I See Roses

I See Roses – Chapter 38

In the instant Ming Si’s wrist was held, her heart pounded, and she almost cried out in surprise.

When she came to her senses, she was a bit incredulous. “Were you pretending to sleep?”

Otherwise, how could he have caught her in the act so coincidentally?

“Is there anyone more wrongly accused than me?” Liang Xian was impressed by her ability to reverse the situation. He smiled and said, “I just woke up.”

He slept late last night and slept in a bit longer in the morning.

When he was still half-awake, he suddenly sensed something approaching. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ming Si close by, with her hand in a posture as if trying to reach into his clothes.

His first reaction was that Ming Si was up to some mischief.

But upon closer look, it didn’t quite seem like it.

In the dimly lit bedroom, she was wearing a silk smoke-pink nightgown, her graceful figure fading into the dimness. Her skin was as white as snow, and her lips were rosy. Her eyes held a glimmer of light.

It was like a scene from an old movie, hazy and unreal, beautiful, delicate, and yet full of allure.

Liang Xian slowly loosened his grip on her wrist, and his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.

Morning was a time when a man was more prone to awkwardness. Waking up to see a stunning beauty at the bedside undoubtedly heightened such a reaction.

Liang Xian closed his eyes, suppressing this emotion slowly.

Ming Si was clueless, but since he let go of her hand, it was good enough.

She held her wrist and quickly thought about how to give a satisfactory explanation for her appearance here, coming up with three possible explanations.

But to her surprise, Liang Xian didn’t probe further.

He sat up and didn’t speak for a while. The dark blue blanket slipped down to his waist, revealing the black silk robe he was wearing.

The air was still and quiet.

It was then that Ming Si noticed that both of their robes were of the same style, with a collar pressed with an identical wave-like pattern and a delicate embroidery line.

Her gaze fell on the diagonal white embroidery on his robe; she mentally spelled out the letters.

It said [LIANGXIAN].

“Taking a closer look, are we?” Liang Xian said with a half-smile, his voice somewhat hoarse.

Ming Si immediately averted her gaze and replied irritably, “Who’s taking a closer look? I’m going back.”

As she said this, she was about to turn around, but Liang Xian reached out with his long arm and grabbed her wrist.

Ming Si was taken aback, “What are you doing?”

Liang Xian let go of her hand, then turned on the light, his lips curling into a smile, “Let’s chat?”

“What is there to chat about?” Ming Si grumbled, suspiciously looking at him for a few seconds before finally sitting on the edge of the bed.

To avoid making any noise, she had come in barefoot, and now her feet were stepping on the dark wooden floor, feeling ice-cold.

Just then, Liang Xian shifted a bit to the side, lifting his chin, indicating, “Aren’t your feet cold?”

Ming Si glanced at him and said nothing, silently completing a multiple-choice question in her mind.

Finally, she curled up her feet and placed them on the bed, slightly adjusting her position, then pulled the blanket to cover her ankles.

She seemed like a little animal stepping into unfamiliar territory, cautiously testing the waters.

Liang Xian saw this and couldn’t help but slightly curve his lips.

In this position, Ming Si could only hug her knees, and she could almost see Liang Xian leaning against the head of the bed.

He seemed composed, but she suddenly felt uncomfortable. Her gaze drifted away to the side, and she moved backward a bit, almost sitting on the edge of the bed in a virtual manner. With a guarded tone, she asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

Liang Xian didn’t answer, but chuckled lightly, “Aren’t you afraid of falling off?”

Ming Si habitually retorted, “I’m more afraid of you acting indecently.”

Leaning against the bed, Liang Xian glanced at her sideways and spoke leisurely, “If I really wanted to do something to you, it wouldn’t matter where you sit.”

Ming Si: “…”

At first, she felt a bit annoyed, then without reason, she strangely agreed with what he said, and then fell into confusion.

Liang Xian’s earlier words were accompanied by a smile, just like the tone he often used when joking as a young master, with a hint of frivolousness. In the past, she always felt that he was carefree and not serious, and he didn’t seem like a good person at all.

But this time, she surprisingly didn’t have any substantial aversion.

Why is that?

Before Ming Si could figure this out, she heard Liang Xian call her, “Ming Si?”

She snapped out of her thoughts and happened to see him retract his hand from the bedside table, holding a black box in his hand. His gaze glanced over, “Is this for me?”

Liang Xian hadn’t paid much attention to the furnishings in this bedroom before. He and Ming Si were sitting in the same bed, so as long as he lowered his eyes slightly, he could see what was on the opposite side.

To avoid any further reactions, he shifted his gaze away and happened to see a delicate little box on the bedside table.

If he remembered correctly, it was empty last night.

Liang Xian opened the box and saw a pair of delicate silver-carved cufflinks on the black velvet lining.

Clearly, it wasn’t something a woman would use.

His lips unconsciously curled up, and he asked again, “Did you get this for me?”

In Ming Si’s original plan, Liang Xian would silently accept this gift with no particular meaning, and they would tacitly understand each other. Everything would be perfect.

But now, not only was her attempt to touch his Adam’s apple foiled, but she was also forced to face him directly and admit it.

As expected, Liang Xian was a troublesome guy who never followed her intentions.

“Y-yes,” Ming Si repeatedly emphasized in her mind that it’s just a cufflink, nothing significant. I even gave Cheng Yu a bag. She mustered her courage and quickly held out her hand towards him, “If you don’t like it, give it back to me.”

Liang Xian didn’t hesitate, “I like it.”

The moment she heard his deep voice, Ming Si’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

Subconsciously, she hugged her knees, and for a moment, she couldn’t find any words to say, only an unmeaningful Oh slipped out.

Liang Xian looked at the pair of cufflinks, then looked back at Ming Si.

So, the little peacock came to his room this morning to give him the gift, and now, she was probably feeling shy, burying her face in her knees.

The more he thought about it, the funnier it became, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

However, Ming Si raised her head in annoyance and kicked him in the leg under the blanket, “Stop laughing.”

After the engagement ceremony, Ming Si’s life didn’t undergo any earth-shattering changes. If anything, it simply included having a live-in partner. She liked the villa in Guanlan Mansion. It had a great location, beautiful scenery, and most importantly, a studio connected to the study, facing a small garden, making it very comfortable to use.

On the night of the engagement banquet, after a rough look around, she had decided to use this place as her vacation center and stay here from time to time. However, she changed her mind the next day; she moved in. She also dismissing Auntie Zhang, the housekeeper, and replaced her with someone more discreet.

No matter how long Cen Xinyan’s hands were, she couldn’t control who Ming Si brought into this villa.

As for Liang Xian, since she moved there, he would occasionally stay over. When he wasn’t there, he was probably away from Pingcheng. At first, Ming Si thought that having another person in the villa would take some time to get used to. But two weeks went by, and they rarely saw each other; it seemed that getting used to it wasn’t even an issue.

They didn’t even stay in the same room. Sometimes, Ming Si would wake up and find traces of someone having been home last night. When she asked the housekeeper, she would be told that Liang Xian came back at midnight and left again at 7 in the morning.

In short, this young master was a busy man, and whether she could meet him was entirely dependent on luck.

Lin Xijia found this kind of post-marriage relationship astonishing, “I’ve never seen a couple behave like this after marriage. What are you two? Relatives? Friends?”

Ming Si lifted her head from the fashion magazine and pondered for a moment, “Roommates, I guess.”

“Hahaha,” this seemed to hit Lin Xijia’s funny bone, and she laughed so hard, while hugging her cat, that she fell onto the sofa. She lay there and looked at Ming Si, “So, will your roommate come home tonight?”

“No, my roommate hasn’t been home for three days,” Ming Si turned a page and then added, “In fact, my roommate hasn’t even returned to Pingcheng.”

“What is he busy with?” Lin Xijia was curious.

“I don’t know.”

Lin Xijia sat up, still holding the cat, and was about to say something when her foot accidentally kicked a box. She picked it up, “What is this?”

Ming Si remembered as she took it, “It’s a Mid-Autumn Festival gift from a brand.”

Every year, for occasions like New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Christmas, various brands’ executives would send her gifts, not overly extravagant, but meant as warm gestures.

Sometimes it was a Swarovski crystal ornament, sometimes a limited edition fragrance from a brand.

When moving, this box was accidentally brought along, and Ming Si absentmindedly placed it in the studio, then forgot to open it.

The pink box had the brand’s logo in the middle, with pink-gold smoke clouds.

Untying the silk ribbon, inside were a greeting card, two bottles of perfume, and four fragrance cards with pictures of spring, summer, autumn, and winter on the back.

Ming Si picked up one of the fragrance cards, sprayed a little perfume on it, and smelled the refreshing and unique eucalyptus scent.

It felt somewhat familiar, and after thinking for a while, she finally remembered that it seemed to be the fragrance of the car perfume used by Liang Xian.

…But why did she think of that?

“Oh my god!” Lin Xijia suddenly exclaimed.

Ming Si snapped back, “What’s wrong?”

“Liang Xian… he went back to the Jinghong Headquarters,” Lin Xijia handed her the phone, astonished, “He has been in Jinghong Films for only a few months, and now, after the engagement, he’s going to inherit the throne?”

Ming Si took the phone and looked at it. It was a message from a female colleague at the company whom Lin Xijia was on good terms with. The message started with several crying emojis.

「Ah ah ah, my goodness, I’m done for. President Liang went to the Jinghong Headquarters!」

「Why!!! He left me behind and left!!」

「Screenshots.jpg」

Ming Si opened the screenshot.

It was a group chat page with similar content. The gist of it was that a colleague from the HR department got accurate information that Liang Xian was promoted to Vice President of the Jinghong Headquarters. The moment he left Jinghong Films, the group exploded.

A group of female employees cried and shouted, almost kneeling at the door of the President’s office, begging him not to leave.

Ming Si casually glanced at the group name, which was called No Gossip Can Escape Our Clutches.

Ming Si: “…”

So now she had to rely on a gossip group to find out where the Young Master Liang was.

“You don’t know anything?” Lin Xijia asked.

She had assumed that as husband and wife, or at least as childhood friends, living together, they wouldn’t be completely indifferent to each other’s whereabouts.

“I don’t know,” Ming Si handed the phone back to her, “Let’s not talk about this.”

Lin Xijia was curious, “Then what should we talk about?”

“Let’s talk…” Ming Si hesitated for a moment, feeling a bit stuck.

Somehow, she remembered the morning when she gave Liang Xian the cufflinks. They were sitting together in bed.

Liang Xian, having been kicked by her, still had a smile in his voice when he called her, “Ming Si.”

She was still angry and answered coldly, “What?”

He looked at her, his peach blossom eyes slightly curved, “Let’s try living together.”