A refreshing coolness seeped into his skin, gradually easing his discomfort.
Jiangg Yao’s eyes were filled with focus. Her movements were incredibly gentle, like she was caring for a child. After wiping his cheeks, she cleaned his hands, and then even his feet.
Chen Yuan watched her, his mind a complete blank.
A moment later, Jiangg Ning came over, bringing a broom, a mop, and a bottle of expensive perfume. Seemingly having just noticed the foul smell, she pinched her nose and began to clean, tidying up methodically.
As the two sisters bustled about, Chen Yuan was suddenly reminded of a time in his childhood when he had a high fever. Back then, Liu He, just like the two sisters now, had tirelessly and methodically taken care of everything around him. The him of so many years ago, lying in bed with a muddled mind, seemed to merge in a strange way with the him of today.
He turned his head to look at Jiangg Yao, then at Jiangg Ning. Silently, he pulled the blanket up higher over himself.
An indescribable emotion, one that made his eyes sting with tears yet also made him smile, slowly spread through his heart.
It was, quite clearly, happiness.
...
It took the two sisters until past one in the morning to finally get their handful, Chen Yuan, settled and cleaned up. Wrapped in his blanket, he was sleeping soundly.
Just a single table lamp was on in the bedroom.
In the dim light, Jiangg Yao leaned against Chen Yuan’s side, her posture relaxed and comfortable. Perhaps it was because he looked so much cuter asleep than he did during the day that she lay beside him like this.
She used to love this position.
But since their cold war began, she hadn’t done it once.
Jiangg Ning was completely drained of energy. She planned to take a long shower and then come back to sleep. Since there was no way Chen Yuan was leaving tonight, Jiangg Ning could only let him sleep in the middle. They would each have their own blanket, so no one would be in anyone else’s way.
Whether it was because she feared he’d get cold or that he’d get restless during the night, she wrapped Chen Yuan up in the blanket like a burrito. His arms and legs were so tightly bound that it would be difficult for him to even turn over, let alone try anything.
Jiangg Yao was fiddling with her phone. In the quiet room, the faint tapping of her keyboard was barely audible. After typing out a long message, she saw a reply from Wan. She thought for a moment, typed another line, then deleted it. With a sigh, she set her phone aside.
Her mind was made up.
She had to go on this trip to Edo Prefecture.
If she didn’t go, she’d never be able to understand her own heart. And Chen Yuan was just so stubborn about the situation with the two sisters, refusing to budge an inch.
And so, the situation with the three of them had inevitably become a tug-of-war.
In this scenario, the only one who benefited was Chen Yuan.
’Jiangg Yao couldn’t understand; she had never been able to. Why couldn’t she, who had given so much and was always so sincere, get the reciprocation she deserved from Chen Yuan? Perhaps leaving him was the only way to make him wake up.’
’He did everything he could to keep Jiangg Ning by his side, so why didn’t he ever consider her?’
The more Jiangg Yao thought about it, the sadder she became. She sat up and gazed at Chen Yuan’s sleeping face for a long time. But his face, so close to her, grew increasingly blurry.
Soon, she couldn’t see it clearly at all.
Tears streamed, drop by drop, from the corners of her eyes. Jiangg Yao felt so aggrieved... so terribly aggrieved.
...
"Yaoyao, is my bathrobe in the room?"
Just as Jiangg Yao was lost in her sadness, her sister’s voice called from outside. Wiping her face with the back of her hand, she turned to look. The bathrobe was indeed lying on a corner of the bed.
Jiangg Ning had been about to take her shower earlier, but Jiangg Yao had called her over, so she’d left the bathrobe here.
"Hang on, I’ll bring it to you." Jiangg Yao grabbed a tissue and swung her legs out of bed.
She slipped on her slippers and walked out of the room.
What Jiangg Yao had no way of knowing was that the call hadn’t just roused her—it had woken Chen Yuan as well. He struggled to open his eyes and wriggled from side to side.
He was wrapped far too tightly; Chen Yuan could feel himself breaking into a sweat.
So, with considerable effort, he managed to free a hand and loosen the blanket.
The room was completely silent. The table lamp was still on, and on the other side of the bed, the screen of Jiangg Yao’s phone was still lit.
Bored, Chen Yuan stared at the doorway. ’What time is it?’ he wondered. ’Why haven’t Jiangg Ning and Jiangg Yao come to bed yet... It feels uncomfortable and lonely sleeping without them here.’
DING—
The sound of a message notification came from the phone beside him.
Still groggy, Chen Yuan turned his head to look and picked up the phone.
However, the chat content on the screen made him freeze.
...
「The next morning.」
As the first gentle rays of sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains, the two sisters lay snuggled together in the middle of the bed, their breathing even and serene. The soft blankets, their curled-up bodies—the whole scene was as beautiful as an artist’s sketch.
But Chen Yuan, who had been sleeping in the middle, was gone, leaving only a warm indentation in the sheets.
Having been the first to fall asleep, Chen Yuan was naturally the first to wake up. In fact, his eyes had opened shortly after six in the morning, and he’d remained in bed for a long while, sorting through his jumbled thoughts.
At first, his head felt groggy. It wasn’t until sunrise, when a hazy daylight began to filter in from outside, that he started to feel a little better.
More distinct than the fog in his mind was the sharp pang of hunger in his stomach.
So Chen Yuan got up. Tiptoeing so as not to disturb the two sisters, he opened the bedroom door and slipped out.
Jiangg Ning was the second to wake. She had probably slept so soundly because she was exhausted last night; it felt as though she’d blinked, and morning had arrived. The fatigue from a long day at the office had vanished, and she felt remarkably refreshed.
She stretched her back, and after a brief moment of drowsiness, she sat up.
Jiangg Ning slipped on her slippers and pulled the curtains open a crack. Instead of checking the time on her phone first, she looked out at the brilliant sunlight.
"It’s a new day..."
She sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her drowsy eyes.
Perhaps woken by the sound of the curtains being drawn, Jiangg Yao soon woke up as well. Her first action wasn’t to open her eyes, but to pull the nearby pillow into a tight hug.
"Wha... what time is it?" she asked in a small voice.
"Should be seven o’clock."
"So soon? I feel like I only slept for two hours."
"You can keep sleeping. I have to get up for work."
"Mmm... where’s the Young Master?"
Jiangg Yao’s question made Jiangg Ning suddenly realize Chen Yuan was gone. She glanced over, then paused to think.
"He was probably so embarrassed about last night that he snuck away early this morning. I’m not sure."
"He left before you woke up?"
"Yeah."
"Okay." Jiangg Yao turned over, settling into a more comfortable position.
"Are you having breakfast?"
"I am a little hungry, actually. I could get up for a bite."
"Alright, I’ll go make it now. I can whip up two bowls of egg drop soup. It’s not fattening, and it feels like we haven’t had it in a long time."
With that, Jiangg Ning got up, opened the door, and walked toward the living room.
But the moment she stepped into the living room, an intoxicating aroma wafted from the kitchen. She froze for a moment before walking over to take a look.
Where else could the vanished Chen Yuan be at this hour? He had clearly gone out to buy breakfast and was now back in the kitchen, carefully cutting youtiao and arranging the pieces on a plate.
The aroma was coming from the container he’d bought it in.
He had been a real jerk last night, keeping the two sisters up half the night. Wracked with guilt, he couldn’t just be a lazy pig and let Ningning make breakfast.
Hearing footsteps, Chen Yuan turned around.
"Ningning, you’re awake? Perfect timing, I just got back with breakfast. Come on and eat." He had a gentle smile on his face.
"You have some conscience, at least."
"What are you muttering? Come help me carry this bowl. Be careful, it’s hot."
"Alright. Go get Jiangg Yao, she’s hungry too."
"Yes, Commander Ningning."
Chen Yuan walked off with a light step, as if nothing at all had happened, and as if he had seen nothing the night before.