Contractual Cohabitation GL - Chapter 13

Jing Xiaonan’s Porsche was actually parked not far away; they walked to it in less than a few minutes. As they passed, Jing Xiaonan quickly glanced at the silver-gray convertible, then continued walking straight ahead with Ye Luochen on her back.

Ye Luochen was on the slender side among girls, so Jing Xiaonan barely felt her weight, and her steps were light and effortless. Right turn, right turn, and another right turn. She walked a full circle and came back. Ye Luochen didn’t call her out on it, but the little head resting on Jing Xiaonan’s shoulder and back shook its head slightly in exasperation.

Slightly bending her knees to put her down, Jing Xiaonan pressed the electronic key fob to unlock the car. Meeting Ye Luochen’s gaze, she gave a chuckle, completely without the slightest bit of embarrassment for being found out. Not only did Ye Luochen not expose her, but even if she had been asked directly, Jing Xiaonan would have dared to give her an explanation as a matter of course and without any sense of wrongdoing.

A person like this simply could not be indulged. Ye Luochen sat down in the car and, no matter how she looked at it, felt a certain childish smugness in Jing Xiaonan’s smile. This person, who was described as talented, was also the mature, steady, and unfathomable Deputy Director Jing, according to Manager Li.

Ye Luochen shook her head, pondering that as a high-ranking member of Maple Leaf, it might be very necessary for Manager Li to improve his ability to judge people.

While she was deep in thought, Jing Xiaonan had elegantly settled into the driver’s seat on the right. She glanced at Ye Luochen and asked, relaxed and cheerful: “Where to?”

“Home, I guess.” She glanced at the sea outside the window again, gently rubbing the small white seashell in her hand, and Ye Luochen’s tone was calm.

“Alrighty.”

Turning the steering wheel, Jing Xiaonan was in an unusually good mood. The silver-gray Porsche drove steadily in the direction of home.

Although she was considerably infected by the cheerful mood of the person next to her, Ye Luochen ultimately just looked out the window at the scenery with a detached air, gradually sinking into her own thoughts again.

Having long since noticed the clear sky in this beautiful, ethereal girl’s heart, Jing Xiaonan drove quietly, without disturbing her. It wasn’t until they were on a familiar road that she reached out her left hand, silently grasping Ye Luochen’s right hand—the one not holding the seashell—and a gentle smile spread across her lips.

Ye Luochen finally snapped out of her thoughts just as the car drove into the garage. She looked around, her expression carrying a hint of the slight confusion of someone who had just woken up. Jing Xiaonan curled her lips. She simply loved the way this woman was so relaxed and natural in front of her, trusting her, and at ease with her.

“We’re home.” Leaning over to unbuckle her seatbelt, Jing Xiaonan said in a warm, soft tone. Ye Luochen’s eyes held confusion as Jing Xiaonan led her out of the garage to look at the exterior of the ‘home.’

The setting sun outside the garage was a little harsh. Ye Luochen’s left hand was obediently held by a certain person, and her right hand was raised, fingers together, over her forehead to slightly shield the sun. After her eyes adjusted, what met her gaze was a beige European-style small villa.

Not large enough to be called a mansion, this small villa had two floors and an attached garage. The place where the two stood was the walkway in front of the house, surrounded by light green, carpet-like lawn, which was well trimmed and maintained. The villa was not enclosed by a fence like ordinary residences; instead, it was encircled by deep green small hedges about half a person tall, which looked quite artistic. Ye Luochen liked the style of the exterior, but what attracted her was the building itself.

The center of the first floor of the villa had a set of double-opening doors that looked thick and heavy, twice the width of a normal door, appearing very grand. There was a window on each side, the one on the left being smaller. On the second floor, a balcony surrounded by white pillars was visible. From this angle, only a set of table and chairs could be seen. A window to the right of the table and chairs was half-covered by curtains. Ye Luochen’s peripheral vision noticed that after the window was tightly closed, the curtain seemed to have been moved slightly.

“Is someone home?” Ye Luochen turned her head to look at Jing Xiaonan, asking with a slight uncertainty.

“The only people with a key to this house, besides my parents and me, are my cleaning lady, Auntie Chen. Auntie Chen usually only comes in the morning, and my parents are currently enjoying themselves in New Zealand, saying they want to rediscover their first love feeling, hehe. So, the house should be empty. What’s wrong?”

Ye Luochen dismissed her doubts and shook her head: “Nothing.”

Jing Xiaonan’s eyes lingered on her face for an extra second, then she led her to the front door. Holding the key she was about to use to open the door in her palm, she raised her hand and pressed the doorbell.

She listened intently, but there was no response.

Realizing something, she suddenly smiled. Jing Xiaonan picked out the house key from a bunch of keys, and as she turned the lock, she chuckled: “I bet it’s William.”

Before Ye Luochen could ask who William was, she got her answer when a gray, furry object practically lunged out the moment the door opened. Jing Xiaonan reacted very quickly, bending her knees to scoop the dark ‘hidden weapon’ that leaped into the air into her arms. It was only then that Ye Luochen clearly saw it was a lump of cat.

Although she knew that cats should be described with ‘a cat,’ when Ye Luochen’s eyes met the plump little creature’s, she couldn’t help but laugh, feeling that ‘lump’ was a more appropriate description.

William, a cat with white and black stripes all over, was now securely settled in Jing Xiaonan’s arms. He poked out a fluffy little head to observe this strange earthling who had returned with his owner, his big, blinking eyes full of curiosity. However, when he noticed Ye Luochen was also looking at him with a smile, he quickly shrank back into Jing Xiaonan’s embrace, only leaving one eye to stare at the newcomer, as if hugging his master to half-cover his face.

The smile in Ye Luochen’s eyes became more obvious. Suppressing the urge to reach out and play with William, she asked with a smile: “This is William?”

“Mhm.”

“Doesn’t he share the surname Jing?”

“Uh!” Jing Xiaonan subconsciously took a half-step back, trying to cover the cat’s name engraved on its collar, as if to conceal the truth.

Ye Luochen chose not to point out her little gesture, but the curve of her lips for a moment made Jing Xiaonan unable to look away. Ye Luochen took two steps closer, looked again, and asked: “How did you manage to raise him so plump?”

William clearly didn’t understand what this human was saying, and kept his head up, staring wide-eyed at Jing Xiaonan, waiting for a translation. The latter cleared her throat, put him back on the floor, pointed at William’s stripes, and mumbled vaguely: “These horizontal stripes make him look fat.”

Ye Luochen couldn’t help but laugh. With bright eyes and white teeth, she knelt down to meet the gaze of the Scottish Fold cat on the floor, which was clearly shy, until William trotted away, taking three steps forward and looking back each time. Only then did she straighten up to look at the house Jing Xiaonan called home.

To the right was a spacious and bright living room, occupying most of the first floor. The furnishings in the living room were grand and comfortable; it didn’t feel crowded, but it wasn’t as luxurious as a high-end hotel either. This kind of décor retained the unique warmth of a home. From the entryway, one could see two closed doors on the left, and the wooden staircase leading to the second floor. Jing Xiaonan followed her gaze and smiled: “Want to take a look upstairs?”

Without waiting for her answer, she led the way up the stairs. Ye Luochen silently followed a few steps behind, her observant eyes showing a hint of interest in the surroundings.

The style upstairs was completely different from the first floor, which was only visible after ascending. Different from the European style of the small building’s exterior, the upstairs décor had the feel of a classical, scholarly residence. Calligraphy and paintings of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum hung on both sides of the hallway, creating an overall elegant and antique feel.

“Downstairs, besides the living room, there’s also the kitchen, laundry room, and a guest room. Upstairs is the master bedroom, a secondary bedroom, and the study.” Jing Xiaonan explained briefly, opening each door so Ye Luochen could see clearly. Each room was soon filled with strands of sunlight.

The first room they passed was the study, which greatly attracted Ye Luochen. She walked in with elegant steps, accompanied by Jing Xiaonan, unconsciously lightening her pace.

One side of the study had a very large bookshelf. Only one row contained legal professional books; the rest were a mix of English and Chinese, and surprisingly, there were even some books that looked like French.

“My mother studied French,” Jing Xiaonan explained, always attentive to where her eyes landed.

Ye Luochen’s French was not as good as her Chinese and English, so she focused on the Chinese and English books. There were books on history and military strategy, interesting anecdotes and unofficial histories, psychology, and even cooking. After Jing Xiaonan nodded her assent, she opened the glass door of the bookshelf and pulled out a book on psychology.

Flipping through a few pages, she found the content genuinely fascinating. What was rare was that although the book was ninety percent new, it had clearly been read, suggesting that the books on the shelf were not purely for display.

Leaving this room, the next door down the hallway led to Jing Xiaonan’s bedroom. Without excessive decoration, the bedroom only had a large bed with black and white bedding, a built-in closet, and a sofa. Just as she wondered why this room had no windows, Jing Xiaonan pulled back the thick curtains on the opposite wall. It turned out that this so-called wall was a floor-to-ceiling double-layered glass, with a sliding glass door on the left leading to the balcony they had seen earlier.

Ye Luochen finally walked in, not with the same casualness as when she entered the study. After taking a few steps, her eyes were drawn to the two framed photos on the desk, momentarily forgetting the subtle awkwardness of being alone with a certain person in a bedroom.

One photo was of a little girl under ten, wearing a white Taekwondo dobok (uniform), posed in a ready-to-attack stance. Her features clearly showed she was a miniature version of Jing Xiaonan.

The other photo was of a married couple. The man was tall with a heroic appearance, his eyes full of laughter and confidence. The woman in his arm was also smiling, her expression gentle and mild.

“These are my parents, and this is a photo from a Taekwondo competition when I was nine. Both were taken around the same time.”

Ye Luochen nodded, reached out her hand to hold the frame containing the photo of the miniature Jing Xiaonan. She looked at Jing Xiaonan for permission, and after getting a silent assent, picked it up and gazed intently at it.

Nine-year-old Jing Xiaonan’s nose didn’t seem as straight, nor were her eyebrows as thick as they were now. This photo must have been taken secretly. The little Nan in the photo was completely focused on practicing a move, the seriousness showing in the contours of her face, and the subtle pride in her eyes was something Ye Luochen was very familiar with.

Her eyes looked tenderly at her in the photo frame, while the real Jing Xiaonan watched her with equally gentle eyes from the side. As a result, when Ye Luochen accidentally tilted the angle of the photo frame slightly, the reflection on the glass surface showed a pair of exceptionally beautiful peach blossom eyes, seeming to reflect her own image.

She put down the photo frame with a slight panic. Her heart skipped a beat.