Contractual Cohabitation GL - Chapter 21

Whether it was because the unfamiliar environment caused difficulty sleeping or because she was preoccupied with the events of the day, Ye Luochen lay on her side on the large, soft bed, her slender, porcelain-white legs slightly curled, her beautiful eyes open in the darkness, unable to fall asleep.

She shifted with a quiet movement and lay on her back to rest. Perhaps because the room’s owner had only recently moved out, the faint scent of Jing Xiaonan still lingered in the bedroom. A clear scent, not as sharp as mint, but somewhat like the fresh fragrance of new grass after a clear rain. In the quiet night, this scent gradually filled Ye Luochen’s breathing, and along with it, a pair of peach blossom eyes, always smiling, was reflected in her mind.

Unable to sleep anyway, and unwilling to be troubled by her thoughts, Ye Luochen turned on the dim bedside lamp, stepped into the G&G slippers she had brought from home, and went out to the living room to pour some warm water.

William was sound asleep in his small bed downstairs by the stairs. Sensing the presence of a person, he merely let out a light, symbolic meow, and then nothing more. Ye Luochen couldn’t find a thermos flask in the kitchen, so she simply boiled some water, poured it into a glass, and carried it upstairs.

Just as she reached the top of the stairs and was about to turn left to return to her room, the corner of her eye caught the comparatively brighter light spilling from the crack of the door on the right. Recalling from Jing Xiaonan’s previous introduction to the Jing residence that this was the study, Ye Luochen instinctively frowned, changed her original direction, walked to the slightly ajar door, and silently pushed it open.

As she did so, a bright light, much more glaring than the living room’s night light, hit her face. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before adjusting to the brightness. Across the study, Jing Xiaonan was sitting at the desk in slightly thin pajamas, working diligently, buried amongst the large computer screen and a small mountain of documents.

They say a woman is beautiful when working seriously. At this moment, Jing Xiaonan had her back to her, so her face was invisible, but her back view was pleasing to the eye. Her back was straight, her shoulders slightly wider than an average woman’s, and below that was the feminine curve of her waist outlined by her form-fitting pajamas. She sat between the desk lamp and Ye Luochen, blocking most of the light. Because of this, from Ye Luochen’s angle, her silhouette was enveloped in a soft, warm light, exuding a subtle charm in the quiet night.

But Ye Luochen had no mind for appreciation at the moment.

She raised her hand to knock on the door, just as Jing Xiaonan had done before. Once Jing Xiaonan turned around at the sound, she walked into the study, her voice unconsciously lowered and softened: “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Rubbing her eyes, Jing Xiaonan leaned back with a thump into the leather chair, sighing with a smile: “Running a law firm isn’t that easy.”

“Do you… do this every night?” Standing in the center of the study, not walking any closer, Ye Luochen held the warm glass cup to warm her hands as she asked.

“What time is it now?”

“It’s past one.”

“Oh, well, most nights are like this then,” Jing Xiaonan replied indifferently, closing her eyes.

Ye Luochen lowered her gaze, revealing no emotion, but then heard Jing Xiaonan ask: “By the way, why aren’t you asleep? Can’t sleep in a new bed?”

“I just can’t seem to fall asleep.”

“Oh.” Jing Xiaonan nodded, a sudden lift of spirits in her slightly tired face: “How about you sit down and we chat for a while?”

Following her gaze, Ye Luochen’s eyes fell on the wooden chaise lounge in the corner of the study. She thought for a moment and nodded: “Okay, what should we talk about?”

“Just casual chat.” In an unusually relaxed state, Jing Xiaonan moved the wheels of her leather chair closer to the chaise lounge with her feet. Seeing the water glass in Ye Luochen’s hand, she asked: “Did you go to the living room to pour water?”

“Yes, why doesn’t the house have a thermos flask?”

No sooner had she spoken than she saw Jing Xiaonan break into a smile, looking relaxed and happy. Ye Luochen looked at her, puzzled, a clear question mark in her eyes.

“You said ‘the house’.”

Blinking, she recalled that she did indeed say that. But she neither took up the comment nor refuted it, in typical Ye Luochen fashion.

Gradually accustomed to this, Jing Xiaonan said indifferently: “I rarely drink warm water.”

“Then what do you usually drink besides coffee?”

“Tap water. The water in Australian pipes is carefully and strictly treated, and it also contains fluoride, which is good for teeth. This fluoride breaks down after being boiled, so Australians are generally accustomed to drinking tap water. You can’t even get warm water in Western restaurants. At home, I only boil water for tea.”

This was completely contrary to Asian habits. Ye Luochen listened with interest and then just nodded. Jing Xiaonan saw her close her eyes and pretend to rest on the chaise lounge, realizing this was probably the first time she had seen Ye Luochen without makeup, yet she couldn’t tell the difference at all. Gazing at her, her eyes naturally drifted downwards, lingering for a moment on those pink lips, then moving past the gracefully curved neck to the exposed part of her collarbone beneath the sleepwear.

The urge to get closer, to touch and embrace her, slowly took shape in her chest, the impulse especially strong in the middle of the night. Her mind involuntarily replayed the scene of her and her kissing in front of the farm cottage that night, surrounded by flower fields and brilliant stars overhead. Ye Luochen seemed to really enjoy stargazing.

As the thought drifted by, Jing Xiaonan sobered somewhat from her infatuation, uttering a surprised “Eh.” The sleeping beauty on the couch opened her moon-like eyes and looked at her.

Jing Xiaonan stood up and walked out of the study, telling Ye Luochen as she went: “Wait for me in the bedroom. I’ll show you something.”

Ye Luochen watched her gradually receding figure walking down the stairs with confusion. She thought for a moment, wondering what kind of trick this eccentric person was up to now. But she still obediently got up from the chaise lounge and slowly walked back to the bedroom.

After waiting for less than two minutes, Jing Xiaonan walked into the bedroom, her hands behind her back, concealing something. There was a hint of excitement in her eyes, and a smile she couldn’t hide on her face. She completely lacked the scholarly composure of Deputy Director Jing during the day, looking entirely like a child ready to present a treasure.

“Uh,” Jing Xiaonan paused, looking at the light on the bedside lamp, then said: “How about this: turn off the light and close your eyes. Only open them when I tell you to.”

Ye Luochen remained standing, looking at Jing Xiaonan, her eyes full of questions. Jing Xiaonan ignored them, half-coaxing and half-urging: “Okay, okay, trust me. Turn off the light and close your eyes.”

Hesitating for a moment, she still complied. She heard subtle movements in the room, and a thread of curiosity inevitably arose in her heart. After a while longer, Ye Luochen sensed a faint light through her fair, thin eyelids. It was then that Jing Xiaonan finally spoke:

“Alright, Luochen.”

Slowly opening her eyes and blinking again, she finally understood the scene before her. The relatively spacious bedroom, whether on the ceiling, the walls, or the floor, was scattered with thousands upon thousands of tiny points of starlight. In the center of the bedroom sat a basketball-sized black object with a slightly transparent surface. The light shone from this transparent area, gradually changing pale colors and slowly rotating. Bathed in this light, the entire bedroom felt like the dazzling expanse of the cosmos. Ye Luochen stood by the wall, gazing around the ‘starry sky’ in the room, reluctant to blink.

Jing Xiaonan smiled gently, her heart filling with joy as she watched Ye Luochen’s look of amazement showing through her calmness. Suppressing the urge to go forward and hug her, Jing Xiaonan spoke in a low voice, careful not to break the tranquil atmosphere in the room:

“I bought it when I was little. I thought the light wasn’t bright enough to illuminate a large room, so I modified it myself. Now, it’s for you.” She paused, her expression very content: “Get some rest, Luochen. Goodnight.”

She walked out of the bedroom and closed the door, the curved smile still on her lips. She returned to the study and continued to immerse herself in her work.

After classifying herself as a person with a family, Jing Xiaonan’s work hours started becoming punctual. Every morning as she left the house, the last sight she saw in the house was Ye Luochen. Sometimes quietly reading the newspaper, sometimes clearing her breakfast dishes, or sometimes following William who had come to say goodbye to her. Without a word, she would look at her with a gentle gaze, which Jing Xiaonan consciously interpreted as telling her to come home early.

As a result, Jing Xiaonan’s social engagements as a married person were cut in half. When there were no dinner parties, she always timed her arrival home exactly for dinner. The two would quietly eat their hot meals, occasionally giving William, who had already eaten cat food, a supplement, and then clean up the table together, with Jing Xiaonan volunteering to wash the dishes. After dinner, Ye Luochen would read, watch TV, and cultivate other interests, but after showering, she would always go to the study, sit on the chaise lounge, and chat with Jing Xiaonan for a while. The two lived such an ordinary, uneventful life, yet they found joy in it.

The small Jing residence also gradually saw some changes due to the new resident. Without Ye Luochen’s knowledge, a multi-functional water dispenser appeared in the kitchen at some point. In the bedroom, with Jing Xiaonan’s unspoken approval, warmer tones were introduced. William remained just as plump, spending more and more time clinging to Ye Luochen, resulting in Jing Xiaonan’s status in her own home deteriorating daily. Yet, she could only watch one person and one cat cling to each other and ignore her, smiling helplessly.

Of course, Deputy Director Jing’s relatively relaxed life was not only due to her personal change of heart. Another very important reason was that Secretary Qin, who used to supervise her to be on time every day, had inexplicably taken leave, saying she was going back home to visit relatives, and had not been to the company for three weeks. The position of Deputy Director Jing’s secretary was temporarily filled by Manager Gao’s third secretary, Xiao Zhao. Jing Xiaonan did feel a little wistful and unaccustomed during her free time, but comparatively, these were not the kind of wild waves that could disrupt the calm in her new life.

On this particular day, Jing Xiaonan was completely engrossed in her struggle with stacks of documents when her office door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. She looked up and saw Gao Jiong standing there, looking at her with an unusual expression. Before Jing Xiaonan could even open her mouth to ask, Manager Gao had already provided the answer to her unasked question.

“Xiao Nan, it seems like Qin Xuemei is missing.”