Chapter 20. Rings

Early morning, the sunlight was dim.

The temperature was a bit cool. The man stood in front of the mirror by the wardrobe. His dark trousers accentuated his narrow waist and long legs. His clearly articulated fingers buttoned his police uniform, one by one, all the way to the top, revealing his distinctly protruding Adam’s apple.

“Are you getting up?”

Lin Xingzi lay still, just watching him, her fingers feeling weak. “Later... Are you going to work?”

Her body beneath the thin blanket was bare. The corner of the blanket casually rested on her shoulder, her chest rising and falling in curves. The marks hidden beneath her scattered hair were discreet yet maddening.

“I need to report to the bureau. Tomorrow will be my official reinstatement,” Jiang Yan walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, helping her smooth out the long, messy hair spread around her neck. He then gently pulled the bedding up, covering the intoxicating red mark.

He looked down at her. “Jiangjiang.”

Lin Xingzi hadn’t slept enough, still hazy. “What?”

“Next week, I need to go back to Baishui Town. It’s my mom’s birthday, and she wants to meet you.”

“...I’m very busy. Let me think about it.”

She had already bought the gift and placed it on the coffee table in the living room. Jiang Yan noticed it when he was tidying the table; the bracelet was a style an older person would like.

“I’m going to sleep for another half an hour,” Lin Xingzi felt she was being a bit too demanding. She pulled her limbs into the bedding, her slightly exposed earlobe faintly tinged with red. “You go ahead. Don’t be late.”

She heard no movement behind her.

But she could feel the man’s gaze on her.

After last night, things seemed different between them. He just watched her silently, not speaking, and it felt as if something in the air began to ferment.

That lingering, half-awake, half-dreaming sleepiness bubbled away like bubbles. Although she had her eyes closed, calm and serene, her eyelashes trembled slightly.

Her hand, unconsciously clutching the bedsheet, was taken by him. Her curled fingers were gently unfurled, and then a cold sensation came from between her fingers.

Lin Xingzi opened her eyes blankly. The ring on her ring finger reflected tiny glints of light in the sun.

Jiang Yan was also wearing the same ring on his hand.

Their wedding had been too simple. Jiang Yan didn’t know what kind of expectations she had for a wedding in her teenage years, but it certainly wasn’t like this: no wedding, no banquet, no honeymoon, not even a single wedding photo. It was just the two families sitting down for a meal and exchanging greetings.

Lin Xingzi raised her hand to look at it, then flipped it over. “How did you know the size?” It fit perfectly.

“I measured it with a string while you were sleeping. I bought it at the mall after my first bonus over there, but I didn’t make it in time for your flight.”

He had actually been at the airport that day, but Lin Xingzi had already passed security.

“I want something else.”

“Something else what?”

“The cord of your peace amulet.”

That was something Jiang Yan carried with him, meaning something different to him. Her words were light and crisp, as if she had planned it for a long time, just waiting for the right moment to speak.

Jiang Yan was startled for a moment, his thumb rubbing her tender wrist, his brows slightly lowered with a gentle smile. “You don’t want the ring?”

“...Mm... I want both!”

________________________________________

The door closed, and the entire room fell silent. Lin Xingzi happily rolled around in bed, wrapped in the bedding. The ring, having been repeatedly caressed by him, still held his warmth.

The phone rang until the last few seconds before Lin Xingzi sat up to answer. “Who is this?”

She was in a good mood, her pleasant tone reaching the other end of the phone.

The man, far away in a foreign country, ‘tsk-ed’ and sighed with a smile, “So you really did delete my number...”