The fleeting softness on his lips gradually calmed his anxious heartbeat. Shu He was amused by his dazed expression, but also felt a bit of heartache for him.
She stroked his soft curly hair. “Isn’t it time for a haircut?”
It was already covering his eyes slightly. Jing Yi blinked woodenly, asking after a delayed response: “Does it look ugly?”
“…..”
Shu He smiled silently. “You’re quite concerned about your appearance.”
As she spoke, she pushed his hand away and got up.
He propped himself up too, hanging his head with weariness still lingering in his expression. “My face is all I have left.”
Before, she used to straightforwardly tell him how handsome he was.
Shu He paused. She couldn’t help recalling what he had mentioned before, about when he was taken back that year. Because of his scars, Ren Yinyue had wanted to take him for plastic surgery.
Suddenly, she felt as if someone was squeezing her heart, making her feel uncomfortably stifled.
—
That evening, Liang Xu came over for dinner. The investigation was complete — the person who leaked the photos was Shan Zhou.
It wasn’t until Jing Yi reminded her that Shu He remembered who this person was.
He was the one who had previously plagiarized Jing Yi’s work, caused trouble, and was eventually terminated by Liang Xu.
Later, other scandals about him were exposed, revealing his numerous misdeeds. His career in the entertainment industry was completely finished.
Probably harboring resentment, he added fuel to the fire after Jing Yi’s incident.
Liang Xu would handle Shan Zhou’s case. As for the person behind the leak, he hesitated, looking at Shu He with words caught in his throat.
He mentioned a media outlet name: “Do you know it?”
“I traced the marketing account and discovered that the account’s company is connected to this media outlet.”
Shu He immediately had a premonition. The media outlet he mentioned was precisely the company owned by Xu Yichi’s mother, Ms. Cheng.
Whether the submitter was Ms. Cheng or not, she had a strange feeling that it must be related to Xu Yichi.
“That’s all we’ve found so far. I’ll contact you if there’s any new information.”
Liang Xu had been talking for over half an hour. He gulped down a glass of water, his gaze falling on the silent man beside her.
He wasn’t particularly familiar with Jing Yi’s situation, but he clearly remembered his listless appearance when he first found him, completely devoid of any will to live.
When they went to see the psychologist, the results were more serious than imagined.
The psychologist ordered that a family member must accompany him 24 hours a day. He didn’t know why he had taken such care of this guy.
Perhaps because he had seen his vibrant side before, seeing him so utterly dejected made him uncomfortable in every way.
Liang Xu had another matter to discuss today — next month, he and Ni Sui were having their wedding ceremony, and he invited them to be the bridesmaid and groomsman.
Shu He had no problem with this. She looked at the person beside her. Jing Yi blinked slightly, his expression impassive: “If you go, I’ll go.”
Liang Xu: ……..
Before he left, Jing Yi reached out his hand to him.
Liang Xu raised an eyebrow: “What? Wedding candy? Why the rush? I’ll definitely give you a big one at the wedding.”
Jing Yi’s tone was flat, completely different from his docile manner in front of Shu He: “Give me the key.”
Liang Xu didn’t immediately understand. “What key? The key to your place?”
“The one across.” As he spoke, he frowned again: “Why do you still have a key to my place?”
Liang Xu couldn’t help but roll his eyes. During that period when Jing Yi frequently went missing, he had developed a habit of searching for him everywhere, from his home to the place across.
“I gave it to Shu He. Go ask her for it.”
“……”
—
After Liang Xu left, a voice called from Shu He’s bedroom—
“Jing Yi, come in for a moment.”
His footsteps halted at the door of her bedroom, and he couldn’t help but start overthinking.
What… was she going to do?
Despite his nervousness, he didn’t hesitate for long. After entering the bedroom, he didn’t see her until a beautiful face peeked out from the bathroom.
“Why are you standing there? Come here quickly.”
“……”
He inexplicably became nervous, swallowing hard, his heartbeat becoming erratic.
Although the house was his and he was familiar with all the arrangements, he hadn’t been in this room much since Shu He moved in.
When he reached the bathroom, he caught sight of the scissors she had placed on the washbasin, blinking in confusion.
Shu He directly pulled him to sit on the chair. Without a professional barber’s cape, she found a large scarf she was planning to throw away and wrapped it around him.
His nose twitched, inhaling the faint fragrance on the scarf. In the large mirror, she stood behind him, scissors in one hand, looking at her phone with the other, as if cramming last-minute instructions.
“Are you going to cut my hair?”
Shu He made an affirmative sound. After finishing the tutorial, she looked at the obedient man in the mirror and gave him fair warning: “This is my first time cutting someone’s hair. Are you scared?”
He shook his head, his pale face showing no emotion, appearing completely at her mercy.
The black-hearted barber behind him unconsciously curved her lips. “If I ruin it, don’t cry.”
“…..”
Through the spacious, bright mirror, the man’s dark eyes gazed at her intently.
He had just washed his hair, and his soft, slightly curly black hair was a bit fluffy. Shu He pinched a strand and carefully cut it.
She had never even cut her own hair before. The only thing she had tried cutting was probably some plants she had grown.
She cut for a while. Bits of hair fell onto his high bridge of his nose. In the mirror, the man’s eyelashes fluttered, seemingly itchy, but he resisted moving.
Shu He took a wet wipe, bent down to his face, and carefully helped him wipe away the hair clippings.
Her delicate white hand was still pinching his jaw, occasionally brushing against his skin, causing a ticklish sensation.
Perhaps because she was too close, the man’s pitch-black eyes stared at her without blinking. Whether it was an illusion or not, he could also smell a familiar faint fragrance.
His gaze was too intense, his Adam’s apple unconsciously bobbing up and down, as if he might kiss her in the next second.
Shu He pretended not to notice, suppressing the slight upward curve of her lips as she stood up to look in the mirror.
She satisfyingly ruffled his soft black hair. “Good, I didn’t ruin it.”
Jing Yi enjoyed the feeling of being touched by her. The next moment, the constraint around his neck was loosened, and he instinctively reached up to touch it: “Should I pay now?”
Shu He bundled up the removed scarf, seemingly planning to throw it away.
“Let me think… It’s the first day of business, so I’ll give you a discount. Just pay five hundred.”
If anyone else encountered this black-hearted boss, they would probably call the police on the spot.
But Jing Yi felt his pockets and looked up: “My phone is outside. I’ll transfer the money to you later.”
Shu He laughed at him. “I was just joking. Did you take me seriously?”
When Jing Yi stood up, the bathroom suddenly seemed to become smaller. Such a tall person standing behind her, his dark eyes lowered to her face, containing an imperceptible aggressiveness: “I’ll listen to everything you say.”
Shu He was about to say something more when her phone in the bedroom rang. She went to answer it, and Jing Yi slowly came out of the bathroom, seemingly holding something in his hand.
Shu Hua and the others had also seen the trending topic and recognized Qi Shan Jing as her roommate.
The moment the call connected, the reproachful voice was clear and harsh in the quiet bedroom. “Hehe, did you date that roommate of yours?”
“How could you be with a cripple?!”
Shu He instinctively looked toward Jing Yi’s suddenly frozen figure. He stiffened for two seconds, didn’t make a sound, and closed the bedroom door for her when he left.
Shu Hua was still incessantly criticizing her. Shu He felt a surge of anger, said nothing, and hung up the phone to chase after him. She found him leaning on his crutch, slowly and quietly wandering around the living room.
She paused, then shuffled in her slippers to stand in front of him: “What are you doing?”
He was silent for two seconds: “My leg… will get better soon.”
Shu He froze. She quickly understood his meaning, and her heart immediately softened. She went over to hold his hand. “I apologize on his behalf.”
He quietly shook his head. “I understand. No parent would want their child to be with a cripple.”
“……”
Shu He didn’t even have a chance to interject. She only heard him say in a muffled voice, “I know I’ve already made you wait many times, but… now I can walk for longer periods each day. Will you wait for me a little longer?”
“No.”
She didn’t hesitate at all, making Jing Yi’s heart skip a beat and plummet, his face suddenly turning pale.
His tightly clenched hand was loosened by her, finger by finger. Shu He looked up at him, her tone as gentle as if she were coaxing a child. “This time, I’ll accompany you, okay?”
“For how long?”
“Until your leg gets better.”
“… And when my leg is better, will you leave?”
“……”
Shu He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his tricky question. But even as he talked about her leaving, he secretly tightened his grip on her hand.
“I won’t leave,” she paused, then added, “But don’t run away anymore, okay?”
Jing Yi’s shattered heart seemed to piece itself back together. He was quiet for two seconds, then nodded. “If you’re here, I won’t run away.”
—
After coming out from her shower, Shu He discovered her scarf was missing.
Just as she was about to message him to ask, a transfer notification popped up in her chat window.
She had added back his personal WeChat, and in the chat, the transfer amount made no attempt to hide his feelings.
Exactly 520 yuan.
The bright white light of the phone illuminated her beautiful face as she slowly typed a message: [You gave too much.]
Jing Yi: [Consider it a tip.]
Shu He: [Is Mr. Jing so generous?]
Jing Yi: […You’re the boss.]
Shu He smiled. She couldn’t help thinking about before graduation, when she mentioned opening a store, and how lazily he had propped up his chin: “Being a boss is good. Then I’d be… the boss’s husband.”
“…What?” She had given him an exasperated look. The young man had chuckled, “Boss, do you need a resident singer? I can work for you for free.”
“I’m opening a coffee shop, not a bar!” She had pushed his head away irritably. The next moment, she heard him lazily say, “Oh. Then I’ll just be content with being the man behind Boss Shu.”
Her thoughts drifted languidly away, the man’s image transforming into a cautious appearance.
The current Jing Yi was like shattered crystal. When no one loved him, he could only pick himself up, resulting in wounds all over.
He was always shrinking into corners, avoiding yet yearning, timid yet greedy.
She also knew what he was twisting about, what made him insecure.
A twisted person needs you to smooth him out again and again. When he twists up again, you need to patiently smooth him out once more.
But who says he must be smoothed out? Let him twist. After all, he is Jing Yi.
Twisted into a ball, twisted into a mess, twisted until he’s ugly, even twisted until he’s tightly wrapped around her — it doesn’t matter.
She didn’t want to force him to do anything anymore. It was enough that he was here.
—
Xiang Lanye had also been following the trending topic. Upon learning it was related to Xu Yichi, she sneered: “I knew he wasn’t a good person.”
Shu He was more concerned about her. If Xu Yichi could be this obsessive, she worried he might do something harmful to Xiang Lanye.
Xiang Lanye rolled her eyes. “With so many people in the crew, does he dare try anything?”
Shu He hoped she was overthinking, but still urged her to stay vigilant.
They also discussed her moving. Xiang Lanye had something else to do and couldn’t stay for dinner. After she left, the studio door, which had been left slightly ajar, opened from inside, and he slowly walked out.
Shu He gave him a casual glance: “Weren’t you taking a nap?”
The man looked gloomy, appearing to be in a bad mood: “Are you moving out?”
Shu He looked at him puzzled. “Who told you that?”
He sat down sullenly beside her. “I heard it.”
“…..” Shu He looked at him with amusement: “So you were eavesdropping?”
Eavesdropping without getting the complete story — it was Xiang Lanye who was moving, not her.
Jing Yi maintained his expressionless face, his gaze fixed intently on her: “You’re changing the subject. You feel guilty.”
“……?”
Shu He hadn’t seen this unreasonably petulant side of him for a long time. She could barely suppress her smile and could only try to keep her tone gentle. “Didn’t I say? I won’t leave.”
Coincidentally, the TV was playing a real estate advertisement.
After a moment of silence, Jing Yi quietly lowered his eyelashes: “That’s not necessarily true. You wanted to leave before.”
“…..”
Shu He truly felt wronged, but heard him continue in a flat tone, with a numb yet aggrieved expression: “You even gave me a countdown, saying you’d leave at the end of February.”
“…..”
“You also found me annoying. When I fell, you didn’t care about me, you just coldly asked if I was dead.”
“…..”
“You also said we were just roommates and not to get too close to you.”
“……”
“And I’m still a cripple.”
“…..”
“You clearly want to leave.”
Shu He: “……”
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