The Beautiful Wife I Picked Up Is A Little Mute - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Smile a Little

Ji Hanyue could only suppress the swirling emotions in his heart as he drove out of the parking lot. The phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

“Are you free tomorrow? We could have lunch together.”

It was from Yuan Zixuan.

They had caught a brief glimpse of each other at the ancestral home, but the encounter was cut short by an unexpected incident. He hadn’t even had time to clearly see the other’s face. Later, at a meal specifically arranged by his father, the two had merely exchanged polite pleasantries. After exchanging contact information like completing a task, there had been no further interaction. The names of Omegas lying in his contact list had long since gathered dust. Ji Hanyue clearly hadn’t expected Yuan Zixuan to reach out again.

In the passenger seat, Xie Mo had nothing to do. He was preoccupied with his own fingers, repeatedly intertwining and releasing them. It seemed that whenever Xie Mo was with him, he was always like this—completely listless.

Ji Hanyue recalled that night. When Xie Mo followed Tang Yingrui away, his eyes had been filled with vivid light, like two flickering flames. It was entirely different from now.

Ji Hanyue felt a surge of inexplicable irritability. He tapped on the keyboard with one hand and agreed to Yuan Zixuan’s request.

“Pick a restaurant and send it to me. I’m free tomorrow at noon.”

— “Great Smile Emoji”

When sending the message, Ji Hanyue didn’t try to hide it from Xie Mo; in fact, he even tilted the screen slightly toward him. But Xie Mo had no reaction at all. He only caught a stray glance before listlessly shifting his gaze away.

“…Xie Mo,” Ji Hanyue suppressed his rising anger, gritting his name through clenched teeth.

Xie Mo turned his head at the sound, his eyes filled with confusion.

Ji Hanyue felt even angrier. “What were you just thinking about?”

Xie Mo fished his phone out from his padded coat, the cold light of the screen illuminating his focused features. After a moment, a line of neat text was held up before Ji Hanyue’s eyes:

“I haven’t seen snow for several days. The last time it snowed was half a month ago. Although it has gotten colder lately, the sky doesn’t look like it’s going to snow.”

“…Didn’t I tell you? I’ll take you to Finland after the New Year,” Ji Hanyue’s throat bobbed. “The snow there is much heavier than in City A.”

Xie Mo was very sincere because he truly liked the idea. He typed: “Thank you.”

Because Ren Wen was in the back seat, Ji Hanyue forcibly restrained his urge to tease or bully Xie Mo. He said with a cold face, “Only I will treat you this well.”

Xie Mo went still. He had intended to play with his phone to pass the time, but after that call from Tang Yingrui, the number had become a disconnected line. However, he hadn’t deleted the number from his contacts. He silently turned off the screen; he didn’t want to look at his phone anymore and stuffed it back into his pocket.

He drifted off while staring at the scenery outside. People were walking to and fro on the streets—roads Xie Mo had once walked himself. He had an excellent memory; he remembered exactly which shops were on which streets and which flowers were planted in the flowerbeds.

The rearview mirror reflected the back seat; Ren Wen had closed his eyes, appearing to be asleep. Xie Mo was still mentally mapping out which green belt had two stray cats when his left cheek suddenly collided with something cool and soft.

The light ahead was red, and the car had slowed to a stop. Xie Mo’s thoughts were instantly pulled back as he stared blankly at the face inches away from his. Suddenly remembering Ren Wen was still in the car, he tried to push Ji Hanyue away in a panic.

Ji Hanyue narrowed his eyes slightly, catching Xie Mo’s wrists and pinning them together. His breath fanned over Xie Mo’s reddening ear. “He’s asleep. Ignore him.”

Having said that, he nuzzled against the crook of Xie Mo’s neck. His high nose bridge made Xie Mo feel a bit itchy. Then he heard Ji Hanyue’s faint murmur: “When you’re with me, can’t you smile a bit more?”

Xie Mo thought he was about to be given another command to follow, but before he could even pull his lips into a forced smile, he was silenced by Ji Hanyue’s lips. After several bites, Ji Hanyue’s dark gaze was inches away, his voice thick with heat: “I want you to mean it. Can you?”

Xie Mo’s lip bore a faint, blurry tooth mark; he unconsciously pursed them. Just then, the light turned green. Ji Hanyue brushed against the corner of his mouth like a dragonfly skimming water. Simultaneously, he stepped lightly on the gas, and the car slid forward.

There was no response to that question. Or rather, Xie Mo didn’t know how to answer. So far, he couldn’t bring himself to love Ji Hanyue, but if he were to say he hated him, that wasn’t true either.

“Hate” is too extreme a word. It is hard to love someone for a long time; similarly, it is hard to hate someone forever. When he was being forced to obey commands, Xie Mo felt he hated him. But when Ji Hanyue led his people to pull him out of that terrifying casino, Xie Mo felt grateful.

In the blink of an eye, they reached the university. The afternoon professional classes were usually sparsely attended, and it happened to clash with Ren Wen’s own class schedule. Ji Hanyue had originally planned to drop Xie Mo off at the dorm to let him entertain himself for a while, intending to pick him up later for the evening sign language class to keep him company. But watching Ren Wen’s retreating figure as he headed toward the dorms, Ji Hanyue’s eyes flickered, and he suddenly changed his mind.

He led Xie Mo directly into the classroom.

Only when he was at school did Xie Mo’s eyes regain some of their animation. However, upon entering the room, he realized it was small and cramped—completely different from the spacious, bright lecture hall they had been in last time.

Ji Hanyue propped his chin on his hand while his other hand toyed with Xie Mo’s fingers, unconsciously kneading and turning them. When the bell rang, Xie Mo realized there were only about a dozen people in the room, with large sections of seats left empty.

“If the teacher asks, just say you’re here to audit the class,” Ji Hanyue imitated Xie Mo by writing on the boy’s palm.

Xie Mo instinctively grabbed Ji Hanyue’s hand and wrote nervously: “I don’t know the subject. Can I ask you?”

Ji Hanyue withdrew his hand and shoved the textbook at him. “No.”