บท 36: Cold? Or Warm?

"Give me the key," said Raelle as she extended her hand towards Shui Xian whose brows arched up in question. "Car key..." she repeated. "You drank with my grandfather. It's better if I drive."

"I didn't drink that much," said Shui Xian. "I'm fine."

Raelle shook her head, "Just last year around 11,000 people died in drunk-driving car crashes. Although death is ineluctable, one should still not play with other's lives." She moved her fingers as if saying to hurry up and Shui Xian eventually placed the key into her hand.

He took the passenger seat and asked, "By the way, do you even know the way?"

"What are you here for?" she retorted.

"So, now I am a guide?" he questioned.

She shrugged her shoulders, "More or less."

So, Mr. More-or-Less-Guide continued to give her directions as she drove. He noticed how she followed the traffic rules precisely. She seemed like a really good citizen abiding by the laws. However, her speed was just at the edge of the allowed speed limit. It seemed like her nature; she was a good person lingering around the edge of the dangerous side. It depended on who'd push her over the line and how.

He leaned into his seat and rested his head as he closed his eyes briefly. Suddenly thinking of something, he asked, "By the way, who is Miss Mu Chenyan?"

"Yanyan is Yanyan," she replied calmly.

He turned his head slightly to look at the side of her face as she drove with all her attention on the road. "I meant, who is she to you?"

"Yanyan to me is also Yanyan," responded Raelle making Shui Xian want to facepalm himself.

"Wife, I'm asking what is your relationship with her?"

"Oh..." It seemed she finally understood what he wanted to know. But the answer wasn't as simple for her to give as it seemed. "Yanyan is the adopted daughter of my late grandmother."

"Then that makes her your aunt," said Shui Xian.

"Maybe," she replied.

"What to do mean by maybe? Isn't it obvious?" He took a pause briefly, "But actually, she seems more like your mother. The way she cares about you is definitely like a mother."

Raelle stopped at a red light and looked at him, "Looking back, all my memories have Yanyan. Even my very first drink had been with her. She had always been standing right behind me. Whenever I turned my head, I'd find her there. So, it's difficult for me to say what she is to me. I just know she is Yanyan... That one person who I can trust without any hesitation."

Shui Xian had been meaning to ask her about her parents but when she said this, he stopped. He didn't know why but he had an intuition, he wasn't supposed to ask about her parents.

However, just because he didn't ask it, didn't mean she would do the same...

"How about your family? Do you only have a father?"

Shui Xian rubbed his forehead and replied, "No, I have a sister as well. She's one year younger than me." He was wondering if she'd ask about his mother but she didn't. In fact, she didn't even ask where his sister was or why she wasn't at the dinner. "Won't you ask why my sister wasn't there tonight?"

"It's a busy world, everyone has their own priorities. I can't expect everyone to be there to greet me," replied Raelle. She looked around at the neighborhood and asked, "Are you sure we are at the right place?"

Shui Xian peeled his eyes away from her face and looked out. "Yeah. We are in the right place."

As Raelle drove into the driveway through the metal gates, she tapped the steering wheel.

"What's wrong?"

"Earlier, Yanyan was crying as if I'm immigrating. And here I am, right next to her!"

"Huh?" Shui Xian was dumbfounded.

Raelle pointed around saying, "She's literally next door! As in the villa right beside this one. And yet, she cried like I wasn't gonna ever see her again."

"Wait! You're saying, we had been neighbors all this while?"

Raelle nodded her head, "En."

With a strange mood, Raelle followed Shui Xian inside the villa where a bunch of servants stood in line to greet him. "Master Xian..."

"You all can leave now," said Shui Xian as he stepped inside with Raelle right behind him. She was looking around the villa and didn't realize that Shui Xian had stopped walking. So, she ended up hitting his back.

Rubbing her nose she stated, "You broke my nose! What a great way to welcome someone!"

Shui Xian held her wrist and pulled it down. His face came close to hers as he looked at the tip of her nose that had gotten red but not because of bumping into him. Rather it was because of her rubbing it so hard. Her skin seemed to be sensitive as it reddened so fast.

His hot breath hit the side of her face as she continued to look at his flawless skin from this close.

"I don't think it broke," he said in a husky voice.

Raelle didn't react. Instead, she lifted her hand and touched his eyelashes with the tip of her index finger. "Hubby, you have long eyelashes." She tapped her chin and went on, "I read somewhere recently... It's like the feathers of a fan-casting a shadow on his flawless cheekbones. Giving him an alluring feel."

Shui Xian's lips twitched. He placed his forehead against hers and asked, "I'm just curious for a while now. Wife, where do you even read all this? And what exactly are you reading?"

Now that his forehead was against hers, she could stare right into his eyes. And it didn't make her gaze falter. Instead, it seemed she was even more curious to look deeply. Look deeper into his soul.

"I heard some rumors about you." His brows raised up ever so slightly as she went on, "People say Master Xian is a very cold person. You said it as well." Shui Xian wasn't sure what she was getting at or why she even brought it up but he didn't disturb her. "Why do you feel so warm then?"

Shui Xian's eyes widened as he kept staring back at her blank eyes innocently questioning him as if she was genuinely curious to know the answer.