I Am Her Secret Beauty - Chapter 17

Mu Xi had barely slept all night.

Nan Xi’s words, “I hate you to the bone,” “Why did you leave?” and “burning incense for you”, had clearly left a deep psychological scar, leaving Mu Xi tossing and turning all night, unable to shake them from her mind.

When she woke up in the morning, Mu Xi was unsurprisingly plagued by a headache.

It was as if her skull were covered in fine cracks, subtle yet torturous pain. Cold sweat soon seeped through her shirt beneath her black suit jacket.

Just as she was about to leave the room, Mu Xi turned back and glanced in the mirror. Sure enough, most of the color had drained from her lips.

She had no choice but to pull out a barely used tube of lipstick from the drawer and apply it, just to make herself appear normal.

This small detail was quickly noticed by Nan Xi.

Nan Xi glanced at her once, then again, while chewing on a piece of toast. “Butler Mu, you’re wearing lipstick? That’s unusual.”

Mu Xi’s head was still throbbing, but she managed a polite smile. “Today is the first time I’m seeing the young miss off to work.”

“Oh? You put it on for me?” Nan Xi set down her toast with interest and nudged Nan Nan, who was also eating breakfast beside her. “Did you hear that? Butler Mu takes me so seriously.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Nan Nan was scrolling through morning news on her phone and casually brushed off her sister.

Unbothered, Nan Xi continued savoring her breakfast. Once finished, she wiped her mouth with a napkin, stood up, and motioned for Mu Xi to follow her outside. They stopped in front of the same car they had returned in the night before.

Mu Xi hesitated.

If she ignored her poor physical condition and drove anyway, it would be a disregard for the young miss’s safety.

But on the other hand, Nan Zhiya despised subordinates taking sick leave, she even hated it when her employees fell ill, because the losses from absenteeism far outweighed the wages she could dock for sick days.

Though she had never said it outright, Mu Xi could tell.

Her hesitation didn’t escape Nan Xi’s notice.

“What’s wrong?”

No.

No matter what, Nan Xi’s safety had to come first.

Mu Xi had no choice but to confess, “I apologize, young miss. I didn’t sleep well last night, and now I have a headache. To avoid drowsy driving, I should-”

“It’s fine.”

Mu Xi hesitated slightly before reclining the passenger seat and settling comfortably into it.

She kept her head straight, not daring to look at Nan Xi’s current expression.

But then she heard Nan Xi speak beside her:

“This still counts as you sending me off, no dereliction of duty, no slacking. Because I really do need someone to keep me company while I drive.”

“Once we arrive, you can sleep in the car for a while. That’s your task from me, everything else can wait until after this. Let others handle the rest.”

“If you still don’t feel well in the afternoon, send me a message.”

…

Mu Xi slowly closed her eyes.

Her heart burned with warmth, an unnamed heat spreading from there to her limbs. It was as if her entire body was submerged in soothing warm water, lulling her into an extraordinary sense of peace.

Nan Xi’s words had been spoken so plainly, yet they moved her deeply.

Hearing no response from Mu Xi after a while, Nan Xi tentatively asked, “Do you have any work to do today? Right now?”

“I need to coordinate and oversee household tasks, check on work progress. Visit the businesses under the Nan family’s name, including the construction site at your research institute. In the afternoon, accompany the young mistress in receiving Madam Lian at home. Then pick you up and prepare dinner.”

Nan Xi gripped the steering wheel with one hand while fishing her phone from her pocket with the other, brows furrowed. “I’ll call my sister.”

“Miss Nan. Thank you.” Mu Xi spoke up to stop her, though the corners of her lips remained slightly upturned. “But there’s no need. I’ll just rest in the car for a bit. If I sleep too much in the afternoon, I won’t be able to sleep well at night.”

Nan Xi thought her reasoning made sense and put her phone away again.

Then she urged, “Alright, then I won’t talk to you anymore. Go to sleep right now.”

Her words seemed to carry some kind of magic.

Mu Xi knew she shouldn’t indulge in sleep like this. She tried to focus her thoughts, if she didn’t accompany Nan Xi today, wouldn’t this be the first time Nan Xi had gone out alone since returning to the country? But then again, she was only supposed to accompany her to the school gates anyway. After that, Nan Xi would still have to walk into the school and go to the lab by herself…

A heavy drowsiness gradually eroded Mu Xi’s consciousness. Before she could even think about where Nan Xi would go next, she couldn’t resist falling asleep.

…

Nan Xi stopped the car, her hand hovering over the key. When she turned slightly, she caught sight of Mu Xi’s sleeping face.

It wasn’t the first time she’d seen it.

Mu Xi was usually so sharp, yet when her eyes were closed, she always looked so docile. Now, her head was tilted slightly to one side, toward Nan Xi’s side, and her dark hair slid gently along with the tilt, covering half her cheek while the other half remained sweetly serene.

Nan Xi watched her quietly for a while.

If she remembered correctly, Mu Xi was a rather deep sleeper.

The memory was a bit distant, so she couldn’t be entirely sure.

Still, she reached out and gently tucked the loose strands of hair behind Mu Xi’s ear, her touch feather-light.

Mu Xi didn’t stir, she really was sleeping soundly.

Just like this, exactly as she remembered.

So how could Mu Xi claim she wasn’t her? She was clearly the same person.

Nan Xi’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. Taking advantage of Mu Xi’s unawareness, she leaned down slowly and brushed her lips against Mu Xi’s.

She had truly intended for it to be just a fleeting touch, but Nan Xi had underestimated the ache in her own heart.

When the soft touch of Mu Xi’s lips met hers, it felt like a dam had burst somewhere in Nan Xi’s mind. She could no longer control herself, parting her lips fiercely and biting down on Mu Xi’s mouth as if to vent her frustration.

Breathing heavily, Nan Xi sat up and looked at Mu Xi. Her lips were already flushed red from the bite, barely avoiding broken skin.

As for Mu Xi? Not only did she show no sign of pain, but she even grinned foolishly, whether she was dreaming of something wonderful or simply relishing Nan Xi’s rough treatment, it was impossible to tell.

…

Nan Xi couldn’t stay here any longer.

She left the car keys in the ignition and cracked the window slightly before grabbing her bag, quietly slipping out of the driver’s seat, carefully closing the door behind her, and walking away.

The person she longed for day and night was in that car, but they still couldn’t be together.

Expressionless, Nan Xi walked from the university parking lot toward the lab building, her bag in hand. The distance wasn’t far, but it wasn’t short either. People glanced at her along the way, but she paid them no mind.

The lab was the same as before, but before entering, Nan Xi first ducked into the restroom at the end of the hallway. She splashed cold water on her face several times before finally lifting her head to stare at the madwoman in the mirror.

Her eyes were slightly red, veins faintly visible, something she could blame on a poor night’s sleep, as Mu Xi had just taught her.

With three minutes left before her work hours began, Nan Xi put on her lab coat and entered the lab.

This was her first day back at the university lab. Yu Yacheng hadn’t assigned her too many tasks, focusing instead on letting her readjust and reacquaint herself.

Even though the work was already second nature to her, Nan Xi tackled it with absolute seriousness.

In this way, she was much like Mu Xi, utterly professional and fully absorbed in her work. The difference was that Nan Xi came off as cold and unapproachable.

She had never been one for socializing, and when working, she became even more detached.

Yu Yacheng’s lab was among the top in the field of organic chemistry in the country, aligning perfectly with her research focus. Working here for a year before assembling her own team would be immensely beneficial for Nan Xi.

Nan Zhian had built her a world-class research environment, Nan Lian had recruited the finest scientific talents from around the globe for her, now, it was up to Nan Xi herself to prove she had the leading-edge capabilities to match.

Not a single word left Nan Xi’s lips, even as her goggles left red marks on her delicate skin. That day, she only exchanged a few discussions with Yu Yacheng and spoke briefly with Tong An’an, whom she already knew. Beyond that, she had no interactions with anyone else.

At noon, a shy junior approached her to ask if she wanted to eat together. Nan Xi handed over her meal card but immediately declined, leaving the lab building alone to buy bread from a convenience store.

As she chewed on the dry bread, Nan Xi glanced at her phone. No messages from Mu Xi.

…Still not awake?

Fine. Then she would message Mu Xi first.

In their barren chat window, Nan Xi typed:

“Had lunch yet?”

This way, even if Mu Xi hadn’t woken up yet, she’d have to report back about her meal once she did.

After a moment’s thought, Nan Xi snapped a photo of her half-eaten bread and sent it:

“My lunch.”

With that done, Nan Xi’s mood instantly brightened.

She finished the bread, drank some milk, then stood up from the window-side seat in the convenience store and slowly made her way toward the lab building.

When would Mu Xi reply to her message?

If she was doing experiments, she wouldn’t check her phone. So, if she sent a message and he didn’t reply, would he feel uneasy?

…

The sun was still quite strong. Tomorrow, it’d be best to have Mu Xi bring an umbrella when they went out.

No, maybe she should bring it herself.

Mu Xi (after waking up) (seeing Nan Xi’s message):

Oh no, I let the young miss eat that for lunch? If Madam finds out, she’ll kill me…