting, she conversed with all kinds of strange, novel dreams in the process.

There were joyful, sweet dreams-and naturally there were also gloomy, terrifying nightmares.

“You graduated from Beicheng Academy of Fine Arts?” Xie Qiyan switched topics abruptly.

Xia Wanzhi blinked, momentarily thrown. “Yeah.”

“Why did you want to become a Dream Painter?” Xie Qiyan’s question cut surprisingly deep.

Xia Wanzhi was thrown because she didn’t think this was the sort of conversation she and Xie Qiyan would have. But after hesitating for a moment, she still answered, “Because it’s fun.”

Traditional painters paint what their eyes can see, what their minds can imagine. But she was a Dream Painter-she painted what others couldn’t see or touch, what would be completely forgotten as time went by.

With the car lights off, the corners of Xie Qiyan’s lips lifted unconsciously into the faintest curve.

“Thanks. I’ll go up first.” Xia Wanzhi unbuckled her seatbelt. As she pushed the door open, she paused as if working up the nerve, then added, “And… thanks for the other day, too.”

Xie Qiyan’s gaze rested on her for a few seconds. His tone was a little stiff. “How are you going to thank me?”

He could’ve simply nodded and let it end there.

But when the words reached his lips, that question slipped out.

Maybe it was because it was his first time asking someone for a thank-you gift-he wasn’t used to it himself.

By then, Xia Wanzhi had both feet on the ground, her back to him. When she turned around, she honestly thought she’d misheard. Her crow-feather lashes fluttered rapidly as her mind spun. She pointed upward with her index finger. “Come up and sit for a bit?”

It was so quiet around them it was suffocating. The air seemed to freeze for a second, and Xia Wanzhi held her breath.

The lighting was dim; they could only make out each other’s outlines. Xia Wanzhi couldn’t see what was hidden in Xie Qiyan’s eyes behind those lenses.

In those ten seconds, Xie Qiyan turned off the engine. Xia Wanzhi stared blankly as he unbuckled and got out, then walked around to her side. “Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”

As if anyone wanted you to.

She’d already pictured exactly how Xie Qiyan would refuse her-his tone, his expression, all of it.

She never imagined he’d agree.

Xia Wanzhi swallowed, desperately trying to figure out how to patch up the hole she’d dug for herself.

The elevator ride upstairs took three minutes. She used those three minutes to numb herself, trying to tamp down that unprecedented tension.

Inviting him up hadn’t been something she blurted out without thinking-she wanted to talk to him about the Studio. But now that she’d actually brought this formidable figure upstairs, her heart started pounding again.

Xia Wanzhi seemed to always like walking behind people. When Xie Qiyan saw his own door, he instinctively lifted his hand to press his fingerprint; his arm hung in midair for a beat before he stopped himself in time, then switched to a gentlemanly gesture instead. “After you.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Why was he the one acting perfectly composed-while she was the one getting nervous?