Still Secretly In Love With My Enemy Today - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: 

 

“When did I ever say I wanted to get married?”

 

“Was it not you who said it?” Senior Sister Chen’s eyes widened instantly. “What do you mean? Are you backing out? Planning to abandon him after leading him on? What did you say to me back then?”

 

Xie Huaishuang stood to the side, looking utterly bewildered. His brow furrowed, then relaxed, then furrowed again.

 

Abandoning him after leading him on?!

 

I immediately denied it: “I didn’t… that’s not it!”

 

“Then what do you mean?” Senior Sister Chen pointed a finger at me. “Be direct. Are you with him or not?”

 

“…I am.”

 

“Xiao Xie, you tell me,” Senior Sister Chen suddenly called out.

 

Being put on the spot, Xie Huaishuang blinked rapidly. “Hmm?”

 

“What is the situation between you two? Does he like you? Is he good to you? Do you like him? Think carefully and give me the truth.”

 

A flush crept up behind Xie Huaishuang’s ears. He lowered his gaze. “…He is very good.”

 

“Then what nonsense are you spouting?” Senior Sister Chen shot me a glare. “I think you’ve lost your mind. Xiao Xie, don’t mind him; he gets like this sometimes.”

 

“…”

 

Xie Huaishuang still looked confused. He glanced at me, then turned his gaze back to her. “Vice City Lord, I…”

 

“Why so formal? Just be like him and call me Senior Sister.”

 

“…Senior Sister.” Xie Huaishuang’s brow knitted slightly. “My previous identity…”

 

“I know. You don’t need to say more.” Senior Sister Chen raised her hand to stop him. “That’s in the past. That place… it’s not a happy subject, so we won’t bring it up again.” She smiled. “The fault lies with that place, not with you. Rest assured, no one here will make things difficult for you because of that.”

 

Had she really just brushed over the Temple chapter that easily? This was better than the best-case scenario I had imagined.

 

I was still a bit uneasy. “Senior Sister, you guys… really don’t care at all?”

 

Iron Cloud City usually gnashed its teeth at the mention of the Temple. Since when had they become so open-minded and inclusive?

 

Before I could finish, I was glared at again.

 

“Say one more word like that,” Senior Sister Chen threatened, “and watch out for the whip.”

 

Fine. I didn’t understand it, but it was a good thing regardless.

 

…

 

I hadn’t been back to my residence in Iron Cloud City for two months. It was much more spacious than our temporary lodging in Hengzhou, and the furniture was far more complete.

 

However, it still felt too simple for Xie Huaishuang.

 

“See if there’s anything missing,” I said, trying to gauge his expression. “I’ll go buy it tomorrow.”

 

Xie Huaishuang was looking up, his hand reaching out to touch the leaves overhead one by one. His sleeves fell back to his elbows, and the swaying shadows of the trees danced across his wrists.

 

“Is anything missing?”

 

Xie Huaishuang turned to look at me. “Isn’t this already very good?”

 

Before I left, I had asked Senior Brother He to look after my plants. It was late spring now; the flowers had mostly faded, leaving a yard of deep and pale greens that perfectly framed Xie Huaishuang in his green robes.

 

“This is where I used to live alone. I wasn’t very particular… it’s too plain.”

 

I took Xie Huaishuang’s hand and led him over the shadows into the house to show him around. This is the armory—too messy, don’t look yet. This is the bedroom—I’ll replace the curtains and the plain screens. I’ll get gauze curtains embroidered with silver thread to look like rolling clouds, with long tassels. The screens will have detailed paintings of misty valleys and bustling flowers and birds.

 

Xie Huaishuang just smiled, watching me from the green shadows under the window as if he were veiled in a layer of mist.

 

“So detailed—when did you plan all this?”

 

I felt there was a deeper meaning to his question.

 

“I didn’t,” I feigned ignorance. “I just thought of it now.”

 

In reality, I had been mulling it over for a month. But why tell him that? It would make me look like I spend too much time overthinking.

 

“Just now, was it?” Xie Huaishuang’s smile deepened. He leaned against the table behind him. “And what about what Senior Sister said earlier? What was that about?”

 

How should I know?

 

Senior Sister Chen and I were close, but I didn’t think we were that close. I had only confessed my feelings to Xie Huaishuang a few days ago; how did she conclude that I had been waiting two months to marry him? She couldn’t possibly know my mind better than I did.

 

Xie Huaishuang looked at me, his eyes shimmering green. “What exactly… did you tell her?”

 

I thought and thought but couldn’t find an answer, so I told the truth. “I don’t know—I only said I was bringing you back.”

 

“I thought…” Xie Huaishuang didn’t finish. He smiled again, his lashes fluttering. “Never mind. It’s the same either way.”

 

He turned to fiddle with the flower pots under the window. I finally realized what he had been trying to ask all along.

 

“I definitely liked you first.” I pulled his hands into mine, satisfied when his fingertips rested in my palm. I’m standing right here; why are you touching those leaves? “It was definitely earlier than you think.”

 

Xie Huaishuang didn’t say anything, only smiled. “Who asked you?”

 

I would definitely have to ask Senior Sister for clarification later. But for now, there was no need to explain.

 

Xie Huaishuang stayed in the east room for a long time. It wasn’t large, but on sunny days, it was filled with light. I used it as a study. He sat in a chair, looking at the shelves filled with books. “Do you have this many books?”

 

He seemed to like them, so I made a mental note: Xie Huaishuang likes having lots of books. I’ll buy every good one I find.

 

“You can read whatever you like.”

 

“Anything?”

 

As soon as I nodded, my heart sank. What if he spent all day buried in books, ignoring me in the morning, the afternoon, and the night?

 

Of course, it’s not that I’m one of those people who gets completely lost in love, with nothing but Xie Huaishuang in my heart and mind. I’m still clear-headed and have work to do. I just felt that Xie Huaishuang needed to interact more with people—specifically, with me.

 

As I was calculating, I heard him laugh. It was a low, suppressed sound that he couldn’t quite hold back. I looked up and saw him flipping through an old book he had pulled randomly from a shelf.

 

I glanced at where he’d taken it. That shelf was for books on sword design and modification. What was so funny?

 

I asked him, “What are you laughing at?”

 

Xie Huaishuang immediately closed the book and tried to tuck it into his robe. “Nothing—I’m taking this back to read tonight.”

 

In a flash, I saw the cover. It was the Record of Swords, a book I’d gotten when I was seventeen. I’d read it a few times; nothing special.

 

What on earth was he laughing at?

 

…

 

The place hadn’t been lived in for months, so it took me two hours to clean and settle in. By the time I was finished, night had fallen.

 

Xie Huaishuang had been dragged out to buy candy by Dali and several other chattering apprentices. I had followed them to make sure they actually took him to the market before returning to fix the bedding.

 

—When I used it myself, I didn’t think much of it. Now, I kept being picky, thinking things weren’t soft enough or pretty enough. I remembered thinking they were perfectly fine before. Strange.

 

When I lit the lamp, I saw Xie Huaishuang push open the courtyard gate, carrying a food box.

 

“I bought some food.”

 

He took out the items one by one; they were still steaming. I noticed his face was still slightly flushed, likely from rushing back. No wonder some of my senior brothers and sisters stopped hanging out with us as much after they got married. I used to despise such “abandoning friends for love” behavior, but now I felt it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

 

—In fact, it made a lot of sense!

 

Xie Huaishuang looked up. “Why are you looking at me? Aren’t you eating?”

 

I wasn’t just going to look at him now; I was going to look at him while eating, after eating, and right up until I closed my eyes to sleep.

 

Xie Huaishuang went silent for a moment before remarking, “As long as you’re happy.”

 

That evening, Xie Huaishuang didn’t do much else. He sat there reading the Record of Swords he had taken earlier. When I entered the bedroom after bathing, I saw him leaning against the headboard with his hair down, still flipping through that book by the lamp. He only glanced up at me briefly before turning another page.

 

Was it really that interesting?

 

“Let me see.”

 

As I leaned in, he lifted the book higher and used his other hand to push my shoulder. “What are you looking at?”

 

“It’s my book. Why can’t I look?”

 

He didn’t move, just glanced at me. “You must see it?”

 

“I must.”

 

I recognized that expression on his face. He looked like that whenever he was about to do something mischievous—eyes narrowed slightly, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

 

I watched him lower his hand. With two fingers, he held open the thin book to a page describing two famous swords. There was nothing…

 

Wait.

 

I saw two lines of small, scribbled characters on the margin. The strokes were slightly shaky—my handwriting from when I was seventeen.

 

“Very similar to the High Priest’s sword.”

 

“That damnable High Priest. Exchanged 329 moves with me last month. I wonder if he looks down on me.”

 

“His left arm seems injured. I asked half a question, but he wouldn’t listen. I will definitely capture him next time.”

 

With a trembling hand, I flipped the page. This time, I hadn’t just stuffed six lines into a corner; I had mentioned the “damnable High Priest” nine times and drawn two little sword-fighting stick figures that were highly unrealistic.

 

I slammed the book shut. Xie Huaishuang’s smiling eyes appeared from behind it.

 

“Why stop reading?”

 

I had completely forgotten about my habit of writing random annotations. There were hundreds of books on that shelf; over ten years, the words “damnable High Priest” must have appeared ten thousand times.

 

“…Is that what you were reading?”

 

Xie Huaishuang gave an affirmative hum, pulled the book from my hand, set it aside, and cupped my face with both hands.

 

“You are truly…”

 

I didn’t know if he thought I was childish or if he misunderstood and thought I actually hated him back then. My voice was muffled as I asked, “I am truly what?”

 

His green eyes were suddenly right in front of mine. When Xie Huaishuang wasn’t drunk, his kisses were always light, like a flower petal brushing by.

 

“Truly the best person in the whole world.”