Dawn and Dusk
“Bang—”
A very soft sound of a door closing.
Rong Ci was like a cat arriving at a new home and inspecting its territory.
The layout of the room was exactly the same as the one next door where she stayed, only the color scheme was different—this one leaned toward cool tones.
Seeing that Xie Xunzhao had his back to her, Rong Ci casually—almost suspiciously casually—let the little bird plushie fall from her hands, and hid herself behind the glass partition.
A small pendant lamp was lit here; the swaying, circular glow rippled across the room like rings of water soaked in iridescent colors.
The shifting light made Rong Ci’s features seem almost unreal.
Xie Xunzhao glanced at her. He turned around, took a box of calming incense from a drawer, and said lightly, “This room doesn’t have internet either.”
“!!!”
The sudden voice nearly scared Rong Ci’s soul out of her body, and even her phone, which she was holding, thrashed in her hand like a fish trying to jump to its death.
Rong Ci turned around, her eyes filled with indignation. “Xie Xunzhao, you’re too—”
Her gaze fell on him as he bent down to light the incense, and the rest of her accusation abruptly died in her throat.
Wisps of incense smoke curled upward around him, softening the room’s original cool austerity.
Having been forcibly “booted up” by the knocking at the door, Xie Xunzhao was wearing only a black silk robe, held together by nothing but a loosely tied, slippery sash.
From Rong Ci’s angle, she could vaguely make out his taut abdominal muscles and lean, powerful waist.
This man, Xie Xunzhao, might be rotten at heart, but he really was beautiful. A beautiful face would have been one thing, but his body was top-tier too.
One, two, three, four, five…
Does he have eight-pack abs?
Seeing how quiet she had become, Xie Xunzhao suddenly said, “Are you secretly cursing me in your head?”
Rong Ci’s delicate lashes trembled slightly. Putting on a brave front, she declared, “Xie Xunzhao, I’m very disappointed in you!”
“I was clearly praising you in my head!”
“How could you make baseless assumptions about me?!”
“You have to apologize to me!”
“I apologize.” Xie Xunzhao readily complied. “So, how exactly were you praising me in your head?”
Wait, how did he… apologize so quickly?
How was she supposed to demand compensation now?
She had originally planned to use this opportunity to pester Xie Xunzhao into turning off the signal blocker.
Rong Ci hesitated. “I was praising you… on being beautiful.”
Her thoughts were written all over her face.
Xie Xunzhao smiled faintly. “I’m not turning it off.”
“…”
—
Rong Ci had to burn calming incense before going to sleep.
It had been developed jointly by an incense studio and the Xie family’s medical team. It helped with sleep and was beneficial to her health.
The incense couldn’t be placed too close or too far away. Too close and the scent would make her dizzy; too far and it wouldn’t work effectively. Five meters was just right.
Xie Xunzhao adjusted the position of the incense burner. “Get into bed. It’s time to sleep.”
Rong Ci felt that she needed to calm down, so she refused. “I’m going back to my own room.”
Xie Xunzhao gave her no room for negotiation, lifting one side of the blanket in invitation. “Stay here. I’ll watch you sleep.”
Rong Ci’s fists clenched, but then she compared them with Xie Xunzhao’s fists. She decided it was better to bury them right here.
Rong Ci climbed into bed and pulled the blanket over herself in one smooth motion.
A small hill bulged under the blue blanket. A few seconds later, a slender hand emerged, palm facing upward, and waved twice.
Xie Xunzhao picked up the little bird plushie she had tossed onto the sofa and placed it properly in her palm.
The moment Xie Xunzhao got into bed…
Even though they weren’t even particularly close, Rong Ci could still smell the faint cool fragrance lingering on him. She couldn’t say what it was: not fruit, not floral, more like rime frost in winter, or dew under moonlight…
And somehow, it seemed as though she was the only person in the world who could smell it. The scent on Xie Xunzhao was like a sedative to Rong Ci, yet also like catnip. So much so that she completely forgot about the calming incense.
According to plan, Rong Ci intended to wait until Xie Xunzhao fell asleep before sneaking away. A few seconds later, the plan was declared a failure. She fell asleep.
The next morning, Rong Ci sat upright in bed, her delicate brows furrowed. Has Xie Xunzhao been blessed by the God of Sleep?
She remembered her mother once saying that when she was little and made a fuss about not sleeping in the middle of the night, all they had to do was stuff her into Xie Xunzhao’s arms and she would fall asleep instantly.
But… wasn’t that just a story her mother had made up?
How could it actually be true?
Rong Ci reached out to grab her phone when she suddenly sensed something was wrong. She lowered her head.
There was an extra ring on the ring finger of her left hand, perfectly fitted to her finger.
The centerpiece was a large oval-cut sapphire. The setting was shaped like an orbital path, surrounded by more than a dozen diamonds forming a “crown of starlight.”
It was clearly designed by the same designer as the sun-shaped wedding ring Xie Xunzhao wore.
One represented twilight.
The other represented daylight.
They were a pair.
Rong Ci loved anything beautiful. She opened her phone, and there was a signal again.
Rong Ci decided to forgive Xie Xunzhao, but only for one second.
Downstairs in the dining room.
When Rong Ci came down, the first thing she saw was a table full of her favorite breakfast foods and Xie Xunzhao. “You didn’t go to work?”
“That doesn’t fit the image of a workaholic.”
“You’re the great President Xie who left his newlywed wife behind and went abroad on a business trip for half a year immediately after getting married.”
Rong Ci inadvertently touched the wedding ring that had appeared on her finger. Its presence was impossible to ignore.
Xie Xunzhao hadn’t slept well the night before, so he was wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses today.
His nose was high and straight, his features deep-set. The glasses gave him an elegant, refined air with just a hint of scholarly wickedness. Yet when he looked at someone through the lenses, a certain unreadable stillness came through.
His gaze paused for a second on the ring finger of her left hand; his tone remained calm. “I took an hour off.”
Rong Ci sat down unguardedly in the dining chair opposite him. “Why?”
Does a company president even need to take time off?
Just then, the housekeeper came over carrying an embossed tray. Sitting on it was a lonely little blue-and-white porcelain bowl decorated with two fish.
Xie Xunzhao personally stood up to take it, walked around the table, and stopped in front of Rong Ci. “Drink your medicine.”
The bitter smell of traditional Chinese medicine immediately filled her senses.
Rong Ci’s pupils contracted: Case closed – Xie Xunzhao had taken time off specifically to poison her!
“That really isn’t necessary.” As soon as she finished speaking, Rong Ci instinctively pressed her lips tightly together.
“It rained yesterday, and you stayed up late. We need to take precautions.”
“Are you going to drink it yourself, or do I feed it to you?” Xie Xunzhao held the bowl in one hand and effortlessly pinned her wrist with the other.
“Do I really have to drink it?”
“You really do.”
They stared at each other for several seconds.
Slowly, Rong Ci wrapped both hands around the bowl as if she were lifting a thousand-pound burden. “I’ll do it myself.”
“Okay.”
“So bitter.”
The medicinal fumes made Rong Ci’s lashes grow damp. She hated drinking traditional Chinese medicine more than anything. This batch was especially bitter.
It was as if she had tasted every ounce of suffering from her past life, this life, her next life, and every life after that.
Putting her personality aside—judging solely by her appearance, Rong Ci could almost be described as saintly.
Especially her eyes. They were unmistakably beautiful, almond-shaped eyes with an alluring curve, yet when she looked at someone, they evoked the image of a quiet flame burning deep within a glacier. As though only after being tempered for thousands upon thousands of years had such crystalline yet contradictory eyes come into existence.
And now, those very eyes were looking at him with a pitiful expression.
“If it isn’t bitter, you won’t learn your lesson.”
Xie Xunzhao’s fingertip brushed the corner of her eye, removing a fallen eyelash. His movement was gentle and tender, but his words were merciless. “From now on, every time you stay up late, you’ll drink a bowl of medicine the next morning.”
Rong Ci stared at him. “How do you manage to say something so authoritarian and cruel in such a calm tone?”
“Are you a tyrant?!”
Xie Xunzhao put on his suit jacket.
The “tyrant” in Rong Ci’s eyes instantly transformed into an elegant, dignified gentleman.
As he was about to leave, he calmly reminded her, “It’s been hot lately. Don’t go outside too much.”
Rong Ci had been an energetic, high-energy child ever since she was little. If she hadn’t been so physically frail, she would have been even less capable of staying at home.
Her biological brother, Rong Qingqiao, had once declared that Rong Mumu must have been a hyperactive calico cat in her previous life.
Xie Xunzhao even gave the housekeeper an order right in front of her. “If the outdoor temperature exceeds thirty degrees Celsius, lock the doors.”
After Xie Xunzhao left for work, Rong Ci became more and more annoyed the more she thought about it.
Until her gaze landed on the dining table, and the corners of her pale-pink lips curved upward slightly.
A bouquet of white peonies and blue-eyed daisies stood in the vase on the table. Their strange shadows fell across the empty medicine bowl.
Rong Ci took a photo and sent it to the family group chat: [Mom, Big Brother, Dad, save me.]
[Xie Xunzhao forced poison down my throat.]
Gu Xingtan: [Baby, you were so good. You drank the whole thing.]
Rong Qingqiao: [You always looked so listless on rainy days, but you seem pretty energetic today. Looks like Xie Xunzhao is actually quite talented at bringing you good luck through marriage.]
Rong Huaiyan: [Mm. As expected of that bastard Xie Yanli’s son. He’s got something.]
???
Rong Ci stared at the messages.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Why wasn’t this going the way she had imagined?
The courtyard was quiet and secluded, with lush shadows cast by the trees. Roses bloomed extravagantly in the corner, and the sunlight after the storm seemed particularly fond of them, like the opening scene of an art-house film.
Inside the living room, Rong Ci lazily curled up on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling windows. Zeus slowly wandered over and rubbed its furry head against her calf. Then, with an effortless leap, it found a patch of sunlight and comfortably closed its eyes.
Rong Ci reached out and pressed a hand against Zeus’s fluffy head. Since it had come to this, she might as well study first.
Rong Ci wasn’t actually addicted to the internet. If anything, she was addicted to studying. She was currently a third-year architecture student at G University.
Her mother, Gu Xingtan, was a cultural relic restorer. Rong Ci had grown up at Jingyuan, a classical Suzhou-style garden, and had been immersed in ancient books, paintings, and architecture from an early age. But compared with restoration, she was more interested in creation.
Rong Ci dreamed of designing, within her limited lifetime, a great landmark building with profound cultural significance.
Her desire to get online last night had purely been for studying. After all, she still hadn’t finished reading a detailed architectural analysis of “Four Waters Returning to the Hall.”
She had just finished it when Wen Jin called. He said he had some gossip.
Gossip?
Rong Ci loved gossip.
~~
Xie Group Headquarters.
Xie Xunzhao had just returned to headquarters. By the time he finished the board meeting, three hours had already passed.
Draping his suit jacket over his arm, he walked along the glass corridor toward his office, greeted by quite a few employees along the way. He never carried himself with the arrogance of someone in power, instead responding to each greeting with a nod.
Once he reached the executive floor, the number of employees visibly decreased.
A trace of fatigue appeared in Xie Xunzhao’s expression as he glanced at Secretary Su. “What’s wrong with your mouth?”
Secretary Su’s lips were still twitching. “I ate so many sour cherries my teeth went numb.”
President Xie had picked out all the sweetest ones for himself last night, leaving him with an entire basket of nothing but sour cherries.
Xie Xunzhao said calmly, “Double your bonus this month, from my personal account.”
Secretary Su was overwhelmed with emotion. “President Xie, becoming your loyal servant right after graduation was truly the greatest decision of my life.”
He decided to return the favor. “Madam hasn’t messaged you once all morning. She must be preparing a surprise for you at home.”
The next second—Xie Xunzhao’s phone suddenly rang.
The housekeeper’s usually steady voice came through, filled with panic. “Sir, this is bad! Madam sneaked out!”
It was 31°C today.
For Rong Ci’s body, that counted as a high temperature. The corridor outside the president’s office was silent.
The trailing greenery on the Roman columns had just been watered, and the suit draped over his arm brushed against it accidentally, leaving a small damp mark.
Xie Xunzhao reached into the inner pocket of his suit, close to his heart, and took out a string of beautiful white prayer beads. Under the dim light, faint golden scriptures seemed to shimmer across them.
He tossed the stained jacket to Su Qingyan and said in a cold, solemn voice, “Find Rong Mumu’s location.”
“Yes.” Secretary Su wished he could go back thirty seconds and slap himself across the face.
To hell with a surprise!
It was clearly a shock!
Just as expected, when the little ancestor went quiet, she was definitely up to something.
At “Amber Glow”, a mountainside restaurant.
Wen Jin had reserved a private room, and it had taken more than half an hour just to order the food.
After all, the eldest Miss Rong was delicate and pampered, and there were very few things she could safely eat outside. Even some slightly uncommon seasonings or side dishes could contain one of her allergens.
Rong Ci sat lazily in her chair and opened her chat history with Xie Xunzhao, searching for keywords to find dishes she could eat. Actually, the quickest way would have been to take a photo of the menu and ask Xie Xunzhao. But hadn’t she snuck out secretly?
And this little vixen Wen Jin had lured her out with the promise of “gossip.”
Wen Jin looked mysterious. “The whole performance you put on for Zeus’s birthday yesterday has already made its way back to the gates of the family estate. The socialite circles in Ling City are going wild.”
Rong Ci’s finger paused over her notes. “Group chat?”
She was in the group too, yet no one had said a word in it from yesterday until now. Obviously, they had secretly created yet another new group behind her back.
Rong Ci asked coolly, “Who’s the group owner this time?”
Wen Jin instinctively answered, “Chen Xuanning.”
Rong Ci: “Got it.”
Wen Jin: “What are you planning to do?”
While privately messaging Chen Xuanning to add her to the group, Rong Ci casually replied, “Catch up with some old friends.”
Chen Xuanning nearly died when he saw Rong Ci’s message. “…”
Damn it, who leaked the new group this time?!
There was a saying that circulated throughout Ling City’s wealthy circles: Better to offend the gods and Buddhas than to offend Rong Ci.
Because the gods and Buddhas might not even exist, but the little devil Rong was very real.
And when the little devil came knocking, how could Chen Xuanning possibly refuse?
The group had originally been buzzing with activity, until Rong Ci’s main account joined.
astraia: [Hello, dear friends. Long time no see. Since everyone already knows it’s Zeus’s birthday, remember to send the gifts to Mirror Lake Manor.]
“Dear friends”: !!!
Rong Ci had thrown her weight around in Ling City before, and now she had moved to Beicheng and still dared to be this outrageous.
Did her husband’s family not discipline her?!
What happened to the Xie family’s famously strict rules!!!
The very next second—
astraia: [The Xie Group president’s office works too. My husband will help me sign for them.]
[Zeus smiling.jpg]
The group members: Someone please save them…
Wen Jin gleefully watched the chaos and said, “Everyone’s been waiting to see you get humbled by your husband’s family.”
“To celebrate the fact that someone has finally managed to rein you in, they had just decided to charter a yacht and set off fireworks for three days and three nights.”
“But now…”
“The money will have to be handed over to you instead.”
The little ancestor was demanding gifts for her precious cat. Who would dare give her anything perfunctory?
Rong Ci was magnanimous. “I’ll donate it all and let everyone accumulate some good karma.”
astraia: [Oh, and friends, remember to invite me when you go out to sea for the fireworks. Otherwise, I’ll be very disappointed.]
After catching up with her “dear friends,” Rong Ci felt refreshed and satisfied.
After lunch, they entered the elevator.
For some reason, Wen Jin suddenly felt a chill down his back. He leaned toward Rong Ci and whispered, “It’s only the second day of your newlywed life together, and you’ve already snuck out behind your husband’s back to meet me. Are you sure nothing’s going to happen?”
Rong Ci remained perfectly composed. “I’m the head of the household. Who would dare control me?”
“Besides, you’re part of my dowry. What are you afraid of?”
“Chest out, head up. Be confident.”
With that cool, aloof beauty on her face, she sounded remarkably convincing.
It happened to be rush hour, and the other passengers in the elevator stared at them in shock.
What a shameless, arrogant pair.
Wen Jin weakly said, “I’m getting a little nervous. Maybe you should go home.”
Rong Ci refused. “No. We finally got out. Later we can go—”
Outside the clubhouse—
The afternoon sun was blazing, filtering through the dense pomegranate tree branches and scattering patches of light across the ground.
Xie Xunzhao’s highly recognizable silver-gray Rolls-Royce Phantom was parked outside, the driver standing by the door and raising a hand respectfully. “Madam, please get in.”
Rong Ci’s arrogance was snuffed out in an instant. “…”
Before getting into the car, she turned to Wen Jin. “Just so we’re clear, I’m not afraid of my husband.”
“I’m simply giving him some face.”