VBNWDW - Chapter 38
Chapter 38
The clinking of a spoon against a bowl. Shrimp tumbled in the rice porridge, vanishing in an instant, leaving only a faint, savory aroma lingering in the air.
The door opened, and Luo Yueqing, fresh from washing up, stepped into the hospital room, carrying with her the crisp scent of mint.
It was time to sleep, and only a single wall lamp remained lit. Xi Zhoulu was sitting up under its glow, casually scrolling through a tablet. The light drifted over her slender frame, softening her delicate features. Her pale gray-blue eyes were as calm as the surface of the sea.
Luo Yueqing shuffled slowly toward her in slippers. Despite the cast on her left arm, she exuded an air of leisurely calm, as if she were entering the presidential suite of a five-star hotel, not a hospital room.
She walked up to the CEO who, while not a president, was certainly busier than one, and said complainingly, "You, the one with the concussion—your doctor told you to get some proper rest."
Xi Zhoulu lifted her gaze, gave her a faint glance, and patted the empty space beside her.
She didn't speak, but her meaning was clear.
Luo Yueqing didn't overthink it. In fact, she thought it was a good thing for the other woman to speak less. She did as she was told, kicking off her slippers and lifting the covers to lie down beside her. But mindful of Xi Zhoulu's injuries, she didn't dare press up against her as she usually would, leaving a half-inch gap between them to avoid accidentally putting pressure on her.
After all, the attending physician had stood by the bed earlier and hesitantly explained that if Luo Yueqing hadn't been carrying and holding her, putting pressure on her ribs, Xi Zhoulu's condition might not be as severe as it was now.
So, the chastened little fox extended a paw, hesitating for a long while before finally just tugging on the corner of Xi Zhoulu's clothes as she lay on her side.
Xi Zhoulu's peripheral vision flickered lightly toward the gap, and her lips tightened. With a firm swipe of her fingertip, she changed the image on the tablet.
Luo Yueqing didn't notice. Her blue and white shirt, unbuttoned at the top two buttons, gaped open. Strands of pink hair fell onto the curve of her chest, dipping into the bottomless abyss. "What are you looking at?" she asked lazily.
Xi Zhoulu was still dizzy, which made her seem slow. She spoke deliberately, her crisp voice softening, like a little black cat extending a pink paw to gently press down on you.
"Looking at houses."
Luo Yueqing was a little confused. Her eyes, still slightly red from the water that had splashed into them earlier, blinked at Xi Zhoulu.
Xi Zhoulu's tone grew even gentler. She turned the screen toward Luo Yueqing and said slowly, "Take a look. See if there's anything you like."
"You're thinking of buying a house?" Luo Yueqing chalked it up to another one of the investment methods of the wealthy.
Xi Zhoulu shook her head slightly. "These are all Xi family properties."
"Under Old Master Xi's name?"
"Yes." Xi Zhoulu swiped her finger, changing to a classical two-story wooden house. "Do you like this one?"
Luo Yueqing stared at the screen intently. "Why are we looking at the Xi family's houses?"
"To pick out some suitable compensation," Xi Zhoulu replied, changing the image again.
This time it was a modern-style mountain villa, almost entirely made of floor-to-ceiling windows, offering excellent views from every angle.
Hearing this, Luo Yueqing studied it even more seriously and commented, "It's in the middle of nowhere. Doesn't look very valuable."
Xi Zhoulu glanced at her silently, not telling her that Old Master Xi had spent tens of millions on design and material fees just to build a house in these mountains.
The image changed again, this time to a quaint courtyard house.
Luo Yueqing raised an eyebrow. "Near the capital?"
"No."
Luo Yueqing swiped it away with a look of disdain. "Then it's not valuable."
But this residence had once been a prince's manor in a certain province, boasting three separate landscape gardens.
Xi Zhoulu said nothing and continued looking at a few more with her. Finally, Luo Yueqing's eyes landed on a photo taken from a bird's-eye view, showcasing a castle with surrounding grasslands and a lake.
She clicked her tongue a few times. "I want this one. This one's definitely expensive."
Although Old Master Xi wasn't directly involved, it was a matter of family responsibility. The two of them were lying here in a miserable state; how could the Xi family not bleed a little for it?
Xi Zhoulu saved it to her favorites. "We'll decide on this one for now. We can look again tomorrow."
Hearing this, Luo Yueqing was momentarily surprised. She knew Xi Zhoulu wasn't one to dither or hesitate. A few days ago, when she had come to find Xi Zhoulu at noon and waited for her to finish her work, she had seen clearly that the woman was decisive—yes was yes, no was no. There was no room for second-guessing. Her daily life was even more so.
But on second thought, she figured Xi Zhoulu probably wanted to choose more carefully, to find the most expensive house among them and make Old Master Xi's heart ache.
So, she didn't question it further, her gaze following the tablet as the screen changed.
It was a collection of photos showing deep pits in the ground. Tiers of steps descended downward, a testament to how long the digging had been going on. Occasionally, a few people would be captured in the shot, holding wicker baskets and seemingly searching for something.
It was the first time Luo Yueqing had seen anything like it. She looked on curiously. "What's this?"
"A diamond mine," Xi Zhoulu answered quickly. She pinched the screen with two fingers, and several photos appeared.
Compared to the houses, the selection this time was extremely small, with only a handful of options.
Luo Yueqing let out a soft "Ah" as a conversation buried deep in her memory surfaced.
—That diamond necklace of hers is so sparkly.
—I'll buy you a mine.
Luo Yueqing's expression froze. She was utterly stunned, stammering, "You… I… you were serious?"
She recalled that day, thinking it was just drunken talk between them. She had even mischievously wondered when she should bring it up to "trick" Xi Zhoulu into getting her a pigeon's-egg wedding ring of a dozen or so carats.
But now, Xi Zhoulu had skipped finished diamonds entirely and gone straight for a mine!
Luo Yueqing was incredulous. She pointed at the screen and then back at herself, mumbling, "I think I must still be dizzy."
Even with her understanding of the Xi family's wealth, she had never imagined Xi Zhoulu would just buy an entire mine to give to someone.
"I always do what I say I will, Miss Luo." Seeing the other woman's look of disbelief, Xi Zhoulu, who was deliberately keeping a straight face, couldn't help but let a smile show.
How amusing.
Doesn't this fox have any grand ambitions? To be scared so easily.
A mischievous streak suddenly emerged. Xi Zhoulu pretended to be nonchalant, pointed to one of the pictures, and said, "How about this one? It's still an open-pit mine. The estimated yield is 70 million carats, with an annual production of about 1.5 million carats."
Luo Yueqing sucked in a sharp breath. The most she had ever dreamed of was a dozen carats, but CEO Xi was talking in terms of millions. Forget making clothes out of diamonds; she could tile her entire room with them and still have plenty left over.
Xi Zhoulu continued, "The only thing is, the region is cold and remote, and there's often no signal. In winter, it's thirty or forty degrees below zero. Even the locals can't bear the cold to mine, afraid they'll turn into popsicles if they're not careful."
"So production is very low during that time, and labor costs are high."
Before Luo Yueqing could comment, she saw Xi Zhoulu point to another one and say critically, "This one has been mined for ten years, so the reserves are too low. But they often find diamonds over ten carats, so it's quite famous internationally."
Luo Yueqing nodded, only half-understanding. "How do you even buy a diamond mine?" she mumbled.
Xi Zhoulu looked up at her, her voice deep. "Do you remember Qin Yuan, the man I introduced you to last time?"
Realization dawned on Luo Yueqing. "You're going to partner with him?" she asked.
Investing in a mine was a good option. Maybe she could even experience the joy of digging for gems herself.
Luo Yueqing's eyes lit up. Surely CEO Xi wouldn't be stingy enough to take away anything she dug up herself, right?
As she finished speaking, Xi Zhoulu's expression darkened. Her voice was low and helpless as she sighed. "Miss Luo, do you think my mind is only filled with business calculations?"
Unsure what she was feeling, Xi Zhoulu looked at Luo Yueqing's bright, clear peach-blossom eyes and raised a hand to cover them.
Plunged into sudden darkness, Luo Yueqing didn't know what she had done wrong. She used her free hand to grab the other woman's wrist. "What are you doing?" she protested.
She was in no hurry to pull the hand away, a posture of complete trust. The visible half of her face wore a faint smile. Perhaps because of their escape through the forest, her lips were overly dry and had one or two small cracks, making them less rosy than usual.
Her fluttering eyelashes sent a tingling sensation across Xi Zhoulu's palm. Xi Zhoulu pressed her lips together and, after a moment, lowered her hand.
"Well?"
"Pick one."
"Where would you get that much money?" Luo Yueqing still couldn't believe it.
She knew a little about these things. Never mind all the CEOs with their luxury cars and villas; in reality, most of them didn't have much cash on hand. All their money was tied up in their businesses. Some were even heavily in debt to banks, maintaining a glamorous facade with very few liquid assets.
While CEO Xi wasn't so badly off that she worried about loan repayments every day, surely she wasn't at the point where she could just throw money at a mine on a whim, right?
Xi Zhoulu was concise. "I'll have it in a while. Just hurry up and choose."
A priceless mine, yet she spoke of it as casually as picking out a handbag, her urging carrying an air of nonchalance.
Very much the domineering CEO.
Aside from seeing Xi Zhoulu act this way toward others in the office, Luo Yueqing rarely saw her put on such airs. Finding it amusing, she played along. "CEO Xi is so generous, so domineering. I like it so much."
"But I don't know anything about this. Could CEO Xi please help me choose?"
Her deliberately teasing tone was laced with amusement, so strange it could give one goosebumps.
Xi Zhoulu fell silent for a moment, then pointed at the tablet. "I think this one is good."
Before she could state her reason, Luo Yueqing, still in character, nodded. "I'll listen to whatever CEO Xi says."
Lacking experience in dealing with this, Xi Zhoulu pressed her lips together, shut off the tablet, and set it aside. "Let's look again later," she said.
Hearing this, Luo Yueqing immediately frowned. Once was fine, but twice was too abnormal.
She couldn't help but think it over and realized that Xi Zhoulu had been inexplicably cold for a while now. She hadn't taken her hand, and while she was never very talkative, Luo Yueqing could usually feel her attentiveness.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked immediately.
The other woman feigned nonchalance. "We're just looking again, that's all."
"Since when did CEO Xi learn to be so picky?" Luo Yueqing pressed.
The woman beside her lazily raised her eyes. Her pale gray-blue gaze fixed on Luo Yueqing as she said, "I learned it from Miss Luo."
"Huh?"
She considered herself a lazy person too; whatever she chose, she decided on the spot. She would never trouble herself by thinking about it for ages.
Xi Zhoulu smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. She said, word by word, "One can't just hang oneself from a single tree. You have to be picky to find the most suitable one."
Luo Yueqing grew more confused. She could only replay the recent events in her mind. Be picky…
Realization struck her. "You're jealous!"
"Of that person from before?"
"She's an Alpha!"
Xi Zhoulu didn't answer, turning her head to face forward. Though her face was thin, Luo Yueqing could see she was pouting. "So what if she's an Alpha?" she mumbled sullenly.
"It's not that it's impossible…" Luo Yueqing considered herself unprejudiced in this regard; she believed love had nothing to do with being an Alpha, Beta, or Omega.
The moment she heard that, Xi Zhoulu's face went cold. She gripped the blanket tightly. "Then you should hurry up and go find her. She probably hasn't gone far."
"Tsk, tsk…"
So sour, so jealous. The scent was so strong.
So this was CEO Xi's punishment for jealousy: making someone pick out gifts, then deliberately withholding them, as if to say, Go on, beg me. Coax me and I'll buy it for you right away. What a peculiar way to be jealous.
Luo Yueqing couldn't help but laugh, her eyes shimmering like ripples on water. "I can't go," she chuckled.
Her laughter was like adding fuel to the fire. Xi Zhoulu's brows knitted together. "And why can't you go? Is it because you don't have anyone to fetch your slippers?" she said sarcastically.
Luo Yueqing wasn't angry. Instead, she just stared at Xi Zhoulu with a smile.
Her hair was slightly messy, her complexion pale. Her palm-sized face looked even smaller framed by the gauze bandages. Her thick lashes occasionally brushed against a loose piece of gauze, and her pale gray-blue eyes, clearer and more brilliant than any gem, made her look like a fluffed-up black cat putting on a fierce act that was all just a bluff.
"Xi Zhoulu…"
Luo Yueqing couldn't resist poking her cheek.
There wasn't much flesh, but it was incredibly delicate. It felt nice.
Unable to move easily, Xi Zhoulu could only glare at her huffily. But the other woman didn't know when to quit, deliberately leaving a faint crescent mark from her nail on her skin.
So wicked.
The little black cat, angered, turned her head and bit down viciously on her fingertip. The force was merciless, making Luo Yueqing hiss in pain.
The triumphant culprit suppressed her glee, not noticing the flash of amusement in the corner of her own eyes.
Her round, white teeth pressed against the fingertip. A faint, damp warmth spread over the skin, leaving a thin film of moisture that soothed the earlier pain.
The blocker patch on the back of her neck was inexplicably damp, carrying the scent of Red Wine Roses.
The little black cat swished her tail, thinking her target had been punished enough, and slightly relaxed her jaw. That was when the scheming fox seized her chance.
"Mmph…"
The fingertip that had slipped inside hooked upward slightly, pressing against the uneven roof of her mouth. Her knuckle was still pressed against the tips of Xi Zhoulu's teeth, causing a dull ache, but Luo Yueqing didn't care. To run wild with a little cat, one had to pay a price.
Her jaw, forced upward, tensed into a clean line. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed down excess saliva.
The long, slender finger explored inside, pressing down on the soft tongue, mischievously pinching it and pulling it slightly outward.
Gulp, gulp.
Her subtle Adam's apple bobbed for a moment. It was impossible to tell how much she was swallowing, but the action was unstoppable.
The sensation wasn't comfortable. Her pale gray-blue eyes half-closed, yet she couldn't bring herself to bite down hard. The blue and white hospital gown was ill-fitting, its loose collar revealing a great deal, making her straight collarbones all the more prominent.
Luo Yueqing never hid her wicked tastes. She even deliberately pressed down, and a warm wetness welled up, enveloping her finger as Xi Zhoulu let out a muffled sound.
It was reminiscent of a simple childhood tool, the hand-pump for a well. Installed over a sealed wellhead, when a person repeatedly pushed and pulled the lever, water from the well would gurgle up through the pipe and into a waiting bucket.
A transparent sheen of moisture appeared at the corners of her lips, and a faint blush colored the corners of her eyes.
Luo Yueqing finally knew when to stop. After withdrawing her hand, she suddenly leaned forward, closing the distance between them.
Xi Zhoulu was a little dazed. The situation had deviated from what she had imagined, moving into territory she couldn't comprehend.
Luo Yueqing's eyes were downcast, suppressing an improper emotion. "Xi Zhoulu," she said, her voice husky.
"Yes?"
Luo Yueqing then asked, "Why don't you ever kiss me?"
Her tone was winding and coquettish, the final syllable rising—a classic flirting tactic used by Alphas.
She said, "Why am I always the one who has to initiate?"
Whatever had happened before, whether this was true or not, was impossible to recall and verify now.
Xi Zhoulu pressed her lips together, allowing the scent of roses to climb over her.
"Am I not good to kiss?" The other woman wouldn't let it go, her feignedly aggrieved voice unable to hide her true intentions.
The one who should have had the upper hand had somehow become the one being led.
Xi Zhoulu gritted her teeth and forced out in a low voice, "Go kiss your Alpha."
Luo Yueqing just smiled and leaned in. "I'll kiss my little cat."
She pecked the soft lips, easily prying open the not-so-tightly-sealed barrier. "I'll kiss my Omega."
Then she delved into the place she had repeatedly touched before. "I'll kiss my Miss Xi."
Hooking the soft flesh, she tasted the sweet chestnut flavor. "I'll kiss my CEO Xi."
Luo Yueqing reached out and took the other woman's cool fingertips, squeezing gently until their fingers were tightly interlaced. That small, deliberate gap between them was closed, until they were completely inseparable.
She sighed in a low voice, "What a shame. It's so rare for us to wear matching outfits, yet we can't do anything."
Xi Zhoulu keenly caught the key word, but was punished for her distraction. She could only set the thought aside for now and obediently tilt her chin up.
The other woman was somewhat satisfied. Her movements were no longer as reckless as before. She gently, tenderly soothed every spot before occupying it, one by one, leaving her own mark.
Outside, the wind was still. Someone walked down the corridor but didn't disturb them. The scent of osmanthus in the small courtyard remained, but it could no longer penetrate the hospital room. The air inside was enveloped in the rich aroma of roses, with an occasional, fleeting hint of charcoal that made one wonder if it was just their imagination.
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