After returning to the Ye family home, Mu Liuyin handed Xi Yan a fresh set of clothes and gently ruffled the girl’s rain-damp hair. “Go take a hot shower first,” she said.
Looking at the clothes in Mu Liuyin’s hands, Xi Yan froze for a moment. “Why would you have clothes that fit me?”
At the mention of this, Mu Liuyin thought about her family, who assumed she and Xi Yan were dating. She didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh. Blinking, she replied in a teasing tone, “My mom prepared them. She’s been hoping you’d move in.”
Xi Yan’s pale ears flushed red in an instant, but when she remembered that her engagement to Ye Zhuoran was only a shield to protect herself from the Xie family, her soft-colored eyes dimmed slightly. She took the clothes and said quietly, “Please thank Auntie for me.”
To avoid catching a cold, Mu Liuyin also took a hot shower.
Soaking in the tub, the heat made her feel drowsy and relaxed. She stayed in a bit longer before getting out and dressing.
Afterward, she knocked on the guest room door. When no one answered for a while, she frowned slightly, a bit worried. She went to fetch the key and unlocked the door.
Lying on the bed, Xi Yan’s pale face had developed a faint flush. Mu Liuyin reached out and touched her forehead—it was burning hot.
She quickly called the family doctor, then pressed an ice pack to Xi Yan’s forehead to help bring down the fever.
Luckily, the doctor arrived quickly. Mu Liuyin woke Xi Yan, who opened her eyes in a daze and heard the youth’s calm yet gentle voice: “Ayan, you’ve got a fever. Let’s take your temperature first.”
Xi Yan blinked slowly, then closed her eyes again and nodded.
Her temperature had reached 102.2°F. The doctor administered an IV drip and stayed the night at the Ye residence.
By the time Xi Yan woke the next day, her fever had broken.
The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Mu Liuyin, sitting by the bedside in a chair, eyes closed as she dozed lightly.
He had stayed with her the entire night.
Xi Yan felt her eyes sting. She kept them wide open, not wanting the moisture to turn into tears. Since her mother’s death, Mu Liuyin was the first person to treat her this well.
The kindness of the Ye family toward her, strictly speaking, was all because Mu Liuyin “liked” her.
That… wasn’t the same.
Sensing she was awake, Mu Liuyin opened her eyes. Usually clear and focused, they now carried a trace of groggy confusion. Xi Yan couldn’t help but smile.
Seeing her smile, Mu Liuyin got up and touched her forehead. The heat was gone, but just to be sure, she said, “Feeling better? Let’s check your temperature again.”
Xi Yan smiled and nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
After checking, Mu Liuyin saw that the fever was indeed gone. Just then, the doctor knocked on the door.
After reading the thermometer, the doctor said, “Since Miss Xi’s fever has subsided, everything should be fine now.”
He removed the IV needle from the back of her hand, gave a few simple instructions, and left.
After the doctor left, the room fell into a quiet stillness.
Xi Yan looked at Mu Liuyin and asked softly, “You stayed with me all night?”
“That obvious, huh?” Mu Liuyin blinked, her normally cool eyes now tinged with a gentle smile. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast. After that, I’ll catch up on some sleep. You should rest more too, Ayan.”
Meeting those caring eyes, Xi Yan softly replied, “Okay.”
Those forbidden thoughts in her heart seemed to stir again—or perhaps, they had never truly gone away.
…
Compared to her previous assignments, this one had been unusually short, Mu Liuyin thought.
Time flew after Qingming Festival, and before she knew it, it was early June.
Strangely, during this time, Xie Shaoke, whom Mu Liuyin had Little Jiu keep an eye on, hadn’t made a single provocative move. All he did was shoot her the occasional resentful glare.
Mu Liuyin ignored him, but mentally, she stayed on high alert.
Xi Yan’s grades remained steady, and Mu Liuyin consistently held the second spot in class, never more than five points behind her.
Sometimes Xi Yan wondered if Mu Liuyin was deliberately keeping her score just under hers, never overtaking her.
Now, the college entrance exam (gaokao) was just a day or two away.
Mu Liuyin had turned eighteen a month earlier. The day after the exam would be Xi Yan’s eighteenth birthday.
“When the exams are over, come to the Ye house—we’ll celebrate your birthday,” Mu Liuyin told her.
The girl looked at the boy’s serious, cool eyes and quietly asked, “After the exams… will you cancel the engagement with me?”
Mu Liuyin was caught off guard. She wasn’t sure what Xi Yan meant by the question, but stuck to her plan. “Yeah, after your birthday, once you’re officially an adult and free from the Xie family, I’ll cancel the engagement.”
Inside her sleeve, Xi Yan’s hands clenched slightly. She suppressed the sorrow and unjustified anger in her heart and forced a calm smile.
Her reaction was so composed that Mu Liuyin felt a vague sense of loss.
While the college entrance exam was nerve-wracking for most students, for academic stars like Mu Liuyin and Xi Yan, it was no big deal.
Halfway through each exam session, Mu Liuyin would already be finished.
They weren’t in the same testing room, so after finishing, Mu Liuyin had Little Jiu live-stream Xi Yan’s test performance in her mind.
She estimated Xi Yan’s scores for each subject, and compared to previous years’ admission lines, they were good enough to get into a top university in the capital.
Once Xi Yan’s birthday was over and scores came out, this world’s mission would likely be complete.
After the exam, Xi Yan stood at the school gates. She hadn’t returned to the Xie house in ages. A familiar car—the one that usually picked up Xie Shaoke—pulled up beside her.
The window rolled down to reveal Xie Shaoke’s sullen face. His voice was low and cold. “Father wants you to come home.”
The Xie family had always been emotionally distant. Even Xie Shaoke, the assumed heir, only ever called the family patriarch “Father.”
Hearing his words, a hint of mockery flashed through Xi Yan’s mind.
Just then, Mu Liuyin returned from a nearby dessert shop. Seeing Xie Shaoke, she frowned slightly and gave him a cold warning glance. She was about to suggest that Xi Yan stay at the Ye house for a few days, and planned to buy her an apartment as a birthday gift before she left.
“I got it,” Xi Yan replied before she could speak. Then she looked at Mu Liuyin and added softly, “Don’t worry. If they bully me, I’ll call you.”
It was the first time Xi Yan had said something so playfully. Mu Liuyin couldn’t help but smile and ruffle her hair again. “Good.”
Xi Yan smiled back.
Together, they completely ignored the now-livid Xie Shaoke, whose face had darkened visibly. Only after speaking to Mu Liuyin did Xi Yan open the car door and get in.
As she sat down, Xie Shaoke’s bitter, resentful glare fell on her, then shifted to Mu Liuyin, who still stood calmly outside.
Back at the Xie house, as Xi Yan had expected, her so-called father only wanted to talk about her engagement with Mu Liuyin.
The alliance with the Ye family had brought great benefits, and though neither of the two was old enough for marriage, the Xie patriarch wanted to host a formal engagement ceremony—after all, it had only been a verbal agreement before.
He talked purely from a business standpoint, treating Xi Yan like a bargaining chip. But Xi Yan, who had never cared for this father, felt nothing.
When Xie Shaoke heard that their father was seriously considering marrying Xi Yan to Mu Liuyin, he was livid—his expression stormy enough to make the air feel damp.
The next day was Xi Yan’s birthday, but no one in the Xie family remembered.
Mu Liuyin invited her out and hosted a birthday party at the Ye house.
Other than the Ye family, there were no outsiders at the celebration.
After the party ended in the evening, Mu Liuyin mysteriously drove Xi Yan to a luxury apartment complex nearby.
The unit was on the sixth floor—not too high, not too low.
Opening the door, Mu Liuyin said with a faint smile in her cool voice, “Happy birthday. This is your gift.”
Xi Yan had drunk a little at the party. Her pale eyes shimmered like water. Maybe her feelings for Mu Liuyin were too strong, because she didn’t quite grasp that the apartment was the gift. Instead, she asked softly, “Zhuoran… are you giving yourself to me as my birthday present?”
Mu Liuyin was stunned.
Xi Yan’s soft lips pressed against hers in that moment of surprise.
Their lips touched—warm and tender, full of emotion. Mu Liuyin’s mind went blank. She didn’t push the girl away right away.
Her lack of resistance seemed to give Xi Yan courage. The girl’s arms wrapped gently around her neck.
Mu Liuyin finally snapped out of it and tried to push her away, but Xi Yan looked up, her tear-filled, intoxicated eyes meeting hers directly. A single transparent tear slipped down her cheek.
Her voice was soft. “Zhuoran, do you really… only like men?”
Mu Liuyin wanted to say yes, but staring into those watery eyes, she couldn’t get a single word out.
Her hands froze in place, unable to push her away.
Her whole body had gone still.
lazyfujoshy On CFRFGC Chapter 87