The Guide to Faking Innocence to Win His Wife - Chapter 27

Later that night, a drizzling rain began to fall over Jiang Town. The hazy raindrops condensed into a mist, and the white fog roughly traced the silhouettes of the mountains.

The sound of footsteps ascending step by step was masked by the rain. It wasn’t until a knock sounded at the door that Xie Zhiyi realized someone was there. She stood up to open it.

“Have you been drinking?”

Xie Zhiyi sat back down on the edge of the bed. Perhaps because it was so late and she assumed Jiang Zhongmu wouldn’t come tonight, she had changed back into her silk nightgown. It was a deep forest green that rippled with light, perfectly draping over her curves and exposing the elegant lines of her neck and shoulders.

Jiang Zhongmu placed the medicinal powder on the table and set the bottle of wine she was carrying on the floor. As if possessed, she gave a soft grunt of affirmation.

In truth, she hadn’t been drinking. She didn’t particularly like things that were useless to consume, scratched the throat, caused headaches, and led to uncontrollable actions. It was just that her heart had been troubled this afternoon. Not wanting to lose her temper in front of Xie Zhiyi, she had left after a few brief words to hide at Jiang Nankai’s house and contemplate life.

As it turned out, that guy was unreliable. He had dragged Jiang Nanlei and Jiang Nanzheng along to stir-fry a few small dishes, and they sat in the courtyard eating and drinking, soaking Jiang Zhongmu in the scent of alcohol.

“Alcohol isn’t a good thing. Drink less,” Xie Zhiyi said after a pause, her thoughts unreadable.

“Okay,” Jiang Zhongmu nodded. her voice was muffled and her expression gloomy, appearing exceptionally stifled under the dim desk lamp.

Xie Zhiyi didn’t say anything else. Since she intended to distance herself, she shouldn’t offer a single shred of hope. Even that piece of advice just now felt like crossing a line, but it was a professional habit; she couldn’t stand seeing a kid drinking.

A stool was pulled to the bedside, and Jiang Zhongmu sat down.

On the other side, Xie Zhiyi didn’t retreat under the covers. She didn’t know why the weather was so oppressive; it was only a light drizzle, yet the heat was as stifling as being trapped inside a furnace. Even a thin silk gown felt like too much, and the quilt had been pushed to the foot of the bed. She lay half-reclined.

Though she wasn’t as tall as Jiang Zhongmu, her proportions were excellent, with long legs and a slender waist. One leg was bent while the other dangled off the side of the bed, swaying slightly. Her posture was improper, a mix of idleness and languor, radiating an intoxicating charm.

“Will you apply the patch yourself?” Jiang Zhongmu glanced at the nightgown.

Xie Zhiyi nodded in agreement.

Jiang Zhongmu immediately turned around to face the white void of the window. After a moment, the rustle of fabric came from behind her, followed by the familiar scent of Sichuan peppercorns.

Jiang Zhongmu didn’t move. Her thin back was held so straight that if someone had measured it with a ruler, it wouldn’t have deviated by a single centimeter. The glass window reflected a faint shadow—it wasn’t clear, but the forest green was eye-catching, a blurred smudge against the dark.

She watched it for a while, then looked down at the floor. With her shadow falling behind her, she could only stare at the messy patterns of the tiles. Finally, a sound came from behind.

“I’m done.”

Jiang Zhongmu was a beat slow to react before she slowly turned around. Silk fabric was prone to wrinkling, and it was no longer as smooth as before; it was covered in messy creases, and the thin strap on her rounded shoulder had slipped down at an angle.

Following the old routine, Jiang Zhongmu pressed her palms together and rubbed them. It wasn’t actually necessary; her palms were burning hot. The colder the weather, the hotter they felt, like a small stove that adjusted to the climate. But she did it anyway, as if to soothe her own nervousness.

Her palm once again rested on the flat abdomen. Even through the fabric, she could feel the delicate smoothness and the temperature that was much cooler than her own. She began to rub in circles. After only a few days, it had become a habit; her palm moved faster than her thoughts.

Neither of them spoke, letting the silence stretch. Xie Zhiyi kept her head turned toward the window. The muggy wind mixed with icy rain blew incessantly, making her feel incredibly frustrated.

Grandmother downstairs had already turned off the lights and gone to bed. She had been furious this afternoon, thinking Jiang Zhongmu was too playful and unreliable. What kind of logic was it to abandon a guest and sneak out to play alone, refusing to come home for dinner? She had sat on the first floor waiting until Jiang Zhongmu snuck back, giving her a severe scolding and urging her to go upstairs to apologize to Xie Zhiyi. She had only just lay down.

Without those previous flirtatious thoughts, time moved agonizingly slow, like a glutinous rice ball crawling across the floor. No matter how much it was pulled, only a tiny bit of time passed. It was maddeningly slow.

Finally, Jiang Zhongmu took the initiative to speak. After hesitating for a long time, she blurted out a stiff sentence: “It’s the same bayberry wine as last time. Don’t drink too much at once.”

With her previous experiences, Xie Zhiyi naturally nodded in agreement. Once the sound of her voice faded, there was no reason to speak again. Xie Zhiyi looked at the bottled wine on the floor, her eyes unreadable and her heart filled with an indiscernible feeling.

It was a strange thing. When someone tries to control you, you find it annoying; but when they stop, you find yourself unable to adjust. Perhaps humans are simply prone to such contradictions.

“Do you still need ice cubes?” she suddenly asked.

Jiang Zhongmu’s hand on the abdomen stopped before she answered, “No.” As if to prove her honesty, she added, “Since your stomach started hurting, I haven’t frozen any ice.”

Xie Zhiyi nodded and said, “Alright then, can I have a glass?”

Jiang Zhongmu didn’t speak, acting like a wooden block. Xie Zhiyi felt a spark of annoyance and kicked her. “What? You can drink but your Sister can’t?” She emphasized the word “Sister” to assert her status.

This time Jiang Zhongmu didn’t stop her. Her voice remained heavy. “You can.”

With that, she stood up to get a glass. She lifted the bottle with one hand and poured. The glass filled with purple-red liquid, sloshing around and releasing the sweet scent of bayberries. Jiang Zhongmu handed it to her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The conversation was polite and stiff. Ever since the talk this afternoon, their relationship had fallen to freezing point. The person who had tried so hard to get close now stood still, letting the other drift away. it felt utterly powerless.

Her hand returned to the abdomen. Jiang Zhongmu kept her head down, staring at the floor, saying nothing. In the semi-darkness, the hand holding the wine glass was slender and fair, stained with a hint of crimson. Jiang Zhongmu’s hand grew hot, then cold. She rubbed it a few times and pressed it back until the set alarm suddenly went off.

Jiang Zhongmu withdrew her hand without a moment’s delay.

Xie Zhiyi spoke up: “About this afternoon…”

“I know what you meant,” Jiang Zhongmu interrupted directly. Like a stray puppy, her eyebrows drooped dejectedly.

Xie Zhiyi found herself with nothing to say. she drank her wine in silence. In this ambiguous relationship, the elder always had to bear more. Even if it wasn’t her own doing, she still felt guilty.

Jiang Zhongmu sat there without moving, and Xie Zhiyi didn’t ask her to leave. They remained in a stalemate. The fine rain outside was continuous, as if it would never end, blurring everything in the world. At this time, the happiest ones were the little fish in the river, coming up to blow bubbles.

The glass was completely empty. The alcohol was starting to take effect, and a soft crimson flush appeared on her fair skin. Her originally gentle appearance now transformed into a delicious allure. But she was unaware of it, her mind becoming hazy. She wanted to stop thinking about everything, letting the alcohol take over.

Jiang Zhongmu shifted her foot, intentionally pressing it against the sole of Xie Zhiyi’s dangling foot. A protruding vein throbbed, transmitting her heartbeat. Xie Zhiyi only glanced at her sideways, neither stopping her nor responding. Her watery eyes were calm and waveless, like a still lake.

Jiang Zhongmu didn’t dare look at her. She just stared at the floor. A woman pampered in a good family had delicate skin that had never been weathered by the elements—soft, warm, and more lustrous than the finest mutton-fat jade.

Jiang Zhongmu became even more emboldened. The top of her foot pressed tightly against the other’s sole. She was just that kind of person—give her a little tolerance or a small advantage, and she would take a mile. Like a wild leopard on the savanna driven by the greed of survival, she wanted to lick the prey’s bones clean and swallow them whole.

Xie Zhiyi felt the heat and intentionally lifted her foot. Jiang Zhongmu followed it upward. The forest green skirt rippled like the shade of a tree in high summer, becoming increasingly enticing. A glimpse of fair, slender ankle showed a hint of blue vein, and further down was the redness caused by the friction.

Jiang Zhongmu’s skin was burning hot for some unknown reason. She pressed so close that Xie Zhiyi retreated again and again, until finally, the mischievous little leopard wrapped both feet around hers, leaving her with no chance to resist.

A person who is tipsy is at their most listless. Unable to resist, she stopped trying and simply stared into space, her gaze unfocused. Seeing this, Jiang Zhongmu didn’t dare move further. She was bold enough to keep approaching after being rejected, yet timid enough to freeze at the slightest sign of trouble—a complex contradiction.

Finally, Xie Zhiyi spoke languidly: “Can it not be changed?”

The person opposite her was momentarily stunned before slowly realizing what she was talking about. Her eyes darkened as she asked back, “Can you change it?”

Xie Zhiyi’s lips curled into a smirk, though it was unclear if she was mocking herself or the other. Her tone was inexplicably suppressed. “If it can be changed, then change it. This road is not an easy one to walk.”

“It really isn’t,” Jiang Zhongmu smiled, her expression filled with a touch of melancholy.

“So…” she tried to continue, but Jiang Zhongmu cut her off.

“But you also know it can’t be changed.” The girl looked up, her light amber eyes reflecting a shattered light, like broken glass candy on the ground.

“Those people today were all quite good to you,” Xie Zhiyi tried to struggle.

“All of them? If I hadn’t beaten them into submission back then, do you think they’d be like this now?” Jiang Zhongmu’s expression suddenly darkened.

“Then… Xiao-Xun and the others?” She wasn’t used to calling a stranger so intimately, so she faltered slightly.

“Jiang Nanxun,” Jiang Zhongmu said his full name, then added bluntly, “I feel nothing for him.”

“Then who do you have feelings for?” Xie Zhiyi was indeed a bit drunk; the words came out before she could think, and she instantly froze.

The answer was the look Jiang Zhongmu gave her naked, undisguised heat, as if to say you are the prey I’ve set my sights on. The little leopard finally dropped her mask, stepping onto her prey with velvet paws, expressing her possessiveness without reservation.

“You…” Xie Zhiyi suddenly didn’t know what to say. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh and mumbled something incoherent.

Jiang Zhongmu didn’t hear clearly. She leaned in close, letting out a questioning sound.

“Do you want to know why I came here a second time?” Xie Zhiyi paused and then rephrased: “Do you want to know about my past?”

The foot pressed against the sole of the other’s foot trembled. Almost the next second, she spoke: “I do.”

Xie Zhiyi gave a strange smile and said, “Give me another glass of wine then.”

This time, Jiang Zhongmu couldn’t say no.

The night grew thicker, and the rain showed no sign of stopping. Grandmother downstairs turned over, falling into a deeper sleep. The glass was filled and emptied once again.

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