Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Her heartbeat suddenly sped up. Xia Wanzhi’s lashes trembled, and she instinctively held her breath, her grip on Xie Qiyan’s clothes tightening without her realizing it.

In truth, the answer had already revealed itself the moment she had climbed down from him.

She liked Xie Qiyan.

Looking back now, the answer had already been right there when she had run away to the UK to avoid both the question and Xie Qiyan.

Whether she ran from it or admitted it was entirely up to her.

She had been a coward.

And she had been brave, too.

“Have you confirmed it?” Xie Qiyan’s chest rose and fell with his breathing. He lifted his fingertips slightly, hooking a strand of Xia Wanzhi’s hair and tucking it behind her ear. “Teacher Xiao Wanzi.”

With a bang, fireworks exploded inside Xia Wanzhi’s mind.

The hand Xie Qiyan had moved behind her ear lightly rubbed her burning earlobe, then without warning, slid upward. He cupped the back of her head and pressed her down.

Their noses brushed together, very lightly.

She seemed to hear Xie Qiyan let out a soft laugh.

His voice turned lingering and tender, as if he had taken Xia Wanzhi’s very soul for himself.

“I’ll teach you how to confirm it.”

The moment he finished speaking, her lips were overtaken by a cool, soft touch. Xia Wanzhi’s eyes went blank in an instant, her mind empty as she let him catch her lips between his and kiss them at will.

Xie Qiyan’s movements were gentle, as if he were only taking a brief taste.

Or rather, it was merely a polite test.

He was waiting for Xia Wanzhi to come back to her senses.

After a long while, the dazed look in Xia Wanzhi’s eyes slowly cleared. Realizing what had just happened, she subconsciously pressed her lips together, then swallowed without meaning to.

And then she met Xie Qiyan’s gaze, half-smiling and not quite smiling.

That warm-cool, soft sensation lingered in her mind, refusing to fade. Xia Wanzhi lowered her eyes. She had no idea where the part of her brain that was supposed to be in charge had gone. Something indescribable stirred restlessly inside her. She stared at Xie Qiyan’s lips.

Then she closed her eyes.

And let herself be guided by the thought in her head.

So she lowered her head and caught those thin lips that had coaxed her into losing all sense of propriety.

Action would always be the best proof.

Xie Qiyan’s breath sank. A dark current moved through his pitch-black eyes, desire slowly surfacing.

Their breaths tangled together. Xie Qiyan took back control, and unlike that fleeting taste from before, this kiss turned lingering and consuming, winding into a damp heat that shot straight to the top of her head. Their breathing grew urgent, their mouths reluctant to part.

“Xie Qiyan.” Pulling back a little, Xia Wanzhi’s lips glistened under the warm light. Her breathing was unsteady, and she finally managed to recover a sliver of clarity from her intoxication. “What are you doing?”

Xie Qiyan’s eyes were dark and unreadable. Unable to help himself, he touched his lips to hers again, his voice low and hoarse. “Being forcibly kissed by you.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

“What were you doing just now?” Xia Wanzhi pressed a hand against his chest and asked again.

“Forcibly kissing you.” This time, Xie Qiyan’s words carried a smile. He nuzzled the corner of her mouth intimately. “Helping you confirm your feelings, Teacher Wanzi.”

The fireworks in her head multiplied into countless bursts, crackling and exploding all at once. Xia Wanzhi completely admitted defeat and buried her face in Xie Qiyan’s arms to calm herself down.

Xie Qiyan reached one arm around her back, gently patting it to help her settle while also adjusting his own breathing.

After quite a while, Xia Wanzhi’s tense body slowly relaxed. In a muffled voice, she said, “Why did you kiss me?”

Xie Qiyan answered without hesitation, “Same as you.”

Whatever she wanted to confirm.

He wanted to confirm it too.

Xia Wanzhi said weakly, “It’s over.”

Xie Qiyan laughed. “You’ve fallen in love.”

“You’re awful.” Xia Wanzhi still did not lift her head. Her hands fumbled blindly up to his face and pressed firmly over his mouth.

“Xie Qiyan, you’re really so awful.” Xia Wanzhi had no words to describe how she felt in this moment.
“Mm.” A single sound slipped from Xie Qiyan through the gaps between her fingers.

“I hate you,” Xia Wanzhi mumbled, her voice muffled, muttering like she was talking to herself. “I hate you so much.”

“Mm, I know.” Xie Qiyan curved his lips, shamelessly taking it as a confession. He reached out and pried her hands apart, then dropped a very light kiss onto her hair. Slowly, he said, “I like you too.”

Xia Wanzhi’s breath nearly stopped.

The air-conditioning quilt couldn’t block out the way their heartbeats seemed to echo in unison. Xie Qiyan’s chest trembled faintly as he repeated, “I like you. I like you so much.”

He didn’t know when it had started.

Everything he had done for her, every bit of thought he had spent on her, was proof that he liked her.

From that inexplicable concern at the very beginning, to the sudden stirring of his heart that he hadn’t even recognized, to the helpless inability to stop himself later on.

Xie Qiyan had never truly possessed anything, so even after realizing these feelings, he would rather hide them than admit them.

Because once he admitted it, his greed would turn wild. Once desire took root, he would long to possess.

To possess, wholly and solely.

For him, possession was an extravagant hope.

That caution and timidity rooted deep in his heart made it impossible for him to imagine that he could have Xia Wanzhi’s affection and response.

But love could not be hidden.

She had noticed it. She had even taken half a step toward him.

As if he had been struck head-on by an enormous surprise, he couldn’t describe the shock and surge of emotion within him.

He thought, that half step was enough.

He would take care of the rest.

Xia Wanzhi’s heart was thrown into a frantic dance by this sudden confession. After burying herself like a quail for a long while, she finally replied in a dazed, silly voice, “I guessed it.”

Xie Qiyan chuckled softly, his heart brimming with a deep, almost ravenous satisfaction. “Our Wanzi is smart.”

The praise made Xia Wanzhi’s face heat. Too embarrassed to lift her head, she forced herself to find a topic to ease the shyness left by that kiss. “You… when did you start that… li-liking me?”

Her stammering tone revealed every bit of her shyness and nerves. Xia Wanzhi, giving up entirely, buried her head even deeper.

Xie Qiyan seemed to consider the question. After a long moment, he said, “I don’t know.”

Xia Wanzhi froze slightly and instinctively looked up at him.

Xie Qiyan gazed into her eyes, his fingertips gently brushing her cheek. His voice was soft. “Xia Wanzhi, I don’t know when I started liking you. But every time you appeared, it was enough for me to think about you for a very, very long time.”

She had barged into the sea of his heart without permission, stirring up ripples that lingered and refused to fade.

Those unintentional glances, those fleeting thoughts, all seemed to have been the beginning of liking her.

She didn’t even have to appear. Just hearing her name was enough for her image to surface automatically in his mind.

He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment his heart had moved, but the feeling just now had been a milestone carved into his heart.

In that instant, he had confirmed that in this lifetime, it had to be her.

He wanted her.

Wanted fiercely to love her.

And longed just as fiercely for her to love him.

“Me too.” Xia Wanzhi lowered her eyes. She couldn’t say where these feelings had begun, couldn’t even untangle the exact moment her heart had started to move.

She had clearly hated him.

Hated that, when they first met as children, he had knocked over the milk she had given him. Hated that he told her to get lost. Hated that he never smiled at her. Hated that he ignored her. Hated that he always made her unhappy.

Hated that after they reunited years later as adults, he treated her so coldly. Hated that he icily told her to move out of Xingyao Building. Hated that he was always making sarcastic remarks. Hated that he always went against her.

And yet this person she had hated so much had reached out to her when she was at her most helpless and helped her solve every difficulty.

He had held an umbrella over her and given her peace of mind.