Dawn and Dusk
In the evening, Rong Ci gazed outside through the glass.
In the distance, clouds seemed to burn in from the horizon, their colors rich and fierce; even the sharp edges of the Xie Group headquarters seemed draped in a layer of crimson veil.
She was waiting in the studio lobby for President Xie across the street to finish work.
That’s right. Ever since the last incident, Xie Xunzhao had started picking her up and dropping her off every day.
Whenever she went out alone, he would assign ten bodyguards to accompany her. All dressed in black, all stone-faced, and none of them the chatty type.
Whenever she went shopping, the passersby looked even more nervous than she did. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought she was the woman of some underworld kingpin.
Regarding this, Wen Jin, who actually came from a family with connections on both the legitimate and the underworld sides, said, “Stop pretending. Go back three generations, nobody in my family has the kind of methods your husband does.”
“See President Xie’s latest interview for details.”
A tablet stood in front of Rong Ci. She was watching an architecture study video while talking to Wen Jin over voice chat. Hearing this, a flicker of suspicion crossed her eyes. “Interview?”
Wen Jin said, “Check the group. Someone posted the link.”
The Lingcheng second-generation social group. Rong Ci’s alt account had already infiltrated it.
This was Xie Xunzhao’s first interview with reporters since taking over as CEO of the Xie Group.
The video was in high definition.
Xie Xunzhao’s strikingly handsome face immediately filled her vision. Gorgeous features paired with cold, sharply defined bone structure formed a face that seemed naturally captivating, almost breathtaking.
He was tall and long-legged, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit, wearing an opulent, showy sapphire sunburst brooch that adorned his chest, with matching cuff links, yet he still gave off an innate sense of cold detachment, as though he had always been beyond anyone’s reach.
On the first pass, Rong Ci didn’t even hear what they were saying.
What were they mumbling about?
My brother.
Oh, no—my husband.
Hmm… never mind. Who cares what they were talking about?
Anyway, Xie Xunzhao was so handsome and cool!!
It was only on the second viewing that Rong Ci finally caught the reporter’s question: “The Chen family’s recent bankruptcy has been making waves, and it was apparently your doing. I’d like to ask whether collective punishment of an entire family is excessively ruthless. If this uncompromising style continues, could it undermine the foundation of the Xie Group in the future?”
“There are also rumors that you flew into a rage for the sake of a beauty. Would you say this is a case of being blinded by desire?”
“After all, your wife is safe and sound. Was your response perhaps making too much of a small matter?”
Rong Ci instinctively frowned. Their wording was far too sharp.
Xie Xunzhao remained expressionless, walking forward amid his entourage of bodyguards. Perhaps because he had heard that question, he finally turned his gaze toward the reporters and repeated, unhurriedly, four words: “Making too much of it?”
The reporter mustered his courage and asked in return, “Isn’t it?”
Xie Xunzhao took the microphone from him, inadvertently exposing the wedding band on his ring finger to the camera.
His expression was cold and indifferent as he looked directly into the lens. “In my world, anything related to my wife is never a small matter.”
“Anyone who crosses that line will end up like the Chen family.”
Rong Ci watched it once, switched back to her architecture video and watched for a while to calm herself down, but before long, she couldn’t resist switching back to the interview and watching it again.
Big Brother is so handsome.
Some things deserve to be said ten thousand times.
In the group: [We’re all clowns. We thought that once Rong Ci got married, her husband’s family would discipline her strictly, and now… damn it, what happened to President Xie not tolerating a speck of dirt in his eyes? Turns out everyone in the world except Rong Ci is the dirt.]
[The interview was livestreamed nationwide. As expected of the Xie family heir—his foundation is so solid he doesn’t give a damn about public opinion. When other people get this kind of interview, they respond, clarify, or show weakness. President Xie just threatened everyone live on camera.]
[What a satisfying novel script!]
[What are you getting excited about? We’re the ones being threatened…]
[Yeah… huh?]
Rong Ci’s lips were still curved upward when she read this far.
Until… Someone who usually lurked silently came out with some inside information:
[Xie Xunzhao and Rong Ci have been childhood sweethearts from the start. Their bond is deep, and he’s cared about her frantically since they were little. So, today’s interview was completely normal for him.]
[Wait, weren’t they supposed to be a business alliance marriage?]
[Not an alliance marriage. There’s a rumor… the following is all rumor; just listen and forget it afterward. Rong Ci has been frail and sickly since birth. The Rong and Xie families once had a master calculate their fates, and apparently the two of them are a destined match. Xie Xunzhao’s presence can nourish Rong Ci’s health, and it works better than any miraculous medicine.]
[There was also a rumor in Beicheng that Xie Xunzhao is Rong Ci’s exclusive Buddha shrine. You know what that means, right?]
[Xie Xunzhao, a favored son of heaven with such a prestigious family, raised from childhood to be the heir, willingly lowered himself to become Rong Ci’s… um… what’s the word?]
[A furnace?]
[Exactly! That’s what I mean! So, you can imagine just how much Xie Xunzhao cares about her.]
[We really need to be careful from now on. Otherwise, what happened to Chen Xuanning will happen to us.]
[You guys, if Xie Xunzhao cares about the eldest young lady this much, and with her health being what it is, what if something happens to her someday…]
They had all grown up playing with Rong Ci. No one knew better than they did what her health was really like. She might seem perfectly fine most of the time, but whenever she fell ill, it was always extremely serious.
She had been admitted to the ICU more times than she had taken final exams. The elders in their families had all warned them to be as careful as possible around her.
Someone joked:
[Hahahaha, are we all going to end up being buried with her?]
[I hope Little Ancestor lives to a hundred. I’m willing to keep being her dog.]
[…]
They were only joking, but Rong Ci suddenly felt as though someone had doused her from head to toe in ice water. She had been healthy lately, so healthy that she had forgotten that she was someone with a short life ahead of her.
Through the glass wall, Rong Ci saw a familiar luxury car parked by the roadside.
Under the brilliantly painted sky, the silver-gray Rolls-Royce lowered its window, revealing the man’s cold, sharply defined profile. Only when he looked over this way did his eyes take on any warmth.
It was difficult to reconcile the patient man waiting for her with the ruthless, aggressive side he had shown in the video.
The moment Rong Ci got into the car, the previously quiet cabin came alive. “Why did you get off work early again?”
Xie Xunzhao fastened her seat belt for her. “Not busy.”
“Liar.”
Lately, Xie Xunzhao had been leaving work early all the time, but Rong Ci knew he often stayed up working in his study until midnight.
Xie Xunzhao didn’t take the bait.
Looking at his handsome face so close to hers, Rong Ci said again, “Big Brother, I saw your interview today. You looked so handsome.”
Only…
Seeing her hesitation, Xie Xunzhao gave a quiet laugh. “Just say it. Since when have you ever been able to keep something to yourself?”
“I’m an emotionally reserved person, okay?”
“Fine. Since you’re such a reserved person, I’ll reward you with a little cake when we get home.”
As Xie Xunzhao straightened up to sit back down, the prayer beads tucked inside his suit pocket suddenly slipped out. He reached out and caught them.
The white prayer beads, smooth as jade, lay tangled across his palm. Instead of putting them away, he removed his watch and wound the beads engraved with scripture around his wrist, one loop after another.
Wherever Xie Xunzhao kept them, whether around his left wrist or inside his suit pocket, they were always positioned closest to the place where his heartbeat and pulse could be felt.
The golden scripture on the beads, once blurred nineteen years ago, had grown clearer and clearer with time. The result of countless days and nights of nourishment from him.
Rong Ci suddenly realized something. It seemed that Xie Xunzhao had spent his entire life revolving around her. Her expression became deeply conflicted. “What am I going to do? Everyone thinks you’re some ruthless, cold-blooded killer of the business world now.”
Xie Xunzhao was perfectly calm. “It doesn’t affect the stock price.”
Rong Ci: “But it affects your reputation!”
“Reputation isn’t important. Your safety is.” Xie Xunzhao actually didn’t even care about his family’s reputation or his career.
Not good. What if Big Brother’s feelings for her really had turned into something like Mom and Dad’s undying love?
Then what would happen to him after she died?
Rong Ci remembered what someone had said in the group just now: Are we all going to end up being buried with her?
She shuddered.
—Hiss.
When the time came, would Xie Xunzhao actually want to be buried beside her?
He had already coveted a spot in the Rong family ancestral graveyard before.
What was she supposed to do?
Whenever Rong Ci started thinking, Xie Xunzhao was the one who suffered.
Once again, it was the middle of the night, and once again, Xie Xunzhao dreamed that he was being pinned down by a ghost.
He opened his eyes, and sure enough, it was Rong Ci – the same familiar position, the same familiar look in her eyes…
Then, Rong Ci’s ghostly voice drifted beside his ear. “Good evening, Big Brother.”
Xie Xunzhao slowly placed a hand against her waist, his voice low and husky. “Want to watch another horror movie?”
Rong Ci said innocently, “I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you.”
Xie Xunzhao almost laughed from exasperation. “Does it have to be in the middle of the night?”
Seeing that he was awake, Rong Ci tried to sit upright. “There’s more atmosphere at night.”
In reality, she had already slept enough, and with something weighing on her mind, she simply couldn’t fall back asleep, but she failed to sit up.
“Fine.”
Having learned from the last time, Xie Xunzhao skipped all the intermediate steps and simply, still in that position, lifted her into a sitting embrace.
“Big Brother, you can let go now.” As with every previous time, Rong Ci braced against his chest, wanting to return to her own spot.
“I’m not letting go. Talking like this has more atmosphere.” Xie Xunzhao leaned closer, the high bridge of his nose resting against the soft flesh at the side of her neck, and replied unhurriedly.
He was getting very good at using her own words against her.
Meanwhile, Zeus seemed to have heard the commotion as well. He pushed open the half-closed bedroom door, came inside, and lay down on the carpet beside the bed, his little head tilted upward, looking thoroughly invested in the gossip.
Human and cat were both present.
The heart-to-heart began.
However, quite a while passed, and Xie Xunzhao still hadn’t heard Rong Ci’s opening line, and spoke in confusion. “Hmm?”
In the darkness, his low voice was cool, detached, yet strangely alluring.
Rong Ci could even clearly feel the slight movement of his Adam’s apple against her skin as he swallowed.
A moment passed.
Only then did she speak weakly. “Big Brother.”
“You… you’re poking me.”
……
……
Xie Xunzhao first answered lazily, “Oh.”
After a while, he added, “Can you overcome it yourself?”
Rong Ci’s fingertips tightened around the front of his pajamas. “Huh?”
What kind of completely backward answer was that?
Xie Xunzhao calmly elaborated. “You can’t exactly solve it for me, so you’ll have to overcome it yourself.”
Was that logic even right?
Rong Ci felt he was about to steam a thin sweat out of her. She gave up struggling for now and wearily propped her forehead against the spot above his collarbone for support.
Xie Xunzhao asked, “Still want to talk?”
Rong Ci had been staring blankly at Zeus sprawled on the carpet. When she suddenly heard him, she instinctively answered, “Talk.”
Yet she had completely forgotten what they were supposed to talk about. For some reason, the words Xie Xunzhao had said to her in the office last time floated into her mind, and her head was full of only that: Big Brother, is it really hard for you to hold yourself back?
Xie Xunzhao, however, sounded utterly casual. “It’s fine. Go long enough without using it, and it’ll atrophy, and once it’s atrophied, it won’t be hard anymore.”
As though his body and mind were two entirely separate things.
Rong Ci knew he was talking nonsense. “You’re never going to use it from now on?”
“Not with anyone else.”
“Books say men are animals that think with their lower halves.”
“What kind of nonsense are you reading?”
Rong Ci: “……”
Was this really the time to educate her?
Xie Xunzhao glanced at Zeus. “Only cats can’t control their lower half. I have thoughts and self-control. This sort of thing is something I would only do with a lover who feels the same way.”
Rong Ci thought: What a headache…
The part about “atrophying” was nonsense, but Rong Ci had learned enough from her “novel studies” to know that if a normal man goes a long time without, he really can develop problems from holding it in.
Rong Ci had never researched this particular subject, but she absolutely could not allow Big Brother to have any flaws.
In any aspect!
He had to be the best!
The heart-to-heart ended.
Rong Ci lay back down on the bed. In truth, she already had her answer.
Xie Xunzhao needed love, and she couldn’t give it to him, because love was supposed to be long-lasting, and she could die at any moment.
A love that was destined not to last was nothing more than drinking poison to quench one’s thirst.
But he really did need love…
Xie Xunzhao turned onto his side toward her.
Rong Ci’s body stiffened, and only when she discovered he had fallen asleep did she relax slightly.
Listening to his faint breathing beside her, what surfaced in her mind instead was, from when he’d been holding her and talking just now, his damp thin lips, his breathing that was almost a low gasp, and the burning heat of his palm through the thin silk.
So—He really did need love!
Ah!
After patiently waiting for half an hour, Rong Ci tiptoed out of bed, scooped up the cat, and slipped into the room next door.
Separate rooms. The sooner, the better.
If they kept sleeping like this, what if Xie Xunzhao succumbed to her charms and fell hopelessly in love with her?
What would she do if he decided to die for love?
His family did have that kind of gene.
After Rong Ci left, the entire room fell silent.
Xie Xunzhao sat up. The collar of his thin silk pajamas had slipped down, and in the dim, indistinct light, his pale collarbone looked almost sharply angular.
A faint crescent-shaped red mark, left behind where Rong Ci had pressed against him, added a touch of lingering sensuality.
He raised a hand and raked it through his disheveled short hair, revealing a handsome face tinged with restlessness and irritation.
He checked the time. It was three in the morning.
Xie Xunzhao got out of bed and switched off the signal blocker in the master bedroom. Then he called his brother-in-law.
Only when the ringing was almost finished did the other side pick up.
“Xie Xunzhao, you’d better have a damn good reason for calling.” Rong Qingtiao’s sleep-deprived temper was even worse than Xie Xunzhao’s. If resentment had a physical form, the black mist around him would probably have spread from Lingcheng all the way to Beicheng.
Xie Xunzhao said, “Mumu has finally caught on.”
He stood beside the swing on the terrace, unhurriedly picking up the shrike plush that had fallen on the carpet, kneading and toying with it between his fingers.
Rong Qingtiao: “That’s not good news. Why the hell are you calling me in the middle of the night?”
Xie Xunzhao: “It’d be better if she hadn’t. She’s moved into a separate room in the middle of the night.”
Progress had regressed all the way to before their marriage.
Understood.
Rong Qingtiao: “……”
“Tsk.”
“What’s the reason?”
Maybe she had been frightened.
Xie Xunzhao didn’t answer. He lowered his eyes toward the culprit.
A few seconds later, something occurred to him, and he frowned slightly. “I checked our star signs. We have a hundred percent compatibility. We’re soulmates.”
They matched perfectly in every respect. She really had no reason to be afraid.