Chapter 4

Chapter 4

From that day on, Xia Dai started coming over every few days.

She always looked as if she had just stepped out of the shower-either her cheeks were flushed, or her hair was still half-damp. Every time she walked in, the whole apartment filled with a mingled fragrance.

Holding a book, she would curl up on the single armchair and ask Shen Xiubai all kinds of questions.

“Did King You of Zhou really light the beacon towers just to make Bao Si smile?”

“So Xi Shi really went into seclusion with Fan Li afterward?”

“Emperor Taizong of Tang was actually Yang Guifei’s father-in-law?!”

“I know this one-Empress Dowager Cixi got pregnant after she became empress dowager!”

Shen Xiubai would quote from here and there, explaining everything with endless patience, a faint excitement rippling through the tips of his words and the corners of his brows.

Because of Xia Dai’s involvement, the nightly “reading time” between Shen Xiubai and me was pushed later and later.

He made a point of explaining it to me.

“Cheng Feng asked me to help look after Xia Dai. If she’s willing to learn, that’s still better than going out drinking with friends at night. That’s what Cheng Feng wants too.”

I held the cat in my arms, lowered my eyes, and said nothing.

After thinking for a moment, he added, “How about this? From now on, when she comes over, I’ll take her into the study. That way, it won’t affect the space you and Dian Dian have in the living room.”

Shen Xiubai valued his study immensely. The shelves of books, the desk and chair, the table lamp, the antique trinkets-everything inside had been arranged by him with meticulous care.

He said it was the physical embodiment of his spiritual territory.

Aside from me, he never let outsiders in. Even Dian Dian had wandered in a few times to play and had been coaxed right back out by him.

I quietly lifted my eyes to look at him.

“You’ve already decided?”

He nodded, then smiled.

“Of course, I still have to ask for your opinion.”

I slowly stroked the lazy cat’s head. After a few seconds of silence, I answered gently, “I have no objections.”

…

Spring was the season of heat.

At some point, the lazy cat started darting out from the balcony, and Shen Xiubai and I had gone searching all over the neighborhood for it several times.

That night, I came back from looking for the cat and saw Dian Dian sitting alone in the living room playing with her toys. When I had gone downstairs, Shen Xiubai had been in the living room keeping her company.

“Where’s Daddy?” I asked.

“Auntie Xia is here.”

My gaze shifted to the study door, which had been left ajar. It was utterly quiet inside.

I slowly bent down and set the cat in my arms on the floor.

It darted nimbly toward the study, and the door was suddenly pushed open.

“Ah!”

Xia Dai’s startled cry came from inside.

I walked in, muttering, “This cat is always running around!”

Shen Xiubai shot to his feet, a trace of panic flashing across his face.

Xia Dai’s cheeks were flushed, and she was panting softly.

I picked up the cat. As I walked out, I glanced at Shen Xiubai as if by accident and said gently, “Xiubai, you must be overheated. Your lip is split.”

Shen Xiubai hurriedly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said hoarsely, “Ah, yes. Just overheated.”