“Yes, I came to keep you company.”
Xie Yunli nodded. He’d been holding her hand the entire time and hadn’t let go.
Only when Wen Ran finally seemed to come back to herself and slowly breathed a sigh of relief did Xie Yunli release her hand, watching as she gently closed the piano lid.
As she stood to go upstairs, Wen Ran sensitively glanced outside. “Outside… is there someone?”
Although Zhou Wei outside hadn’t made any sound, she still detected his presence.
“It’s Zhou Wei. He came because he wanted to see Kaka.”
Wen Ran nodded. “To see Kaka… that’s fine.”
When the door opened and Kaka came out of the room wagging its tail, Zhou Wei immediately went over with excited coos to hold it. “My precious little Kaka, let uncle take a look. Oh my, your belly’s gotten a bit plumper, and the wounds have all scabbed over. Looks like you’ve been eating well lately.”
Xie Yunli stood with his arms crossed, watching him. “If you like it so much, you two can raise one at home.”
Zhou Wei said sheepishly: “My wife and I were thinking of adopting one too. Don’t they say ‘adopt, don’t shop’? I think those puppies at the rescue center are pretty cute too.”
Xie Yunli agreed with this. No matter what breed, all puppies had the same quality: absolute loyalty to their owners.
“By the way, Mr. Xie, just now… that was Ms. Wen Ran playing piano, right?”
Xie Yunli nodded. “Yes, why?”
He said it with complete nonchalance, but Zhou Wei couldn’t be calm at all: “As I thought, Ms. Wen Ran is a natural-born artist, isn’t she? I’ve heard that a very small number of children with autism naturally have talent in certain areas. So not only is Miss Wen Ran amazing at painting, she plays piano so well too! To be honest, Mr. Xie, I’ve also studied piano since elementary school and even won awards in middle school. In my opinion, her level is absolutely master-class!”
“Is that so?”
Xie Yunli’s lips curved upward. “That impressive.”
“Extremely impressive! And just now, that piece she was playing, I’ve never heard it before. My heart was practically jumping out of my chest listening to it.”
Zhou Wei put Kaka down and said: “Mr. Xie, don’t you think Ms. Wen Ran should go out more, see more things? With such amazing talent, it really is…”
“A waste?”
Zhou Wei nodded, probing: “Don’t you think… it’s a shame?”
“Even if it really is a shame…”
Xie Yunli said airily: “So what?”
Zhou Wei naturally understood what Xie Yunli meant.
Just like when they’d discussed Wen Ran’s painting talent before.
Even if Wen Ran would never have many audiences to appreciate her paintings and music, so what?
For her, painting was part of her life, and piano was perhaps just a hobby she excelled at.
She didn’t need to make a living from it, nor did she need too many people’s recognition. She just needed to live her own life well. After all, receiving too much attention would also be a great source of pressure for her.
Just imagine if Wen Ran were made to go to crowded places to participate in piano competitions, or if exhibitions were held for her paintings, or she had to accept interviews in public…
She would definitely be frightened.
And Xie Yunli certainly wouldn’t want to see her in such a difficult position.
Zhou Wei played with Kaka for a while longer before leaving. Xie Yunli moved everything he’d taken from the car into the living room. Just as he finished organizing, he heard Wen Ran’s footsteps coming downstairs.
He looked up to see Wen Ran standing uncertainly in the middle of the staircase, seemingly in a dilemma about whether to advance or retreat.
“What’s wrong? Did I disturb you?”
“No, no.”
Wen Ran shook her head. “The time… it’s time. I think… I should prepare to cook. I need to go… go prepare dinner.”
After speaking, she descended two steps, looking awkwardly at the slippers on Xie Yunli’s feet: “Can you… can you move aside?”
It turned out Xie Yunli was standing right at the foot of the stairs, blocking her way down.
Logically, and according to past practice, Xie Yunli would definitely move aside for her.
But after hearing her words, Xie Yunli still stood there motionless without speaking, making Wen Ran even more at a loss, her two hands twisting together.
She suspected she might not have expressed herself clearly just now, so after thinking, she said again in a very serious, as-clear-as-possible voice: “I need to… go… go prepare dinner. Can you… can you move aside?”
Unexpectedly, Xie Yunli said: “No.”
Wen Ran froze: “Why… not?”
“Because I’m preparing dinner.”
Xie Yunli said, beginning to roll up his shirt sleeves: “Aunt Zhu gave me this task. You just need to wait for the meal.”
Wen Ran: “But… but…”
“But what?”
She couldn’t say it.
“Alright…”
How could she possibly out-argue Xie Yunli? In the end, she could only obediently go wait for dinner.
And Kaka, who’d been held and cuddled by Zhou Wei for quite a while, walked over to her with little steps, wanting to be held. Wen Ran picked it up and held it in her arms, saying to it glumly: “Aunt Zhu, why… did she give this job to Xie Yunli? Is it because… because I… can’t do it well?”
Her thinking was very simple. She couldn’t understand overly complex things, so she could naturally only think of this simplest explanation.
“I also wanted to… make food for Kaka to eat.”
Recently, she’d seen some videos on her phone of people personally making meals for their pets. Ever since she’d started chatting with Xie Yunli frequently, she wasn’t as afraid of phones anymore. Instead, she used hers more often, frequently taking photos of Kaka to record its recovery and growth.
Kaka was also becoming more and more dependent on her. Whenever Wen Ran sat quietly on the sofa, it would let her hold it in her arms like this.
That pure, gentle feeling about Wen Ran made this little dog, who’d once been abused, very attached to her.
Wen Ran sneaked a glance at the kitchen.
Actually, when Aunt Zhu left, she’d already prepared today’s meals. They were basically all semi-prepared, which of course wasn’t difficult for Xie Yunli. In less than ten minutes, everything was pretty much ready.
Today Aunt Zhu had made three dishes and a soup, including roasted chicken wings. And this time she’d very thoughtfully left a sticky note for Xie Yunli saying that Wen Ran could only eat one chicken wing per meal, no more.
She also told him that sometimes while eating, Wen Ran would zone out, because her attention had been drawn away by other thoughts, and he needed to pull her attention back in time.
When the hot dishes were placed on the dining table, Wen Ran looked at them and said to Xie Yunli: “You’re so… capable… I thought…”
Xie Yunli said with a half-smile: “Thought that aside from work, I can’t do anything?”
Wen Ran quickly shook her head. “No… you know so much, so very much.”
Xie Yunli’s lips curved up as he said: “You also know a lot. The things you know, I don’t.”
Although Wen Ran wasn’t looking directly into his eyes while speaking, her eyes stared straight at his hands, her gaze following the movements of his hands, and her ears were very focused on listening to him speak.
When she suddenly heard him praise her, her pupils dilated.
“The things I know… are also a lot?”
“Yes, anything related to art, I can’t do.”
He wiped her utensils clean of water with a paper towel before placing them beside her. “So in many ways, you’re more excellent than me.”
Probably because Wen Ran had never heard such praise in her entire life, she turned this sentence over and over in her mind for a long time.
So while eating, Xie Yunli saw her suddenly stop moving, as if spacing out, then her cheeks flushed slightly pink.
Sure enough, she easily lost focus while eating. Xie Yunli called out to her: “Ranran?”
“Mm-hmm…”
Fortunately, she immediately came back to herself and brought the spoon to her mouth, only to discover the spoon was empty. She hurriedly sat up straight to eat properly.
She thought to herself that she needed to finish eating quickly. In a bit, she must be the one to clear the dishes.
Wen Ran silently decided on this. When the two of them finished eating at about the same pace, she suddenly stood up. Even Xie Yunli was startled by her movement. “What’s wrong?”
“I… I’ll clean up!”
“You don’t need to…”
Before Xie Yunli could finish speaking, he saw her carry her plate quickly toward the kitchen. As expected, a few seconds later, the clattering sound of the plate landing in the sink broke the originally quiet air.
But before she could reflexively cover her ears, a pair of hands from behind firmly covered both her ears.
Xie Yunli’s form, a full head taller than her, completely enveloped her from behind, his hands covering her ears. So her ears could no longer hear any noise, only her own heartbeat after being startled and her rapid breathing.
After about a minute, Xie Yunli gently removed one hand and asked in a low voice: “Were you frightened? Are you better now?”
Wen Ran hurriedly nodded. She was somewhat at a loss and could only stand there in a daze, not daring to move.
Xie Yunli looked down. Fortunately, the plate had only slipped into the sink. If it had fallen on the floor, she would have been even more frightened.
“This isn’t something you should do. What if your hands got hurt?”
Xie Yunli had originally wanted to take her hand to look at it, but when he saw those slender, pale, flawless hands, he paused and didn’t touch them.
Only then did he notice that because he’d been anxious to protect her, their distance was too close. With her height, the top of her head just reached his chin.
So now, he was practically holding her in a half-embrace as he stood behind her, and her slender form was just quietly and docilely pressed against his chest.
If he just lowered his head slightly, he could touch that head of smooth hair.
Xie Yunli paused, his body stiffening slightly.
He could almost feel her slightly trembling breath, and her entire fragile body seemed particularly helpless.
“An artist’s hands are precious. They’re not suited for this kind of work.”
He imperceptibly took a step back, then gently gripped her shoulders and guided her backward. “Go sit on the sofa. I’ll handle this. Be good.”
Wen Ran nodded blankly, obeying his words and walking to sit on the sofa, then cautiously breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, she hadn’t caused trouble, and he wasn’t angry either.
But what she didn’t notice was that after she left, Xie Yunli stood still facing the sink for a while before continuing his movements.
Probably because they’d been too close, he’d been able to smell the faint fragrance emanating from her hair and neck. And that scent, even after quite a while, seemed to linger in the air without dissipating.
Wen Ran actually wasn’t comfortable with being too close to others or having overly intimate contact.
So his actions just now had somewhat crossed the line.
But thinking carefully, he’d actually crossed the line like this many times. But each time it was in a sudden situation, always to protect and comfort her.
To be able to openly care for her and protect her at her side, he could only become her closest person legally.
But in reality, he truly was already her closest person now.
And she also needed to get used to having his care around her, even if that care had come somewhat late.
It was just… he still needed to restrain himself a bit.
Because not long ago, she’d still been very resistant to him. Every time he came, he could only watch from afar. As soon as he approached, she would definitely hide in her room and not come out.
The current situation was already great progress.
When he finished cleaning the kitchen and came out, there was no one on the sofa, and even Kaka was gone.
Xie Yunli frowned and searched the first floor but didn’t see her anywhere.
In this house, even not knowing where she was for just one minute would make one feel terrible.
Xie Yunli didn’t call out to her and immediately went upstairs to look. Upon reaching the second floor, he saw her standing in the hallway at the door of the bedroom next to the study.
That was the room where he stayed when he spent the night, the second-floor guest room.
“Wen Ran, what are you doing?”
“I… I…”
Wen Ran bit her lip and pointed at that room: “I wanted to… to tidy up the room for you… and the bed… but Aunt Zhu seems to… seems to have already tidied it up.”
Before Xie Yunli could speak, he saw her clench both hands into fists, seeming somewhat nervous. “Are you… are you going to… tonight… tonight stay here? To sleep? Or… or will you leave?”
The more nervous she got, the faster her speech would unconsciously become, and her pronunciation would become less clear, soft and murmuring as if whispering something.
But he understood.
She’d wanted to secretly come upstairs while he was cleaning the kitchen to tidy the bedroom and bedding for him, but discovered it had already been tidied by Aunt Zhu.
She was also nervous about whether he would stay the night. If he didn’t stay, then in this huge villa, there would only be her alone, and one pitiful little dog.
Waiting for more updates 🙏🙏