Chapter 27

When Ji Linyu returned to the hospital room, Zhu Xinyue was wrestling with a fork and an empty salad bowl.
Hearing the door, she stopped moving and gripped the fork tightly, only relaxing when Ji Linyu spoke.
"Want some more fruit?" he asked.
Ji Linyu walked closer to her, not deliberately softening his footsteps but making enough noise so she could tell where he was in the room.
He washed his hands and leisurely wiped the water from his fingertips with a tissue.
"No more." Zhu Xinyue held out the salad bowl, though Ji Linyu wasn’t in that direction, he still walked around to where she was offering it.
Ji Linyu took the salad bowl and casually placed the sheathed fruit knife from the coffee table into the kitchen. When he came out, he saw her feeling around the coffee table for something.
His eyes darkened as he thought to himself, "Good thing I put the knives away earlier. I really can't let my guard down."
"What are you looking for?" Ji Linyu asked.
"My phone. I want to listen to music." After losing her sight, Zhu Xinyue found the silence in the room unbearable.
Ji Linyu didn't see her phone anywhere, so he took out his own. "Use mine, is that okay?"
Zhu Xinyue nodded and pulled a Bluetooth earphone case from her pocket. She felt the sofa cushion beside her dip, he had sat down.
She handed the Bluetooth earphones to Ji Linyu. "A gift from Ji Qingyuan. Let's try them out."
To make it easier for her to use directly, Ji Qingyuan had already removed the packaging for her, leaving only the earbuds.
Ji Linyu took the earphone case, opened the lid with one hand, and while connecting the Bluetooth earphones, he casually remarked, "It seems Qingyuan knows your preferences well."
Sensitive as she was, Zhu Xinyue immediately detected something off in his tone. No wonder he had barely spoken all night when Ji Qingyuan was around.
"Not really. We've known each other for so many years, after all." Zhu Xinyue chose her words carefully, hinting that anyone who had been by her side for that long would know her preferences.
Ji Linyu placed one earbud in her palm and asked, "Mind if we listen together?"
"Not at all." Zhu Xinyue first put the earbud in her left ear, the one closer to him, but there was no sound.
Ji Linyu turned to look at her.
To make it easier to put in the earbud, she had brushed her hair aside, revealing her small, round earlobe.
His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he reached over, took the earbud from her ear, placed it back in her palm, and reminded her, "Right ear."
Zhu Xinyue's ear brushed against his fingertip, and as the earbud landed in her palm, it felt like being gently struck by a feather, her heart beating lightly.
She quickly lowered her head, her ears instantly turning red.
Ji Linyu couldn't help but chuckle softly. After she put in the earbud, he adjusted the volume to a suitable level and pressed play.
Zhu Xinyue recognized the familiar intro, it was the song they had once listened to together at the night market.
Surprised, the corners of her lips lifted slightly. She pressed them together to suppress her smile and leaned back naturally against the sofa.
The music was lively, the male voice deep and elegant, as if transporting her back to that evening when they had sat just like this, listening to someone sing.
Zhu Xinyue relaxed, letting her hands rest at her sides. The back of her hand accidentally brushed against the hem of the person beside her, they were sitting that close.
She should have pulled her hand back, but she wanted to confirm he was still there. So, gently, she hooked her fingers into his hem. Seeing that he didn't seem to react, she grew bolder, pinching the fabric with two fingers.
Ji Linyu watched her subtle movements, thinking she was unnoticed, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
When the song looped for the third time, Zhu Xinyue couldn't help but ask Ji Linyu, "Do you really like this song?"
Ji Linyu: "Mm."
Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on his hem, then afraid he might notice, she loosened it quietly and asked in a very soft voice, "Is it because of me..."
The words that followed were too soft, or perhaps she never even spoke them aloud. Ji Linyu couldn't hear what she said and asked, "What?"
He turned to look at her, and his knee brushed against hers.
The fabric of his suit trousers grazed her exposed skin, sending a ticklish sensation through her. Zhu Xinyue's heart began to beat uncontrollably.
She curled her fingers but didn't voice the question.
She didn't know when her eyes would recover... If she were healthy, perhaps she would have mustered more courage.
But as she was now, she could barely take care of herself.
Zhu Xinyue removed her earphones and suddenly said, "Ji Linyu, I want to take a bath."
"I'll go find a nurse."
Zhu Xinyue tugged at the hem of his shirt and said, "Take me to the bathroom. I can manage on my own."
Ji Linyu looked at her. She refused to let go of his shirt, her expression stubborn, as if she wouldn't release him unless he agreed.
Since losing her sight, she rarely showed emotional instability in front of others or insisted on doing things her way like she was now. Most of the time, she remained calm and composed. Even when she cried, it was in private, shedding tears alone.
The caregiver had told Ji Linyu that she had never seen a patient as quiet as Miss Zhu. Zhu Xinyue seldom troubled others. Throughout the day, she mostly sat on her hospital bed listening to music or lay down to sleep. Except for attending to her basic needs, she even asked for porridge during meals so she could manage on her own.
Her thoughtfulness was heartbreaking.
"Alright," Ji Linyu agreed to her request.
Or rather, he found it difficult to refuse her.
Zhu Xinyue said, "Can you help me tie up my hair?"
She raised her hand, a black hair tie around her wrist.
It was Ji Linyu's first time tying someone else's hair, and he was somewhat clumsy as he carefully gathered her hair behind her.
Her smooth, dark hair slipped through his fingers like seaweed.
A faint floral scent emanated from her, lingering around him.
For the first time, Ji Linyu realized there was something he wasn't good at. Her long hair tangled around his fingertips, and just as he managed to gather it, a strand would fall loose against the back of her neck.
She often wore her hair down, and the skin on the back of her neck was strikingly pale. His gaze lingered for a moment before he looked away.
Ji Linyu's movements were gentle. Zhu Xinyue felt her hair loosely gathered at the back, the stray strands tickling her neck. She couldn't help but shiver. Ji Linyu thought he had hurt her and loosened her hair again.
"Did it hurt?"
"No, it was just too ticklish."
Ji Linyu noticed her smiling and felt a bit embarrassed.
"Sorry, I'm not very skilled at this."
Zhu Xinyue suppressed her smile and lowered her head, waiting for him to re-tie her hair.
Ji Linyu gathered all of her long hair this time, took her hair tie, and began thinking about how to tie it up.
"Ji Linyu," Zhu Xinyue called his name again.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think I'm very troublesome?"
Ji Linyu paused his movements, raised his eyes to look at her back, unsure what expression she was wearing now.
"No," he wished she would trouble him more.
"..." Zhu Xinyue fell silent.
Ji Linyu had come to realize that this girl was particularly suspicious.
She liked to test him, but after testing, she didn't believe him. What had she been through to make her so distrustful of the world?
"No matter how troublesome you are, you're not as troublesome as the employees under me who love to mess things up," Ji Linyu tried using the hair tie to secure her hair. "There was one who lost important documents the day before signing a contract; another who misplaced a decimal point and cost a client eighty million; and there was a project with only an hour left before the launch event, when an employee carelessly broke the exhibit..."
Zhu Xinyue couldn't help but laugh. She could imagine how frantic Ji Linyu must have been at the time.
"Before I took over Jin Huan Group, I was studying abroad and started a business with my roommate. He was the best at causing trouble for me, including but not limited to sending a course essay to a client instead of a contract, posting a half-developed new project on his personal website, and before we could even use the expensive data we bought, he mass-emailed it as open-source data to the entire student body of the college..."
Ji Linyu finished tying her hair, patted her shoulder, and signaled that she could turn around.
Zhu Xinyue turned around, reached back to touch the back of her head, and felt the bun he had tied for her, actually, it was just a ponytail, but he hadn't pulled all the hair through in the last step, leaving it half-folded and dangling in the air.
She smiled and asked him, "Then what did you do?"
"What's done is done. We could only find a way to solve the problem, after all..." Ji Linyu stood up, took Zhu Xinyue's hand, and placed it in the crook of his arm.
"After all?"
"After all, he was the partner I chose. Causing problems is his specialty; solving them is mine." Ji Linyu led her toward the bathroom.
Zhu Xinyue grabbed onto his clothes, her smile deepening.
The bathroom had separate wet and dry areas, with the shower enclosed by glass. The sink counter held a few simple daily necessities.
After bringing her to the bathroom, Ji Linyu fetched her luggage bag for her. Before opening it, he asked, "Can you find your clothes yourself?"
Zhu Xinyue thought of something, bit her lower lip, and her ears turned slightly red.
"Probably... yes?" She wasn't entirely sure, but she also felt a bit embarrassed to have a man handle her intimate clothing.
Ji Linyu curled his fingers slightly, quietly watching her ears, which were so red they seemed about to drip blood. His heart skipped a beat, and he belatedly realized something.
At first, he hadn't thought in that direction, he had simply wanted to help her. But seeing her shy expression, Ji Linyu also became aware of the inappropriateness.
"If you don't mind..." Ji Linyu coughed lightly, fiddling with the zipper of the duffel bag. "Shall I help you look?"
Zhu Xinyue heard the sound of the zipper clinking, as if a strange switch had been flipped. In an instant, her cheeks flushed red. She tightly gripped his sleeve, tugging at it until the fabric wrinkled.
"..." She didn't speak, simply evaporating into silence.
When she first made this request, she only wanted Ji Linyu to realize how troublesome it was to take care of her. But now, at this moment, she couldn't help overthinking.
Their relationship hadn't reached that point yet... at least, she wasn't mentally prepared.
The reason she minded was because she saw him as a normal member of the opposite sex.
Smiles don't disappear, they just transfer.
A smile crept onto Ji Linyu's lips. Suppressing the urge to pinch her ear, he raised his hand and gently patted her head.
"I'll go ask a nurse to come."
Zhu Xinyue clasped his wrist with both hands, pulling his hand down. Her face still flushed, she lightly pinched the tips of his fingers, as if in playful retaliation for him patting her head.
Ji Linyu's heart skipped a beat. As she pinched his fingertips, his fingers curled, hooking around hers. His heart began to beat lightly and cheerfully.
In the cramped bathroom, a wave of warmth surged, the temperature quietly rising. The warm-toned lighting grew hazy and ambiguous, as if everything had been tinged with moisture, sticky and inseparable.
If... if she wanted him to stay...
Ji Linyu's gaze drifted from her curled eyelashes downward, past her delicate, upturned nose, and settled on her slightly parted red lips. He closed his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing.
What kind of wedding ring should I buy...?
He waited quietly for her decision, but his heart refused to obey, pounding heavier with each beat.
Zhu Xinyue didn't know why either, her body and soul felt weightless. She held his hand, unwilling to let go.
The pads of his right fingers bore thin calluses, the hands of a scholar who often wrote. Yet his palms were broad and large, like the hands of someone accustomed to labor.
She thought his hand would be very nice to hold.
But she didn't dare take the initiative to hold his hand, nor did she dare push her luck any further.
He must think it's strange, why wouldn't she let go of his hand? After all, she was the one who made the request. She should have considered this, but now that the moment had arrived, she felt unbearably embarrassed.
Zhu Xinyue released Ji Linyu's hand, turned away, and said, "You can go."
She clenched her fingertips, feeling an itch in her palm, as if the strange sensation of his rough fingertips brushing against her skin still lingered. A tingling numbness spread throughout her body, making her limbs feel light and airy.
Leaving the bathroom, Ji Linyu couldn't quite describe his complicated feelings, perhaps there was a hint of inappropriate disappointment.
He lowered his head to look at his fingertips, curled them slightly, then walked to the hospital room door and said to the bodyguard, "Go ask a nurse to come."
The two bodyguards acknowledged in unison, and the door closed again.
One of the bodyguards looked puzzled and asked his colleague, "I think my eyes might be playing tricks on me. Did you notice the boss's face was unusually red?"
His colleague analyzed seriously, "Maybe he has a fever."
And quite a severe one at that, ordinary people don't usually get that flushed from a fever.