Chapter 20: Breaths Mingled creating a Warm Sensation.

“A little hungry.”

“Then let’s go downstairs.” Xia An stood at the doorway and stepped aside, proactively making way for President Ye.

Ye Jin glanced at Xia An and walked ahead.

Wearing matching slippers, they walked across the wooden floor, making soft sounds.

Ye Jin, her wife in name only. It sounded truly unbelievable.

From the first time she had met Ye Jin until now, when they were married, that sense of distance had not disappeared in Xia An’s heart.

A paper contract had instead built an invisible wall between them, and the other’s personal life had become a restricted zone that could not be crossed.

Xia An’s gaze followed the figure before her involuntarily.

She admitted that she had a special feeling toward Ye Jin.
Or rather, it was a liking.

Xia An also thought that it wasn’t strange that she had this liking for Ye Jin. After all, Ye Jin had touched her several times; she was always there at the right time and in the right place.

After confirming her contractual relationship with Ye Jin, Xia An was more than once carried away by her thoughts, but most of the time, she could rationally recognize the reality of her situation. Her current life was already busy enough; where would she find the time to think about anything else?

When they arrived at the stairs, Xia An forgot that there were steps. Without paying attention, she missed one.

Ye Jin reacted quickly, turned to the side, and reached out to instinctively put her arm around Xia An’s waist.

Due to inertia, Xia An leaned toward Ye Jin.

Standing on the stairs, the two of them were locked in a full embrace.

It was similar in spirit to that hug from back then. The two of them breathed in each other’s air, which was a little warm.

Ye Jin lowered her head and didn’t let go of Xia An right away. Instead, she kept her arm around her waist, helping her to steady herself.

If she had to say something special, Ye Jin also had special feelings toward Xia An. Because Xia An seemed to be the first person she had met who didn’t find her intimate and ambiguous contact repulsive.

Ye Jin also didn’t understand this.

Xia An breathed a sigh of relief, “Almost.”

Ye Jin remembered the scene from when they had first met—Miss Xia had almost fallen like this too.
Lowering her eyes to look at the other woman, Ye Jin rarely insulted people. She said softly to Xia

An, “You’re so old, and you still don’t know how to walk.”

Even when she was insulting someone, she was still cold and indifferent. You couldn’t hear any hint of joking. Xia An grumbled to herself that President Ye was more boring than she had imagined.

“Oh my, these young people sure are~~~” Liang Laotai muttered with a smile, having run into this scene on the stairs.

Seeing the two of them embracing so intimately, looking so loving, the old lady couldn’t bear to disturb them.

Liang Laotai had originally been worried that Ye Jin’s personality was too proper and that she would make Xia An feel wronged after they were married.

But it seemed like she had been overthinking it. Sure enough, it was different when they were with a girl they liked.
Seeing that Ye Jin could listen to what Xia An said, the old lady felt at ease.

Thinking about it, they had already gotten married and received their certificates.

They definitely planned to have a good life together. Mulling over these things, the wrinkles on the old lady’s face deepened again.

“Ahem…” Liang Laotai cleared her throat, still interrupting the two of them, and said happily, “You can hug more later. First go wash your hands and eat. The food’s going to get cold.”

Xia An let go of Ye Jin first, and Ye Jin also withdrew her hand at the right time.

The two of them kept a distance from each other again.

They hadn’t felt like anything was going on to begin with, but after being described by the old lady in such an embellished tone, it was as if something really was going on.

During dinner, Liang Laotai saw that Ye Jin didn’t have time to eat, so she had Aunt Zhou save some dishes for her.

They had all been reheated and placed on the table now. It could be considered lavish for just the two of them.

Aunt Zhou was very skilled at cooking, and all of these dishes were her specialties, especially for Xia An, who ate at the cafeteria year-round. The flavors were impeccable.

At the dining table, Xia An and Ye Jin sat facing each other.

It was a completely different vibe.

Ye Jin took a small mouthful of food and put it in her mouth. When she raised her head…

Xia An was eating quickly and efficiently. She had probably developed the habit from many years, especially after working at the hospital. Basically, no one could chew slowly and carefully.

As she was sending the third mouthful of rice into her mouth, Xia An noticed that Ye Jin was staring at her. She thought that she had something to say, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Jin looked at Xia An, whose cheeks were slightly bulging as she ate with relish. After chewing for a moment, Ye Jin said to Xia An indifferently, “No one’s going to steal your food.”

“I’m used to it. It’s usually like this when I’m busy at the hospital. Everyone’s like this.” After saying that, Xia An fell silent and focused on eating her food. Because of Ye Zong’s indifferent reaction, it seemed like she wasn’t interested in hearing her talk about these mundane matters.

She ate her food so deliciously. Ye Jin was puzzled. Clearly, they were eating the same food. Ye Jin hadn’t originally had much of an appetite at this time, but after watching Xia An put food in her mouth, her cheeks bulging as she chewed, her appetite was piqued a little.

Xia An was really hungry tonight, and she ate two bowls of rice in one go. Seeing that Ye Jin was eating slowly, she also deliberately slowed down her pace.

She couldn’t tell that she could eat so much. Halfway through her second bowl of rice, Xia An heard Ye Jin suddenly say, “If you can eat so much, where does all the meat go?”

It was rare for Ye Zong to start a conversation. Xia An stopped her chopsticks, raised her head, and turned the corners of her lips up at Ye Jin, “It grows where it needs to grow.”

After hearing her say that, Ye Jin’s gaze involuntarily landed on Xia An’s chest.

Xia An also happened to notice this detail.

The atmosphere suddenly became subtle.

Ye Jin looked at Xia An’s face again. With a pragmatic attitude, she commented with three words, “Not necessarily.”

Those were truly three highly summarized words.

Xia An felt like she was being mocked. Even though she couldn’t be said to be voluptuous, it wasn’t like there wasn’t anything there at all. Of course, her figure couldn’t compare to Ye Zong’s.

She stopped herself from speaking; she couldn’t argue.

“President Ye, have I offended you?”

Ye Jin saw the speechless look on Xia An’s face and wanted to laugh inside, but she kept a straight face and made a soft, pleasant-sounding humming noise. “Mm?”

“I’ve noticed that you especially like to make fun of me.”
Ye Jin was indifferent and calm. “Do I?”

Xia An stared at Ye Jin’s mesmerizing face. She had to admit that having a beautiful wife at home made her feel better when she got off work. She turned up the corners of her lips in a smile and didn’t give Ye Zong any face. “You do.”

Some people were naturally suited to smile, and what’s more, their smile would leave a deep impression right away.

When she saw this scene, Ye Jin’s expression also became more relaxed. She didn’t pick up on the conversation and continued to calmly pick up her food.

She had smiled, even if it was just for a short moment.

A beauty smiling in amusement.

Xia An got a feast for the eyes again.

It wouldn’t be long before Xia An finally understood why she liked to say funny jokes in front of the humorless Ye Zong—she was just secretly hoping that a hint of a smile could surface on the other woman’s always cold and aloof face because of her.

Liang Laotai looked toward the dining room from time to time. Seeing the two of them eating dinner and saying something to each other, she actually saw the signs of them flirting.

“I won’t be back tomorrow night.” Xia An felt like she wasn’t returning to the Ye residence very often, so she explained, “I have class at school and it might be very late.”

Ye Jin took a sip of soup, and just said, “You can make your own arrangements.”

Seeing that Ye Jin didn’t ask too much, Xia An also didn’t say too much. They seemed to be doing very well in not interfering in each other’s personal lives.

Xia An was still busy with her own life, going back and forth between the hospital, school, and Night Colors.

Even though the two of them had gotten married, Xia An wasn’t feeling too much pressure.

Like they had agreed, as long as she could come up with a reasonable excuse, she didn’t need to come over every night, and it was enough for her to just occasionally see the old lady and the little one.

Liang Laotai knew that Xia An was still in school and was busy with both school and the hospital, so she naturally expressed her understanding.

It was just Ye Wan who would sometimes fuss about wanting to see Mama Xia.

Just like that, half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
It was already late October.
Nancheng had entered late autumn.

Dusk, the setting sun shining from the west.
The remaining light passed through the glass window and fell on the carpet in the high-rise office.
It was six o’clock.

Ye Jin picked up her phone from her desk. They had agreed to go home for dinner together tonight, but Xia An hadn’t made a peep.

[What time do you get off work? I’ll come pick you up on the way]

When she sent the message to Xia An, Ye Jin’s mind filled with the way the other woman looked when she ate, and Ye Jin couldn’t help but smile faintly. She had to admit, she looked very appetizing.

Before long, she received a message in reply.
Except…

[Something came up tonight, so you don’t need to wait for me to have dinner. I won’t be back tonight, and I told Grandma.]

So she wasn’t coming back again.

At first, Xia An’s frequency in returning to the Ye residence had been fairly normal. But now, it was like Miss Xia had decided to use being held up at school doing experiments as an excuse, and she didn’t show her face for three to five days at a time.

She said that she was being held up at school doing experiments, but Ye Jin could guess that Xia An was probably still working part-time at Night Colors.

Ye Jin put her phone back on the desk, and her expression was calm. She sat quietly in the office for a while longer, but she also had work that she hadn’t finished dealing with, so she simply decided to finish that before thinking about anything else.

Without her realizing it, night fell.

Sheng Ruqi had just come out of her office and was getting ready to leave the company. Seeing that Ye Jin’s office light was still on, it was obvious that she was far from as devoted to her work as President Ye was.

“Still not off work?”

“I’m getting ready to leave.” Ye Jin got up.

Sheng Ruqi walked into the office and leaned on the desk. “Let’s get a drink together tonight, shall we?”

“I promised Wanwan that I’d go home early today.”

“It’s either working overtime, or going home to be with your kid. Can’t you leave some personal time for yourself? I’m telling you, when are you planning on settling your life’s big issue? I’m getting worried on your behalf.” Sheng Ruqi still had no idea that Ye Jin had already gotten married.

“If you’re not going to look for your girlfriend, why are you asking me to go drinking?”
Sheng Ruqi stroked her arms and said with a relaxed expression, “Where would I find a girlfriend? I broke up a month ago. You know that.”

“You haven’t dated anyone new?” Ye Jin was surprised. Miss Sheng had actually had a month-long dry spell.

“I don’t want to date anyone these days.” When she mentioned this, Sheng Ruqi thought about the girl she had met at Night Colors that day again. Actually, she had been missing that girl a little these days.

“That doesn’t sound like your style.”

“Are you going to get a drink or not? Let’s just go to Night Colors from before. It’s not that far from here.” Sheng Ruqi just said that casually. She understood Ye Jin. If Ye Jin didn’t agree the first time, no matter how many more times you asked, the result would be the same.

Night Colors…
Upon hearing that familiar place, Ye Jin seemed thoughtful. She picked up her bag and slowed her pace as she walked past Sheng Ruqi’s side. “Let’s go.”

What a rare sight. Sheng Ruqi snapped out of it and hurried her steps to catch up to Ye Jin.

Sheng Ruqi had been going in and out of Night Colors fairly frequently these days.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t run into the girl from that day again.

As soon as they sat down, Ye Jin and Sheng Ruqi both involuntarily looked around, as if they were looking for something. Both of them seemed a little distracted.

“I drove, so I won’t drink.”
“If you’re not going to drink, then what did you come here for?”
“To keep you company?”
Sheng Ruqi drank by herself, half-believing, half-doubting, “It’s rare to see you give me this much face.”

Many young girls walked back and forth through the nightclub. There were all kinds of types.

After a long while, in a corner of the seating area, Ye Jin still saw Xia An. She wasn’t stingy with her smile, and she chatted with people and drank, one cup after another, just like the first time she had seen her.
As expected, she was here.

“What’s wrong?” Sheng Ruqi noticed that Ye Jin’s expression was a little off.
“Nothing.” Ye Jin shifted her gaze elsewhere.
Feeling bored, Sheng Ruqi followed Ye Jin’s gaze from just now. In the end, her eyes locked onto Xia An.

To think that the President Ye, who looked so detached, also had times when she was looking at beauties at nightclubs? Sheng Ruqi rested her chin on her hand and carefully admired Xia An for a long time, and then she winked at Ye Jin and said, “That little girl is pretty good-looking.”

Judging from Sheng Ruqi’s tone, it seemed like she had found a target. Ye Jin raised her head and looked in the direction Sheng Ruqi was pointing…

It was none other than Xia An.
Ye Jin looked at Sheng Ruqi again. Holding her glass of alcohol, Sheng Ruqi let her gaze linger on Xia An, seeming quite interested.

“I remember now. Wasn’t she the one who was drinking with you that day?” Sheng Ruqi looked for a long time and then thought that she looked a little familiar. She suddenly realized something, and because she was a woman who Ye Jin had “taken a fancy to”, she paid her extra attention.

Ye Jin was silent for a moment, not wanting to reply. But seeing that Sheng Ruqi seemed quite interested, she eventually said slowly, “Since when have you been interested in that type?”

“People’s tastes change. Right now, I think that the feeling of eating young grass is also pretty good.”

Ever since she had run into Ke Rochu last time, Sheng Ruqi had had a special liking for this kind of pure little white rabbit girl. It was just that she didn’t know if she would be able to run into that girl again.

Sheng Ruqi sized up Xia An, shook her glass of alcohol, and said to Ye Jin with great interest, “That girl looks so innocent and lovable…”