Volume One, Chapter 55 He lowered his head, his forehead touching hers.
Inside the carriage, the lights glowed with a warm hue, their gentle orange radiance quietly enveloping the two of them.
Because of Xu Zhi’s subtle gesture, even Liang Jinmo found his own breathing softening for a moment. Unlike him, she was always passive and full of reservations. If there were a hundred steps between them, he knew he’d have to take at least a hundred and one—she would always retreat.
Yet, in this instant, feeling the warmth and delicate softness in his palm, his heart nearly melted. Even the faintest trace of imbalance within him was soothed away.
He leaned in, slowly approaching her, lowering his head until his forehead brushed gently against hers.
Just then, Xu Zhi looked up. “Ah…”
She quickly turned her face aside. “Achoo!”
Rather anticlimactically, she sneezed.
Liang Jinmo: “…”
Xu Zhi: “…”
It wasn’t as if she meant to—some things simply can’t be held back.
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She shrank her neck, instinctively withdrawing.
Liang Jinmo cast a glance over her. “You went out like this?”
Xu Zhi pulled her sweater tighter. “I didn’t have time to grab a coat.”
The ambiguous atmosphere dissipated. Liang Jinmo raised the temperature in the car, fastened his seatbelt, and shifted gears.
As the car pulled out of the mall parking lot and merged into the stream of traffic, Xu Zhi remembered something. “Where are we going?”
Liang Jinmo answered, “The hotel.”
Xu Zhi hesitated. “Your hotel?”
“You’re asking what you already know.”
Xu Zhi sneaked a glance at his profile, nervously twisting her safety belt in her hands.
She’d been to his suite several times already, even stayed overnight twice; by rights, this shouldn’t be a big deal now.
But tonight, everything felt a little different.
Before, her heart had been untroubled, viewing him only as a trustworthy friend. Now, he had kissed her…
“What’s wrong?” Liang Jinmo asked, glancing over. “Afraid of me?”
Xu Zhi bit her lip, her voice barely audible. “No.”
“Don’t worry. If you don’t tempt me, I won’t touch you.”
Xu Zhi hurriedly turned away, her gaze fixed on the window, not daring to reply.
Back at the hotel suite, sneezes came one after another.
Liang Jinmo called down to the front desk, ordering ginger tea with brown sugar and a boiled egg.
Hearing this, Xu Zhi felt even more embarrassed. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room. “Sorry to trouble you.”
Liang Jinmo, sitting on the sofa, noted how she kept her distance—clearly on guard.
Indeed, when she was thinking clearly, she was almost impossible to approach.
He didn’t press the issue. When the room service arrived, she sipped her ginger tea while he peeled the egg and pressed it gently to her flushed cheek.
“I can do it…” Xu Zhi tried to dodge, but he held her in place by the shoulder. “Drink your tea.”
He spoke with gentle patience, rolling the egg softly over her injured cheek.
Within minutes, a subtle heat crept from the tips of Xu Zhi’s ears to her neck.
Liang Jinmo lowered his gaze, his eyes lingering on her slender neck—her fair skin made the blush stand out vividly.
Suddenly, he spoke. “This doesn’t count as touching you, does it?”
Xu Zhi, biting the straw, was utterly blank—she had no idea what to say.
Without warning, he leaned in close to her ear, his voice low and magnetic. “Then why are you blushing?”
Caught off guard, Xu Zhi nearly spat out her ginger tea. She immediately shrank away. “Don’t get so close to me!”
She glared at him in reproach.
Liang Jinmo’s lips curved in a faint smile; seeing her this spirited, he felt relieved.
He pressed the egg into her hand. “Enough. You’re weak and caught a chill. Wash up and sleep early. Your health comes first—everything else can wait until tomorrow.”
His voice was steady and calm. Though Xu Zhi’s mind was a chaotic jumble, filled with questions about the future, his words made her decide to set everything aside for the moment.
After a day of turmoil, she truly longed for rest. But fate had other plans. In the middle of the night, she developed a fever.
She meant to endure it, but her headache was fierce. Quietly, she slipped out of the bedroom, hoping to find a first-aid kit—perhaps there’d be some fever medicine.
She had barely stepped into the living room when the overhead light suddenly flicked on.
Xu Zhi paused in surprise.
Liang Jinmo sat up from the sofa, tossing the remote aside. “What’s wrong?”
He was clearly half-awake, his eyes still foggy with sleep. Xu Zhi noticed the quilt on the sofa—he’d slept in the living room.
She touched her forehead, her voice weak. “I’ve got a fever. My head hurts.”
Liang Jinmo rubbed his brow, got up, and fetched the first-aid kit from the TV stand, searching for fever medicine. He then poured her warm water and brought it over.
Dizzy, Xu Zhi sat on the sofa, leaning back as she watched him move about.
Barefoot, dressed in deep blue pajamas, he looked much more approachable this way.
He brought the water to her lips; she forced herself upright and swallowed the medication.
Liang Jinmo found a forehead thermometer in the kit—but it was out of batteries. He rarely got sick and hardly used these things. It was past two in the morning, too late to order one online.
He frowned. Xu Zhi was about to return to the bedroom, walking so slowly her legs seemed unsteady.
He strode over, scooped her up without warning.
Startled, Xu Zhi instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Go back and rest. I’ll see if I can find a thermometer downstairs.” As he spoke, he carried her back to the guest room and laid her on the bed.
He was about to leave when she caught the hem of his shirt.
It wasn’t like her to trouble others. “Don’t go. You should sleep—it’s so late…”
Liang Jinmo gently pried her hand away, leaned down, and brushed her forehead in reassurance. “Rest for now. If you can, sleep a little. I’ll be right back.”
With that, he turned and left.
The guest room door remained open. Xu Zhi listened to the sounds outside.
Liang Jinmo entered the master bedroom; she heard the soft rustling of clothes—he must be changing.
Then footsteps. He really did leave.
Xu Zhi closed her eyes, a warm rush prickling behind her lids.
She remembered that day—when Liang Jinmo, feverish and unable to enter the Liang family house, had even been ignored by the servants pretending not to hear the doorbell.
And she—though she’d given him fever medicine—had sent him away before he’d even recovered…
Why was he so good to her? She didn’t deserve it.
If only she had never done those things that hurt him. She’d thought it before, but now the wish was stronger than ever—
If those things had never happened, she could, at this moment, trust completely that everything he did was out of pure feeling, with no other motive.