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Chapter 37: Heartbeat

When Song Xian was drunk, she possessed an irresistible charm—obedient and docile, yet when those clear, bright eyes looked at Jiang Liuyi, it always made Jiang Liuyi feel as though she were bullying her. She instinctively pulled away slightly, but the blend of alcohol and Song Xian’s natural fragrance filled the air, turning even the unpleasant scent of liquor into something sweet and intoxicating.

Jiang Liuyi brushed the corner of Song Xian’s lips, unable to resist giving a gentle bite. Before she could retreat, Song Xian, mimicking her, opened her mouth and bit the corner of Jiang Liuyi’s lips as well. However, Song Xian didn’t control her strength, making it ache a little—numbing and tingling at once. Coupled with those calm, quietly gazing eyes, Jiang Liuyi almost lost control right there in the car.

The heat inside the car grew unbearably intense. Jiang Liuyi hastily pulled back, unfastened her seatbelt, and, with a loud whoosh, flung the car door open and stepped outside. The cool night breeze rushed against her face, slowly bringing her back to her senses.

Behind her, Song Xian also opened the door and got out. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice cool and soft, yet it stirred the waves within Jiang Liuyi’s heart, each swell higher than the last. Originally, Jiang Liuyi had countless things she wanted to say to Song Xian, so many questions she longed to ask, but in this moment, all of them were forgotten. All she could see was the drunken Song Xian before her.

After a pause, Jiang Liuyi finally said, “I’m fine.”

A gust of wind swept past, making Song Xian sneeze. Jiang Liuyi immediately rushed around to the other side, gently ushering her back into the car, then raised the temperature of the air conditioning. She half-turned her body, adjusting the central control panel. Once she finished, she turned her head—and crashed straight into Song Xian’s gaze. 

That look pierced through her, leaving a tingling numbness in her chest. It felt as though a small cat were scratching and pawing right at her heart, the sensation so overwhelming it nearly brought her to tears. Jiang Liuyi’s eyes turned faintly red from holding it in.

Song Xian asked, “Are you okay now?”

Jiang Liuyi’s voice came out hoarse. “I’m fine.”

Song Xian said, “I want to go home.”

Jiang Liuyi nodded. “Give me a minute.”

She quickly pulled away, closed the car door, and turned her back to Song Xian. Her heart was pounding chaotically, emotions sprouting and growing wildly like saplings breaking through the earth, beyond anything she could suppress. It took her a long moment to calm herself before she made her way to the driver’s seat. Song Xian turned her head and asked, “What were you doing outside?”

Jiang Liuyi replied, “I smelled like alcohol. Just letting it air out a little.”

Whether Song Xian understood or not, she simply stared at her steadily. Jiang Liuyi felt as though she had been seen straight through, her tangled emotions laid bare. She gave a soft cough. “Let’s go home.”

Song Xian responded, “Okay.”

Jiang Liuyi started the engine and drove them home.

When they arrived at the door, she helped Song Xian out of the car and opened the door in one smooth motion. Song Xian took off her jacket and shoes, standing barefoot at the entrance. Jiang Liuyi lowered her gaze and noticed Song Xian’s toes curling slightly, then slowly relaxing.

She knelt down, slipped Song Xian’s shoes back on for her, and looked up to ask, “Do you want to take a shower?”

Given the strong smell of alcohol clinging to her, and knowing Song Xian’s usual habits, she would definitely want to bathe. But now that she was drunk, Jiang Liuyi wasn’t sure if she could even understand.

Song Xian simply stood there, lost in thought. Jiang Liuyi had no idea what she was thinking. After half a minute, Song Xian finally nodded. “I want to shower.”

Jiang Liuyi said, “I’ll go with you.”

Song Xian shook her head. “No.”

Jiang Liuyi frowned slightly. “You might fall if you shower alone.”

Song Xian stubbornly replied, “Even so, I don’t want to.”

Jiang Liuyi asked, “Why not?”

Song Xian answered, “The bathroom lights can’t be turned off.”

The bathroom lights couldn’t be turned off? What kind of logic was that? Why would anyone need to turn off the lights to shower? Jiang Liuyi was baffled. In the meantime, Song Xian had already taken her pajamas and walked into the bathroom. Jiang Liuyi followed, but before she could react, the door was shut right in front of her. 

She rubbed the tip of her nose, a little helpless. She didn’t feel at ease leaving Song Xian to shower alone, so she simply stood at the door, listening to the steady sound of water splashing inside.

In that moment, Jiang Liuyi’s emotions suddenly grew incomparably calm—a tranquility she had never felt before, along with an unprecedented sense of peace.

Just as she was about to knock on the door, Song Xian came out, wrapped in a bath towel that was just big enough to cover her from chest to thighs. Jiang Liuyi frowned. “Where are your pajamas?”

Hadn’t she carried them in just now?

Song Xian tilted her head in thought and replied, “I washed them.”

Jiang Liuyi let out a helpless laugh. Why was she trying to reason with a drunk Song Xian? Even though she appeared clear-headed, she was unmistakably drunk.

Jiang Liuyi said, “Got it. Let’s get you back to the bedroom.”

Song Xian responded with a soft “Oh.” Once back in the room, Jiang Liuyi helped blow-dry her hair. Song Xian’s hair was thick, straight, and silky, sliding past Jiang Liuyi’s wrist like fine satin. It was clear she put a lot of care into maintaining it. Jiang Liuyi loved her hair too, and once she finished tending to it, she tucked Song Xian into bed.

Song Xian burrowed in, only to wriggle back out, displeased. “It’s too cold inside,” she grumbled.

Jiang Liuyi touched the sheets. They were ice silk—the cotton ones must have been washed the night before and hadn’t been replaced yet. She told Song Xian to wait a moment and went outside to fetch cotton sheets. But as she moved, Song Xian watched her and said, “If you sleep with me, it won’t be cold anymore.”

Jiang Liuyi’s heartbeat inexplicably sped up. They slept together every night, holding each other in the most intimate way. Yet hearing Song Xian say it aloud made heat rush to her head. Jiang Liuyi replied, “But I haven’t showered yet.”

Song Xian looked at her and asked, “You can’t sleep if you don’t shower?”

“I…” Jiang Liuyi had just opened her mouth when a faint fragrance from Song Xian drifted over. She turned to see Song Xian’s clear, bright eyes gazing at her.

She couldn’t bear to say no.

Resigned, she lifted the blanket and slipped under it first. Song Xian immediately pointed out, “You didn’t turn off the lights.”

Jiang Liuyi couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. She got out of bed, turned off the lights, and had just climbed back in when Song Xian curled into her arms. The ice silk sheets, with their initial chill, quickly warmed from their shared body heat. Jiang Liuyi didn’t feel cold at all—in fact, she felt unbearably warm.

Song Xian’s body, however, remained cool, likely from her recent shower. There was still a hint of dampness on her skin. Jiang Liuyi held her tightly, the two of them lying there. For the first time, they didn’t immediately entangle with the usual fervor upon getting into bed.

But clearly, someone wasn’t satisfied with that.

In the darkness, Song Xian shifted, burying her head in Jiang Liuyi’s chest. Her breath spilled warmly over Jiang Liuyi’s skin, tickling slightly. Just as Jiang Liuyi reached out to brush Song Xian’s hair aside, she felt a sudden bite on her chest.

It was through her clothes.

She was still wearing her formal dress, having removed her jacket when they got home. The dress was sleeveless, with a V-neck and a snug fit. The material wasn’t particularly thin, but even so, Song Xian seemed unsatisfied with just one bite. She pushed past the neckline and pressed directly against her skin.

The movements under the covers weren’t large, but Song Xian tugged at her dress, biting down on her tender skin as if making up for a missed meal, greedily and unrestrained.

Jiang Liuyi simply let herself feel.

That faint, unsettling sense of unreality she’d carried from the Zhao family’s gathering was slowly crumbling under Song Xian’s touch. The one lying in her arms, holding her, kissing her—was still her wife.

Jiang Liuyi shifted, turning from passive to active, meeting Song Xian’s eagerness halfway, her actions emboldened by the torn dress.

Scattered around them were fragments of clothing, the towel, and who knew what else. In the darkness, the two of them had tangled into a blazing fire, burning fiercely. Jiang Liuyi was dizzy with it, her senses swimming. 

Because she couldn’t see clearly, her mind conjured endless images of Song Xian—her head thrown back, cheeks flushed, eyes glimmering with misty light, lips slightly parted, her breath fast and sweet.

Each time she thought of another detail, Jiang Liuyi’s hand, wrapped around Song Xian’s calf, would tighten a little more.

In the end, they once again finished in the most intimate of embraces.

Jiang Liuyi lay sprawled on the bed, taking deep, steady breaths. Beside her, Song Xian seemed dazed, possibly already drifting off to sleep. Still, Jiang Liuyi, mindful of Song Xian’s habits, worried she might wake later and insist on changing the sheets. 

After resting for a few minutes, she got up and went to the balcony, gathering a clean set of sheets and returning to the bedside—only to find that Song Xian had already gotten up. Her body was sensitive and slow to recover.

“I brought them,” Jiang Liuyi said.

Song Xian was utterly exhausted, yet she still helped replace the sheets. Once they lay on the fresh bedding, she curled up like a soft, drowsy cat, falling into a light slumber. Jiang Liuyi listened to her breathing—steady and long.

Just as she was about to hold Song Xian and drift off herself, a phone started ringing outside the room.

Jiang Liuyi wanted to ignore it, but it kept ringing insistently. At this late hour, she had no idea who would be calling. Frowning, she got up, walked out, and glanced at the caller ID—startled to see it was her father.

She sat down on the sofa and answered.

The first thing her father asked was, “Who is your wife?”

Jiang Liuyi’s brow furrowed tightly. “What?”

“I asked you—who is your wife?” her father repeated, his tone far from friendly, almost harsh. “Is she Allen’s niece?”

News really did travel fast. Still, it wasn’t surprising that word had reached her parents. Jiang Liuyi steadied her breathing and stepped out onto the balcony. The cold wind hitting her face helped clear her head. She answered, “Yes, she is.”

“You knew before you got married?”

“I didn’t know,” Jiang Liuyi said.

There was a pause on her father’s end, a few seconds of unclear sounds, like he was standing by a window with the wind howling around him. Then, in a serious tone, he said, “Come home tomorrow.”

Jiang Liuyi agreed readily. “Got it.”

She had already planned to go home with Song Xian tomorrow. As for her father’s call, it didn’t surprise her in the slightest. His attitude was even less surprising. Ever since she left the Jiang family and then returned, her parents had never shown her a kind face. 

Back in college, they had even tried to change her declared major behind her back. Jiang Liuyi never understood why her parents were so opposed to her playing piano, yet now that Jiang Liubing was studying art, they were offering full support.

Zhao Yuebai often said she couldn’t make sense of Jiang Liuyi’s parents either—that even favoritism had its limits. Jiang Liuyi herself had never managed to understand it.

Jiang Liuyi hung up the phone and saw a message from Zhao Yuebai. It said that Qian Shen had drunk too much and tried to cause a scene at her place, but Lin Qiushui had taken her away. Zhao Yuebai added that if Lin Qiushui called, Jiang Liuyi shouldn’t answer—most likely, it would just be Qian Shen acting out again.

Fortunately, Lin Qiushui hadn’t called. After their last conversation, they hadn’t been in contact, and even when they ran into each other today at the Zhao family’s gathering, they hadn’t exchanged a word. Jiang Liuyi set down her phone and turned to look at the bedroom, a deep sense of contentment welling up inside her.

She returned to the room. Song Xian was still fast asleep. Jiang Liuyi didn’t turn on the light, but the door hadn’t been fully closed, allowing a sliver of light from the living room to seep in. With just a glance downward, she could see Song Xian’s sleeping face.

Serene and beautiful, her profile was stunning. Jiang Liuyi gently brushed back a lock of Song Xian’s hair, revealing half of her face, her earlobe, and the slender curve of her swan-like neck peeking out from beneath the blanket. On her fair skin, faint bite marks were visible, half-hidden in the shadows.

Jiang Liuyi pressed her fingers lightly to that warm skin, feeling a fierce, burning heat radiate beneath her touch.

She tucked the blanket carefully around Song Xian, her gaze soft as water.

For the first time, Jiang Liuyi lay in bed with Song Xian without her mind wandering to those usual thoughts. What she felt for Song Xian now had long since surpassed mere desire. In her heart, those fragile little saplings of emotion were already growing tall, reaching skyward.

She lifted the blanket and slipped back into bed, pulling Song Xian’s hand to rest over her chest.

She realized she had been wrong before—wrong to think she was merely trying to like Song Xian. In truth, her heart had been moved long ago.

Their hands pressed tightly together, resting right above her heart. Jiang Liuyi could feel it distinctly—that place was beating wildly for Song Xian.

Faster than usual. Faster still.