Sleepless Spring Tide - 10
Freud
Night had fallen deep, the wind had picked up, and the hotel lobby lights cast the fine rain into tangible, shimmering threads.
Yi Xinling volunteered for the front passenger seat, popping her head out to look at Yi Siling. "Yi Zhaozhao, just drop me off at school first. I won't stay at the hotel with you." She was taking no chances of being too bright a third wheel.
Uncle Mei asked with a smile, "Which school do you attend, Third Miss?”
"Jing University. I’m staying in Xie Ningning’s dorm.”
Uncle Mei was surprised; what a wonderful twist of fate. "So you are the dear friend the young miss often talks about. When fate comes knocking, there really is no stopping it."
Yi Xinling agreed, making a face at Yi Siling before shutting the door and comfortably burying herself in her phone.
Traitor! And she was calling her Zhaozhao again! Yi Siling sulkily wrapped the oversized suit jacket around herself.
The night rain fell in a thousand slanting threads, swept by the wind. Xie Xunzhi stepped forward and opened the rear door. He didn't rush her, nor did he invite her, but simply looked at her with a gentle, steady gaze. His eyes were as dark as ink. His tall, commanding figure, bathed in the streetlights, cast a small circle of shadow that completely enveloped her.
Yi Siling couldn't stand this tender yet strange atmosphere. She averted her eyes quickly, lifted her trailing skirt with long, slender fingers, and slid into the car, bringing her legs elegantly together. It was merely getting into a car, yet every movement was graceful, reserved, and tinged with pride. It was hard to imagine that only minutes ago, she had been blushing furiously.
Xie Xunzhi did not move. Fine rain landed on his thin shirt. A few seconds later, he bent down, lowering himself beside her in an almost absurdly gracious gesture, and carefully gathered the elaborate train that had spilled outside the vehicle. He adjusted them neatly, then raised his hand and closed the door.
.
The car headed toward Jing University without a navigation system. Clearly, the route was familiar. The nearly six-meter-long body of the car was extraordinarily spacious, filled with a clean, dry fragrance. A Cantonese love song played softly over the radio, serving as quiet background music.
In the front seat, Yi Xinling and Uncle Mei chatted back and forth, their casual conversation slowly veering into hidden depths.
"Uncle, are you usually very busy with work?"
"When there’s work, there’s plenty of it. Mostly I handle some of the Young Master’s day-to-day affairs. The young master is the one who is truly busy. He works every day and hardly gets any time to rest.”
".....That makes sense. Managing such a massive corporation with over a hundred thousand employees, he must be busy. My second sister was just promoted to senior president this year, and she’s already run off her feet." Yi Xinling toyed with her seatbelt. "She also has so many social engagements that I miss her sometimes, but I hardly get to see her. Who knows what she's busy with."
Even if one is busy, one shouldn't be blindly busy. After marriage, you still had to make time for Princess. Otherwise, marrying a husband who was never around is no different from being widowed.
Yi Xinling did not know if her subtle implication would be understood.
This time, Uncle Mei understood exactly what the Third Miss was getting at, he instantly snapped to attention.
This was no casual conversation. This required more brainpower than speaking to top executives, every sentence a potential trap. A single misstep could leave a bad impression on the future young madam.
Uncle Mei pondered for a moment, then said, "Second Miss is still young, and her career is just taking off, so there are some social obligations she can't avoid. Our young master was the same way a few years ago, but it's much better now. He goes back to Xie Estate regularly to spend time with Madam, and he declines all unnecessary engagements."
Yi Xinling replied, "Exactly. A lot of those social gatherings are vulgar and decadent. I really dislike those scenes of sensory indulgence."
“Third Miss is absolutely right. The Young Master never attends those sorts of gatherings. For that reason, quite a few people even say he's too antisocial. The Madam always says that in the future, the young madam will have to take him out and show him a little fun.” Uncle Mei rattled on effortlessly.
In the back seat, Xie Xunzhi seemed not to hear a word. He sat quietly with his eyes closed, resting.
Yi Siling also pretended to sit in solemn stillness, though upon hearing the words "young madam," her hands unconsciously clasped together, her fingers tightening.
What on earth these two even talking about!
Yi Xinling was more than pleased. She caught another opening and was about to ask another question. "Then......."
Yi Siling in the back seat could finally stand it no longer. She knitted her brows and said in Cantonese, "Faye, don't be so loud, I want to sleep."
Yi Xinling glanced back at her, soothing her with a bright smile. "Alright, alright, go to sleep. I won't say another word....."
Uncle Mei looked at the girl in the front passenger seat with curiosity. She was clearly the younger one, yet she carried herself like the elder sister. Even the way she spoke to Yi Siling was indulgent, almost protective.
The Yi family was rather unusual. The older sister acted like the younger one, while the younger sister acted like the elder. This Third Miss seemed outgoing and straightforward. He wondered what the other two were like.
Although he hadn't interacted with them directly, he had carefully studied their background checks. The eldest miss of the The Eldest Miss was the most pampered and strikingly beautiful, though she had quite a temper. The Second Miss was cool and quiet, the practical one who got things done. The Third Miss was highly intelligent and loved sports. The Fourth Miss was the youngest, but also the most eccentric and playful.
In short, none of them were women to be trifled with. And all four were exceptional in their own way. Otherwise, they would never have been such well-known figures on Hong Kong Island.
"It's fine. Third Miss can keep chatting with Uncle Mei. It's still a long ride." Xie Xunzhi opened his eyes at this moment, his knuckles tapping lightly against the front seat. "Uncle Mei, close the partition."
Uncle Mei replied, "Yes, Young Master."
At his words, the glass partition dividing the front and back seats slowly rose, followed by a touchscreen television. The car had been designed with a partition in the middle, and once the divider was raised, the front and back became two independent spaces. Neither sound nor sight could pass between them.
The isolated space was like a gift box, sealing them inside, leaving them nowhere to escape but each other.
Yi Siling: "........"
Xie Xunzhi handed her a clean cashmere blanket. "Get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
Yi Siling was already nursing a whole stomachful of grievances, so how could she possibly accept it? She simply turned her body toward the car window and closed her eyes.
Ignoring him.
The air fell strangely quiet. A faint trace of fragrance drifted from the suit around her shoulders. Her breathing stretched slow and soft, each breath as delicate as a butterfly’s wings.
Thinking she might've fallen asleep, Xie Xunzhi finally pulled out his tablet to browse the work messages that had piled up over the past few hours.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
The woman’s voice came suddenly through the silence.
Xie Xunzhi paused, turning his head slowly. A streak of neon light from outside sliced through the glass, falling upon her breathtakingly beautiful face. "I know."
He watched her silently, his low, soft voice dispersing into the neon glow. "Take your time. There's no rush."
Like a lion crouched low in the jungle, knowing its prey was mere inches away, it refused to frighten her, drawing back its presence all the more.
Yi Siling spoke no further. Soon, her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep without realizing it. In her dream, it seemed that something soft had been laid over her.
The car stopped at Jing University halfway through the journey, but she didn't wake when Yi Xinling got out.
Yi Xinling smiled helplessly, gave the hotel address to Uncle Mei, and asked them to deliver her sister safely. Still uneasy, she left Uncle Mei her phone number as well.
Yi Siling was staying at the Yunlan Hotel, one of the high-end hotel brands under the Xie family banner, alongside Yunxi and Yunman.
It was hardly surprising that she had chosen Yunlan, it was the only ultra-luxury hotel in Beijing styled in eighteenth-century French Rococo, reaching the absolute height of brilliance and opulence. From the carpets to the wall reliefs, crystal chandeliers, and decorative paintings, every single piece had been personally selected by Xie Wenning and Xie Mingsui, who had even purchased a hundred paintings at once from a top gallery in London for this purpose.
It suited her expensive, extravagant taste to perfection.
When the car arrived at the hotel, Yi Siling still had not woken. She was deeply asleep, her rose-red lips slightly parted. The blanket on her body slid down, and Xie Xunzhi pulled it back over her.
Waking her was out of the question. He didn't want to risk setting off her temper.
So Xie Xunzhi sat in the car, solemnly replying to work messages, turning all voice voice messages with text. The executives on the other end nearly jumped when they received the long strings of typed replies.
When Yi Siling opened her eyes again, the night outside had grown deep and black, and in the blurry fringe of her vision, the hotel lights blazed brilliantly.
She rubbed at her dry eyes and murmured sleepily, “…Where are we?”
"In the parking lot in front of the hotel."
A deep, clear, magnetic male voice came from beside her ear. Yi Siling's mind snapped awake, and her eyes darted over instantly.
Her eyes widened, unable to believe she had actually fallen asleep in Xie Xunzhi's car. "How long did I sleep?"
"Not long."
Xie Xunzhi glanced at her, continuing to type. "Two hours."
"!"
So he had sat in the car and waited for her for two hours?
Yi Siling stared at him in astonishment.
Fresh from sleep, her voice was soft and slightly muffled, her complaint sounding suspiciously like a whine. "Then why didn't you wake me up...."
Xie Xunzhi finished his message at hand and set the tablet down. "You were sleeping so soundly. I was afraid of disturbing you and making you unhappy again."
"....."
He made it sound as if she were so easily upset. But she wasn't; she was a very reasonable person!
Xie Xunzhi looked at her, his expression calm and warm, waiting to hear what she would say. The interior of the car was dim, lit only by the brilliant glow emanating from the hotel lobby not far away, making the night around them seem even deeper.
Yi Siling bit her lip and said nothing. She felt a subtle, lingering, ambiguous tension in the air.
Ambiguous? The word startled her.
Knowing she couldn't linger any longer, she quickly murmured a thank-you, grabbed her bag, and then, as if realizing something, set it back down, intending to take off the suit jacket and return it to him.
Before she could take it off, Xie Xunzhi stopped her. "You still have a way to walk to get to your room."
Once a person gets used to warmth, laziness takes root. Yi Siling glanced at the silver threads of rain sliding down the windowpane. The temperature of this city was not gentle at all, changing at a moment's notice.
"Alright then. But when should I return it to you?"
Why had she suddenly become so obedient? He had assumed she would throw his suit straight into the trash after returning to her room, yet here she was, thinking about returning it.
Xie Xunzhi laughed softly.
Perhaps the two hours he had spent waiting had made her feel a little guilty.
He said plainly, "Any time."
Yi Siling didn't overthink it and pressed the door unlock button. "Mr. Xie, thank you for dropping my sister and me off tonight."
When she was not throwing a tantrum and acted politely, there was nothing anyone could fault her for. But this sudden, formal "Mr. Xie" felt like an invisible chasm drawn between them.
No one had ever called him by his full name so casually before; she was the first person to call him Xie Xunzhi. Others usually addressed him with reverent respect as Mr. Xie, Chairman Xie, President Xie....
Yet from her lips, his full name sounded more natural than any title.
Her calling him Mr. Xie felt unnatural, a deliberate attempt to draw a line.
Xie Xunzhi's eyes darkened slightly.
Soon, she pressed the door open button, and the car door opened at a steady pace. A chill wind blew in through the gap, clashing with the warmth inside the car, quickly forming a thin layer of mist on the windows.
Still dressed in her evening gown, Yi Siling moved slowly as she stepped out. Just as both feet were about to touch the ground, her wrist was caught by a firm, measured grip.
The force was restrained, yet impossible to shake off.
Yi Siling frowned and looked back at him, puzzled.
Xie Xunzhi's face was hidden in the shadow of the night, his expression impossible to read. "My proposal. I hope you will consider it seriously. Don't forget."
Yi Siling's pupils contracted sharply. How could she forget?
In that elegant, quiet tearoom, the man she could never quite read had placed a cup of Biluochun tea by her hand.
—If there is no absolute reason you cannot marry, Miss Yi, I hope you will consider it.
—Consider what?
—Marrying me.
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