Rain-soaked shoulders

A few days later.

Xun Yuan was buried in work at her studio. The cultural relic restoration was already more than halfway done, and she held her tools with great concentration.

Someone knocked at the door.

Xun Yuan turned her head and saw a tall man standing at the entrance, holding a wooden box.

She raised her brows. He looked familiar; she had seen him beside Zuo Tingyue.

Special Assistant Lin pushed the door open and came in, setting the wooden box before Xun Yuan.

"Miss Xun Yuan, my boss asked me to bring this to you."

When the wooden lid was opened, several jade hairpins came into view.

At a glance, the jade had a warm, lustrous quality and a luminous sheen, with excellent translucency and clarity. The hairpins were beautiful in color, too, with simple designs-the kind Xun Yuan liked, understated and precious.

Her gaze settled on the hairpins inside. These suited her taste.

"Good eye."

Xun Yuan spoke with a faint curve of her lips, shifting her gaze from the hairpins to Special Assistant Lin.

How could she not understand? Special Assistant Lin had definitely chosen the hairpins, spending his boss's money.

That man would never have the leisure to choose hairpins for her.

Special Assistant Lin gave a perfectly measured reply.

"As long as you like them, Miss Xun Yuan."

With that, Special Assistant Lin was about to leave when Xun Yuan remembered something and asked him:

"Did your boss see the trousers I sent to replace his?"

Special Assistant Lin paused. "They've been put away."

Xun Yuan had sharp eyes and noticed his pause. She smiled indifferently. Clearly, they had been tossed who knew where.

Xun Yuan had left early that day, leaving Yun Tang with no one to play with. Yun Tang made a fuss, insisting that Xun Yuan go to the hot springs with her before she would let the matter rest.

Xun Yuan could not bear the pestering, but she also liked Yun Tang's personality. Raised amid wealth and splendor, the Yun family's second young lady dared to love and hate, hiding nothing-a rare quality indeed.

Yun Tang settled on a time and place, then drove over to pick Xun Yuan up.

On the way, fine, dense raindrops began to fall, pattering against the windshield and blurring their view.

The wipers worked nonstop. It was not raining very hard outside, and Xun Yuan lowered the window a little less than halfway. Drizzle drifted in, brushing her cheeks with a cool touch.

The car stopped on the outskirts. There were no umbrellas in the car, and Yun Tang had intended to have someone bring them some, but Xun Yuan politely declined. A sudden whim had struck her: she wanted to walk in the light rain.

Yun Tang did not, so Xun Yuan told her to stay where she was and wait for someone to bring an umbrella.

Xun Yuan got out of the car. The drizzle was chilly. Drawing her shawl closer, she walked leisurely toward the lobby in her high heels.

She walked at an unhurried pace, even amid the endless drizzle, with a composure that came from deep in her bones. Her slender heels stepped through shallow puddles, sending up little splashes. She was still dressed in a qipao, dignified and rich with untold stories, and the soft allure in the sway of her waist as she walked tugged especially at the heartstrings.

She did not like looking around when she walked, keeping her eyes ahead. Suddenly, the sound of car engines came from nearby.

She looked up. A black motorcade approached, its license plates bearing four consecutive eights. Her expression shifted slightly. What a coincidence-she had not expected to run into him even here.

The car stopped. A bodyguard got out and respectfully opened the door, standing to one side with a black umbrella raised as he waited for him.

He stepped out, tall and elegant. His dark-ink suit set off his broad, straight frame perfectly, with a white shirt underneath, its buttons fastened meticulously. His prominent Adam's apple was indescribably sexy, and his strong, pale wrists extended from his cuffs, bearing a Patek Philippe watch. At a glance, that air of restraint and austere nobility was overpowering.

Zuo Tingyue lifted his eyelids, his casual gaze meeting Xun Yuan's misty eyes.

Through the hazy rain, she stood graceful and slender, a sky-blue qipao wrapping her delicate, shapely figure. The drizzle raised a faint mist around her, and her black hair was half loose, half pinned up. Standing all alone in the rain like that, she was stunning at first sight.

Zuo Tingyue smiled faintly, took the black umbrella from the bodyguard, and walked toward Xun Yuan. His steps were leisurely, yet neither wind nor rain could suppress the refined nobility that surrounded him.

Xun Yuan stood where she was and watched him approach, step by step, holding the umbrella.

The black canopy rose above her head, shielding her from the drizzle. Xun Yuan looked up. His expression remained impassive, betraying not the slightest stirring of feeling.

Up close, Zuo Tingyue saw the tiny droplets clinging densely to Xun Yuan's dark hair, even to her lashes. Mist veiled her eyes, making her look touchingly lovely, yet with an integrity all her own.

A pair of eyes like these was truly hard to find in this world.

"Go inside."

Zuo Tingyue's voice was low, steeped in the curtain of rain, exceedingly cool and detached.

Yet clearly, both his words and his actions were gestures of care.

Xun Yuan's lashes trembled. For a moment, she was unaccustomed to it. She turned silently, and Zuo Tingyue held the umbrella for her.

Two people, one umbrella, not a word between them.

In the distance, someone got out of a car, also dressed in a suit and polished shoes. Not seeing the crown prince, he asked about him curiously, and Special Assistant Lin gestured with his eyes.

The middle-aged man followed his gaze, surprise flashing through his eyes.

Before him were an exquisite, alluring woman in a sky-blue qipao and a handsome man holding an umbrella. They were only two figures seen from behind, yet their nobility was beyond words.

On closer inspection, the black umbrella was tilted, sheltering the woman entirely, while half the man's shoulders remained exposed to the rain.

Rain soaked his shoulder.

He jolted and hurriedly withdrew his gaze, not daring to look again. He would never dare pry into the crown prince's private affairs.

After escorting Xun Yuan to the lobby, Zuo Tingyue handed the umbrella to the bodyguard following them. Looking at Xun Yuan, who had been caught in the rain, he said evenly, "Go take a hot shower."

With that, he turned to leave. Xun Yuan came back to herself and noticed what seemed to be a dark patch on his shoulder. Her gaze shifted slightly.

"Mr. Zuo."

Her voice was clear and cool, without the tender softness it held when she lowered it, like a mountain spring, cool and tranquil.

Zuo Tingyue stopped and looked back at her, his expression unruffled as he waited for her to speak.

"Your jacket is wet."

She spoke evenly.

"It's nothing."

His voice was detached, and then he strode away.

In the hot spring pool.

Yun Tang watched the thoughtful Xun Yuan, blinked, and quietly moved closer.

"Xunxun."

She called out playfully.

"Hmm?"

Xun Yuan answered instinctively, then asked, "What is it?"

Ever since Jiang Yulin had called her Xunxun, that name had somehow spread through their circle.

Now, hearing Yun Tang call her that, she actually felt somewhat used to it.

Perhaps it was-

The habit of being powerless to object.

"What are you thinking about? Your mind's wandered beyond the heavens."

Xun Yuan said, "Thinking about things."

Yun Tang asked curiously, "What things do you have to think about right now?"

Xun Yuan smiled faintly. "Things I can't talk about, of course."

Yun Tang let out an "Oh," then turned her head and noticed the jewelry set to one side.

"Why is your jade hairpin a different color today?"

Xun Yuan looked over. The jade hairpin, warm and soft in texture, was a vivid emerald green, like the most striking splash of color on green leaves after rain, so verdant it seemed about to drip.

"That white jade hairpin accidentally fell and broke."

Yun Tang was surprised. "It broke?"

"What a shame. That hairpin looked so gorgeous on you."

"This one looks lovely, too."

Xun Yuan thought of the apology gift that man had sent through his special assistant. The corners of her lips lifted in a gentle smile.

"It's no shame. One broken hairpin in exchange for more."

Yun Tang smiled at that, as though she had suddenly figured something out.