87: Chapter 87 Sensible

Sunlight flooded through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the entire bedroom.

It took Su Xiaoxi twice as long as usual to get dressed.

It wasn't because of hesitation, but because her body truly wasn't listening to her.

Standing before the bathroom mirror, she pulled the collar of her bathrobe open slightly, saw the light red marks below her collarbone, and quickly pulled it tight again.

She changed into a dress with a slightly higher collar, made of light blue cotton fabric, with the hem falling just above her knees.

She turned around in front of the mirror, confirming that the length of the skirt and the height of the collar were both sufficiently decent.

Having ensured everything that shouldn't be seen was covered, she took a deep breath and pushed open the bathroom door.

Jiang Chen had already finished changing.

Wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt and dark gray casual pants, he stood by the floor-to-ceiling window making a call.

His voice was kept very low, and Su Xiaoxi only heard a few intermittent words.

"Mhm," "That works."

Hearing movement, he glanced back at her.

His gaze swept over her face, lingered on her for less than half a second, and then he looked away nonchalantly, said "That's all" into the phone, and hung up.

"Let's go."

He pocketed his phone and picked up the car keys from the nightstand.

Su Xiaoxi followed behind him, maintaining a distance of about one step.

In the hotel lobby, while checking out at the front desk, the young receptionist's gaze lingered on Su Xiaoxi for an extra second, her lips curved in a professional yet meaningful smile.

Su Xiaoxi turned her face away, pretending to look at the decorative paintings in the lobby.

Jiang Chen, however, looked perfectly normal, showing no extra expression throughout the process.

The car drove out of the underground garage.

Su Xiaoxi sat in the passenger seat. After buckling her seatbelt, she placed both hands properly on her knees and looked straight ahead through the windshield.

The light blue skirt spread across the leather seat, revealing a section of her fair calves.

The car was quiet for a while.

Jiang Chen held the steering wheel with one hand while tapping on the center console screen with the other to dial a number.

The call connected after two rings.

"Hello, my surname is Jiang. I made an appointment to see some houses this morning."

His voice was steady, carrying a business-like politeness.

"Yes, I want to see all three. Send me the addresses; we're heading over now."

After the person on the other end said something, he gave a brief "Mhm" and hung up.

Su Xiaoxi glanced at him from the corner of her eye, then quickly withdrew her gaze.

The Jiang Chen from last night and the Jiang Chen of now seemed like two different people.

The him from last night had his bathrobe open, his chest burning hot, and his lips pressed against her ear as he spoke in a voice as deep as the resonance of a cello.

The him now sat upright, one hand on the wheel, focused on the road ahead, not even sparing her a redundant glance.

But Su Xiaoxi noticed a detail.

His right hand moved down from the steering wheel and rested casually on the center armrest, his fingers drooping slightly in her direction.

It wasn't intentional; he might not have even realized it himself.

That hand just sat there, as natural as an object set down in passing.

Su Xiaoxi glanced at that hand and then quickly looked away.

She stared at the windshield, but her mind was filled with the image of that hand.

The joints were distinct, the fingers slender, and the nails trimmed neatly.

Last night, that hand had wrapped around her waist, run through her hair, and pressed against her skin, hot as a branding iron.

Her face began to burn.

She stole another look.

The hand was still there, motionless, fingers slightly curved.

She bit her lip, her gaze jumping back and forth between the windshield and that hand like a child facing a multiple-choice question, wavering between two answers.

Finally, she took a deep breath.

She moved her leg slightly to the left.

Her knee gently, tentatively, brushed against his fingers.

It was just a light touch, like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Her skirt slid up a bit with the movement, revealing a portion of her thigh that looked dazzlingly white in the car's light.

Her heart was beating so fast she felt it was ridiculous.

After everything that happened last night, what was there to be nervous about when taking the initiative to brush her leg against him now?

But she was nervous nonetheless.

Jiang Chen's fingers paused.

He turned his head to look at her, his gaze sweeping from the tips of her bright red ears to her tightly pressed lips, and then to the leg touching his fingers.

The bare knee trembled slightly, and the light blue skirt was bunched up at mid-thigh, revealing a large patch of fair skin.

His gaze lingered there for half a second.

He was a bit surprised.

But since she had taken the initiative to press against him...

The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, then he looked back at the road ahead.

He didn't move his hand away.

Not only did he not move it, but his fingers actually moved.

The pads of his fingers slowly and unhurriedly traced a half-circle along the outside of her kneecap with very light pressure, as if confirming something, or perhaps just casually.

Su Xiaoxi's breath hitched instantly.

Her fingers gripped the skirt over her knee, her knuckles turning white, but she didn't pull her leg back.

She turned her head to look at the trees whizzing past outside the window, her ears so red they looked like they might bleed. The sound of her heartbeat was so loud in the quiet car that she found it noisy.

Jiang Chen's fingers moved again.

This time, his hand slid from her knee to her thigh, his palm pressing against her bare skin. It was dry and warm, and his calloused fingertips lightly grazed the inside of her thigh.

It was very light.

So light it seemed accidental.

But Su Xiaoxi knew it wasn't.

Her entire body froze, as if pinned to the seat by something.

His palm was large, covering nearly half of her thigh. That warmth spread from the point of contact, crawling up her skin to her face, her neck, and her chest.

Her breathing became shallow and rapid; her lips were slightly parted, yet she couldn't make a sound.

Jiang Chen's expression remained unchanged.

He held the steering wheel with one hand, looking calmly at the road ahead.

He even braked steadily at a red light and reached out to adjust the air conditioning temperature.

It was as if nothing had happened.

As if his hand wasn't resting on her thigh.

As if his thumb wasn't tracing circles on the inside of her thigh.

Su Xiaoxi bit the soft flesh on the inside of her lip and buried her face even lower.

The hot wind from outside the car rushed in, blowing the stray hairs at her temples everywhere.

It made her skirt flutter gently, but she didn't dare reach out to smooth it because she was afraid that if she moved, she would realize her hands were shaking.

The car started moving again, and Jiang Chen's hand still didn't move away.

His thumb moved occasionally, grazing the skin of her inner thigh with just the right amount of pressure, like a trivial little thing he was doing casually while driving.

Su Xiaoxi's leg unconsciously leaned a bit more toward him, like a sunflower drawn by the sun, clumsily and honestly leaning toward the heat source.

She didn't know why she was doing this, but her body made the choice before her brain could.

Jiang Chen caught her movement from the corner of his eye, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

He didn't speak.

But his fingers tightened a bit, and his palm pressed more firmly against her leg.