Are You Allergic To Romance? - Chapter 37
Chapter 37: Touch Me More
The baptism of a cold drink coupled with a loud slap.
This was immediately followed by the woman’s sharp scream of shock.
Nearly all eyes in the restaurant were focused on the scene. After her low-voice warning, Xie Mianzhi’s hand remained firmly gripping the yellow-dress woman’s hair and pinning down her shoulder, forcing her to stay put.
“I will cut out your tongue and grind your teeth to dust. I mean it.”
The woman named Hong Mei was already on the verge of a breakdown after being slapped. She had never been hit in her entire life, and the burning pain on her cheek made her furious. She had wanted to argue back loudly, but was silenced completely by the icy, ruthless gaze of the woman in the black dress standing before her.
In the other person’s warning eyes, she saw coldness and ferocity.
This woman is serious.
She could only gasp heavily, glaring resentfully at the woman in black, no longer daring to be arrogant.
“Call Manager Xu over,” Xie Mianzhi looked sideways and raised an eyebrow at the waiter.
The young waiter was clearly frightened by the scene. She stuttered for a moment, then quickly went to find Manager Xu.
The manager quickly arrived, watching in utter astonishment as Xie Mianzhi expressionlessly pulled the seated Miss Jin, whose cheek was red, up from her seat.
She then said kindly, “This Miss Hong is unwell and cannot dine here anymore. Escort her out. This bill goes on my tab.”
Xie Mianzhi then lowered her cold gaze and smiled at the other woman who had been dining with her, who also tremblingly got up from her seat, utterly terrified by the sudden, vicious treatment.
“Your friend is unwell, you should also leave,” Xie Mianzhi showed the other woman a clear way out.
“Uh… yes, yes,” the accompanying woman quickly grabbed her handbag, helped Jin Hongmei, and followed the restaurant manager away.
Soon, the momentary commotion in the area returned to calm.
Only the restaurant’s jazz music continued to play elegantly.
Xie Mianzhi wiped her hands with a napkin and turned around, meeting the gaze of her own table not far away. Jing Yuan was looking straight at her.
For a split second, she wished Jing Yuan hadn’t been there.
However, the other person kept watching her, unabashedly. Her eyes showed no sign of fear or a desire to escape.
This relieved Xie Mianzhi. Her gaze returned to its usual gentleness. She smiled at Jing Yuan, then slowly walked to her side and sat back down.
A moment of silence passed between them.
“Were you…”
“You just…”
Both spoke at the same time, until the waiter brought out the first course.
Xie Mianzhi decided to speak first, cutting off the mutual deference. “Were you… afraid of me?”
Jing Yuan silently cut the fish in the dish. Only after confirming there were no hidden bones did she put down her cutlery, look up at Xie Mianzhi, and after a few seconds of silence, replied, “No.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
She actually hadn’t expected Xie Mianzhi to have such an aggressive reaction simply because of a few mocking words directed at her. When she saw Xie Mianzhi confronting and warning that woman.
Jing Yuan had to admit that all her muscles tensed up.
She was ready. If that woman in the yellow dress made any move detrimental to Xie Mianzhi, she would ensure her instantaneous demise.
So, at that moment, no one present was more nervous than her.
“I just didn’t expect you to do that,” Jing Yuan kept her tone as calm as possible. God knew how worried she had been about Xie Mianzhi, she even wanted to step forward and pull Xie Mianzhi back to prevent any unfortunate outcome where the other person was harmed.
“Because she crossed the line,” Xie Mianzhi felt much better after hearing Jing Yuan’s words. She truly didn’t want to hear words like ‘you scared me’ from Jing Yuan’s mouth.
“Crossed the line?”
“Yes, she crossed the line by talking about you. What right does she have? I couldn’t just sit and watch. Fortunately, the threat worked.”
Xie Mianzhi finished speaking with a light laugh, trying to ease the negative atmosphere brought on by the annoying scene.
Jing Yuan was stunned. The words, so clearly showing how much she was treasured, suddenly made her feel like crying.
Xie Mianzhi cared about her.
“Hmm? What is that expression trying to say?” Xie Mianzhi frowned slightly, looking at the person in front of her whose eyes were a little red, and felt confused.
Jing Yuan suppressed all her emotions, yet still said solemnly, “Don’t do something like that again. It was a bit impulsive.”
“I think it’s better when you don’t talk. If you were my subordinate, I’d definitely order you to shut up,” Xie Mianzhi was slightly annoyed. She took several large sips of her cold drink, feeling inwardly that Jing Yuan was an ungrateful little wolf!
She’s angry?
Jing Yuan blinked, feeling a little helpless. She swallowed the words she wanted to say and remained silent.
Xie Mianzhi raised an eyebrow, glancing at the innocent-looking ungrateful wolf. Her hesitant expression was heartbreaking to see, as if she had been utterly bullied. “Why aren’t you speaking?”
Jing Yuan felt a little wronged. “Miss Xie Mianzhi told me to shut up.”
She was using that polite language with her again. Xie Mianzhi figured this person must be doing it on purpose, so she gave her a chance to explain.
“Alright, speak then. What do you want to say?” Xie Mianzhi prompted.
“I just don’t want you to be implicated because of me. I’m fine. This time, you deterred them, but if that person had been humiliated and enraged, any object near her could have become a weapon to hurt you.”
‘I don’t want anything to happen to you.’
Jing Yuan quickly and quietly explained after receiving permission. She hoped Xie Mianzhi would understand the meaning she was trying to convey.
Xie Mianzhi opened her mouth in surprise. She mused that the little savior had spoken so many words in one breath. She understood the roundabout meaning: Jing Yuan was worried about her.
“Hmm, you make a lot of sense, but if I were given another choice, I wouldn’t just pour water on that woman and slap her; I’d also want to tear her clothes off, grab her hair, and throw her out.”
Jing Yuan’s eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t quite understand Xie Mianzhi’s thought process.
“Now that I think about it, the things that woman said were truly asking to be beaten. It’s a shame I didn’t do more; it would be best if she ended up in the hospital,” Xie Mianzhi exaggerated, trying to scare the kind little savior in front of her.
“And then we’d be ‘on the run’?” Jing Yuan asked helplessly to the increasingly excited Miss Xie Mianzhi.
“If it were with you, being on the run doesn’t sound bad at all,” Xie Mianzhi rested her chin on her fingers, thinking it was a good idea.
Xie Mianzhi’s teasing made Jing Yuan couldn’t help but smile slightly. Jing Yuan pushed the plate of boned fish toward the other person. “Thank you for sticking up for me just now.”
She could guarantee that Xie Mianzhi would never be in any danger while next to her, and she certainly wouldn’t let the other person be on the run.
Xie Mianzhi looked down at the neatly cut fish on the plate and was momentarily stunned. She had just been complaining that the little kid was ungrateful, but she finally said something nice. “Isn’t it a bit late to say thank you now? Are you trying to bribe me?”
She didn’t refuse it, though. This was fish that Jing Yuan had personally de-boned for her.
Jing Yuan nodded, hoping her bribe would be successful.
“Actually, there’s one more thing you said incorrectly,” Xie Mianzhi was about to pick up her knife and fork but paused, pointing it out.
As she met Jing Yuan’s confused gaze, Xie Mianzhi emphasized seriously:
“With me, you are not ‘fine.’ I don’t know what mindset you had before—maybe you thought you could just endure unfairness, or something else—but I hope that when you are by my side, you don’t have to tolerate any idle gossip. You need to trust that I have some capability, or money-ability, or something. You just need to be by my side; I’ll handle the rest.”
Xie Mianzhi spoke every word clearly, but the further she went, the more it felt wrong, as if she were cunningly hoping Jing Yuan would stay by her side, despite that being exactly what she wished.
But when she met Jing Yuan’s eyes, as clear as a golden lake, she hesitated again.
She worried that speaking such promises to draw closer might seem like… taking advantage of the situation.
Xie Mianzhi could only add stiffly, “After all, Jing Yuan, you helped me during my most difficult time. I should be doing this, and besides, you finally came to Linxi, right?”
Jing Yuan’s eyes widened as she listened to Xie Mianzhi’s words, until she heard that last sentence.
Amidst her inner feeling of being touched, a trace of bitterness welled up. Her bright, shimmering eyes cleverly masked the fleeting loneliness.
It was still because, at the very core, Xie Mianzhi wanted to repay her kindness.
Only because of that.
“Can you trust me then?” Xie Mianzhi rested her head on her hand, looking at the other person expectantly.
She found herself feeling something strange: for the first time in her life, she sincerely hoped that someone would intentionally trust her, rely on her, and depend on her.
That person was Jing Yuan.
Jing Yuan looked at Xie Mianzhi’s incredibly hopeful gaze. The bitterness that had initially stained her heart was washed away by the other’s magical smile. Just as she was about to nod firmly, believing she was just satisfying Xie Mianzhi’s ego, the other person’s warm hand cupped her chin.
“Wait, Jing Yuan, don’t nod yet. Don’t force yourself just to make me happy. I want you to nod when you genuinely trust me.”
Jing Yuan was gently cradled by Xie Mianzhi’s hands. She could only look at the other person stiffly, and the markings under her neck nearly began to tremble due to the sudden contact.
“Uh…” Jing Yuan was so nervous that she could only manage a single syllable.
Xie Mianzhi smiled lightly. The moment her fingertip brushed Jing Yuan’s cheek, she felt the other person’s face was very cold.
The physical manifestation of a cold-blooded animal.
Of course, she was also startled by her own abrupt action.
Before Jing Yuan could react, Xie Mianzhi was about to withdraw her hand, but her wrist was instantly gripped by Jing Yuan.
‘Please touch me more.’
Jing Yuan yearned for the warmth left by Xie Mianzhi’s touch. She wanted the other person to touch her again.
Even if it was just for one more second.
But this unusual action made both of them freeze simultaneously.
She admitted she couldn’t control herself.
“Jing Yuan…”
Jing Yuan quickly retracted her longing gaze and immediately released Xie Mianzhi’s wrist, stiffly shifting the excuse to the other person’s golden bracelet. “I wanted to say your bracelet touched me.”
The naturally self-conscious Xie Mianzhi didn’t notice anything amiss. Instead, she said, “Sorry,” and immediately withdrew her hand, pretending to sample the fish on her plate.
“Hmm… this fish is really good. It’s a good thing you de-boned it for me, or I wouldn’t have enjoyed this delicacy.”
“You said before that you don’t eat fish with bones,” Jing Yuan recalled Xie Mianzhi saying this at her house; the other person wasn’t very good at eating fish.
During this time, while Xie Mianzhi wasn’t looking, she gently tucked her hair down by her ears. She didn’t want Xie Mianzhi to notice her burning ear tips, which were hot only because the other person had touched her face.
She was still thinking about that sensation. Why did Xie Mianzhi touch her face?
Does she do this to others too?
Jing Yuan saw that Xie Mianzhi didn’t seem to care about the previous gesture, contentedly nibbling her food. A small, empty feeling settled in her heart.
Jing Yuan picked up the cold drink and took a sip.
“But I truly didn’t expect you to remember what I said?” Xie Mianzhi was surprised.
“It just suddenly came to mind.”
She actually remembers everything Xie Mianzhi has ever said.
“Is that so? You know this fish has bones. Manager Xu said it’s deep-sea fish, with very few bones. It seems like you know a lot about these things. Is it because you live by the sea?” Xie Mianzhi tilted her head, complimenting the observant person.
Jing Yuan nodded, answering very seriously, “You could say that.”
Xie Mianzhi looked at the woman sitting upright, wearing a high-neck shirt, with a fair face and slender hands—an enigmatic figure.
Ascetic, aloof.
She remembered that at Jing Yuan’s house, the other person also dressed this way, covering her neck and arms tightly regardless of the heat. The few times she had touched Jing Yuan’s skin, it was always cold.
In this season, if their bodies were to touch, would there be a trace of gentle coolness seeping through?
“What’s wrong?”
A slightly confused voice came from her ear, and Xie Mianzhi finally snapped out of her thoughts.
She hadn’t expected to be so lost staring at Jing Yuan.
She was terrible. Jing Yuan clearly didn’t like too much contact, yet she was being so reckless, even thinking cunningly about the possibility of more physical contact.
“Sorry for reaching out and touching you just now. The bracelet also scratched you. I know you don’t like it much. I just did it suddenly. I didn’t mean anything bad,” Xie Mianzhi felt like she was over-explaining, but she still gave an explanation.
She also pushed the newly served creamy sea urchin gratin toward the little Jing Yuan to eat.
The lingering excitement from the touch was about to subside, but then Xie Mianzhi brought it up again.
This caused Jing Yuan to recall the flutter in her heart and her own guilt, and her entire face quickly flushed red, visibly spreading all the way down to her neck. She blindly ate a few mouthfuls of food to calm herself down.
“Oh my god, what’s wrong with your face!? You’re not allergic to sea urchin, are you!?”
“No, I’m not…”
Xie Mianzhi didn’t give Jing Yuan a chance to explain. She immediately stood up and urgently slapped Jing Yuan’s face, trying to calm her down.
She even pulled open Jing Yuan’s eyelids and saw that her angel-like golden eyes weren’t bloodshot or showing any other reaction. Relieved, she immediately grabbed Jing Yuan.
“What, what are you doing…” Jing Yuan looked at Xie Mianzhi in alarm as the other person suddenly wrapped her arms around her waist from behind, instantly trying to break free.
“Why didn’t you say you couldn’t eat this? Spit it out! Quickly spit out the sea urchin!”
Xie Mianzhi didn’t care if Jing Yuan had swallowed it or not, because Jing Yuan was acting completely abnormally at the moment—the dark circles under her eyes seemed deeper. So, before a full-blown allergic reaction could occur, she had to use the Heimlich maneuver to help Jing Yuan throw up the damn sea urchin.