121: Ye Xiyang's Heart

Yichen drove his car up from the garage and caught sight of a figure skipping towards him.

Xiao Qi was wearing light green wide-leg trousers and a matching sleeveless chiffon top. Her arms were long and slender, looking like fresh, tender shoots—full of youthful vitality.

The car slowed to a halt beside her without him realizing it, and the window rolled down. His dark eyes watched the skipping girl, and his thin lips curled into a faint, unconscious smile.

As if sensing him, Xiao Qi turned her head.

At a glance, amidst the dappled shade of the trees, Yichen’s car was parked there. The faint smile on the owner’s lips, caught in the dappled sunlight filtering through the branches, was suffused with a bewitching quality, as if the mischief were etched into his very bones.

"Wow," she thought, "this capitalist is really becoming more and more to my taste."

Xiao Qi touched her heart and said to herself, "Hey, this heart belongs to Ye Xiyang. That means she is me, and I am her. So, her boyfriend is mine, too."

Xiao Qi lowered her hand.

"If I told him all of this, would he be able to accept it?"

"Sigh! I used to be a bean sprout hidden from the light; now I'm a budding sprout. And what does a budding sprout mean? It means I can't be exposed to the light even more! Exposure means instant death!"

"So, I still can't say anything for now."

"Whatever, let's go say hello to him first."

Watching the man run toward her step by step, Yichen’s nerves suddenly tightened, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.

When Xiao Qi ran up, she saw beads of cold sweat trickling down his jawline... He looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Mr. Lin, are you alright?"

Yichen looked up. Seeing her, his eyes softened. He opened the car door and pulled her into the passenger seat. "I'm fine. Get in, I’ll take you to breakfast."

"Huh? Breakfast?" Xiao Qi was a bit bewildered. She hadn't eaten breakfast today, but... "Mr. Lin, it's almost time for work..."

Yichen started the engine and said, "I am the boss, so the word 'work' is as familiar to me as going home."

"..."

But she wasn't the boss.

Yichen knew what his little money-lover cared about. "This time, you’re allowed to eat for free and still get paid."

The implication was clear: he would treat her to breakfast, and she would still receive her full salary.

Xiao Qi curled the corners of her lips.

The Mr. Lin who had recovered his memories was truly good at winning people over, haha!

After Yichen took her to breakfast, he didn't head to the company but instead took her for a stroll along the street. As for Xiao Qi, she currently loved being alone with him. Besides, Mr. Lin had already said it would be free, so why not? ^_^

The two walked down the street, the sunlight casting two long, slender shadows behind them.

Xiao Qi glanced at the person beside her, wondering if she should take advantage of this wonderful atmosphere to tell him those things.

Perhaps she should start by telling him she liked him, too. He would surely be happy, and then she could tell him the truth. After all, people are more likely to accept bad news when they are in a good mood.

But as soon as Xiao Qi opened her mouth to say "I like you," she felt extremely nervous. It was as if every extra breath she took added another layer of urgency.

Even though she was nervous, she wanted to try. She wanted to summon all her strength to say, "I really like you."

Finally, she prepared to say the words, but...

"Wait for me here," Yichen said, leaving her behind as he strode toward a supermarket.

Xiao Qi was confused. Two minutes later, she saw Yichen walking back toward her, holding a sun umbrella.

With such a wonderful Mr. Lin, what was she still hesitating for?

***

Before he could get close, Xiao Qi called out, "Lin Yichen, actually, I really like you now."

Although she only said "really like," the words struck a heavy chord in Yichen’s heart. He stopped in his tracks, his dark eyes fixed on her.

Meeting her gaze, he saw her large eyes shimmering with brilliant, dazzling light.

At this moment, Yichen couldn't think of any metaphor to describe her beauty. He only wanted to cover her eyes with his hand so that, perhaps, his heart wouldn't beat so wildly.

Ever since he first saw her five years later, he had been waiting for the amnesiac version of her to say those words to him.

He felt a sudden sense of suffocation.

After a long while, he raised his eyebrows and walked toward her step by step.

Seeing him approach, Xiao Qi’s heart pounded, and she immediately looked down.

She felt a dark shadow pass over her head, and before she could react, she was gently pulled into an embrace. The crisp, clean scent of a man instantly filled all her senses.

Trapped in his arms, she couldn't move. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, unable to see anything, hearing only him calling her name: "Xiyang."

His cool voice deepened, carrying an unexpected softness. He whispered, "What you just said—is it true?"

It felt like extreme silence, yet also extreme clamor. To his question, Xiao Qi nodded.

The arms around her tightened slightly.

Xiao Qi felt as if the universe had frozen in time. In his embrace, she could hear the vibration of a heart from another world.

It felt both real and illusory, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter at all. Even if this were all an illusion, it was a grounded, tangible one.

Because of him, she had come to Earth and was standing here.

The person he loved looked exactly like her, even her heart was such a perfect match for her, an alien. This was enough to prove they were truly fated.

Xiao Qi didn't know how much time had passed. She breathed in his scent, so close, and her hanging hands couldn't help but feel the urge to touch his chest muscles.

*Stop, stop, stay calm.*

"Um, the sun is a bit strong. Let's go for a walk tonight instead."

A pleasant voice came from above. "Alright! Tonight, I'll take you to eat something delicious."

= =

For some reason, whenever Xiao Qi heard this now, she felt like a pig being fattened up by someone. >_<

Yichen held her hand and led her to the car. However, the speed...

The sports car, capable of reaching 200 kilometers per hour, crawled toward the entrance of the TC Building at the speed of a turtle.

As soon as the car stopped, the atmosphere inside became suddenly ambiguous, and Xiao Qi’s little heart started pounding again.

She had been peeking at him the whole time, but Mr. Lin had been driving with complete focus.

Suddenly, President Lin leaned in toward her...

Xiao Qi became even more nervous, her body tensing up.

*Is he going to kiss me?*

*Should I be passive or take the initiative...*

*Click.* The sound of the seatbelt unlocking echoed.

The string of wild thoughts in Xiao Qi’s brain snapped along with that sound...

Utterly embarrassed.

Xiao Qi was too shy to look at him, her hand reaching for the door handle. "Um, I’m getting out now."

However, her arm was held back. Yichen’s voice was low and filled with immense pleasure. "If I just let you get out like this, wouldn't I be too much of a failure?"

Xiao Qi turned her head abruptly. In the next second, a restrained, polite, yet deeply suppressed light kiss landed on her forehead. He looked into her eyes and said, "Xiyang, my current standing is still shallow, and my position is not yet official, so I will try my best to restrain myself. Also..."

He flashed a bewitching smile. "I will wait for you to say you like me, wait for you to say you love me, wait for you to take the initiative." As he spoke, he took her pale, slender fingers and placed them against his thin lips.

The implication was clear: he was waiting for her to kiss him.

Xiao Qi was shy. "Um, I’m getting out." She opened the door and stepped out immediately.

***

"Xiyang."

Yichen suddenly called out to stop her.

Xiao Qi, having just stepped out, hesitated and looked back.

*Calling me back, is he going to kiss me?*

After all, that kiss just now had only been on her forehead. And it had been such a light one.

Yichen opened the door and stepped out, holding the sun umbrella he had bought for her.

He opened the umbrella. "I'll walk you in."

"No, no." If he walked her in, everyone would see.

Xiao Qi was a girl who embarrassed easily.

However, since Mr. Lin was being so thoughtful and attentive, she should give him a reward.

Xiao Qi took the umbrella from his hand. "Mr. Lin, you really are handsome, a gentleman, and a good boss!"

Yichen smiled and whispered in her ear, "Xiyang, we have a long road ahead of us. But you should think carefully when you go back. Go in now!"

*Think about what?*

And Xiao Qi felt that President Lin’s smile... why was it so terrifying?

Yichen watched her ever-changing expression and added with a gentle, smiling voice, "If you don't go in now, I might just swallow you whole into my heart."

Xiao Qi immediately looked at him with disdain. "Mr. Lin, you are so uncultured. Things you eat go into your stomach, not your heart! Besides, I’m a person, you can't eat me."

Only after saying this did she realize that Mr. Lin had said something similar, and it seemed like Xiao Bai had said it, too.

Now it was Yichen’s turn to look at her with disdain. "You still don't understand the heart that has been thumping 'thump-thump-thump' for you all this time?"

Xiao Qi was half-understanding and half-bewildered by his words, but this time she said quite imposingly, "I’m not a roundworm in your stomach, of course I don't understand! Hurry up and drive your car back to the garage, and get to work."

This time, Yichen pulled her back. "Xiyang, do you know a philosophy? It’s that if a wolf is very fierce to a little pig, it means it wants to eat it in one bite. If it is very gentle to it, it means it wants to fatten it up before slowly eating it. During this slow process, the wolf will surely make the pig gradually enjoy eating meat as well..."

"..."

For some reason, Xiao Qi understood this long paragraph instantly.

Her face turned red immediately. *Look at that*, she thought, *President Lin can even be so serious while acting like a rogue.*

Xiao Qi averted her gaze. "I don't understand. I'm leaving. Bye-bye."

With that, she ran into the company.

In an instant, Yichen’s expression turned cold, followed by a flicker of bewilderment in his eyes.

He scanned his surroundings, then drove away with a blank look on his face.

The city sunlight slanted into every office area that didn't have the curtains drawn.

Xiao Qi held a stack of documents, lost in thought in the gentle sunlight, and then a sweet smile bloomed on her lips.

Yiyang walked out and saw her smiling like a fool.

"Did you find money? Why so happy?"

Xiao Qi snapped back to reality. "No, I didn't!"

She then looked at Yiyang with embarrassment. "Um, my aunt went shopping today, so I came to the company a bit late. Sorry about that!"

Although Lin Yichen was the president, she was in Yiyang’s department, so she definitely had to explain being late.

Even though Xiao Qi could lie with a straight face, her heart was churning with waves.

She realized that after hanging around Lin Yichen for so long, her own water, which used to be crystal clear, was gradually turning into a murky, changing brew.