Dawn and Dusk
The limited-edition silver-gray luxury car sped along the lush, tree-lined Sophora Avenue21, its wheels cutting through puddles as it swerved around vendors stranded by the storm.
Secretary Su didn’t ask why.
After all…
It was obvious enough.
Even if half of President Xie’s brain had been eaten by zombies, the other half would probably still have the words “Rong Ci” written all over it.
Fortunately, it was only torrential rain. If it had been sulfuric acid instead, he would still have had to find a way to get President Xie home.
It was nearly ten at night when Xie Xunzhao arrived at Mirror Lake Manor. What was normally a half-hour drive had stretched to a full two hours because of the sudden storm.
He walked in carrying a bag of sour cherries, and the first thing he saw was the figure curled up on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling windows.
On the coffee table was a lush bouquet of budding tulips, a pink-to-white gradient, blurring softly under the light and hiding half her face.
Outside, the storm raged. But wherever Rong Ci was, the room temperature was always kept at 24°C.
So, she was wearing nothing but a moonlight-white silk nightgown, making her already fair skin look several shades paler. Her collarbones were sharply defined, delicate and prominent.
She had gotten thinner.
Xie Xunzhao thought: Poor thing.
Rong Ci was putting together a building-block set, which was a custom-made “Zeus” building set specially designed for her by the brand. It contained a complex internal mechanical structure that, once completed, could move freely like a real cat.
She was already more than halfway done.
Rong Ci puffed out her cheeks, apparently stuck at a difficult part.
As if giving up, she flopped onto the armrest of the sofa, her skirt spilling down in folds. She wanted to throw a tantrum and scatter the half-built model, yet couldn’t bear to stop. She went back and forth, lively and radiant, like flowers trembling wildly in a white porcelain vase.
Xie Xunzhao thought: So cute.
Hearing movement from the foyer, Rong Ci abruptly whipped around. “Xie Xunzhao!”
“How dare you have the housekeeper cut off the internet at nine-thirty!”
After dinner, Rong Ci had learned from the housekeeper that from 9:30 p.m. until 6:30 a.m., Mirror Lake Manor activated signal-blocking mode everywhere except important work areas like Xie Xunzhao’s study.
Her entire life instantly lost its meaning.
So right then and there, she tried to clutch her head and cry that she was dizzy and unwell, and that she absolutely had to get back online before she could recover.
But before she could even raise her hand, the housekeeper clutched his chest and collapsed onto the carpet, wailing, “Aiyo, aiyo, aiyo!”
He cried that his heart condition was acting up and ordered the servants to hurry and carry him away because he absolutely couldn’t die in the main house.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget to lock every area of the main house where the signal could be restored.
What else could Rong Ci possibly think? Xie Xunzhao must have instructed him beforehand.
What was even the point of being married?
Rong Ci protested, “You promised not to control me after we got married!”
Xie Xunzhao walked closer and stopped in front of her. “You heard me wrong. I said I wouldn’t spoil you.”
The closer he came, the more Rong Ci could smell his familiar cool-toned cologne, along with… the natural scent of grass and trees he had brought in from the storm outside.
“You…” Rong Ci tilted her head up and immediately found herself falling into a pair of eyes dark as ink.
The living room chandelier was dazzling, and Xie Xunzhao’s tall figure blocked some of the glaring white light. She felt as though she were about to be swallowed by the shadow of a giant beast’s open jaws, and the rest of her words stuck between her teeth.
Since getting their marriage certificate last winter solstice, this was the first time she had seen Xie Xunzhao.
The heir to the Xie Group generally only formally took control after getting married. As luck would have it, an important international project at the group had run into trouble, so Xie Xunzhao had spent more than half a year abroad.
He had taken an early-morning flight today, and after landing at Beicheng International Airport, he had gone directly to the CORE Business Summit.
And so, the “newlyweds,” married for over half a year, were finally met face-to-face.
The last time they had looked into each other’s eyes had been that afternoon at the civil affairs bureau. That day had been an unusually beautiful day, with clear skies and a gentle breeze. The way he had looked at her had been like the wind on the winter solstice.
But now, it was as if his dignified, aloof appearance could no longer suppress the intimidating sharpness breaking free from its cage.
He, too, lowered his eyes slightly as well. From the same angle, the way he looked at her was—
Completely different.
Like tonight’s storm.
Xie Xunzhao still had the same face—handsome, composed. Yet the frigid aura surrounding Xie Xunzhao had undergone a complete upheaval.
In any case, Rong Ci felt that he had changed a lot, though she couldn’t quite say what had changed the most.
“How come you’re suddenly stricter with me than my own parents and brother?” Her confidence faltered.
Xie Xunzhao answered calmly, “After all, I now have a legitimate position in the Rong family.”
“I’ll be buried in the Rong family ancestral grave and share a tomb with you someday.”
???
What kind of nonsense is that?
Rong Ci couldn’t make sense of it. “So?”
Xie Xunzhao said, “So…”
The next second, he shook the bag in his hand. “Do you want some sour cherries?”
Only then did Rong Ci notice the sour cherries he was carrying.
But her eyes landed first on Xie Xunzhao’s hand. It was long and straight, with even the veins faintly visible from the rush of blood, looking beautiful. A low-key sapphire ring sat on his ring finger, making even the most ordinary clear plastic bag look expensive.
Wait, who buys a wedding ring only for himself when getting married?
Doesn’t he have a wife?
She opened her mouth. She meant to ask about the cherries… but what came out instead was: “Does that Platonic arrangement you mentioned last year still count?”
Xie Xunzhao smiled immediately, his tone almost gentle. “Of course it does.”
Not a chance.
Rong Ci felt there was more to his words than met the eye. But ever since they were children, Xie Xunzhao had never lied to her.
He couldn’t possibly have gone abroad on a business trip and somehow left behind his precious qualities of “honesty and integrity” and “practice what you preach.”
Rong Ci’s expression changed again and again. In the end, after all their years together, she chose to trust him.
Xie Xunzhao placed his palm on top of her head and pressed down lightly. “Stop thinking about it. With such a small head, filling it with too much will give you a headache.”
Like petting a cat.
Rong Ci had been caught completely off guard and thoroughly ruffled like one. She was furious, but didn’t dare say anything.
The torrential rain outside showed no sign of stopping.
Xie Xunzhao didn’t call a servant over from the side building. Instead, he personally went to wash the cherries for Rong Ci.
He took off his suit jacket, and as he passed, he casually placed the watch and platinum cuff links he had removed into her hands, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and said in a low voice, “Go put your blocks away yourself.”
The antique grandfather clock had just struck ten.
It was the proudest work of a famous 18th-century German marquetry master, an antique of national-treasure grade, finely carved with beast motifs, clad in silver and gilded, classical and magnificent. Only the small blue bird doodled on the front glass, slightly faded, looked terribly out of place.
Rong Ci had drawn it with a metallic marker when she was little and mischievous. The clock had originally been at Tianlu Bay but had now been moved to Mirror Lake Manor because Xie Xunzhao had said that her very first drawing should be preserved in his home. Clearly, he was just keeping evidence against her.
Rong Ci listlessly withdrew her gaze.
She first went to put away the blocks, lest she wake up tomorrow morning to witness the “bloody” scene of the real Zeus killing the fake Zeus.
Only then did she follow Xie Xunzhao to the kitchen like a little tail, her gaze falling on his arm as his sleeves were rolled up; the lines were sharp and clean, brimming with strength.
They looked like they could knock out three Wen Jins or five Fu Xis with a single punch.
Such beautiful muscles—if they were on her, anyone who crossed her would get a punch straight away. It would be so cool that she’d probably replay the scene twenty times before going to sleep every night.
Rong Ci wanted them.
Rong Ci couldn’t have them.
She watched as Xie Xunzhao picked the smallest bowl—no, it should count as a cup, and the smallest size of cup at that. Even piled into a little mound, it held only six cherries.
Feigning surprise, Rong Ci said, “Who would have thought the world contained such a… dainty little bowl. President Xie, what an impressive talent you have, to be able to procure such a rare treasure.”
Xie Xunzhao ignored her sarcasm and set the sour cherries on the kitchen island. “Finish them and go to bed.”
Rong Ci thought: Fine, having something to eat is already pretty good.
Normally, once it passed seven, her family wouldn’t allow her to eat anything else. So, when it came to food, she didn’t dare bargain.
She was terrified Xie Xunzhao might confiscate even these six.
Sigh, with a personality as sensible and knowing when to advance or retreat as hers, she was probably destined to suffer once she entered society.
Rong Ci bit into one, her eyes lighting up. “The cherries are so fresh. It’s raining this hard outside. Where did you buy them?”
Cherry juice stained her pale-pink lips, spilling beyond the lip line in a vivid red, like the traces left after an inexperienced first kiss.
Xie Xunzhao shifted his gaze away and replied casually, “I passed Sophora Avenue and saw someone selling them, so I bought some.”
In reality, he had not only bought them all but had also ordered his bodyguards to take the vendor, caught out in the storm, home.
There were so many pedestrians on the road, but the reason Xie Xunzhao had noticed the vendor was that he was selling sour cherries.
There were very few fruits Rong Ci could eat, and cherries were one of them because her list of allergens was longer than her life itself.
Rong Ci had been born with an exceptionally fragile and delicate constitution. If she hadn’t been born into the Rong family, raised carefully in luxury with a professional medical team on call 24 hours a day, how could she have lived this long in good health?
After all, even her drinking water had to be a specified brand, customized each year according to her physical condition.
As for clothing, most of what she wore was silk and satin. If the material was even slightly rough, she would immediately break out in a rash, and in more serious cases, develop a high fever that wouldn’t go down.
And rainy days… were the weather in which Rong Ci was most likely to fall ill.
—
Xie Xunzhao took Rong Ci’s temperature and, after confirming that she didn’t have a fever, finally let her return to her room.
Calming incense burned in the jade rabbit censer, familiar and reassuring, but Rong Ci couldn’t sleep. Seriously, where on Earth could you find a young person who didn’t play on their phone before bed?
She used to be controlled by her family. She had thought getting married would finally set her free…
Who would have guessed Xie Xunzhao would actually go so far as to block the internet, an act that violated the very nature of humanity!
That was even colder and more heartless than her family confiscating her phone before bed.
Rong Ci knew they cared about her, but she was more of a believer in enjoying life while she could.
No one understood her body better than she did. She was like a piece of crackle-glazed porcelain: exquisite and beautiful on the outside, but in reality, there was no knowing on which day, or at which second, she might shatter into pieces.
Rong Ci switched on the light and pulled a small handheld mirror decorated with gilded butterflies from beneath her pillow.
She gazed at her own reflection with self-pity: Sigh, looking like this, I must be a fairy who came down to the mortal world to undergo a trial.
No, now was not the time to admire her beauty.
Well… In any case, everyone firmly believed in Grandmaster Yici’s divination:
After she turned twenty, as long as she and Xie Xunzhao fulfilled their destined marriage, she would gradually recover and eventually become no different from an ordinary person.
How could that possibly be true?!
They must all have conspired to weave some fantastical lie for her.
She was sick, not stupid!
That was why Rong Ci had initially refused to marry Xie Xunzhao.
Besides the feelings she had for him as an older brother, there was another reason she had never told anyone: She didn’t want to drag Xie Xunzhao down with her.
But she had underestimated Xie Xunzhao’s determination to keep her alive.
Because of that vague and unfounded divination, he had actually been willing to sacrifice his marriage for her.
If there were a “World’s Greatest Good Person Award,” Rong Ci would definitely give it to Xie Xunzhao!!
And through all of this, Rong Ci came to clearly understand one thing—
If she didn’t marry Xie Xunzhao and eventually died, then every day afterward, Xie Xunzhao would keep torturing himself with the same question: What if things had been different if they had married back then?
Forget it, there was no point thinking about it. They were already married.
There must be internet in Xie Xunzhao’s room!
In the middle of the night, Rong Ci knocked on the door of the room next door. She very politely knocked three times. With her ear pressed to the door, why was there no sound inside?
A few seconds later, she knocked three more times. Then three more.
In the extraordinarily quiet hallway at midnight, the repeated knocking sounded like a dense string of piano notes, except there was absolutely no rhythm to it.
Which showed that her piano skills were rather average.
Where was he?
Don’t tell me…
On such a beautiful night, someone was actually using it to sleep?
The next second, the door suddenly swung open. Rong Ci remained in the same position as before and nearly stumbled straight inside.
Xie Xunzhao steadied her by the waist; his long, bony fingers sank into the softness of her waist. Soft, alive, filled with vibrant vitality. Yet slender and fragile, like a candle flame flickering between light and darkness.
They were four years apart.
When Xie Xunzhao was eighteen, Rong Ci was only fourteen.
So, after reaching adulthood, he had always consciously or unconsciously avoided overly intimate physical contact with Rong Ci, maintaining a strong sense of boundaries.
Tonight was the first time they had ever been this close.
Rong Ci could feel the fingers around her waist were long and firm, with a powerful sense of control, nothing like the youthful innocence of his younger years.
Xie Xunzhao’s gaze was sharp. “You haven’t slept this whole time?”
In the dim light and shadows, the usually hidden severity of his presence was fully exposed.
Danger alert.
Rong Ci immediately felt guilty. “I… I couldn’t sleep. I came to… talk to you.”
Xie Xunzhao didn’t seem to say whether he believed her. He released her and leaned against the doorway, looking down at her from his greater height.
“Rong Mumu, do you know what it means to knock on an adult man’s door in the middle of the night?”
Suddenly called by her nickname, Rong Ci straightened up and instinctively answered, “It means I’m Big Brother’s most loyal little security guard.”
If her hands hadn’t been occupied, she could have even saluted him.
Xie Xunzhao: “…”
Completely impervious.
Rong Ci held a small, exquisitely crafted shrike plushie in both hands, trying to hide the phone underneath it. With a solemn expression, she said, “President Xie, you’re still awake this late. You must be having trouble sleeping too.”
Xie Xunzhao rubbed his temple. “The culprit responsible for keeping me awake is you.”
Cruel words wounded Rong Ci’s heart.
Rong Ci pretended not to hear and tried to squeeze her way inside. “Just go to sleep peacefully.”
“I’ll guard you the way Cupid guards love.”
Xie Xunzhao’s deep gaze lingered on her face for a long moment.
Rong Ci’s face was tiny. Under the faint light, her round, bright, pitch-black eyes gleamed like the little bird plushie she held in her arms.
Xie Xunzhao let out a soft breath and stepped aside. “My little angel, are you sure you’re not… here to send me to heaven?”