I Am Her Secret Beauty - Chapter 79

Nan Xi loved being praised.

Especially by Mu Xi, especially when praised in such a sincere tone.

It filled her with a glorious sense of accomplishment, making Mu Xi acknowledge and rely on her, greatly reducing the likelihood of Mu Xi leaving her.

Nan Xi was overjoyed, turning her head to plant loud, smacking kisses on Mu Xi’s cheek.

Each of them showering the other with kisses, they ended up somehow moving and tumbling onto the bed. The soft blankets enveloped them like a misty forest, hazy and indistinct.

Nan Xi, squinting her eyes, was about to say something when she heard Mu Xi speak:

“Do you want to do it?”

What kind of question was that?

Nan Xi, rarely showing hesitation, decided to act a bit more composed this time and handed the initiative back to her: “Do you want to?”

“No,” Mu Xi replied immediately.

She felt that on a night like this, after overcoming hardships and finally being able to sleep in each other’s arms, if it were just about venting desires…

It would be too impure.

Mu Xi was a person of unwavering devotion; she truly just wanted to hold Nan Xi and sleep soundly.

After all, Nan Xi had to get up for work the next morning.

“Oh, I don’t really want to either,” Nan Xi said calmly, squeezing her hand. “But I don’t want to sleep right away either. I want to spend a little more time with you.”

Such moments between the two of them were pure.

Mu Xi smiled, clasping Nan Xi’s hand in return and slowly rubbing it in her palm until the fingers turned slightly red.

Nan Xi didn’t mind, as it didn’t hurt, it just felt warm, and that was nice.

“Xiao Ji helped me sneak in today. Mom and the others probably won’t find out for a while,” Nan Xi said, letting her play with her hand while discussing plans. “So, I’ll leave before they wake up. Maybe we can keep sneaking around like this… under the radar.”

Mu Xi had heard Xiao Ji’s voice outside the door and knew she had helped them.

“So, what time does the housekeeper usually wake up in the morning?”

Mu Xi, having once been the Nan family’s housekeeper herself, reflexively answered, “Six o’clock.”

“So early,” Nan Xi sighed. “It’s already half past midnight. Let’s not sleep, then.”

“Not sleep?”

Hearing this, Mu Xi forgot she was still holding Nan Xi’s hand and bolted upright in bed. “How can that be? You have to go to A University tomorrow, and your health is already weak…”

Mu Xi spoke with righteous urgency, forgetting that just a few days ago, she had also stayed up all night for a childish reason.

Back then, Nan Xi hadn’t been as frantic, simply insisting that she make up for the lost sleep.

Nan Xi silently pulled her hand back, deliberately opposing her. “But I feel wide awake. And just for one night, it should be fine, right?”

Mu Xi knelt on the bed, inching closer to her. Nan Xi lay on her side, looking unconcerned as she played with her own hair, not meeting Mu Xi’s gaze but staring at her own wavy ends.

Her hair was beautiful too, curly and flowing. When Mu Xi walked behind her, she often found herself unconsciously watching Nan Xi’s hair, how it bounced slightly with her steps before settling, like swaying branches.

If she didn’t sleep, even that beautiful hair would suffer.

“Even so, shouldn’t we avoid anything that harms our health whenever possible? Lack of sleep is bad for the heart…”

Mu Xi delivered an impassioned speech, hoping her well-reasoned arguments would lull Nan Xi into a quick slumber. Instead, Nan Xi simply gazed at her with a smile and abruptly interrupted:

“Let’s play a game of chess.”

Mu Xi: “What?”

“If you win, I’ll sleep. If I win, I’ll stay up late.”

The room was so well-equipped that even chess sets were readily available, with every variety imaginable.

Nan Zhiya was particularly fond of chess, so the Nan household kept boxes of chess sets in every corner, a distinctive feature of their home decor.

Mu Xi selected the simplest game from the shelf: Gomoku. She thought to herself that she’d quickly defeat Nan Xi and send her off to bed. If she lost… well, she could always resort to cheating later.

The board and black-and-white pieces were laid out on the table. Nan Xi elegantly took a seat opposite Mu Xi and chose the black pieces.

Moonlight streamed in through the window as the two found themselves inexplicably engaged in a chess match by the windowsill.

Neither truly knew the other’s skill level. Mu Xi assumed Nan Xi, being clever, would excel at such intellectual games. Nan Xi, on the other hand, believed Mu Xi possessed strategic acumen, making her a natural at chess.

For some reason, both treated the game with unexpected seriousness.

Nan Xi, playing black, made the first move, placing a piece squarely in the center of the board.

Mu Xi followed suit but deviated from conventional strategy, placing her white piece in a corner of the board.

“?”

Nan Xi furrowed her brows in confusion but paid it no mind, simply placing another black piece beside her first move.

Mu Xi hurriedly placed her next white piece adjacent to the black one, blocking its path.

From then on, the game settled into a standard Gomoku match.

Due to her initial misstep, Mu Xi grew increasingly focused, forgetting her original plan to end the game quickly. She often held a piece for a long time, staring intently at the board as if pondering some profound strategy rather than a simple game of Gomoku.

Nan Xi waited impatiently for her to make a move but soon found Mu Xi’s look of deep concentration rather… captivating.

Moreover, it was different from the overly humble and submissive demeanor Mu Xi had as a butler, a demeanor Nan Xi hadn’t particularly liked.

Nan Xi preferred seeing her like this: strategizing, fully absorbed, and most importantly, on equal footing. Mu Xi’s sharp facial features and deep-set eyes made her look intelligent and distinguished when she was focused.

Yet, despite appearing clever, Mu Xi swiftly lost the match. Nan Xi’s black pieces easily formed an unbroken line.

Nan Xi almost laughed aloud. Had Mu Xi been deliberately stalling just to prolong her defeat?

“…Go ahead and laugh if you want. Holding it in isn’t good for your health.”

Unwilling to see Nan Xi suppress a smile, Mu Xi stood up and quietly tidied the chessboard and pieces, returning them to the shelf. Meanwhile, she pondered how she could renege on their deal and convince Nan Xi to sleep.

Her experience in cheating was limited, and having a thin skin at a time like this was far from ideal.

She slowly made her way to the bedside, her head lowered. No matter how she looked at it, going back on their agreement felt terribly unfair. Yet, she genuinely wished for Nan Xi to get at least some rest so she wouldn’t doze off in the lab tomorrow…

“I’m going to cheat.”

Nan Xi was already lying in bed, speaking to the ceiling.

For a moment, Mu Xi felt disoriented. If not for the familiarity of Nan Xi’s voice, she might have wondered if her mouth had acted without consulting her brain.

“Cheat how?”

Nan Xi sounded a little embarrassed herself.

But only a little, so she didn’t look at Mu Xi, her cheeks flushed: “Let’s just do it, and then we can sleep…”

?

Mu Xi’s mind went blank for a moment.

She stared at Nan Xi, puzzled and struggling to understand, for quite a while, noticing that Nan Xi maintained that seemingly embarrassed expression and refused to meet her gaze.

Only then did she finally understand.

Mu Xi was so exasperated she didn’t know what to say. She quickly walked to the other side of the bed and sat down, then gritted her teeth and spoke: “Nan Xi, if you had just said you wanted to do it from the start, I would have done it. Why did you have to be so… roundabout? I knew I’d never seen you show any interest in playing chess before.”

And then there was the fuss about refusing to sleep.

She should have guessed earlier that Nan Xi had something on her mind, after all, Nan Xi was usually the most eager to sleep.

As she spoke, she began unbuttoning her shirt, her tone coaxing as if speaking to a child: “Then let’s finish quickly and go to sleep, okay?”

“?” Hearing Mu Xi’s tone, Nan Xi finally grew flustered and angry, her face red as she put on a fierce expression. “What do you mean by that? It’s like… like you’re unwilling or something!”

“…So, what did you mean earlier when you said you didn’t want to do it? Was it because you were too tired from what happened this afternoon?”

Come to think of it, Mu Xi had also been standing at the bottom of the stairs for two or three hours.

Even if she wasn’t tired, she must have felt wronged.

But since Nan Xi had already gone this far, Mu Xi had no choice but to comply!

Nan Xi angrily got up, flipped over, and sat on Mu Xi’s abdomen, fighting to unbutton her shirt.

She had only undone three buttons when, seeing Mu Xi’s stunned expression, she lowered her head and bit down…

“!!!”

Mu Xi covered her face in pain. Though she was a bit tougher than most people, that didn’t mean she could be bitten anywhere.

Peeking through her fingers at Nan Xi, she noticed Nan Xi’s eyes were red, and her face was flushed to an unusual degree.

A suspicion formed in Mu Xi’s mind.

Without a word, she reached behind Nan Xi’s neck and quietly removed her gland patch. Instantly, the room filled with a deep, rich fragrance, overwhelmingly intense.

“Did your heat cycle come early?” Mu Xi asked in surprise. Judging by Nan Xi’s state, she probably hadn’t even realized it herself.

That afternoon, during her conversation with Nan Zhiya, Nan Xi had likely been tense the entire time, ignoring the changes in her body.

If she hadn’t come to find Mu Xi tonight, and if Xiao Ji hadn’t helped open Mu Xi’s door, Nan Xi would probably have had to wake up in the middle of the night to inject suppressants.

Nan Xi slumped weakly against Mu Xi. Once the gland patch was removed, she collapsed and couldn’t get up again, lacking the strength to respond to Mu Xi’s words.

Only then did she belatedly realize that the longing she felt to see Mu Xi was partly tied to her physiology.

If she had known earlier, she should have done as Mu Xi suggested and started right when she entered the room. Why bother with playing Gomoku?

Nan Xi clung to Mu Xi, kissing her wildly, and in her daze, she caught the familiar scent of bitter orange.

Heh… and here she thought Mu Xi didn’t want to do it.

In the end, the night was no longer pure.

Suddenly, it felt like they were back to the days when Mu Xi was still working as the housekeeper and they defined their relationship as a secret affair, Mu Xi under confinement with a disheveled Nan Xi lying on top of her, refusing to get down no matter what Mu Xi said.

It wasn’t entirely impossible.

But Mu Xi was worried Nan Xi would get tired. After all, Nan Xi had to work tomorrow morning, an unavoidable reality.

The unemployed vagrant couldn’t help but feel for her steadily employed partner. Holding Nan Xi by the waist with both hands, she kissed her and let her lean against her raised legs to make it easier for her.

“Are you doing this willingly?” Nan Xi tilted her head back, pressing relentlessly.

Mu Xi: “Willing to do what?”

“Right now, like this.”

Mu Xi followed her gaze downward. The scene could only be described as indecent, something that would be unacceptable in any setting, so vulgar it couldn’t even be dressed up as “art.”

Yet here they were, having gone this far.

“…With my pants already off, could I possibly be forced?”

“Pants can always be put back on.” Nan Xi’s words were slightly slurred, but she persisted stubbornly, “If you’re reluctant, then let’s not continue.”

But if Mu Xi actually dared to “not continue,” Nan Xi would never let her off the hook.

Mu Xi knew her well.

Without physical demonstration to prove her point, there would be no way out.

“Then see for yourself whether I’m reluctant or not.”