Chapter 53: Touching Him, Embracing Him
Lian Li had just woken up, her eyes still heavy with sleep as she looked at Jin Shi Yue, a faint, indescribable sense of melancholy clouding her mind.
Did she touch him?
Lian Li’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as she tried hard to recall the details, but her mind was like a misty rain, too blurry to see clearly.
After a moment, her eyelashes, curved like a classical small fan, slowly blinked, and she stated with certainty, “I didn’t touch you.”
Jin Shi Yue took the glass cup from Lian Li’s hand and placed it on the bedside table. He leaned down, slowly approaching her as she sat on the bed.
His extremely aggressive handsome face drew nearer, and Lian Li instinctively leaned back, her shoulders pressing against the headboard, with nowhere left to retreat.
They were very close. The unique scent of fir on the man, mixed with the crisp aroma of a little bitter orange leaf, enveloped Lian Li like a fine net, making her temporarily forget the bitterness of the medicine.
Lian Li looked at Jin Shi Yue’s sharp and beautiful jawline for two seconds, then her gaze moved up, past his thin, sharp lips and his high, mountain-like nose, finally resting on his deep, dark eyes.
Her fever hadn’t completely subsided, her mind was sluggish, her cheeks felt a little warm, and even her speech system had gone on strike: “You…”
“There are only two people here. If it wasn’t you, who else could it be? A dog touched me?”
“There’s another possibility,” Lian Li said.
“What possibility?” Jin Shi Yue’s smile held a hint of mischief.
Lian Li’s gaze fixed on his brow bone, avoiding eye contact, her voice slightly hoarse: “No one touched you at all.”
“You’re not human, have you ascended to immortality? Little fairy.”
“…” It seemed he wouldn’t give up until he confirmed she had touched him today.
Lian Li’s hands, hidden under the quilt, clutched the bedsheet. She raised her eyelashes and looked directly at Jin Shi Yue, stating clearly, “I only hugged your neck, I didn’t touch you.”
The light from the chandelier cast down, illuminating Jin Shi Yue’s slightly raised eyebrow: “If you didn’t touch me, how could you hug me?”
Lian Li looked at the man’s face, so close to hers. His eyelashes were as black as crows, and very long.
His breath brushed against her, very light, like an illusion, yet with a strong presence.
The warmth that had just subsided from her cheeks seemed to rise again. Her head felt dizzy, her eyes flickered for a moment, and then she suddenly raised her arms and hugged his neck.
Lian Li only wrapped her arms around Jin Shi Yue’s neck, trying to avoid contact with other parts of her body. However, she wasn’t a gibbon, and this position instantly brought them even closer.
Their noses were only a fraction of an inch apart. Lian Li’s clear, lustrous almond-shaped eyes clearly reflected Jin Shi Yue’s appearance. She blinked her eyes slightly and demonstrated:
“See, I can just hug you without touching you.”
Lian Li’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she controlled her breathing and shifted her gaze, wanting to see if he believed her. To her surprise, when she looked up, she unexpectedly met Jin Shi Yue’s dark, deep eyes.
The man’s eyes were very deep, holding an infinite gravitational pull like a cosmic black hole, invisibly drawing her in, as if wanting to swallow her whole.
Lian Li’s scalp tingled, and she felt as if she had lost her memory, unable to speak, just staring at him blankly.
Her body temperature was still a bit high, and the air she exhaled was slightly warm, spraying onto Jin Shi Yue’s face, penetrating the surface of his skin and warming the blood within his body.
A subtle magnetic field rapidly fermented between them as they made eye contact. Jin Shi Yue’s sharp Adam’s apple bobbed, as if he was about to do something.
Lian Li reacted instantly, pulling her arms back and pulling the quilt over herself: “Do you believe me now? I didn’t touch you.”
Touching and hugging.
The meanings of these two words were different in Lian Li’s mind. They represented vastly different levels of intimacy and subjective experience.
She couldn’t see Jin Shi Yue. Her fingers tugged at the soft quilt, and she continued, “I’m very sorry. I must have mistaken you for my mother. I often get like this when I’m sick. I’d even hug the God of Wealth if I saw him.”
In the past, when she was sick, she would only call for her mother and mumble a few words in her sleep. She had never hugged anyone. After all, when one is sick, their body is weak, and where would they find the strength to get up and embrace someone?
Lian Li guessed that she probably smelled Jin Shi Yue’s familiar scent and mistook him for her mother.
Sigh.
Mistaking Jin Yan Ting for her father and Jin Shi Yue for her mother.
Did she need to see a psychologist?
So annoying.
“If you don’t believe me, you can call Senior Sister Shu Fan. She can testify.”
Lian Li offered a very sincere and earnest explanation, afraid he would misunderstand.
Jin Shi Yue looked at her for a moment, then slowly stood up, removed his hand from her side, and took a step back.
He glanced at her, his voice dry and low: “Pack your things and come down.”
With that, he walked out of the bedroom with his long strides.
The man’s tall figure disappeared from sight. Lian Li took her hands out from under the quilt and wiggled her fingers slightly.
The spot his fingers had brushed against felt hot and numb, as if it were about to catch fire.
Her arm that had hugged his neck also felt a bit numb, as if it had been electrocuted.
Sickness made one’s limbs weak and sore. Lian Li flexed her fingers and looked at the doorway with confusion.
Why pack? Was she going back to the country?
Lian Li suddenly remembered her flight back to the country today and quickly grabbed her mobile phone to check the time.
It was one in the afternoon.
The plane had already taken off.
Lian Li annoyedly slapped her forehead with her palm. Missing her flight due to illness.
She took a few deep breaths, got out of bed, and prepared to pack her things. As she lifted the quilt, Lian Li noticed that the clothes she was wearing were not the ones she had worn last night.
Who changed them for her? It couldn’t have been Jin Shi Yue, right?
Lian Li shook her head, dismissing the thought. As her head swayed, she started to feel dizzy again.
She sighed and quickly packed her belongings. She had only stayed one night, so she hadn’t taken much out of her suitcase, and she finished packing in no time.
After Lian Li was ready and stood up, she found that Jin Shi Yue had returned at some point and was leaning against the doorway, watching her pack.
Seeing that she was done, he strode over, picked up her suitcase, and headed downstairs.
There was food prepared in the restaurant, still steaming hot. After Lian Li had eaten her fill, they left the apartment.
A Cullinan was waiting downstairs. The driver was a young man, but not Li Ye, so Lian Li didn’t greet him as she didn’t know him.
She sat in the back seat, leaning against the comfortable leather seat back. Jin Shi Yue tossed her a thick wool blanket.
“Thank you.” Lian Li, having eaten and drunk her fill and with her mind clear, dared to speak to him. “Are we going to the airport?”
“No.”
“Then where are we going?” Lian Li turned to look at him.
Jin Shi Yue sat back loosely in his seat and glanced at her: “Selling you.”
Lian Li slowly got used to the Eldest Young Master’s way of speaking: “I’m not worth much.”
“Who says?”
“It’s obvious, no one needs to say it.” Lian Li spread the blanket over herself. The blanket was soft and warm, very comfortable.
Jin Shi Yue’s dark eyes appraised her, his expression casual: “Quite precious.”
Lian Li tilted her head to glance at him, then lowered her gaze, not replying further.
The Eldest Young Master was skilled at teasing people, and also at mocking them.
If they weren’t going to the airport, where was he taking her?
