Chapter 30
Chu Xihuan slowly let out a breath, and the expression on her face relaxed a lot.
“It’s like this. Second sister has a shop. You can go to her shop and work with the carpenters there, and at the same time, you can learn a skill. What do you think?”
Chu Xihuan had not considered sending Lin Zhao to a jade carving shop to learn carving, but she also knew that this skill would be too much pressure for Lin Zhao. After all, jade was not a cheap object. If she ruined a carving, Lin Zhao would be heartbroken. In comparison, carpentry was more acceptable for Lin Zhao.
Lin Zhao was slightly taken aback by Chu Xihuan’s words and looked at her with a bit of disbelief.
“What, you can’t do it?” Seeing her like this, Chu Xihuan frowned slightly and looked at her with some confusion.
“No!” Lin Zhao said quickly, her eyes shining. “I just think Xihuan is too good to me!”
Not only did she help her find a job, but it was also a job with a technical skill. Lin Zhao herself knew that it was not easy for an ordinary person to learn a skill from a carpenter, but now such a good thing had fallen into her lap.
If she could learn it well, she would truly have a skill to stand on her own feet.
Her words were so cheerful that Chu Xihuan’s lips curved slightly. “Mm, it’s good that you know. See when you want to go, and I’ll take you there.”
At this, Lin Zhao was in a bit of a dilemma. Of course, she wanted to start work tomorrow, but she had also signed up to move goods at the docks tomorrow and couldn’t break her promise. “How about the day after tomorrow? I’ve already agreed to go to the docks tomorrow morning, so I’ll just go for one more day?”
At the end, Lin Zhao looked at Chu Xihuan with some difficulty, afraid that she would think she was procrastinating and being difficult.
“Alright,” Chu Xihuan agreed. “Then I’ll take you to see second sister the day after tomorrow, and then you can start learning from the master.”
“Mm-hm! I’ll definitely learn seriously and not let down Xihuan and second sister’s kindness!” Lin Zhao nodded vigorously with a determined expression. She knew how precious this opportunity was and didn’t want to embarrass Xihuan.
“Mm,” Chu Xihuan hummed softly.
The meal was eaten in silence, but neither of them felt uncomfortable. In fact, Lin Zhao was still immersed in the joy of finally having a decent job and would occasionally let out a laugh, her eyes curving into crescents, which made one’s heart soften.
Chu Xihuan watched her, thinking that this person was really easy to please.
A compliment, a full meal, or a job like this could make her smile so happily.
However, Chu Xihuan also knew that such an easily satisfied person was probably because she had received so little in the past, so little that even these small things were precious to her.
Every time she thought of this, Chu Xihuan would feel a little sad. Thinking that while she had been willful and spoiled in the company of her family, Lin Zhao had been starving and bullied in some corner, she felt a tightness in her chest.
When they went to sleep that night, Lin Zhao snuggled up to her again. When Lin Zhao cautiously and tentatively placed a leg lightly on hers, even though she had noticed this small action, Chu Xihuan finally just sighed softly in her heart and did not refuse.
This Lin Zhao… also had her little tricks.
Not receiving Chu Xihuan’s refusal, Lin Zhao’s eyes lit up slightly. She grew bolder and held Chu Xihuan tightly in her arms, inhaling her faint, pleasant fragrance. “Xihuan, you’re really so good,” she said clingily.
So good, she must be a fairy who had come down to save her.
Chu Xihuan was speechless.
So clingy.
Chu Xihuan helplessly gave her a gentle push on the head, signaling her not to be so close. She had never seen anyone as clingy as Lin Zhao before.
“Xihuan, just being close to you makes me so happy~” Lin Zhao’s voice was soft and clingy as she spoke with her eyes curved into a smile. She wished Xihuan could enter her heart so that she could personally experience her joy.
Chu Xihuan’s heart trembled. She closed her eyes and did not answer Lin Zhao’s words.
She was not like Lin Zhao, who was still innocent about many things. Once upon a time, she had also had such feelings, but later, such emotions were often accompanied by a lingering fatigue.
Lin Zhao to her…
Chu Xihuan slowly bit her lip. Recalling her long-standing persistence and the fatigue that had set in from not receiving enough response, her heart ached as if it had been pricked by a needle.
She really wanted to live a good life with Lin Zhao, so she couldn’t let their relationship repeat her past mistakes.
“Are you very happy?” Chu Xihuan turned slightly to face Lin Zhao and, in the darkness, reached out and gently cupped her cheek, slowly caressing it.
The sudden intimacy made Lin Zhao’s body stiffen. She slowly widened her eyes in disbelief at Chu Xihuan’s silhouette, the soft warmth of her palm still on her face. “Very happy. Even happier now,” she said with a strained voice.
Xihuan is actively touching my face…
Lin Zhao felt her heart beat so hard and fast that her mind went blank.
Chu Xihuan pondered for a moment. The hand on Lin Zhao’s face traced her features, from her brow to her eyes, and Lin Zhao’s face appeared in her mind.
She had to admit that Lin Zhao’s face was very beautiful. It was clear that Lin Zhao’s mother must have been a beauty as well.
“Lin Zhao, do you know how to kiss?” An uncontrollable impulse suddenly surged in Chu Xihuan’s chest, just like when she had so resolutely chosen the most self-destructive way to completely deny and bury her past relationship.
“Huh?” Lin Zhao let out a soft “ah,” feeling even more confused. She stared blankly at Chu Xihuan’s silhouette in the darkness, a little regretful that she had extinguished the lamp so quickly. Otherwise, she would have been able to see the expression on Xihuan’s face now.
Seeing Lin Zhao’s reaction, Chu Xihuan guessed the answer.
She was silent for a moment. The hand that had been caressing Lin Zhao’s face slowly moved, and the pad of her thumb touched Lin Zhao’s lips.
Lin Zhao’s lips were very soft and elastic when pressed. A strange feeling flashed through Chu Xihuan’s heart. Before she could capture it, her lips had already covered Lin Zhao’s.
The soft touch made Chu Xihuan’s heart tremble, and Lin Zhao’s scent filled all her senses.
She could feel Lin Zhao’s body stiffen. Considering that this person was younger than her, Chu Xihuan parted her lips slightly and sucked on Lin Zhao’s lower lip, guiding her to respond to her kiss.
It was strange. On the first day of their marriage, she had said she needed time to adapt, but in such a short time, she had been aroused by Lin Zhao with such an uncontrollable impulse.
However, Lin Zhao’s mind was completely blank at this moment. All her senses were focused on the feeling of Xihuan’s lips on hers. Her heart beat faster and faster, like a dense drumbeat against her eardrums, and her whole body was in a daze.
She clumsily and stiffly followed Xihuan’s lead and parted her teeth. Then, a wet, soft thing rushed into her mouth, and the electric shock-like reaction made Lin Zhao suddenly wake up, her eyes wide open.
Xihuan is kissing me.
Xihuan is really kissing me.
And Xihuan initiated it!
Lin Zhao was overwhelmed by a huge wave of joy. The hand that had been on Chu Xihuan’s waist tightened, and she unsatisfactorily pressed their bodies closer together, trying to imitate Chu Xihuan’s actions and respond clumsily, her tongue tangling with Xihuan’s.
So intimate…
An intimacy that Lin Zhao had never imagined…
“Xihuan… Xihuan…”
Lin Zhao mumbled Chu Xihuan’s name. Apart from responding to Xihuan’s kiss, she didn’t know what else she could do.
Chu Xihuan finally gave Lin Zhao’s lower lip a gentle bite, ending the sudden and rather intense kiss.
After their lips parted, Chu Xihuan’s face was pressed against Lin Zhao’s, and she panted softly.
Lin Zhao’s eyes were shining. After recovering a little, she was like an excited puppy that couldn’t be held back, rubbing against her owner and calling Chu Xihuan’s name repeatedly.
Chu Xihuan had separated from her because she was short of breath, and now she was a little helpless at Lin Zhao’s excited rubbing. She was still panting and had to reach out to try and stop this overly excited puppy, hoping to get some space to breathe.
“Xihuan! Xihuan~” Lin Zhao called Chu Xihuan’s name over and over. “You kissed me~”
Xihuan kissed me!
Xihuan likes me too!
Lin Zhao felt as if she were about to float away.
Chu Xihuan placed her hand on Lin Zhao’s face to stop her from rubbing against her neck. Hearing her words, she couldn’t help but press her lips together slightly, her eyes lowered to hide the shyness in them. “Mm, I kissed you,” she admitted frankly.
Is that not allowed? Chu Xihuan snorted inwardly.
“Then can you kiss me more in the future?” Lin Zhao propped herself up, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Chu Xihuan.
She loved it when Xihuan kissed her, loved it when Xihuan was close to her.
Chu Xihuan was speechless.
She sighed inwardly. Hadn’t she already known that this person was one to take a mile when given an inch?
“We’ll see how you behave,” Chu Xihuan cleared her throat slightly to make her voice sound more natural and didn’t immediately agree to Lin Zhao’s request.
At her words, Lin Zhao’s brow furrowed slightly, but she still asked with anticipation, “Then how do I have to behave for you to kiss me again?”
Chu Xihuan said, “…It depends on my mood.”
She didn’t give Lin Zhao a specific goal.
Lin Zhao immediately wailed and buried her head in Chu Xihuan’s shoulder, rubbing against her. “Xihuan, Xihuan~ Don’t be like this~” she whined.
If it depended on Xihuan’s mood, then how would she know when she could have a kiss?
This person’s desperate attempt at being endearing almost made Chu Xihuan laugh out loud. This person really had no sense of shame.
After all this movement, the two of them were pressed even closer together. Realizing this, even Chu Xihuan’s own heart couldn’t help but beat faster.
Being so close to someone, apart from when she was a child and slept with her second sister, this was the first time with Lin Zhao, but she was surprisingly adapting quickly.
Lin Zhao really had a quality that was hard to dislike. In fact, being with her was exceptionally relaxing.
“You want it that much?” Chu Xihuan raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of amusement in her voice.
“Mm-hm!” Lin Zhao replied vigorously. Xihuan was willing to kiss her. How could she not want it!
“Then you can just think about it,” Chu Xihuan said lightly, cruelly dangling her heart in mid-air.
Lin Zhao was immediately heartbroken and stared at Chu Xihuan’s lips with a resentful expression.
“Then if Xihuan kisses me depending on her mood, can I kiss Xihuan whenever I want?”
**
Author’s Note:
Zhaozhao is excited: If I can kiss her whenever I want, I’ll kiss her now, then a little later, and then again after that! [Starry Eyes][Starry Eyes]
Xixi, with silently swollen lips: Expressionless
