Leaving Him

"Put this on. You might catch a chill."

"..."

Nan Xingyu glanced at the black coat he held out to her, then looked up.

"No, thank you. I'm not cold."

Jiang Yuexi took the coat. "It's several degrees below zero. How could you not be cold?"

She helped drape it over Nan Xingyu's shoulders. "You don't have to stand on ceremony with my uncle."

Nan Xingyu tried to dodge, but the oversized coat enveloped her. It still carried a trace of warmth, and an unfamiliar scent drifted into her nose.

It was the delicate, refined scent of books.

Perhaps it was because she hadn't dared get close to the opposite sex for so many years, but whenever a man showed her kindness, she worried that Xi Jin would find out.

It was just an instinctive reaction.

Whenever she was afraid and nervous, the tips of her ears would turn red.

But in Song Shuchen's eyes, the way she blushed so easily made her look unbelievably sweet and well-behaved.

He called his assistant and had him bring him a coat, taking Nan Xingyu's dirty clothes to the dry cleaner on the way.

Nan Xingyu didn't even have time to refuse.

She clutched at her clothes.

Jiang Yuexi laughed. "Xingyu, it's not like my uncle wants to keep your clothes."

Only then did Nan Xingyu realize she had overreacted. She loosened her grip, and the clothes were taken away.

Her face grew even redder.

Song Shuchen watched her, the corners of his mouth lifting almost imperceptibly.

In the end, Nan Xingyu and Li Ziyan stayed behind to help look after things.

Jiang Yuexi went with Song Shuchen to get his car washed first.

As soon as they sat down on the sofa in the waiting area, Jiang Yuexi leaned over.

"Uncle, aren't you being a little too nice to my roommate? And you still say you haven't taken a fancy to her?"

Song Shuchen was leafing through a car magazine, his long legs crossed. Instead of answering her, he changed the subject.

"Kid, how are things going with your arranged marriage prospect?"

"..."

Jiang Yuexi folded her arms and leaned back against the sofa. "No chance."

She knew he was changing the subject and added,

"Uncle, if you really have taken a fancy to my roommate, I can help you."

Song Shuchen gave an unrelated answer. "I heard your dad likes him a lot, and he's been doing very well in business lately. Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

"Stop, stop."

The thought of Xi Jin's icy face made Jiang Yuexi wave her hands.

"No matter how outstanding he is, he's not my type. I, Jiang Yuexi, am quite a catch myself. Why should I go chasing after him and put up with his moods?"

After venting,

she turned her attention back to him. "But you, Uncle, you're already thirty and still don't have a partner. Even I'm worried for you. Aren't you worried yourself?"

Song Shuchen said, "I'm not in a hurry to find a son-in-law."

He glanced at her. "Your dad wants to find someone worthy of entrusting you to sooner rather than later."

"..."

Jiang Yuexi opened her mouth.

Whenever she talked to her uncle, she could never get the better of him.

Finally, she added, "Just so you know, Xingyu is single."

Song Shuchen looked at the magazine, the corners of his mouth quietly curving upward.

The girl's innocent, bewildered face surfaced in his mind.

Like a sleepwalking doll.

On Christmas Eve,

Xi Jin sent a message early in the morning.

[I can't come back tonight.]

In the dorm room, Nan Xingyu shot out from under the covers, blinked, and read the message carefully.

She made sure it was from him.

That meant

she didn't have to wait for Xi Jin to come back that night.

She could spend Christmas Eve with her roommates!!

After the initial excitement, she reined herself in a little.

[When will you be back, then?]

She had to know when he was coming back.

[Tomorrow night.]

OK!!!

Clutching her phone, Nan Xingyu rolled over in her blankets.

When she told her roommates at the last minute that she could celebrate with them that night, they grew excited.

Jiang Yuexi said, "Leave tonight's plans to me."

The others played along. "We'll follow the organization's arrangements."

"Mr. Xi, I didn't expect the negotiations to go so smoothly."

The assistant, Zhang Zhe, followed Xi Jin out of the hotel lobby.

Freshly fallen snow lay piled along the roadside.

The cold wind whipped snow into their faces, its chill piercing to the bone.

Xi Jin lowered his eyes and swiped open his phone.

8:10.

There should still be time to get home and spend Christmas Eve with Nan Xingyu.

"Book me a ticket on the earliest flight back to Jingzhou."

He said.

Zhang Zhe glanced at the dark, heavy sky. Snow was still falling, and he couldn't help trying to persuade him. "Mr. Xi, you haven't slept a wink in two days. Flights are likely to be delayed in this snow. Why not rest for the night and go back tomorrow?"

Xi Jin walked down the steps. The driver had already come up to meet him with an umbrella and opened the car door for him.

With one hand on the door frame, he looked back and said, "Book it now. If I can leave, I'm leaving."

"All right."

Zhang Zhe said no more and nodded.

Perhaps the luck of Christmas Eve really did favor him.

He caught the last flight to take off from the airport.

At exactly eleven, the plane landed at Jingzhou Airport.

A car was already waiting outside.

As soon as he got in, Xi Jin opened his conversation with Nan Xingyu.

[Where are you?]

After sending the message,

he swiped open his phone to check every few seconds.

The light from the screen reflected in his eyes, holding an eager anticipation.

Two minutes later, a new message finally appeared in the conversation.

[At home. Where else would I be?]

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

[Do you miss me?]

[No.]

[Say that again?]

[I do, I do. You ask eight hundred times a day!]

Reading the slightly impatient reply on the screen, Xi Jin couldn't help smiling.

He turned off the screen and looked out the car window.

The Christmas tree outside a shopping mall glowed with warm yellow lights.

Even though it was already late at night, the streets were still packed with young people celebrating the holiday.

He thought of last Christmas Eve.

Nan Xingyu had complained that all he ever did was stay at home.

He had planned to take her out this year, but work had gotten in the way again.

There was plenty of time ahead.

That was what he thought.

When he reached Guanlan Shengshi, Xi Jin unlocked the door and went inside.

The light in the entryway came on automatically.

Warm light spread across the empty living room, but that familiar figure was nowhere to be seen.

Xi Jin put on his slippers and headed toward the bedroom.

The bedroom door was open, and inside it was pitch-dark.

He turned on the light and found no one there, so he went to check the bathroom.

He made a circuit of the house.

All right.

The little liar had sneaked out to have fun again.

Xi Jin stood in the middle of the living room and let out a muffled sigh.

In the past, he would have lost his temper long ago.

But now,

he looked at the snow outside the window and remembered the panicked look in her eyes whenever she lied, and how aggrieved she had been when she complained, "You're always keeping me on a leash."

The trace of displeasure in his heart

dissipated.

They had been getting along very well these past few days.

Forget it.

He wouldn't hold it against her.

He went over to the sofa and sat down, then took out his phone and called her.

It rang for a long time, but no one answered.

He guessed that wherever she was having fun must be noisy, or she hadn't come up with an excuse in time.

Sometimes, even he had to hand it to her intelligence.

Her tricks for fooling people were so obviously bad,

yet she kept using them on him.

He sent her a message.

[Stop pretending. Come back now.]

A few seconds later, he received an "I'm scared to pieces" meme.

Xi Jin shook his head helplessly.

He tossed his phone aside and prepared to take a shower, then remembered it was Christmas Eve and decided to prepare something for her.

He went to the kitchen and rummaged around.

He knew she loved to eat.

He spent thirty minutes quickly preparing a candlelit dinner.

Only then did he return to the bedroom to get ready for his shower.

As he passed the study, he saw Nan Xingyu's laptop glowing faintly.

"Forgot to turn off her computer again."

He went inside and reached for the power button, but accidentally touched the trackpad.

The screen lit up instantly.

A document titled "Transfer application form" appeared before his eyes.

The receiving institution was a university in the south.

It was dated the previous week.

Xi Jin stared at the words on the screen, reading them word by word, line by line.

As if he meant to carve those words into his eyes.

So all his concessions had merely been time for her to prepare her escape, in her eyes.

She had long since made up her mind to leave Jingzhou.

To leave him.