The dead silence that resembled the moment before the knife drops on a guillotine, that of suffering and desperation.
And Gu Nian was the most desperate one of them all.
Had she known she would have slipped so badly, she would have made sure she was well prepared before she doubled back. Now that she had already said them out loud, there was nothing else she could do about it.
… As long as she refused to feel awkward about it, she would not be the one who’d feel awkward about it.
And what was how Gu Nian comforted herself. She lowered her arm that was holding up her cellphone and said, “Miss, you should strike to communicate verbally rather than physically. It is against the law to violate someone without their consent.”
As a screenwriter, Gu Nian would reflexively check the logic in her own speech. She then added, “Of course, even with the individual’s consent, when it crossed a certain line it would still be against the law.”
The woman inside the room was intimidated by Luo Xiu’s look and took a step backward reflexively. Now that she saw that Gu Nian had entered the room, all the more there was nothing more she could say or do.
She aimed all of her negative emotions at Gu Nian. Staring viciously at her, the woman said, “That’s between him and I. What does it have to do with you?!”
Gu Nian replied very seriously. “Fighting crime is the necessary duty of every citizen of China.”
“……”
The woman gritted her teeth. She looked vicious even with her pretty makeup on. “Are you a guest or staff of the hotel.”
What? Did she want to retaliate?
Gu Nian remained silent for two seconds then, with a languid and somewhat provoking voice, said, “Take a guess.”
Woman, “……”
Woman, “Just you wait!”
The woman in her tight, short skirt and her 7~8 cm heel stomped away quickly.
She looked embarrassed from behind as though she was running away from something.
Gu Nian automatically took the credit for chasing the woman away; nevertheless, this was not the time to celebrate. She quickly turned her attention back inside of the room.
Gu Nian jogged inside the room and stopped not too far from the man inside of the room. “Are you alright?”
This time Gu Nian was close enough to see clearly.
It was, indeed, her precious son. Except that he looked strange to her without his glasses on – his dark brown eyes that had always been hidden behind the lens were now exposed under his hair. When light shone inside of them, all she could see was darkness.
He looked like he had just come out of the shower. His soft and fluffy short, black hair was still wet and a stylish way of messy. His usual tenderness seemed to have washed off and a little bit of coldness could be detected.
This strangeness reminded Gu Nian of the glimpse of coldness and disgust in Luo Xiu’s eyes when he was looking that woman earlier.
She must have mistaken. After all, that was very different than the Luo Xiu that she remembered.
By the time Gu Nian had recollected herself, the man had already returned to the kind man that she remembered. He lowered his eyes, casting a shadow. “Thank you,” he said.
Gu Nian’s heart trembled. Her suspicion was immediately replaced by her trust for her precious son. Nervous and feeling sorry for her “son”, she said, “You must learn how to protect yourself from now on, especially a boy as attractive as you. Being by yourself is too dangerous.”
“……”
Luo Xiu’s lifted his lashes. The tenderness was still in his eyes and he looked at her coolly with his dark brown eyes.
Something stirred inside of him that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Gu Nian was at loss being stared at. After making eye contact with Luo Xiu for a few seconds, she seemed to have suddenly recalled something. “Can you not see without your glasses on?”
Luo Xiu paused for two seconds before he responded. “Mmmhmm.”
“Then let me help you look for it…. Oh, it’s right here.” Gu Nian took two steps toward the bed, picked up his glasses and walked back over to where Luo Xiu was.
Inside of Gu Nian’s hand was a pair of light silver color, peach-shaped, thin wired frame spectacles. A daily wear type and the lens were very thing. She was going to hand it over to Luo Xiu but then recalled that if he couldn’t see much without his, then he probably couldn’t see it if she just handed him his glasses.
Without thinking much, she picked up the man’s hand through his shirt, adjusted the glasses and placed it on his slightly stiffed palm. “Here you go.”
When her fingertips touched his palm, the temperature of his palm startled her. She quickly looked down. “How come your hand is so cold?”
“……”
This was something that he did not experience during his struggle with Zhuo Yixuan earlier. The physical contact between the two of them came with an odd sensation of burning heat. Combining with the slight scent from the girl’s hair, the feeling spread inside of him all of a sudden.
Before Luo Xiu’s severe germophobic reaction had kicked in, the sensation left him.